Friday, December 29, 2017

QVELLING

Qvelling is what a Jewish mother does when her son gets into an Ivy League school or her daughter earns a Ph. D.  Well ...

This morning I received my very first email message from a grandchild, my just turned twelve year old grandson Samuel Emerson Wolff, who wrote to thank me for the fancy chess set I gave him.  It was a very well-composed, mature email message, written on his new laptop.  His father assured me that the chess set was Samuel's idea, not something pushed by dad, who is, of course, a famous grandmaster [another example of qvelling.]

Tip O'Neill famously said, "All politics is local" [he meant "are"].  Well, in the end, all of life is local, and this email takes precedence in my mind even over the Doug Jones victory.  I look forward to playing Samuel on the new set.  He will probably win, but that is just fine with me.  When Patrick was Samuel's age, he was a Master.

4 comments:

  1. In the coming year I look forward to applying for another job to supplement my current income. If I manage to teach at two different universities, I may manage to save enough money to survive during the summer months, when there is no work. And then, during the summer, I might actually be able to write and publish something so I can climb out of the hole I have fallen into. Please wish me luck.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is not your fault!! My generation was just lucky. I wish I could help.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hm. I would've said "politics is." I haven't looked it up to try to settle it, but I treat the term "politics" as akin to "ethics," "aesthetics," "metaphysics" - a singular noun, referring either to a certain collection of principles or beliefs or values as well as (in the case of politics and ethics) practices or activities; or else to the study of such collections. And a politic, pluralized into "politics" (which is distinguished contextually from "politics" in the former sense), I think of as a political body. But again, I haven't looked it up, and could be mistaken.

    But pedantry aside, congratulations on this milestone in your relationship with your grandson. (And happy belated birthday as well - I've been lurking here as always.)

    I also want to reply to Anonymous above. I can only share my experience, and can't advise you on what to do - but getting out of academia would not necessarily be a regrettable course! As a human being, you deserve better.

    Myself, after getting a master's and teaching part-time/contractually for a bit - for fast-food wages and no benefits, needless to say - I declined to pursue a PhD, because I knew that even that wouldn't help me to get a "real" teaching position. "Real" higher-academic positions are available only in something like the same sense as "real" jobs in sports. A few years ago, I turned my back on the whole business - but I continue to study informally today, and dream of becoming an author. Of course I must acknowledge, I had the opportunity to say goodbye in the first place only because of exceptional luck.

    As for employment and income, I have these three things: (1) a job as part-time support person for a sibling with a developmental disability; (2) wealthy, resourceful, and supportive parents; and (3) Social Security Disability benefits, due to mental health issues that render me incapable of holding a more traditional job. My sibling and I moved out of our parents' not too long ago (I was 31 at the time), and are doing quite well.

    In the end, all I can say is that I hope something better is possible for you, too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Contact us and ask your questions and queries directly to us MCA Realtime Callback Leads Capital Brokers are receiving calls from the Qualified Merchant

    ReplyDelete