through the lens

Well, you don't meet any genuine eccentric ("off-centre") people here and maybe that's not such a bad thing after all. To give you an idea of how bad/good it is: I'm probably one the loopiest (I exclude you, dear N-man, because you only want to be loopy for professional reasons!).

What do you see at the university? Oh, just the usual basic human motivations in play, I guess: pettiness, and self-importance, and self-promotion; ridiculously un-funny in-jokes; the constant desire to cultivate an aura of intelligence and invulnerability around oneself; the thrill of hearing one's own voice; the deep cynicism which passes for cleverness; the desire to have one's thoughts met with approval and admiration by an unsuspecting and docile group; the sycophants and boot-lickers, the court hijras.

Yesterday, in conversation with a student:

I think, well, to the extent that there is an 'I'.

Christ! Give me a break.

And this priceless snippet of a conversation between two students:

"beyond that we label things as blasphemy m...issie...so try not to put another toe outta line or who knows u might be next (=P jokes apart) ...anyways wat is wrong is wrong and u cannot condone wat is labeled as wrong...i know we are all bad and another bad act wont make things better off so try to be where u oughtta be and if not u could simply keep such things within yourself instead of holding a mic and blurting nonsensical/sensitive things out...ppl like me and others do take offence and so FIRST, you need to be tolerant and respect the fact dat we dont hear/receive/take shyt like this, ....KHUDA khofi bi koi cheez hai [There is such a thing as the fear of God]"

~~~

lech: M.E. lah (mid-12c.), from O.N. lagr "low," from P.Gmc. *lægaz (cf. O.Fris. lech, Du. laag, Ger. läge "low"), lit. "that which is lying flat;" related to O.E. licgan (see lie (v.)). Meaning "humble in rank" is from c.1200; "undignified" is from 1550s; sense of "dejected, dispirited" is attested from 1737.

lecher: [Middle English, from Old French lecheor from lechier, to lick, to live in debauchery, of Germanic origin