I’m Person of the Year

18. December 2006 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:

And so are you. Time named us person of the year! Congrats. Yeah, I’m pretty excited myself. It’s about time. I’ve been blogging away for 2.5 years. Okay, sure, I have to share my glory with millions of other people, but hey, isn’t that what this whole web 2.0 thing is about?

My favorite quote from the intro is a question I get asked in one form or another all the time:

Who are these people? Seriously, who actually sits down after a long day at work and says, I’m not going to watch Lost tonight. I’m going to turn on my computer and make a movie starring my pet iguana? I’m going to mash up 50 Cent’s vocals with Queen’s instrumentals? I’m going to blog about my state of mind or the state of the nation or the steak-frites at the new bistro down the street? Who has that time and that energy and that passion?

The answer is, you do. And for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME’s Person of the Year for 2006 is you.

Why we do it is another question entirely. Maybe because it’s fun.

Hat tip: Blinq

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure

How Lucky We Are

17. December 2006 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:

My coffee reading this morning included a post by Phantom and an article in the NY Times, both of which offer a way of seeing how lucky we are to have what we have and to live the way we do.

The winter holidays are often a time when the stark contrast between rich and poor become most obvious. Those of us with decent incomes and families who also have decent incomes lament the abundance we’re showered with and worry about our children being too materialistic. Lurking in the back of our minds, we may know people who have nothing, who scrape together just enough money to get their kids something for Christmas or who rely on charity to provide gifts and food for the holidays. I find myself sometimes feeling guilty about not doing more. Or living less abundantly. Partly I don’t do more because I don’t feel financially secure even though I know I make more than 90% of the country. I worry about losing a job, about putting my kids through college, about being able to buy a new car when the old one breaks down. But these are frivilous worries compared to some. Even if one of us lost our job, we’d find a way to survive. We might have to buy a cheaper home, buy fewer clothes and toys, but we’d be able to eat.

I do feel lucky. It’s honestly taken me a while to feel this way since I’m living less affluently than my parents did. I think one of my resolutions for the new year will be to find a way to contribute more to causes I care about, to help alleviate the horrible disparity not just between myself and another American, but myself and billions of people around the world. In the NY Times article, Singer does the math and figures that if the top 10% of Americans gave on a sliding scale, we could eliminate world poverty. That’s pretty amazing. Imagine what the world would be like then.

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure

A complete draft!

16. December 2006 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:

I did it! Holy crap. I can’t believe it. I have a complete dissertation draft. If my calculations are correct, I’ve written about 150 pages. There’s a lot of work to do after the new year, but yay!! I didn’t think I’d make it this far.

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure

On Vacation, Kind of

15. December 2006 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Yesterday was my last day of work for almost 3 weeks. I always have tons of vacation to use up by the end of the year. Even taking today and all of next week, I will roll over a few days of vacation. That’s one thing I would never complain about at work. We get more than enough vacation. It’s a good time to take vacation since everyone else is taking exams, grading and definitely not needing my services. I was able to tie up my projects yesterday and now I’m sitting here in my bathrobe, ready to embark on over 2 weeks of freedom.

Only it won’t be complete freedom for at least two more days. There’s this dissertation thing to finish. The plan is to work on it today and tomorrow and be done. I *must* be done by tomorrow. I can’t take it anymore. I think it will get done. It won’t be the most wonderful thing in the world, but it will get done.

I am so looking forward to really being on vacation. I’ve let go so much and I’m looking forward to getting back to some form of normal. Here’s just a sampling of things I am looking forward to in the days to come:

  • getting clothes out of drawers and closets instead of laundry baskets
  • meals with lower than 50% fat and sodium content
  • no more writing paragraphs in my head
  • baking Christmas cookies and fudge
  • playing games with the kids
  • reading for pleasure
  • time with Mr. Geeky

In 48 hours, I’ll be there. See ya on the flip side.

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure

Kid’s View of Global Warming

13. December 2006 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:

Geeky Boy laments global warming and calls on us grownups to do something about it.

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure

Blogging pseudonomously

12. December 2006 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:

PPB posted something interesting today about why she blogs under a pseudonym and other interesting blogging tidbits. There are times when I wish I had maintained my pseudonym. There are things I’d like to blog about but feel that I can’t because my blog is attached to my real name. It’s not that I want to say mean things about people or anything like that, but sometimes I’d like to be able to write about situations and get advice from the wise people of the blog world. I really enjoy reading other people’s teaching conundrums and institutional quandaries. They’re often similar to things I’ve experienced and it’s interesting and quite helpful to see how people have handled these issues. Sometimes I’ve had situations that have resolved successfully and I wish I could share that success. I wish, too, I could share my burdens at times. As PPB says, this is not a “pretend reality” for me. Sure, I have friends out here in the real world, but I value the opinion of my friends in the blog world too. It’d be hard to go underground now, but sometimes I wish I could.

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure

Geeky Book Recommendations

11. December 2006 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:

My brain is too filled with stuff like audience and discourse communities and emergence to be of much use, but I thought in the spirit of winter solstice and the free time that many of us might be looking foward to, I’d recommend some geeky type books that you can read yourself and/or purchase for geeks and non-geeks alike. Oh, and go vote for me and Phantom and everyone else in the Weblog Awards. I’ve given up hope of winning, but it’s fun to vote anyway.

Geeky Books for Everyone!

  • Six Degrees of Separation–a good introduction to network theory. We actually used this book in a freshman writing class.
  • Linked–another network theory book, but specific to the Internet. I liked this so much I’ve read it twice and am using it in my dissertation.
  • Emergence–I’m in the middle of this one and I like it so far.
  • Everything Bad is Good for You–Another Steven Johnson book. I like the message of this book. It makes me feel better about my Internet habits.
  • The Search–a book all about search. There were parts of this that I didn’t like, but it’s still fascinating.
  • The Cluetrain Manifesto–one of my favorite geeky books. There are a couple of other books that are similar to this that I’d love to read–maybe over the break.
  • The Tipping Point–I have read this one twice two.

I think that’s it for now. One thing I’d like to do in the new year is to read a book a week the way Elizabeth does.

In case you’re wondering, I did this after I’d worked on my dissertation for two hours.

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure

Writing, thinking, rewriting

09. December 2006 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:

Bleh. I’ve decided to reorganize this chapter for the third time. I think I like the new direction I’m headed in, but boy, has this whole thing been a slow process. I know that everything I’ve written so far, while not being used directly, contributes to my thinking about the new direction. It does kind of suck, though, to have written nearly 20 pages of unusable material. I’m sure bits and pieces of it will find their way into the final result. I always find it amusing to look back at old drafts and notice that there is a phrase I kept while everything around it changed.

Tomorrow I need a pretty complete draft of about the first 2/3 done. Next week I have to do a little more reading and then write the rest of it when that’s done. It definitely feels like one step forward, two steps back at this point. But I’ll get it done. I have to.

On the plus side, we got the hole in our house fixed–no more squirrels! And we got some Christmas shopping done. I also switched to the new Googlized Blogger. Once the chapter’s done, I’m going to redecorate a bit around here. Yay!

Okay–I couldn’t resist a little playing around.

Gah! Reverted back–no Haloscan–pooey!

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure

Awards

08. December 2006 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:

The 2006 Weblog AwardsYay for the little things in life. I’m up for an award in the Best of the top 3501-5000 blogs. Go vote. I’m in 4th.

We have friends in other categories. Go vote for them too. Chuck in best of 5001-6750.

If Phantom doesn’t win Best Parenting Blog, there’s something wrong with the universe.

Don’t forget Pharyngula in Best Science Blog.

I’m sure there are others, but these are the ones I noticed.

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure

Cinnamon Hazelnut Coffee

07. December 2006 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

For the past three days, our campus cafe has offered among its coffee options Cinnamon Hazelnut. Despite having sworn off caffeine, I have indulged myself in a small cup. I am nostalgic for the days when I used to meet a friend at a local coffee shop on Sunday mornings. I’d get Cinnamon Hazelnut coffee (slightly better than our campus’s version) and a cinnamon scone. We’d talk for a few minutes and then start grading. We’d spend a couple of hours there, grading, occasionally making comments or asking for suggestions on how to comment on a paper.

That coffee shop served as a grading outpost, a study lounge, and an entertainment venue. During MA exams, a group of us met there once a week to quiz each other on pieces of literature from Beowulf to Gravity’s Rainbow. At one point, I tried to connect everything we read to Gawain and the Green Knight. We all had pieces we hated and pieces we loved. We also shared our fears, our hopes, but generally were able, by sharing the burden, to enjoy the process. Almost always, one could walk into the shop during the day and find someone sequestered at a table, reading, writing, or grading. If they looked up, we’d nod at them knowingly and find our own corner to sit in. And we’d often stop by the shop to celebrate completing a project or a stack of grading. At night, it became more bar than coffee shop, with live music sometimes and a wide variety of drinks and snacks. When I’ve returned to visit, I’ve often met people there for drinks and lively conversation.

I do miss the camaraderie of the coffee shop. Here, I’m missing that kind of place. My little cup of cinnamon hazelnut brings that back, just a little.

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure
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