Lady in Pink

I’m a huge fan of maps. When I was driving between NY and KY at least four times a year, my atlas had four pages completely marked up, folded over, and half-falling out of the book (NY, KY, PA, OH).  I get anxious when I realize I’m lost, but then I LOVE finding my way back with the help of a good map.  I like to highlight the roads I’ve taken and time the trip along a new route against the original. 

Online, I’m the same…Google Maps, Live Maps, MapQuest, whatever…if I see an address, I’ll usually map it.  Then I end up playing around on the map for half an hour until I’m half a state away and switching between aerial, hybrid, road, 2D, 3D…whichever options they have. 

Anyway, the point is, I found this today (from the pretty great site These Today which gives you 5 sites daily, ranging from high to low brow) and it’s pretty wonderful and fun.  Strange Maps is a blog-type site of random maps (from star maps, to historical maps, music-related maps, food maps, it goes on and on).  This is surely going to be a complete distraction this weekend while I am supposed to be writing a paper. 

I think this site really explores what is so awesome about maps…you can use them to find your way, to locate where you are, the typical ideas of what goes along with reading a map…but you can also use them to organize some random facts, info, abstract ideas, etc. into a form that is more appealing and understandable by people (esp. students) who are visual learners.  This idea is pretty common, and you see it with nearly every teacher who presents graphs, typical statistical maps, and other visual tools along with their lessons.  However, I think that taking things you wouldn’t necessarily consider ‘facts’ or useful info in other senses (for example, the area codes where Luda claims to have ‘ladies’ waiting for him) and reshaping them involves a certain amount of interaction with the ‘facts’ that makes you think about things in a different way, raise questions that wouldn’t have been brought up otherwise, and maybe even find some new understanding of whatever info you are dealing with and the context in which that info exists.  Luda’s lady-friends’ area codes may seem irrelevant, unbelievably ridiculous and not worthy of a song (let alone a map), and looking at the ’stats’ on the map and the conclusions Stefanie Gray makes about them doesn’t reveal any giant life-altering insight, but it does show how organizing, considering and sharing this irrelevant info in a new shape can bring out questions of authorship, cultural belonging, popular reception of music based on personal connection to something within a song, the limited scope of celebrity connection to the worlds of their audience, and levels on which music can be appreciated beyond the initial response ("I’m a female and a feminist. I dislike the word ‘ho’. However, as a geography major, I find this song hilarious, and had to map it.")

Anyway, beyond Ludacris and the various area codes he enjoys visiting, maps are awesome, this blog is spectacular, and if you need me in the next few days, I will be exploring Strange Maps.

"Women are dingbats! Get it? Ha. Ha. Ha."

So, the Washington Post ran this essay by Charlotte Allen…most of the reactions I had are wonderfully put by Katha Pollitt in her response, so I won’t repeat them. There are also some interesting related links in there that include Allen’s responses to reader questions and things like that…

I consider myself to have a great sense of humor and to really support differing opinions and the creative expression of these opinions…but Allen’s piece doesn’t come off as funny at all to me, and while I couldn’t really vocalize why…Pollitt did a pretty decent job of it.  For me, the bottom line in terms of gender, race, sexuality–whatever kind of group you may be a part of–is that some stereotypes may seem confirmed by specific individuals but using this ‘proof’ as a reason to stand behind those stereotypes, make them crucial to your understanding of that group, and then make judgements and enforce restrictions based on that understanding is unfair, limiting and really dangerous…even if you are open-minded, accepting and completely positive in your personal interactions with people, the reinforcement and support of the stereotypes in this way just keeps them alive in society’s understanding and interaction with people.

In her response interview article thing, she says "I wouldn’t quite use the word "ironic," but yes, I meant to be funny but with a serious point–that women want to be taken seriously but quite often don’t act serious. Also, that women and men really are different." First, obviously we’re different…anyone who has ever interacted with someone of the opposite gender knows that…we don’t need her essay to tell us that.  Second, women want to be taken seriously, but don’t act serious?  Allen wanted to be taken seriously (with the serious point behind her essay), but did it in a way that she claims to be funny…the essay was taken seriously, but probably not in the way expected…

Yes, we don’t hear a lot of argument when men are made fun of in women’s magazines, web sites, etc., and there is a hint of hypocrisy in the extreme feminist outcry to anything negative geared towards women.  However, maybe the better solution is to attempt to gain a better understanding of both men and women (and their interaction) and try to get away from these demeaning jokes from either side.  "Well, we make fun of men all the time" is, in my mind, not a good enough excuse for Allen’s unfounded, blanket statements of stupidity.

You might not have any idea what any of this means, but it’s wonderful to listen to anyway Matthew did a great job of making them laugh and being smart. He doesn’t start until about 38 minutes in…Scott somebody goes first. He’s not as great. (PS. I might be biased)

A lot of things have changed for this semester (my CDC ‘internship’, less Scholars meetings, classes only TR, job search, apartment packing), and I’m still adjusting to things that changed last semester (the gym routine, free weekends, no Matt, no Hicania in my office).  So, I realized that I need some new routines.

1-Job search, Chai tea, & This American Life.  Andrea introduced me to Chai tea which not only makes me feel sophisticated and fancy, but gives me a reason to use my wide variety of mugs, AND is delicious.  Tonight I drank tea, caught up on like 3 episodes of TAL, and browsed new job posting on about 80 web sites.  I am ridiculously relaxed and excited at the same time…there are finally jobs I’m interested in/possibly qualified for, and unlike every other time I’ve looked at listings, I’m not ready to curl up in the corner and sob about it.  Is it the tea? Is it the NPR? Is it the fact that I had CDC training today and feel like I’m actually on the way to doing some active job searching?  WHO KNOWS.  But any way, chai is delicious, superintendents are nuts (TAL #346), and Santana is being sweet and cuddly like you’d never imagine. 

On that note:

2-Blogging about the adorableness of my baby puppy. (More writing in general).

Gorgeous, right?  Andrew brought his digital camera home from school and after I got back from Queens with Matt, my adorable little brother presented me with a series of absolutely wonderful photos of Santana.  I think this one looks like a professional portrait or something.  I have no idea how he got her to cooperate and sit still for so long.  I usually get a camera full of puppy nose when I try.  I might be turning into one of those grossly in love puppy-moms…Matt and I started a puppy baby book for Santana last week.  I took her to a groomer (just for a bath and nail trimming!) and she got her scraggly fur trimmed (I will admit, that made me a little sad…I love that she’s a scruffy pup) and a girly, flowered bandana, which I have left on for the past three days.  She might be completely spoiled…but she makes me feel better and smile even when I am feeling depressed, sick, lonely, whatever.  She is the sweetest, cuddliest puppy ever and just loves to play, be close, and pay attention to every move you make.  It is one of the best gifts I’ve ever gotten (UK graduation gift from Veronica) and right up there with the important parts of my life.  She loves Matt, Matt loves her, she loves bacon, I love bacon, she loves running around in giant circles, Freckles loves slowly following her around.  Done and done.

3-Monday Date Nite.  My partner GA last year was one of about…oh, maybe…five reasons I didn’t have a complete meltdown during my job between August 06 and May 07.  I was really afraid we wouldn’t see much of each other after we stopped working together…NOT SO.  We managed to have mostly weekly date nights on Tuesdays last semester that got slightly more sporadic later in the semester.  This semester we’re going with Mondays for early dinner, late movie.  The bonus is that she’s got class in the UDC between dinner and the movie, so I’m going to set that time aside for me to sit in the computer lab down there and get definite work done every week.  I think this will be super helpful and give me some regular scheduling where so much of the rest of my stuff this semester is super flexible and doesn’t commit me to specific hours for most of the time. 

4-Craftiness! A while ago, my aunt (ex-aunt-in-law?) bought me some scrapbooking stuff as a gift, and I have since been mildly interested in it.  Then this past October, Marinda invited me to a "Stampin’ Up!" party and I was completely hooked.  I am trying hard not to spend lots of money on it, because it can get expensive, but every once in a while I treat myself to a mini-splurge.  And during weeks when I’m particularly stressed, but not necessarily overly busy, I force myself to set aside an hour on a night in the middle of the week and stamp for a bit — it is SO relaxing for me, and then I get to have some concrete result of the relaxation.  I think it overall has a great effect on me, so I am going to make it a part of my weekly routine this semester to keep me on track and in the not-flipping-out range of existence.  Andrea and Kelly also taught me how to knit (well, almost), and that requires more patience to get something close to a feasible result, but it is still relaxing, and can be done with slightly less-focused concentration. So, YAY!  Plus, it all gives me an excuse to sit with some girls and relax and catch up. 

5-Puppy walks.  Yeah yeah, back to the puppy.  On top of a more regular gym routine, as the weather warms up, I want to get back into the habit of long walks to Rec. Park with Santana.  She loves the walk and the park, and I love to watch her explore and then get tired of walking and try to pull me up random steps into strangers’ houses to go home.  Really, the reason for wanting exercise in my routine is self-explanatory, but the need for adorable puppy fun is less obvious if you aren’t turning into a crazy dog lady like I am.

6-Reading for fun.  My two class (Modernism something or other & Masterpieces of the Novel) are a mix of books that look wonderful, and books I will trudge through.  I read a bunch of wonderful stuff since last semester, and my list of books to read keeps growing.  So, even if it’s slow, I’m going to build in time for reading non-school books.  Next on my list:

Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk Read more about this book…

The Tenth Circle: A Novel by Jodi Picoult Read more about this book…

Welcome to my first blog.  My boyfriend set this up for me because he knows how much I love to write.  This blog will be my venue to share my thoughts, writings, and dinosaur comics which I find amazing.