Catty News Network

While I've been disappointed in the slipping quality of CNN for a while, I was still taken off guard by today's article about the Miss Universe pageant. Miss USA fell during the evening gown parade. I would hardly call this "news," but since some people actually care about these silly pageants, I suppose it deserves some coverage. Of course, they can't just mention the fall, they have to show a video of it. It lasted a split second as she very quickly recovered, but they had to repeat the fall several times with a freeze frame of her hitting the floor. And if that wasn't bad enough, the video was linked with the text "watch Miss USA take a tumble in an evening gown." It sounds like the headline of a grade school newspaper rather than a respectable media outlet. As someone who is challenged daily by coordination, I don't see why it's such a big deal, but I guess for some it's a surprise to see that Barbie is human after all.

Memorial Day Ambivalence

As a child and grandchild of war veterans, particularly of the "Big Wars," Memorial Day always has been less about BBQs and the start of summer and more a somber reminder of courage, duty, and patriotism. Memorial Day traditionally meant hanging the flag on the porch; attending mass, a parade, and/or a luncheon honoring veterans; and, more recently, planting flowers and posting flags at the cemetery. The older I grew, the more uncomfortable I became with these events. As I developed my own political and religious views, which included a strongly non-violent approach to conflict resolution, I struggled with the balance between honoring veterans for heroic duty and glorifying war; between respecting the choices of the men in my life who I respected so dearly and openly challenging my male peers for their Rambo-like war-mongering; between arguing for true equality for women and being horrified at the prospect of women engaging in combat (which I comfortabley, though erroneously, associate as a male vice).

In this latest chapter of my life, I've found a new ambivalence. With both of our fathers deceased, and being so far from our social networks at home, Eddie and I have not celebrated Memorial Day since moving to Albany, and I find myself strangely missing our old rituals. If we were back in Michigan, I would probably begrudgingly participate in the Memorial Day events, angry over our current military involvement overseas, sad over the senseless losses that have touched us personally, and yet somehow awed by a sense of patriotism that I wish I could share. Perhaps what I'm most distressed about is not the debate over the morality of the current war, but the longing to truly believe that we are on the right course, to have faith in our political leaders, and to be proud to be an American. I sometimes worry that I have become too cynical to ever feel those things again.

Pulling the Plug

On the television. Figuratively, of course (lest my husband abandon me for his true love). I have never been happier that the regular tv season is over. It hasn't been particularly bad, nor have I been watching a lot of it, but I have been feeling like a captive to the tv lately. I think my obsessive needs for completion and closure have made me fell compelled to watch certain shows, rather than watching for sheer entertainment. Anyhow, I have a few things left on the DVR that I still feel compelled to watch, despite my complaints here, and then I'm done for a while. Eventually I may find a summer series or two to watch, but I plan to stay away at least until I really miss it. In the meantime, the weather in Albany has been gorgeous and I have a ton of books collecting dust while waiting to be read.

Just Say "No"

Lately I have been toying with the idea of getting a Blackberry, even though that would make me a hypocrite since I like to mock the "crackberry" users. Aside from the fact that it would be a fun toy, my PalmPilot recently died and I have a pretty awful cellphone. So, the rational brain says that if you're going to replace those two things anyhow, why not get a Blackberry or Treo? After mulling it over for several weeks now, I've accepted the fact that I just can't handle a Blackberry. I would be immediately addicted. This recent article in USA Today convinced me that I'm already a borderline workaholic and the Blackberry would probably push me over the edge.

Graduation

This weekend was graduation and it was the first time I participated in graduation ceremonies since my own three years ago. I have to say that it is still a thrill to put on the Ph.D. cap and gown. I wonder if it ever gets tiresome? It was also great to share in the joy of the students and their parents. It's easy to overlook what a great accomplishment a college degree is when you are caught up in the daily grind. Graduation makes you think about the educational process and celebrate the successes. It was really an enjoyable experience.

Graduation also formally marks the end of the semester for me. Yeah!!! I turned in my grades to the registrar this morning and shifted gears to my summer research plan. Most of the day was spent backing up my hard drive, which thankfully did not fry in the disaster reported in the last post. I don't think the problem was actually resolved, so I'm not completely convinced that my computer is now "safe." I also did a lot of organizing -- creating a lot of "to do" lists, filing, recycling, etc. The goal today was to clear away all of the little things so that I can focus on my big research and writing projects. I'm actually looking forward to these next projects and I hope the momentum lasts a while!

When It Rains ...

Aside from our trip to the drive-in, this weekend was kind of blah. I spent almost all weekend grading, which is one of my least favorite chores. Plus yesterday was the first Mother's Day without my mom, so it was a sad day. However, I had every intention of having a great week. I planned a productive day at the office -- returning student papers, submitting grades, and finishing my presentation for the IASSIST conference. Then the rest of the week will be spent in Montreal at a laid-back conference, with great friends, in a fun city.

Alas, my attempt at a mood change has been thwarted all day by progressively worse technical difficulties. It started when the University email system went down this morning, and then my computer crashed in the midst of finishing up my presentation. But the icing on the cake was when I tried to reboot my computer after the crash and it started whining and smoking. I have little faith that the machine is salvageable. While I have most of my hard drive backed up, I will have to manage without certain software and files for a while and this is going to mess up my short-term research plans. I am now really looking forward to listening to some good music while I drive through the Adirondacks tomorrow on my way to Montreal. It should be a good way to clear my head and lower my stress levels.

Summer Drive-In

The summer movie drive-in season has begun and we're thrilled. This is one of our favorite summer pasttimes. Last night we went to see Spider Man 3. This is really the only comic-book-turned-movie series that I enjoy and I was looking forward to this movie, even though I always have doubts about sequels. This one definitely wasn't as good as the other two, but it was still enjoyable. The dialogue was too sappy for my tastes. A crying superhero ... come on! But the special effects were really cool, especially for the Sandman. Now we're really looking forward to Shrek 3. The previews looked good and my favorite side character, the Gingerbread Man, is back.

The Five-Second Rule

I found this article in the NYTimes about the five-second rule interesting and amusing. Researchers are trying to quantify just how many germs get on food during the first five seconds it hits the floor. The answer is a lot. I don't see how this is surprising because I didn't think that people really believed the five-second rule meant no harmful germs would be on your food, but rather it was just a psychological coping mechanism. Perhaps I'm wrong, but thankfully there are researchers who will study just about anything to demystify our lives.

This story was amusing to me on a more personal level because the five-second rule has been a running joke between Eddie and me since we moved into this house. There was an incident involving a (very delicious) meatball rolling down our driveway that led into a heated debate about the five-second rule. I'm sure you can easily figure out which side we had each taken. Eddie will gladly recount the full story to you in a dramatic fashion since it has become part of his collection of stories about our relationship.

Disgusting

Seriously, I just don't get this at all.

Almost ... But Not Quite

The semester is almost over. Classes have ended, but there are still nearly two more weeks until graduation. This semester seems endless and I'm jealous of my friends who have already started their summers. Today, however, there was a noticeable energy shift. Despite the fact that I have a lot of work to do this summer, starting with a conference paper due next week, the atmosphere changes once classes are over. There's less anxiety, more flexibility with my schedule, and quite a bit of excitement over the projects that I'll be working on. I don't think the latter will really kick in until I'm done grading this weekend. It'll be the last weekend in a while where I'll be up to my ears in work, so I'll be really happy when that's over.