Have you ever taken the time to write a pretty well-thought-out article, only to have someone steal it and rewrite it on their blog? It's a little irritating. Not bad, but kinda like a fly in the room that won't leave irritating. In the literary world it's called "plagiarism" but I wouldn't describe it as such in the blogging world. That happened to me a couple months ago. The offending user replied to my article, then someone addressed her/his comment, and rather than responding to that...

Okay, for all you Office Space fans, you remember when Lawrence and Peter are talking about what they'd do with a million bucks, Lawrence says, "Two chicks at the same time." Peter says, "Nothing. I'd sit on my ass all day, and do nothing." Sometimes I aspire to Peter's sentiments, but after meeting some of the biggest idiots on the highway yesterday, this is what I'd do when I felt like sitting on my ass in a car: I'd buy a beater car--a big non-SUV one, like a Lincoln Towncar or one of...

This week at my office, we've gone through two bottles of Lysol and at least as much soap in the bathroom and wash station. Not because we're dirty (it's a very clean, paperwork office) but because this stupid co-worker (Ditz-boss), who is salaried and doesn't have to worry about taking time off, has come to work anyway and God knows why, probably to infect us all with her dirty germs (a less common and less deadly form of germ warfare). It's not that she sneezes all over the papers she h...

This idea is a work in progress. As are most of my ideas, come to think of it. It's actually a spinoff of an idea I had about people on JU, but I'm not stupid enough (or kiss-ass enough) to name names. 1. Negativos. These are the people who couldn't see the light at the end of a tunnel with night-vision goggles. They see the world as full of horrible people, political quagmires, and shoddy policies be they government or company (or JU), and these people can't seem to gain a balanced ...

Dear Madame X and Madame Y, Yes. I *can* hear you when you talk about me. The fact that my cubicle is about five feet from yours should give you some kind of clue. The fact that you always glance over guiltily at me is a sign. The fact that I'm still speaking to you is a miracle. Yes. I am a temp. *gasp* Only losers are temps, right? Must be. I know I went to college for five years to get two degrees to work in your office where, according to your last conversation, I am not qualified ...

I hate teenage girls. Not all teenage girls, actually; just the sixteen-year-olds driving brand new Mitsubishis who toss their burning carcinogenic litter out the window and then flip me off when I honk at them, and insolently flip another smoking piece of tobacco at the light just before they turn off. Now let me say, I have nothing against sixteen-year-olds, or girls, or smokers, and I have only a bit of contempt for parents who buy their kids brand new cars when they get their license...

Unemployment blog: Day 36. Have taken to wearing no underwear in hopes that will go through underwear more slowly, thereby saving self laundry $. Also is bloody hot here. Scarcely goes below 100 in daytime and below 70 at nighttime. . Magazines not buying my articles. "Ran that one two months ago" (No you didn't, liar; am not stupid, do in fact read magazine back issues for that very reason) "Like your style but we're just not interested right now" Actually, am making those up: rejection s...

Prior to college I was a pretty good conservative/moderate Christian girl. Post-college I am an okay moderately liberal agnostic woman. All the education, from religion to philosophy to history to literature, has done one thing: Complicated the whole damn world. People on JU often like to point out (with some degree of arrogance, it seems), seeing things in black and white is for simpletons; to be an intellectual, the whole world must be a massive gray area, a continuum from the lightest ...

It's past midnight so can now say am getting married today. V. surreal. Had the rehearsal and the dinner--which were fine. V. v. surreal. Just like a dinner with best friends. (Should have those at other times, too, besides weddings and funerals.) Tried calling Fiance, as have yet to finish writing vows. However, Fiance is out with friends at bar, even though bachelor party was last night, so guess am writing vows alone. Oh well. In lieu of an embarrassing bachelorette party, sister ...

20. Shut up. Please, for the love of everything pure and beautiful, SHUT UP. 19. Yes, sometimes I assign subjective grades, and sometimes I don't grade things as closely as I should. And it’s okay if you question me about grades—better than than bitching about it behind my back. 18. The word "while" is not a relative pronoun, like I told you, but rather is a subordinating conjunction. My bad. 17. I don't like some of you. No offense. 16. I think some of you are hilarious even thou...

One of my students is a know-it-all. When I test my students, I make the tests hard (see other blogs about that) and I make sure they apply what we've learned in class to everyday life. This class is all about seeing all sides to arguments and using them well. Then there's the know-it-all. She picks on any question if it's not exactly how I told them it would be on the review, and she'll correct multiple choice questions so that they're correct, then circle the letter. I make multiple choi...

This week my freshers are doing debates. The topics the class chose were legalizing gay marriage, death penalty, and reparations for slavery. One student missed the day we decided on topics and gave debate group preferences, so I assigned her to a group in need of a choleric. It was gay marriage. Two weeks later, debate week, she tells me a day before her debate that she doesn't feel morally comfortable debating gay marriage. I explained to her, as I had previously explained to the clas...

I am a cynic because that way the world never lets you down--you're only ever pleasantly surprised. (I know I thought of that, but someone else probably wrote it first. It sounds like the type of line that resides somewhere in the subconcious and then makes its appearance, only for the thinker to be told that someone else thought of it first. Stupid subconscious.)

The the-dog-ate-my-homework excuse has been replaced in the last few years with its alter ego, the the-computer-ate-my-homework excuse. I would know. I invented most of the variations on the computer theme. And now that I'm a professor, it really ticks me off. Here's why: Computer-eating-homework: Only works on teachers who still think computers are too technologically advanced for themselves. Most of us aren't that dumb anymore--we can't be, especially since so much of our campus communic...