Radreffies' blogs

In reply to Russell.

The official grammarians would endorse your comma after “Myths” (but perhaps not after “Fabrications).” Plus, that’s the way they have it in their title tag.

In reply to Anonymous.

First: According to the Wikipedia page on the serial comma, the GPO Style Manual supports its mandatory use. Given FGI’s subject matter, your preference seems appropriate.

Second: The question of whether or not the blog title uses the serial comma depends on where in the page you look. The prominent, white words in the brown box make it look as though the serial comma has been omitted. However, the page is coded to include the serial comma in the Title tag — just look in your window’s title bar for confirmation. In fact, if you search the HTML, there isn’t a single place where “myths and” appears without a comma after “myths”. You appear to have correctly quoted the blog’s content rather than its title’s graphical representation. Well done.

style="width:100pct;"

I'm just throwing this up here since I'm leaving Barnard and wanted to have a public export. 

free:

• bcrw
• digital humanities

This and the following two blog posts are for a 40-minute presentation at the "Vulnerability at Work and Beyond: How are We Managing?" themed 2026 LACUNY Institute. 

In the next two posts, I'll share two of my interventions, and then we'll add yours to this post!

But first...here are some of the reasons I began regular downloads of my Google account and took medical leave:

• I was called into the provost's office without an explanation, with my boss clearly on the provost's side, not mine
• 77 of my coworkers were laid off on last day of the month and were immediately cut off from their health insurance. If they signed a promise not to sue, they were given two months free COBRA. Meanwhile, how many executive positions have been added since then?
• I got a call from HR saying that my part-time coworker was fired. That ended up not being true, but COME ON. 
• One of my student zine librarians was suspended from school for a year for having participated in what was meant to be a no-risk protest that was escalated by campus security and the NYPD surrounded and trapping the protestors  
• A coworker of mine was fired for participating in the same protest
• Constant campus surveillance via swipe access and having attendance taken at our staff holiday party
• The violence of the Hinds Hall raid in 2024
• Being forced to remove all DEI references from our website because discrimination against white people? What even is higher ed???
• Approval being required for all purchases, web, and social media posts
• Non-librarian hired as interim dean
• Librarians banned from faculty meetings
• The most beloved member of HR being manipulated and fired
• A hit piece about my special collection in the Washington Free Beacon, a deeply unserious web news outlet that lead to judgment against the zine library and me. Could maybe anyone have thought to offer me a delete.me account or ask how I was doing???
• My department getting defunded/told to rely on endowments, rather than operational money
• Staff across the college being treated with fear and loathing, like the time right after the layoffs when a senior staffer told us she was sorry we were all suffering from group think

All of that took a toll on my mental health ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Suggestions:

• download your last paystub and anything else you might need from HR
• print your files
• download to USB/external drive
• flash drives in a fireproof box
• document any uncomfortable/weird interactions
• describe what you experienced if you are in a disciplinary meeting / have potentially problematic interactions with managers
• analyze a problematic job offer and ask detailed questions (as a stalling tactic)
• find your allies--is there anyone in HR you can trust?
• don't email HR. talk to them in person/on the phone

free:

• lacuny

nb: my knowledge is limited to New York State and my employer. 

NYS Workers Comp (pdf) - the upshot is that you can get a minimum of 50% of your salary while you are on short-term disability (up to $170/week), but I got my whole salary from my employer! My observations:

• The leave is between you and the insurer, not you and your employer. They have nothing to do with it, decision-making wise
• You can take up to six months, but you are only protected by FMLA for three months--meaning they can't fire you for taking leave until after three months
• Your provider must attest that you cannot perform your job due
• My psych provider was horrible and caused me tremendous stress, so make sure your doctor/nurse/therapist will fill out the form properly and in a timely manner, and check if there's a fee for filling out the form because if they're like my provider, they won't tell you that; they just won't act until you ask what the holdup is

 

free:

• lacuny

From https://imgflip.com/i/arpue5

How to download your work email, files, contacts, etc. if your employer uses the Goog. 

1. Empty your downloads folder
2. Empty your trash / recycling bin
3. Google Takeout link - I have mine set to download every two months
4. You will be asked to login - no idea if that triggers something with IT 
5. Select data to include - note that items in shared drives are not included. You'll need to download those materials manually
6. Close extraneous applications (this process is finicky--at least it has been for me, so give your computer less to do while it downloads)
7. Tell your computer not to go to sleep: under battery on a Mac laptop
8. Download your files one at a time. Some of them will take a WHILE
9. Some of the files need to be downloaded into the same file (before you transfer from downloads to wherever you have room for giant files). If there are two downloaded at once, e.g., one small file with the ending mbox.part and a giant file that takes a lot of time (for me half an hour, but I've been at my job for >20 years) to download ending .mbox. (btw I get it--must be mailbox. This post is for GUI people). You can move the file once it's turned into one folder. any .part file needs to be with its parent file
10. Moving your files will take a long time, too. Mine take even longer because of how my home network is configured
11. Delete files from your download folder as you go
12. Keep your machine awake (I'm not sure if that's why my mbox download failed. I hope it wasn't that the file was too big!)
13. Refresh the google page if you don't remember which file you just downloaded (please tell me it's not just me)
14. The whole thing takes me about five hours

free:

• google
• work
• lacuny

Books I read in 2016, in reverse chronological order according to when I read them, favorites starred.

I made it past my goal of 60 books, and then basically didn't finish anything in all of December. Writing up this list I saw a lot of books that now seem like they weren't worth the time, or now are barely worth remembering--somehow I seem to have ended up finshing things this year that I might have let go in other years. But I also read some really great stuff, and it was great to get so many things read this year. I didn't make it to my goal of 25 books by women of color, but I did read 16, and setting that goal did make me really think carefully about how I cho(o)se what to read, what is most promoted at large, and what is suggested to me/in my filter bubble.

1. Behold the Dreamers / Mbue *
2. Train Your Dog Positively / Stillwell
3. Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It / Meloy *
4. The Everything New Puppy Book / DeVito
5. Dear Sister / Factora-Borchers
6. Asking for It / Harding *
7. Baise-Moi / Despentes
8. Turning Japanese / MariNaomi
9. Post-Digital Print / Ludovico
10. The Century of Artists' Books / Drucker (re-read)
11. A Child of Books / Jeffers *
12. Americanah / Adichie *
13. King Kong Theory / Despentes *
14. The Promise of Happiness / Ahmed
    

read more

Negative Pulse Records – NEG -6 Three Mile Pilot – Chief Assassin to the Sinister – 12″ LP

Experiment: Circuit Bending Participant(s): Jason Soares, JFRE ‘robot’ Coad, J Lesser, P Hix and Rob Crow Time Frame: 1994 + Location: San Diego Submitted By: Jason Soares Submission Date: 2002-03-23 In the mid ’90s we learned of an idea called “curcuit bending”, the term of which was created by Qubais Reed Ghazala. Its the idea […]

Experiment: hacked labelle duo 16 Participant(s): Matt Lorenz & Jason Soares Time Frame: 1994 – 1995 Location: San Diego and Tour of US Submitted By: Matt Lorenz Submission Date: 2002-03-28 Around the spring of 1994 I found a bizarre old combo-projector at a secondhand store called thrift village in Linda vista, ca. It was called […]

Experiment: Killer Whale Copyright Participant(s): Jason Soares Time Frame: 1998 Location: San Diego / Internet Submitted By: Jason Soares Submission Date: 1998-01-27 In January of 1998 I received a cease and desist letter from the law offices of Wienberg Sullivan about offending slide photographs I had posted on The Experiment. The photos were found in […]

Sorry it took so long, but I finally got around to uploading our photos from our trip. Check them out! Related posts:Graphics and Photos from U.S. Government Vietnam wrap-up Eating and wandering through Korea Related posts:

1. Graphics and Photos from U.S. Government
2. Vietnam wrap-up
3. Eating and wandering through Korea

It’s been a busy few days full of trains, buses, walking, eating (especially eating!), meeting relatives (brothers, cousins, aunts, nieces and nephews). After spending last week in Daegu with Shinjoung’s parents, we headed up to Seoul and its surroundings to visit myriad relatives — I know some names, but mostly I remember them as relations [...] Related posts:

1. Right at home in Taegu, Korea
2. South Korea – U.S. FTA Jan 15-19
3. Photos from our SE Asia trip to Singapore, Vietnam and Korea

Yes we’re still on our SE Asian tour. Shinjoung and I have been in Taegu, Korea for the last few days. No videos to post yet (and also no tour books to consult ). We’ve been staying pretty close to home, visiting with family, eating, visiting with more family. As some of you know, Shinjoung’s [...] Related posts:

1. Eating and wandering through Korea
2. Mountain Voice
3. Hotspots for democracy

Well we’re off tomorrow for Korea. It’s been a great (but IMMENSELY HOT & HUMID!) 4 days in Hanoi. We ate tons of street food — Bun Cha, Pho (pronounced like “fur”), Banh Mi, Banh Goi, Chao Ga, and a bunch of things we don’t know the names of but are listed on the wikipedia [...] Related posts:

1. Vietnam day 2 & 3
2. Shinjoung’s Yalta
3. Overnight sleeper to Hanoi

As our Vietnam trip comes to an end, I have to admit that we haven’t completely abolished the guide book but have come to a detente. It’s hard to kick old habits ☺. We’ve had fun, lots of laughs and continuous debates – did you expect anything less from me?! One of the most exciting [...] Related posts:

1. Experiment of un-lonely planet guide experience
2. Vietnam wrap-up
3. wanderer vs. planner

Shinjoung and I took the overnight sleeper train from Hue to Hanoi. Originally we tried to get our own ticket at the station but were defeated because a) we didn’t have enough Vietnamese Dong on us (thought wrongly that at least the train station would have the ability to use a visa card); and b) [...] Related posts:

1. Shinjoung’s Yalta
2. Vietnam wrap-up
3. Experiment of un-lonely planet guide experience

Today we’re heading for Hanoi and I proposed to James to do the un-lonely planet guide experience. James insists that he is different since he is using a rough guide instead of a lonely planet guide.  I will let him believe whatever makes him feel good ☺. James is not unique among travelers. You can [...] Related posts:

1. Shinjoung’s Yalta
2. wanderer vs. planner
3. Guide to DRM restrictions

We decided to rent motorcycles (and drivers, we’re not THAT crazy!) today in order to get further afield in Hue, Vietnam. Below is a video cobbled together of the day. We’re off tomorrow to Hanoi on the overnight sleeper train which should be fun. At least it’ll be air-conditioned Related posts:Overnight sleeper to Hanoi Vietnam [...] Related posts:

1. Overnight sleeper to Hanoi
2. Vietnam wrap-up
3. Experiment of un-lonely planet guide experience

James and I have a little different travel style. I’m a wanderer while James is more of a planner (who likes to wander).  I rarely plan for any trips or read about the place where I will visit partially because I’m lazy but also because I enjoy trips with few plans or goals. On the [...] Related posts:

1. Experiment of un-lonely planet guide experience
2. Shinjoung’s Yalta
3. Vietnam wrap-up