pony up

So, that dearth of acceptances has now become a spate of panel sessions and, travel prices being what they are and my family situation being what it is, I find that conference attendance is a bit of a hardship. I've used my fellowship allowance and am applying for an ASA travel grant. Any other money out there, folks? Let me know, woulddya? No award is too small!

Maybe someday I'll be on the tenure track and I'll have a faculty development fund that pays for my conference attendance. Maybe sometime after that I'll be tenured and attend conferences for the heck of it or not at all.

U ass

Wouldn't you say that, although people often treat presume and assume as synonyms, there is an important but subtle distinction between them?
I'd say that when you ASSUME (and not in the sense of assuming responsibility), there is no necessary expectation that your assumption is based upon reasonable data - that you formulated your belief without reference to available evidence.
When you PRESUME, you're really a bit closer to inference - a reasonable guess based upon data.

load off

I think my presentation went pretty well. The discussant didn't really give me much useful feedback. I guess, when you've been thinking about something for such a long time, it's probably pretty common for people to bring up issues that you worked through aeons ago. At the very least getting feedback that encourages you to consider things you considered ages ago is better than getting feedback suggesting you've been wasting ages on a useless project.

Anyhow, it was nice to feel like an academic for a day (it's been a while!) and, further, to return to my family at the end of such a nice day and find that everything went well on the home front.

Consumed

I'm not really much of a shopper. If I need clothes, I go to Goodwill or the Gap or Banana Republic or something like that and just buy what I need. Usually I go to Goodwill first and then top of a trip to Goodwill with one to the Gap. I usually head to the back of the store (to the sales) first. However, I definitely don't shop around different stores looking for the best prices. I begin to melt down after about 50 minutes of mall shopping. I can last a little longer if shopping at small boutiques (e.g. Portland's Old Port). Furthermore, I would like to be somewhat fashionable but I have absolutely no interest in staying on top of what that means. That is one of the reasons why I like to go to the Gap or Banana Republic - the clothes have been vetted at least a little.

Back when my partner was about to start his faculty appointment, we believed we had "made it" and actually imagined his salary would leave us with much disposable income. One of things I said I would do with my share was to get a personal shopper who could keep me "funky stylish" in clothes that are designed for my shape (relatively larger top half). Ah, those were the days!

Anyway, I digress. I'm not much of a shopper so when I want to get something for E, I try the consignment shop and if it isn't available there I check ebay and if I can't find it on ebay I get it through amazon.com. I like to buy things for other people but only things that I think they really need or would enjoy having. I LOATHE getting countless generic gifts over the winter holidays and DESPISE giving generic, redundant and/or useless gifts just because I need to uphold the norm of reciprocity.

My older brother and his wife are very nice people and I enjoy their company a great deal but we have very different habits and preferences around consumption. They shop. If they have some time to kill there is nothing they like more than heading out to Walmart to peruse. They are always buying DVDs, soda, cheap clothes, those cheesy novelty items like that "mounted" fish who sings (remember?). They spend what I consider to be an obscene amount of cash on stuff like that yet they are horrified that we buy organic milk in the glass bottles, are willing to eat out at expensive restaurants and they begrudge us the traveling we do - they have been hoping to make it to Ireland for some time now. Don't read this as a criticism - in my mind they are the normal ones. So what's the big deal, right? Class distinctions. Taste. Straight-up Bourdieu.

Since E was born they have sent her a package nearly every month. Sometimes they send us cheap shit that goes straight to Goodwill, resale, or, in the case of the sugar-free chocolate bunny that arrived today, the trash. Sometimes they send us really nice and useful things. The packages always contain a variety of things collected from a variety of stores, presumably as they were shopping for fun. I always call and thank them on E's behalf. So, what the big deal, right? Wait. There's more.

They have a child, C, 2 months older than E. I call to ask what C might need and they say that they are all set with clothes because, as they live in Maine near family, they get so many hand-me-downs they are frustrated because they can't clothes-shop for C. My brother actually works at Toys R Us so they are always buying C toys. I've sent them books and developmental toys but I get the sense they aren't thrilled about them and, as I said, I hate buying gifts that people don't want. I just purchased a radio flyer wagon for C. I think that was a pretty nice gift.

So what? Why the long post? Here's what it is. This same brother and his family are much less economically secure than we are. They rent and they struggle to pay the rent each and every month. They have creditors calling them. They qualify for Medicaid and food stamps. My dining room table is from Pottery Barn. Even if we don't have much surplus income, we don't have any credit card debt and we don't forgo many evenings out or trips to Europe. I receive these packages from them which I appreciate for the caring that went into them instead of their contents. Not only should I be reciprocating, I feel like I should be reciprocating in proportion to my means but I don't know how. We offered to fly them out to visit us but they can't take time from work (no paid vacation). I would like to offer to pay their rent one month or to pay for C's diapers or something but I know that they would be offended if I offered something like that.

My partner says that I should try to discourage them from sending us things - encourage them to spend the money on themselves but I know that they really do enjoy sending E packages even if they do wonder from time to time why I am not as generous toward C.

So, there you have it. I am a big privileged jerk.

Treading Water

I'm busy. Apologies.
I went from being forgotten to being on a panel in that conference. They let me know I was included the same day they asked for the paper I had promised (whoops). That presentation is Saturday and I presented this past Thursday as well.
We had our first night on the town in more than 7 months - with a babysitter and everything this past weekend. We went to the symphony. It was lovely. However, babysitter's do make the evening a bit more expensive - $50 right off the top.
I gave my students a tough exam today so they hate me now.
E has been sick and cutting her two top front teeth.

the obvious

As a parent I find that I am almost never anticipating the disasters that befall us and I am frequently anticipating a disaster that never occurs.

Of course, that I generally take steps to avoid disasters I anticipate might have something to do with my false positives.

Your Scholastic Strength Is Deep Thinking

You aren't afraid to delve head first into a difficult subject, with mastery as your goal. You are talented at adapting, motivating others, managing resources, and analyzing risk. You should major in: Philosophy Music Theology Art History Foreign language

What Should You Major In?

Geography

In the next few months 3 of my 5 siblings will be making substantial moves. Whereas before there were 2 population centers for my family (back in Portland and Chicago), we are about to become much more diffuse. Since my youngest brother followed me out to Chicago in 1998, I have always lived within driving distance of at least one family member. That is about to change.

So, this dispersal has me thinking about how far-flung my family is when compared with my mother and siblings.

Here's my siblings and I with the distance between our birthplace and where we will be living effective 9/1/2006:
CL 7
AM 1176
MR 1469
AJ 1895
RL 3204
CE 433

and here is the same information for my mother and her siblings' current residences or, if deceased, last residence:
BC 3
LR 3
PL 191
DR 3
BR 3
BH 2
LV 4
JC 2
PR 2176
MD 2
TR 1
ST 1

Notice that, in my family, only 1 of the children lives in the metro-area/state/region of birth. While 10 out of 12 of the children in my mother's family live within 4 miles of their birthplace. Of the 2 living away, one lives in New England.

Finally!

I just heard from the organizers of the conference that forgot me. It seems it was, indeed, an oversight and not a reflection on the quality of my work.

That's nice to know.

island life, redux

I'm looking for a total institution.

My colleagues and I will regularly discuss our work over lunch and dine often at each other's homes. We will consider our occupation one of our hobbies as well. I want to see my colleagues at the grocery store, community center and my daughter's ballet class. I want my dean to live a couple of doors down. My undergraduates will be housed within walking distance and a graduate student will reside in the third floor apartment.

The community will identify as a university community. The bookstores will be among the best in the world.

I'm looking for a total institution surrounded by the world. The university, the department and the community will share the space with all manner of social problems and the multiplicity of responses to the world outside of the cloister will encompass the nativist concerns of those who seek to preserve the intellectual detachment of campus life as well as those who call for a university oriented toward the world it inhabits.

Respite

I went to bed at 6:45 last night. Of course, with the time change that was actually 7:45. E was up for the day at 6:00, which was actually 7. I was up to change/feed her a few times in that stretch but, still, it was a tremendously restful night.

We went out to dinner at Cempazuchi last night to celebrate the spouse's return. I had a drink(!), a cup of tortilla soup, tostadas florentina (whipped black beans, goat cheese, spinach and diced tomatoes) and natias, which is this fabulous pudding/custard which tastes like it is made from sweetened condensed milk. It has vanilla wafer cookies mixed in. We had a really nice meal. E sat in her new portable highchair trying, mostly without success, to eat "O's." She managed to pick them up and get her hand to her mouth but, somehow, releasing the food into her mouth is a little beyond her ability at this point.

It's Official...

I am completely exhausted. Another 7 hours until the return of the spouse. E just went down for her morning nap. I've already cleaned up from breakfast and put in a load of laundry. And now to bed!

I'm working on a review sheet for my students. One of the great things about teaching is that you learn so much! I wasn't a sociology major as an undergrad and, even if I had been, I would never have had typical survey/intro course. It would have been all primary texts and seminar. So, yeah, teaching simultaneously imparts a great deal of information about the subject and reinforces confidence because you already do know a great deal. On top of that it organizes your time and, to some extent, maintains your ability to talk shop (this is important for me since I have limited access to my home department).