Comments on Comments

 

I am replying to recent comments provided to my posts.  I have your comments organized alphabetically by poster.  The comments given are in italics whereas my replies are in regular font that is in bold to make them easier to find:

AC:

Blog rolls change as people come and go. When I look at old blogs, which is seldom but it does happen, I can’t even remember some of the commenters or at least not easily.

I do look at some of my older posts from time to time and do see several commenters that I do miss. Some have unfortunately stopped blogging/posting, and regrettably, some folks have passed away.  

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 I am almost positive that I have had a pair of those shoes, but a long time ago. 

I have worn these exact style of shoes for well over 30 years now.  They work well for me in terms of a) looking reasonably "professional" and are very comfortable (until I wear the damn things out from the inside).  And, because I am not often fond of change, I have been delighted they remain exactly the same in terms of look, fit, etc as they did 30+ years ago when I first found them.

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Your feeling were maybe evoked by the simulation? I mean it's unlikely a joyful game.

I am not sure.  But, in many ways, I feel GOOD about my participation in the Poverty Simulation, so I am thinking my sadness was more related to my damnable rumination on things, especially of past hurts.  I am coming to be of the opinion that ruminating on feelings does no damn good.  But, it is difficult at times to not drift into doing so.

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GaP:

The only way out of a low mood is through. When I feel this way...(just about everybody does, whether they admit it or not)I let it wash over me, through me...and eventually the mood changes. Something will happen to lift your spirits. It always does...Brave heart, Professor.  

True.... getting through the feelings are important, but I think I may have more success if I can better figure out ways to not drift into ruminating of that sort. 

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Liz:

Oh PT, I do feel for you. 

Thank you, Liz.  I appreciate that.  I still often feel quite in awe of your novel writing success.  I just want to keep letting you know that I find that a truly inspiring accomplishment!

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Margaret:

I too am worried about the summer and the air quality. As you probably know, we have glorious summers in the Pacific Northwest but they are ruined if we can't safely go outside. 

It is odd and frustrating about the air quality.  We do not get a whole helluva lot of (safe for me) time to run outside because of our long winters.  I feel a bit "cheated" on the days when air quality from the wildfires makes it unwise to run out-of-doors.   Truth-be-told, I tend to think of your Pacific Northwest region as having beautiful weather year-round!  I think my wife and I would relish it as a retirement region, but I think the prices are rather steep (probably due to California drift) which makes me nervous about possibly moving there someday on retirement income. 

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Those are teacher shoes! I think my dad used to wear those. :) Believe it or not, in my early teaching days, I wore high heels. 30 years down the road I was in comfortable cushiony shoes. I had black, brown and navy ones.

Ouch, high heels!  In the classroom, that would seem BRUTAL!  Haha!  Yes, 30+ years ago, the shoes were already a long standing style, which helped me gravitate towards them. :)  I have always tended towards "old school" before there was such a term and well before I was "older and gray".  That has been true for most things in my life.  If you remember the television show, Mannix, a lot of the styles that Mannix wore were very traditional styled sport coats, and while I have sport coats from various eras, I do relish the ones of mine that have survived my wearing them for decades.  

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Sometimes we are overwhelmed by joy and other times with sadness. I think they are both reactions to what we've been experiencing and are complex. I find that going with it is the best way to handle it, even if we can't explain why we're feeling that way. It sounds like you did.  

Yes, I realize that is truthfully all I CAN do is to "go with it".  Sometimes I can somewhat reshape my mood with some of the "right" music, and I try that.  In the last go-through of the blues, I tried to listen to my "Crosby, Stills, and Nash" Pandora channel..... but that did  not work.  I then switched to my "Bossa Nova" Pandora channel.... and happily that did help me pull out of the doldrums quite a bit.  

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It's always SO much work to go somewhere, but worth it to spend time in Puerto Rico. How wonderful that your wife was with your on the trip!! 

Yes, I was so pleased to be able to have my wife with me.  It was wonderful in so many ways.  I will be writing more about the PR experience later this week, I hope.  

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Pat:

I refrain from commenting when I perceive that a comment might be unhelpful and thus unwelcome....

I have never found any of your comments unhelpful and never would want you to EVER think your comments are unwelcome, because both thoughts would be false!

...With your recent turn toward cigars, I'm sometimes at a loss as to what to say, as I am perceiving that your body's craving for nicotine is sadly stronger than your soul's craving for your pipes...

I do not think I have a particular craving for nicotine per se.  The cigars are plesant, I do admit, but truthfully, I think the experience is mostly something I find so appealing because of the camaraderie. And, while technically I could indulge in a pipe there, part of the camaraderie is associated with feeling like I "fit in" and am not "standing out" which is why the cigar works there, I think.   

Regarding my soul's craving for a pipe.... I can assure you that those cravings have not appreciably changed or moved.  They are still strong, still on my mind every day, and even though I USED to think eventually they would dissipate, I have come to accept that they likely never WILL dissipate.  I feel more comfortable accepting that idea than I was initially. 

I sometimes find it painful to read of how you are acclimatizing yourself toward cigars and distancing yourself from your pipes. I don't think I could do that, and I know I would never want to do that. 

I think I am craving the camaraderie.  I am not sure if "acclimatizing" myself towards cigars is actually what I am doing.  I am not sure.  In my mind, I see it as more of a completely DIFFERENT experience that gives me a bridge to the camaraderie I do seek.  I can state with certainty that I am not "distancing" myself from my pipes.  They are still all about me, day-to-day.  I have perhaps talked about them less in the recent period.... not because they weren't on my mind....they were.... but because I was a) thinking most folks were getting awfully damn tired of my repetitive pipe stories and memories, sort of like the uncle or grandpa people roll their eyes at who repeat the same stories over-and-over, and b) trying to BE more positive, and sometimes when I am writing about my pipe cravings and the missing of my pipes, I feel like I am not being positive, because I miss them so.  I have been thinking about this, and I am thinking perhaps my plan should be to more focus here on writing of the beautiful pipe memories, because when I do, it does feel helpful and hopeful that I may figure out a potentially safe way to return.  

But that's a journey I can't walk for you; you are a unique individual and need to figure it out for yourself, and I can appreciate that the personal warm connections over your weekly cigars are a powerful palliative against some other sour relationships in your life. So, when you write of your cigars, I am sometimes out here feeling a bit saddened, wondering whether you are abetting a transition from pipe-smoker to nicotine-user, but I am also uncomfortable nudging you and wondering out loud whether the harm your soul is suffering by abandoning your pipes is for you outweighed by the bodily and social comforts you are finding in your weekly cigars.

I would ask that you to not stop "nudging" me.  I have found your insights in pipes and in my faith, and in all manner of things to always be thought provoking and helpful.
 

As for the other topics in this latest post, your talk about the memorization for the "practical exam" has me wondering... are students' attention spans actually less than they were a few decades ago? And, if so, is memorization a more difficult task for students today than it was when you were a student? And, if so, is there anything you and/or your students can do about that?

In my opinion, there has been a slide in attention spans for students.... but also for EVERYONE.  It may be only correlation and not causation, but the decline in attention span was first heralded at the onset of the MTV-short form video explosion into societal normalcy.  But, I am of the opinion that attention span further decayed and declined (exponentially, I may suggest) with the onset of the "smart phone" and the swiping and scrolling of social media like FaceBook, Instagram, Tik-Tok and that ilk.  We all have minimal attention now it seems. I recognize that my own attention span and willingness to, for example, read the necessary long-form journal articles related and relevant to my research and my “biology-ness” has declined.  I do still force myself to read them, but I feel an impatience that was not always there at times these days.

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Professor, if you need to squeeze a little extra time from your current Rockports, have you thought about getting some of those Dr. Scholl's-type inserts to give you fresh cushioning? That's no substitute for a new shoe, but if it can delay the purchase helpfully while helping your feet you might consider it. For that matter, when you get your next pairs of Rockports, you might even want to START OUT with inserts, so that what you wear out from the inside will be the inserts as much as the shoes themselves.

A wise set of suggestions!  Unfortunately, I have previously tried both with limited success.  In the old,worn shoes, the inserts would conform to the "divots" I had worn in the shoes and would not help significantly.  And, I have tried adding them to new shoes as well, but sadly, it appears that my feet are a very powerful force and when pitted against Dr. Scholl's.... my feet destroy them rather readily.... far quicker than I think should be reasonable.
 

Oh, and in these days of hyper-sensitive and litigious students, I'm not sure that I would have the nerve to toss a pouch of pipe tobacco towards a student, lest I be accused of some kind of assault... but I'm glad you've been able to do this as a productive part of your teaching routine. Nice!

Haha!  That is an interesting point.  But, in the times I have done this, it has typically been met with a quizzical glance and rather congenial follow-through by the students.  Perhaps I need to try it again this fall and see if the current crop responds differently. 

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Professor, your readers know that you feel things very deeply, and this post is another poignant example. But let me encourage you to consider something. Some of the things that bring you to tears are things that you have chosen. And I must assume that you've chosen them because they are the better choice for you. Instead of cutting off your sour relationships, you've persisted in them. So when those relationships cause you pain, you can consider that the pain is your choice -- that the pain of cutting off those relationships would cause you even greater pain. This should help you find hope instead of tears. And the same is true of your decision to cut yourself off from your pipes. For some reason you are afraid of embracing them again, and this fear is more meaningful to you than any sadness you may feel in their absence. 

All of the above is very true.  But I am at a loss on how to respond.  Perhaps what I can say is that maybe what I am doing is attempting to "play the odds" in what seems to be the "better" long-term strategy?  I am often fearful that if I act rashly (like cutting a relationship abruptly, or by simply picking up a pipe non-nonchalantly on a whim of desire) I am somehow reducing or eliminating the "long term" goal of exerting meaningful control over my life.

Meanwhile, far from being alone and unloved, consider that your wife is there, and that you are surely appreciated by at least your better students for whom you are helping to lay a foundation for their professional success. Even your part in the Poverty Simulation surely helped some folks to think and feel more deeply about their own good fortune by comparison.

All true.  I cannot add more to those positives.

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I see that my comment from a week ago has disappeared. I hope it's just a technical glitch, and that you didn't feel a need to delete it, Professor! In an earlier post you professed to value my comments, so even though I had been reticent to say too much lately I thought my attempt at encouragement would be welcomed. In any case, I hope the week since your last post has gone well, and that between your wife and your better students you are feeling the appreciation that you so well deserve. Good luck with it all, kind sir!

I truthfully DO NOT know or understand what happened.  I NEVER get rid of comments unless they are ads.  When I saw your comment above, I went exploring and even though I have no idea how it moved there, I was able to eventually find your comment (which is now back up) in some sort of "SPAM" folder on Blogger.  It made no sense.  First, I have no idea how to move or send anything to a "SPAM" folder in Blogger, nor would I do so.  It must be some sort of autoprocessor in Blogger?  Perhaps it keys in on some word or other?  I do not really know.  But, I apologize that it disappeared for a while.  

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PepperLady:

 

I know people who did the snap (food stamp) challenge. 

I have heard of that and think it is a good thing for folks to try.  It helps put things into perspective.  

PipeTobacco