Klara talked to her Dad on Skype and he sang her their favorite song “Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone.”

After the conversation, Klara was singing, “No sunshine, she’s gone. . .” Then she turns to me and explains, “No sunshine. It’s not warm. I no need sun screen.”

People say we need to cite more women of color in our scholarship. I have a practical question. I can guess who’s a woman from the scholar’s name. How can I figure out if she’s of color? In Hispanic studies, the name is useless in this regard.

This reminded me of this fellow I used to work with who’d say things like, “Everybody says that you are a total bitch and a rancid whore but I don’t think it’s true. I hear people say this about you all the time, but I don’t believe it.”

I don’t know about everybody else, but Argentinians would be livid.

And what is “a thermal spring”?

Mueller’s indictment for 13 Russians is disastrous for anti-Trumpers. Not only is there zero evidence of any collusion, the Russians are indicted for promoting Trump and Sanders. Because there’s no difference to them.

This means that Russians are convinced there is no alternative to aggressive globalization. Their approach was “anything but Hillary” because Hillary is an unapologetic, aggressive globalizer. They believe that she would have put the US so far ahead in this game that there would be no competing with it. Anybody even slightly less enamored of globalization would be better for the Russians, who are still hoping to win this competition.

Just discovered that my union is endorsing Pritzker. This is the day when one event after another sorely tests my faith in humanity.

At my university, we have a tradition of team-teaching interdisciplinary courses. People from different disciplines come together to teach a course and show students how the same issue can be approached from different perspectives. For instance, next year I’m teaching a course on totalitarianism with a person from poli sci. A colleague in Germanic studies has taught a course on the Holocaust with a colleague from history. There is a course taught jointly by a professor of music and a professor of mathematics. These courses are wildly popular.

But now there is a new initiative that will prevent people from getting together to team-teach new courses. Instead, existing courses will be called interdisciplinary to preserve the tradition in name only while emptying it of any actual meaning.

This was written by one of the kids who survived the shooting. It’s heartbreaking but useful.

Turns out there are duvet covers with little ties on the inside of the corners. And duvets that have little loops for the ties that help the duvet stay in place. I have gone 40 years struggling with a duvet that shifts inside the cover and bunches up in one corner. And it turns out there are these little loops and ties to keep it in place. I just spent the first night of my life without bunching issues, and it is intense.

And then people ask why there is no alternative to capitalism. Folks who discovered the loops inside duvet covers won’t want to do without them. And the only way anybody is going to create duvet loops is if they are eager to take away market share from the guy who sells loopless duvets. What else can possibly motivate one to put any thought, let alone effort, in the loops? The milk of human kindness towards strangers who suffer from bunched up duvets? That’s not very likely.

The old saying in my country goes, “Those who get up early are rewarded by God.” The saying in my new country should be “Those who get up early are rewarded by Sam’s Club.”

Turns out there is free coffee (and desserts I can’t have) for early shoppers at the store. I’m a single mother until Sunday because N is at a conference, so the need for coffee is even higher than usual.