The cat may drive me to the coffee shop...

Today I'm working on my Supreme Emergency paper.

I've got to get it into good "draft" shape so I can submit it to a conference someplace warm... in January...

A warm long-weekend (sans debaters) is a strong motivation to hit the deadline.

I really only have today to do this.... and Blind kitty is getting loud.

If he doesn't shut up, I'll be forced to go to the cofffee shop with good food and yummy drinks.

yea, that would suck.

Good news for an old friend...

Not long ago I found out that my old friend C has a new career.

I met C when she was hubby's first college debate coach. She's the one who lured me into being a debate coach. She gave me the opportunity to try coaching, she mentored me and helped me get into the debate world.

C left coaching to finish law school, get married and have kids. She had her first son during her last semester of law school. Although she had both an MA and a JD, she decided to stay home and raise her boys. Mr. C could support them and she thought it was more important to stay home with her kids than to get a job.

In many ways C has been kind of a model of how I think the modern feminist ought to live her life. She's smart, educated, assertive and very willing to be feminine. She's willing to make the hard decision to stay home, in the face of significant family pressure, in order to raise her children. If there are "waves" in feminism, I want to be on the same wave as C.

Now it seems that C has found the PERFECT job, for her. She has the right kind of people skills for this job and definitely the right kind of kick-ass attitude to be effective.

So, good luck C!!!! I know you'll be fantastic.

the Tuesday the world changed

6 years ago today I was sitting down to do a little grading in front of Good Morning America.

I was in Red Sate -- in an apartment quite close to where hubby 'lives' during the week.

Looking up, I saw blurry footage of the first plane going in.

It was a beautiful early-fall day.

It was a terrifying early-fall day.

Some basic things I remember:

• Seeing our old on-base neighborhood on TV being guarded -- by guys in Humvees holding GUNS. We'd moved out about a month before.
  
• The President stopping at our Air Force base as a safe place. Seeing the local folk's film on the national feed -- and realizing that he was in the same building where hubby used to work.
• Hubby and I waited nervously for his last few days in the military to pass --we were afraid that he'd be "stop-lossed", and wouldn't be able to finish his education as we'd planned.
• Phone calls from family and friends. They were concerned about our general safety and hubby's military status. More than a few of my friends and close family expressed deep relief to hear he was almost out of the military.
• Our debate friends gathered at our place for companionship and comfort. We had both TVs on news stations and two computers with high-speed internet, so we could get the latest information. Rumor has it that the Individual Events (speech) squad also gathered someplace to watch events unfold on MTV-news.
  
• The silence when air travel stopped and the roar when it started again.
• The fact that our Muslim neighbors stopped playing soccer, tennis and other games in the apartment courtyard at dusk.

There is no doubt in my mind that Tuesday September 11 changed the world.

What didn't change is that I still have grading to do on a beautiful Tuesday in September. I suppose some things never change.

good news and bad news from the coffee shop...

The good news:
As I came in to my favorite coffee shop, an elderly gentleman was leaving my favorite corner spot...

My favorite spot has the following to recommend it:

The bench seat is comfortably worn in.
There is a 1/2 wall to my right, over which is an outlet!
I can see the rest of the place, so I'm not startled and can have the momentary distraction of people watching.

The bad news:
The icky 'coffee shop creepy intellectual' dude just showed up, and is sitting at the next table... facing me.

On Friday I was here for several hours. The whole time he had his stuff in my favorite spot, but he didn't use it! Not once did he sit here, in the perfect spot. He paced, he tutored some idiot on physics, he went outside to make phone calls and spent a creepily-long time in the men's room. He didn't sit here. He didn't plug in his computer. He certainly didn't do any intellectual work.

Now, he's giving me the crusty look --


The real good news:
I beat creepy-coffee-shop guy here... and I'm gonna stay.

So There, Mr. Creepy. And, I'm doing actual intellectual/academic work. I'm not just some creepy version of an intellectual poser.

Yep, look at me all you want. This is what writing an academic paper looks like.

now, I need to get back to work... I finally have a handle on this paper!

What would you do if you won the lottery?

After the exciting but mundane task of sending checks to pay off EVERYTHING... what would you do?

First, hubby and I would find someplace to live and work on our dissertations. That place would probably be a bit larger than our current place with spectacular views and lots of good, healthy restaurants close by. We'd be close to an excellent library.

Then, we'd take time to travel. We'd go everywhere --- really. When we got tired of Europe, we'd come back to North America for a while, because there are parts of Canada we have yet to see. --- After that, we'd go to Australia and New Zealand, and we'd see all there was to see of Asia. Then, we'd come back to the states for a while to shop for new suitcases and travel clothes while we planned trips to South America and Africa. Finally, we'd go to the Middle East --

After a while, I'm sure we'd be wanting to settle down.... and we'd need places to live.

I'd have a small cabin in Northern MN -- near or on Lake Superior. There really is no place better to spend the summer. It is cool, beautiful and serene.

I'd have a cottage on the ocean, maybe warm, maybe just not cold... like the Oregon coast.

I'd keep the condo in Minneapolis, because there is something about the Twin Cities that is ultimately home.

As for work, we'd have to negotiate that. I really wouldn't mind picking up some sections at the local CC wherever we ended up. I do like teaching. It keeps my mind working and it lets me make contributions to the future. I'd just rather not do so much of it....

The other question... what wouldn't you do?

I don't see us buying a lot of stuff. Right now we have enough stuff to be comfortable. We have two cars, plenty of clothing and decent furniture. I'm sure that when we replace things, they'll be nicer than the stuff we have now -- but I don't see us increasing the actual amount of stuff.

Hairspray (the movie)

So, I've added another way to procrastinate...

the movie theater is right next door, y'all... it was calling my name.

I looked on-line and saw that "Hairspray" was starting in 10 minutes. I got there just as the credits were starting.

To say I loved the movie would be an understatement.

The only thing I didn't like about it was John Travolta in drag and a fat suit/make-up playing Tracy's mom. Like they couldn't find an actual large woman to play a large woman???

I do wish the 60s Tracy saw on the horizon had actually happened -- Sure, the racism is less overt, but the fat bias is still a fact of life ---- demonstrated by casting Travolta...

You really should see it.

blogging for motivation...

Today I've found a few ways to procrastinate...

I cleaned the kitchen and took out a bunch of trash -- because I wanted to go to the Farmer's Market.

I went to the Farmer's Market. I now have a fridge full of veggies and some fresh flowers.

I went to the grocery store. I now have all kinds of good stuff to use with my fridge full of veggies.

I took a nap, because I woke up early enough to go to the Farmer's Market...

I made and ate a Ruben , yummmmm! My own Rubens are much better than any restaurant.

I've watched a few home shows.

What I haven't done is work on my Ancient paper.

When the current home show ends, I'm going to turn off the TV, turn on the radio and get to work.