tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5612944231600221422024-03-06T03:10:58.715-05:00YesterdayLooksGoodZoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.comBlogger274125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-85773677369578406722014-08-20T16:36:00.000-04:002014-08-20T16:36:09.339-04:00Old Dog, New TricksIn these early days of my sabbatical, I'm taking some time to explore new tools and methods. This is the kind of thing I never seem to have time for but it fits well with my current task, which is take all the research I've done over the last ten years and turn it into a book (er, a complete draft of a book by June).<br />
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Myriad new software/program options designed to assist in research and writing have cropped up in the last few years. I'm giving Evernote and Scrivener a whirl. The latter is pretty fun for writing. It lets you see so much more than word and there a ways to play with organization within it that work well for hammering out a draft (especially when one has a million bits and pieces to assemble, as I do). I'm less sure of Evernote. I wish it had more levels in its notebooks. I'm putting new research in there, but I'm not sure it is worth it to add too much of old. I also don't have much storage, so my images will end up in Box. <br />
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Today, however, was my first attempt to put some better structure on my time. It is pretty hard to get out of bed in the morning when the 'to do' list just says, "write book." My ability to avoid this task and waste days is stunning even to me sometimes, it is time for a change. Thus begins the great experiment with the <a href="http://pomodorotechnique.com/" target="_blank">Pomodoro Technique</a>. I got a book and spent my first three pomodori of the day working through it and learning the method. One more pomodoro got me set up with a to do list for the day and then it was time for lunch;) My afternoon pomodori started off strong, but I got off track with a couple messages that came in. I when working on primary source research and - oops - turned the timer off. <br />
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All in all, however, I would say this is an intriguing method that I will stick with for the next month. Here is what I learned in just one day:<br />
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1. Accomplishments you can count are rewarding and help you feel like you've done something. I completed eight pomodori today!<br />
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2. Tasks have to have definition. "Sort chapter 1 research," is a recipe for disaster.<br />
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3. Having an evolving to list for the day and a timer on creates some accountability and that keeps one on task.<br />
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4. Dogs love it. Every 25 minutes I take them out for a quick 5 minute frolic....<br />
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5. I suck at prioritizing. Part of the technique involves frequent reevaluation of your plan for the day, so I have to prioritize multiple times, on tasks that are still fuzzy and too big. I came across some suggestions for how to tackle this problem, so I'll add that too my bag of tricks soon.<br />
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For now, I'm pretty happy and committed to a two week trial with all these new toys!Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-19362824342597654622013-10-18T10:37:00.000-04:002013-10-23T19:59:41.766-04:00And for my next trick....For the better part of 20 years, I have worked to write like a historian. For the last 7 or so, I've worked to write like a historian who wants academics in allied fields to read their work. My interdisciplinary writing group has helped with this -- pushing me to reconsider some conventions in my field, to explain things that I wouldn't need to explain to an audience of historians, to adopt some new practices in presenting my research. I think I've been somewhat successful in this. I've published more interdisciplinary and multi-discipline journals than in traditional history journals since getting tenure. But now I'm wondering if I have over-stepped my abilities.<br />
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Last year I started working on using one of my history projects (on gender-based harassment in public spaces) to connect to current policy and practice on public transit. I submitted an abstract to the "Women's Issues in Transportation" conference and got encouraging responses from reviewers. The questions they raised helped me draft a full paper, which my writing group then helped me work into something I could submit. Now I am faced with three more sets of comments from conference reviewers, asking for revisions before the final round of papers is picked for the conference.<br />
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I've never been through this intense a process for being accepted to present at a conference. I've never even had a full paper draft reviewed, let alone multiple reviews calling for revised drafts. The reviewers' comments have been rolling around in my mind for weeks, but today is the day when I intend to roll up my sleeves and start the revision. But I'm feeling a bit stuck, still finding myself feeling defensive in response to some of the comments. The requests for a clearer definition of harassment is fine, a desire for more description of methodology is annoying but familiar (how do you write "I read everything can find, think about it, make lots of lists, and write until I think I have some insights to offer"?). The one comment that gets me, though, is this: "It needs to be framed more like a scholarly paper." <br />
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Hackles up.<br />
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The implication that textual evidence is some how not real data, not scholarly, seeps through this reviewers' comments, even though they are trying to be supportive (they did say the background of the project is "interesting"). The reviewer then goes on to tell me what a "traditional" paper should look like (intro, theory and method, findings and interpretation, discussion...). I've read my fair share of these kinds of papers. I even written one, but they don't work well for qualitative research. I've got an 8,000 word limit; I'm going to use the bulk of them to explore the evidence, not describing the process. I'm going to show you what I found. If you want to know how I found it, read the footnotes! Gah. <br />
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I guess part of my frustration is that I was conscious that this conference is full of quant people and I intentionally "scientificized" my early drafts, but apparently not enough for some. It is not currently a paper many history people would recognize as standard history writing (or topic). For example, I actually make suggestions for new policy. Gasp! Historians never tell you what to do. That is your job (after we've told you how we got to this place and what other people have done). But, apparently, it is still not a fully social science paper. <br />
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I could follow the scientific paper structure, but I feel like a fraud. This is not how I was trained to write or think. More than that, this structure works against what history can bring to the table (the whole point of my paper!). I'm trying to write about how we got here, bring lessons from earlier generations of activists to current issues, to fill in around and contextualize the numbers. X women may report being groped on a subway car. But what might those experiences mean to women, transit officials, or society?<br />
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So... here I go to try give them just enough that they will see me as "scholarly" while selling them on the idea that narrative-based arguments add value to their numbers.Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-4033544210156444662013-08-29T22:38:00.000-04:002018-05-02T15:27:13.560-04:00Bridging the GapI just returned from a hilarious and strange meeting. An old guard feminist, one of the founders of one of the earliest local chapters, called all the county NOW members and commanded us to appear at her house to discuss <i>the fate of the chapter</i>. She was a blast of energy on the phone -- saying "my goal is to choose a president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer" (in social change organizing 101, one never tells people that if they show up they are going to be elected to formal position!) -- and she was basically an airhorn-in-a-library when I met her in person at the meeting. It was fascinating to watch the other attendees (only a handful) maneuver around her as she pressed her own agenda and dismissed ideas/topics she didn't like. In general, I found her amusing, but then her real agenda came through: sign people up for leadership roles but figure out how the inner circle can vett the new people first. The message was, "young people need to step up and lead this organization -- but only if they do it precisely the way we want them to." As a scholar who studies movements for social change, particularly women's leadership in such movements, I feel pretty confident in saying this is a sure-fire recipe for disaster!<br />
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This example will serve as a good representation of being in a meeting with this woman: she read a quotation and asked people who it was from. I happened to know, but she told people not to answer if they knew and instead made the others guess (ugh!). When no one came up with it, I was then called upon. I said, "Obama" (it was from his speech on the 50th anniversary of the MOW). Her response? "Excuse me? That is President Barack Obama, the first half-black president of this country!" Um, yep, that is the Obama to whom I was referring. Yikes!<br />
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Anyway, of the 9 people at the meeting, we had an amazingly good representation of NOW's history -- all white, most in their 60s, small minority of working class women feeling somewhat out of place, all formally educated. Even in this homogeneous group, though, we had many of the movement types -- the shy workhorse, the I-knew-Gloria-Steinem, the structure and policy person, the I'm-just-here-to-watch one, the action focused one, etc. etc. <br />
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My students and I have been doing a bunch of interviews with NOW members since April. I went to this evening's 'entertainment' in part to gather more ideas for the research project and in part because I worry about a world where NOW can't manage to hold it together in a place like Ann Arbor. I heard some important things:<br />
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1)The older generation (women in their 60s who have been doing active feminism for decades) are tired but they don't think there are any younger feminists who want to take on the work. (They are wrong, but we'll get to that another time.)<br />
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2)This group is pretty evenly split between those who trust young women to keep on fighting the good fight, but expect that they might want to do it through different tactics and organizations and those who think young women spend too much time on the computer to do any real organizing and dress like hookers. (Yikes!)<br />
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3)The younger generations (and even my own sandwich generation) need to get it together and figure out a way to have real conversations with their elders -- despite the stuff I mentioned above -- or they/we will lose the opportunity to take over an organization that carries pretty substantial brand recognition.<br />
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4)There are many, many issues that reach easily across generations (reproductive justice -- don't doubt it for a minute, those post-menopausal women are FIERCE on this!, equal pay, sex trafficking, rape culture, political representation, etc.). Once the formal meeting was ended by our host ("meetings must be exactly one hour!") and we could have real conversations about the issues and ideas that motivated us as individual activists, these connecting threads were so obvious. It was heartening to see.<br />
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5)We need to listen to each other more and we need to assume that each group is going to say something stupid about the other. We need to find a way to get past it and focus on the shared issues. <br />
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And that is the report from the "front lines" of feminism in Washtenaw county in the late summer of 2013!<br />
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<br />Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-86987192958985725532013-06-07T12:09:00.000-04:002013-06-07T12:11:34.194-04:00Little Pitchers Have Big EarsThis <a href="http://www.essentialmums.co.nz/mums-life/health/8757837/Passing-on-body-hatred" target="_blank">post/letter</a> passed in front of my eyes this morning. It kind of knocked the wind out of me. I have a collection of images in my memory that mirror this author's in their clarity, message, and impact. When I was 14 or so I was rooting around in the fridge and my mom came up behind me and said with a distinct sigh, "oh, I'm sorry, I guess you got my hips..." It was no secret to me that my mom had body image issues. It just hadn't occurred to me until that moment that I was going to/supposed to share them. What she felt like she should but could not fix in herself she had hoped she could fix in me -- and it that moment she admitted to both of us that she could not. <br />
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So... a 14 year old girl lives in my house with me. And I am going to be very mindful of what I say about both of us.Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-78744829619041790432013-06-06T09:37:00.000-04:002013-06-06T09:38:37.005-04:00Traveling on My MindI'm updating my calendar today and looking at the possibility of doing 4 conferences in the next 11 months. That is pretty ambitious, especially since three of them are out of the country (okay, two are only in Toronto, but, last I looked, Canada was still a different country). I'm looking forward to taking E with me to Paris in April (she can try out her French for real and help her poor language-challenged mama). I'm also looking forward to being more engaged in scholarly communities connected directly to my research. The last time I did this was in 2009 and I count that year as one of my very, very best. It ended in chaos with the arrival of Hank (the cystic schwannoma in my spine), but up until that derailed me in late November, I was flying high and it was due in large part to being constantly and deeply in the research on many fronts, presenting it to many different groups, etc. etc. I also had one of those magical groups of students who loved the history, loved me, and loved each other.... and they fed off of my own scholarly zing. I think it is worth trying for that again!Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-4703462518731244102013-05-22T20:50:00.003-04:002013-05-22T20:54:19.487-04:00So, that happened....I turned the blog off for a bit while I stuck my big toe in some new professional waters. That adventure didn't pan out, but I suppose it was good to stretch myself a bit and think a bit more about where I am and where I'm going. <br />
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The process was ridiculously long, but I feel relatively good about how I handled it all. I'm a bit annoyed at the investment of time and energy that has ultimately lead to naught, especially when I know that I am a really good candidate for this particular position, but I'm also a bit relieved that I don't have to make a big decision. As a friend said, "at least you didn't quit your day job." Indeed. <br />
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I will continue on as chair for another year and then I will happily go on sabbatical and come back a year after that as just a plain old professor of history. And it will all be good.Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-67336138226841869822013-02-26T16:12:00.000-05:002013-02-26T16:12:05.512-05:00The Quandry that is Coming.... Hiring TeachersThis summer I joined the "High Quality Teaching" sub-group in the school district redesign planning sessions. Now that the district consolidation is underway, I've stuck with that group as much as I can, working on the teacher qualifications we will use to hire all of the district's teachers.<br />
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Based on the recent superintendent debacle, here is my biggest concern going forward:<br />
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The unified school board has three members from the old boards and will have both superintendents from the old districts. I fear that old loyalties will hamper a rigorous hiring process. I suspect that we will see a goodly number of teachers hired because they've been around for years, they're known, maybe they're even comfortable to work with. While I do believe loyalty and history matter, they could lead us to hire back teachers who are not prepared or willing to teach according to the values of the district. Teachers on our subgroup tell me that many of the things we are asking for will be scary and new, particularly for veteran teachers. I've decided that we do them a disservice to hire them back into an environmnet where they don't fit. I'm okay with supporting those who are willing to try, but they need a defined period to prove progress or they need to be moved out. If we can't do that, we will get our teachers but lose the vision.<br />
Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-18909873073429990742013-02-26T15:51:00.001-05:002013-02-26T16:13:31.285-05:00The Wheels on the Bus...The process of consolidating two small school districts is not an easy thing. My dearest hope is that it will be like sausage when we are all done -- no one will want to see the process but an amazing result will come out of it.<br />
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The recent moves to find a superintendent for the district went poorly: Instead of an open search, the board opted to privilege internal candidates. This pitted the two supers of the old districts against each other and against a well-qualified and extremely well-supported HR director from one of the districts. The school board put all three through a public interviewing process only to retreat to the position that they felt they needed to the two current supers because, by their contracts, we have to pay them anyway. Perhaps to mitigate the unrest keeping them would cause (there is great displeasure with one super in particular), the board intends to contract with the intermediate school district for a superintendent who then will hire the two current supers as associate supers...<br />
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I could say many things about this, but I'm going to restrict myself to three conculsions:<br />
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1) The unified school board screwed up in the process of making this decision but I don't think it was because they are evil. In some ways they were set up to fail by the WISD (Washtenaw Intermediate School District) board who chose the school board for the new unified district. The WISD put three members of the old school boards on this new board. These people all had good working relationships with their superintendents and probably felt some loyalty toward them. They certainly relied heavily on these two supers and firing someone on whom you have counted must suck. FWIW, both superintendents did work hard for this consolidation. Never once did they moan in public about it being the end of their jobs, though talk all along has been that there would be only one super for the new district...<br />
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2) The board should make a sincere and public apology to the three internal candidates. They need to say that they went about this all wrong. That they made a mistake in opening a search at all. They should beg the HR candidate to stay and then accept it with grace (and guilt) when she does not. The board should support our two current supers (as much as their individual record as administrators merits) in their search for the next job, because we all need to be clear that they are serving out their contracts and nothing more. The bold, fresh leadership we were promised with this merger will have to come from WISD's Scott Menzel for now (I actually think he'll have some in him) but must come in a full and thorough OPEN search in 2014 or 2015. And for what it is worth, I favor 2015, when we have an elected school board to run the search and make the choice.<br />
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3) There is lesson to be learned here and I hope the board and administration(s) show that they learned it with their actions. I want to see a clear, detailed, and transparent plan for what decisions will be made when (and how) over the next six months, at least. The plan the board voted on last night should have been proposed with the proposal to vote on consolidation back in August or in the moments following the November vote. What has to be decided now? What can wait? How can we position ourselves to do the big things. In other words, what do we need to do to take care of business for now but not tie us down so that we can't make the substantial changes we want once we have them planned out. I suspect this will be particularly important to plan as we hire teachers for the coming year. If we think the superintendent decision was painful, I can hardly imagine how hard the teacher decisions will be.<br />
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More on that soon...Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-40411838077404242672012-07-30T17:16:00.000-04:002013-05-22T20:51:50.193-04:00End of an EraToday, I quit my gym. The last 8+ years has been a good run. This gym saw me through my post-babies body reclamation project and recovery from two surgeries. There are friendly folks I have enjoyed seeing a couple of times a week for years on end, even if I was not always sure of their names. There are a couple of good teachers who manage to kick my ass once in a while.<br />
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But the time has come. The circles I travel don't take me that way anymore and a destination gym doesn't fit well with my life for the next few years. It took me a long time to decide this, I paid a bunch up front to have a forever cheap monthly rate and that has tied me to this gym, but even $21/month is too much if you find yourself struggling to get there even once a week. And I've been cheating on my old gym by taking classes at a place in Ypsi for over a year...<br />
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I'm not giving up gym-ing, of course, but I'm throwing in with the local folk, putting some more money into my workouts and looking forward to the sweating more with friendly folks and actual friends in a hometown establishment. <a href="http://ypsistudio.com/">Ypsi Studio</a>, here I come!Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-33992729109505113112012-07-24T10:28:00.000-04:002012-07-24T10:28:05.440-04:00Food PositiveAt O's request, we all watched <a href="http://www.takepart.com/foodinc">Food, Inc</a> last night. I know we are behind the times but as a vegetarian household that shops mostly at the coop, frequents the farmers market, grows a few things in our own yard, avoids fast food restaurants, and has a CSA, I wasn't really thinking that we needed this film.<br />
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The problem, of course, is that while my foodways/values are well-established and deeply held, my kids do encounter other people and have been rather exposed of late to the wider world of crappy food and manipulative advertising. And they're kids. O in particular is struggling against a mighty, mighty sweet tooth and low, low impulse control. I think he knows this and that is part of why he asked to watch the film. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMJJzM7v9u78AofUn6DKZQkfPHpakmZKk5QNkyJxviMEOlHqfN5HFyM0oXBWpMUzdNvedSe5H4-p7ZU0I4hpnyCOWzVjUnXb8vHSPott2_lGLUSwvkW90v4fydj0rJgN2_T7TTGpMF7tyd/s1600/food_inc_150x221_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMJJzM7v9u78AofUn6DKZQkfPHpakmZKk5QNkyJxviMEOlHqfN5HFyM0oXBWpMUzdNvedSe5H4-p7ZU0I4hpnyCOWzVjUnXb8vHSPott2_lGLUSwvkW90v4fydj0rJgN2_T7TTGpMF7tyd/s1600/food_inc_150x221_0.jpg" /></a></div>
Seeing a few of their junk food weakneses (Reeses and Pringles) show up on the GMO list and hearing how this food plays to evolutionary elements that are hard for us to resist seemed to strengthen both kids' resolve to eat 'real' food. They also got a good understanding of why our household actually spends a fair amount on our food and why doing so is a good thing. <br />
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I'm glad they know real food, but I've struggled a bit in the last year to make it happen. What I need, what <u>we</u> need, is for them to help more. I've been saying this to them for much of the last year, but with little effect. I'm still the one who shops, plans, prepares, serves, and (I am embarassed to admit) cleans up. When I have time, I don't mind these tasks, but getting them all to happen (and not eating dinner at 9:30pm) has been quite the challenge of late. <br />
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So today begins a new attempt to loop the kids into the project of awesome food (some of which needs to be readily available for those who can't yet plan for when they will want it). At the kids' request, we will drop by the farm where we have a CSA (okay, some of the motivation here is see the goats, but we will play with the veggies too). And because we have some errands to do, we will likely eat our dinner out tonight, but we will discuss where we choose to spend our restaurant dollars and why that matters.Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-65592057411566180522012-07-09T20:44:00.000-04:002013-05-22T20:52:09.900-04:00Hiking Adventures <br />
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My parent's cottage is on a truly lovely stretch of Lake Michigan in the Upper Peninsula, but the call of Lake Superior is strong. Adventure buddies and I headed out for hike along its amazing cliffs. With all the spur trails to scenic vistas and the exploring of sandstone rock ledges in the water, this nearly twelve mile hike took us seven hours. This is now my favorite Pictured Rocks adventure: Mosquito River/Falls, along Grand Portal, then back Chapel Falls trail.</div>
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The hike begins... <br />
<img border="0" ca="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGGXNFLZOXKS3ZFUhsFJ-KLMvQORIpIJb6cpc0B1gl9SqQJqvEfzILz_qMBF9Crfmbe-x97JIMxI4vDgJgsRvoGF8-hkMfQCyjpOH4htlVp5cyDnkDHVCx5ABAAgPgdcmDjB-cC-uDL0L7/s320/2012_07_09+E+Mosquito+falls.JPG" width="320" />Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-12822821484478218092012-06-19T16:49:00.002-04:002012-06-19T16:49:29.873-04:00TimeMy kids have a fairly loose relationship with time. All are in agreement that we should go swimming on this hot ass late afternoon, but they are chilling in the AC doing this (Geometry) and that (pillow fort in the basement) and not pulling on swimsuits... While they are engaged in worthy pursuits, the pool is only open at certain times and soon we will be at the point where it no longer makes sense to spend the money to go to the pool. And, inevitably, that will be when they are ready to go. And then they will be mad at me as if I somehow conspired to keep them from the water. It is the same thing with dinner. They aren't hungry, don't want dinner, want to be doing other things, then *poof* they are hungry and they're annoyed to find no food is ready to eat. So.... I guess I will go get myself ready in the hopes that they will soon decide that on a 93 degree day, it is a good time to go for a dip.Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-18797139866185570262012-04-30T13:02:00.006-04:002012-04-30T13:19:09.302-04:00Summer List - 2012<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8sggFutEIM-3cKD3M8GJ1AGhG6I1BCILPtvD90X_FBVtyRBklIM1DPjQlqqxBBuhwBIP2T47zoXWp9bTH_7vbmll5QaEd1hxe0hY_2WsLvm_bPUQfTDRYVBWF3F-0f4o9gyRE9O0F6Ian/s1600/IMG_1981.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5737243875240243490" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8sggFutEIM-3cKD3M8GJ1AGhG6I1BCILPtvD90X_FBVtyRBklIM1DPjQlqqxBBuhwBIP2T47zoXWp9bTH_7vbmll5QaEd1hxe0hY_2WsLvm_bPUQfTDRYVBWF3F-0f4o9gyRE9O0F6Ian/s320/IMG_1981.JPG" /></a> In no particular order, here are my goals for this summer:<br /><br /><div><br />-recover my home office<br /><br />-get a password management system up and running<br /><br />-get tap shoes and use them (for clogging)<br /><br />-ride at least three 50+ mile road adventures<br /></div><br /><div>-tromp or ride in the woods once a week</div><br /><div><br />-put a ceiling in the basement </div><br /><div><br />-read books everyday<br /><br />-put new edging around front beds<br /><br />-grow out my hair or chop it all off (decide before Sept 4)<br /></div><br /><div>-draft 3 chapters of my book<br /><br />-write 2-3 new urban history lectures</div><br /><div><br />-sort all my teaching files</div><br /><div><br />-ride to AA to work once a week (when not traveling)</div><br /><div><br />-take kids on an overnight backpacking adventure<br /><br />-donate or trash at least one bag/box of stuff for every week of Jun, July, and August<br /><br />-paint Emma's door to look like the Tardis (I could use help with this)<br /></div><br /><div>-teach Emma to cook</div><br /><br /><div>-help Owen find a sporty activity he loves</div><br /><br /><div>-develop a workable chore schedule for the kiddos<br /></div><br /><div>-avoid all contact with poison ivy</div><br /><br /><div><br /></div>Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-7539721026722100352012-04-23T22:15:00.003-04:002012-07-31T10:00:29.194-04:00My favorite time of the termI love this time of the term -- the shift into finals really changes the culture. People are studying everywhere, but the whole pace of campus is slower and the sense of camaraderie is higher.<br />
<br />
When I was at Agnes Scott, we could take our finals when we wanted to and many of the freshman raced through them as fast as possible in order to leave campus for the holidays. By the end of second term, however, we learned what the older students already knew and we took more time with the finals, concentrating our studying, pacing the test-taking, and taking all the time we could.<br />
<br />
At Indiana, I remember having an exam in the last possible slot at the end of winter term my first year. It came long after my other courses were finished, affording me days of luxurious studying and, frankly, lounging. I don't remember anyone rushing... not like during the term, anyway. And then the dorm and campus became increasingly empty and peaceful, and it was lovely (and I aced the exam).Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-59526729917355864292012-04-16T12:21:00.001-04:002012-04-16T12:21:35.632-04:00See, I told you it was about privacy...<a href="http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/1101843">http://pubsindex.trb.org/view/1101843</a>Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-48688705972741275732012-03-29T18:12:00.004-04:002012-03-29T18:24:11.787-04:00Unfamiliar FeelingIt is only a little after 6pm on a Thursday and I am home, sitting on the couch with a cup of tea and nothing in particular to do. Oh, I have plenty I could do (grade papers, sign kids up for summer camp, get my finances in order, read many things, laundry, etc), but nothing <em>scheduled </em>to do. <br /><br />I can't remember the last time this happened. Truth be told I'm a tad sick (mystery sore throat) and that is a large part of why I am without commitments. I purposefully did not schedule the usual meeting, dog walk, or beer with a friend that I usually would. It feels weird and certainly makes me realize how packed my days generally are. My calendar going forward is jam-packed with end-of-the-academic-year activities for the kids and me, so I know I should appreciate this quiet evening of nothing in particular. Since it is so unfamiliar, however, I wonder if I'll make it through. There is a better than even chance that I will be asleep before 9:00pm. I guess this is something I should work on...Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-71235143592792052762012-01-28T16:29:00.003-05:002012-01-28T16:38:17.124-05:00Traveling Planning (er, fantasizing)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsK3pyrI4FsHUUkJVn-NskztlqtXNduEylAo-IGH6HqH0upiZRn9Z9-1aoIFTMZxCFzA7NkHXd5xQR6IPI_7hxo7qkpbQg7nEEfaxFrqUv3iXj_iA0dm6_e1SF5N3i2m0FHhuaLhvx80IH/s1600/elephantcanyon.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 154px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702800196156952178" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsK3pyrI4FsHUUkJVn-NskztlqtXNduEylAo-IGH6HqH0upiZRn9Z9-1aoIFTMZxCFzA7NkHXd5xQR6IPI_7hxo7qkpbQg7nEEfaxFrqUv3iXj_iA0dm6_e1SF5N3i2m0FHhuaLhvx80IH/s320/elephantcanyon.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div>I'm pretty much ready to throw my hands up in disgust at this weird-ass winter (too warm and no real snow) we're having in Michigan this year. So, Adventure Buddy and I have pulled out the calendars and settled on some tentative dates for the long-delayed backpacking trip to the desert. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Hello, <a href="http://www.nps.gov/cany/planyourvisit/backpacking.htm">Canyonlands</a>, make yourself pretty, we'll see you mid-May (hopefully). </div>Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-41092959898576423512012-01-16T21:40:00.003-05:002012-04-30T13:59:24.367-04:00"This is What Democracy Looks Like"<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQxIX1pkyICzh2joFdRcuijBvB7avqq1RF0_8-3gZdyjvFZeHi-cgxxG-Su8-LJklCZPTGbl09n0gPK5GAwBL9EhSzWNr82-Q-VFfGmbq_bSbJ8BR2DdlbvmSv7kRODGdiHZYYjrhBjT3X/s1600/o+at+march.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698426423891932274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQxIX1pkyICzh2joFdRcuijBvB7avqq1RF0_8-3gZdyjvFZeHi-cgxxG-Su8-LJklCZPTGbl09n0gPK5GAwBL9EhSzWNr82-Q-VFfGmbq_bSbJ8BR2DdlbvmSv7kRODGdiHZYYjrhBjT3X/s320/o+at+march.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 320px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 240px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Kd8Zuf6EsrvNXoYXFj2vNHsMfQ2nbYQ5V-Tmh96wJrwHvR_AjIB9Go8-gHazgDFDsakA5M7IhT-qpbnNnctGy_UCYXNkrPKlX1cCCTK_wzXH8c2_9qmG5GPVYbzWk710JJoPyPBJVrV_/s1600/parker+mill+2.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698426304417355730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Kd8Zuf6EsrvNXoYXFj2vNHsMfQ2nbYQ5V-Tmh96wJrwHvR_AjIB9Go8-gHazgDFDsakA5M7IhT-qpbnNnctGy_UCYXNkrPKlX1cCCTK_wzXH8c2_9qmG5GPVYbzWk710JJoPyPBJVrV_/s320/parker+mill+2.JPG" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 240px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Hundreds of people showed up for today's protest against Governor Rick Snyder and his endorsement of the Emergency Manager Act (Public Act 4). Folks streamed out of Washtenaw Community College's parking lots as they arrived around 4pm, making an impressive line from the campus all the way across the Dixboro bridge and up to Geddes Rd.<br />
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Everyone met up at Parker Mill Park for chanting, hot chocolate, some hard-to-hear speeches, and regrouping (I gather a few of the buses from Detroit were late). From there, the real march up Geddes to the governor's house began.<br />
<br />
We had the street and were led by a group of five or so African American men. Dressed in their long dark wool coats and singing and chanting in preacher-style voices, it was certainly reminiscent of civil rights marches from Dr. King's day. They pulled me in, so I ended up at the head of the 1/2 mile up the hill to the governor's gated community.<br />
<br />
"No justice, no peace."<br />
<br />
"No democracy, no peace."<br />
<br />
"Hey, hey, ho, ho: emergency managers have got to go"<br />
<br />
"What do we want?" "Democracy!" "When do we want it?" "Now!"<br />
<br />
Once there, folks grouped up to make some more speeches. Here a few other groups, dominated by Detroiters, used the Occupy movement's "mic check" tactics to relay their speeches. We lit our candles and made the mile or so walk back. Buses had arrived to shuttle those who needed it back to WCC.<br />
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It was a fine group of folks. Veterans of Benton Harbor protests were there, as were people from the tri-cities. High school kids were there with their teachers. UM students made a good showing as well. All were peaceful and reasonable -- even when folks from the gated community showed up to gawk.<br />
<br />
I took my kids (9 and 12). They were surprised when I was the only (loud!) voice to answer the first bull-horned call of "Tell me what democracy looks like" with "This is what democracy looks like." But then others joined in and my kids relaxed (realizing I was not a wacko, but rather just slightly more "in the know" than those around us). The kids quickly got into the chants and sang "We Shall Overcome" as loudly as I did by the time we reach Parker Mill. My 9 year old even jumped into the front line with me and 'preachers' for a while.<br />
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While I have no hard and fast objections to MLK day being a day of service, I feel we, as a society, have softened its potential meaning a bit too much with this association. This is the first time I've taken my kids to a protest instead of a service project on this day, but it fostered good discussions for us. King and the civil rights movement in general have become sanitized and stripped of their confrontational and political messages. I wanted my kids to see this side of the movement and feel the responsibility to challenge as well as serve. My kids go to schools in Ypsilanti, a struggling public school system that is vulnerable to the emergency manager legislation. Their stake in what this governor and this legislature does is potentially greater than mine. Today gave me an opportunity to say that to them fairly directly. And they sang. And the chanted. And they felt the power of the group.<br />
<br />
My daughter's favorite sign (sorry I don't have a picture of it) read: This is Martin Luther King Jr Day, not King Snyder Day.Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-34062662255445331292012-01-08T19:31:00.004-05:002012-01-08T19:53:34.077-05:00Arlington National CemetaryOwen really wanted to go but then got a little shy once there. I'm not sure what it was... maybe thinking too much about the number of people buried there? I, however, found it to be far more peaceful and, frankly, interesting, than I had expected. We had some nice views of the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the Capitol. We talked about war, assissinations, politics, and symbolism.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR1pLmQ9WMMIHAo-t3KwIN8wWDwa5P10BEVTVeWkG9D0YEOGLOLkbKEj2g7lO3pBImC1gyEHSK3HUo2XX4thtguge9-9ULOujwpayx1enLYUcINvSrhrkTf7nzAdBC1Ec2z33JZqKaletI/s1600/IMG_3325.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695425877219831122" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR1pLmQ9WMMIHAo-t3KwIN8wWDwa5P10BEVTVeWkG9D0YEOGLOLkbKEj2g7lO3pBImC1gyEHSK3HUo2XX4thtguge9-9ULOujwpayx1enLYUcINvSrhrkTf7nzAdBC1Ec2z33JZqKaletI/s320/IMG_3325.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfCF6f19RXMVz7O-sC_NTmRUQV3g1IsS6_xwrPXRh3500RtIe9YdqewopK03UwbkRQ5u9tIBPKaHyS6mKduHe7T86WsI5WQ2QgqDr4V8yx48g2NCckk-_U7WfY5eiYJP-4NbybfjB2O8En/s1600/IMG_3317.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695425870329029250" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfCF6f19RXMVz7O-sC_NTmRUQV3g1IsS6_xwrPXRh3500RtIe9YdqewopK03UwbkRQ5u9tIBPKaHyS6mKduHe7T86WsI5WQ2QgqDr4V8yx48g2NCckk-_U7WfY5eiYJP-4NbybfjB2O8En/s320/IMG_3317.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lBKnubrOJIlrkn9MosU4bxpCL-zkvPBWMf4X8BZvLLtHkTBT-oaXkY2-jjO54DTke1ymD-6qBOfTs33JqQmDQGANZTXrY_QuRCJaAZ2jTM1voqJ_ROc2XWTvXZweFwVz4dOVEY_fBCwC/s1600/IMG_3313.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695425868175312738" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lBKnubrOJIlrkn9MosU4bxpCL-zkvPBWMf4X8BZvLLtHkTBT-oaXkY2-jjO54DTke1ymD-6qBOfTs33JqQmDQGANZTXrY_QuRCJaAZ2jTM1voqJ_ROc2XWTvXZweFwVz4dOVEY_fBCwC/s320/IMG_3313.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div>Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-85081094835950980862011-12-31T13:19:00.004-05:002011-12-31T13:45:06.209-05:00Dispatches from the BarI've been at the hipster haven known as Woodruff's the last couple of nights for Mittenfest VI and I thought I'd report on two items of amusement:<br /><br />1. Silly facial hair and kids who don't dance abound at this place. And in this land of vans and skinny jeans, I heard one guy actually say to his friends, "Don't you see him over there? He's the guy in plaid." It was just too much like trying to find somebody at a Dead show in a tie-dye to not get a good giggle out of it.<br /><br />2. Then last night, I noticed that the guy holding up the wall next to Biscodo was not looking too hot, even though he continued to pull on his PBR. I couldn't tell if he was on the verge of an emotional or phsyical breakdown, but he was definitely not well. I nudged Dr. Friendly, who had joined our party, but he declared that we did not need to intervene until (if) the guy hit the floor. I was considering getting the dude a glass of water and encouraging him to lay off the beer but his friend appeared and seemed to talk him back into some less pained state so I let it go. Five minutes later, when the bands were changing over and Biscodo and Dr. Friendly had toddled off to the bar, this guy, apparently feeling very much better, started to chat me up.... as if nothing had happened. Okay.... I can play along: <br /><br />"So, what's your name?"<br /><br />"Georgina"<br /><br />"What?"<br /><br />"Georgina" (said very clearly)<br /><br />"No (laughing), really, what's your name?"<br /><br />"Yeah... well that's really my name and now I'm really going to go talk to someone else" (Thanks for being near by, Matt!)<br /><br />Yeesh. Dude, lay off the... whatever the hell it was you were on last night.Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-37111881019176335652011-12-31T13:02:00.004-05:002011-12-31T14:06:52.509-05:00The Power of PoloA couple of weeks ago, I popped into a local restaurant to pick up my pizza. I slid up to the bar to claim my pie and found myself standing over the shoulder of man who was perched on one of the stools. I caught a whiff of his cologne. He smelled like my high school boyfriend. And that was pleasant. I let my nose float me back to the age of 16. Wanting to enjoy the sensation, I intentionally didn't let my gaze fall on the man sitting near me -- his physical form would most certainly ruin the wave of nostaglia since it would be unlikely that it was a 6'2" teenage boy with shiny brown hair and a hint of freckles sitting on that stool, or even anyone close to the handsome man that boy became ... I couldn't tune out the stranger's voice entirely, however, despite trying, and I heard him say to his buddy, "No, they're not asians, they're orientals..." Poof, wistful rememberances disappeared and I grabbed my pizza and fled.Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-8071549317636164872011-12-28T14:54:00.005-05:002011-12-28T15:23:52.583-05:00Ally<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuq4hEYgWB-ykucyZIQecwg21HYc5_SluxxXyaA1YNITe0X1GoguPpwMkjBysau4NNk5gH08HMZRTjuoDGSr7xWrtY5m9fAqjW3X09P76jmua3CA0hkEUZba3FZqrj1KnnYWsGQJdao50h/s1600/ally.bmp"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691270555733279666" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuq4hEYgWB-ykucyZIQecwg21HYc5_SluxxXyaA1YNITe0X1GoguPpwMkjBysau4NNk5gH08HMZRTjuoDGSr7xWrtY5m9fAqjW3X09P76jmua3CA0hkEUZba3FZqrj1KnnYWsGQJdao50h/s200/ally.bmp" /></a><br /><br /><div>On my last flight, I slogged my way to the way back of the plane and hopped over a super cute dyke to claim my window seat. As I was shuffling in, she said, "thank you." </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Heh?</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>She pointed at the "ally" button on the bag and said, sincerely, "thank you for that."</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I was surprised -- never having had anyone comment on it before. Then, I stumbled over an answer as I overthought just what it was that this button says about who I am. Saying "you're welcome" seemed so weird...as if I believed I was wearing that button as some sort of act of benevolence toward others rather than as a statement about how I believe the world should work. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I finally did mumble out something. That out of the way, I found I really wanted to ask her how it felt to be on that plane, amongst a sea of people (including my own Eddie Bauer-style self), who suddenly (to me, anyway) looked profoundly str8. I wanted to ask her if she always mentioned it when she saw ally support. I wanted to know what she really thought of the button and if she carried any of the same conflictedness I did... To me, she was the most interesting looking person around, but then the holder of the middle seat plopped down between us and all discussion stopped. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div>Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-38561524886612233452011-12-20T14:51:00.004-05:002011-12-30T11:26:03.646-05:00Meeting New People... Or Not.I’ve gotten to a certain age where I’m a bit more set in my ways then is probably good for me. This means that whole groups of people are likely to be eliminated as potential friends right off the bat. You’re not very political? You smoke? You’re churchy? You hate cities? You drink cheap, yellow beer? You never went to college and, frankly, don’t see the point? You wear black socks with shorts? You love amusement parks? You would never go camping where there weren’t flush toilets available? Well, then, really, what’s the point? I know the folly of this way of thinking. I know that there are at least a few of you who would answer “yes” to some of these questions, yet we are friends. A couple of us are even close friends. You snuck through, apparently bringing with you enough other fine qualities to balance these black marks on your record or worming your way in before my thinking became so rigid. So, if you turned out to be okay, couldn’t others who presented, at least upon first glance, as not-a-chancers? Sigh. Unless I reform my evil ways, we will never know.<br /><br />But you people have a role in this, too. As I sat in the bar the other night, chatting with someone who was an agreeable sort, the right (enough) age, and drinking good beer, I found myself writing this person off because of what you, my already-established, dear-to-me (yet somewhat flawed) social circle would think. Oh, not like you would tell me this person was inappropriate (see qualifying factors named above) or evil, but there was a style choice in the personal appearance of this candidate that would not have escaped notice, comment, and probably some mild ridicule. In other words, there are now too many voices in my head (mine and yours) telling me to not even bother. If I never make a new friend again, I’m blaming you, okay?Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-35083330803174034852011-11-26T17:23:00.003-05:002011-11-26T18:24:46.836-05:00VerdictWell, my 1/2 share from Harvest Kitchen has run out. This is a prepared food CSA where they get your share from the farm and make it into meals that you pick up once a week. I had a Tuesday vegetarian share, which was helpful for getting through the weeks of super busy-ness this fall. But I won't be renewing.<br /><br />While I felt like the ingredients were good, the quality of the preparation varied (too) greatly and several of the weeks the quantity was below what I expected. Only a couple of the dishes were true stinkers, but then only a couple of the dishes were outstanding. Most were best categorized as "okay" or "eh." It was frustrating to see some clear errors -- like fried rice made with hot rice instead of chilled, so it just mushed or sushi were the rice had no stickiness and the rolls were so loose that they disintegrated when you picked them up. The spice levels needed to go up on virtually all the dishes and several others just needed to cook longer in order for the flavors to come together. Probably their strongest category was salad dressings -- the Asian one, in particular, was excellent. But dressing just can't carry them in my book.<br /><br />One benefit of having tried this experiment was that it gave the kids a new perspective on my cooking. They are used to my food and have taken it for granted, but now they know: I'm actually a decent cook. Now, if I only can use that to get them to help more in the kitchen...Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561294423160022142.post-64287295868601706852011-11-06T20:06:00.015-05:002012-01-13T09:56:47.160-05:00The Lot<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYcnhY6t7TB32S4Q6lbxeZiCuTfqxC33EIJlrPdwA3DiSm0Kc5Rs2c7ln7NZZTrzfz0KpKr6qplnRhnduj1O8DxxSAa_fgdf6NRv5eh_b0Y6MCMzT2OMpdyPogBvHR9nouyOHXbL1gGWQb/s1600/breaking+ground.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672061260768457890" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYcnhY6t7TB32S4Q6lbxeZiCuTfqxC33EIJlrPdwA3DiSm0Kc5Rs2c7ln7NZZTrzfz0KpKr6qplnRhnduj1O8DxxSAa_fgdf6NRv5eh_b0Y6MCMzT2OMpdyPogBvHR9nouyOHXbL1gGWQb/s320/breaking+ground.JPG" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOWF6kquydv1Ej2mBMhrP-aa0PwHsX3j3QLLmFi6GWiTrXuJsPqEi_iYM4qcAuMyBsTV-LRJlfFzp7ylf9IbN-CghylhN9gfkqJnMTDHzmagO5MbyNM4vKjs-J4hKEDbEK0GoTDpu4vu0X/s1600/composting+first+bed.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672059049713024002" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOWF6kquydv1Ej2mBMhrP-aa0PwHsX3j3QLLmFi6GWiTrXuJsPqEi_iYM4qcAuMyBsTV-LRJlfFzp7ylf9IbN-CghylhN9gfkqJnMTDHzmagO5MbyNM4vKjs-J4hKEDbEK0GoTDpu4vu0X/s320/composting+first+bed.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY8MZZpZBenxL43DolBuCyAZmPi7r3v0wOreRS5Cj3jPlTgnJZOBG-w-kikS2Ogen4Hs1g8bFTL2BDlpDWo5wkkUgSKIIl_QHEdneSfKGZs3cL3Qj30FJ5xIBe-e4B0CaM7G9Rru5aNIsn/s1600/the+lot.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672058170534662482" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY8MZZpZBenxL43DolBuCyAZmPi7r3v0wOreRS5Cj3jPlTgnJZOBG-w-kikS2Ogen4Hs1g8bFTL2BDlpDWo5wkkUgSKIIl_QHEdneSfKGZs3cL3Qj30FJ5xIBe-e4B0CaM7G9Rru5aNIsn/s320/the+lot.JPG" /></a></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div>A few weeks ago I joined up with a few friends to create a little experiment in urban farming. We threw some money into a hat (ok, really it was a paypal account) and bid on an empty lot in a tax foreclosure auction. Today we headed out to break ground and start planning. Most of us, like myself, won't be doing the farming ourselves, but a bit of digging and layering of ingredients for the first bed was certainly in order. So, here we are, checking things out on a gorgeous fall morning.<br /><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><div></div>Zoe the Wonder Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00741569369901070755noreply@blogger.com0