tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55687202011-04-21T15:21:09.469-04:00Apt. 11DKids, career, and the cityLauranoreply@blogger.comBlogger4921100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1091496942654413102004-08-02T21:33:00.000-04:002004-08-02T21:35:42.653-04:00I've moved. The blog moved.
The new blog address is http://11d.typepad.com/blog/. Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1091148772345744702004-07-29T20:44:00.000-04:002004-07-29T20:52:52.346-04:00Waist High Boxes
Apt. 11D is nearly boxed up. Just have my desk and few dirty dishes to go. The movers arrive at 8:00 am to relocate us to Piermont Ave next to the tracks.
Everybody is doing fine, though Ian nearly lost it when he saw his trains sealed tightly in a box. Steve's hernia is under control, but 112 lb. me has to be the muscles around here. I'm feeling very GI Jane.
Well, timeLauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1090805646394740672004-07-25T21:28:00.000-04:002004-07-25T21:50:35.640-04:00Glee
I am interrupting my blogging break, because I am unable to contain myself. I have been skimming the blog posts at Convention Bloggers, and I am so juiced up.
I know that for others the participation of bloggers at the convention is all about old media v. new media. Blogs as a battering ram smashing the old decrepit system of print and TV media. Bloggers are exposing old media biases Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-108976887614402772004-07-14T21:34:00.000-04:002004-07-16T22:31:53.850-04:00Going, Going, Gone
Why am I being so sentimental
about moving? I have left other apartments without a tear. I guess it's
because we passed so many milestones here in our seven years in Apt. 11D.
Two dissertations and two kids happened here. There are pencil lines marking
the kids' growth on the back of door. We won't be able to pack up that into
a box to our new home.
I would like to writeLauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1089816442512312292004-07-14T10:44:00.000-04:002004-07-14T11:29:02.453-04:00From an article in St. Paul's Pioneer Press:
Clancy Ratliff, a student of rhetoric and feminist studies, is studying the Web logs of mothers for her doctoral dissertation at the University of Minnesota. Ratliff said she got to thinking about how Web logs that discuss the Iraq war and the upcoming U.S. presidential election — often written by men — get as many as tens of thousands hits a day, butLauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1089808606731345942004-07-14T08:29:00.000-04:002004-07-14T08:56:13.393-04:00Ammunition
In academic circles, few admit to a personal life. Academics like to brag about how much they read over a weekend, rather how much they chilled out. They feel more comfortable talking shop than discussing the weather. For the really hardcore, it's almost taboo to have a life outside of the university. I worked for one university for a year, and no one asked me the names of my kids.Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1089731888052417462004-07-13T11:06:00.000-04:002004-07-13T21:39:34.336-04:00I just can't stop it. The corn keeps on coming...
I like checking things off lists. There are the small day to day lists: food shopping, dry cleaning pick up, finish that book. And then there is The List that only contains two or three big goals.
A few years ago, the top item on the uber-list was finishing the dissertations. When we were about 3/4rds through with our opuses, it became Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1089679531932533252004-07-12T20:34:00.000-04:002004-07-13T11:06:00.473-04:00Linky-Links
Allison's baby is here.
Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Trib is taking over for Eric Zorn this week. She also had an interesting article on how Blogads are paying serious cash to the bigger political bloggers. I'm selling out, baby!
Want to know why there's not a proper post tonight? Because of these two huge time wasters. Thanks to Dan Drezner and Ampersand for rotting my brain.Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1089561353175448762004-07-11T11:41:00.000-04:002004-07-12T21:27:28.230-04:00Ithaka
On Saturday, in between packing boxes, Steve, the kids, and I walked about the neighborhood doing chores and entertaining the kids. As we went about our business of getting a change of address form from the post office, taking old boxes from behind other apartments, and having coffee in the cafe, each event was in sharp focus. We knew that this was the last time we would be there.
SomeLauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1089385477160975602004-07-09T10:56:00.000-04:002004-07-09T11:18:35.753-04:00Winding Down and Gearing Up
Next Wednesday is Bastille Day, my one year blog anniversary and the last day of blogging for a while. We're closing on our new house on Thursday. The bottle of champagne is already chilling in the refridgerator. The plan is to camp out that night in sleeping bags on the living room floor. Then we'll have two weeks to transfer our lives from city to 'burb, though Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1089334886413472282004-07-08T20:15:00.000-04:002004-07-08T21:01:26.413-04:00Errata Sheet for My Life
I make errors. All the time in fact.
My latest error is that I didn't sign my five year old boy up for camp this summer. Since we're moving half way through the summer, it didn't make sense to enroll him in a pricey city program for a few weeks, and I missed all the deadlines for programs in our new town. This means I have a bored kid on my hands all day. Unlike hisLauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1089330010462693452004-07-08T19:34:00.000-04:002004-07-08T23:01:29.563-04:00Comments on Comments
Eszter at Crooked Timber has some interesting thoughts on comments. She's in the pro-comment camp. She's not sure if a blog can even be considered a blog without comments. Comments are a way that someone can respond to post without having a blog themselves. She points out the value of the great comments at CT. She says that blogs that have comments are more democratic Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1089247909569178812004-07-07T20:38:00.000-04:002004-07-08T21:12:36.166-04:00Parenthood and Poverty
Just a quick post tonight, because I'm busy commenting at Crooked Timber.
What has bothered some about the Alstott book is that her proposal of a $5,000 grant to care givers is not mean tested. Madonna would get the same $10,000 for Rocco and Loudes, as a mother of two in Cabrini Green. (Is that hell-hole still around?)
Alstott says that a means tested program would be Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1089159066324028512004-07-06T20:10:00.000-04:002004-07-07T18:22:46.986-04:00Blog Conversations
I just posted a book review of Anne Alstott's new book, No Exit. Meanwhile, Harry at Crooked Timber has posted his own review of it. Go there for the discussion. Blog book club!
- UPDATE: Brayden King writes, I’m not sure though that many Americans would respond well to a proposal that would pay parents for caregiving, even if the “allowance” was intended to improve the Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1089157525283131672004-07-06T19:44:00.000-04:002004-07-07T10:34:46.063-04:00Book Review: No Exit
In No Exit: What Parents Owe Their Children and What Society Owes Parents, Anne Alstott tackles the hot topic of parental politics. No Exit is a good follow up for Ann Crittenden’s book, The Price of Motherhood . Crittenden excels at describing the many disadvantages that parents face, and Alstott attempts to find a policy solution. This policy solution is only fair, Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1089156244476800622004-07-06T19:21:00.000-04:002004-07-06T19:24:04.476-04:00Dude, Where's My Post
Some computer programmer at Blogger has been wacked out on 'ludes for two or three days and instead of dutifully publishing my posts, he has been listening to old Greatful Dead albums in the empty offices of Blogger headquarters. The buzz has worn off and things should be back to normal now.Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1088990161923788612004-07-04T21:09:00.000-04:002004-07-06T17:07:09.286-04:00Baptism by Fire
Last week I really stepped in it. I wrote a post about the limitations of the blogosphere as a result of being insulted by another blogger. The point of my post wasn't that bloggers shouldn't lob insults around, but that it is difficult for the insulted one to respond. Rules, laws, and norms that protect people in the real world don't exist in the blogosphere.
I left the Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1088801285354199282004-07-02T16:43:00.000-04:002004-07-02T16:54:23.130-04:00Notes on Blogging
My posts from earlier this week on blogging have gotten picked up today by Brad DeLong and Henry at Crooked Timber. (Thanks guys.) I can't comment today, because I'm swamped. I'll be reading over everybody else's comments at CT and BdL over the weekend. I appreciate all the input. It will certainly make for a better paper.
Oh, and I have no interest in getting into a Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1088705437562142832004-07-01T14:08:00.000-04:002004-07-02T09:08:05.410-04:00All Things Important
According to this morning's NY1, Thom Felicia has been sacked from the Pier One commericials. Terribly disappointed. I loved the new queer Pier. I hope they don't return back to Kirsty Alley in the taffeta tents. I'm looking around for some links.
Tobey McGuire is cool with or without a six-pack. More on Hollywood's new leading men. Sensitive new-age guys. Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1088640255477988292004-06-30T19:48:00.000-04:002004-06-30T20:47:55.573-04:00Better Off?
All day I've been thinking about that rambling Flanagan article. It starts off with a story about her mom who stayed home with her kids, as moms did back in the old days, until the montony of housecleaning and the semi-attention to the kids got to her. She finally said "to hell with all that" and got a job as a nurse. The article then described how the twelve year old Caitlin felt Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1088609822867423022004-06-30T11:14:00.000-04:002004-06-30T11:37:02.866-04:00Changing the Subject
Caitlin Flanagan has her first article in this week's New Yorker. Too bad it's not on line, because, the chick bloggers, like myself, would be going crazy. Flanagan has the ability to both charm and piss off her readers at the same. The trouble with her writing is that it is so seductively good that you forget that she doesn't make any real points. She weaves this way andLauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1088541014507151722004-06-29T16:27:00.000-04:002004-07-07T07:42:33.456-04:00The Bully on the Pulpit
Yesterday, I wrote a cautiously pro-blogging post. Today I’m so disgusted with the whole business that I am tempted to close down my blog and skewer the entire enterprise in my blog paper. What happened?
My husband, who lurks in corners of the blogosphere that I don’t tread, found a blogger who tore apart (for a second time) the survey we sent him. This blogger was Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1088471091529952612004-06-28T20:58:00.000-04:002004-06-28T22:56:22.486-04:00The Blogging Polis
I'm working on a paper on the politics of blogging. As it often happens, I've taken a long detour down one section of the paper because it interests me.
I've been wrestling with the question, is blogging a new form of political participation. Our survey partially answers that question, but it also needs some political theory. So, I've been reading Carole Pateman and HannahLauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1088435925238606862004-06-28T11:17:00.000-04:002004-06-28T12:34:56.696-04:00Read This
How the interest rate hike is going to affect most Americans, especially lower income families.
Why should we care for the poor? Because of some pansy notion of fairness or because of a system of rights. Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1088386206352148222004-06-27T21:20:00.000-04:002004-06-27T21:32:12.783-04:00Wedding Weekend
Saturday evening, my little brother got married. We’re all overjoyed because we adore his wife and because they get along so well. Good work, Chris.
Father Ashley married the couple in a little church along the Hudson River. I've been to six of Father Ashley weddings. He always gives a warm, intelligent talk, and later tells me about his research on immigration in NYC and Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1088088620511383712004-06-24T10:41:00.000-04:002004-06-24T21:19:33.846-04:00The Morality of Bourgeois Life
Norman Podhoretz just received the Medal of Freedom.
Podhoretz is featured in the great book, The Last Intellectuals: American Culture in the Age of Academe by Russell Jacoby.
Normal Podhoretz was "described as the "the most brilliant young critic of our day."
"In 1957 a twenty-seven-year-old Podhoretz touted the mature life against revolution and bohemia. "OnLauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1088079736594613992004-06-24T08:08:00.000-04:002004-06-24T08:29:08.933-04:00Now Cough!
10 million women who lack cervix get Pap tests anyway.
This would only happen to women. Would doctors continue to test men for cancer on tissue that no longer exists?
"OK, sir, turn to the side and cough."
"But Doctor, there's nothing down there. Remember that terrible accident with a chain saw?"
"Nonsense, I'm supposed to this test. We always do this test. You probablyLauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1088034746506191442004-06-23T19:39:00.000-04:002004-06-23T21:11:42.300-04:00I'm Humming Oklahoma in the Shower
OK. Just admit it, Laura. You like show tunes. Sure you've moshed at CBGBs, but you have also taught your kids the words to "Pore Jud Is Daid."
Yeah. It's true. My parents had three kids in four years, while my dad was busy getting tenure, so I was shipped over to my grandparents' apartment a lot when I was young. When I was there, my grandma played the Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1087993196570970562004-06-23T08:18:00.000-04:002004-06-23T08:22:17.386-04:00Read This
A review of David Brook's Paradise Drive. "Born in abundance, inspired by opportunity, nurtured in imagination, spiritualized by a sense of God's blessing and call, and realized in ordinary life day by day, this Paradise Spell is the controlling ideology of American life."Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1087948445888744322004-06-22T19:41:00.000-04:002004-06-24T23:04:00.273-04:00Tuesday is Reader Mail Day
Last week, I had a couple of personal posts on how we plan to arrange our new house. Will our boys be closer and learn to share more with others if they share a bedroom? By not having a formal diningroom, which is a growing trend, will that result in less communal gatherings or in a more practical use of space? Here's what some of my readers had to say:
Teep still Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1087914715018468472004-06-22T10:22:00.000-04:002004-06-24T21:28:59.026-04:00Pay Up
Quick. You have about 1-1/2 of nap time, what do you choose to do with those precious quiet minutes: pack a box or harass the Kerry campaign. Well, of course I abused a Kerry volunteer.
Kerry put forward a pretty wimpy childcare tax credit program last week, and I wanted to get some details, and bully them to do more. Here, you call them, too. 1-202-712-3000.
It provides a meager Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1087827488533252002004-06-21T10:16:00.000-04:002004-06-21T10:27:50.640-04:00Read This
Another article on blogging. It's a little fluffy, but not a bad overview.
The Stepford Kids? Not only is there enormous pressure on women to be perfect, but now the attention has been turned to the kids. Can't have kids who are even the slightest bit different. Read this article about how the new test for fetal abnoralities can insure that we only make perfect kids. Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1087824244322574942004-06-21T09:19:00.000-04:002004-06-21T09:25:49.896-04:00thwip, thwip
On Friday, we debated who would be the victor in a Spiderman v. Robin Hood face-off. Who has the bigger cajones?
Everyone's money was on Spiderman. He's got the radioactive spider juice in his veins enabling his spidey-sense. And he can aim his web for swinging around and grabbing things. All Robin Hood has is a quiver of arrows and good aim. They both wear tights, so the Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1087582375927293372004-06-18T14:10:00.000-04:002004-06-18T14:21:21.863-04:00Two Debates
There are a couple of debates raging over here in Apt. 11D.
#1 -- Armed with weapons of their choice, who would kick whose ass -- Robin Hood or Spiderman? Steve says Spiderman. Jonah and I say Robin Hood. Ian says Ball.
#2 -- Formal Diningroom or Book/Play area? Laura says "Nobody is doing formal diningrooms anymore. I don't have or want girly china and figurines. What would Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1087572548288473022004-06-18T11:25:00.000-04:002004-06-18T11:29:08.286-04:00Read This
Rebel Dad is posting his heart out this week in honor of Father's Day. Check out this champion of the stay-at-home dad, especially his posts on Kerry's tax credit plan for at-home mothers.Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1087517536516506432004-06-17T20:04:00.000-04:002004-06-17T20:17:13.246-04:00Book Discussion
Harry at Crooked Timber and I are reading No Exit: What Parents Owe Their Children and What Society Owes Parents by Anne L. Alstott. Alstott critiques the lack of societal support for parents and suggests solutions.
We're going to discuss the book on both blogs, but since I don't have a comments section, most of the action will be at Crooked Timber. This will all happen later Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1087515653855766282004-06-17T19:40:00.000-04:002004-06-17T20:02:35.776-04:00The Politics of the Interior
I'm in a rush tonight. I have to read Hannah Arendt for a paper on political participation, and then I'm going to write 10 thank you notes to Jonah's friends for their thoughtful gifts and for grinding cake into our livingroom rug.
In the meantime, I received much mail today from people telling me how they organize their homes and their sleeping arrangements for Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1087396607679057672004-06-16T10:31:00.000-04:002004-06-16T19:52:56.453-04:00More on the House
Preparing to move has dominated every scrap of free time this past week. There is always such a big learning curve whenever you have these big life changes. I've been continuing to research movers and learning more about the seamy underside of this industry.
Allison sent me a link to a moving watchdog website that keeps a blacklist of the bad guys. Those that scalp you with Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1087396029217020582004-06-16T10:21:00.000-04:002004-06-16T10:27:09.216-04:00Blogroll
I have to update my blogroll. One of my pet peeves about other bloggers is that their blogrolls ossify after a short while. This means that the older bloggers dominate the TLB ecosystem.
I'm guilty, too. Updating one's template is boring, boring work. I really need to spend the time this weekend and amend things. In the past few months, I've been reading a lot more blogs by women.Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1087344858164423592004-06-15T20:08:00.000-04:002004-06-15T20:14:18.166-04:00Kids and Their Words
Jonah, very proudly: I made a great burp today at school. I know that because all the other kids laughed.
Ian's words of the day: truck, car, train, bus, ow, bye mom, AngelaLauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1087309460525259702004-06-15T10:06:00.000-04:002004-06-15T13:31:47.276-04:00Culture Wars
David Brooks has an interesting op-ed about America's two aristocracies. It's been said that every society has two aristocracies. The members of the aristocracy of mind produce ideas, and pass along knowledge. The members of the aristocracy of money produce products and manage organizations. In our society these two groups happen to be engaged in a bitter conflict about everything Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1087255268166184212004-06-14T19:14:00.000-04:002004-06-14T20:56:10.856-04:00Movin' On Up
I got a crash course on moving companies this morning. I spoke with about four or five companies about the cost for moving from a four floor walk-up with three bedrooms in Manhattan to New Jersey. One adjunct course = one move.
Some of these guys charge $125 an hour, but that includes some boxes and transportation. Another guy charges $95, but adds on a buck for every inch of Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1087222366196277602004-06-14T10:01:00.000-04:002004-06-14T10:24:38.860-04:00A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Hooker
I have a weakness. Well, I have several weaknesses, including a love of mallowmars, E! True Hollywood specials, and any gossip about Courtney Love. But the weakness that I'm writing about today is my amusement with bad modern art. The more cynical it is, the better.
I think I've found perhaps the best example of art that is sure to offend my parentsLauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1087168582217098672004-06-13T19:11:00.000-04:002004-06-13T21:22:01.696-04:00Back from the Blog Break
I suddenly knocked off the blog writing last week. I was a little fried. A conference paper is nagging me. I've been writing the beginning and end to the paper, even though the middle isn't even in rough form yet. That is sure to cause some problem down the line.
Mr. Ian, my two year old, is most responsible for tiring me out. We're trying to get him to talk moreLauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1086823103941601622004-06-09T19:16:00.000-04:002004-06-09T19:18:23.940-04:00Gone Fishin'
I'm sorely in need of a vacation from the blog. Be back on Sunday night.Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1086789728440043252004-06-09T09:49:00.000-04:002004-06-09T11:43:09.736-04:00Cranky and Confused
It's 93 degrees in the city today. 100 if you include the humidity. All the cement sucks up the heat and cruelly blisters us red heads. We're cranky around here today.
Our upcoming move just can't happen fast enough. Our life is on stand still until July 15th, when we can vacate this microwave oven that is our apartment. We're so looking forward to all the ease and Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1086703801864551472004-06-08T10:09:00.000-04:002004-06-08T11:26:39.696-04:00Read This
Why the poor don't clip coupons.
Jennifer Lopez gets married to Marc Anthony. Just 6 months after Bennifer imploded. And only year after Marc Anthony had a big wedding that was featured in InStyle magazine. Can anyone say J. Ho?Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1086654345090478942004-06-07T20:06:00.000-04:002004-06-07T20:44:50.826-04:00I Was A Welfare Queen
According to the New York Times, new supermarkets aimed at WIC recipients are cropping up.
Some interesting facts from the article... The program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, or W.I.C., helps feed 7.7 million people each month by providing vouchers for infant formula, juice, eggs, milk, cheese, cereal and dried beans. Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1086567832681616842004-06-06T19:52:00.000-04:002004-06-06T22:49:46.386-04:00Ronald Reagan is Dead
What to write about Reagan's death? Much today will be written today about his political legacy by those who worshipped him and those who detested him. Let them take care of that.
For good or for bad, I came of age during the Reagan years. Just as my dad can remember every detail of the day when Kennedy was shot, I remember hearing the news of Reagan's assassination Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1086563575954513542004-06-06T18:59:00.000-04:002004-06-06T19:31:56.380-04:00A Birthday Weekend
Jonah turns five on Tuesday and to celebrate that blessed event, we threw him a kiddie birthday party today complete with party favors and an organized craft and kids tearing about the apartment high on Shrek-colored Mn'Ms.
We spent the whole weekend cleaning up for those two hours of fun. We had to make a cake and have drinks on hand for the grown ups. We mostly left the Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1086393354776686922004-06-04T19:54:00.000-04:002004-06-04T20:02:01.846-04:00Read This
An article about Caitlin Flanagan. (via Ms. Musings.)
The suburbs aren't as white bread as they used to be. Red and Blue America might be turning purple, according to the Brookings Institute. But the reality is that in a nation with rapidly diversifying neighborhoods, racial segregation looks less typical all the time, and political predictions trickier and trickier. See, now that Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1086305925667911552004-06-03T19:31:00.000-04:002004-06-03T20:07:51.730-04:00It's A Fine Day for a Bra Burning
On Tuesday, I was walking down Broadway to Inwood library when a perv started following me. He mumbled that he was going "to rock my world" and nasty stuff about redheads. That hasn't happened to me in a while. Nothing repels pervs more than a baby stroller.
I would like to say that I turned around and kicked him the groin, but I didn't. I just walked Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1086222961783041202004-06-02T20:33:00.000-04:002004-06-02T20:57:20.540-04:00Teacher Assessment
So, I'm on an education kick lately on the blog. I wanted to respond to my letter of the week from Sarah. She made a lot of interesting points, but today I'm only going to respond to her problems with assessing teachers.
Sarah writes that NCLB relies on student test scores to evaluate teachers. Teachers are held responsible for their class scores. If we move to a system Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1086220063086906342004-06-02T19:40:00.000-04:002004-06-02T20:31:25.583-04:00More on Women and Blogging
So, the topic of women and blogging just won't die. Why aren't there more women political bloggers? Why are there so few women among the top blogs? Where are the women blog readers? More from Dan Drezner and Trish Wilson and Ms. Lauren at Feministe. I'm getting a bit tired of it, but I will add a couple more points.
Why aren't there more top women political Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1086138831949157082004-06-01T21:00:00.000-04:002004-06-01T21:15:12.523-04:00Tuesday is Reader Mail Day!
Here's a great e-mail from Sarah, a future teacher with comments on my post about how to attract great teachers. I'm going to have to put off my comments until tomorrow, because I'm knee-deep in an excel spreadsheet right now. (I'm developing a ridiculously complicated system for ranking the blogs.)
I am 24 years old and recently graduated with my masters degree inLauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1086102777957440472004-06-01T11:10:00.000-04:002004-06-01T11:30:49.326-04:00 Ladies! Oh, Ladies!
Matt Yglesias asked where are the ladies? Why aren't more women reading the political blogs?
I've already written about why more women don't write the political blogs. I wrote that there is a real testosterone feel to most of the political blogs, that the field was pretty well crowded already, women have less time, and other stuff.
Last week, I skimmed the top hundred Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1086030619516637152004-05-31T14:58:00.000-04:002004-05-31T22:24:13.933-04:00Blog Studies
I wasn't going to post today. Not only is it a holiday, but it's our 7 year anniversary, and I didn't want to be like that loser who blogged in the bathroom during his anniversary. But here I am posting. Why? Because I'm a loser.
There are now three blog studies currently underway. One by Dan Drezner, one by Eszter Hargittai, and one by myself and my co-author, Toni.
Dan's Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1085755038262865012004-05-28T10:30:00.000-04:002004-05-28T10:43:24.786-04:00A Final Post Before the Weekend
Please say a prayer for Sarah Fox and her family. Sarah was a local girl and young Juillard student, brutally killed in Inwood Park on a path that my husband and boys regularly walk upon. When she disapperared last week, her family plastered her picture on every pole and store front. Many of these pictures are now decorated with hearts and crosses. I am sad Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1085751934445372592004-05-28T09:40:00.000-04:002004-05-28T10:07:21.916-04:00More on Teachers
Go join the good discussion of teachers and education reform at Crooked Timber. I just wanted to add a few more points here.
1. I never said that we shouldn’t pay teachers better, I just think that money alone won’t bring the best people into the profession.
After I got my Masters from the Univ. of Chicago, I took a couple of years off from grad school and tried desperately Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1085667694272947862004-05-27T10:05:00.000-04:002004-05-28T10:08:44.800-04:00Attracting Good Teachers
Michael Winerip writes in the Times that the two most important characteristics of good schools are small class size and good teachers, both of which require additional funding to achieve.
The secret to quality public education has never been a big mystery. You need good teachers and you need small enough classes so those teachers can do their work. Period. After that, Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1085614506594985332004-05-26T19:34:00.000-04:002004-05-26T19:35:06.596-04:00Step Away From the Blog
To celebrate four years of marriage, Richard Wiggins and his wife, Judy Matthews, recently spent a week in Key West, Fla. Early on the morning of their anniversary, Ms. Matthews heard her husband get up and go into the bathroom. He stayed there for a long time.
"I didn't hear any water running, so I wondered what was going on," Ms. Matthews said. When she knocked on the Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-108558566331006652004-05-26T11:32:00.000-04:002004-05-27T18:46:49.643-04:00As we wave good-bye with one hand, we say hello with the other.
Via Dan Drezner, I came across Jon Stewart's address to William & Mary's class of 2004. Dan pulled out this bit:
I am honored to be here and to receive this honorary doctorate. When I think back to the people that have been in this position before me from Benjamin Franklin to Queen Noor of Jordan, I can’t help but wonder what hasLauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1085528841752754672004-05-25T19:40:00.000-04:002004-05-25T20:09:04.330-04:00Tuesday is Reader Mail Day!
I received lots of great mail last week mostly congratulating us on becoming home owners. In fact, I still owe many responses.
Here's a completely different, but honest e-mail from C.
I must say that reading your blog periodically has convinced me of something: having kids is unaffordable, and largely not worth the hassle. I suspected this all along -- just ask Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1085528343511232112004-05-25T19:30:00.000-04:002004-05-25T20:04:56.233-04:00Forever Unprepared
Do you remember those teenage nightmares about showing up to school unprepared for the big Trig exam? You mean the test was today? I thought it was next week.
Well, one of the bad things about being an academic is that you never stop having those dreams.
Last week, I dreamt that my co-presenter and I both showed up to the political science conference without our notes. Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1085498737477215002004-05-25T11:18:00.000-04:002004-05-25T11:25:37.476-04:00Read This
A great op-ed by David Brooks. Bush believes that democracy is the only cure for the violence in Iraq. What happens if liberty fails?
It's a huge gamble to think that the solution to chaos is liberty. But it's fitting that during the gravest crisis of his presidency, President Bush reverted to his most fundamental political belief. He began this war in Iraq repeating the sentiment Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1085495249392767902004-05-25T10:16:00.000-04:002004-05-26T10:34:04.806-04:00Carter or Clinton?
I've started letting friends from the neighborhood know that we're moving. It's tough.
We'll be leaving behind kids that grew up with my kids. The big extended family of the playground. Some families we'll probably never see again, though I'm sure that there will be many trips across the GW bridge to visit a few of the closest families.
The hardest part is telling the Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1085409016239231912004-05-24T10:13:00.000-04:002004-05-24T10:32:51.670-04:00Illness and Inspection
Just a quick update on life around here. Longer post tonight.
We've all been so sick this past week. We've passed around the same sinus infection. Last night was Ian's turn. He cranked up a high fever and rolled around our bed for hours trying to get comfortable. The only one mysteriously immune is Jonah, who is impatient with his forced captivity in the sick ward.Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1085165939175177752004-05-21T14:57:00.000-04:002004-05-21T19:33:25.063-04:00Read This
More on raising kids in the city v. suburbs. Claudia speaks in praise of backyards.
Did it shock you that women were participants in the prison abuses in Abu Ghraib? It did Barbara Ehrenreich who thought that women were morally superior to men. She and other feminists of her generation believed that gender equality was the only important fight, because once women assumed positions Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1085149786207194892004-05-21T10:22:00.000-04:002004-05-21T10:47:51.853-04:00Fresh Fish
Stanley Fish gives some parting advice as he exits the Ivory Tower. He says that universities should not teach moral character.
In other words, don't confuse your academic obligations with the obligation to save the world; that's not your job as an academic; and don't surrender your academic obligations to the agenda of any non-academic constituency — parents, legislators, trustees Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1085147283932614362004-05-21T09:42:00.000-04:002004-05-26T20:36:43.313-04:00Geezers in the Mosh Pit
My friends are starting to 40. I'm not quite there myself, but I'm still close enough to smell it.
That's why I loved this Op-Ed by Nick Hornby, the author of High Fidelity.
It's hard not to think about one's age and how it relates to rock music. I just turned 47, and with each passing year it becomes harder not to wonder whether I should be listening to something Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1085095553877287742004-05-20T19:17:00.000-04:002004-05-20T19:44:01.126-04:00Reader Mail Day!
Usually reserved for Tuesday, but we're having an odd week here at Apt. 11D.
Last week, I wrote about our adventures in central Pennsylvania, aka "Alabama." Teep gives me a first hand account of the changes in the region,
We've seen a lot of retirees from the DC/Baltimore metro area and that's pushed house prices up beyond what folks locally can afford... the median incomeLauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1085063400470976322004-05-20T10:23:00.000-04:002004-05-20T19:44:29.796-04:00Read This
Unfair divorce settlements helps explain the growing gender gap. Two economists from Columbia argue that the decline in marriage has tended to make men richer and women poorer, they find that states with rising divorce rates have seen a decline in support for Democrats among men and a marked rise in such support among women. The data also show that women become more likely to vote Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1084997756157366512004-05-19T15:59:00.000-04:002004-05-19T19:37:12.836-04:00Raising Kids in the City and the Suburbs Or Why the Middle Class Leaves the City
Apartment 401 and Matthew Yglesias say that city kids grow up just fine, if not better, than kids in the suburbs.
Maybe. But it takes a lot of money and parental energy.
Education. Let's take Dalton off the table. It costs $26,000 per year. So, now we're limited to parochial schools and public schools. The Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1084918743282059572004-05-19T11:08:00.000-04:002004-05-19T11:48:40.660-04:00Stress/Sick
I went and got myself ferociously sick. Three days of no sleep will do that to you.
Partially, I'm very excited. We really did luck into a beaut of place. Maybe the railroad tracks at the end of the block scared others away. Hey, in my family, trains are a selling point.
It an old 1910 Arts and Crafts style home - a Four Square. I've been fanticizing about ripping out the Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1084886420984652462004-05-18T09:16:00.000-04:002004-05-18T09:31:30.950-04:00An evil virus has taken advantage of my stress and insomnia. I am limping about unable to form a coherent post.
Thanks to everyone for their support and advice. Especially Dan Drezner and Brad deLong. More later when my head clears.Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1084750060488630822004-05-16T19:14:00.000-04:002004-05-16T20:30:59.603-04:00The Money Trap
My stomach is in knots. I fear that I might blow chunks at any minute. My brain can not hold a thought for more than a nano-second.
I think we bought a house.
Last week, after we got back from our week of tromping through the woods of PA and tossing a ball effortlessly in my in-laws backyard, I felt sure that we had to leave the city. I suddenly knew that it was the right Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1084543109249732762004-05-14T09:55:00.000-04:002004-05-14T20:04:23.526-04:00Links
"The police just have a conspiracy against rocker chicks." And more words of wisdom from Courtney Love.
Prisoner abuse or the Berg beheading. What do people care more about? How is the media covering these events? How do we interpret these events? Really interesting stuff. Good post by Instapundit on how the blogosphere is focusing attention on the Berg beheading. While the main Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1084457697334130702004-05-13T09:46:00.003-04:002004-05-13T10:32:15.586-04:00Three Posts by Dan
Dan Drezner has had several recent posts that caught my attention. I liked his call to have Rummy resign. Hubby has been stomping around the house lately, arguing the same thing.
Dan also discusses what is more influential: blogging or academic literature. He writes, I doubt that politicians ever listened to what E.E. Schattschneider, David Mayhew, Hans Morgenthau, or Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1084371307580662172004-05-12T09:59:00.000-04:002004-05-12T11:04:20.863-04:00Making the Curse Cool
Hey, girls, it's finally here. New, hipper tampons!
Say goodbye to Cathy Rigby on a balance beam. And ads of women dressed all in white whispering "fresh", "clean", and "odorless."
"I was in the feminine protection aisle, trying to sort through the endless sea of products, and I was floored when it hit me - not one box had an ounce of style. Where was the fun, the Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1084244249667417702004-05-11T22:43:00.000-04:002004-05-11T12:06:42.023-04:00Pennsylvania
James Carville once said about Pennsylvania that it was Philadelphia on one side, Pittsburgh on the other, and Alabama in the middle.
We spent a good part of last week roaming around the Alabama part of PA. Farms and gun racks. We took Route 80 to Cleveland taking lots of stops to let the kids stretch their legs.
We stayed over in State College, PA, a town created in farm countryLauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1084240872453928802004-05-10T21:59:00.000-04:002004-05-11T11:15:52.430-04:00Parent Politics Links
MAMA is a grassroots, activist mothers organization. The group's goals include fostering kid-friendliness in activist communities and protecting and increasing family-friendly public space.
A WSJ article on how hard it is for women to transition back to work after taking off time to raise kids. (thanks, David)Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1084236715699132412004-05-10T20:31:00.000-04:002004-05-10T20:51:55.700-04:00I'm Baaaack
Pulled the rental car into a metered parking spot around the corner at around 5:00 today. Hauled up about 50 bags of dirty laundry. Made a proper meal that didn't involve french fries and eventually coaxed the kids to sleep.
We spent the last week meandering through Pennsylvania and visiting relatives in Cleveland. Ohio and Pennsylvania... lots of white folks there.
Now we're Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1083680667154236252004-05-04T10:16:00.000-04:002004-05-04T10:27:10.326-04:00Finding a quiet place to work is always a challenge when you’ve got two small kids in a New York city apartment. I’ve done my time in local coffee shops and schlepped downtown to the university library. But the workplace of late has been a local public library.
I’ve grown adept at tuning out crotchety old folks fighting over sections of the Times and teenagers flirting loudly. Today was Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1083595937109337092004-05-03T10:45:00.000-04:002004-05-03T10:58:15.263-04:00Read This
New York is in the midst of a school funding war. The Post had an interesting op-ed that points out that money alone does not improve schools. It doesn't, but I do think it is part of the cocktail of factors that makes a good school. After all, the better suburban schools do spend a lot of money. And many inner city schools are in need of basic supplies. NYC teachers have to beg Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1083592077399192152004-05-03T09:39:00.000-04:002004-05-03T20:34:42.733-04:00The Decline of Marriage
There are two articles in yesterday's Times about the crisis of marriage. One points to the http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/02/national/02DIVO.html "> high rate of divorce in America, particularly in Roanoke, VA. The national rate of divorce and separation grew 10 percent in the 1990's, according to the 2000 census. It grew about 30 percent in Roanoke. The article Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1083335907761939212004-04-30T10:22:00.000-04:002004-04-30T10:43:27.390-04:00Ian is two.
This morning, I followed Ian around the neighborhood as he charged around, freed from the straps of a stroller and the agenda of an older brother. He ran into the local bodega with a "ha" for the woman with the sad eyes who sits behind the counter. We had to watch the flashing red lights on the Lotto machine. Then up the block.
We stopped to study the super hose down the Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1083248062568946262004-04-29T10:03:00.000-04:002004-04-30T10:54:33.590-04:00Brief Thoughts on Blogging
The press is growing more critical of blogging.
Here's one article from the Advocate (via Rebecca Blood) that says that bloggers need to act more like journalists and do some original research, rather than just respond to articles in the mainstream press. The author dislikes the reverse sequencing of posts, which disrupts story-telling. He also finds that "Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1083195829527824532004-04-28T19:42:00.000-04:002004-04-29T11:16:16.546-04:00Read This
There's some good stuff in this week's New Yorker. The T.A.s are on strike at Columbia. Loved the article on NYC's favorite divorce attorney, Raoul Felder. Just starting Cass Sunstein's article on Brown v. Board of Ed.
A WSJ review of Phillip Longman's The Empty Cradle.
Core changes in the American way of life--"falling wages, high divorce rates, rising expectations of what it Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1083194062782286662004-04-28T19:00:00.000-04:002004-04-28T22:12:14.076-04:00Crappy Toys, Part 2
Awhile back, Tim Burke started a good discussion going about Barbie. I followed up by complaining about Hot Wheels Tracks. Now, I've have found a new reason to hate. It's American Girl.
My sister recently brought her girls to the American Girl Place in New York City. Here you can find three floors of all things pink and frilly. You can buy one doll for $99 and then haveLauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1083109431393465942004-04-27T19:17:00.000-04:002004-04-27T20:23:31.246-04:00Tuesday is Reader Mail Day!
Yes, today is Reader Mail. The day when I can sit back and let my readers do the blogging for me.
Rachel responds to my post on the Williams's article in the Chronicle on graduate students with families. She has a problem with this line from Williams, "universities increasingly have accepted nontraditional students, including women and older students, into their Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1083074570366102402004-04-27T10:01:00.000-04:002004-04-27T11:03:43.263-04:00Read This
An article in the Chronicle on the Invisible Adjunct and her blog. More from Crooked Timber.
Dan Drezner writes about the outsourcing of higher education through on-line education. I made a prediction about on-line higher education last summer.Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1083032733321831362004-04-26T22:24:00.000-04:002004-04-26T22:28:36.780-04:00Busy. Tired. No post. Just a link.Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1082990912533615762004-04-26T10:48:00.000-04:002004-04-26T10:57:40.640-04:00Links
More on the experiences of single people and the breeders in the university. The single perspective from Frogs and Ravens Chris Lawrence, and Stephen Karlson. And the married perspectives from Brayden King and Scribbling Woman.
Stephen Karlson adds this anecdote,
a few years ago the Chicago Tribune Sunday magazine did a feature on the Economics Department at the University of Chicago (Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1082938634224753542004-04-25T20:00:00.000-04:002004-04-27T07:49:20.996-04:00Kissing Seals, Progress, and Professor Smartypants
Took the kids to the Museum of Natural History today with Ian perched in Steve's backpack like an Indian lord, and Jonah on foot. A typical weekend retreat when the weather chases us off the playground.
We started off watching a video in whale room. Jonah and I cuddled while watching clips of seals kissing. Swimming turtles. Clown fish Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1082767376554076352004-04-23T20:30:00.000-04:002004-04-23T20:45:56.686-04:00Rules, Policies, Protocol, and All Things Official
- If you riff off one of my posts on your blog and you have a comments section, please let me know, and I'll direct traffic your way. I like the rough and tumble discussion and debate that occur on some blogs. It's democracy. It's good. I don't have a comments section only because I lack the time to maintain it.
- If you send me an e-mail, Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1082682288370527302004-04-22T20:30:00.000-04:002004-04-22T21:46:28.826-04:00swamped
The hot water tap in the tub is busted. Have to get the super over here first thing tomorrow. Better wipe off the grey fuzz off the bathroom sink first. Never unpacked from Chicago. Haven't fully recovered from the great Quaker Oats spill this morning. I think some small flakes are still hiding under the sink. Got another wedding tomorrow. What the hell am I wearing? How I am Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1082645867953522162004-04-22T10:52:00.000-04:002004-04-22T11:05:25.216-04:00Read This
Good discussion on school vouchers at Crooked Timber, Dan Drezner, and Matthew Yglesias. I'll be commenting at CT if I get a moment to myself today.
Lileks feels that some moms are uncomfortable with stay at home dads. Weird. I love having the guys around the playground. If I wanted to only hang with the chicks, I would have joined a convent. Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1082594272440164832004-04-21T19:54:00.000-04:002004-04-23T20:46:49.153-04:00The Single/Parent Wars
I was planning a post for tonight about blogging, about the various categories of blogs, and a long discussion of domestic blogs. It will have to wait until next week, because I have been distracted and disturbed by another topic. (Ah, too much information out there.) In the meantime, check out this post by Mom & Pop Culture, because I'll come back to it next week.
Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1082507199386960382004-04-20T20:23:00.000-04:002004-04-20T21:29:01.263-04:00Read This
Dick Morris writes about Bush, Iraq, and the gender gap.
The genders see the War on Terror in totally different terms. Rasmussen reports that men, by 51 percent to 36 percent, say that the U.S. is safer than it was before 9/11. But women are evenly divided, with 41 percent feeling more safe and 42 percent, less. Women disagree with the entire Bush strategy of fighting terrorism. Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5568720.post-1082506247241626092004-04-20T19:56:00.000-04:002004-04-21T09:19:55.216-04:00New Attitudes Towards Kids and Marriage
Via Joanne Jacobs comes a facinating article in City Journal, which examines the pro-family sentiments of Gen - Xers and Millennials. Kay S. Hymowitz writes:
If you listen carefully, you can hear something shifting deep beneath the manic surface of American culture. Rap stars have taken to wearing designer suits. Miranda Hobbs, Sex and the City’s redheadLauranoreply@blogger.com