Exercise

Daphne Spain's thesis focuses
on genered spaces; because women
have historically had limited access
to men's physical spaces, their access to knowledge
disseminated in those spaces
has been limited as well, ultimately denying
them polical position and voice.
Spain further demonstrates this
idea cross-culturally between both non-industrialized
people (as opposed to "pre"-industrialized)
and industrialized nations.


I'd write about watching _The Squid and the Whale_,
(which always sounds, quite appropriately, like
the "Sperm" and the whale to my mind)
but it would be redundant for me to do so
considering I wrote my reaction to it
in my paper-bound journal.
Yet, I'd like to follow the undertone
of second wave feminism
that tremors through its themes.
Quite a disturbing little flick.


Did I mention that I'm also reading Tan's _Saving Fish
from Drowning_? I'm quite tempted to put it down.
Her narrator is simply talking way over my head.
And it feels strained.
I wanted to get lost in Burma and forbidden romance,
not the pseduo French
vocabulary and name-dropping that Bibi, our narrating spirit,
enjoys bathing in. Sigh.
I suppose the work is good for me.
So I'll keep reading it--Webster in hand.
[Not.
I have a horrible habit of simply ignoring the word and moving on.
Perhaps that's why my vocab scores where never
where they should have been.]

How do you, my friendly reader, keep from living in the past?

This is the Day

Bad Yahoo!. Bad.
The headline was a bit misleading:
"U.S. Bans Sale of iPods to North Korea"

How frivolous! I assumed.
Yet, upon a closer read,
I understood the government as targeting
specific luxuary items.
Luxuary items the aristocracy may have access to,
but the average worker does not.
Not that Kim can't smuggle the good in.
He'll just have to pay a higher price.

Wow. I have the whole day to myself.

What shall I do?

Happy Sunday

I just found out that my grades aren't actually due until 12noon on Tuesday. That means I have an extra 26 hours to grade.

And it's a good thing too. Because I am getting sentences like: "So, all-in-all, slavery isn't always all that bad" and "Women were key in the Odyssey--I'm not even going to make the obvious point that Homer had a mother who gave birth to him."

I cringe. The funny thing is that I wanted to just give them all As and be done with it. But, oh no, they choose to smoke weed during final's week. Clue: My school is listed on MSN's party list today.

Enough about grading. Are these block paragraphs hard to read? They're hard to write--don't quite feel natural anymore.

Peace Out (for now)

DId You Really Come Here for This?

Must grade.
Then answer email.

First?
Coffee. And avoid going back to bed.

Today's Mantra:

I am in control of what I eat.

Happy Big Fat Turkeys

I'm hosting this year--
for the very first time--
whoaa--ooo--

Yet, I asked the MIL to bring the bird.

Our Canadian BIL is bringing a shepard's pie--WTF?
That so backfired on me.
See, he doesn't do squat around the house,
so when I asked what he was bringing
he replied: "Let me ask my wife."

Well, as you can imagine--that didn't fly.
But now he's bring shepard pie.
Uh. Yuk.

Good thing we have a gazillion deserts to wash it down with.
And a family trivia game I designed myself.

The questions were pretty challenging
to generate without resorting
to sarcasm and bitterness . . . but it should all be fun.

How Long Could You Endure the Trial?

Can you imagine
if you had twins,
and, say, they had
tubs and tubs
of all these little toys:
legos, plastic blocks, wood blocks, nerf boingers,
castle blocks, action figures, gears, dice collections,
marble collections, magnets, rocks, race track pieces galore,
hotwheels,jeeps, hover crafts, stuffed animals,
reptiles, and aliens?

And their entire purpose in life
seemed to be to dump these magical bits
of color pieces all over their floor,
again and again,
only to buzz off to Gramp's
to wait until the Turkey is on?

I Must Not Know About Me

Yes, the new _BonD_ film.
Aren't I always a bit late?

It's all about bodies--now isn't it?
What we do with our bodies--
as well as pleasure and pain.
Restriction and freedom.

What shall I do with my own?
Why, throw off my knickers
and get deliciously naked between the sheets,
blankets, and comforters--
all the way
until
tomorrow morning.

Whilst I Lay Sleeping

Snow. Everywhere.
How?

I began my morning with a ChocoTaco.
Desperate at 7:35.

I dreamed of Canadian water slides
at the next conference--and that's exactly how life
should be. Only the water was freezing.

And he wouldn't let me on the plane
because I refused to use the Clorox bleech.

If you must know,
I've been in absolute seclusion.
Wrapped in a quilt, making my way
through both seasons of _Lost_.

The shame. The bliss of escape.

But Dickens' _OMF_ appeared in the second season's
finale; hence, I'm justified.

30+ email in my box. Sigh. The work.
Been feeling kindof, well, miserable, but yesterday?
I bought an excessive amount of frames
and created an Asian art collage in the library.
That bit of tangible creativity
seemed to spark the life back into me.

Then, I remembered my blog.

The Sledge Hammer

comes down;
the sledge hammer comes up.

Yikes, I found _Alligator Annie_ by Deborah Rose Burton
in my WS mailbox this morning
and the "American Poetry Review"
in my ENG mailbox.
What is the Universe telling me?

I have to meet with a student
who ripped her paper off from someone else, and fail her,
after (or before?) I pass out my evaluations today?

And my comp director suggested that I make my prompts
more specific so that the students _can't_ cheat.
But I still love her--even if I'm shamed.

Last day of classes. Thank the Lord.

Saturday Classes are Killer

I'd extend my hand
but last night I dreamt
of chicken coops in the back yard
and that octagon wire
used to keep them in.

Speckled they were
and I wondered how they built their nests.

I Blog Because I Want to Blog

Long time no see.
Where to begin?

Spent the weekend in the Cardiopulmonary Ward
with a close friend
and haven't recovered yet.
Her spouse, 36 year old male, had a full blown
heart attack
and was Life Flighted to my town.

I was just passing the very hospital in question,
on my way to that dreadful Saturday WS class,
when I got the call.

His heart is shit.

They have two wonderful children
and he was on the soccer field when it happened.

I guess he'll survive this time.

But what was utterly disturbing about the whole affair
was watching her face
and knowing that she was seeing this moment
as an opportunity--
a way out.