Category Archives: Uncategorized

is the Tompkins Public Library Book Sale. They usually have something like 200,000 books for sale (most expensive book being $4.50), and this year they’re said to have over 350,000 books. Where do you think two dissertation-beginning Ph.D. students will … Continue reading →

“The average student takes 8.2 years to get a Ph.D.; in education, that figure surpasses 13 years. Fifty percent of students drop out along the way, with dissertations the major stumbling block. At commencement, the typical doctoral holder is 33, … Continue reading →

In the middle of my class this morning I saw a couple of students looking a bit uncomfortable, and I was pretty concerned, until I saw they were transfixed by a bee that had wandered in through the window and, … Continue reading →

Sydney is the gardener in the house.  I will not be fighting him for his title any time soon.  But this fall I got an itch to plant bulbs.  The tiny crocuses, grape hyacinths, daffodils and narcissus in the spring … Continue reading →

As the days cool off, our cat gets a lot more lovey; she’s willing to be scooped up and pressed down into a lap or up onto a shoulder. When it’s really cold she even seems to like banding together … Continue reading →

After one of my students expressed dissatisfaction with her paper grade in a meeting today, she asked whether I’ve ever taught before.  Yup, she asked that aloud. Erin

Why is it that so many of the critics I’ve been working through recently are described as if they’re unruly children? I’m relieved to read that some reviewers also thought my current critic “willfully difficult”; I’ve spent a week working … Continue reading →

Perhaps you’ve seen the NYTimes piece on the happiness gap between men and women. The claim is that in the early 1970s women were slightly happier than men but that now things are switched with men slightly happier than women. … Continue reading →

Mom, Dad, and the Cooneys have returned safely to Iowa after their whirlwind visit.  It was so nice to share Ithaca with friends and family.  We love where we live, we like having company, and I think Arwyn enjoyed having … Continue reading →

There are some interesting discussions over at Beliefnet and Britannica Blog on the question of who writes history. The discussion was triggered by comments in Alan Ehrenhalt’s book The Lost City. Ehrenhalt suggests that the traditional dictum that says that … Continue reading →