I'm reading a book about D-Day by Stephen Ambrose. I've read a lot of books by Ambrose over the years. I gave up on him due to the "plagiarism" scandal at the end of his life. I wasn't a fan of that. And I'm still not. BUT, I've been stunned (as my readers well know) by the magnitude of plagiarism taking hold in academic circles, see for instance Harvard's president, et al. I wonder if there is a study there somewhere. Regardless, Ambrose is a greater writer. More on that later.
What I find interesting is his description of the landing at Omaha Beach. The first invasion he discusses is Utah, and for the most part that sounds rather staid. But boy, Omaha was a goat fuck.
As I said, Andrew has a land acknowledgment in his syllabus. Specifically, it says: Land Acknowledgement: As the first land-grant institution established under the 1862 Morrill Act, we acknowledge that the state of Kansas is historically home to many Native nations, including Kaw, Osage, and Pawnee, among others. Furthermore, Kansas is the current home to four federally recognized Native nations: The Prairie Band Potawatomi, the Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas, the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, and Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska. Many Native nations utilized the western plains of Kansas as their hunting grounds, and others—such as the Delaware—were moved through this region during Indian removal efforts to make way for White settlers. It’s important to acknowledge this, since the land that serves as the foundation for this institution was, and still is, stolen land. We remember these truths because K-State’s status as a land-grant institution is a story that exists within ongoing settler-colonialism and rests on the dispossession of Indigenous people and nations from their lands. These truths are often invisible to many. The recognition that K-State’s history begins and continues through Indigenous contexts is essential.
I've finished my syllabus for my class. I think this is important because the syllabus is the first moment that the professor gets to put his stamp on the class. I was using a syllabus that came from Dr. B through Dr. C. I didn't care for it.
Step 1, . . . styles. No one uses Word styles correctly. Usually, that's the first thing I do. So the first stamp of Dr. Hannah that the students see will be Calibri. Then they'll see my nicely formatted tables.
One thing I notice . . . continuing yesterday's discussion about my "friend" LB, is that I'm not sure if she even knows if she wants to be a fan or friend. Why? Well, cause every now and then I notice that she deactivates, and in one case blocked my account, from a fake account she set up.
I think about this often. the way I see it, one, . . . she’s checking whether I noticed. I think her blocking and deactivating is her way of wondering: “Is he watching back?” . . . “Does he care?” . . . “Is he aware I’m here?” . . . . It's like she can’t decide whether to re-engage or fully detach.
I had a friend, a close friend for many years. We've all seen those movies or read those books where a "soulmate" style friendship is described. This is what we had and it was everything that the books and movies make it out to be. Actually, it was quite a bit more.
I had to travel to Michigan this past weekend. I don't care for Michigan personally. I've been here enough times to know this is not a place I'd like to live. This weekend was the worst trip here I've had . . . why? . . . snow, super cold, and for a funeral.
My (former) colleague J told me she had a talk with my old boss a few weeks after I resigned. She asked him, "How do you think he'll like the new place?"
What did he say?
He said, "I think he'll find there's a lot of nepotism."
She told me about it. At the time he said it, I thought it was absurd. The place I was leaving had a significant amount of nepotism and familial hiring. It also worried me because one of the things I wanted to leave behind by going to the new organization I was moving to was the back-scratching, the politics, the nepotism, and the favoritism. The good news . . . I've been at my new company for a year. Not even a hint of nepotism or favoritism. There's one daughter-in-law of a senior manager who works in a department, and one husband-and-wife team who are both lower-level employees. But nothing beyond that.
