In the midst of so much else that is terrible in our world right now, this, too, is a heartbreak.

I work hard to create space for students to be excited and enthusiastic about how they use grammar and punctuation in their writing. (Not a small feat, I think.)

And AI—and the many tendrils of its consequences—attempts to suffocate all of those attempts, day in and day out.

And then we talked about how some of them are scared to experiment with em dashes in their writing because professors treat them as red flags for AI.

I promised them that if I ever accuse them of using AI, it won't be because they used em dashes. (That's never yet been the tell for me.)

This week (4 weeks post-op), I messaged my surgeon's office because I've just been feeling AWFUL, and I wondered if that was normal. Abdominal pain, fatigue, depression, brain fog. I can't *do* anything. Some days I can't even sit up for very long or go for a short walk outside.

Oh dear! Thinking of y'all and hoping this doesn't turn out to be Lyme 💜

I really don't love how they've segregated the two, but I'm trying to hold back final judgment until we see the pricing structure for registration rates...

Thanks!

Yeah, it's wild. (applied linguist in an English dept)

Yes, absolutely!

For the worst of it, I've also had conversations with the Ombudsperson (which is its own kind of problem at my institution) and the Dean's Office.

Hopefully! That is the next step 😜