Monday DB Blazer Style. . .

A decided chill in the air today. Up and moving quite early, I decided to head to a branch of The (Topless) Mermaid across the street from campus this morning for some uninterrupted work on my laptop with a grande dark roast.

Were there alternatives, I would happily oblige. But for some very odd reason, especially given the size of Michigan State, there is a dearth of cafes in campus town (such as it is). On campus, we have the MSU chain Sparty's, but their coffee always tastes burned, and there is no ambiance to speak of. And although the promised library branch of The Mermaid has yet to open, and one man's ambiance is another man's Sartrean purgatory, the branch of The Mermaid just off campus it was between 6:30-10:30am today.

Delightfully quiet in any case out ahead of the long Thanksgiving weekend since so many students have either left for home already, or have used the approaching holiday as yet another excuse to avoid any sort of commitment, disconnect, and stay in bed. Mentally speaking at least. But that development is nothing new each November. Like so many other professors, I cancelled classes for today based on lengthy experience and anecdotal observation.

A close friend and colleague of mine, who, it must be said, comes from an Asian culture where learning is still respected and valued as an opportunity for self-improvement, has made an interesting observation. US undergraduates, in general, pay lots of money, or take out huge loans, to skip classes and avoid doing much in the way of coursework. There are exceptions, of course, but by and large I think my fiend might be onto something with that.

Anyway, about 90 minutes into my proofreading work on an article, a 60-something (???) women paid today's attire a very kind compliment and added,

"You don't see anyone dressed like that in East Lansing." I smiled, thanked her, agreed, and wished her a good day.

Compliments. Never necessary, but always nice to hear if, or when they come.

-- Heinz-Ulrich

Comments

Mid-June Thursday Style. . .

A nother pretty typical variation on the theme for late spring, summer, and very early fall. I'm a huge fan of Madras and have several such shirts in the seasonal rotation. Lightweight, exceedingly comfortable, and even dressy when pressed and tucked in, which is the usual way of things here at Totleigh in the Wold. Now, if I had my druthers, I'd still rather be skiing the trails in the upper half of "The Mitten" (of Michigan), in the Upper Peninsula, or Ontario. But summers ain't so bad either, and I'd look pretty funny walking around in cross-country ski attire during June. -- Heinz-Ulrich

The Power of Ideas. . .

T he end is nigh! The autumn semester/term approaches. And while we still have almost two months of summer left according to the calendar, "Summer is over and gone," as the crickets sang in Charlotte's Web . At least for those of us who head back to the classroom in less than a month. In advance of a meeting with my program director late Monday morning, I spent about 40 minutes total during the weekend to jot down several ideas about planned workshops and related activities for the coming 2024-2025 academic year. At an opportune moment, I mentioned "I have a few ideas," and opened my leather portfolio. My director was highly receptive to almost everything I suggested, and we had a very productive planning session for just over 90 minutes. Just about everything I sketched out on Sunday aligns with his own ideas. It's nice when meetings go that well, and two related things occur to me in hindsight. One, it pays to exercise...

A Lazy Saturday at the End of June. . .

A sleepy first half of the weekend here at Totleigh. Warmer and quite humid ahead of an approaching cool front here in Mid-Michigan. Perfect for yet another pair of chino shorts an a seersucker shirt -- tucked in of course -- with the usual leather deck shoes and ribbon belt. Otherwise, not much accomplished beyond a page or so of writing and monkeying around with audio settings for an upcoming podcast episode. However, I was not completely useless yesterday! I made a huge fruit salad for dinner, which the Grand Duchess and I enjoyed a short while later at the table on the back porch. The Young Master, as is his wont on Saturday evenings, took his dinner on a tray in the TV room upstairs where he whiled away a couple of hours on Flight Simulator, flying some sort of commercial airliner to some destination across the Atlantic or Pacific. I would have loved that sort of technology at about nine or 10 way back during the late 19...

Classic Style

Search This Blog