Letters to the Editor
salon letter
Published Letters: 14
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Blame the Movies
[Read the article: My boyfriend is nice, but I fantasize about wilder times]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Hollywood and a hundred self-help gurus have gotten their grips on you:
Hollywood: Nearly every romantic movie out there is really about finding love, finding the right guy or gal, finding a way to get together. And then BAM! You are fulfilled. Everyone lives happily ever after. Roll Credits. The real stories that real people have to deal with are the trials of making things work even when you're not entirely sure that you want them to. Its not sexy, a bit boring, and not surprisingly, would make a lousy movie.
Self-Help Gurus: Ever since Freud, people have been obsessing over the preeminence of dissecting and ultimately obeying their inner id at the cost of all else.
My suggestion: by all means go out, get laid lots, be wild, ditch the guy who loves you, and who apparently is willing to put in mature effort. This will be fun, your adrenaline will race, you will feel like a movie star--for a while.
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Only one solution
[Read the article: How can I comfort my boyfriend about losing his hair?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Check out the vid by Japan's best comb-over artist!
Go to Gizmodo.com and search "combover"
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Simple
[Read the article: Who would the GOP rather face?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have lots of relatives (both by blood and as inlaws) whom I have always considered unrepentant permanent republicans. But lo and behold, several have become ardent Obama fans. One, a marine, is even a campaign volunteer who hopes to serve as a delegate. I've quizzed them, and they are real supporters, not just trying to poison the well and interfere with the democrats' primary. They claim that Obama is different, the first democrat that they would like to see in the white house. These are exactly the sort of voters that the democrats need to win over from the republicans in order to win the white house--especially against an opponent like McCain who appeals to the middle. On the other hand, they have emphasized that they will never never never vote for clinton (above-mentioned marine said that he would rather be sent back to Iraq!--which a vote for McCain would almost certainly guarantee . . .)
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Um... hate to burst your bubble
[Read the article: Of Ph.D.s, gay lovers, slave narratives and the Ivy League]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You wrote:
"I will most likely be somewhere in my 30s before I earn my degree"
Um, yes . . . if you're lucky. Hate to break it to you, but the typical length of time for getting a PhD in the humanities is 7, 8, or 9 years. If your funding runs dry in the last couple years (even the best schools often only guarantee funding for something like 6 years), and you have to pick up extra teaching assistant jobs or adjunct work to put the Ramen noodles on your table, it can take even longer. I would add to that calculation the fact that by your own admission you are a bit of a procrastinator. Unless you are an absolute academic stud who can sell yourself and rope in the jobs, you'll probably also spend a couple of years bouncing from place to place picking up visiting assistant jobs before landing a tenure track job. All said and done, this means you can finally get a bit of stability in your life in your early 40s. (meanwhile friends and family of comparable age will be moving on in their lives)
I should also add, that when you do finally go on the job market, you will have almost (really absolutely) no control over what part of the country you end up in. Basically you apply for nearly every job out there and take what comes along. If you're lucky you might have two simultaneous job offers; if your scholarship redefines the field, maybe three. Therefore, if you are worried about snow and cold, but that's where the job is, tough luck. If your partner needs or wants to live somewhere else, that's tough too.
None of this is to say that you can't go into academia, but you really should have an accurate idea of what you're getting into. I recommend Phd comics (look it up on google) for a great glimpse of academic malaise that is the norm. The professors who warn you about all this aren't trying to be cruel or snooty--they've been there and are trying to give honest help.
Regarding Cary's odd class rant. That might be somewhat true for undergraduate degrees (and to a lesser extent masters programs--especially ones like law and business) but the PhD programs are pretty egalitarian wealth wise. The snobbery and inflated sense of ego is more about perceived intellect.
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schools and Helen Thomas
[Read the article: Can Stephen Colbert save America?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]@ Christopher1988
Jon Stewart went to my school, The College of William and Mary--a virginia state school, albeit a quite nice one--not Yale. No skull and bones there, only Phi Beta Kappa. I was fortunate to see him come back and give a commencement address there several years ago: brilliant and surprisingly inspirational.
Not too long ago I had the chance to meet Helen Thomas and asked her opinion regarding the fact that so many young folks have abandoned the traditional media and get the bulk of their news from Stewart & Colbert. She thought it was probably a good thing considering the current state of the press today, an interesting opinion considering her long credentials in that format.