Yeah, I’m slow. I’ve taken up Sudoku, and I occasionally mutter to myself that I might developmentally delayed as I play. I love playing with Jared bc he catches my mistakes (“there’s no 8 there.”) and every time I get stuck he provides a number that jump-starts me again. He’s tried doing crosswords with me, but I am completely hopeless with any game involving words. Sudoku is a good compromise.
Anyway, I have one more story from our trip to Alaska and then some plugs. Jared’s parents kindly delivered us to Bellingham on the day of our ferry’s departure. It was a long drive and enormously generous of them to take us all that way. I had found a nice little 12-speed Peuget bicycle, but Jared didn’t have one yet. He arranged to meet a guy he’d found thru craigslist with a Specialized Hybrid for sale. It was fortunate that we were able to take care of that business at the last minute. A planner thru-and-thru, I felt anxious about this purchase not happening until hours before we left on the boat.
Jared’s parents unloaded us onto an industrial sidewalk, and I felt another pang of anxiety. If the parents leave, who will take care of us? At that moment, I felt like an 8-year old. I don’t know if anyone noticed my eyes filling with tears. When I told Jared later about this thought, he was a little offended. Didn’t I trust him to take care of us? How like a man.
The ferry was fantastic, and, as I mentioned before, I could happily live on one for quite a while. We had a couple days to read thru guidebooks and decide where we’d get off. I’d bought the ticket to Wrangell, but we talked ourselves into changing the first stop to Petersburg. Changing the ticket was easy, and didn’t cost much more. I was surprised.
The sun was setting when we disembarked in Petersburg, and immediately it began to rain. We’d asked a guy on the boat for directions, and began racing down one of the town’s few roadways in the wrong direction. About 20 minutes later, another guy we’d met on the boat pulled over in his truck next to us – it was dark and a little scary until we figured out we knew him – it turned out that 1) we were going the wrong way (as I mentioned) and 2) the campground was closed. He suggested we camp illegally (and even had a spot picked out for us), but after heading back into town (it was getting quite late!) I cast a strong vote for camping at the divvy RV park in town.
The RV park was incredibly muddy, and imbedded in the mud was broken glass (and who knows what else – used syringes?). The shared bathroom was dirty and broken. Some down-and-out souls lived there, either in their RVs or, in some unfortunate cases, in tents with various contraptions elevating and sheltering them from the constant rain. I tried to imagine how a person could fall on so much bad luck as to live here, and I could only think that mental illness or substance abuse must be involved. One man lived next to our tent with a whole little set up, and while he sat a few feet from us the entire evening, he just stared off into the corner. I was surprised when he responded in normal-sounding English when we asked him a question.
We woke up before daybreak and broke camp never tracking down our landlords to pay the $5 we owed them for sleeping there, criminals already so early in our vacation. I don’t know if it was the weather or my mood, but the supposedly-pretty and pleasant town seemed more sad to me. We had a “real” breakfast by the boats (there was only one possible place) and killed some time before the Ranger’s office opened. The plan was to find out about available cabins in the area.
This story is already way too long, and I haven’t even gotten to the point yet. I guess I’ll go ahead and post this in hopes of writing the rest later.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Friday, November 03, 2006
My new bicycle
Jared gave me this bicycle for my birthday. I think it's the prettiest bicycle I have ever seen.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Green Challenge
Slate Green Challenge: Your eight-week carbon diet
My annual carbon emissions are 16,556.2 lbs.
Average carbon emissions per year, per person:
United States: 44,312
Qatar: 117,064
France: 13,668
India: 2,645
Kenya: 440
So, you can see, I have some work to do. You should play too.
My annual carbon emissions are 16,556.2 lbs.
Average carbon emissions per year, per person:
United States: 44,312
Qatar: 117,064
France: 13,668
India: 2,645
Kenya: 440
So, you can see, I have some work to do. You should play too.
Friday, October 27, 2006
SF's best fish and chips
Aparently this is a difficult question. I picked up a Contra Costa Times on the BART the other day and found an article about the best places to get fish and chips in their areas. Two of those places are geographically desirable to me:
Spenger's in Berkeley (been there many times as a kid)
Sea Salt on San Pablo in Berkeley (never heard of it, but interested)
In San Francisco, Edinburgh Castle was mentioned several times in my google search. I took Jared there recently and thought it was just OK. I think there had been a problem getting the food from the little store around the corner to the pub. Other places mentioned:
The Liberties on Guerrero at 22nd (been there, don't remember what I ordered)
Wilde Oscar's on Folsom at 15th (never been there, but interested now)
But, I don't know. After Alaska, I may be spoiled for the best fish and chips California has the offer.
Spenger's in Berkeley (been there many times as a kid)
Sea Salt on San Pablo in Berkeley (never heard of it, but interested)
In San Francisco, Edinburgh Castle was mentioned several times in my google search. I took Jared there recently and thought it was just OK. I think there had been a problem getting the food from the little store around the corner to the pub. Other places mentioned:
The Liberties on Guerrero at 22nd (been there, don't remember what I ordered)
Wilde Oscar's on Folsom at 15th (never been there, but interested now)
But, I don't know. After Alaska, I may be spoiled for the best fish and chips California has the offer.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Marriage trends a-changin'
....The survey revealed wide disparities in household composition by place. The proportion of married couples ranged from more than 69 percent in Utah County, Utah, which includes Provo, to 26 percent in Manhattan, which has a smaller share of married couples than almost anyplace in the country. But Manhattan registered a 1.2 percent increase in married couples since 2000, in contrast to the rest of New York City and many other places.
* Among counties, the highest proportion of unmarried opposite-sex partners was in Mendocino, Calif., where they made up nearly 11 percent of all households.
* The highest share of male couples was in San Francisco, where, according to the census, they accounted for nearly 2 percent of all households. In Manhattan, they made up 1 percent of households.
* Hampshire County, Mass., home to Northampton, had the highest proportion of female couples, at 1.7 percent.
...
A number of couples interviewed agreed that cohabiting was akin to taking a test drive and, given the scarcity of affordable apartments and homes, also a matter of convenience. Some said that pregnancy was the only thing that would prompt them to make a legal commitment soon. Others said they never intended to marry. A few of those couples said they were inspired by solidarity with gay and lesbian couples who cannot legally marry in most states.
NYT
* Among counties, the highest proportion of unmarried opposite-sex partners was in Mendocino, Calif., where they made up nearly 11 percent of all households.
* The highest share of male couples was in San Francisco, where, according to the census, they accounted for nearly 2 percent of all households. In Manhattan, they made up 1 percent of households.
* Hampshire County, Mass., home to Northampton, had the highest proportion of female couples, at 1.7 percent.
...
A number of couples interviewed agreed that cohabiting was akin to taking a test drive and, given the scarcity of affordable apartments and homes, also a matter of convenience. Some said that pregnancy was the only thing that would prompt them to make a legal commitment soon. Others said they never intended to marry. A few of those couples said they were inspired by solidarity with gay and lesbian couples who cannot legally marry in most states.
NYT
Friday, October 13, 2006
Ilana in Ecuador
Ilana says: Here are a couple of pictures from Ecuador. The first is the view from my bathroom (literally) in Chugchilan. The second is the volcanic lagoon of Quilotoa (remember the volacanic lagoon in Omatepe, Lilia?), and the last is my favorite sign in Ecuador, in a teensy village I hiked through, Guayambe I think it was called.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Failure is a Good Thing by Jon Carroll
Success is boring. Success is proving that you can do something that you already know you can do… Failure is how we learn.
The first time I played pool, I won. I explained to my friends that it's because I have an innate understanding of physics. I'm a spatial thinker. Alas. I never won again.
When my little sister was born, they gave her a bunch of tests as they do all babies. She came out low in one, and although I was 4 at the time, I remembered this. I had been a perfect baby. She, despite taking all the attention away from me, was not. As soon as she was old enough to understand, I explained this to her: she is an inferior person; in order to keep up with everyone else, she would have to work a lot harder.
So, here's the funny part: she did (work a lot harder). She's done everything I've done, but better. She's multilingual; I am not. My Master's is from Berkeley; her's Harvard. I went to a small liberal arts college in New England; she went to a better one. I've traveled around the world; she's been to 5 countries in the last 3 weeks. I chose a profession to help people (transportation planning); so did she (international education policy). Despite this paragraph, we aren't competitive. She cares more, works harder than I do, and I respect her for that.
Because of what I told her about herself (which was false, by the way) she expected to fail at first, to have to try harder. Based on my 4-year-old understanding of these tests, I always thought everything would come to me easily, because I was a perfect baby. So, Maybe I'm afraid to fail, afraid to try too hard in case I did fail. I believe that this particular form of sibling torture did her a huge favor.
I don't really have a point other than that, if we would all just embrace failure, maybe we'd all be a lot happier and more successful.
The first time I played pool, I won. I explained to my friends that it's because I have an innate understanding of physics. I'm a spatial thinker. Alas. I never won again.
When my little sister was born, they gave her a bunch of tests as they do all babies. She came out low in one, and although I was 4 at the time, I remembered this. I had been a perfect baby. She, despite taking all the attention away from me, was not. As soon as she was old enough to understand, I explained this to her: she is an inferior person; in order to keep up with everyone else, she would have to work a lot harder.
So, here's the funny part: she did (work a lot harder). She's done everything I've done, but better. She's multilingual; I am not. My Master's is from Berkeley; her's Harvard. I went to a small liberal arts college in New England; she went to a better one. I've traveled around the world; she's been to 5 countries in the last 3 weeks. I chose a profession to help people (transportation planning); so did she (international education policy). Despite this paragraph, we aren't competitive. She cares more, works harder than I do, and I respect her for that.
Because of what I told her about herself (which was false, by the way) she expected to fail at first, to have to try harder. Based on my 4-year-old understanding of these tests, I always thought everything would come to me easily, because I was a perfect baby. So, Maybe I'm afraid to fail, afraid to try too hard in case I did fail. I believe that this particular form of sibling torture did her a huge favor.
I don't really have a point other than that, if we would all just embrace failure, maybe we'd all be a lot happier and more successful.
Mary Karr and Calvin Trillin on Memoir, A City Arts and Lectures event
Last night, we went to see Calvin Trillin and Mary Karr talk about memoir as part of the City Arts and Lectures series (benefiting 826 Valencia, a NPO helping students 6-18 learn to write). DeAnne gave me the tickets bc at the last minute she couldn’t make it (had to go to LA for work). Jon Carroll introduced Mary Karr as the person who wrote “The Liars Club” and many many books of poetry. He introduced Calvin Trillin as the person who wrote half the magazine articles you’ve read in your life. He also wrote a memoir about his late wife, Alice.
Mary Karr was quick-witted and funny. Calvin Trillin was funny too, but not at all quick. It took some time to get into the rhythm of his speaking pattern and humor, but once we did he was mesmerizing. I hung on his every pause. Per DeAnne’s request, I took notes.
• MK thought she put everything she knew in her first book. Now she’s on her third.
• Jon Carroll asked if any family members or neighbors objected to the ugly things she said in her book. She said everyone knew those things. For example, the fact that her mother tried to stab her, well, she knew that she did that. It wasn’t a high point in her parenting, but it happened, and it went into the book. Likewise, that MK said that the TX town she grew up in was ugly – everyone living there knows that even though they’re from TX.
• Along the same lines, she said that she loves her mother, that 40-some-odd years of being loved by her mother wasn’t negated by this one incident where her mother tried to stab her.
• CT wrote an article about his wife where he made her a sitcom character. The book was to make her real.
• For (memoir) writers, family members are the collateral damage of war. CT said that the Dostoyevsky Rule gives you the right to tell your family’s secrets. That is, if there’s a chance you’re as great a writer as Dostoyevsky, you are entitled to share your family’s secrets. If there’s no chance of that, you aren’t entitled to it.
• MK: Memoir is different than therapy bc when you write a memoir they pay you.
• Reading memoir, or any portrayal of family (Jerry Springer? Father Knows Best?) puts your family on a spectrum with other families: you know yours is not as “perfect” or as “crazy” as that one.
• Literature makes us a community. It connects us. You read about other peoples’ families, and you can relate to their issues and learn from their experiences.
• Memory is the pellet that you put in the water of memoir and it blooms into a flower (like the kind you would get at a circus).
• CT: Your family becomes the characters in your novel. You take away their ability to write their own stories about your shared history.
• The “Quirky Beast” (such as the New Yorker) – if you tinker with it, it will fall apart. But understanding how it works now is impossible.
• A member of the audience mentioned Jon Carroll’s recent NPR piece on the benefits of failure (I am very interested in this idea.) and asked the writers about theirs.
o MK gave a few examples. One was that she is now a Guggenheim Fellow. She applied for that fellowship 18 times!
o CT described an article he wrote about a small island country called Naru. It’s on mineral deposits and turned out to be more valuable for minerals than as a country. The New Yorker bought it, but never printed it. He recently learned that they use that article to test people who want to work for the New Yorker as a copy editor. An audience member pointed out that, like the country, his article was more valuable as a copy editing test (minerals) than its intended purpose (reading pleasure, or a country).
• Another audience member mentioned that her family loves to read CT’s poetry in The Nation together.
Jared has… mentioned… my disclosures (he said he feels like Jerry Springer’s wife), and I wonder if this event helped him understand where I’m coming from a little better. I want to look into this idea of the benefits of failure some more….
Mary Karr was quick-witted and funny. Calvin Trillin was funny too, but not at all quick. It took some time to get into the rhythm of his speaking pattern and humor, but once we did he was mesmerizing. I hung on his every pause. Per DeAnne’s request, I took notes.
• MK thought she put everything she knew in her first book. Now she’s on her third.
• Jon Carroll asked if any family members or neighbors objected to the ugly things she said in her book. She said everyone knew those things. For example, the fact that her mother tried to stab her, well, she knew that she did that. It wasn’t a high point in her parenting, but it happened, and it went into the book. Likewise, that MK said that the TX town she grew up in was ugly – everyone living there knows that even though they’re from TX.
• Along the same lines, she said that she loves her mother, that 40-some-odd years of being loved by her mother wasn’t negated by this one incident where her mother tried to stab her.
• CT wrote an article about his wife where he made her a sitcom character. The book was to make her real.
• For (memoir) writers, family members are the collateral damage of war. CT said that the Dostoyevsky Rule gives you the right to tell your family’s secrets. That is, if there’s a chance you’re as great a writer as Dostoyevsky, you are entitled to share your family’s secrets. If there’s no chance of that, you aren’t entitled to it.
• MK: Memoir is different than therapy bc when you write a memoir they pay you.
• Reading memoir, or any portrayal of family (Jerry Springer? Father Knows Best?) puts your family on a spectrum with other families: you know yours is not as “perfect” or as “crazy” as that one.
• Literature makes us a community. It connects us. You read about other peoples’ families, and you can relate to their issues and learn from their experiences.
• Memory is the pellet that you put in the water of memoir and it blooms into a flower (like the kind you would get at a circus).
• CT: Your family becomes the characters in your novel. You take away their ability to write their own stories about your shared history.
• The “Quirky Beast” (such as the New Yorker) – if you tinker with it, it will fall apart. But understanding how it works now is impossible.
• A member of the audience mentioned Jon Carroll’s recent NPR piece on the benefits of failure (I am very interested in this idea.) and asked the writers about theirs.
o MK gave a few examples. One was that she is now a Guggenheim Fellow. She applied for that fellowship 18 times!
o CT described an article he wrote about a small island country called Naru. It’s on mineral deposits and turned out to be more valuable for minerals than as a country. The New Yorker bought it, but never printed it. He recently learned that they use that article to test people who want to work for the New Yorker as a copy editor. An audience member pointed out that, like the country, his article was more valuable as a copy editing test (minerals) than its intended purpose (reading pleasure, or a country).
• Another audience member mentioned that her family loves to read CT’s poetry in The Nation together.
Jared has… mentioned… my disclosures (he said he feels like Jerry Springer’s wife), and I wonder if this event helped him understand where I’m coming from a little better. I want to look into this idea of the benefits of failure some more….
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Update
I owe you some more stories about AK. That said, I have been completely overwhelmed with 2 things:
1) the gallery: my work is in the front room this month (cityartgallery.org). Since I have no new work (1), I had to spend a lot of time recycling and sorting to fill up my allotted wall space. We hung tonight (super fun!), and I feel pretty good about it. I have more work to do bf the opening on Friday (I hope you'll come!) but it feels generally under control.
2) the idea of a new bike: I have decided I want a bike with lugs, the prettier the better. So, I have been spending many hours every evening I'm not occupied searching ebay and craigslist. As you can imagine, Jared is incredibly supportive of this project. The other issue is that I noticed my Randonee doesn't fit me all that well -- it's too long. So, I have to check each bike not only for lugs and prettiness, but also for top tube length. I am going to be so knowledgeable by the time all this is thru!!!
The job search continues, and I feel optimistic about it. Just to hedge my bets, I'll apply for a few more jobs this week. Jared has had a nasty cold, but you know I am perfectly happy to sleep all the time. So, that works. Last week, I spent a big chunk of time working on a grant application for Gabe's film ("Less") about a homeless man.
I thought that selling my TV would get me to bed hours earlier. But, as you can see from the time of this post, nothing has changed.
(1) I am very excited about some of the stuff I'm working on, just not ready to put it on the walls....
1) the gallery: my work is in the front room this month (cityartgallery.org). Since I have no new work (1), I had to spend a lot of time recycling and sorting to fill up my allotted wall space. We hung tonight (super fun!), and I feel pretty good about it. I have more work to do bf the opening on Friday (I hope you'll come!) but it feels generally under control.
2) the idea of a new bike: I have decided I want a bike with lugs, the prettier the better. So, I have been spending many hours every evening I'm not occupied searching ebay and craigslist. As you can imagine, Jared is incredibly supportive of this project. The other issue is that I noticed my Randonee doesn't fit me all that well -- it's too long. So, I have to check each bike not only for lugs and prettiness, but also for top tube length. I am going to be so knowledgeable by the time all this is thru!!!
The job search continues, and I feel optimistic about it. Just to hedge my bets, I'll apply for a few more jobs this week. Jared has had a nasty cold, but you know I am perfectly happy to sleep all the time. So, that works. Last week, I spent a big chunk of time working on a grant application for Gabe's film ("Less") about a homeless man.
I thought that selling my TV would get me to bed hours earlier. But, as you can see from the time of this post, nothing has changed.
(1) I am very excited about some of the stuff I'm working on, just not ready to put it on the walls....
Monday, September 25, 2006
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Another Century
Jared and I did the Tahoe Sierra Century last weekend on a rented tandem. It was pretty intense, but we survived. It included a 6,800 foot vertical gain over the 100 miles, which is no Death Ride (15K feet over 129 miles) but impressive anyway. I'm sure you'd agree.
I really enjoyed riding the tandem with Jared, and he says it was OK too. It resolved a lot of issues that have come up with pace and talking while riding. I'm terrified to descend quickly, and there were some pretty serious descents on this ride, but I just closed my eyes and crouched against Jared's back side. We lived. We're always near each other; so, talking is only a problem when it's windy.
It's also an interesting exercise for a couple. You have to pedal in cync and communicate with your partner what you're doing and when. We chatted with one guy who said that he had been married for 25 years, and he and his wife DO NOT like to ride a tandem together. They learned that they need separate bikes. I quickly became comfortable with Jared doing all the steering -- I didn't need to look out for potholes or lean for corners. I needed to do what he asked me to do (stand, sit, work, etc.).
I really enjoyed riding the tandem with Jared, and he says it was OK too. It resolved a lot of issues that have come up with pace and talking while riding. I'm terrified to descend quickly, and there were some pretty serious descents on this ride, but I just closed my eyes and crouched against Jared's back side. We lived. We're always near each other; so, talking is only a problem when it's windy.
It's also an interesting exercise for a couple. You have to pedal in cync and communicate with your partner what you're doing and when. We chatted with one guy who said that he had been married for 25 years, and he and his wife DO NOT like to ride a tandem together. They learned that they need separate bikes. I quickly became comfortable with Jared doing all the steering -- I didn't need to look out for potholes or lean for corners. I needed to do what he asked me to do (stand, sit, work, etc.).
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Alaska (and Hood Canal) vacation
Jared has compiled, processed, titled, and posted our photos here (on 3 pages). It was my intension to post these with my trip narrative, but alas, he's way faster than I am (probably bc he has less time; have you heard the quote, "if you want something done, give it to someone who's busy"?).
Here are a few of my highlights:
1) the Salmon Migration
The creeks held literally more fish than water. You've seen the documentaries, and how amazing it is when they jump up stream. It was like that except that there really wasn't enough space for them all. They were each about the size of a boot (Jared identified various species), and when one advanced, it had to bite its companions to get them to move out of the way. I think we took a movie, but I'm not sure if it came out.
2) the Mendenhall Glacier
Huge, and absolutely phenomenal... The day we hiked up the west trail blew my mind. Make sure to try to find the people in that one photo of it on page 2. It will give you a sense of scale. I heard someone say this glacier moves 500 feet per year. Can you imagine the sheer force of an environmental event like that???!
3) the Ferry
Basically, I want to be on the ferry all the time. It's comfortable. Beautiful scenery floats past. Showers are clean and hot. It has $2.50 beers (Alaskan). The food is decent and reasonably priced. There's unlimited free hot water. Other people camping on the deck are interesting and friendly. Yeah, when you're bike-camping in the rain for 2.5 weeks maybe your standards change, but if I did this trip all over again, I would have stayed on the boat most of the time. If you go, DO NOT get a stateroom; camp on the deck.
4) the Beer
Both Haines Brewing Company (which does not distribute outside Haines) and Alaskan make great beer. At Haines, my favorites were the IPA and the Stout. At Alaskan, the ESB and... was it the stout again? I might be able to get Jared to remind me.
5) the Bear
It was a relatively brief event. You can see the dark photo. We were cooking dinner at the camp site at Mendenhall when a medium-sized black ambled into our camp, about 10 feet away, looking as if he might crawl into our tent for a little nap. He was fat and had a beautiful glossy coat. I gasped but completely forgot how you're supposed to behave. Jared yelled and waved his hands around. The bear rolled his eyes at us ("ah, campers. I wish they'd stay out of my forest," he seemed to be saying) and ambled away. Nearby a group of kids were camping, and I heard one little boy making up a song about the bear ("there was a bear. there was a bear. there was a bear right over there..."). I think he ambled thru their camp site too.
6) the Seafood
Not in AK, but the crab pot-pulling and eating in Hood Canal was awesome. Jared's mom made some crab cakes which were especially memorable. The halibut and chips in Juneau rocked too.
7) the Company
Of course
I'll post some stories another time.
Monday, September 18, 2006
Me trying to look like my mother
I visited my friend Carolyn Helmke today in Palo Alto. She set me up with some great work clothes, some hand-me-down magazines, and a free burrito. After some conversation, she decided it was important to take a picture of me that resembled this one I posted of my mother. Here's our best effort:
Your friends will save your brain... and your life.
A recent study by the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago found that women with a number of close friends and frequent social interactions are less likely to suffer from heart disease, Alzheimer's and dementia.
Friday, September 15, 2006
I sold my TV!
Craigslist is amazing! Should I admit that I got nearly what I paid for it?
In other news, studies show that tall people earn more money than short people by 2% per inch. Also, input increases output. The source of productivity is a refreshed mind.
Source for both: my NPR Podcasts
In other news, studies show that tall people earn more money than short people by 2% per inch. Also, input increases output. The source of productivity is a refreshed mind.
Source for both: my NPR Podcasts
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Moving towards a totally self-programmed world
I don't remember if I've mentioned that I have become completely obsessed with podcasts recently. I basically don't even listen to the radio or look at google news anymore, because I now get my news from the sources and on the topics that I've pre-selected. I'm also actively pursuing selling my TV, and may join a DVD rental club to be entertained entirely by pre-selected programs on my computer.
However, I'm a little scared. I was not permitted to watch television as a child, which made me even more of a misfit than my personality and genetics had already set me up to be. I had no idea what the other kids were talking about and rarely got the mass-media-referential jokes. I would laugh anyway, but they saw right thru me. You know how kids are. So, I'm wondering now if, by self-programming all my media inputs, am I isolating myself yet again? Or is this something everyone is doing? And if it is, are we isolating ourselves from each other?
I don't remember if it was the last national election or the one before that when a lot emails went around about how we, humor me as I call us the Educated Class, have no idea what's going on in the minds of the rest of our country. Because if they were privy to even the smallest amt of knowledge and information we were, how on earth would we, collectively, have elected That Man as our President? We all vowed to talk to our distant friends and relatives who might be Republicans or even just live not on a coast, to share information, to promote Democracy. I've tried to do that. At the same time, now, I'm setting up my own little self-programmed universe where everyone I talk to less than once a week is getting their information from absolutely, completely different sources.
This hints at the concept of brainwashing, and the effect media has on culture, but I'm in no mood to go there right now. I know you want to hear about Alaska, and I'll tell you all about it... later.
However, I'm a little scared. I was not permitted to watch television as a child, which made me even more of a misfit than my personality and genetics had already set me up to be. I had no idea what the other kids were talking about and rarely got the mass-media-referential jokes. I would laugh anyway, but they saw right thru me. You know how kids are. So, I'm wondering now if, by self-programming all my media inputs, am I isolating myself yet again? Or is this something everyone is doing? And if it is, are we isolating ourselves from each other?
I don't remember if it was the last national election or the one before that when a lot emails went around about how we, humor me as I call us the Educated Class, have no idea what's going on in the minds of the rest of our country. Because if they were privy to even the smallest amt of knowledge and information we were, how on earth would we, collectively, have elected That Man as our President? We all vowed to talk to our distant friends and relatives who might be Republicans or even just live not on a coast, to share information, to promote Democracy. I've tried to do that. At the same time, now, I'm setting up my own little self-programmed universe where everyone I talk to less than once a week is getting their information from absolutely, completely different sources.
This hints at the concept of brainwashing, and the effect media has on culture, but I'm in no mood to go there right now. I know you want to hear about Alaska, and I'll tell you all about it... later.
Teenagers
My friend Carolyn Helmke said a very interesting thing on the phone today that I wanted to share with you. She suggested that, biologically, the reason teenagers are so unpleasant to their parents is to make it easier, perhaps even possible, for the parents to let them leave the nest. Sure, everyone always talks about teenagers' need to individuate, but I never thought about it as something that the parents need to let them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
