Why must sociological theorizing make sweeping historical claims? If we are, after all, sociologists, can we not be content to talk about how it is instead of laying claim to particular insight into how it used to be and, by extension, where it is going. I have the sinking suspicion that, in many ways, the way it is is the way it was is the way it will be.
If one member of my toddler's playgroup picks up an unused toy and, glaring at her compatriots, announces, "Mine!" that is sufficient to insight conflict as other toddlers attempt to wrest previously unremarkable object from her grasp. I could say that, with the rise of post-fordism and the increased subjectivity of worth due to globalism, objects increasingly derive value, not from their utility or material properties, but instead from the esteem placed upon them by others.
Even if not silly, not particularly necessary or accurate.
Friday, November 02, 2007
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
after all, that's why they are there
Take this lady from the zoo last month. BTW, if you have to come 15 feet out of your way and stand right in front of me to confirm that I am, indeed, nursing my child, it is, perhaps, you with the issue! Although I don't welcome the moment, I pity the person who actually says something to me about nursing because they will receive all the ire I've stored as a result of comments, snickers, and family-in-law issues around breastfeeding.
For the record, most awkward BF moment:
On flight to NYC in August. Since we were 3, I was left with the baby sitting next to a stranger. H. started to fuss during take-off. I latched her on (on the same side as the guy sitting next to me in hopes that would seem less uncomfortable to him and leave him less likely to get kicked. Once I had myself all situated (covered up with blanket, baby nursing successfully, I glanced at my seat companion and found that he his entire body (face included) was smashed so resolutely against the wall of the plane that, had he suddenly manifested hero powers like D.L., he would have ended up falling to his death. So, J. and I switched seats and, although it was a huge pain to manage a toddler and an infant, it was a million times more comfortable than sitting next to that guy. Incidentally, he was a nice guy and spoke gratefully with J. the entire flight.
For the record, most awkward BF moment:
On flight to NYC in August. Since we were 3, I was left with the baby sitting next to a stranger. H. started to fuss during take-off. I latched her on (on the same side as the guy sitting next to me in hopes that would seem less uncomfortable to him and leave him less likely to get kicked. Once I had myself all situated (covered up with blanket, baby nursing successfully, I glanced at my seat companion and found that he his entire body (face included) was smashed so resolutely against the wall of the plane that, had he suddenly manifested hero powers like D.L., he would have ended up falling to his death. So, J. and I switched seats and, although it was a huge pain to manage a toddler and an infant, it was a million times more comfortable than sitting next to that guy. Incidentally, he was a nice guy and spoke gratefully with J. the entire flight.
waxes, wanes
I had a thoroughly depressing phone interview this morning.
4-4 load. No expectations of/support for research. Claims that they want people who love to teach but yet they have you teaching pre-fab classes.
I said everything I felt I needed to say to keep myself in the pool thinking the whole time that I have been completely out of touch with reality.
And now I am completely miserable.
If I had to do it again, I'd have listened to my advisors. 2 out of 3 told me to wait until next year. It's just so hard given the family situation. Namely, my partner being up for tenure shortly and us thinking, given he's at a middling school now, that he has a better chance for a move as a junior lateral. Turns out, in fact, that he is a great candidate. Now it looks like we'll be in the predicament of him having options in great places and me with nothing.
4-4 load. No expectations of/support for research. Claims that they want people who love to teach but yet they have you teaching pre-fab classes.
I said everything I felt I needed to say to keep myself in the pool thinking the whole time that I have been completely out of touch with reality.
And now I am completely miserable.
If I had to do it again, I'd have listened to my advisors. 2 out of 3 told me to wait until next year. It's just so hard given the family situation. Namely, my partner being up for tenure shortly and us thinking, given he's at a middling school now, that he has a better chance for a move as a junior lateral. Turns out, in fact, that he is a great candidate. Now it looks like we'll be in the predicament of him having options in great places and me with nothing.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
half full
I'm in a more optimistic mood this evening. I suspect the Red Sox, assorted chocolates from the WFM bulk aisle, and two sisters sharing the same bedroom all play a role.
Although I imagine I would do better work in a department where great work is routinely done and, furthermore, I was brought in on the basis of the expectation that I would do such work (leading me to do better work and, more importantly, for folks to scrutinize my work for brilliance), wouldn't I rather labor more independently someplace that provided research support but without the same onerous expectations (e.g. publications but not necessarily ASR/AJS)? If the department were located somewhere I'd like to be then I would be well situated indefinitely. If my work garnered the interest of more prestigious departments, I could consider a move and, perhaps, make one, suspecting, on the basis of the track record that brought me there, that I was able to meet expectations.
I guess what I'm saying is: I just need to be somewhere where I can do my work and have a work/life balance that meets my needs. I have access to a network of folks who can provide criticism, insight and guidance (especially if I have a little development $ for conference attendance). The rest is fluff. I know this is obvious but it is a step for me. Until I started grad school, I enjoyed significant success in my educational undertakings. I'm not used to feeling like I'm not good enough - academically speaking.
Although I imagine I would do better work in a department where great work is routinely done and, furthermore, I was brought in on the basis of the expectation that I would do such work (leading me to do better work and, more importantly, for folks to scrutinize my work for brilliance), wouldn't I rather labor more independently someplace that provided research support but without the same onerous expectations (e.g. publications but not necessarily ASR/AJS)? If the department were located somewhere I'd like to be then I would be well situated indefinitely. If my work garnered the interest of more prestigious departments, I could consider a move and, perhaps, make one, suspecting, on the basis of the track record that brought me there, that I was able to meet expectations.
I guess what I'm saying is: I just need to be somewhere where I can do my work and have a work/life balance that meets my needs. I have access to a network of folks who can provide criticism, insight and guidance (especially if I have a little development $ for conference attendance). The rest is fluff. I know this is obvious but it is a step for me. Until I started grad school, I enjoyed significant success in my educational undertakings. I'm not used to feeling like I'm not good enough - academically speaking.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
telling the code, performing power
Anyone with some advice on the relationship between "telling the code" and Jeffrey Alexander et al's recent work on performativity?
Also, wouldn't you say that authenticity is not always the goal of a performance? That sometimes folks just want to make sure that you've crossed your 't's and dotted your 'i's and don't really care if you mean it? Do you think that Alexander would suggest that in such cases we're not talking about performance? I suggest we could still be telling the code in these instances.
Which reminds me of an odd conversation that transpired a couple of days ago. I was speaking to the partner of a woman in my mom's group. This partner works as a police officer. He mentioned an arrest he made the evening before and alluded to a class of people who engage in crimes that are out of bounds. I said, "You mean like stealing someone's diaper bag out from underneath the stroller while they are pushing their child on the swings? That's what happened to us this summer." and he said, "Yeah. When you catch guys like that you just try to get a couple extra licks in."
So, yeah. I understand the drive. I mean, when we were walking around the neighborhood asking after our missing diaper bag, I really felt the desire to do harm to the culprit. It wasn't so much losing the diaper bag as feeling completely violated by the theft of the bag from a space (stroller, playlot) where I imagined one's personal possessions would be MORE safe. At any rate, so maybe it isn't crazy to want to "get a couple of extra licks in" but that a police officer not only admitted the desire but made it clear that he acts on it is crazy. I would think that, even if they do such things, cops would make a point of NOT making it known.
On another note, how about those red sox?
Also, wouldn't you say that authenticity is not always the goal of a performance? That sometimes folks just want to make sure that you've crossed your 't's and dotted your 'i's and don't really care if you mean it? Do you think that Alexander would suggest that in such cases we're not talking about performance? I suggest we could still be telling the code in these instances.
Which reminds me of an odd conversation that transpired a couple of days ago. I was speaking to the partner of a woman in my mom's group. This partner works as a police officer. He mentioned an arrest he made the evening before and alluded to a class of people who engage in crimes that are out of bounds. I said, "You mean like stealing someone's diaper bag out from underneath the stroller while they are pushing their child on the swings? That's what happened to us this summer." and he said, "Yeah. When you catch guys like that you just try to get a couple extra licks in."
So, yeah. I understand the drive. I mean, when we were walking around the neighborhood asking after our missing diaper bag, I really felt the desire to do harm to the culprit. It wasn't so much losing the diaper bag as feeling completely violated by the theft of the bag from a space (stroller, playlot) where I imagined one's personal possessions would be MORE safe. At any rate, so maybe it isn't crazy to want to "get a couple of extra licks in" but that a police officer not only admitted the desire but made it clear that he acts on it is crazy. I would think that, even if they do such things, cops would make a point of NOT making it known.
On another note, how about those red sox?
Friday, October 26, 2007
stereotype threat
A fter this post I'll go back to writing the paper that I am supposed to workshop at Yale in an alarmingly short time.
A difficulty arises in that I desire so much NOT to do what folks would expect that I do on the basis on my occupational and educational history, working class background, and family status and gender. At the very same time, however, EVERYTHING I do and aspire to reflects exactly those things.
Being a mother is the most important, rewarding, and challenging thing that I will ever have the opportunity to do. Ideally, I would be a part-time academic until I sent my youngest off to kindergarten.
I am an academic. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy teaching but I want to engage ideas, articulate approaches, and offer friendly criticism.
I was a first generation college student from a working-class family. I want my work to directly confront material issues. I want my family to understand that the work I do relates to their lives.
Finally, I really am a writer. I am so enjoying working on my dissertation (OK, not so much this chapter which is an add-on resulting from the clear demand for a focus on the "other" or "exotic" elements of the field). However, my drive to write fails when I imagine this project, so much about living breathing people and real hurts and needs being subjugated to the requirements of cultural form, ultimately languishing as a bound and rote academic piece on the dissertation shelf in the basement of the library. Or, if I'm lucky, getting published as a jargon-laden monograph by a third rate academic press so all 150 copies can collect dust in various university libraries.
So, what this adds up to is that I am, perhaps, happy to be a failed academic despite the fact that my ego is bruised and I feel that I am doing women, generally, and mothers, especially, a disservice. Although family finances (loan payments) require that I have some income upon completion of the doctorate (or just leaving), wouldn't I rather be free to revise my book for the general public instead of trying to break into the circle of elites discussing the topic in the academy? Instead of following this line of research until tenure, wouldn't I prefer to move on immediately to the next topic: the culture of mothering? Writing, once again, for change and the public?
A difficulty arises in that I desire so much NOT to do what folks would expect that I do on the basis on my occupational and educational history, working class background, and family status and gender. At the very same time, however, EVERYTHING I do and aspire to reflects exactly those things.
Being a mother is the most important, rewarding, and challenging thing that I will ever have the opportunity to do. Ideally, I would be a part-time academic until I sent my youngest off to kindergarten.
I am an academic. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy teaching but I want to engage ideas, articulate approaches, and offer friendly criticism.
I was a first generation college student from a working-class family. I want my work to directly confront material issues. I want my family to understand that the work I do relates to their lives.
Finally, I really am a writer. I am so enjoying working on my dissertation (OK, not so much this chapter which is an add-on resulting from the clear demand for a focus on the "other" or "exotic" elements of the field). However, my drive to write fails when I imagine this project, so much about living breathing people and real hurts and needs being subjugated to the requirements of cultural form, ultimately languishing as a bound and rote academic piece on the dissertation shelf in the basement of the library. Or, if I'm lucky, getting published as a jargon-laden monograph by a third rate academic press so all 150 copies can collect dust in various university libraries.
So, what this adds up to is that I am, perhaps, happy to be a failed academic despite the fact that my ego is bruised and I feel that I am doing women, generally, and mothers, especially, a disservice. Although family finances (loan payments) require that I have some income upon completion of the doctorate (or just leaving), wouldn't I rather be free to revise my book for the general public instead of trying to break into the circle of elites discussing the topic in the academy? Instead of following this line of research until tenure, wouldn't I prefer to move on immediately to the next topic: the culture of mothering? Writing, once again, for change and the public?
Grand re-opening, Goodnight nobody
Just to make it official, I am back.
Seeing as I stopped blogging largely on account of concerns that blogging activity would have an adverse effect on my job prospects and, as it turns out, I have no prospects, I think I would like to return to my virtual ramblings.
Of course, I suspect that any readers are long gone. No matter. Just as I write my dissertation in isolation from my department, just as I raise my children outside of a web of family support, so shall I blog for myself alone.
Seeing as I stopped blogging largely on account of concerns that blogging activity would have an adverse effect on my job prospects and, as it turns out, I have no prospects, I think I would like to return to my virtual ramblings.
Of course, I suspect that any readers are long gone. No matter. Just as I write my dissertation in isolation from my department, just as I raise my children outside of a web of family support, so shall I blog for myself alone.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
precipe? crossroads? the dead marshes?
1. My self-esteem is too fragile for the academic job market.
2. When you are passed over by programs that met with you at the big gig in August, it's hard not to take it personally.
3. This tortuous process leads to soul searching.
a. Why did I pursue the Ph.D. in Sociology in the first place? Answer: wanted to make the world a better place. peace corps didn't meet my expectations. social work program was too clinical in its approach (the social system is the problem). so off to sociology.
b. Am I barking up the wrong tree? Am I lacking sociological potential? Will I be most happy/effective as an academic or outside of the academy?
c. Let's say that I will not be successful on the market this year. What do I do? Throw in the towel and look for regular job? Raise my children and try my hand at freelancing? Push back completion for another year to get more publications and drum up interest in my work? Take a dead end teaching gig that is outside of the norm for folks coming out of my program and that will not provide me research support (moral or otherwise)?
That my days as a student are coming to an end is all that I know with certainty.
2. When you are passed over by programs that met with you at the big gig in August, it's hard not to take it personally.
3. This tortuous process leads to soul searching.
a. Why did I pursue the Ph.D. in Sociology in the first place? Answer: wanted to make the world a better place. peace corps didn't meet my expectations. social work program was too clinical in its approach (the social system is the problem). so off to sociology.
b. Am I barking up the wrong tree? Am I lacking sociological potential? Will I be most happy/effective as an academic or outside of the academy?
c. Let's say that I will not be successful on the market this year. What do I do? Throw in the towel and look for regular job? Raise my children and try my hand at freelancing? Push back completion for another year to get more publications and drum up interest in my work? Take a dead end teaching gig that is outside of the norm for folks coming out of my program and that will not provide me research support (moral or otherwise)?
That my days as a student are coming to an end is all that I know with certainty.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Publications
Lack of publications leaving you concerned about my productivity?
How's this for productivity?
How's this for productivity?
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Requiem
It has been a while but I did want to put in a word for Mr. Vonnegut.
Bluebeard is his best work. I have read them all.
He and my old priest, also deceased, are the reason I attended the University of Chicago.
I met Vonnegut once. I believe I have recounted that encounter.
Bluebeard is his best work. I have read them all.
He and my old priest, also deceased, are the reason I attended the University of Chicago.
I met Vonnegut once. I believe I have recounted that encounter.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Saturday, December 16, 2006
out but not down
I have only to administer and grade the final.
I created a lovely eggplant parmigiana the other evening.
My so-called works-in-progress presentation went quite well. Much interest and many questions.
It is not my fondest desire that the next time I teach I will be teaching as an assistant professor but it is up there in the top 10 or so on the stuff-for-myself-alone list.
The History of Love was fine but, really, it wasn't all that. However, Bird was a riot. If I were going to pick my role in the movie adaptation I would either be Bird or Bruno.
I created a lovely eggplant parmigiana the other evening.
My so-called works-in-progress presentation went quite well. Much interest and many questions.
It is not my fondest desire that the next time I teach I will be teaching as an assistant professor but it is up there in the top 10 or so on the stuff-for-myself-alone list.
The History of Love was fine but, really, it wasn't all that. However, Bird was a riot. If I were going to pick my role in the movie adaptation I would either be Bird or Bruno.
Friday, November 17, 2006
help wanted
Seeking responsible and caring individual to stand in for exhausted mother, lecturer and graduate student. The appointment will begin immediately and conclude on December 13. Responsibilities include: preparing and delivering lecturers, grading assignments, and responding to student needs; clothing, feeding, bathing, and supervising the activity of a wobbly toddler; completing grant applications and upcoming dissertation presentation, creating winter interview schedule, and overseeing survey scanning and commencing analyses.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
google-ized
So, I feel like every time I go to blogger, they are making it more difficult for me to stay old school. Are they going to force this google-ization on me? When? Should I move over to typepad or some other platform?
I used to be a fan of google but am beginning to feel like they are getting to be a little too big for their britches. I know their employee practices are commendable and all but do they really need to acquire absolutely everything ? Yes, I know, the bottom line, increasing profits, etc. etc. but what about monopolies and separation of powers and all that?
I used to be a fan of google but am beginning to feel like they are getting to be a little too big for their britches. I know their employee practices are commendable and all but do they really need to acquire absolutely everything ? Yes, I know, the bottom line, increasing profits, etc. etc. but what about monopolies and separation of powers and all that?
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
meh.
I'm on campus using my prehistoric laptop (external wireless card, big and heavy, blue line down the left side of the screen, red line down the right) trying to get some work done (teaching of course, the works-in-progress presentation I'm giving in a couple of weeks is sadly mistitled) and am about to head over to the gym after quite a long hiatus (approx 6 weeks).
The winter doldrums set in early this year - during that mid-October spurt of cold and grey. At this point I am underwater - hoping that I will be able to hold my breath until the semester ends. I optimistically imagine that I will resurface with an exuberance and joie de vivre that will carry me through until the new year (my new year, folks, the hint of spring).
Anyway, I am truly off to the gym and not looking forward to the scale or watching how quickly my heart rate soars - likely reaching my target rate while climbing the stairs up to the cardio theater. I am looking forward to sweating and listening to my return-to-the-gym ipod playlist which includes toe-ticklin' tunes from MSTRKRFT, Spouse, Kekele, Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins, The Bravery and New Order, among others. On a related note, have I mentioned that I am enjoying the resurgence of the "post-modern" sound in some contemporary music?
The winter doldrums set in early this year - during that mid-October spurt of cold and grey. At this point I am underwater - hoping that I will be able to hold my breath until the semester ends. I optimistically imagine that I will resurface with an exuberance and joie de vivre that will carry me through until the new year (my new year, folks, the hint of spring).
Anyway, I am truly off to the gym and not looking forward to the scale or watching how quickly my heart rate soars - likely reaching my target rate while climbing the stairs up to the cardio theater. I am looking forward to sweating and listening to my return-to-the-gym ipod playlist which includes toe-ticklin' tunes from MSTRKRFT, Spouse, Kekele, Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins, The Bravery and New Order, among others. On a related note, have I mentioned that I am enjoying the resurgence of the "post-modern" sound in some contemporary music?
Friday, November 10, 2006
if I were you, I would expect a quiz on Monday
I know lots of folks who feel badly about failing those who attend class. In general I concur that it is kind of crappy to fail students who are regular attendees, engaged in lecture and clearly putting in effort to prepare for class and exams.* It seems like nearly every semester I have a student or 2 who falls into this category - just doesn't seem to get it - and I spend significant time with them trying to get them to learn how to read, write and take tests. Anyway, these students I get. I am baffled by the students who come to class and do nothing and yet somehow expect that I will pass them despite their poor performance on exams and other assignments.
I hit an all-time low with one of my sections this week. One of my students entered before class and put her head down on her desk to sleep. Once class began her head stayed down so I called on her. She popped up and answered (albeit in a way that demonstrated she hadn't done the reading) my question and then put her head back down. I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt - paying attention with head down - a few minutes later however, there was a slapping noise which was the result of her hand (in her sleep) dropping on to the desktop. Further, there was much less student involvement than usual (e.g. no one responding to questions and comments) and one student, who made no mention to me of an early departure, packed up and left. Meanwhile one of my most annoying students (annoying in that she is outspoken in class at the same time that she doesn't prepare, generally late, AND to top it off added the class at the beginning of the semester to get an A to bring up her GPA (assuming, apparently, that my class - Sociology, after all - was an easy A)) closed her notebook and put her head down on the desk too. I had reached the limit.
"So," I said, "I am sorry. I didn't realize that this was such a horrible lecture. Should we just forget about it and I'll see you next week?"
[Silence]
"I mean," I continued, "I've got 2 people sleeping down here in front, other folks leaving and most of the rest of you sitting comatose. If my lecture is that painful for you all, let's not waste any more of our time, OK?"
[At this point a couple of my tried and true regulars said that they were paying attention and interested. Then the annoying student spoke up.]
"Well, I didn't do the reading so I really don't understand."
"Oh you're not prepared. All the more reason not to pay attention to a lecture in which I am going over the material you should have read before today."
[Silence]
"I will continue the lecture for those of you who are interested. However, I would like the rest of you to pack up. If you have a need to sleep, I highly recommend the sofas in the Union on the 3rd floor. We'll wait a minute so you don't disrupt us further on your way out."
No one moves. After a minute I recommence the lecture and abstain from soliciting any class participation. The sleepers are awake, wide awake. At the end of the period, most students exit through the back. I am still livid and, further, the lecture needs to be completely revamped.
*When this happens, I tend to fault the university for admitting students who are not up to the work and then not following through with services. The university I'm at now does a great job of making itself accessible to those from the community who are interested in being students but I do think that, if you are going to take tuition $$ from folks, you should make a commitment to helping them through successfully.
I hit an all-time low with one of my sections this week. One of my students entered before class and put her head down on her desk to sleep. Once class began her head stayed down so I called on her. She popped up and answered (albeit in a way that demonstrated she hadn't done the reading) my question and then put her head back down. I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt - paying attention with head down - a few minutes later however, there was a slapping noise which was the result of her hand (in her sleep) dropping on to the desktop. Further, there was much less student involvement than usual (e.g. no one responding to questions and comments) and one student, who made no mention to me of an early departure, packed up and left. Meanwhile one of my most annoying students (annoying in that she is outspoken in class at the same time that she doesn't prepare, generally late, AND to top it off added the class at the beginning of the semester to get an A to bring up her GPA (assuming, apparently, that my class - Sociology, after all - was an easy A)) closed her notebook and put her head down on the desk too. I had reached the limit.
"So," I said, "I am sorry. I didn't realize that this was such a horrible lecture. Should we just forget about it and I'll see you next week?"
[Silence]
"I mean," I continued, "I've got 2 people sleeping down here in front, other folks leaving and most of the rest of you sitting comatose. If my lecture is that painful for you all, let's not waste any more of our time, OK?"
[At this point a couple of my tried and true regulars said that they were paying attention and interested. Then the annoying student spoke up.]
"Well, I didn't do the reading so I really don't understand."
"Oh you're not prepared. All the more reason not to pay attention to a lecture in which I am going over the material you should have read before today."
[Silence]
"I will continue the lecture for those of you who are interested. However, I would like the rest of you to pack up. If you have a need to sleep, I highly recommend the sofas in the Union on the 3rd floor. We'll wait a minute so you don't disrupt us further on your way out."
No one moves. After a minute I recommence the lecture and abstain from soliciting any class participation. The sleepers are awake, wide awake. At the end of the period, most students exit through the back. I am still livid and, further, the lecture needs to be completely revamped.
*When this happens, I tend to fault the university for admitting students who are not up to the work and then not following through with services. The university I'm at now does a great job of making itself accessible to those from the community who are interested in being students but I do think that, if you are going to take tuition $$ from folks, you should make a commitment to helping them through successfully.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
the stars at night
We were away the last 10 days or so - in TX. We spent time in Austin. Eh - not a fan - kind of a bigger even more all-the-inconveniences-of-a-city-with-none-of-the-perks town like Madison. South Austin wasn't bad and the bats were kind of cool. Then it was San Antonio. What a nice city! An old and walkable city center. The coolness (meaning temperature) of the somewhat over touristed riverwalk. A great place to visit. Last was San Marcos (pronounced locally sanMARcus) which ended up being a pleasant surprise. The outlet malls were on the outskirts and there was a nice little village center and even some good food (best vittles of all 3 locations).
Other things learned:
1. The smell of barbecue (I'm from Maine so the spelling is a guess) makes me ill - burnt flesh with a few spices rubbed in. It permeates everything. I can't even eat the bread or the beans without tasting it and feeling like I'm about to toss my cookies.
2. One can only spend so much time eating cheese enchiladas, rice and beans.
3. At the young age of 14 months I would guess that E has consumed less than 1/8 the sugar of the typical American toddler. I suspect one of the things she is going to enjoy about traveling as she grows older is all the crapola she gets to eat.* We have a pretty established diet of whole grains, unprocessed/sweetened fruits, veggies and legumes, and organic dairy products without additions. So, on this trip, we couldn't give E her normal whole milk organic plain yogurt and ended up with those typical yoplait and dannon-type things. 3 of the first 5 ingredients are some form of sugar! They averaged 12g of sugar per container (less yogurt than E usually eats at a sitting). They also contained less calcium and protein than a typical serving of whole milk plain yogurt. I can't believe people think of those things as part of a healthy diet.
*Incidentally, I didn't travel growing up (barring the trip to the mainland to shop at the mall and our annual family trip to "Funtown," a 30 minute drive from the ferry terminal and, in my mind, basically another country). All the same, my parents ruined their credit on a family trip to DisneyWorld when I was in 7th grade. They purchased a package which included meals at resort restaurants. I think I ordered a steak pretty much every night. Toward the end of the trip, as I was finishing off yet another steak, I turned to my mother and said, "I really like steak, but, when we get home, do you think you could make a green salad and macaroni with butter and pepper?"Sure enough, mom made that for our first dinner at home. She also made it for all my subsequent homecoming meals - home from college, home from Russia, first meal after the Nutcracker closed, etc.
Other things learned:
1. The smell of barbecue (I'm from Maine so the spelling is a guess) makes me ill - burnt flesh with a few spices rubbed in. It permeates everything. I can't even eat the bread or the beans without tasting it and feeling like I'm about to toss my cookies.
2. One can only spend so much time eating cheese enchiladas, rice and beans.
3. At the young age of 14 months I would guess that E has consumed less than 1/8 the sugar of the typical American toddler. I suspect one of the things she is going to enjoy about traveling as she grows older is all the crapola she gets to eat.* We have a pretty established diet of whole grains, unprocessed/sweetened fruits, veggies and legumes, and organic dairy products without additions. So, on this trip, we couldn't give E her normal whole milk organic plain yogurt and ended up with those typical yoplait and dannon-type things. 3 of the first 5 ingredients are some form of sugar! They averaged 12g of sugar per container (less yogurt than E usually eats at a sitting). They also contained less calcium and protein than a typical serving of whole milk plain yogurt. I can't believe people think of those things as part of a healthy diet.
*Incidentally, I didn't travel growing up (barring the trip to the mainland to shop at the mall and our annual family trip to "Funtown," a 30 minute drive from the ferry terminal and, in my mind, basically another country). All the same, my parents ruined their credit on a family trip to DisneyWorld when I was in 7th grade. They purchased a package which included meals at resort restaurants. I think I ordered a steak pretty much every night. Toward the end of the trip, as I was finishing off yet another steak, I turned to my mother and said, "I really like steak, but, when we get home, do you think you could make a green salad and macaroni with butter and pepper?"Sure enough, mom made that for our first dinner at home. She also made it for all my subsequent homecoming meals - home from college, home from Russia, first meal after the Nutcracker closed, etc.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
[]
so very busy and exhausted and overwhelmed and...
E has given up her morning nap. I generally blogged, tidied up, and took care of self-grooming during this time. The house is a mess, my teeth are fuzzy and my hair greasy, and the obvious.
I am eagerly anticipating next semester - no teaching! My thoughts on this life, the academic one (always tempered by the all-the-time me), swing wildly between 2 poles. Some days I am invincible, a happy parent of a wonderful child and a budding sociologist with an exciting and important research agenda. Other days I cannot tell if it is mental fatigue or physical exhaustion weighing me down but all the same I cannot imagine a life in which I am any more than the something less than part-time academic/educator-in-training that I am now - at least until E and any subsequent siblings are off to school.
detours and derailments. some days they are a pleasure and others...
E has given up her morning nap. I generally blogged, tidied up, and took care of self-grooming during this time. The house is a mess, my teeth are fuzzy and my hair greasy, and the obvious.
I am eagerly anticipating next semester - no teaching! My thoughts on this life, the academic one (always tempered by the all-the-time me), swing wildly between 2 poles. Some days I am invincible, a happy parent of a wonderful child and a budding sociologist with an exciting and important research agenda. Other days I cannot tell if it is mental fatigue or physical exhaustion weighing me down but all the same I cannot imagine a life in which I am any more than the something less than part-time academic/educator-in-training that I am now - at least until E and any subsequent siblings are off to school.
detours and derailments. some days they are a pleasure and others...
Friday, October 06, 2006
[rant]
I don't have much time because I have to go downstairs and start cutting up fall vegetables for roasting however, I just sat down to check my email and am doubly annoyed.
First, human subjects is still stringing me along.
Second, I received an email from a student. Not inherently problematic but get this:
This student has been registered for my class since the beginning. I first heard from her the third week of classes (via email) in which she explained her reasons for being a no-show up to that point. I sent her the syllabus and suggested that she should read it. I told her that I run a tight ship and that she had already missed 2 assignments and a quiz that could not be made up. She said that she would be able to catch up. She attended not the next class but the class after that and vanished for the next 4. Today she emailed me explaining why she was absent the last 2 weeks, asked for make-up work and inquired into what she needed to know for the impending midterm.
You've got to be kidding me!
What I want to say is:
THERE IS NO MAKE-UP!
THE EXAM WILL COVER 5 WEEKS OF MATERIAL ABOUT WHICH YOU KNOW NOTHING AND A BOOK YOU INDICATE YOU HAVE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF MUCH LESS PURCHASED AND READ IN ITS ENTIRETY.
I AM HAPPY TO SPEAK WITH YOU ABOUT HOW TO APPROACH COLLEGE EDUCATION BUT PLEASE DROP MY CLASS.
First, human subjects is still stringing me along.
Second, I received an email from a student. Not inherently problematic but get this:
This student has been registered for my class since the beginning. I first heard from her the third week of classes (via email) in which she explained her reasons for being a no-show up to that point. I sent her the syllabus and suggested that she should read it. I told her that I run a tight ship and that she had already missed 2 assignments and a quiz that could not be made up. She said that she would be able to catch up. She attended not the next class but the class after that and vanished for the next 4. Today she emailed me explaining why she was absent the last 2 weeks, asked for make-up work and inquired into what she needed to know for the impending midterm.
You've got to be kidding me!
What I want to say is:
THERE IS NO MAKE-UP!
THE EXAM WILL COVER 5 WEEKS OF MATERIAL ABOUT WHICH YOU KNOW NOTHING AND A BOOK YOU INDICATE YOU HAVE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF MUCH LESS PURCHASED AND READ IN ITS ENTIRETY.
I AM HAPPY TO SPEAK WITH YOU ABOUT HOW TO APPROACH COLLEGE EDUCATION BUT PLEASE DROP MY CLASS.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
release me!
In all seriousness, IRB, you are messing up my life right now. Not only should I have been collecting data THIS WEEK, I cannot complete a research fellowship application requesting support for research that I do not yet have permission to do.
In my experience, the second you say you are going to be looking at how racial, ethnic and religious difference is interpreted and managed, they assume you are out to do harm. Even if you are gathering data on TECHNIQUES and CURRICULA they claim up and down that the people WHO WILL NOT EVEN APPEAR IN YOUR RESEARCH PRODUCT are at risk.
This is really an interesting case of the university managing knowledge production. I mean, I say I want to go hang out in a poor neighborhood to look at racial tensions and that's fine. Poor people are interesting reading and they don't sue. You say you want to find out how notions of diversity are produced and disseminated by power players and next thing you know we've been strung along for 2 months and asked to navigate all kinds hoops and hurdles clearly designed to get you just to give up.
In my experience, the second you say you are going to be looking at how racial, ethnic and religious difference is interpreted and managed, they assume you are out to do harm. Even if you are gathering data on TECHNIQUES and CURRICULA they claim up and down that the people WHO WILL NOT EVEN APPEAR IN YOUR RESEARCH PRODUCT are at risk.
This is really an interesting case of the university managing knowledge production. I mean, I say I want to go hang out in a poor neighborhood to look at racial tensions and that's fine. Poor people are interesting reading and they don't sue. You say you want to find out how notions of diversity are produced and disseminated by power players and next thing you know we've been strung along for 2 months and asked to navigate all kinds hoops and hurdles clearly designed to get you just to give up.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Office update
As you may remember, I've been redesigning my office in order to create a space conducive to completing a dissertation. This will be particularly crucial when I lose my Milwaukee office at the end of the semester at the same time when the winter doldrums tend to set in.
At any rate, I LOVE my desk - so spacious with loads of leg room and surface area and I can look out the window when I need to move my eyes to something else for a minute.
While I've had the desk for a month, I just put up my new shelving unit today. It's Smart Furniture, but discounted stuff from their outlet store. As you can see, we can grow into the existing space and this unit is modular so when we move we should be able to reconfigure it to fit in our new space. We could also add on to it if need be.
Last major item on the acquisition list is a lateral file. This photograph shows where it will go and some of the material waiting to go into it.
We were hoping to get one "on loan" from one of our workplaces but, alas, none are available. I'm keeping my eyes peeled but if I haven't found something by the next credit card billing cycle I'm going to get the one that matches the desk.
On the wish list: an office chair and corkboard.
At any rate, I LOVE my desk - so spacious with loads of leg room and surface area and I can look out the window when I need to move my eyes to something else for a minute.
While I've had the desk for a month, I just put up my new shelving unit today. It's Smart Furniture, but discounted stuff from their outlet store. As you can see, we can grow into the existing space and this unit is modular so when we move we should be able to reconfigure it to fit in our new space. We could also add on to it if need be.
Last major item on the acquisition list is a lateral file. This photograph shows where it will go and some of the material waiting to go into it.
We were hoping to get one "on loan" from one of our workplaces but, alas, none are available. I'm keeping my eyes peeled but if I haven't found something by the next credit card billing cycle I'm going to get the one that matches the desk.
On the wish list: an office chair and corkboard.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
ode to human subjects
your hands around my neck
my voice is distorted, muted, silenced
knowledge/power culture/power corporate power
you protect those without need
and perceive risk only to your own skin
you limit what we may learn
and determine what can be known
my voice is distorted, muted, silenced
knowledge/power culture/power corporate power
you protect those without need
and perceive risk only to your own skin
you limit what we may learn
and determine what can be known
Sunday, September 24, 2006
verily
1. Teaching a repeat class is a good experience - allows you to work on balancing your teaching with research, service, etc.
2. Perfect weather today - hot in the sun, cool in the shade, memories of summer and hints of what is to come.
3. Here's something to do with all that CSA corn:
2. Perfect weather today - hot in the sun, cool in the shade, memories of summer and hints of what is to come.
3. Here's something to do with all that CSA corn:
Preheat oven to 425
Cut kernels from 3 ears sweet corn and spread on cookie sheet
Spray with olive oil
Bake until golden (15 minutes-ish)
Drain and rinse one can of black beans
Chop (and all other sensical prep), combine and pulse in food processor
1 red onion
1 cup cilantro
2 gloves garlic
2 jalapeno peppers
4 -6 ripe roma tomatoes
1 red pepper
3 tablespoons of cider vinegar
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
Juice of 1 or 2 limes
pour into large bowl and fold in the beans and completely cooled corn
add 2 diced avocados immediately before serving
Friday, September 22, 2006
whoops
A journal editor has asked that I review a manuscript. I suppose this is a CV builder too even if it can't be placed under the "publications" heading.
Is it just chance that I am getting this request? Seems odd but the editor made no mention of my advisors and I know they are clear that I want to be a BOOK reviewer.
Is it just chance that I am getting this request? Seems odd but the editor made no mention of my advisors and I know they are clear that I want to be a BOOK reviewer.
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