Something Shiny!

Five Friday Fasties

emily — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:32:48 +0000

All three of the cats threw up in the house in the same week, recently, at different times, which is funny because… wait, it’s not funny.

I haven’t gotten a haircut since August. By November it was relatively easy to say that it was because money was tight since John was unemployed. Now I’m forced to admit that it’s just because I’m lazy.

I finished overhauling one of my chapters this week in four days. Four! Days! That’s pretty much a record for me, so I’m going to go ahead and take a bow. Of course, now that I’m starting my next task, I’m staring at the computer screen going, “wait, what?”

On a related note, I’m holding a funeral for Spring Break 2010 this weekend. You’re all invited to join me, of course, and those who want to say a few words will be more than welcome to do so.

The word “fasties” up there reminds me of when we were in England, seeing signs all over Bath for “Cornish Pasties,” a delicious savory lunch menu item. Pasties, in that sense, is pronounced with a short ‘a,’ as in fast or crash or alley. And how much do I wish someone had been there to explain that to me? Because believe me when I say, you do *not* want to be the only person chortling about “Cornish Pasties,” thinking that it’s pronounced with a long ‘a,’ as in state or day or, well, pasties.

Spring Break, Florida style

emily — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:21:21 +0000

So! [claps hands] Where were we? After Friday’s debacle, I’m pretty relieved to be on Spring Break right now. Spring Break as a grad student is so very, very different from Spring Break as an undergrad. To wit: I’m on Spring Break Day Two and there’s nary a beach in sight. I’m in Florida, sure, but that’s about it. (My brother called the other night and, choking back laughter, asked if I was going to Florida for Spring Break. Har har har.) So what am I doing with my time, you ask? I’m catching some sun! I’m sleeping in late! I’m enjoying the beautiful weather! I’m… completely lying: in fact, I’m working on my dissertation. While I could pretend to be bummed about that, I’m actually totally jazzed. I’m so jazzed that I just used the word “jazzed.” It’s been since last summer that I had this kind of time to devote to my own research and I honestly couldn’t be happier. I only interrupted my work twice today: once for lunch and once to update my Facebook page about the Lohan-a-holic brouhaha. Because, seriously, could she be more crazy? Milk-a-whaaat? Good stuff. Here’s to Spring Break 2010! Come on down, the weather’s fine!

On loyalty and disloyalty

emily — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:30:59 +0000

During my classes today, we discussed the Cold War and how the fear that Communism would spread to the US led to an anti-Communist movement in the 1940s and 1950s. I wanted to get my students thinking about loyalty and disloyalty, so I told them that during World War Two, one of the things the United States government asked of Japanese Americans (before they sent them to the internment camps) was that they furnish proof that they had always been loyal to the United States. How many of us, I asked, could furnish such proof? Is it as simple as signing a loyalty oath? Is it singing the national anthem? Is it wearing an American flag lapel pin? And they came to the conclusion that loyalty wasn’t something that you can demonstrate. So I asked, if you question your country or disagree with your government, does that make you unpatriotic or disloyal? No, they said; our democracy can only flourish if people are allowed to question the government, and besides, freedom of speech and expression are built into our Constitution. I continued: did they think something like McCarthyism could happen today? No, they responded: as a nation, we wouldn’t let such a thing happen today. So I asked them where Mikey Hicks fit into the equation. Mikey, all of 8 years old, shares the name of a suspected terrorist on the no-fly list. Mikey has been getting frisked at airports ever since he was two. And I also asked them where Obama’s lapel pin fit into the equation. During the campaign, Obama was pressured to wear an American flag lapel pin, to demonstrate his patriotism. He responded, reasonably, that patriotism isn’t demonstrated by wearing a lapel pin; it’s something within. He used, in short, the same arguments that my students pointed to today. But then one of my students raised her hand: “Yeah, but you know, there’s so much with Obama and the American flag.” I asked her to elaborate. “I don’t know what to believe, you know? I heard that he went to an event where they burned the American flag and, you know, that his wife wrote things against the government when she was in college.” And I honestly couldn’t believe my ears. Here was the same person who’d defended the idea that patriotism came within, and that freedom of speech was protected. Did she not see the inconsistencies in her logic? Does freedom of speech somehow not extend to the first family? Burning the flag and criticizing the government may not be popular, I understand. But it is our right as citizens to speak freely and, some would argue, our duty to criticize the government when we disagree with it. It’s part of living in a democracy, is it not? If we’re forced to keep our mouths shut and quell dissent, can we really say we live in a democracy? They say that those who don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it. And as American politics becomes ever more shrill, I have to wonder: are we repeating our own unfortunate past?

Occupational therapist

emily — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:30:55 +0000

When I was younger, I thought I wanted to be an occupational therapist. I’d heard the word somewhere and, without knowing what it really meant, decided that being an occupational therapist meant helping people find their dream jobs. We’d sit in a big swanky office, my clients and I, and we’d talk about their innermost hopes and dreams. I’d scribble notes on a legal pad, stopping every now and again to ask a pointed question like, “how do you feel about filing?” or, “do you feel comfortable in an astronaut suit?” And then, after several sessions, I’d rip a piece of paper off of my prescription pad and exclaim, “I think we’ve got it!” And I’d send them off into the world, armed and ready to become a teacher, a court reporter, a veterinarian, or what have you. That’d be an awesome job.

We stand on guard for thee

emily — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:35:14 +0000

Ever since the Olympics ended, I’ve had the Canadian national anthem going through my head. As national anthems go, it’s really not that bad; it’s quite catchy, actually. Good thing, too, since I’ve been brushing my teeth in time to it, walking the dog in time to it, falling asleep and waking up to it. I’ve tried to push it out of my head with other music: Rodrigo y Gabriela, Joshua Radin, U2, Diana Krall, and even the Shaker Melody from Appalachian Spring. All to no avail: Canada, it seems, has sticking power.

An honest question

emily — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:45:59 +0000

My tendency on this blog is to really strictly limit the topics I talk about because… well, because I don’t want to alienate anyone. Not everyone shares my politics, and I want this to be a friendly space that everyone feels comfortable frequenting. But the problem with that, of course, is that I wind up talking about really safe, beige topics. I’m much more likely to talk about nothing than something, because something might be divisive. But today I’m going to shelve that because I want to talk about a touchy subject: abortion. Nothing quite as divisive as abortion, right? Talk about jumping right in with both feet. But seriously, I have an honest question here. I think I understand both sides of the abortion debate pretty well. But that understanding falls apart when it comes to selective reduction. Selective reduction is used when a woman has multiples (twins, triplets, etc) in her womb and she chooses to limit the number of them she’ll carry to term. It’s another form of abortion. But never have I heard of anybody making a fuss about selective reduction. Why is that?

The race is on

emily — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:05:01 +0000

Do you ever find yourself in an unintentional foot race with a stranger? You’re walking along the sidewalk, and suddenly the person to your right picks up her pace. She wasn’t walking that fast to begin with… was she? Perhaps you’ve slowed your pace inadvertently, so you speed up a bit. But somehow you’re still not catching up with her. You increase speed again. Your shins start to burn a little. At the moment at which you start to break a sweat, you realize how ridiculous the situation is. You shake your head at the sheer ludicrousness of the situation: race-walking a stranger. How silly! And then, just as you’ve given up (she’s got much longer legs than you, in any case), you see her smirk to herself. What the…? Was she…? No, surely not. But, just in case, you pick up your pace again.

What am I?

emily — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 05:08:39 +0000

I’ll give you three guesses as to what the main ingredient in this chocolate cake is:

The lineups

emily — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:36:50 +0000

Olympic hockey started the other night and John and I couldn’t be happier. There were, though, some concerns about the rosters:

John: Well, we have [Sidney] Crosby, right?
Me: No, he’s Canadian.
John: Oh. Well, do we have [Martin] Brodeur?
Me: No, he’s also Canadian.
John: Holy crap, we’re screwed!

Fever all through the night

emily — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 05:30:56 +0000

Friday night as we were getting dinner ready in the kitchen, I told John I wasn’t feeling well. When he asked what was wrong, I told him I thought I had a fever: Olympic fever. The only prescription, naturally, is the hours and hours and hours of Olympics coverage we’ve got on Tivo. Do most people watch the Olympics these days? When I was growing up, the Olympics were a huge deal at my family’s house and we watched every minute we could. I remember sliding along the kitchen floor in my socks, pretending to be a figure skater. And I also remember that the Olympics were the only time we ever ate in front of the tv. These days, I have to say, Tivo has made it possible to enjoy much more of the sport and talent of the Olympics, as we’re now able to fast forward right through Bob Costas and his soft focus spotlight interviews. Obviously, this just means that I can watch even more Olympics. My family would be so proud. My Olympic fever is coming along nicely.