The Funniest Comment Ever

Altogether, people left over 6,000 comments on this blog. The funniest one, however, has been made today by an anonymous reader. Here it is:
You know, Clarissa, you really are just the epitome of everything that is wrong in the world. You may be an Aspie, but that is insignificant in comparison to what a rotten person you are. There is nothing wrong with being provocative, but one should have the

Older Posts

Placing a gadget that randomly shows older posts in the right-hand panel of the blog has been a great idea. I'm glad that people are discovering some of the posts that I wrote a long time ago when the blog only had half a dozen readers. So if you want to leave comments to older posts, feel free to do so. It is never too late to revive the discussion. I will see all your posts immediately, and

An Initiative to End Male Genital Mutilation

What a great initiative that is long overdue in this society:
If the San Diego–based advocacy group MGMbill.org has its way, locker rooms of the future will be a very different place. The group, founded in 2003, is dedicated to preventing the circumcision of newborns. (MGM is the acronym for male genital mutilation.) Last week, the group’s regional directors contacted some 2800 legislators in

Misogynist Priests in Russia

Classes were cancelled today, and I also forgot to bring my external hard drive home. So now all I can do is blog and cook. Which wouldn't be that bad if it happened at any point in the semester. Well, I'll stop complaining now.
My reader Canukistani brought it to my attention that the most recent bizarre pronouncement by a priest of the increasingly radicalized Russian Orthodox Church has made

More Snow

It's snowing really hard, and I'm afraid classes might be cancelled tomorrow. This would be the worst possible moment for that. I have a grant proposal due on Friday, and tomorrow is crucial. Also, I so don't want to cancel any more classes so early in the semester. Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Teaching Stories

A colleague presented the syllabus for her advanced course in literature to her students. The students looked over the list of readings and asked:
"Erm. . . will we have to. . . like . . . read these novels."
"Yes, of course," said my colleague.
"Maybe you should just give us like little summaries of these books," one student suggested brightly.
"Yes! Totally!" everybody concurred.

Neil McKenna's The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde: A Review

After the disappointment of Selina Hastings's biography of Somerset Maugham, I didn't expect much from Neil McKenna's The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde, a book that has served as an inspiration to Hastings. Still, I was too sick to process anything more complex than a biography, so I decided to give it a try. To my surprise, I really liked it.

For one, McKenna doesn't take on a task that would be