RBOC: Action-Packed Weekend Edition

• Friday was graduation.  We always have two graduations on the same day--the big university-wide graduation and than a smaller graduation.  The smaller graduation used to be for our entire school (5 departments) so it wasn't that small.  This year the Powers-That-Be decided every department should host their own graduation. Personally I find this to be a poor use of resources but no one asked me.
• The university-wide graduation was in the morning.  I didn't go.  In my department we generally take turns representing at the morning graduation and I went last year.  
• I did attend the afternoon graduation and since it was only my department it was much smaller (and quicker) and I thought we did a very nice job hosting it.  I still think it is a bad idea but we executed it well.
• Moments before graduation was over a note was brought down from the Dean's office and passed to my department head on the podium.  He announced that a faculty member had won the university-wide teaching award.  Then he said it was me.
• I'm not one for surprises and this was a rather big one.
• It is a really nice honor but, even better, it comes with a monetary award.  
• It was a very nice way to end the semester.
• When graduation was over I got in the car and drove 3 hours down to Pumpkin's house.  We had plans for a mother-daughter weekend.  We did a lot of fun things.  We walked along the river; found a cool antiques store; went out for drinks with one of her friends (who is also a doula--so there was a lot of childbirth talk); cooked yummy dinners and stayed up late talking.
• By Sunday afternoon I was exhausted.  I drove the 3 hours home and met up with b to do the food shopping for the week.  After all of that all I could manage was to go out for pizza and beer.
• This morning I had to get up early and head out to a work-related workshop.  It will run for a full two weeks of eight hour days. Today's information felt like it could have been covered in an hour. Luckily a good friend is attending with me so it wasn't all bad. 
• Here are a few pictures from my weekend with Pumpkin:

Walking and talking

The river

Pumpkin

My favorite piece in the antique store.

I Am Worried

I am not a worrier.  I take things in my stride.  I am the calm that worriers seek when they are exceptionally stressed.

But I am worried.

I am concerned that my children are becoming independent in an age where this economic depression will follow them for the rest of their lives. But I am not worried about that.  They are both the kind of people who can turn things around and I have faith that they and their generation will do just that.

I am disturbed that most states do not have any laws or policies against shackling pregnant prisoners and that women are forced to give birth in chains.  I am disgusted when I read the comments to articles such as this one and find my fellow countrymen (and women) defending this practice and claiming that any woman would deserve this.  But I am not worried about it.  Unfortunately I am aware that atrocities occur to disadvantaged and marginalized people the world over.  It has always been and, while we need to fight for social justice, I don't see this as a new trend.  I also recognize the hard work done by activists to make change and realize that change is slow to come.

But I am worried.  I am worried about my country.  I am worried about the future when we rewrite the past.  I first became worried when I learned that Texas had voted in changes to their curriculum that ignore important historical facts (such as the separation of church and state) and appears to rewrite much of the racism that is a significant part of this country's past. And while some may feel write it off as Texas being extreme, they are a huge force in textbook adoptions.  A significant number of my family members write or help publish textbooks and I know that as Texas goes, so goes the country.

But today I became really worried.  Today I learned that Arizona (yes, that Arizona) is banning ethnic studies.  I don't think it is just because I am an academic that this worries me so much.  What we teach our children shapes what they will become and what the future will hold.  When we rewrite (or erase) history we are ensuring that history will repeat itself.  We have made too many strides to backslide like this and I am worried about where we are going in this country.

I am also confused. The article claims that "the bill bans classes that promote resentment towards a race or class of people."  How exactly does one teach American History without doing that?  Can you teach how are country was (so-called) founded without hating the Europeans?  Can you teach about slavery without hating White people?  Yes, of course you can. Because it is not about the facts that you teach but about how information is conveyed and the degree to which we teach students critical thinking; the degree to which we present the facts--as ugly as they are--and allow them to draw conclusions about right and wrong.  But I don't think that is what the bill has in mind.

The bill also bans classes "designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group."  Again I am confused.  My recollection of American History is that it was taught primarily for a specific group--White Anglo-Saxen Protestants.  I would go even further to say what I learned was the history of white men. But I don't think that is what the bill is trying to stop (imagine if it were?).

I don't know what is going on in Arizona or Texas.  I know this is but one in a list of atrocious decisions made by Arizona's legislature but this one scares me more than the others (and that's a saying a lot as the others are pretty scary).  I recognize that there is no truly objective curriculum in the world. Educating people involves choosing some information over another; deciding what constitutes the "important stuff"--the cannon of knowledge we will hand out.  I teach, I get it.  I struggle with it all the time.  But there is a difference between presenting alternative views and instilling students with the ability to draw their own conclusions and erasing the history and culture of entire populations.

I have to ask myself, is this really us?

Birthday/Mothers Day Weekend

Friday morning, b and I got up on the early side (for us) and had a quick breakfast in our favorite local diner.  Then we drove south for an hour and a bit to a national forest where we heard there was lots of good hiking.  One of my favorite birthday activities is to spend the day hiking in the woods with my husband.

We found the trailhead and started off.  We were aiming to hike a loop and had the entire day ahead of us.  Unfortunately we had to keep Pupzilla at home.  She has reached an age where a day long hike is not possible and, as it was a hot and sticky day, I don't think she would have lasted an hour.

We were warned that the area was confusing and could be difficult to navigate.  We had a book of trails but no map.  Signs like the one above would have been helpful except the name did not actually match the trail.

I like to hike by water, like a river, lake or creek.  The book mentioned several water crossings but the actual water was pretty minimal.

We saw mileage signs at the very beginning and very end of the hike.  For the rest of the day, signs were few and far between.

At one point we turned onto a gravel path.  It was pretty but not very challenging.

b checked his GPS at each critical juncture.

Several hours into the hike we reached a critical juncture of three trails.  It coincided with what we were expecting from the little map we had in our book.  Unfortunately these three trails connected twice and we thought we were at a very different juncture than we actually were.  b says we committed a classic error of "bending the map."

We kept expecting to find this trail but since we weren't where we thought we were the junctures never appeared.  We finally figured it out and adjusted ourselves in the right direction.  We ended up on this trail but had no definitive proof until we were back at the trailhead.

Almost 5 hours and 8 1/2 mile later I was back at the car and out of my boots.   It was a great hike.

We drove home, showered up and headed out to one of my favorite restaurants.  The food was quite yummy.  We finished the evening at one of our favorite bars, where I indulged in some chocolate mousse.

The next morning, Pumpkin came over and we ran some errands together.  One of the errands was to pick up my new bicycle.

Later in the afternoon, Angel drove up and we all hung out in the backyard while b grilled us up a lovely dinner.

Earlier in the day I had baked my favorite cake (chocolate with peanut butter frosting) and I had been making ice cream all week.  I ended up with three pints: coffee (decaf), cinnamon, and chocolate.   We headed inside as the sun went down and tried them all.

Angel had to drive home so he could work in the morning but Pumpkin spent the night.  We stayed up and watched one of my favorite movies: Orlando.  Pumpkin didn't like it all that much and napped through most of it.  Sunday morning she left to attend her friends' graduation and b and I spent a very laid back day together.

All-in-all it was a very lovely weekend but I am looking forward to getting back to my usual routine.  

New Look

It feels like a good time for a change.  A new look for a new age.  I wanted something a little simpler.  Any and all feedback is welcome.

A New Perspective

I am 45 years old today. For some reason I can't think of the number 45 without thinking of angles. It must have been all the geometry I took in high school. So it feels like I have a new angle on life.

At 45 I'm halfway through my forties. This is both good and bad. Its good because I'm really enjoying my 40's; it's bad only if my 50's suck. My tai chi teacher told us that his goal is "a healthy hundred." That is he is trying to live to 100 years but all of them healthy. I like this concept. I've always wanted to be an old lady but not a frail, sick, or senile one. I also like it because it means mid-life is still 5 years away.

I believe that how you feel about a given birthday has more to do with where you are in life relative to where you want to be than it has to do with a specific number. I am really quite lucky to be in such a good place this year. I can say sincerely that I really like my life and I've accomplished many of the things that I wanted to accomplish as an adult. If anything I'm having a hard time coming up with new goals to inspire me. Here's what I have so far:

• Become a full professor
• Get an R01 grant
• Buy a house I love and can afford
• Become a grandmother
• Write a book
• Live just outside of Portland

That's really about it. Not a long list and not an undoable one. Even more amazing is that if anything (or everything) on that list DIDN'T happen, I'd be ok (the not being a grandmother would hit the hardest, but ultimately I'd be ok).

Since arriving in my 40's I've also picked up (or picked back up) a number of activities that I enjoy immensely. I don't want to stop any of these activities but I also don't have a great need to accomplish anything within them. I just want them to continue in my life. My beloved activities are:

• Writing openly and creatively (including blogging)
• Tai chi (and other martial arts)
• Yoga
• Photography/learning a visual medium
• Mentoring students
• Volunteering as a doula

So 45 finds me in a career I love; surrounded by people I adore and who make me feel loved; and doing the things that make me happy on a daily basis.

b and I have several festivities planned to celebrate my birth and life on this planet. I'm sure I'll be sharing the highlights with you all in a few days.

Amazon Meme

Haven't seen or done a meme in ages. I spotted this one at Profgrrrrl, Seeking Solace, and Snarky McGeekerson's.

My first Amazon order was December 1999. I believe it was the first time I did Christmas shopping online and boy did it change my life. Previously, Christmas shopping was always hell. I was always in school and battling end-of-semester deadlines and exams. It didn't help that I'm a horrible shopper and can't stand going into stores. Then along came Amazon.

Here's what I ordered:

Phantasm (This must have been for Drax!)

Togepi and Psyduck (ahh, the Pokemon years)

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly: Animal Edition

We have three pets living in the House of Dirt and Rocks.

The Good (She really is the sweetest pup ever)

The Bad (He can be evil but I love him)

And The Ugly (Actually she's very cute but she is an ugly pet to own)

I write frequently about the first two but have never really described TOC before. TOC (not her real name) stands for The Other Cat. Its not a good pseudonym for her. The other day I told b her name was Smudgy McDoodle, or Smudge. That seems more fitting. [All of our animals have multiple nicknames. Pupzilla is also Pupsicle, Puppy Chulu, and Maximus Fartimus, just to name a few.]

We have a love/hate relationship with TOC/Smudge. Most of the time it is closer to hate than to love. I know that sounds horrible but the truth is you don't always like every family member you have but like them or not, they are still family. You stand by them and you love them even if most of the time you wish they would just disappear.

Smudge is odd. She stares at walls. She will stare at the door without saying a word until someone notices that she wants to go out. That's not really the part we dislike however. I think the part that gets me the most is the amount that she vomits. There isn't anything physically wrong with her. She's been doing it since she was a kitten (she's 10 years old) and several doctors have checked her out. She may be bulimic as she often does it after gorging herself (and she's never weighed more than 6 1/2 lbs). When I say vomit, I really mean projectile spewing. Luckily it starts out fairly loud so about half the time we can catch her at it before she throws up on something valuable. A few weeks ago she threw up on my pillow while I was sleeping. Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough that time.

As small as she is, she's a fierce fighter. This ability only comes out when humans (like vets) are trying to do something she doesn't like. Around other animals she's quite the chicken. Last month the doctor tried to give her a pill. It took her and the technician several attempts. They used a long pill inserter, a towel, and a syringe filled with water and the doctor still walked away with several deep scratches.

The second thing that bothers me is her need to climb the clothes in my closet (there is no door so I can't keep her out). She has really sharp claws and particularly likes leather. She climbs leather jackets and silk shirts and scratches at my boots. She doesn't seem to possess the ability to completely velvet her claws. She does like affection. In fact she likes a lot of it and if you don't give it to her or if you stop after several minutes, she reminds you of her desire by extending her claw into your arm. Of course if you continue petting her and she likes it too much, she bites you.

She likes people but can't stand any other animal on the planet. The feeling is quite mutual and we often need to rescue her from the neighbors' cats when she's outside. When she's inside we have to rescue her from The Brute. Pupzilla no longer cares about her one way or the other but she still hisses and claws at her whenever she gets too close. To get away from the other animals she sometimes climbs into the kitchen cabinets. We try to catproof as many as possible but some are just not set up for locking. I cannot begin to describe the number of glassware she has broken as she walks her way around the shelves.

She is a big fan of the "Make The Bed" game and manages to be in the room every morning when this event happens. Sometimes I play along.

She is a climber and it is one of the few things b respects about her. She used to climb on top of the doors constantly when she was a kitten.

She still does it occasionally. It is her best trick.