Thoughts and Interesting Stories---Jeff Clark

I had my right knee replaced on Thursday, May 22. My activities since then have been very limited, doing PT, elevating my leg, taking painkillers. I have been catching up on my reading a bit. In anticipation of my downtime I have accumulated a number of e-books in my Kindle account that I have been rotating through as my whim takes me. Here are some short descriptions of my current books: The African Trilogy by Chinua Achebe.  Many years ago, upon the recommendation of others, I used Things Fall Apart as one of my readings when teaching our university's first-year Global Experiences seminar. It covered a lot of good themes and not just the prominent colonialism. Recently I saw a reference to the fact that Things Fall Apart was only the first book in a chronological trilogy and have enjoyed rereading it prior to getting to the next two books. The Elements of Journalism by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel. It has been many years since I last taught our university's first-year Globa...

I guess I should be glad to have outlived the cartilage in my knees; it would be sad if it outlived me. I had my left knee replaced in 2021. The arthritis crossed a threshold where I could no longer ignore it and limped painfully, eventually swallowing my vanity and using a cane. This happened in the Fall of 2020 and I had no desire to enter a hospital during the pandemic until there was a vaccine to provide me with some kind of immunity. I received the vaccine during the 2020-2021 academic year and then it was a matter of deferring the surgery until classes ended for the year and my grades were in. The phrase "bone saw" kept running through my mind but I knew that knee replacement surgery was a well-established procedure and had many friends who had had the surgery so I knew my odds were extremely good. It was unknown but made sense on some level. Now that threshold has crossed for my right knee; in September 2024 I was stepping off of a curb and my knee went ping, audibly. ...

Joe Biden has been on my radar for many decades. The start was back in 1991-2 during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings. It was not a good start; I felt that Anita Hill was treated horribly by the Senate collectively and Biden chaired the Judiciary Committee at that time. (Side question:  what was there in Thomas's resume that made sense of his nomination? Long before I heard Anita Hill's name that question bothered me.) Biden kept popping up on my radar, particularly when he chaired the Foreign Relations Committee. Over time I found that in interviews his opinions were the most nuanced. That was probably when I learned a bit about his personal tragedy, losing wife and child in a car accident. He tried a few times for the Democratic party nomination for president; it didn't go well.  Long-term senators often lose the ability to speak concisely that is so important in campaigning nationwide. At some point he gave a speech that plagiarized another politician and his pr...

The period between the end of classes and final exams is often filled with students requesting special treatment, for the rules to be bent for them (and possibly for others, but definitely for them). There are often extenuating circumstances but the wiggle room for me as an instructor tightens up considerably at this point. If extensions are needed waiting to ask for them until after the end of classes is pushing it. But:  our president asks for special treatment. But:  politicians advocating on behalf of religious groups who want to be freely able to discriminate ask for special treatment. But:  two of our supreme court justices demand special treatment for their bribes. Our students have too many examples right now of powerful people demanding special treatment because of their power. As my students have very little power over me at this point in their careers I can freely say no but for many of them the no's will fade over the years if they persist.

 

I will be getting my right knee replaced in thirteen days. I have met with the surgeon to discuss the surgery; met with his assistant to go over my pre-operative steps; discussed with a hospital nurse which of my medications to stop before my surgery and when.  My wife scheduled her Family Medical Leave months ago. But I have life to get through before then. Final exams occur next week. I have a couple more class meetings before then. I'm still meeting with students for office hours and by appointments. The cortisone shots that have allowed me to function (walk without pain on flat surfaces but still needing the elevator to avoid painful stairs) are wearing off and I can't have any more this close to surgery. So I am beginning to limp. I think I can make it through final exams without using a cane. I have good health care through my employer. I am affluent enough to pay for the co-pays. Why do I merit these when so many of my fellow citizens don't? Why does our economic sta...

I don't have particularly good memories of my childhood; I'm a strange person with little interest in the things most people care about and fervent geekdom about obscure topics.  It took me longer than most I think to find a place where I felt that I fit in. Once I did I then had a hard time figuring out what I wanted to do with my life. I schooled at a research university and knew that research was not my passion so much as understanding and explaining things. Eventually I landed at my current job and have felt very supported with it. This is to say that I am happier on a day-by-day basis now than in my youth and that nostalgia has never really had a hold on me. Things in the world are bad now; a sadist is president and our country's support for people in need dwindles further each day. But I know as a white male that things have been bad for women and people of color for quite some time. It is hard to think of a golden age when all of God's children were treated with ...