why komodo dragon exists

the past three weeks or so have not been the best part of my life by far, and that is, in itself, an understatement.

but then again, aided by fried meat (with onions), some decent drink and a friend who knows little of the lizard world, i came to a solution.

yes, the komodo dragon. (for some reasons, one of the most respectable lizard species in the known universe)

photo by Tim Knight

the komodo dragon is an overkill of evolution. it is huge (3m or 10 ft+). ir can run real fast (about 20 km/h or 12.5 mph), it can climb trees and attack from above, it can dig holes, AND its saliva is poison to most living organisms on earth. the komodo dragon likes human meat (killing the carrier of the meat prior to consumption, lol). in addition, it is hard not to describe it as a beautiful specimen of the lizard race.

so, you might ask here, what’s the point?

but you see, there is some.

buried

under mountains of test papers, i
make a tiny little cave  for
unexpected survival in a world
full of too many words

and too many sorrows

the invisible life of the academic jungle

the university is a very many-sided and complex institution. it reminds of a jungle with plenty of species and life-forms that interact in intricate patterns. so i tried to write some of them down here. just in case. (yes, this week has been quite hectic and totally exhausting, and i need some nonsense to cheer me up, even if it is self-made) (also, click on the invisible picture below)

academic: evloveld species, close to the top of the food-chain; by the time they have reached full maturity, specimens have shrivelled and developed various incongruous capacities.

brainstormer: the invisible entity activated by beer, generates endless lists of probable, yet undoable things. if correctly channelled, may lead to creativity.

clouder: invisible amoeba that has chosen the space between window-panes for its habitat; extremely active towards the middle of lecture; allows people see strange and attractive pictures against the background of the sky.

crabway: has minimum fifteen little wriggling legs, each complete with a little claw.

summer term. technology. fragrances.

the lindens are on blossom. the fragrance spells ‘summer’ in capslock all over the city.

the greater jasmine add their creamy lightness to the tinge of rose in the air.

this morning the tomtit brought his brood to my window.

i have signed the last of papers with student marks.

on the whole this academic year has been better than i expected. i have had the rare experience of being in the company of brilliant, supportive, smart, creative, caring and unique student personalities. thank you.

academic nightmares

thus

there is this dream:

there are course descriptions like little boats floating in the air.

and then there comes a leaviathan, a white whale (like moby dick in the film), and jumps, and eats them.

and i wake up in horror.

———————

parallel to the course description revision, i read. currently – rereading the prince by machiavelli.

nothing is new under the sun.

one of those things, apparently

so, i have finished grading the exam in, what a student accidentally called in a private email to me, hystery of english. it is rather a hilarious subject, as everyone might guess, full of surprises for sure.

today i was looking through the result analysis, and stumbled upon the simple question “who compiled the Oxford English Dictionary?” the answers included Samuel Johnson (correct, 88% of 227 attempts), Ben Johnson (long dead, or American, 4%), John Samuels (just for fun, 1%) and Joseph Smith. surprisingly many (7%) had clicked the answer ‘Joseph Smith’. who, if history be believed, compiled the book of mormon.

i wonder, what it might mean. probably just one of those things that happen in a multiple choice exam.

hilarious, as i said above.

untitled

the snark was a boojum, of course.