Clarissa's Blog

This is a salad called fishes in the pond. There are little fishes sticking out of it.

The brown thing is tiramisu. There are also blinis with caviar that we’ll eat while trashing Russia. The tablecloth is traditional Ukrainian.

When 4 adults take care of a baby, sharing duties and rotating constantly, then it’s really easy. It must have been super easy to raise princes and princesses.

There are definite benefits to several generations living in the same house. But every participant needs to be in robust psychological health, and how often does that happen?

A female politician with a past checkered by scandal and accusations of corruption run for president against a sexist, obscenely rich oligarch-rapist. She lost because his populist promises were much more grandiose. He started selling the country out to his KGB handlers in Russia. The economy went entirely to the dogs. The public institutions were all undermined. All of his populist promises turned out to be egregious lies.

Finally, the people couldn’t stand it any longer. They went out into the streets by the million and refused to leave until the corrupt oligarch – rapist ran away. And the people started rebuilding the country that they themselves have allowed to slip into total shit. 

It’s what happened in Ukraine, by the way.

This is from somebody who is normally a very intelligent and strong blogger:

My Clinton/Kaine sign is staying in my window because that seems like the best way to indicate a safehouse.

A safehouse. Just like that.

Liberals seem ecstatic that Trump won because it allows them to feel deliciously apocalyptic. Taking out the trash and brushing their teeth become acts of incredible bravery in the midst of horrifying oppression.

Conservatives are disappointed and resentful that Trump won. For 8 years, they had an excuse to feel deliciously apocalyptic. Taking out the trash and brushing their teeth were acts of incredible bravery in the midst of horrifying oppression. And now what? It all goes to those stinky Liberals? And one has no more reason to feel sorry for oneself? How offensive!

Seriously, though, I’m seeing quite a bit of jouissance on the Liberal side. Was there an element of throwing the election in order to experience all this drama and to feel important and persecuted? I mean, nothing happened, and people rant about safehouses, and all that kind of crazy stuff.

Let’s face it, I will never hang out with people because they are “useful”, try to inflict myself upon anybody’s notice, or flatter people to make them notice me. Networking is contrary to human dignity, and so who needs it at the price of debasing oneself?

My method of networking is very different but it works a lot better. Example. Yesterday I was moderating one of the last sessions of the conference. Everybody came to the session: the lifetime achievement laureate, the president of the association, my editor, etc. During the question session, I made a comment that I knew everybody would disagree with. My comment was witty, and everybody laughed in spite of themselves. But everyone disagreed and started piling on me. I live for this kind of shit. I love to have a large group disagree with me. 
So everybody was attacking my position, and I was defending it, and it was lots of fun. And then the session ended.

There is no doubt that everybody who was there will now remember me. At the next conference, everybody will be my bosom buddy because people like recognition. Mission accomplished with no humiliating need to chase after people.

I never approach people at all, by the way. I let them approach me. 

I have to say, I’m bothered by the stories I’m seeing on Facebook from colleagues  (not at my university, obviously) who dedicate class time to an anti-Trump weeping session.

First of all, what if there is a student who is a Trump supporter? What right do you have to make him feel uncomfortable or weird when he’s paying for your time just like anybody else?

Also, infusing a teacher-student relationship with the possibility of emotional caretaking is dangerous because once you start to caretake, how will you find a way to stop?

Another thing that bothers me is that a person who is not qualified to offer mental health tries to do that and a person who is not a professional poli-sci person is offering unqualified opinions on politics. That’s not education, that’s a spinster sewing circle. Why should anybody pay tuition for this? Especially, as I said, if they don’t feel and think the same.

It was the same after 9/11. I wasn’t forcing anybody to come to class but once they came, there were no touchy-feely conversations. We worked like we usually did. Some students thanked me later because, as they said, it was nice to feel normal for a change. 

My sister, the businesswoman, said that Hillary lost because her branding stank. There was no recognizable slogan to match “Make America Great Again.” The message wasn’t primitive and aimed at total dumbasses. The candidate was not a funny clown. Hillary didn’t send out any tweets that people would wake up to read at 5 am. On social media, she didn’t dominate. 

We need a candidate with a really funny brood of pet kittens. The candidate will plaster Facebook over with cutesy photos and saccharine stories, and we’ll win. I’m completely serious.

It’s all about entertaining the bored and the sated.

I’m a Bernie supporter, and I believe he would have beaten Trump in the general election, and I hope he runs again in 2020.

Yeah, sure, let’s lose once again because it’s such a drag to have to look for new candidates whose ideas are not totally prediluvian. I’m sure Bernie won’t run unless he develops an aggressive form of dementia but I’m shocked by the people who have not been jolted out of their laziness even by the recent events. Anything goes, as long as one doesn’t have to learn a new name and process a new idea or two.

Trump also had debate questions leaked to him. Yes, as we have seen, debates mean nothing. But that’s not the point. The point is how pathetic, dishonest, and childish these people are. I would have never debased myself in such a way. And hey, these candidates are extremely, fabulously rich people. The stakes for them personally were beyond low. A lot lower than the stakes are for some poor sod who’s interviewing with 7/11 for a minimum wage job. But the poor sod in question has convinced himself that these people are capable of caring about him.