Tuesday, August 16, 2005

I Don't Wanna Grade

I don't want to grade, so I'm meme-ing again



Also, my car is dead and in the shop ...

This is a neat meme. I saw it at Pilgrim/Heretic's place, but I just noticed that New Kid just did it after getting it from Bright Star. So, here are the questions P/H asked me, and my answers. Leave me a comment if you want me to ask you questions, and I will!





  1. Did you ever consider a career other than academia? If so, what?
    The first thing I remember wanting to be was a flamenco dancer. It was actually not atypical for little girls in my hometown. But as an adult? The only serious consideration was a Michelin-starred chef/restauranteuse

  2. What’s the strangest thing that’s ever happened to you in the classroom?
    I don't think I've ever had anything truly strange happen. Some strange students ... oh, wait! I walked in one day, and there on the podium (which, like most podia, was slanted) was a latté, dripping gently. I made a comment about someone leaving a drink, and the stoner student now known forever as Freak Boy said, "I brought it for you." It was the beginning of a long and stalk-y relationship.

  3. If you could relive one year of your life (without changing anything), what year would you choose and why?
    1968 -- maybe. My parents were not yet divorced, I got to hear Bobby Kennedy speak (not that I remember much), my grandfather took me and my mother on a trip to the Caribbean and then driving from Miami to SoCal (which I remember clearly) by way of Hemisfair in Texas, and I danced in the big town parade AND the night show AND in the Nutcracker. So, like, it's a year where I can't remember any bad things.

  4. If you could trade real-life places with another blogger for a week, whom would you choose, and why?
    Hmmm. Probably Tiruncula because she is (AFAIK) like me, single, female, and a medievalist. Unlike me, she seems very together, successful in the way I secretly wish I could be, but don't really think I'm cut out for, and her Latin rocks! Or Sharon for most of the same reasons. I excluded all y'all married people. Everybody I read has a fantastic SO, and I wouldn't want to be too jealous!

  5. Why is it that medievalists seem to have so much more fun (particularly in groups) than other historians?
    Becaue we are more fun? Seriously, I'm not sure. There are some real bastards out there, but I wonder if part of it is that there are relatively few of us in any given department and our skill sets are often really different -- so much so that our colleagues tend to look at us as if we're aliens. To some people the idea of doing almost all of one's research in other languages is offputting or incredible. Plus, like all Europeanists, we get to go abroad. And the Middle Ages are just fun. But mostly I think it has to do with self-selecting geekdom. Medievalists are kind of the sf nerds of academe, and I think most of us are more willing to give each other's nerdiness a break. Oh -- and most of the medievalists I know enjoy good quality alcohol in generous amounts and are generally interested in sex. That doesn't necessarily hurt a party.

    But then again, I could be wrong...

10 comments:

Tiruncula said...

*Blushes* You flatter me! OK, I'll bite: hit me with the Qs.

Another Damned Medievalist said...

Ancarett -- I didn't know your pseud-address, so I sent it to you at your work-mail ...

Scrivener said...

Pilgrim asked me the same first two questions, and I almost chose an answer to number 2 that was similar, but I went with my first day in the classroom/squirrel story instead.

Anyway, one day I walked into my class and on the podium there was a half-sheet of paper with a drawing, clearly of me and The words "Professor [Scrivener], Ace Detective." I asked about it but no one would admit to it, so I taped the thing on my office door. A couple of weeks later, another picture showed up and then a couple of weeks later, a short story. It was supposed to be the first chapter of a detective novel, and I was the protagonist, under deep cover pretending to be a professor to capture a mastermind murderer. The weird thing was they knew my wife's name and what kind of car I drove and some other details about me.

No one ever admitted to be the author and I never got anything else, but it was really weird.

Another Damned Medievalist said...

Elisabeth -- I'll send your questions ASAP -- final essays are in today, though ...

Another Damned Medievalist said...

scrivener ... that's a bit scary. eeky.

Sharon said...

Who says medievalists have more fun than other historians? (Mutter mutter mutter... cheek... mutter...)

Another Damned Medievalist said...

Hmmm ... There is the possibility that the EM British types should be considered medievalists for party purposes. Maybe it's something to take into account when writing about periodization?

Tiruncula said...

Hi ADM - I just posted your new questions over at my place in response to your comment. Email delivery apparently failed - SORRY! I wasn't ignoring you!

TwistedBarbie said...

Im sure said student needed a grade they didnt deserve...(???). Why else would you waste money on good coffee that someone might not want. (scoff). Were I to bring a professor coffee, I would call and ask what kind of coffee they wanted. Oh, and I would never bring a professer who wasnt a friend or coworker coffee...randomly.
Quite a while back, when I was a freshman, a kid in my English class used to draw a picture of the professor on the board before class. This professor to this date is the only one I have had who NEVER changed her clothes. I can seriously state that she wore the same top to EVERY class. She walks in one day and says "why do you always draw me in that top" to said student. Maybe she needed coffee.

Another Damned Medievalist said...

Rachael -- I think you missed the part about it being a stalking episode. It was all about sex and power. The same student very loudly wished me a happy Valentine's day, and asked what I was doing. When I said, "Having dinner with my husband," Freak Boy expressed (loudly) dismay that I was married. He ran into me on campus 5 times that day, each time wishing me Happy Valentine's. He also only came to my office when the building was almost deserted and never during office hours. He fixated in a similar manner on at least one other of my female colleagues.

It's actually a fairly common situation, and particularly dangerous for students and faculty in public institutions, because the privacy rights preserved by FERPA are often interpreted in a way that discourages ANY exchange of information. I called campus security about this guy, and they were very happy to take down details, and told me I was not the first to call, so they took it very seriously. But they were not allowed to share that information with Student Services -- with whom I had been working ALL QUARTER. There, the student was seen as someone with 'boundary issues'. It takes a lot to make me feel physically threatened, and this student really frightened me.