Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
I made it through the day without entering a single retail facility other than Trader Joe's today. Yay! (I never really plan to shop on the Friday after Thanksgiving, but I usually end up going somewhere with my mom. Not at 5 a.m. or anything, but at some point. So that is one upside to not having spent Thanksgiving with family. Another one would be the *three* separate turkey dinners I will have consumed by the end of the weekend.)
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Why Feminine Technologies Matter, part e (I was wrong on the last one)
I think that the point of this section was to point out that even technologies that don't seem, on the surface, to be feminine, might have embedded in them the work of females. The example used was the change in men's collars and how they were a cultural shortcut to determining a family's respectability. Before washing machines graces most middle class homes, the existence of certain collars denoted that a man was well off enough to employ servants (washerwomen) or, later, commercial laundry facilities.
It was sort of a meh section for me. I don't disagree that the fashions purported to reveal something about the man and the family. But the author again threw out some statements unsupported in this chapter (although supported elsewhere, not that she directly footnoted anything because the statements were rather vague). Also she ended with "Although our culture generally applauds cleanliness, we are made uneasy by its pervasiveness. How can we tell whose homes our children can safely visit? Who can we trust in front of our classrooms?..." Maybe it is because I live and work in Silicon Valley where how someone dresses is seldom related to their wealth what with the casual dress code of most computer/Internet companies. Maybe it is because of a greater awareness that even those families who look pristine on the outside can hide ugly secrets (um... have I mentioned that I read a bunch of brain candy books - Jodi Picoult and the like among them). In fact, when I think of being made uneasy by the pervasiveness of cleanliness, I am more apt to go to the weakened immune systems aspect than the unable to make social judgements place. It is these little throw away lines that annoy me the most about this chapter. Say it and support it or don't say it at all. Or admit that you are just trying to find provocative things to say regardless of how reality-based they are.
I think that the point of this section was to point out that even technologies that don't seem, on the surface, to be feminine, might have embedded in them the work of females. The example used was the change in men's collars and how they were a cultural shortcut to determining a family's respectability. Before washing machines graces most middle class homes, the existence of certain collars denoted that a man was well off enough to employ servants (washerwomen) or, later, commercial laundry facilities.
It was sort of a meh section for me. I don't disagree that the fashions purported to reveal something about the man and the family. But the author again threw out some statements unsupported in this chapter (although supported elsewhere, not that she directly footnoted anything because the statements were rather vague). Also she ended with "Although our culture generally applauds cleanliness, we are made uneasy by its pervasiveness. How can we tell whose homes our children can safely visit? Who can we trust in front of our classrooms?..." Maybe it is because I live and work in Silicon Valley where how someone dresses is seldom related to their wealth what with the casual dress code of most computer/Internet companies. Maybe it is because of a greater awareness that even those families who look pristine on the outside can hide ugly secrets (um... have I mentioned that I read a bunch of brain candy books - Jodi Picoult and the like among them). In fact, when I think of being made uneasy by the pervasiveness of cleanliness, I am more apt to go to the weakened immune systems aspect than the unable to make social judgements place. It is these little throw away lines that annoy me the most about this chapter. Say it and support it or don't say it at all. Or admit that you are just trying to find provocative things to say regardless of how reality-based they are.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
I sincerely hope that the sore throat I started to get this morning continues backing off. I threw copious amounts of warm tea, grapefruit juice, and rest at it. We shall see. I so very much do not need to spend the Thanksgiving holiday sick. I plan to sew curtains then - a feat which I have never attempted before...
Saturday, November 21, 2009
I *hate* shopping. It takes forever and even then I rarely even find what I went shopping for. Today I was out and about from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Mostly. I was home in the middle for maybe half an hour. And I spent an hour eating lunch and reading and about 30 minutes at the library. So I was shopping for maybe 6 hours. For all that? I ended up with the fabric, thread, etc. necessary to make curtains, curtain rods, and... that's it. In SIX HOURS. Ugh. Granted I spent an inordinate amount of time picking fabric because I didn't have a strong idea of what I wanted going in. I also made short useless forays into Sports Authority (foam rollers much less expensive elsewhere) and Nordstrom Rack (walked out after 5 minutes because I didn't even want to contemplate trying on clothes). That is not 6 hours worth of activity. It just isn't. Where did my whole day go? Plus something about the lights or the air or the shopping experience makes me go brain dead and glassy eyed and tired even when there is no reason whatsoever that I should be tired since it was only 10 in the morning!
Friday, November 20, 2009
I'm not going to pretend that what I have written has been in any way scintillating, but I am proud of myself for, so far, posting every day. When I tried this last year I failed miserably. By day 3 or something like that... I have no new or exciting thoughts today because it is Friday and my brain is both fried and frozen. But next week I get the pilot light lit for my old inefficient wall heater, so that will solve one problem.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Okay, the blinds which have been precariously balanced in my bedroom window (I'm fairly certain they are the wrong width for the window - by only half and inch to an inch - so my landlord had jury-rigged a "solution" but they were always wobbly and couldn't be raised or lowered easily, etc.) gave up the ghost tonight. For now I have used thumbtacks and an old fitted sheet to cover the window. This weekend I get to look into alternate solutions.
Calling the landlord to ask him to do it would be a solution. But 1. it isn't really worth bothering him for something so small, 2. I am pretty sure he'd just put the same blinds up but even if he didn't, 3. I don't exactly trust any of his fixes. So far he has approached things with a sort of "least possible effort / money to get the job done, and by done I mean, at best, adequate" mindset. Which I can't exactly blame him for. But if I manage some curtains on my own it will be easy, I can make sure they actually fit the window, they could even keep the room warmer, and when I move out I can put the old jury-rigged blinds back up. Win all around for doing it myself.
Calling the landlord to ask him to do it would be a solution. But 1. it isn't really worth bothering him for something so small, 2. I am pretty sure he'd just put the same blinds up but even if he didn't, 3. I don't exactly trust any of his fixes. So far he has approached things with a sort of "least possible effort / money to get the job done, and by done I mean, at best, adequate" mindset. Which I can't exactly blame him for. But if I manage some curtains on my own it will be easy, I can make sure they actually fit the window, they could even keep the room warmer, and when I move out I can put the old jury-rigged blinds back up. Win all around for doing it myself.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Why Feminine Technologies Matter - part [whatever letter we are up to - f?]
I had much more to agree with in this section. First the author went through the history of our home storage habits as they changed through time. Short version - only rich people had 'stuff' that needed to be stored; then more people had 'stuff' so specialized storage came about; then people without servants had 'stuff' so storage moved around a bit so stuff was stored near where it was used and in closed off spaces instead of in the open. (Here's where it gets... iffy.) Women as housewives learned an efficient "filing system" for the family 'stuff' and so when businesses started needing to file papers women were pre-trained by life in general and thus the work could be called unskilled work and women could be paid very little to take on this professional role.
Honestly, I buy the "women were pre-trained by their roles in the household" argument a bit more when it came to sewing and other clothing-related jobs because I can see the direct comparison. I find it hard to make too strong of a connection between "filing" dishes in cupboards and towels and sheets in linen closets and filing papers in an office environment. The concepts are related, but not super strongly. In any case, the section ends with a charge that it is the invisible nature of women's mastery of the household filing system that makes it so difficult for the domestic duties to be split more equitably between spouses even today. I find that hard to relate to as well since my mother was no more likely to know where a certain item was in our house than my father was and I never really heard the whole "honey where is the [insert household item]" as a big part of my growing up years.
It might be interesting to look at this further as stuff has proliferated and overwhelmed us and some storage has moved out of the family's residence (sheds, rented storage spaces) and as in house storage has become so decorative and commercialized. The mere existence of something like The Container Store and the success of entertainment in the form of Clean Sweep, etc. says something further about our relationship with our 'stuff.' Of course, I find this interesting apart from any conclusions we might want to draw about gender although I am sure that would be a small part of it.
I had much more to agree with in this section. First the author went through the history of our home storage habits as they changed through time. Short version - only rich people had 'stuff' that needed to be stored; then more people had 'stuff' so specialized storage came about; then people without servants had 'stuff' so storage moved around a bit so stuff was stored near where it was used and in closed off spaces instead of in the open. (Here's where it gets... iffy.) Women as housewives learned an efficient "filing system" for the family 'stuff' and so when businesses started needing to file papers women were pre-trained by life in general and thus the work could be called unskilled work and women could be paid very little to take on this professional role.
Honestly, I buy the "women were pre-trained by their roles in the household" argument a bit more when it came to sewing and other clothing-related jobs because I can see the direct comparison. I find it hard to make too strong of a connection between "filing" dishes in cupboards and towels and sheets in linen closets and filing papers in an office environment. The concepts are related, but not super strongly. In any case, the section ends with a charge that it is the invisible nature of women's mastery of the household filing system that makes it so difficult for the domestic duties to be split more equitably between spouses even today. I find that hard to relate to as well since my mother was no more likely to know where a certain item was in our house than my father was and I never really heard the whole "honey where is the [insert household item]" as a big part of my growing up years.
It might be interesting to look at this further as stuff has proliferated and overwhelmed us and some storage has moved out of the family's residence (sheds, rented storage spaces) and as in house storage has become so decorative and commercialized. The mere existence of something like The Container Store and the success of entertainment in the form of Clean Sweep, etc. says something further about our relationship with our 'stuff.' Of course, I find this interesting apart from any conclusions we might want to draw about gender although I am sure that would be a small part of it.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Scheduling problems are annoying. In the extreme. There are two things I would like very much to do this summer. It appears that it may only be possible to do one of them. Grrrrr... (And I seldom even bother trying to plan this far in advance so the fact that I am running into problems? Double-grrrr.)
Sunday, November 15, 2009
I watched a high school production of Almost, Maine today and it was great. The play is a bunch of vignettes of various relationships in the town around 9 p.m. on a normal Friday night. It did seem like a bunch of relationship drama for one very small town (not even a town because to be a town you have to organize). But it was by turns sweet and touching and funny and sad. I really really liked it. Yay Paly Drama Department!
Also, I went because I know someone who was in the cast, but it doesn't just have to be parents and friends in the audience at high school productions. This would have been great for any member of the community.
Also, I went because I know someone who was in the cast, but it doesn't just have to be parents and friends in the audience at high school productions. This would have been great for any member of the community.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
I need to find recipes for persimmons since the tree in my yard has some that appear to be ripening. I have never really used them for anything because I didn't know what to do with them. Perhaps I will play around with recipes tomorrow. Assuming that the photo scavenger hunt fails to materialize like I expect it to...
Thursday, November 12, 2009
It turned cold here recently. And by cold I mean wimpy California-level cold. (Look, I know it isn't cold, cold. But I also have only space heaters and single pane windows and drafts around doors, and tiled / stone floors and I rent so there is not much I can do to change any of that.) Right, so, my point. Cold = coughing = cough drops = minorly annoyed esophagus/stomach = Tums = coughing = ... My warm tea intake has soared. My tissue use likewise (cold also = runny nose). *Sigh* welcome to the 5 months of the year where I feel constantly off. And yes, I do see a doctor every year when this happens even though I feel stupid complaining that "I'm... coughing? And my nose runs..." because - hello - winter. Said doctor will prescribe another inhaler, which will work. In March.
Having complained here, perhaps people will be spared my whining in real life. Although, actually, people who see me in person pretty much expect this from me by now and monitor the start of the hacking.
Having complained here, perhaps people will be spared my whining in real life. Although, actually, people who see me in person pretty much expect this from me by now and monitor the start of the hacking.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
TV and Math
I just have to get this off my chest (yes, such things bother me, I'm a nerd) -- Last night on NCIS: Los Angeles they said that Callan had been in foster care from when he was 5 until he was 18 and had changed houses every few weeks and sometimes every few days. And that his longest stint in one house had been 3 months. And that he had been in 37 homes. And the impossibility of all of those facts being true distracted me for the rest of the show.
Even if you assume he was almost 6 and aged out of the system on his 18th birthday, that is still 12 years. Which is about 3 homes a year (12 x 3 = 36). Which means his average stay had to be around 4 months. Which means there is *no way* that his longest stay was 3 months. And that is with me fudging the numbers and estimating and just using the "does that sound plausible" test - not even doing any actual calculations. Which one figures a television show writer might do. So, of course, instead of paying attention to the rest of the show I sat there thinking "maybe the script said 137... that sort of works" (average stay is then slightly more than a month). Or "maybe in between homes he was in an orphanage/group home and they aren't counting that, wait, did they say he stayed at each place on a few weeks or that he moved every few weeks because if it is the second one that nixes my group home theory..." I'm just saying. It was incredibly distracting.
I just have to get this off my chest (yes, such things bother me, I'm a nerd) -- Last night on NCIS: Los Angeles they said that Callan had been in foster care from when he was 5 until he was 18 and had changed houses every few weeks and sometimes every few days. And that his longest stint in one house had been 3 months. And that he had been in 37 homes. And the impossibility of all of those facts being true distracted me for the rest of the show.
Even if you assume he was almost 6 and aged out of the system on his 18th birthday, that is still 12 years. Which is about 3 homes a year (12 x 3 = 36). Which means his average stay had to be around 4 months. Which means there is *no way* that his longest stay was 3 months. And that is with me fudging the numbers and estimating and just using the "does that sound plausible" test - not even doing any actual calculations. Which one figures a television show writer might do. So, of course, instead of paying attention to the rest of the show I sat there thinking "maybe the script said 137... that sort of works" (average stay is then slightly more than a month). Or "maybe in between homes he was in an orphanage/group home and they aren't counting that, wait, did they say he stayed at each place on a few weeks or that he moved every few weeks because if it is the second one that nixes my group home theory..." I'm just saying. It was incredibly distracting.
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