Man, Oh Man, Oh Man

Oh man. This has been the worst first week of classes ever. I don’t even want to talk about it.

In middle school, I had a friend who was a Jehovah’s Witness. One day, after I said “oh man,” in that whiney 11-year-old way, she asked me not to say “that” (meaning oh, man), because “oh man” was offensive to her. I asked her to explain. Apparently, when saying “oh man” I really meant “oh God,” which was taking the Lord’s name in vain, which is a sin. I thought she was a bit insane, but humored her. Last I heard, she was doing something far more likely to be considered offensive to Jehovah’s Witnesses (though, to be honest, it doesn’t bother me, but I do think it’s funny that she’s the one who did it). And no, I’m not going to tell you what it is. It is enough to know that it involves sex and is not conventional, but not illegal. I’m guessing she didn’t find my jokes about Satan funny either.

I have actually posted two things recently that I think I regret. One was details about my job, which though stately vaguely, could identify me to anyone familiar with my location. The other was stating that my former grad school was not a very good program. Husband mentioned after reading that post that grad school friends read this blog, and that some of them still work at former grad school. So I think I should elaborate on what I meant. It’s not that the program was bad; it just wasn’t good for me. The best thing about the program was the friends I made. I didn’t really realize how wrong that program was for me until I got to current grad program, where students are encouraged to publish and attend conferences, and are supported by profs to do so, where profs give assignments that reflect professional work and then help the students find a place for that work. Current grad school seems to be making scholars; former grad school made teachers. I don’t want to be a teacher. I enjoy teaching, and I’m very good at it (modesty not withstanding), but it’s not what I want. I want to read and write and research and talk about what I think to other people who are interested. I don’t know. I just really love where I am now, and can’t help making the comparisons. Being somewhere where people are interested in my research and profs want to help me publish and conference is a really wonderful thing for me right now.

I caught a glimpse of my ass in the mirror a while ago. It has somehow become huge.