Man, it's been a long 8 years. I haven't quite dealt with that yet, I don't think. That's my entire adult life -- last semester of college and all that followed. For my students, it's their entire aware life.

That's 8 years of the involuntary president's voice shudder, 8 years of ridiculous internet clips, 8 years of the Daily Show. Almost 8 ( Read more... )

spooky_thing found me this article in the Globe: "How the city hurts your brain ...And what you can do about it." Basically, it summarizes some studies about how time spent in the city is more stressful than time spent in nature. This is particularly mind-blowing:

Studies have found that even a relatively paltry patch of nature can confer benefits. In the ( Read more... )

Tonight I joined my colleagues for the traditional caroling from dorm to dorm before Winter Break. My friend didn't want to sing anything Christmas-y, so none of the kids would feel left out (a perspective I find it hard to complain about, obviously). On the other hand, I said, we as a school and a country have set our major break in the school ( Read more... )