JASON J. CZARNEZKI

Other blogs have debated the merits of blogs as scholarship, but I prefer to think my blog as an electronic file cabinet.  For me, a blog is a resource that provides links to databases, posts about my first thoughts on a issue that might turn into a paper, articles of current and future interest, and links to jobs/externships that might be of interest to students, among other things.  But since a blog allows me to immediately post anything of interest and doesn’t get lost in a pile in my office, when weeks later a students asks about the Property Clause or environmental law in China or potential jobs, or months latter when I am writing an article on U.S.-China relations and climate change, these resources and thoughts are right at my fingertips.

It’s really amazing that the Fox show Glee has led to a revival of Journey songs.  On my work commute this morning, I heard two Journey songs, “Don’t Stop Believin'” and “Faithfully,” on the radio.  I also heard from a music teacher yesterday that Glee has increased interest in school music programs.   If you have no clue what I’m talking about, then watch this ‘Journey Medley’ from Glee that has received over 5 million You Tube hits.

At times being home in my small town in Vermont is a bit overwhelming.  Unlike China, I can’t hide behind my ignorance of the native language or disappear in a huge urban metropolis.  I see friends and people I know constantly, and find myself at work and social events with the same people…wondering ‘are they sick of seeing me’?  And the demands on my time in every facet of my life are far greater.

But it’s also underwhelming to sometimes be home.  I’m reading Peter Hessler’s Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China’s Past and Present.  In Chapter One, he discusses how because of his dumpy apartment and the energy on the streets of China, he had to leave his apartment.  I sometime long for that urban energy…Guangzhou, Bangkok, Hong Kong, New York.

So I’m either overwhelmed by the genuine community of small town New England, or underwhelmed by the lack of adventure and amenities of big city life…that is except when I’m not (which is most of the time).  The last 24 hours have been perfect.  Impromptu dinner party with all our neighbors, board games with partner, a little football on TV, some light reading, cool evening perfect for sleeping, waking up to breezy and sunny beautiful early fall day, yard work, lunch with family, and tonight out to nice dinner.

I recognize that my last name is hard to spell.  And, it is true that at my previous institution “make sure Czarnezki is spelled correctly” was on the law school mailout checklist.  But what continues to amaze me is that in the face of direct evidence–forms filled out by me, emails from me, phones calls requesting correction–people still spell my name wrong because ‘it just doesn’t look right.’  Well now they’re going after my kids.  Yes, my one daughter has an unusual spelling to her first name, and, yes, my partner’s last name is their middle name and Czarnezki is still hard to spell, but nowhere did we spell them wrong, nowhere did we change their first name, and nowhere did we give them a hyphenated last name.  Trust me, we can spell our names correctly.  How many times do we have to request changes?…in my experience at least three times.