Sundae bars, college roommates, public intellectuals

Life is funny. Went to the end-of-the-semester potluck at the Department Chair's house. I made homemade ice cream at the party and set up a sundae bar with angel food cake, strawberries, mini chocolate chips, caramel sauce -- even Magic Shell. My brother and I loved that when we were kids. I'd not knowingly eat that many chemicals at once now. People are funny around homemade ice cream (vanilla-like... but with hazelnut extract instead of vanilla. It was really good.) Anyway, normally reserved people in their thirties through sixties were all double dipping and taking spoons to the container -- *after* they'd each had servings of cake, ice cream, toppings, the works! It was funny.

I was talking to a colleague's husband and he said he knew another young woman who went to Hampshire College and lives in town. I said, "Who?" He said her name and she was my modmate (apartment mate) one semester! Such a small world. She didn't like me very much because I wasn't neat and orderly enough for her. Huumpf. Funny.

One thing I hated about my Ph.D. program was the expectation that we were going to write boring, meaningless articles and books full of long words and unecessarily complicated theories. I'd much rather use my powers for good, so to speak, as a public intellectual -- somebody who goes out into the world and writes things that just about anyone will read... things that might make a difference. My Ph.D. advisor, Michael Tracey, wrote what I thought was a great column for the Rocky Mountain News. I don't know why it was pulled. My first foray into life as a public intellectual hits homes and newsstands next week -- I wrote a one page opinion column on the state of news and democracy for the University of Idaho alumni magazine. It's at the very end of this pdf document, scroll all the way down, under the heading, "to be considered." I'm bummed my Dept. Chair gave them that lousy photo -- it's me talking to someone at a Thanksgiving dinner! Oh well, no matter.

Off on a long plane journey tomorrow. I am almost finished with the work I have to do before I go, and it will be nice to not take my computer, to just BE for a couple of days before the interviews begin... me intervieing them, them interviewing me. Wish me luck!