I'm Just Sayin'

Updates on what's happening in my life. Thoughts about current events, politics, books, and anything else that I find interesting. Intended for those who know and love me.

Name:
Location: Albany, New York

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Beauty and the Geek Finale

So one of my favorite shows, Beauty and the Geek, ended last week. Previously I had said that I liked the show because it wasn't mean-spirited. Of course, that changed with this season as one of the finalists was pretty obnoxious throughout the season and bitchy toward geeks and beauties alike. The finale seemed rigged to teach this beauty a lesson, as she was not voted the winner by her peers. However, in her final interview it was apparent that she didn't get the message. My favorite part about the post-season wrap-up was the interviews with the beauties. Some of them really don't get that they were chosen because they aren't very bright. Don't these people have friends or family who can clue them in? One beauty even exclaimed that you can't be dumb if you are on national television! Wow, what a sad litmus test for intelligence.

Monday, February 26, 2007

An Indulgent Evening

I really don't know why I watched the Oscars last night. I hadn't seen a single one of the movies that had been nominated, although I probably will watch most of them on DVD. I'm also not a fashionista, so the red carpet doesn't excite me. I was curious to see Ellen host the show, since I find her quite funny, and I was rooting for Forest Whitaker who is a phenomenal actor. But those two reasons hardly justify four hours of my life lost watching one of the most indulgent shows on t.v. I have no problem recognizing people for good work (although in the case of actors you would think that exhorbitant salaries would be sufficient recognition), but the self-congratulatory display at the Oscars was nauseating. And you would think that the movie business could at least be entertaining as it pats itself on the back for hours on end, but the show was painfully boring.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Seriously?

Sometimes I am really amazed by American Victorian values. I understood the Janet Jackson Super Bowl controversy, though I thought it was blown out of proportion. The attempt to turn the Prince Super Bowl performance into something naughty was a stretch of the imagination. But, honestly, the latest controversy over the use of the word scrotum in a children's book just baffles me. There are lot of words that would be inappropriate for a children's book, but the anatomically correct name of any body part just doesn't make that list as far as I'm concerned. Seriously, 50% of the kids reading the book are likely to have the controversial body part, so why can't we say the word?!?

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Snow Day!

Finally! We were as excited as school kids to wake up to snow this morning. This is our second winter in Albany and the weather certainly hadn't been living up to its reputation. We'd been quite disappointed this winter with the sparse snowfalls, so the idea of a "big storm" had us waiting in anticipation all week. I don't think we'll be disappointed. We already have over 6 inches and they're predicting 1-2 feet. We both have snow days today so we're able to enjoy the weather without having to worry about getting to work and back.

I love snow days. It's not because I don't go to work; frankly, I can never escape work thanks to the internet. I like snow days because they force you to slow down a little, break out of your routines, and let Mother Nature be in control for a while. They're a time to recalibrate a hectic lifestyle and enjoy the simple things, like pristine snow or a good book.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Naked

Yesterday I finished reading Dave Sedaris' Naked, an off-beat memoir with some truly laugh-out-loud moments. I have to admit, though, that the final chapter was disturbing to me. It richly describes his excursion to a nudist trailer park. I don't really get the nudist lifestyle. It just reminds me of the Seinfeld episode about "bad naked," but I usually take a "to each her own" approach to alterative lifestyles. As long as there is no harm to others, live as you like. However, Sedaris has convinced me that there really is a good reason to wear clothes regularly -- hygiene. I'm not a germaphobe but I was pretty creeped out by some of his stories. In fact, I really wish I could get some the images out of my head.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Tedium

Back in my ICPSR days "attention to detail" was one of the main criteria for being a good data processor. While I am quite good in this area when it comes to data, I totally suck at it when it comes to citations. Formatting bibliographies is the worst possible task for me. Even using citation management software like EndNote, I still struggle to get it right. I am currently proofing a manuscript of mine for publication. The good news is that I have an article coming out soon. The bad news is that I first have to clean up six pages of citations for that to happen! I'm only on page three and I want to gouge my eyes out!

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Peace, Baby

Last week we went to Woodstock with some friends. It's a quaint town nestled in the Catskills, with cute shops and cafes. It has tried to retain its hippie vibe, with some interesting town characters, tie-dye clothing, and burning incense, although it's also cashing in on the commercialism of hippie culture. One of the friends who was with us is from Africa, so this was an enlightening experience for him. Although he's been living in the States for a while, we had a hard time explaining the whole hippie lifestyle to him. If you're still learning the mainstream culture, it has to be hard to appreciate countercultures.

Friday, February 09, 2007

Hubris

Hubris is one of my favorite words. Not only do I like the sound and appreciate the power of its meaning, but my first encounter with the word marked an important turning point in my life. I learned the word during my first semester of college taking a classical literature course. Having had virtually no exposure to literature in high school, this was quite a challenge for me. We were reading Homer and hubris was one of the major themes we were discussing. I struggled with the subtlety of the term, not quite understanding why arrogance would not suffice. I invested an inordinate amount of time in this course trying to keep up. Eventually I came to understand the word, grew to appreciate Greek literature, got an A in the course, and realized that I could actually succeed in college -- something that was not obvious to me upon my arrival at U of M.

Since that time hubris has remained one of my favorite words, though it's not one that you can use often in casual conversation. The Wikipedia page for the word has a nice definition by Aristotle: "As for the pleasure in hubris, its cause is this: men think that by ill-treating others they make their own superiority the greater."

Hubris was considered a crime in ancient Greece. Sometimes I think it's unfortunate that that's no longer the case today.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

What's in a Word?

I don't think Senator Joe Biden would have had much of a chance in the presidential race if he had put his best foot forward, but his slam of Senator Barak Obama and the subsequent publicity surrounding his stupid comments will probably be the first time a candidate entered and exited a race simultaneously. The New York Times ran a great story yesterday that very "articulately" explained why Biden's comments were offensive. Anna Perez summed up the situation quite accurately as the "soft bigotry of low expectations."

I was really drawn to this article because it helped me articulate why I'm uncomfortable with other sayings that seem to go unnoticed as being racially charged. For example, in Detroit we use the phrase "white trash" a lot when making distinctions among social classes. Most folks in the city would be sociologically classified as poor, working class, or lower-middle class. In reality, though, the gradations are finer. People struggling for economic security use subtler measures of success, including material goods (e.g., living in a home vs. a trailer) and cultural markers (e.g., clothing, speech, make-up). "White trash" is the term used for the lowest of the pecking order. But why not just "trash"? Why do we need to clarify it with the adjective "white"? Because we operate with the unstated assumption that non-whites are already "trash." It's a given and does not need to be clarified with an adjective. We expect whites to be better than that, but when they are not, we have to articulate their position relative to the other trash.

Another example has popped up a few times since we've been in Albany. One of the major grocery chains here is Price Chopper. One of the branches is referred to as the "Ghetto Chopper" because it's located in a poorer section of town.* This name is used casually by everyone I've met at the university, but if you ask them why the store is called that, you get an awkward pause in response. The customers of the Ghetto Chopper are typically poor and black, unlike the average customers at many of the other branches. We're too PC to call it the "Black Chopper" or the "Poor Chopper," but apparently "ghetto" conveys the right message (i.e., if you're white and middle class then you don't want to shop there) but sounds less offensive. I wonder, though, if anyone ever calls it the Ghetto Chopper to someone who is poor and/or black?

* By the way, "ghetto" is a relative term. I have yet to see a part of Albany that even remotely looks like a ghetto in Detroit.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Chivalry

You gotta love a man (or at least your husband) who will defend your honor at the drop of a hat. Regardless of the nature of the besmirchment, the offender must be punished simply for ruining the lady's day. :-)