See You June 1
Posted on May 20th, 2006 in Uncategorized | 16 Comments »
Even bloggers need vacations, and it’s been monthsâliterally, monthsâsince my last. So, along with some family members and some friends, I’m headed to the Galapagos Islands. We fly to Quito today, then out to the islands tomorrow, and get on a boat…
…and I must say, I’m delighted. Visiting the Galapagos, the islands that inspired Darwin to write The Origin of Species, has been a lifelong dream of mine, and in recent months I’ve been boning up on themâreading E.O. Wilson, Darwin, and Jonathan Weiner’s excellent The Beak of the Finch, going to the Darwin exhibit at the Museum of Natural History, watching Deep Sea 3-D at the Imax theaterâtwice. (Yes, you have to wear the glasses. Click on this link to see the trailer, which is too short but pretty great. )
Most of all, I’m looking forward to the diving, which is considered by some to be the best in the world. If we’re lucky, we’ll see manta rays, hammerhead sharks, Galapagos sharks, and whale sharksânot to mention an incredible diversity of smaller fish life. (But I’ll admit, it’s the hammerheads I really want to see; occasionally in the Galapagos, divers find them swimming in schools…of hundreds. How great is that?)
The point is, all this will provide many new Moments of Zen.
The downside is that I will be far, far away from any Internet connection, and so this blog will lie fallow for about a week. I’ll be back and writing again June 1, so…mark your calendars. And if there’s something you’d like me to know about in the meantime, please either post it below or e-mail it to me. (Just click on Contact to the left.) I promise, I’ll read it first thing.
Have a wonderful week, everyone. See you soon.
16 Responses
5/20/2006 10:34 am
WOW…take me with you.
5/20/2006 1:03 pm
When does the Boston Magazine piece come out?
5/20/2006 2:48 pm
Have fun.
5/21/2006 4:16 pm
Writing from Quito…thank you, I´d love to, and right around June 1….
5/22/2006 4:26 pm
Dennis Thompson, eh?
5/22/2006 5:39 pm
Sheesh. Talk about predictable. Probably no one lost money on this one…
5/22/2006 10:36 pm
richard, we knew you couldn’t stay gone from the blog - good to hear from you … suppose you heard about Bok naming Knowles interim FAS Dean … sounds good to me, or at least comfortable. I’m glad Bok did this before Summers had the chance to name someone (or maybe someone’s putting the rein on Summers? finally!)
5/23/2006 3:17 pm
Actually reappointing Rudenstine’s dean is quite a resounding vote of confidence in Rudenstine’s stewardship…
5/24/2006 3:02 pm
you don’t deserve a vacation. instead of swimming with the hammerheads, you should be here blogging away on matters harvard. shame on you. you need to join opus dei and self-flagellate upon your return
5/25/2006 9:52 am
yes, 2 months since your last vacation?!
5/25/2006 3:25 pm
Prompted by the earlier post on appointments of deans.
Here is Summers record (excluding the last minute Ed and B School appointments, which were dictated by the faculties and in effect made by Bok):
Kirby-F
Laggeman-F
Kagan- A (but a no brainer because unanimous choice of faculty)
Ellwood — Incomplete
At best a 50 per cent success. Not so good even with grade inflation.
Rudenstine’s record includes one failure and a few ordinary choices, but even with his longer term with more chances to make mistakes he made some of the best appointments ever at Harvard:
Knowles A- (The minus only because he was TOO fiscally conservative)
Kim Clark A
Al Carnesale A ? (but term as dean too short to judge)
Joe Nye A-
Barry Bloom B+
Jerry Murphy B (but faced hard problems)
Bryan Hehir A+
Joe Martin A
Harvey Fineberg (Provost) B+
Al Carensale (Provost) A
Jerry Green (provost) F
5/26/2006 8:57 am
You forgot one of Rudenstine’s best appointments: Radcliffe Dean Drew Faust. who may become FAS Dean or maybe President.
5/26/2006 11:12 am
Ah, the Summers’ bashing continues unabated, and unmoderated with Bradley on his vacation.
Cheap thrills are where you find them.
5/26/2006 1:11 pm
I am guessing the grader must be a Harvard faculty member - you can tell by the grade inflation. If “a few ordinary choices” equates to B-pluses, I can see there is still a great deal of work to be done.
5/27/2006 12:51 am
Hope Richard hasn’t got access to the AL East standings while he’s away-a Yankee fan might find it a bit discouraging these days….
6/2/2024 10:06 am
On the list of Deans, the Design School is ignored.
Doesn’t Altshuler count as an another Summers’ mistake? A dean temporarily saved from a faculty vote of no confidence by the unprecedented intervention of the Corporation.
Maybe that is a D instead of an F.