As seen here and here via New Kid. When I first read the title I thought it must be referring to books one reads while in crisis. And for me at least what I read in the midst of the crisis is very different from what they've been describing, which is what one reads once the crisis has past and one is left to cope.
In the midst of crisis - that is, on the plane to the funeral or sitting in the hospital or waiting for the news on the phone - I read thrillers. As gory and light as possible. I discovered Robert Ludlum and read The Aquitaine Possession while my aunt was in the hospital in a coma two years ago. While my Granny was dying my whole family read everything written by Dan Brown - we traded the books around based on who was sitting with her while she slept. I have no idea if any of these are really good books but it doesn't matter because the whole point was to turn your brain off. They at least did that. (Having read more of Ludlum in a better frame of mind, I'm not sure they really turn a fully functioning brain off.... just a brain stupified with terror and grief). Books by people like J.D. Robb would also work. I tend to avoid favorite books at times like these because I don't want to contaminate them with the situation. (The Da Vinci Code will always be, for me, the book I read while my grandmother was dying and never a pop culture hit).
At various points after that, I've read other books that I found deeply moving and encouraging and comforting in my current situation. Anne Lamont's book Traveling Mercies and Plan B spoke deeply to me in the months afterwards. Neither of these books is about death actually - and they both are sharp and rather funny in a quirky sort of way- but they seemed to deal with grief in short bursts within particular stories. Around the same time, I reread Anne McCaffery's novel The Ship Who Sang which had just seemed like a nice fantasy story to me before and I was struck on the rereading by how overwhelmed the story was by the grief and sadness. The afterword says something about how it was written following a death of someone close to McCaffery, but I guess until I experienced that sort of grief, the intensity didn't come through to me.
Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking is more a book about death, but I also found it interesting and comforting - of course I read it almost 3 years later and so was much more removed. I don't think I could have borne it immediately after a death. More recently Alice Munro's new book, Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage, took me back through some of those emotions and fears and the HBO TV series Six Feet Under has also been cathartic for me. The Alice Munro book, like Anne Lamont's, is a collection of short stories, which seems to me like the best thing to give. Because when each of these dip close in to death and fears about mortality, the next story pulls away and makes you laugh or have hope or get angry. The pull and push of the different tales keeps things moving along without getting too maudlin.
New Kid's list seemed to be more books she returns to over and over. When I am doing that, I go to anything by Anne McCaffery, Orson Scott Card, or L.M. Montgomery. Like the way she describes the Little House books I can read and reread and reread any of the series and enjoy them. I also have a few childhood favorites that never fail to please me. The Ordinary Princess and Goodbye Pink Pig are two - but I wouldn't give them to someone else. I think I love them because they represent pieces of my childhood and things I was processing as a child. Perhaps in the same way that Cat's Eye does for New Kid. I could list many more childhood favorites, but I think maybe I answered the original question in the previous paragraph.
Showing posts with label meme. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meme. Show all posts
Friday, May 30, 2008
Friday, February 29, 2008
Leap Year
As seen on Rev Dr. Mom's. I spent this leap day listening to two very important people give talks and trying to be pleasant and sociable in face of discovering that my grant was unscored. I'm not good with precise memories in that way, but if I look back 4 years....
~February 29, 2004--year before I graduated with my PhD. Probably I was working on my prospectus and teaching. I was living in the midwest so it would have been cold and wet. Spring around the corner
~February 29, 2000--I would have been just finishing up my masters. Living in a major metropolitian city. Doing an applied librarianship post and driving all over town. It was the first time in my masters training when I thought I could perhaps stomach doing this job longer than it took to finish my training. A key professor took me out to breakfast later that year and talked me into a research career instead of a practical careeer though.
~February 29, 1996--In the second year of high school boarding school. On the rocks with my BF at the time. Trying to figure out what I want to do with my life - everyone else seemed to know. It was a tough year.
~February 29, 1992-- 8th grade. Spent in Texas. My family moved a lot.
~February 29, 1988--4th grade, Spent in Louisiana. Which even though it may have really crummy regular public schools actually has fantastic special ed. I had a very good educational experience there.
~February 29, 1984--kindergarten. Kansas. Mrs. Eplee was my teacher. I walked to school. Snow angels. I had slick boots and the alley used to ice over and we'd "skate" down. It was lots of fun.
~February 29, 2004--year before I graduated with my PhD. Probably I was working on my prospectus and teaching. I was living in the midwest so it would have been cold and wet. Spring around the corner
~February 29, 2000--I would have been just finishing up my masters. Living in a major metropolitian city. Doing an applied librarianship post and driving all over town. It was the first time in my masters training when I thought I could perhaps stomach doing this job longer than it took to finish my training. A key professor took me out to breakfast later that year and talked me into a research career instead of a practical careeer though.
~February 29, 1996--In the second year of high school boarding school. On the rocks with my BF at the time. Trying to figure out what I want to do with my life - everyone else seemed to know. It was a tough year.
~February 29, 1992-- 8th grade. Spent in Texas. My family moved a lot.
~February 29, 1988--4th grade, Spent in Louisiana. Which even though it may have really crummy regular public schools actually has fantastic special ed. I had a very good educational experience there.
~February 29, 1984--kindergarten. Kansas. Mrs. Eplee was my teacher. I walked to school. Snow angels. I had slick boots and the alley used to ice over and we'd "skate" down. It was lots of fun.
Monday, February 25, 2008
How much do we give up?
The conversation about how difficult it can be to be in academia is making the rounds.
What Now talks about the identity she has as a tenured professor and how she isn't ready to give that up. From there I ended up at Squadratomagico and Highly Magnified, Thoroughly Educated (who actually began the conversation) talking about how being a professor actually can cause you to lose various identities because the work becomes all consuming. So I started thinking about what have I given up to be where I am.
I'm a single woman. Have I given up romantic relationships to be here? Perhaps... But I am not sure they were healthy relationships to start with. Certainly, my desire to date someone who shares my faith and my own quirks interfere at least as much as my job does.
I live far (1500+miles) from my family and see them only a few times a year. Have I given up ties to my family to be here? Yes, I think so - I would certainly visit my new nephew more often if I could drive rather than fly. But maybe not because I can fly fairly inexpensively. And in some ways my career allows me more flexibility to be with family - I was there when my grand mother died and when my aunt was in a coma precisely BECAUSE I work an academic job and could take significant time off as long as it didn't interfere with teaching duties.
What about hobbies? outside interests? I think that I have those. If I worked in a less demanding job I might have more. But I also would probably like my job less.
And then I found this post by propter doc that echoes my own sense more closely I think.
Ranier Marie Rilke writes:
*Maybe the thing I fear the most is becoming hungry for the status academia confers. But that's another post.
What Now talks about the identity she has as a tenured professor and how she isn't ready to give that up. From there I ended up at Squadratomagico and Highly Magnified, Thoroughly Educated (who actually began the conversation) talking about how being a professor actually can cause you to lose various identities because the work becomes all consuming. So I started thinking about what have I given up to be where I am.
I'm a single woman. Have I given up romantic relationships to be here? Perhaps... But I am not sure they were healthy relationships to start with. Certainly, my desire to date someone who shares my faith and my own quirks interfere at least as much as my job does.
I live far (1500+miles) from my family and see them only a few times a year. Have I given up ties to my family to be here? Yes, I think so - I would certainly visit my new nephew more often if I could drive rather than fly. But maybe not because I can fly fairly inexpensively. And in some ways my career allows me more flexibility to be with family - I was there when my grand mother died and when my aunt was in a coma precisely BECAUSE I work an academic job and could take significant time off as long as it didn't interfere with teaching duties.
What about hobbies? outside interests? I think that I have those. If I worked in a less demanding job I might have more. But I also would probably like my job less.
And then I found this post by propter doc that echoes my own sense more closely I think.
Ranier Marie Rilke writes:
I know your profession is hard and full of contradiction of yourself....I can only ask you to consider whether all professions are not like that, full of demands, full of enmity against the individual, saturated as it were with the hatred of those who have found themselves mute and sullen in a humdrum duty. The situation in which you now have to live is no more heavily laden with conventions, prejudices,and mistakes than all the other situations, and if there are some that feign a greater freedom, still there is none that is itself broad and spacious and in contact with the big things of which real living consists. Only the individual who is solitary is like a thing placed under profound laws and when he goes out into the morning that is just beginning or looks out into the evenings that is full of happening and if feels what is going on there then all status* drops from him as from a dead man though he stands in the midst of sheer life.I don't see that the trade-offs I'm making are unbearable. And I'm not sure that they would be any different if I worked at any other job that I loved (because any job that I loved would challenge me and that challenge would play out in ways that mean less free time and more job focus). Being a medical doctor or a pastor or a translator or a foreign aid worker are all jobs I would consider seriously or have considered in the past. They all make specific demands and place requirements of one sort another on a person that can be inconvenient. In the meantime, I know these inconveniences. Distance. Mentally consuming. Status driven*. And I think I like the devil I know better than the devil I don't know.
*Maybe the thing I fear the most is becoming hungry for the status academia confers. But that's another post.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Why do you teach [Applied Library Science] and how is academic freedom important to that effort?
As usual, I'm a little late to the party. I'm responding to a meme started by Dr. Crazy and continued by many many people who are mostly all listed here. Like Dr. Freeride the reasons why I teach vary according to the class itself.
My course load* consists of Introduction to Information Systems from a Users perspective - A large undergraduate survey course that is required for our major and also meets gen ed requirements, Advanced Applied Card Cataloging - a highly applied graduate course that is an elective and is outside my major research focus**, and Intro to Applied Librarianship - a graduate class that every student has to take in conjunction with their first practicum experience in a library. I teach the didactic part; their supervisors teach the applied part. Every other year I teach a graduate seminar on a topic of my choice, usually theoretical epistomology.
One answer which would be flip and not entirely true (but not entirely false) is that I teach because it is a job requirement and necessary in order for me to be employed in a way that allows me to do my research***.
Introduction to Information Systems from a Users perspective
This is a survey course and basically I get to spend 1-2 weeks on each major topic and by the end I feel like everyone knows just enough about everything to be dangerous. My unique stamp on this course is that I use it to introduce students to ways of thinking about things. I think (I hope?) that our understanding of how individuals develop mental structures to store information and access/apply that information in everyday life will change as these students continue through their professional lives. With that in mind, what I really want students to learn in this class is how to be good consumers of information. There are a few key things that I think they need to learn (because if they don't they'll be clueless in the future and it will reflect badly on our program) but really I want them to learn to approach research and research design well and be good consumers of information so that they can design useful ways of delivering that information in whatever format it is in.
Academic freedom is important in this class because it allows me to choose how to deliver the material (as lecture/as research articles) and choose which epistomology theories I want to highlight. I'd have a hard time teaching some theories with a straight face.
Advanced Applied Card Cataloging - In principle this is the 2nd course students take in this area, but in reality the only students who take it are those who haven't satisfied the requisite number of organizational classes in their undergrad. A few students do just love the topic and enroll though. The students are in their final semester of classes so they think they know what they need to know and want you to only teach them those things.
So I have a real mix of students and abilities and interest levels in this class. We do lots of problem sets. Where would you shelve THIS book? Given these filing numbers from an unknown library, discern the cataloging system being used and apply it to a new item. I truly teach this because it's assigned to me. I try to teach the students to see patterns more than anything else. When I have the opportunity I try to stretch them to think about things that they might not NEED to know, but will allow them to think in more flexible ways or approach a cataloging problem in a creative manner.
I'm not sure how academic freedom influences this class. It's something I just do and the current state of the theory is such that I just present it and they practice til they can do it. It's like elementary math - practice, practice, practice! Perhaps if this were actually the 2nd class for these students and/or they had an instructor who specialized in this area it would be less practice and more theory oriented and this would all matter. I'll have to puzzle over this a bit more.
Intro to Applied Librarianship This class is probably the one in which academic freedom matters the most to me. I was given a list of (rather disjointed) topics to cover and I organized them into as sensible a manner as I could imagine. Basically it's a class for everything that people think the students need to know but don't actually want to cover in their own classes.
Academic freedom allows me to emphasize things like, say selection of library materials and materials organization, over more practical information like, sharing materials with users. Again, it means I can put my own spin on the details and can help students to approach problems in a variety of ways. I'm still refining this class, but I do think that this class, of all of them, is the one that I've put my own stamp on. I try very hard to stick with the topics I'm supposed to cover but at the same time I try to stretch it to highlight the areas I think are important.
*I am clearly not a real librarian and I am making these course titles up. I am not sure if this cover really works, but it is what it is.
**Someone more senior than me teaches both the required and elective courses that are immediately in my area.
***As I read over the posts about why teaching, I realize that I'm very much in the right place for me - a research intensive university where I can expect my teaching to reduce as I get grants. I don't have the passion for it that others seem to. That said, I try to be good at it and constantly improving. And I do have clear ideas of what I want students to know and be able to do at the end of my courses, even if I am not passionate about the process. I take lots of ideas from other teachers - like how to effectively use small groups to support discussion, giving regular/limited feedback on writing up in a large class, speed dating for research proposals, and use of in class problem sets/examples. Nonetheless I struggle to create chemistry in a classroom and would just as soon skip the whole process if I could.
My course load* consists of Introduction to Information Systems from a Users perspective - A large undergraduate survey course that is required for our major and also meets gen ed requirements, Advanced Applied Card Cataloging - a highly applied graduate course that is an elective and is outside my major research focus**, and Intro to Applied Librarianship - a graduate class that every student has to take in conjunction with their first practicum experience in a library. I teach the didactic part; their supervisors teach the applied part. Every other year I teach a graduate seminar on a topic of my choice, usually theoretical epistomology.
One answer which would be flip and not entirely true (but not entirely false) is that I teach because it is a job requirement and necessary in order for me to be employed in a way that allows me to do my research***.
Introduction to Information Systems from a Users perspective
This is a survey course and basically I get to spend 1-2 weeks on each major topic and by the end I feel like everyone knows just enough about everything to be dangerous. My unique stamp on this course is that I use it to introduce students to ways of thinking about things. I think (I hope?) that our understanding of how individuals develop mental structures to store information and access/apply that information in everyday life will change as these students continue through their professional lives. With that in mind, what I really want students to learn in this class is how to be good consumers of information. There are a few key things that I think they need to learn (because if they don't they'll be clueless in the future and it will reflect badly on our program) but really I want them to learn to approach research and research design well and be good consumers of information so that they can design useful ways of delivering that information in whatever format it is in.
Academic freedom is important in this class because it allows me to choose how to deliver the material (as lecture/as research articles) and choose which epistomology theories I want to highlight. I'd have a hard time teaching some theories with a straight face.
Advanced Applied Card Cataloging - In principle this is the 2nd course students take in this area, but in reality the only students who take it are those who haven't satisfied the requisite number of organizational classes in their undergrad. A few students do just love the topic and enroll though. The students are in their final semester of classes so they think they know what they need to know and want you to only teach them those things.
So I have a real mix of students and abilities and interest levels in this class. We do lots of problem sets. Where would you shelve THIS book? Given these filing numbers from an unknown library, discern the cataloging system being used and apply it to a new item. I truly teach this because it's assigned to me. I try to teach the students to see patterns more than anything else. When I have the opportunity I try to stretch them to think about things that they might not NEED to know, but will allow them to think in more flexible ways or approach a cataloging problem in a creative manner.
I'm not sure how academic freedom influences this class. It's something I just do and the current state of the theory is such that I just present it and they practice til they can do it. It's like elementary math - practice, practice, practice! Perhaps if this were actually the 2nd class for these students and/or they had an instructor who specialized in this area it would be less practice and more theory oriented and this would all matter. I'll have to puzzle over this a bit more.
Intro to Applied Librarianship This class is probably the one in which academic freedom matters the most to me. I was given a list of (rather disjointed) topics to cover and I organized them into as sensible a manner as I could imagine. Basically it's a class for everything that people think the students need to know but don't actually want to cover in their own classes.
Academic freedom allows me to emphasize things like, say selection of library materials and materials organization, over more practical information like, sharing materials with users. Again, it means I can put my own spin on the details and can help students to approach problems in a variety of ways. I'm still refining this class, but I do think that this class, of all of them, is the one that I've put my own stamp on. I try very hard to stick with the topics I'm supposed to cover but at the same time I try to stretch it to highlight the areas I think are important.
*I am clearly not a real librarian and I am making these course titles up. I am not sure if this cover really works, but it is what it is.
**Someone more senior than me teaches both the required and elective courses that are immediately in my area.
***As I read over the posts about why teaching, I realize that I'm very much in the right place for me - a research intensive university where I can expect my teaching to reduce as I get grants. I don't have the passion for it that others seem to. That said, I try to be good at it and constantly improving. And I do have clear ideas of what I want students to know and be able to do at the end of my courses, even if I am not passionate about the process. I take lots of ideas from other teachers - like how to effectively use small groups to support discussion, giving regular/limited feedback on writing up in a large class, speed dating for research proposals, and use of in class problem sets/examples. Nonetheless I struggle to create chemistry in a classroom and would just as soon skip the whole process if I could.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Class Meme
1. Father went to college
2. Father finished college
3. Mother went to college
4. Mother finished college (with an MA, when I was in 10th grade)
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor. (My granddad was a professor. Before that he was an accountant. He went back to school at age 40 to get his PhD. More telling is my dad's family. His dad was a Vet Both my grandmothers had Masters degrees and my mom's mom was ABD in home economics...)
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers.
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home. (No, but we spent a lot of time at the library, so I certainly read more than 500 books).
9. Were read children's books by a parent
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 (I had tumbling lessons and gymnastics because it was cheaper than physical therapy following a head injury as a toddler).
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18 (Only because of the going away to college at 16 thing)
14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs (Can you say scholarships?)
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
16. Went to a private high school (Sort of - a collapse of college and high school into two years)
17. Went to summer camp
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels (Yes but only while my dad WORKED for the hotels…)
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them (By the time I was 16,my parents could have afforded it, but believed we should earn our own cars so we learned to value them).
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child (There was no art in my house that I recall aside from my mother's quilts)
23. You and your family lived in a single-family house
24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home (yes if this means had a mortgage).
25. You had your own room as a child
27. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course
28. Had your own TV in your room in high school
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
31. Went on a cruise with your family
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up Science/history museums only. Not art.
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family
It's interesting because I am very aware that my family is upper middle class now. But I think in large part because my mom stayed home with us and my dad worked food service jobs (which pay shit) we were lower middle class most of my early growing up - like until I was 10-12 or so. I know I wore hand me downs no matter what. We didn't have more than 1 TV and we got a hand me down computer when I was in 7th grade. A big deal gift in middle school was a radio for christmas that had a built in tape deck. I think it was the first radio we owned not-in-a-car. We had two cars because my dad commuted, but the second one was always a real clunker. My parents didn't argue about money in front of us (my parents didn't argue in front of us period) but we ate a lot of food that was stretching the budget food - Pancakes for dinner. Canned things from the garden. Broccoli and rice casserole where you had the rice and the broccoli earlier in the week. We went to girl scout camp in the summer in large part because it was cheap child care. Vacations were camping. Staying in a hotel happened when my dad started working for a hotel chain, but even then it was in the off season.
I'm not sure what happened but around 6th-8th grade, my family's situation changed significantly as far as money goes. My mom went back to school. We bought a (rather nice) house. Summer opportunities changed and became more plentiful. New clothes for school were okay. We still economized. But not in the same way. There were many more choices available to us in terms of extra curriculars and we were encouraged to take advantage of them instead of blowing them off.
The interesting thing about this to me is that my dad still views education as a vocational training experience. Even though his parents and my mom's parents were both highly educated. And even though we started from a point of privilege. You don't assume that will be what comes your way. You go to college to get an education so you can get a job. A job is being a manager. Or a teacher. Or a doctor. Or a mechanic. Or a vet. But not really a professor. or writer. or foreign aid worker. You go to museums to learn things. But not to appreciate art. You buy things because they are functional, not because they are pretty (or new or cool or...). It's clear to me that my dad sees value in my sister's job as a physician but not in my job as a professor (aside from the teaching aspects of my job). Don't get me wrong, he's proud of both of us. And he likes being able to say that we have three doctors in the family (my sister's husband is also a physician). But he just doesn't quite get that knowledge creation is a product too.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
New Year's Meme
1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?
Successfully rolled a kayak. Submitted data from a project that was developed completely independently to a journal. Organized two conferences.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn't really make resolutions in 2007. I think I'd like to this year, but I'm working on what they should be. I think I need some theme ala profgrrrrl either about self-discipline or self-acceptance. Those may go a bit hand in hand. Seriously though, I'd like to
My Sister
4. Did anyone close to you die?
My Grandpa
5. What countries did you visit?
None actually... But a new state (Maryland). I did travel a lot - just not outside the US.
6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
A serious relationship.
7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Aug 6.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting my first article from new data out.
Learning to conquer panic underwater (kayak rolls).
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not getting my grant funded (but it was scored, so that's not so bad). I'm not sure that there's anything this year that I'd count as a true failure.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No
11. What was the best thing you bought?
A new calendar. I know that sounds lame, but I really love the planner I started using last year. And maybe a new digital camera. But I still need to learn how to use it better to be sure.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My master's students
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
A good friend who started dating and essentially ditched me.
My dad, who doesn't seem to be taking very good care of himself lately.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Travel for conferences. Take Out since I was too lazy to cook.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Submitting to a conference in Europe. Meeting a researcher who is really influencing where my work is going. Meeting my new nephew.
16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
I suck at musical things....and can't ever remember song titles.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
a) the same overall, perhaps happier because there's less family drama and stress b) fatter c)
richer (but this will change rapidly if I buy a house).
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Exercised. Been self-reflective. Stayed in touch with friends.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Sleeping. TV watching (netflix is bad for feeding this habit).
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
With Family
21. Did you fall in love in 2007?
Unfortunately, no.
22. How many one-night stands?
None.
23. What was your favorite TV program?
6 Feet Under. I know I'm behind the times, but I can't wait for the next DVD to arrive and it irritates me that only 2 episodes are on each DVD. A bit morbid, but good relationship writing.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No, if anything I have a better relationship (or at least perspective) on several people who irritated me at this time last year.
25. What was the best book you read?
Not sure - Maybe What is the What by Dave Eggers. Maybe HarpSong by Rilla Askew.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Hmm. My Brother In Law's music collection?
27. What did you want and get?
A repaired friendship.
28. What did you want and not get?
A grant.
29. What was your favorite film of this year?
Jouyeux Noel. Good enough that it prompted me to tell people about it anyway. But see my answer to 35.
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 30 and spent the day in a low key way with friends.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A serious relationship. More self-discipline. A grant.
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Uhm?
33. What kept you sane?
Probably my netflix subscription... Although I think I should give that up and get out more.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I don't know. I guess maybe the Democratic Presidential Candidates. But that might be who has fascinated me the most - who I've spent the most time studying. I think the lead in 6 feet under is hot, but I don't know if that counts.
35. What political issue stirred you the most?
I think the conflicts in Africa actually. I'm trying to figure out a way to get involved. But I've read two books (What is the What, A country in my Skull) and watched several movies (In my Country, Syriana, Hotel Rwanda, The Constant Gardener, Blood Diamond, Tsotsi) and been in conversation with a friend in the peace corps. All of which have convinced me that this is an area of the world in desperate straits, mostly brought about by our desire for oil and left over messes from colonialism. I'd like to do more than write a check, but I'm not quite sure what to do yet.
I'm also following the presidential election pretty closely. I have some decisions to make soon on that front and I'm still very puzzled about what I want.
36. Who did you miss?
My granddad. My new nephew. My best friend. It seems that most of the important people live far from me.
37. Who was the best new person you met?
Hmmm a friend who is now gone, but will return next year.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
I learned, again, that I can be alone most of the time, even if it isn't my favorite thing. And that it's up to me to change that alone-ness into relationships.
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
See 16.
Successfully rolled a kayak. Submitted data from a project that was developed completely independently to a journal. Organized two conferences.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn't really make resolutions in 2007. I think I'd like to this year, but I'm working on what they should be. I think I need some theme ala profgrrrrl either about self-discipline or self-acceptance. Those may go a bit hand in hand. Seriously though, I'd like to
- Exercise regularly. Not only walking but something that actually builds muscles and strength and coordination. (Practical strategy - take a class. Join a gym. Schedule a time not in the morning to do this).
- Be more self-reflective (Practicaly strategy - this blog)
- Pray regularly (Practical strategy - this could go well with 1, since exercise time often doesn't engage my brain, which is part of why I avoid it.)
- Volunteer somewhere where I am in direct contact with the people I am serving (Practical Strategy - call the crisis center and free medical clinic next week).
- Use my work time more productively so that I can play more (not sure how to strategize this one, except to avoid reading blogs and the news during work hours).
- Develop my artistic side (Practical strategy - take a class in digital photography, pottery, and/or cooking).
My Sister
4. Did anyone close to you die?
My Grandpa
5. What countries did you visit?
None actually... But a new state (Maryland). I did travel a lot - just not outside the US.
6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
A serious relationship.
7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Aug 6.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting my first article from new data out.
Learning to conquer panic underwater (kayak rolls).
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not getting my grant funded (but it was scored, so that's not so bad). I'm not sure that there's anything this year that I'd count as a true failure.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No
11. What was the best thing you bought?
A new calendar. I know that sounds lame, but I really love the planner I started using last year. And maybe a new digital camera. But I still need to learn how to use it better to be sure.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My master's students
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
A good friend who started dating and essentially ditched me.
My dad, who doesn't seem to be taking very good care of himself lately.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Travel for conferences. Take Out since I was too lazy to cook.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Submitting to a conference in Europe. Meeting a researcher who is really influencing where my work is going. Meeting my new nephew.
16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
I suck at musical things....and can't ever remember song titles.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
a) the same overall, perhaps happier because there's less family drama and stress b) fatter c)
richer (but this will change rapidly if I buy a house).
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Exercised. Been self-reflective. Stayed in touch with friends.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Sleeping. TV watching (netflix is bad for feeding this habit).
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
With Family
21. Did you fall in love in 2007?
Unfortunately, no.
22. How many one-night stands?
None.
23. What was your favorite TV program?
6 Feet Under. I know I'm behind the times, but I can't wait for the next DVD to arrive and it irritates me that only 2 episodes are on each DVD. A bit morbid, but good relationship writing.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No, if anything I have a better relationship (or at least perspective) on several people who irritated me at this time last year.
25. What was the best book you read?
Not sure - Maybe What is the What by Dave Eggers. Maybe HarpSong by Rilla Askew.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Hmm. My Brother In Law's music collection?
27. What did you want and get?
A repaired friendship.
28. What did you want and not get?
A grant.
29. What was your favorite film of this year?
Jouyeux Noel. Good enough that it prompted me to tell people about it anyway. But see my answer to 35.
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 30 and spent the day in a low key way with friends.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A serious relationship. More self-discipline. A grant.
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Uhm?
33. What kept you sane?
Probably my netflix subscription... Although I think I should give that up and get out more.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I don't know. I guess maybe the Democratic Presidential Candidates. But that might be who has fascinated me the most - who I've spent the most time studying. I think the lead in 6 feet under is hot, but I don't know if that counts.
35. What political issue stirred you the most?
I think the conflicts in Africa actually. I'm trying to figure out a way to get involved. But I've read two books (What is the What, A country in my Skull) and watched several movies (In my Country, Syriana, Hotel Rwanda, The Constant Gardener, Blood Diamond, Tsotsi) and been in conversation with a friend in the peace corps. All of which have convinced me that this is an area of the world in desperate straits, mostly brought about by our desire for oil and left over messes from colonialism. I'd like to do more than write a check, but I'm not quite sure what to do yet.
I'm also following the presidential election pretty closely. I have some decisions to make soon on that front and I'm still very puzzled about what I want.
36. Who did you miss?
My granddad. My new nephew. My best friend. It seems that most of the important people live far from me.
37. Who was the best new person you met?
Hmmm a friend who is now gone, but will return next year.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
I learned, again, that I can be alone most of the time, even if it isn't my favorite thing. And that it's up to me to change that alone-ness into relationships.
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
See 16.
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