Adventures in Academe, Vol. 8

Herewith, the strategic plan of the university system I work for:
1. Enhancing educational excellence
2. Expanding research capabilities
3. Fostering outreach and engagement
4. Ensuring effectiveness and efficiency
5. Advocating for the university
Really. What makes one sad is the amount of effort that went into making a list so . . . tepid.
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I am not a good Baptist, vol. 3

I got fired from my Sunday school teaching role. Let's hope that's not an indicator for my other teaching jobs!


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Piers is not a joiner

The Runner has a circle of friends due to all her running and triathlon business.  This group includes a number of dudes who get together in the early mornings to do training rides on their bikes.  They invite me, but I always refuse.

I was invited to a Rotary Club meeting this past Wednesday.  The colleague extending the invitation told me it was because he had met my dad at many meetings.  I was happy to inform him that he had the wrong Hill.

The church has all sorts of activities to show up at, and I always find a reason to not go.

There are returning students who are happy to come sit and talk to me.  I am avoiding them.

In reality, I find most communities tiresome. 

Evangelical culture is vapid. I watch with dismay as church after church gets caught up in trends that are 10-15 years old, dressed up in new holy jargon. I watch as we are offered more and more opportunities to spend all our time up at the church house, necessarily taking us away from time with our families and taking the children away from the directionless and non-programmed play that they so desperately need for their healthy development. And don't get me started on the obsession with bigger facilities and bigger programs.

Nerd culture is obsessive, especially about media series, which I enjoy just fine, but cannot commit my life to.  I long ago stopped trying to care about video games, because as much as I enjoy them (and did in fact play through Lego Lord of the Rings at a pretty fast clip), I have other things to attend to.  I like Doctor Who very much, but cannot muster a huge amount of energy to discuss the various merits of various companions, etc.  I enjoy the show, like I enjoy Star Trek and Star Wars and Legos and internet memes and Monty Python and Tolkein.  I'm pretty awful about bringing them up in class.  But I have other interests as well, and don't care to organize my life around fantasy worlds.

Bike culture is competitive and gear-obsessed. Apparently, a cyclist is required to post distance and time and average speed on Facebook at the end of every ride.  The pre-ride scene at the organized events I've been to has just left me defensive and ever more anti-competitive.  You can tell that people are judging componentry, clothing, quad size, branding, and everything else.  I would love a $5000 titanium road bike with semi-pro specs, and probably get jealous that some choose to spend their money that way. I just can't get on board with the whole macho "gotta get to the next level" thing.  Though I still want that tattoo on my right calf that looks like a chain gunk smear.

Academic culture is by turns defensive and smug.  I've never felt 100% at home in the kind of worldview that most of my colleagues evince.  But the point of this little essay, I guess, is that it's hard for me to find home anywhere. It's not them, it's me.

Monday Update, Retreating from Retreats Edition

As the new school year approaches, we enter into the week of inaptly-named "retreats," wherein we are given the agenda for the year, more or less.  Our department's day long "retreat" featured a few moments wherein yours truly spoke rather...frankly...about some things that need to be addressed.  I am assuredly not content these days, and apparently, on my reduced drug regimen, I am a bit sharper (both in thought and in speech) than I have been recently.

Classes begin a week from today, so the real office work started today. The routine has been remarkably similar from year to year . . . right down to my reflexive hiding from students until the last possible minute.

There's a lot to write about, what with the buzzwords of the year, and the newest mandates handed down, and our university system's clumsy flirtation with the MOOC movement . . . but tonight at least just thinking about these things makes me tired.

Monday Update, Deluge Edition

It has rained every day for about ten days now.  Every morning, without fail.  This has caused some difficulty to me in my bicycling, because it is not advisable to ride out in a thunderstorm.  I probably needed the week off anyway, considering how I had been feeling.  But I'm tired of waiting now!

Starting today, all of the children are now in their new school-year schedules.  Little Red had his first day at Kindergarten, so we should have some interesting things to talk about this evening.

The Runner organized and held a benefit yard sale this weekend. It was a good idea hampered by our location (though our road isn't exactly hidden, it's not one many people seem to know about) and by the absolutely wretched weather.  Most of the sales were done on the Friday "pre-sale" day.  So now, naturally, we have a garage full of used stuff that needs to be sent on its way to various places.  I expect that we should have it all cleaned out . . . in a couple of weeks.

I have to say this about The Runner, though:  she can work like a champ.

Work starts in earnest this week. We know it's so when the "retreats" start up.

Adventures in Parenting, Vol. 40

Number One Son starts third grade classes today; Little Red officially starts today but won't actually be at school until Monday or Tuesday of next week.
I worry about them both, of course--albeit in laughably different ways. I worry that Number One will get demoralized like he did a couple of years ago. I worry that Little Red will find it difficult and frustrating...and that his little heart will get broken.

I'm more protective of Little Red.

Basic Adulthood, Part 4

Being a true adult means minding your own business.  The prevalence of social media makes it sometimes difficult to maintain the boundary between what's public and what's private, but part of learning adulthood is learning how to manage difficult tasks.  Minding one's own business is much more than merely keeping one's nose out of others' affairs; it is also a matter of keeping one's own affairs to oneself.  A particularly pernicious effect of social media space is the increasing desire (even demand) on the part of many people that their own decisions be not merely acknowledged but also celebrated by even the most peripheral of their social contacts.  It is fun to get a trophy for participating in tee-ball, but what's the trophy worth when everyone wants one for everything they do?

I need not even point out that a true adult has tasted enough of heartache and infelicity that he or she should have developed the discernment necessary to know which persons belong in the inner circle and how much to share with those persons.

Monday Update, New Schools Edition

Teaching Ecclesiastes in Sunday School.

The last few weeks have been challenging in unexpected ways, as my time has been eaten up by unexpected developments with children and spouse, etc.  Needless to say, my grand plans for achievement this summer have not come to fruition in the way I might have expected. 

Things change dramatically at my house when, starting on Thursday, we have one boy at the local elementary school, one at the primary school, and the youngest going to a three day a week schedule at the day care.  Mornings promise to be most interesting, especially since I also have an 8:00 class three days a week. 

The elder two are ready to get to it, and we are ready for them to get to it.  They have been wound up tighter than bowstrings ever since getting back from their fantastic week at grandparent camp in Atlanta.  Poor Little Red has no idea what to do with all the nervous energy. This makes him irritating to live with. Thankfully, The Runner knows exactly what's going on and how to deal with it. She has the magic touch with him right now, and I say amen to that.

The Runner, speaking of whom, did her second organized biking event this past weekend.  She had a great time.  Her next event is a triathlon. I'd be satisfied with a bike ride that felt like my body was moving correctly.