Perhaps you wondered if this blog had ended with a whimper — a squeak from Rattatz...
... and Mr. Bone....
No, I am back. The Altexit plan has been implemented, but that only relates to law-proffing, not blogging, and part of the idea is to free the blog to go where it will go without tethering to teaching and the ineffable moral pull of the old scolding "You, a law professor."
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25 comments:
Best wishes for your retirement, Professor! (Can I still call you Professor? I started reading this while in law school, a good 9 years ago, so it always seemed natural to me.) I look forward to seeing where it takes you.
The electric neon rat.
The transition from black-and-white to color moves it from a doodle to art.
Welcome to retirement. You are going to love it.
Free at last, free at last.
Nothing at all changed when I retired. Same work, same place, same hours. Just the internet destination.
I still think you should have held out to see whether UWisc would implement a buyout plan.
Do art every day.
I am amazed your blogging influenced your decision to retire given your stated intent as self-expression rather than influencing others.
It does seem to have a winding down feel to it. I was disappointed for me but happy for you. I think you have a literary voice I could enjoy in a long format work. Do you realize how many Peanuts strips ended with the word "Rats"?
It needs a rat who dreams of participating in the black death.
Rat empowerment. Give rats the vote.
You, a rat blogger!
Self-express yourself by changing a single letter in a cliche, is my advice.
That was a Mary Ann Madden contest once. The best one I remember was
Easter Airlines, the wings of rabbit
(Eastern Airlines, the wings of man, was their ubiquitous ad tag line before the final mechanics strike)
But do it with cliches.
First the rats abandoned the SS Trump. Now this.
"I am amazed your blogging influenced your decision to retire given your stated intent as self-expression rather than influencing others."
Why?
I think I'd be more motivated to stay in the lawprof position if I were intent on furthering a cause of some kind (such as getting a particular sort of legal reform or change in the legal doctrine or bolstering something like abortion rights). I've never felt that way about my lawprof work. I am more about observing, understanding, and furthering conversation. I like to do that through legal writing and teaching, but I don't find enough other people who are like me. To me, understanding things (especially the way people think about things) is an end in itself. I think the people around me in law are much more about using law as a means. I don't get enough of the free-ranging mind that I want. I don't feel that what I have to give is best received in the context of law school. But it has been a great experience for the past third of a century — half of my life.
Retirement is OK if you have a vital living project or several to work on. You get to lose the clock forever ticking all day, every day, "next do this", "next do this", and asking "why do that - you don't have time, what's the point." You can learn new stuff - you do have the time. A friend of mine went to a monastery in the New Mexico desert for 30 days and it was a great idea because his life had been so high-powered that he needed to detox from it all. It's a different world and a better one. When people working look at me enjoying the summer sun mid-day on week days, I say "I worked from 17 to 64. You'll enjoy it when it happens to you."
Why?
I see where developing and using influence could conflict with both your separate goals as a professor and others' understanding of your responsibilities. It's hard to see a conflict between these same goals and responsibilities and your self-expression.
I think I'd be more motivated to stay in the lawprof position if I were intent on furthering a cause of some kind
It seems to me this is only true if your hypothetical included a change to your personal constitution as well as your intent.
our hostess is obsessed with her own doodles. i knew it would come to this.
"Can I still call you Professor?"
As long as they vote to give me emerita status. Maybe they'll say no. Everyone else, but no, not her. She has that blog....
a) That scolding, at least when used in these threads, always seemed like a joke, especially when the folks using it didn't know the joke was on them.
b) Maybe Althouse can start jabbering about being religious. This could lead to a new scold. Presumably the fear of burning in hell is nearly as consequential as some sort of law prof backlash.
She has those commenters...
"She has those commenters..."
Those deplorable commenters.
Free-range commenters.
Irredeemable commenters.
congrats
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