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Dr. Kelly J. Baker (she/her) Profile picture
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11 Feb, 6 tweets, 1 min read
Ask me how many times as a grad student and junior scholar someone said that my writing was "too accessible" as an insult.

It was not a small number.
Them: Your writing is too accessible. Anyone can read it!

Me: Thank you.

Them: This is not a compliment.

Me: Uh...are you...sure?
Being able to write clearly for a broader audience was essential to me having a career outside of the academy.

But, you know, whatever.
Wwhen I tell people about how I moved out of the academy and into a career as a writer (and editor!), I always mention that writing blog posts, in which I made my research accessible and (hopefully) engaging for a general audience, was one of the best decisions I ever made.
I just wanted to write things about American religious history that my mom could and would read. That's all.

Also, she loves me, but she didn't read my blog posts.
One of the few times my mom did read one of my blog posts. She was like, "You seemed sort of angry," in a mom voice that let me know that it wasn't cool.

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More from @kelly_j_baker

Dr. Kelly J. Baker (she/her) Profile picture
12 Feb
Friends, people mute & block people on Twitter all the times for a variety of reasons.

Just because someone is on Twitter doesn't mean everyone gets access to them. We get to set our own boundaries about our interactions

So, don't email someone asking them to unblock you.
And definitely, don't email someone asking them to unblock someone else, especially after that someone was a serious jerk.

There are consequences for being a jerk on the internet.

Don't enable continued jerkiness.
And I say this as someone who blocks folks for being jerks, but also as someone who has been blocked before because I was a jerk.

That someone got to determine that I wasn't someone that they wanted to interact with anymore, and that's okay.
Read 11 tweets
Dr. Kelly J. Baker (she/her) Profile picture
10 Feb
Okay, my youngest asked me if I personally knew Harriet Tubman today because "you were alive in 1850, right?"

I just...
My children went all in today on creative ways to tell me that I am old.

They have forgotten thay grudge-holding is my superpower.
"Mom, can I have a car?"

"Remember when you were 7 and said that I was alive in 1850."

"What does that have to do with anything--"

"The answer is no."
Read 4 tweets
Dr. Kelly J. Baker (she/her) Profile picture
10 Feb
The youngest had a science lesson on technology that showed how the telephone has changed over the years.

I explained the rotary phone that I had growing up & the oldest was like, "Yup, we've seen those in a museum."

Child.
Another day of the tween cutting me to the quick.
The youngest, then, had to draw a phone of the future.

He finished the drawing and said, "It's gonna have the old games from the 1980s."

😭
Read 4 tweets
Dr. Kelly J. Baker (she/her) Profile picture
10 Feb
I am not faculty anymore, but I do attend meetings via Zoom with two kids at home.

And I tell folks that my kids might pop in at any time because that's just how it is.

This is ridiculous.
Kids make noise. They pop in to ask questions, complain or tell you something that they find cool or a new thing they learned.. They lose their shit. They streak behind you shirtless or sling a cat over their shoulder and bring it to you.

This happens during meetings.
I mean, you haven't really had a Zoom with me unless a shirtless seven-year-old has popped by to say "hi" or ignored that I'm in a meeting to tell me about his progress in Zelda: Breath of the Wild or a tween is singing along loudly to Taylor Swift in the background.
Read 4 tweets
Dr. Kelly J. Baker (she/her) Profile picture
7 Feb
A friend of my oldest kid invited her to a sleepover, which we politely declined.

And I am deeply tired of feeling like we are some of the only ones still taking Covid seriously.
"We're only inviting two other friends and you!"

Um, that's four kids from four different families who aren't taking the pandemic as seriously as we are.

I just...
Luckily my kid gets this, but boy, I am tired of being treated like an asshole when all I want to do is keep my family and other people safe.
Read 15 tweets
Dr. Kelly J. Baker (she/her) Profile picture
6 Feb
When we first started watching The Great British Baking Show, I was totally chill, and now, I find myself screaming, "No, not the matcha flavor, it never goes well!"
"No, put down the rosemary. It will taste soapy!"
"Lavender, why? WHY."
Read 5 tweets

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