doctoral candidate in rhetoric and scientific and technical communication
Archive for February, 2006
time
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Time seems to be slipping by so quickly.
In a month, I’ll be in Vancouver. Yay! I can’t wait. It’s going to be so much fun. I have no idea what we’re going to do but I’m sure it will be fun. I get to hang out with a cool person and have a good time. I can’t ask for much more than that.
I’m readying my iPod for the trip. I’ve cleaned it up, reformatted, and am putting on songs that I really want to hear. I’m thinking about joining Audible so I can have stories to listen to instead of just music on my trip. I thought that, in particular, might be fun if we went on a longer trip. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll talk to Simon about it and see what he says.
Dakota is feeling much better. Thank you all for your thoughts and concerns. I appreciate them.
I have been working out at the local gym on a daily basis. I feel so much better about myself. While my body is achy at times, I feel like I have a ton more energy. I look forward to going to the gym (but don’t tell anyone!). I set personal goals and when I meet them, I’m ecstatic about that.
I’m taking Kooper to see “Curious George” today. I’ve heard it didn’t get great reviews but I’m hoping it’s not too bad. I know it has that old-time feel to it…back when animation wasn’t computer generated. So I’ll be curious to see how it turns out. I wonder if I’ll get bored with that. Hmmm.
Okay…so much to do today and so little time.
I hope y’all have a great weekkend!
dangerous or enlightened?
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On a bulletin board that I frequent, someone put up a link to the conservative Human Events Online Top Ten Most Dangerous Professors in the U.S.. It was so slanted that it made me laugh.
I had to say something about it, so I countered with this:
What one person sees as dangerous, another can see as brilliant.
bell hooks
One of the foremost thinkers in education. Her philosophies on education (and feminist, multi-cultural education, especially) are among the top-rated in the country.
Amiri Baraka
Dropped the black nationalist perspective and turned to Marxism and fighting for the working class.
Tom Hayden
A peace activist who teaches as Adjunct Faculty in Social Movements (something he understands well as a peace activist and former California State Assmeblyman). One doesn’t always have to have a higher-level degree to teach (especially at a college – versus a university).
Joseph Massad
A Jordanian native who was maligned by a pro-Israeli movie that proclaimed he was anti-Semitic. He vehemently maintains that it is Israel that is racist because of their actions against those who are not Jewish within national borders.
Jose Angel Gutierrez
La Raza Unida was established to bring attention to Chicano civil rights (or lack thereof). He has worked extensively in social service programs including the Commission on Economic Development Subcommittee of the National Catholic Conference’s Campaign for Human Development.
Armando Navarro
Has worked for the empowerment of the Latino communities with all of the Americas. He was the founder and former Director of the Ernesto Galarza Public Policy and Humanities Research Institute at the University of California, Riverside.
Gayle Rubin
Author of “The Traffic in Women: Notes on the ‘Political Economy’ of Sex” and one of the leading researchers in the origins of women and their status within society.
Angela Davis
While incarcerated for her activities, Davis (with her supporters) was able to mobilize the prisoners to initiate a bail program for indigent prisoners. She has worked diligently in addressing the class, race, and gender factors that have led to large numbers of blacks and Latinos being incarcerated and has been an activist in anti-Death Penalty movements.
Bill Ayers
He was interviewed in the Chicago Sun-Times on 9/2/01 and said he regrets that “people were hurt, that three of my dear friends were killed, that we were stupid, immature, intolerant and unwise. I regret that I hurt people’s feelings.”
Bernardine Dohrn
Wife of Bill Ayers, Dohrn is a child advocate who teaches, lectures and writes about children’s law and justice, the needs and rights of children and youth, and international human rights. Dohrn and Ayers turned themselves in, charges were dropped due to “extreme governmental misconduct,” and served time. She has since worked in the field of Human Rights and is highly regarded in that field.
All of this can be found online, also. Much of it in Wikipedia, some on other websites.
There are always two sides to a story and, honestly, I’d be honored to take a class with any of these professors.
It’s funny how things we do in our early 20s will haunt us for a lifetime no matter how much good we do later in life.
It’s interesting how something can slant so far to one side and the rhetoric makes it seem like these people are public enemy #1 even though there are good things about them, as well.
We are a mixture of good and bad – each one of us. If we can strive to make a change or a difference, that’s all we can do.
prickly situation
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I am a mommy. My kid just happens to be the furry type but he’s no less my kid. He is entrusted into my care. I have to make sure he is provided for, that he gets all of the things he needs and that he lives a happy life.
Of course, I understand that it’s not the same as actually birthing a child. I know this. I also know it’s not the same as having a human child.
But he is my child. I adore him. I do all that I can for him. When he is ill, I worry about him and fret over it. I feel helpless when I can’t make everything right for him.
He’s been sick the last two days. Really ill.
I’ve taken time off of work to care for him but I feel guilty about it.
He’s my kid but will others see it that way? If someone else had a human child that was ill and they had to stay home, would anyone question that?
No one has questioned it. These are the thoughts that are running around in my head. My co-workers and supervisors are pretty understanding about most things.
I just stress about them.
And I think I’m more stressed because my baby isn’t feeling good.
happy love day
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I am not typically a fan of Valentine’s Day. I think I’ve spent too many of them alone and even on those that I was with someone, the day wasn’t anything special, for the most part.
And, I think I’m of the mind that when we love someone, we should show them that we love them all year long – not just on a day that is set aside for the commercialization of love. I like to shower those I love with gifts and hugs and kisses all year.
That being said, I want to wish you all the happiest of days today. I hope someone reaches out and tells you that you are loved. I hope you know that you are cared for and cherished by someone special in your life – a partner, a child, whomever.
Take a moment to consider how rich you really are and how blessed your life is to have the person(s) in your life.
I have my furry kid and he makes me smile. I have those four nieces and nephews who shower me with love. I have siblings who are wonderful. I have friends who are the best.
Even on this day of couples, I cannot feel sad or lonely. I know just how wealthy I am in the love department.
I am loved.
simple
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This weekend was a really good weekend. It’s not that I did anything spectacular but it was a good weekend.
On Saturday, I went to work out at the club. As I was passing the kid’s room, I looked in and saw Justice. I called to him and he came running over (in that cute 2-year-old run) with arms outstretched to say hello to me. The young woman in the room was laughing because it was so dang cute!). I didn’t want to alarm her (because they are very careful who comes into contact with the kids) so I told her that I was his aunt. She said she could tell that I was someone close because he doesn’t do that to very many people.
I walked up stairs to do cardio and Shadow was there. He pointed down to the gym and there is miss Willow, trying to play basketball. “Aunt Dawn!” she calls out. “Hi, pretty girl!” “Watch this!” She throws the ball at the basket. She’s at least 5 feet off but it was such a great effort, especially considering that she’s under 5 feet tall.
The four of us had planned to meet for lunch. We were going to a benefit for one of Shadow’s co-workers. The secretary in their office has a husband who has advanced stage cancer. He’s a full-grown man who weighs 97 pounds. Can you imagine?
He was there and just to look at him broke my heart. Then to hear their story, I wanted to take care of them. She makes about $26,000 – but, as Shadow says, holds the entire department together. The go-to person is paid the least. The person who knows the most is compensated the least. Then to top it off, she is the sole-supporter of the family now. And with the astronomical medical bills, they are floundering.
Heartbreaking.
I did my taxes and am getting a good return. That’s pretty nice and will be used for my trip to Vancouver in a month. Yay!
On Sunday, I met Shadow, Jennifer, Willow, and Justice at the club again to work out. Shadow and Jenn were showing me some training that his physical therapist gave him. It’s a great workout for toning and one that I will incorporate into my routine.
Justice didn’t want to hang out with his parents. He wanted Aunt Dawn to hold him. He was upset when I gave him to his Dad as we left.
Then I had to go over to their house to pick up some things and again, he wanted to be with me. As I was getting ready to leave, he started screaming and crying, trying to get me to hold him some more. He didn’t want me to go.
I’ve heard of that happening when parents drop off their kids at daycare and I can’t imagine how they deal with it. It breaks my heart.
See…not all that exciting…but just really nice. My heart was touched over and over all weekend long.
geology
05 years ago
american life in poetry: column 046
by ted kooser, u.s poet laureate
We constantly compare one thing with another, or attempt to, saying, “Well, you know, love is like…it’s like…well, YOU know what it’s like.” Here Bob King, who lives in Colorado, takes an original approach and compares love to the formation of rocks.
Geology
I know the origin of rocks, settling
out of water, hatching crystals
from fire, put under pressure
in various designs I gathered
pretty, picnic after picnic.And I know about love, a little,
igneous lust, the slow affections
of the sedimentary, the pressure
on earth out of sight to rise up
into material, something solid
you can hold, a whole mountain,
for example, or a loose collection
of pebbles you forgot you were keeping.
Reprinted from the Marlboro Review, Issue 16, 2005, by permission of the author. Copyright (c) 2005 by Robert King, whose prose book, “Stepping Twice Into the River: Following Dakota Waters,” appeared in 2005 from The University Press of Colorado. This weekly column is supported by The Poetry Foundation, The Library of Congress, and the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This column does not accept unsolicited poetry.
unexpected surprise
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I have fun with my photography. I don’t expect others to think it’s great. I know that I tend to look at the world in a different way and my photography reflects that.
I’ve tried to emulate those whose photographs seem to get the most response and accolades. I’ve tried to follow their lead and create images that look like theirs.
In the end, though, I realize that I am not those people. I don’t want to be those people. I don’t want to be a copycat and I don’t want to have a style that is not my own.
I’ve always followed a different path. It has often made life difficult but when a payoff comes, it is totally worth it.
A payoff came for me. It’s not a huge deal to most but to me, it is. It means that my style, my artistic eye is worth a second glance.
So, yesterday I noticed that there were a lot of links coming in from File Magazine. I followed them. And the photo to the right is what I saw when I got there.
Mine.
I was so thrilled and excited.
Yay!
reaching for…something
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So I did it. I actually went to TaeKwonDo last night.
I had skipped Tuesday night because I was just too stressed about going into a group of people I didn’t know and looking stupid.
Last night I was on the phone with my brother and he told me to just go. He said that I would be glad I did and feel good about it, too.
He was right. It was a great workout and I felt really positive about the whole experience.
It wasn’t just the physical exertion. The women of the class were quick to welcome me in. They explained how to do things and came over to introduce themselves. They were really cool.
I actually had much more energy after the class and felt like I could run forever after it. (Hah!)
I got home and as I started to unwind, I could feel my mucles getting sore. This morning, when I woke up, ouchie! Not bad sore. Not so bad that I can’t move. Just sore enough to remind me of what I did last night.
It was such a good feeling. I can’t begin to tell you how great I felt after and into today.
I can go back this evening to make up for missing on Tuesday. I think I’ll do that just to help loosen my muscles up and feel better.
I’m looking forward to it.
Ummm…did I just say that? I’m looking forward to physical exertion?
Ack!
change of life
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I have always loved music. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t.
When I was a kid, we would dance around the house to whatever songs my mom would have playing on the stereo (and she typically liked the harder stuff to come out of the 60s & 70s – Cream, Jimmy Hendrix, etc.).
When I was around 9, I saved up money to get one of those cool FM radios from Radio Shack. They came in different colors called raspberry, blueberry, lemon, and lime. I got a blueberry. It went everywhere with me – me and my tinny tunes.
In my pre-teens, I got a record player (remember those???). It was small. It was a little box that I could lock down the top on like old luggage and take it with me. It was the boombox of its day.
The first album I remember owning was the duets album with Barry Gibbs and Barbra Streisand. I would play it for HOURS. The second was Pete Townsend’s Empty Glass (I won it in a radio contest).
I had a tape recorder, one of the big ones, that I would use to record music off of the radio so I could play it on my smaller cassette player.
I got a Walkman, a CD Walkman, and a Dell Jukebox.
And then the heavens descending upon me and I got an iPod.
Seriously. The skies opened up and I was welcomed into the exhalted world of TUNES.
I have always loved music but I didn’t realize just how much I had loved music until my iPod came along.
Couple my iPod with iTunes and I have a library of goodness. I have 300+ CDs that have been loaded into my computer and then loaded into my iPod. Add in to that the free download that iTunes gives out each week and my library continues to grow.
It’s all now at my fingertips. I listen to music all day long.
My iPod goes to workouts with me (although I don’t use the earbuds because they hurt my ears so I have big headphones that probably look dorky but I don’t care). My computer plays tunes during the day.
I’m in music heaven.
noteworthy
05 years ago
by dawn
in just a thought
The fire in southern California, fueled by the infamous Santa Anas, is making me think about the upcoming season.
It’s too early for fire season and, yet, here it is upon us.
A fire in Arizona has already been spotted and is being dealt with only a hundred miles or so from where I live.
We haven’t had a real winter this year. It snowed once, in town, and that was only about an inch of snow. It didn’t snow out at my house at all. It is distressing.
We are surrounded by huge forests and so many of those have been hit by the bark beetle so half of the trees are already dead and just ready to fuel the fires.
–
I heard an interesting report on NPR this morning. It seems that when a woman becomes pregnant, she retains some of the fetal cells of the fetus. Even if she has an abortion or miscarriage, those fetal cells stay in her for her entire life.
Why this is significant is because those fetal cells can morph and will rush to areas that are being attacked by disease.
For instance, they discussed a woman who had gone into the hospital with hepatitis. She had had 2 abortions, 2 miscarriages, and 1 born child. She refused treatment but doctors noticed that she had an abnormal amount of fetal cells around her liver.
A few months later, she had no symptoms of the hepatitis. It seems that the fetal cells had become liver cells and had repaired all of the damage.
I find that absolutely amazing.