Question of the week

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

Personal stuff

Well, Carmen and I are back. And you didn't even notice we were gone.

That visit to the unnamed state to our south was filled with the usual fun n games, capped by temps in the 90, a deluge of epic proportions (while we were on the road) and my mother's 92nd birthday. Why yes, she's fine. Still makes more sense than most of the family who are much younger (though not as much as it used to seem - when I was born I was 1/30 her age, now I am 2/3 her age).

So - onward to another delightful year at a university that is going broke because the good folks of North Carolina figure that paying for their children's education is optional. At least by using taxes. They will pay for it one way or another whether or not their own kids go to college or simply start working at McDonald's or Wal-Mart.

just as soon as the Republicans can get rid of the minimum wage that is clearly dragging down the economy.

Why students sometimes don't get it

Increasingly we encounter students who can read perfectly well, but they can't "read" in any real sense. Here is a sample on Amazon from a bored student reviewing Ostler's first rate Empires of the Word.

this book is really boring I bought it for a class and I totally hate reading it. I'm half way through and I'm only on ch.5! The chapters are soooooooooo!!!! long! its riddiculous! this is a pretty thick book and it has really small writting! The author just talks over and over again about the same thing! Don't recommend it to read just for fun but if it is for a class then goodluck!

That's it. In its entirety. Another review said it read like "a textbook." Many books on Amazon get that tag. As near as I can make out what they really mean by "reads like a textbook" is that it is not a simple narrative, a story. And the chapters "are soooooooooo!!!! long!" Probably has big words too.

reminds me of the history grad student who told me he didn't like reading "whole books."