You are currently browsing the monthly archive for October, 2007.
- I showed a clip from a Gloria Estefan / Miami Sound Machine video in class today.
- Mr. G thinks we should have dressed Bump up this year and gone Trick-Or-Treating, not for Bump but so we could stock up on free chocolate.
- A student donning underwear, a burgundy cape, leather boots, and a Spartan hat stood in the f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g cold weather for about two hours today.
- Later I found out said student is in my 3:00 class. Yikes.
- I’m thinking I might change my name to match my son’s, now that I have fancy-academic-job and all.
- My car has a flat tire.
- My car had a flat tire last week.
- Every day this week two very fearless and stubborn (and likely hungry) deer have hung out in our front yard. Something we grow is very tastey. Yesterday one of them literally sat on our lawn with Jerry, our bad-ass-mother-fucker-of-a-cat, sitting right next to him. The two were just chillin’. Seriously.
- Mr. Grubby has begun writing poetry again. Apparently one of Bump’s toys has inspired him.
ME: Did you see the list of committee assignments Dept. Chair sent out?
Other New Hire (and a cool gal, I might add): Yeah.
ME: Can you believe I’m “Diversity Outreach Coordinator?” Um…what’s up with that?
ONH: Oh, I know. [Spouse] and I were wondering if that annoyed you, having to be “Captain Latina” and all.
It’s official: I, new-professor-with-hispanic-surname, am the Latino Student Union Faculty Advisor, the Latino Studies Minor Faculty Advisor, and the Diversity Outreach Coordinator for my department. I’m also on the Advisory Board for the American Cultural Studies program. Sounds intense, but you won’t find me complaining. While these ethno-admin roles might seem like a lot of work, they actually only translate into 2 meetings/year and extra office hours once each quarter for students who might (but often don’t) come with questions about The Minor, which doesn’t take effect until late 2008. So at the moment I find it worthy of a joke or two every now and then. Ah…the absurdities of identity politics. ONH’s spouse is also a new-professor-with-ethnic-surname, so at least I’m not alone. Until they-with-names-that-do-not-matter catch on to the fact that I do very little, service-wise, and assign me additional committee duties, I’m keeping mum. Why fix it if it ain’t broken? I know “it” might very well stand for a pervasive pattern in which academics-of-color are administratively “exploited” and expected to “represent” an ethnic group to which they, like me, feel no “authentic” cultural ties. Is it politically incorrect or an act of integrity to feel annoyed by having to represent la raza?
In the end, what do I care? Said exploitation isn’t happening in my little universe, so I’m not worrying about it. I know, I know. There are those who might say I should step up for “my” people, but I’ve got a kid to raise, a book to write, and classes to teach.
Sheesh.
Random Bullets of Crap. I’ve been wondering for months now what “RBOC,” which I see all over the blogosphere, means. I’m not a lurk-o-holic (yet, anyway), so what I might’ve been able to figure out in a matter of days has taken a while, but I’ll consider this a point of pride.
My RBOC’s of the day? Today, I…
- Have come to the realization that All in the Family truly sucks once Meathead and Gloria move out.
- Went out to dinner with Mr. G and Bump for the first time in months.
- Found it incredibly stressful and was reminded of why it’s been months.
- Discovered, however, that at 14-months-old Bump likes cucumbers.
- Cucumbers?
- Attended my second department meeting and am worried that my colleagues saw how bored and annoyed I was.
- Went until two pm without eating. That’s how busy I am. (And yet I have time to blog. Shit.)
- Crap, random, and bulleted.
MrsG
Why I love Moxie’s blog:
Has anyone else been watching the BBC show–now on the Discovery channel in the U.S.–”Last Man Standing”? It’s 6 youngish American and British athletes who go to tribal villages and participate in their tests of strength and fighting rituals. I’ve been watching, thinking how lame it all is. Any woman who’d mothered a child through the age of 5 could beat any of these guys in tenacity, endurance, and feats of strength under adverse conditions. Brazilian piranha-tooth cuts on the legs rubbed with chile powder? Try 36 hours of unmedicated labor. Zulu fighting sticks? Try sleep regression after sleep regression. Running 30 miles uphill in sandals? Try nursing all night for months and still holding down a full-time job. Maybe I should work up a pitch for the show: kick boxer, triathlete, and bodybuilder vs. mom of high-needs baby, mom of twins, and mom of three kids under age five.
To my pals who might one day have kids, bookmark her blog now. It provides a wealth of information from actual moms and Moxie herself is awesome.
