Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Di, Di, Di My Darling

Okay, so I'm still having fun reading Dr. Di's Blog. It really is very funny. She's hit that perfect combination of silly new age fluff and very high self regard that you just can't get on the East Coast.

But, I've got to say, as silly as she is, there's something really creepy about designing a whole chunk of a website dedicated to taking her down. I mean, they do discuss other issues there, but after reading about four or five of their Blaine Chronicles, you start thinking that there's just something really sad and obsessive about all of this. I've said this before- the alienated loser usually aims no higher than ruining someone who they feel is undeservedly successful. In this case, they seem to be making it their life's work.

I think they went nuts because she apparently wrote a hysterical editorial for the school paper about rape on campus, and they consider this to be anti-male bullying. So, they're apparently dedicating their lives to "holding her accountable" which, as always, seems to mean getting her fired.

What pipsqueaks! God, if there's anything sillier and more trivial than a self-absorbed new-age- fluffy academic, it's the sort of sheltered loser that obsesses about how unfair and tragic it is that they have to encounter a self-absorbed new-age-fluffy academic at some point in their lives. Both the Dr. and the losers are totally paranoid, convinced that they're martyrs to their own quixotic causes. Sheesh! It's like watching two chihuahuas in a fight.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why on earth do they think she's successful? She's an adjunct instructor who will never receive tenure -- not if she's still a lecturer at this age.

If they think she's successful, it's because they are quite obviously morons. But if she acts even 1/2 of like she acts in her classroom as she acts on the blog, no wonder she set people off. She needs to take it down a notch. or ten.

Rufus said...

Maybe they don't think she's successful. Who knows. They keep talking about how she needs to be fired because of her boobie pics and ridiculous letter to the school paper. I'm thinking maybe they need to let it go. You know, there's always dating...

As for what she acts like in the classroom, that's the big issue, isn't it? None of us have actually taken a class with her. If her student evaluations are as great as she says, then I'm not sure why the school should care that her blog is goofy. Maybe she's a gem in the classroom and a nut on the web. Wouldn't be the first time.

Also, she's apparently not been at USC for that long. Maybe she got booted from her last job and will never recieve tenture. Maybe she will. Again, we're not really in any position to tell. I just think the whole thing is ridiculous.

SecondComingOfBast said...

Is she putting the prospect of ever getting tenured in jeopardy? Personally, I hope not, I think profesors should come from a diverse segment of political thought, including the idiotic of both extremes, depending of course on how this translates in their relations with their students.

From what little bit I've seen, she strikes me as a Wiccan fluff bunny, aggravating perhaps but basically harmless.

Rufus said...

The short answer is "No, not really". If she goes into her class and harasses the young men and makes the situation unpleasant for them, that could hurt her. But, she claims that the students love her and that her evaluations are stellar. And, not to be too cruel, but she sounds to me like the sort of prof who gives nearly everyone an A+.

The case for firing her sounds so totally overblown. She wrote a dopey editorial? And? And her website is goofy? And? I just can't imagine USC is going to care about her dopey website or letter to the editor.

Of course, the other thing is publications, and she seems to be the type who publishes a lot. Now, if there's a lot of merit in a book about her breasts... well, that's a different question.

But, no, I just don't buy the argument that she needs to get fired for being a flake.