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Just in time for "Language behaviour indexes social identities" week in Intro Linguistics: www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?com...

So unbelievably lucky to get to see my all-time favourite musicians in the city where I grew up, at an outdoor venue with plenty of fresh air and perfect weather.

Listening to podcasts and baking cookies, the perfect start to a Sunday.

I am once again urging you to add a thread to your class discussion board where students can post pics of their pets. I'm feeling nervous about the first class of the semester but I also get to enjoy excellent cats and dogs on my screen.

"LLMs cannot replace the expertise, empathy, insight, experience of teachers because teaching is a relationship. Do not let anyone automate any parts of your work you value and do well."

Worth reading: (Also now I want to watch the movie Pride again)

Classes start a week from today. Thanks to decades of formation, I'm tense and jittery. BUT: 1. The sun is shining and the breeze is deliciously cool. 2. My prep is done for Week 1 of both courses. 3. My office Snack Box is stocked with high-protein, ø-lactose- treats. This is going to be ok.

As I prepare for my #IntroLinguistics course I'm thinking a lot about the word "generative" and how it means something different to linguists than to techbros. So I added a textbook section about it. I hope it's useful to you too! ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/essentialsof...

Today, with 11 work days before the semester begins, my brain finally flipped from Do Things The Excellent Way mode into Do Things the Easy Way mode, thank god.

I know what I’m doing this weekend: @mattielubchansky.com

We celebrated our 1st anniversary at a fancy French restaurant in Chicago. In 2000, cell phones were socially conspicuous. The 1st time a fellow diner answered his phone, the maître d’ scolded him roundly. The 2nd time, the diner was seized by the elbow and escorted out, much to our satisfaction.

Doing some digital housekeeping and realized that I have files for a single project spread across FIVE different cloud accounts. Not in any systematic, secure way, just in a chaos way.

I heard it was #WorldEmbroideryDay , which feels like a good time to share this piece I designed for a friend who is very fond of Roseate Spoonbills. Besides the Bird Nerd itch, it also scratches the Word Nerd itch, because ‘crone’ is cognate with ‘crane’ if you look back far enough.

This is because it takes a lot of work to keep a university running. Research gets the glory, but in a healthy institution, senior academics are actively involved in decisions about curriculum, policy, admissions, hiring, IRBs, awards, promotions, and a million other essential functions.

Look, I know everything is terrible, but I got a tattoo of a white-breasted nuthatch last week, and every time I see my arm I get a little burst of joy and say to myself, "ooo, nuthatch!"

A doozy of a thread for the #RacioLinguistics files:

I regret to report that, a full eight weeks before classes start, in the 25th year of my teaching career, the teaching anxiety dreams are here again.

Matching my N95 to my rainbow unicorn hat, as one does. Plus thematically coordinated manicure.

So useful!

It’s been at least two decades since I set foot in a laundromat, and I’m finding it strangely peaceful. But also taking the opportunity to be grateful that I can usually wash my clothes in my own home.

A thing that I like: in #HamOnt there is a social norm of thanking the bus driver when alighting, even from the back doors. A simple little ritual that preserves a bit of care in our daily routines.

3/ There's definitely labor-saving value in having a program do a lot of brute force work much more quickly than a human can, even a human with a latin dictionary. But the sense-making is still human work, and human work that requires prior knowledge and understanding.

Once at the farmer's market I asked the young man at the stall for "a couple of those yellow zucchinis" and he replied, as witheringly as only a 14-year-old can reply, "they're Summer Squash".

I, on the other hand, am feeling totally Pɽoədʉl because I’m already anticipating how I’ll use this in a lecture in September.

Feeling a little glum today, but OTOH, turquoise! 🩵

guys, guys, guys: this is happening!!!!!!!!!!! I did not know they had any tour dates in Canada and then my brother told me about this! I am beside myself with anticipation.

The academic urge to intellectualize one’s experience of beauty when what one really needs is a good cry.

a glimpse of how Canada is doing: coffee menu at fancy French bakery in Vancouver lists a Canadiano rather than Americano

Instant earworm

Happy to report that I just supported my local indie AND my favourite purveyor of audiobooks by pre-ordering from @libro.fm !

I can’t recall ever having felt quite so bleak about the slate of candidates, but I still voted. Thanks to our highly functional system, the polling site was plenty busy but nobody had to stand in line, even in the after-work timeslot!

We soon leave for a big trip to celebrate our 25th anniversary. For several years leading up to it we thought we’d go to Scotland. Today I am extra thankful that we changed our minds and booked a trip within Canada. 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Sometimes before my voice teacher arrives I really don’t feel like singing. But then I spend an hour singing and everything is better. This is the song I’m working on right now: youtu.be/mYZO8v94_iw?...

Took the twins out for a fancy dinner to celebrate their 17th birthday and am here to report that having grown-up children is very, very lovely.

The best, hands down. In fact, I'm going to go buy some right now.

Good advice for many parts of life:

Enjoying delicious Caribbean food and celebrating the launch of my colleague Ingrid Waldron’s book: a rigorous documenting of the racist history and present of mental health care. www.emerald.com/insight/publ...

I know the O Train has been plagued but I still really love riding public transit in other cities #TinyJoys

1000 times this:

omg adding to syllabus immediately

Just a reminder that I wrote a book, it’s called The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman, it’s out in May via @utexaspress.bsky.social , and you should pre-order it wherever you can.

So excited about this future book!

Wore my Medusa-themed “female gaze” shirt and Ann Boleyn-themed “sorry not sorry” pin today and realized only at 6:45 pm that I had been rocking a beheading theme all day. 💇🏼‍♂️

This post cogently and succinctly sums up all my misgivings about “generative” artificial “intelligence”.

For those looking for a comfort read/listen, my book club just discussed Rules for Ghosting, a gentle queer & trans romance set in a Jewish funeral home. I complemented the discussion with homemade chicken noodle soup. #TinyJoys libro.fm/audiobooks/9...

Just attended the most amazing talk, "Resisting Backlash to Progress" by @oniblackstock.bsky.social. Full of concrete, practical strategies for advancing justice even when there's friction.

Make the switch to Libro.fm from Audible ❤️ We might not have a space ship or fancy ads with celebrities critiquing listening speeds, but we do support independent bookshops (and in our opinion, that's way better). libro.fm/switch

Well, isn't this a very nice way to start the week!