Intersections

Hey all...I had Hot Mama up for a wonderful weekend visit in the DSM. She is up here exploring some professional opportunities and visiting with Bubba and I. Hot Mama and I talked alot about leaving the academic world. My departure after 9 years was swift by many people's standards but necessitated by the instability at the institute where I worked in DC and the departure of my boss for a faculty job.

Hot Mama's discussions reminded me that I may not have thought through every aspect of the academic/private division. But it does occur to me that I definitely stayed in academics, in part, because of the romantic view of the professor. Teaches class, helps educate bright young minds, runs a small focused lab, etc.

Interestingly, Hot Mama and I discussed that you never actually got to see that romantic principle at work in big labs at big universities.

She is mulling over alot right now....but one book was of particular help for me and Hot Mama is reading it now too which is called"So What are you going to do with that" A must read for anyone who is a bit lost after waging the academic wars and wanting more sanity in their life.


On the other side of the metaphorical block, we have Jimbo who is fighting wars of a more urban nature. The gentrification wars. He was discussing with me this week how he has gotten some major negative feedback about his blog posting a few weeks back regarding the kids who hang out on the block, all dress alike, don't seem to be employed, and the occassional gunfire that does enrupt seems to always come from that same area......

Well Jimbo had people pulling that victimization non-sense and my favorite is the historical card - Shaw is a historically black neighborhood. Well, identity politics tends to crack quickly where large sums of money are to be made and Jimbo and his ilk are the pioneers that are taking owners capital and converting a neglected area into a place that is habitable by all (who have the money).

Here is the rub, which you probably picked up in the last paragraph. Jimbo is not going to earn a dime for his efforts and will not see a rent reduction in trying to get the community going in the right direction. No, people who rent in the city are being forced into marginal areas (well where else are you going to move? a closet in logan for twice the price?) to do the gentrification and the owners reap the rewards.

It is nothing new nor nothing to get exercised about...simple capitalism. However, like Hot Mama and her struggles with the nostalgia of the professorship, Jimbo seems to be confronting an analogous problem. Living in the city is great and living in edgy neighborhoods can be exciting and meaningful - but at some point, you get too old to keep moving and making neighborhoods livable that will then become too expensive for you to continue living in.

Bubba got a good job yesterday too.....

Intersections.....lots of people in my life are having large cosmic forces come together now. It will make for an interesting last part of the year.