A Diversity Admit
August 21, 2022
A half-century ago, I wrote about MIT admissions for the school newspaper. I was told that MIT could easily fill every class with qualified students from America’s Imperial Capital, the Boswash (Boston-Washington) corridor.
Instead, it prides itself on admitting at least one student from every U.S. state every year, as well as multiple foreign countries.
Was I a diversity admit? After all, I was a resident of Oregon before I left for MIT. I have a vague understanding of how people feel when they suspect they are affirmative action admissions. I was asked by fellow students, once or twice, where I was from. “Oh, Oregon,” they said, nodding as if it explained something.
In the end, I feel I’ve done the place proud, in part by resisting the temptation to ever get anywhere near mathematics, science or engineering except as subjects of news stories.
As A Second Wave Feminist, I Am Pissed
August 21, 2022
I was a charter subscriber to Ms. Magazine. I wrote the Roe v. Wade extra edition of The Tech (OK, Beth told me to write it, but I wrote it). I have never dated a woman who wasn’t a feminist. With the exception of the ERA, I thought we’d settled all this. Imagine how pissed I am to find out that in the 21st-century not only don’t we have flying cars or humanoid robot servants, we don’t have abortion rights and we don’t have workplace equality. I was reminded of this bitter truth recently by an article about how hard it still is for a woman to have children and a career ― a choice that men don’t have to make.
All The Different Me’s: Late 70s Paul
August 21, 2022
Unsurprisingly, I continued to change after college. I view the three years between graduating and meeting Vicki as a time of maturation, in which I had my corners knocked off and my dreams put through the wringer of reality.
My The Tech friends have literally thrown away my entire wardrobe, so I dressed better, in clothes from Saks and Lord and Taylor. For the first time, I experienced real love. It ended up hurting me. I moved from Boston to San Francisco to Portland to San Francisco. How long ago was it? AP and UPI moved a picture of the front page of the New York Times each night at midnight eastern so editors could see what was important. Ah, for the days when mainstream media was mainstream.
I had four jobs in four cities before I found my niche in technical journalism, and made my way through one tumultuous bi-coastal love affair. Since this is not an autobiography, I will spare you the details (which are easily found at www.schindler.org).
What I had learned, by the time I met my future wife Vicki at a World Affairs Council wine tasting, was to listen more than talk, and to be careful to fall in love with the actual woman in front of me, not some idealized notion I had of that woman. That, and “Pay attention. They probably say what they mean and mean what they say.” These lessons have helped me through 42 years of marriage.
Clearly the lessons I learned made me a nicer person to be with. I was less egocentric and more interested in others. And little did I know that the 80s would give me a chance few people get: to live out my childhood dreams, briefly.
Right Column Redux: Phil Albinus
August 21, 2022
The column to the right on this blog contains permanent content, most of which has appeared at one time or another in the main body. I’ve decided to include a reminder.
Phil Albinus
The personal, professional and political musings of my friend and former colleague of the same name
Ask For Help
August 21, 2022
This and That
August 21, 2022
Colbert-Trump Game Show
Steven Colbert’s parody game show, Which Crime Is It, is priceless.
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Merchandising Gone Mad
Daniel Dern pointed me at the most tenuous piece of merchandising I’ve ever seen: Mini Waffles, French Toast Sticks, Mini Pancakes Kellogg’s Eggo The Mandalorian Galactic Homestyle Waffles.
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Frog Humor
“Time’s fun when you’re having flies” ― Kermit
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Funny Dialog
From the 2013 movie Las Vegas, Young woman to a retired guy at a bar: “You look like my grandfather ... got any drugs?” “Does Lipitor count?”