Professorial Doors

Long ago and far away when I began my own career as a student, with my long curly hippy hair & my lace sweater as prized items of my identity, I remember checking out the doors of professors in my college. There was the younger male prof, the specialist in Great Classics like The Iliad and The Odyssey who had a Far Side cartoon in which someone taunted him about getting his "Silverback" status (read, in Ivory Tower-ness as Asst Prof turns Full Prof, most likely). Other profs have had inspirational messages; one had a very very long diagrammed sentence from Faulkner on her door. A linguistics prof who tried hard to start slang words (she wanted Pepto as a phrase-- as in "That's so Pepto"-- i.e., nauseating. I don't think it caught on.) It has always seemed to me that the interesting profs have stuff on their door.

My door, then, has to have stuff on it. I have a couple of Calvin and Hobbes cartoons that say magical things to me. A cool picture with Spacebabe of the Tiptree awards that also lists my office hours. Myself as a South Park character. Me & a friend in our Halloween teaching outfits. A Dorothy Parker poem. An ee cummings poem. A picture of a little boy raising his arms, with a Superman cape on, that really looks like (but isn't) Sean. A Hello Kitty dressed as Dorothy sticker. My Black Lit Read-In poster. Stuff that defines something about me.

I've walked past and seen students perusing my door. Yesterday, a fellow professor commented on several items as though this were the first time he'd seen them (which is possible, and not a big deal-- he doesn't have an office near me so must have been visiting someone nearby).

What does your office door say about you when you're not there? I hope mine says: funny, irreverent, serious about poetry & feminism, not afraid to be herself, admires originality & creativity, needs coffee, Dreams Big. Likes Pop Culture. Possibly a witch. Definitely here on MWF from 10-11. Which means I get to leave in t-minus 2 minutes. Hoo rah! The weekend.