Sun. 3/23/2014-I just returned from delivering a paper at Oxford University for the Oxford Round Table conference on Women in Academia.  My paper was extremely well received and, for some reason, everyone asked if I blogged.  I said no, and they couldn’t believe it and urged me to do so.  I have no idea why.  I tried to remember what I’d said in my presentation that would lead them to think I should, but I really don’t understand the connection between my paper and a blog.  Maybe it’s because I don’t blog and am not familiar enough with what blogs do to make the connection.  But, the attendees were so insistent, that here I am.

However, I am *totally* new to this, so forgive any faux pas.  I know what a blog is, but really find it hard to believe that I would just write something and a complete stranger would find it and have thoughts about it they would want to share.  Of course, the other thing is how in the world I would fit it on my plate.  I already rise at 3:30 a.m. each day to get to the gym by 5, then I’m busy until I turn in somewhere (on a good day) around 8:30 or so.  So, how this fits in, I’m not sure.  We’ll see.

Of course, the other biggie is why in the world I would write something that could lead to making me a public target of the crazies I see responding to things on the Web.  Most of us spend our days trying to avoid trouble.  This seems like it is asking for it.  But, I guess if something I said could be of help, it might be worth it.  Again, we’ll see.

Since I teach, and do so at a public university, I must be mindful of that in my postings.  It is important to me that I not do anything to lead my students (or colleagues, I guess) to feel I am not totally there with them as I do what we do together, whether it is my lectures or a private conversation.  I wouldn’t want my public musings to get in the way and interfere with how we intersect.  I’ll have to see how that works out.  It’s probably not an issue I have to worry about, since I can’t imagine them even finding this.  But weirder things have happened…

I do know enough about myself that I should warn you up front that if writing is involved, I tend to be wordy.  Not injudicious wordiness, but wordy nonetheless.  I am a lawyer, a professor, and a legal textbook author, so I am used to speaking and writing for a wide audience that has varied ethnicities, national origins, genders, languages, backgrounds and understandings.  As such, I try to be as clear as possible, and that tends to take more words.  A blog communicates.  The whole purpose of communication is to get what is in my head over to your head with as little distortion as possible, is it not?  The usual shortcuts we take in conversation can end up leading to miscommunication and I want to avoid that as much as possible, and that takes words.  At least I warned you up front.  🙂

Two things: 1) If you haven’t seen Rep. John Lewis (D-GA)’s “Happiness” video on YouTube yet, you should.  I heard about it on CNN while driving and viewed it when I got home.  It has really stayed with me. He’s 74 and dancing to Pharell’s Oscar-award-nominated “Happiness” song.  The YouTube video is actually in two parts, and my favorite is the second one where he goes to his office and, at the door, talks about Congress needing to get it together so they can make everyone happy.  Click here for the link. Well worth watching.  With the life he has led in public service trying to make the world a better place for all of us, Congressman Lewis deserves a bit of fun.

2) If you haven’t yet read anything by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (pron AH-dee-chee-yay), you should. She is a phenomenal writer.  I read her “Americanah” on my trip to Oxford and on the way back began “Half Of A Yellow Sun” (a 2013 Nigerian movie starring familiar American audience favorites Thandie Newton,  Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Anika Noni Rose).  She is a phenomenal writer and I am so glad she is getting a lot of press.  I will tell you that she deals with issues involving the intersection of her Nigerian background and American living, but that SO does not tell the story of her worth.  She is just an awfully good storyteller.  I can’t believe what comes out of her head.  I happen to be interested in the intersection of those things as one who cares about being inclusive and understanding that this first means we must have some understanding of what/who we are including, but her writing goes so far beyond that.  I almost didn’t even want to tell what she writes about because just reading what I wrote will have some people exclude her from their reading list simply because that is not something they are interested in (I’m making , just stating a fact).  But, you would be depriving yourself of a great writer for such a wrong reason.  When you see her writing, you will understand what I mean.  It’s like telling you that Citizen Kane was about a man who owned a newspaper.  Though that’s true, it simply is the least of what it is about.

Adichie is a great, great writer and I believe her writing brings so very much to the table.  The breadth of her writing is breathtaking.  She is simply pure, unadulterated genius.  I have so much to do, but knowing I have one of her books to dig into every time I get a spare minute (usually on the way to sleep) reminds me of why I have loved reading all of my life.

I’ve gotta stop here.  I have absolutely GOT to go walking!

P.S. My Oxford Round Table paper was “The Impact of Race, Gender and Sexual Orientation in the Academy: A Retrospective Approaching Retirement As Much Celebration as Cautionary Tale.”

P.P.S.  I decided not to retire after all.