paisleypiper's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- eerrrrrr A weekend of work and studies, my life at the moment. I spent Saturday with a bunch of college kids learning to lead public dialogues about issues that are important to their peers. I was there as faculty/advisor and had the privilege of going in another room for a meeting in the afternoon. This was a first for me, to have dragged a group of students out of bed on Saturday morning to be at an all-day training session by 8:00 a.m. They checked in with me, wanting to be certain to get credit, wanting to seek out those who did not show. But it was a sad day, too, due to the shuttle. The trainers handled the situation well and the students at my table talked about how they were in preschool when Challenger exploded. And I had one of those moments of feeling really old. But the funny thing is that I am often told by students who find out I am 33 that I am aging really gracefully, which surprises me. I think it is my insistence on wearing unique shoes or my ability to appear laid back. They don�t see the white hairs and my persistent eye twitch from this double life I lead. Professional by day and grad student by night. Miserable by day and really happy by night. This weekend I read Image, Music, Text by Roland Barthes and a bunch of poems by Quincy Troupe. I still need to read Saint Foucault this evening (how?). This afternoon I convinced Quinn into sneaking off to the matinee with me. We saw The Hours, again. I adore this movie and wanted to see it one more time on the big screen. Quinn purchased the book and will probably read it and answer the many questions we have assembled. I think these questions will be resolved at the narrative level of the book, and I hope to find the time to read it also, before too long. But, I am moving fast with work taking up over 50 hours a week and taking two graduate classes from the two most-demanding professors in the department. Not only that, but I care what they think of me. I need them to write recommendations for me for my PhD work. On the work front. I have been laughing hysterically for three days now, off and on, about how the freaks at my office have been spamming 1500 people almost daily the past couple weeks. First, we are putting out an e-newsletter every three weeks because the community liaison and the esquire had a disagreement and the community liaison�s solution to appease the esquire�s need to disseminate information about who we are at regular drumbeats is this newsletter every 3 weeks. We live in a constant state of newsletter panic. I have been asking everyone I know to write articles about service-learning. Beyond that, the two main freaks developed something they wanted to call Breaking News to send out as we have important communications. Luckily, Stella and I convinced them to go with News Flash, although we rarely have anything newsworthy. Breaking News makes me think of something tragic, not one of the esquire�s open houses or awards. So, a couple of those went out last week, also. Then, Stella accidentally sent out my e-news publication for faculty who teach service-learning classes to the entire 1500 person e-news. But what really takes the cake is the strange message sent out by the university�s listserv professional. But first, I must set the stage. The listserv professional�s entire job is to create listservs and maintain them. She was working on our large listserv and decided to send out a message. Perhaps she wanted to test it? Or perhaps she momentarily lost her mind. Here is the entire text of the message: Eeerrrrrrr? All of the dignitaries and regulars. The people we know and don�t know. Everyone received the message. For some, it was the last bit of annoyance. They began their requests to be removed from the e-mail list. For others, it was the expression of a moment and they took some sort of joy in it. Eeerrrrrr is how so many people are feeling these days. For me, it has taken on many meanings. It is a symbol of how perplexed I am by the scene at our office, the scene at our university� and really of life in general. It seems to be the defining question that is so simple and pure it cannot be articulated. And at the same time, it mocks itself. In my darker moments, I hope it becomes a movement. I would like to see t-shirts all over campus asking this question. I�d like a regular meeting where people stand and say Eeerrrrr in unison. I�m working on a proposal for a federal grant for the program I run. The new regulations for the proposal are published and include having an event that involves the flag, partnerships with churches and private schools. All of the things that make me wonder why the Freedom Corps is trying to replace AmeriCorps and service-learning�.. But at least now I have something to ask in response to these distressing Shrub actions. Eeerrrrrr? 11:02 p.m. - 2003-02-02 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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