A duck riding on a horse is once again running for president and this year, I am voting Duck plus Horse for America! They work as a team, for America.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Duck + Horse for America
A duck riding on a horse is once again running for president and this year, I am voting Duck plus Horse for America! They work as a team, for America.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Parents-dissertation "relations" part 1: the nun
My Mom is helping to organize her college reunion and to that end, has been researching in the college archives. The college archives are run by a prof. at the college who, since it's a Catholic women's college, is a PhD and a nun. Mom has become buddies with the archivist/professor/nun and apparently was chatting away, presumably about her kid who is in a history Phd program, one day when the nun* asked what my Phd diss is on.
An e-mail and phone exchange ensued.
Mom: The professor asked some questions and I couldn't respond. What is your dissertation about?
YSA thinking: This is weird. I've been working on the same topic for years...couldn't she at least give a ballpark answer from memory...like, something about Germany (doesn't she remember when I lived in Germany?) And my dissertation even has nuns in it!
YSA: Mom, but you know what my dissertation is about? Remember? Remember the naked dancing nun? And the sex workers and venereal disease legislation!
Mom: Well, can you write that up so that I can send it to the professor?
YSA: Huh? Like a nun-friendly version of my diss?
Mom: Just write something I can send to her.
I wrote a paragraph and sent it to Mom, who sent it to the nun (nuns have e-mail, too). I never heard back from the nun. But all this seemed a little strange. Didn't Mom know what my dissertation was about?
*Mom points out that she's a nun, yes, but also a history professor. But it's hard for me not to think of her as The Nun.
An e-mail and phone exchange ensued.
Mom: The professor asked some questions and I couldn't respond. What is your dissertation about?
YSA thinking: This is weird. I've been working on the same topic for years...couldn't she at least give a ballpark answer from memory...like, something about Germany (doesn't she remember when I lived in Germany?) And my dissertation even has nuns in it!
YSA: Mom, but you know what my dissertation is about? Remember? Remember the naked dancing nun? And the sex workers and venereal disease legislation!
Mom: Well, can you write that up so that I can send it to the professor?
YSA: Huh? Like a nun-friendly version of my diss?
Mom: Just write something I can send to her.
I wrote a paragraph and sent it to Mom, who sent it to the nun (nuns have e-mail, too). I never heard back from the nun. But all this seemed a little strange. Didn't Mom know what my dissertation was about?
*Mom points out that she's a nun, yes, but also a history professor. But it's hard for me not to think of her as The Nun.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Parent-dissertation "relations" prelude
Family, into which one is accidentally born, and dissertation project, which who the hell knows where it came from (in the case of dear K., inspired in a tense moment by a poster that happened to be hanging nearby when she said to herself: "crap, I am meeting my advisor in 20 min., what is my project?") maybe don't think on either side (family, dissertation) that they have much to do with one another.
Oh, but they do.
One story about this that I really like was told me by JAH a few years ago. You know how your family members often identify one thing that you like and then use that as inspiration for holiday/birthday presents for the rest of your life? (As in, my brother-in-law is forever getting golf paraphernalia, as if "golf" were the entirety of his life experience.) JAH's Mom apparently did this with her diss project, which is about Nazi Germany. JAH now, every year, gets Nazi history-themed presents: documentaries about them, books, etc.
One X Mas eve she gazed at the family tree and there, beneath it, was a large package bearing her name and wrapped in white tissue paper through which was visible a giant black swastika. (It turned out to be an enormous encyclopedia or something.)
Merry X Mas!
Oh, but they do.
One story about this that I really like was told me by JAH a few years ago. You know how your family members often identify one thing that you like and then use that as inspiration for holiday/birthday presents for the rest of your life? (As in, my brother-in-law is forever getting golf paraphernalia, as if "golf" were the entirety of his life experience.) JAH's Mom apparently did this with her diss project, which is about Nazi Germany. JAH now, every year, gets Nazi history-themed presents: documentaries about them, books, etc.
One X Mas eve she gazed at the family tree and there, beneath it, was a large package bearing her name and wrapped in white tissue paper through which was visible a giant black swastika. (It turned out to be an enormous encyclopedia or something.)
Merry X Mas!
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
End violence against sex workers
December 17 is the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.
It's a job, and it shouldn't be such a terribly dangerous job. Making sex work illegal makes it far more dangerous, because sex workers can't call the police for protection.
The murders of 4 women in Atlantic City in 2006 are still unsolved.
It's a job, and it shouldn't be such a terribly dangerous job. Making sex work illegal makes it far more dangerous, because sex workers can't call the police for protection.
The murders of 4 women in Atlantic City in 2006 are still unsolved.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Friends: Please stop eating lipstick
I just heard this guy on Fresh Air on NPR, maybe you guys heard it? There is lead in lipstick.* There is also some kind of weird chemical in all pliable plastic (including your car dashboard and kid's toys) that messes up your hormones.
(Note the New York Time's story on the lead in lipstick--they basically just buy the cosmetic industry's excuse! (Which is that you don't eat lipstick, so who cares?) Wow, the NYT is really awful. I am glad we mostly canceled our subscription.)
Yup, the government has virtually no legal authority to regulate cosmetics; this includes zero power to make sure they're not putting lead in lipstick.
The guy found that the European Union has banned all kinds of chemicals which the EPA of the U.S. has declined to ban. The reason? E.U. countries pay for health care. They have an incentive to protect the health of their populations.
One (just one of many) of the reasons we need to regulate capitalism (and regulate it more) is that we've seen again and again that there's virtually no incentive not to market a product that will cause illness and death so long as the produce doesn't cause an immediate, dramatic situation involving injury or death (such as exploding lipstick). Slow poisoning products (see the cigarette industry, the global warming crisis, cancer clusters, etc.) make it impossible for people to sue. "Industry" is so powerful in this country that we individuals are basically left to regulate it ourselves by suing! That is why there are so many lawsuits, CC! Tell your parents.
*Something funny that's going on in the media coverage of the lead-in-lipstick issue is: As I noted, there's no law about whether you can make lead lipstick. There is, however, a legal limit on how much lead you can put in candy. So the reporters are writing that lipstick is "over the legal limit" because it's over the limit for candy. This is funny because
a) isn't the disturbing thing here the fact that the lead is clearly in the lipstick because no agency regulates cosmetics? There are probably all kinds of junk in lipstick! You know how we know about the lead? Some NGOs tested the lipstick, for lead, just for lead, not for, like, asbestos. Tom, remember when you worked at the cosmetic company and that lady sent in pictures of the chemical burn she got, and they just sent her a big check? That's why--they're totally unregulated, and they want to keep it that way!
b) There's lead in candy???!
(Note the New York Time's story on the lead in lipstick--they basically just buy the cosmetic industry's excuse! (Which is that you don't eat lipstick, so who cares?) Wow, the NYT is really awful. I am glad we mostly canceled our subscription.)
Yup, the government has virtually no legal authority to regulate cosmetics; this includes zero power to make sure they're not putting lead in lipstick.
The guy found that the European Union has banned all kinds of chemicals which the EPA of the U.S. has declined to ban. The reason? E.U. countries pay for health care. They have an incentive to protect the health of their populations.
One (just one of many) of the reasons we need to regulate capitalism (and regulate it more) is that we've seen again and again that there's virtually no incentive not to market a product that will cause illness and death so long as the produce doesn't cause an immediate, dramatic situation involving injury or death (such as exploding lipstick). Slow poisoning products (see the cigarette industry, the global warming crisis, cancer clusters, etc.) make it impossible for people to sue. "Industry" is so powerful in this country that we individuals are basically left to regulate it ourselves by suing! That is why there are so many lawsuits, CC! Tell your parents.
*Something funny that's going on in the media coverage of the lead-in-lipstick issue is: As I noted, there's no law about whether you can make lead lipstick. There is, however, a legal limit on how much lead you can put in candy. So the reporters are writing that lipstick is "over the legal limit" because it's over the limit for candy. This is funny because
a) isn't the disturbing thing here the fact that the lead is clearly in the lipstick because no agency regulates cosmetics? There are probably all kinds of junk in lipstick! You know how we know about the lead? Some NGOs tested the lipstick, for lead, just for lead, not for, like, asbestos. Tom, remember when you worked at the cosmetic company and that lady sent in pictures of the chemical burn she got, and they just sent her a big check? That's why--they're totally unregulated, and they want to keep it that way!
b) There's lead in candy???!
Friday, November 23, 2007
Not doing the lesbian avengers proud
I got to my parent's house (accompanied by the lovely CC), the rest of my family showed up, and suddenly and without aforethought, I found myself employing the word "buddy" as a synonym for "lesbian."
My sister-in-law: So where can you get a job after you graduate?
Me: Well, it is hard to find a job, but I am hoping that CC will get me a buddy hire.
(Note: Most people call it a "spousal hire.")
The next day...
My four-year-old niece (pausing in the midst of a sock-hurling game me and CC were playing with her in my parent's living room): Are you [as in, me] her [that is, CC's] mommy?
Me: No, she is my girlfriend.
Silence from four-year-old, and from her parents nearby who are surely listening.
Me: We hang out together a lot. We are, like, buddies.
My sister-in-law: So where can you get a job after you graduate?
Me: Well, it is hard to find a job, but I am hoping that CC will get me a buddy hire.
(Note: Most people call it a "spousal hire.")
The next day...
My four-year-old niece (pausing in the midst of a sock-hurling game me and CC were playing with her in my parent's living room): Are you [as in, me] her [that is, CC's] mommy?
Me: No, she is my girlfriend.
Silence from four-year-old, and from her parents nearby who are surely listening.
Me: We hang out together a lot. We are, like, buddies.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
A tough holiday for history PhD students
A few Thanksgivings ago, my one set of nephews couldn't come to my parents, so set #2 were stuck doing the traditional "basement show"/Thanksgiving pageant on their own. Naturally, having a cast of 2, both of whom would of course be playing arriving pilgrims, they asked their slightly older, history PhD student aunt to guest star as the welcoming Native American person. "We'll arrive on the boat," they told me (they had built a boat set out of a chair and some construction paper) "and you act happy to see us, and tell us welcome to the New World, etc."
(In fairness to them, they were so little (like 4 and 6) that they didn't know what a "pilgrim" was. They thought it was a last name.)
I agreed to appear in the pageant, but explained that my character wouldn't welcome the arriving Europeans, but instead would say things like, "I don't think you should arrive here, I already live here. I think you should return to England," and "I have a bad feeling about this." But though I told them these would be my lines, they (perhaps due to their 30-second attention spans) didn't adjust their part of the script at all. Then, during the actual basement show, with the rest of the family watching, the pilgrims seemed shocked and confused by the lack of welcome they received. So the whole thing ended up weirdly historically representative, at least in a symbolic way.
(In fairness to them, they were so little (like 4 and 6) that they didn't know what a "pilgrim" was. They thought it was a last name.)
I agreed to appear in the pageant, but explained that my character wouldn't welcome the arriving Europeans, but instead would say things like, "I don't think you should arrive here, I already live here. I think you should return to England," and "I have a bad feeling about this." But though I told them these would be my lines, they (perhaps due to their 30-second attention spans) didn't adjust their part of the script at all. Then, during the actual basement show, with the rest of the family watching, the pilgrims seemed shocked and confused by the lack of welcome they received. So the whole thing ended up weirdly historically representative, at least in a symbolic way.
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