…and by “popular request,” I mean by the request of my friend Josh: Here’s one of my favorite moments from Fall Semester 2011 at my university, in all its glory, a message from one of my professors explaining why they were not at one of our Friday classes.


Dear 153 students….

Your professor is an addle-brain. (Addle-brain is a term vaguely victorian.) On Friday, I arrived at the classroom promptly at 10:15, ready to talk about Cooper’s The Prairie. At 10:20 I began to wonder why students were not there…..

I puzzled about this for most of the day….sort of like Clara Wieland puzzling over whats-his-name…oh, yeah, Carwin. Finally ….well, you know: it occurred to me that I was an hour late for class, which actually starts at 9:15. I have no excuse. Except for the addle-brain thing. I’ll be on time on Monday. I promise.


Oddly enough, the same professor ended up being an hour late for his own final examination, and his was the last grade made available on the university’s website. I enjoyed his class well enough, but perhaps it’s time to consider retirement before retirement is politely “offered,” eh?Genius