Clarissa's Blog

I got up freakishly early today – at 6:45 am. And it’s the weirdest feeling to be up so early. I’m strangely energized. Maybe I should do it more often, just to shake things up.

If I see yet another “nobody should be judged for their beliefs”, I will scream. Where is this strange idea even coming from? Of course, everybody should be judged for their beliefs. We are not doomed to our beliefs. If you choose to believe shitty, disgusting or stupid things, that’s your choice, and I’m absolutely judging you for that. And please feel free judge me in turn.
The belief in the sacred nature of beliefs should be abandoned. 

Freak sites like Naked Capitalism are having a very funny hissy fit over being named as sites infected with Russian propaganda in the famous WashPo piece. It’s truly hilarious because the idiots have stunk of Putinbotism for years but had no idea they were being used to spread propaganda. Because they are that dumb.

Of course, there are tons of insignificant little bloggers who are used to spread propaganda that they happily gobble up. One is the fellow called Mike the Mad Biologist.

Since I’m not going to a resort, I decided to visit the spa for a nice, relaxing procedure. As I was browsing the list of services they offer, I realized that the only procedure I want is the one where they bring me to a room with dimmed lights and quiet music, and then everybody leaves me be so that I can stare at the wall for an hour. Yes, I know there’s a work of literature about this.

I’m friendly with the spa owner and I could definitely ask her to rent me one of her rooms for an hour. She knows that I’m.  . . erm.  . . eccentric. But there is a distance between eccentric and full-blown crazy, and I don’t want to cross it in too much of a rush.

Hey, I’ve been buried in syllabi creation and I completely missed it! Out new Secretary of state is that very Exxon CEO who can’t quit making kissy face with Putin.

This is getting ridiculouser and ridiculouser. With every new cabinet appointment one goes, “Well, this is the absolute worst. At least, it can’t get worse than that!” And then you discover that yes, it can. 

The whole thing has gotten to the point of being frankly funny. A cabinet of billionaires and a billionaire president elected to look out for the interests of the common folks! And they all belong to Putin! 

A sea of laughs.

I’m teaching a course on literature of the crisis (known on this blog as the erosion of the nation-state by liquid capital) next semester. But all of the texts I’m putting on the syllabus are not the ones that I analyze in my book. Because I don’t want to be boring to myself. 

There will be essay, theater, poetry and short story of the crisis. No novels because I don’t make students buy books.

Some Republican called Dana Rohrbacher is arguing on TV that Russians are right in bombing hospitals in Aleppo because they defeated Hitler and are entitled.

Some nameless Democrat is responding with the equally maddening “Russians need to understand that there won’t be peace in Syria until.” The Republican is simply repeating the new party line that the KGB is writing for them. But I’m angry about the idiocy of their opponents who think that all that’s needed is to explain things to people because everybody is dumb and needs enlightenment. The possibility that Russians understand everything perfectly well and have zero interest in peace doesn’t visit their one-dimensional brains.

This is the greatest problem of leftists everywhere. They believe that everybody is exactly the same and wants exactly the same things that magically coincide with those these very leftists want. And if somebody doesn’t act in accordance with what leftists want that can only be because they are uninformed and need to be explained how things really are and what their interests really consist of.

We are caught between two brands of blind dumbness.

A successful teacher doesn’t bring themselves into the classroom. They bring their teaching persona. This is especially important if you are working in secondary education or with freshmen in college. If students find a chink in your armor, they’ll eat you alive. What’s curious is that male high school teachers often suffer quite badly because they keep going into the classroom just as they are, without any padding between their vulnerable human self and students.

I had a student last year who was desperate to provoke me. What he didn’t know is that it’s impossible to provoke me because I’m not there. The persona is.

Every class the student went out of his way to inform me that he hadn’t brought the textbook and couldn’t write anything because he lacked both a pen and a notebook. When that failed to elicit any reaction, he faked falling asleep. Then he pretended to listen to music in his headphones. Then he took to walking around the classroom. 

I was completely indifferent to these antics because I can’t feel hurt or disrespected in the classroom since I’m not there. I actually really liked the student because his Spanish was superb and I could always count on him to answer everything correctly and set the example for other students. 

The important thing is that you can’t fake it. Faking is a mistake because students will figure it out immediately. And the most crucial thing ever: never make it about yourself. I don’t mean don’t share stories from your life. Of course do that because it’s a great strategy. But don’t make the interaction about your feelings or your real-life self.

I’m writing this because somebody I know who’s a school teacher was almost in tears today because, he says, students are bullying him. What he doesn’t get is that he brings his vulnerability, his self that can be bullied into the classroom, and that freaks students out. They realize that if an adult is terrified of bullying, then they definitely don’t stand a chance against fear of bullying. And they try to destroy him because the spectacle of his vulnerability hurts them.

What’s hard is leaving the ironclad, unreachable persona at work every day. Nobody wants to interact with a Teflon creature outside of the classroom. 

N suggested that I go to a resort while he stays with Klara. He’d love to go but he has no more vacation days. Of course, it’s great that he wants to do this for me but I won’t have a good time without him and Klara. 

I’m so ready for the visit of our Peruvian relatives that yesterday I made papas a la huancaina and today I’m toasting maiz cancha. And if you never tried them, you have lived your life in vain.

This was my very first attempt at making papas a la Huancaina, so they didn’t come out perfect. I’ll make them again and then post the recipe. I’m very constrained by N’s hatred of spicy stuff because this recipe calls for the very spicy aji amarrillo.