Feminisation April 30, 2007

Articles like this one are why BBC News isn’t my homepage anymore– at least for the next few weeks. It’s terribly difficult to read about the killings at Virginia Tech, and the formulations like those presented by Sarah Baxter (to be fair, she’s writing for The Times) leave me speechless. I don’t want to think about how much coverage this must be getting back in the States. Not that it isn’t news, or should be ignored… but how often do you hear the same soundbites, watch the interviews with experts, and see clips of his video? All of the second guessing of the school administration’s actions should of course take place, but the time and place that is appropriate, I’m not as sure about. Information overload, that’s really all I’m saying.

But that wasn’t the point. The ‘news’ article and the comments made in it by Camille Paglia are discussed in a few different blogs: here, here, and here. I’m sure there are others as well, but that’s what I’ve come across. Is she aware how much it sounds like she’s trying to blame Cho’s actions on the women who wouldn’t sleep with him? Obviously, she doesn’t state that explicitly, she’s talking about larger social trends and their general effects. And yet…

Here is my reaction–much more eloquent than I could phrase it.

Speaking Of… April 29, 2007

Here’s a “snippy dialogue” between the suburbs and the city.

Living in Oxford for a year– with a bike instead of a car, a weekly farmers’ market, small specialty shops, fantastic parks, and most everything within walking distance– has definitely molded my thoughts on this issue. Travelling Europe has as well– it’s so easy to settle into Paris and get to know your arrondissement, or neighbourhood in London. Prague and Berlin had great public transportation, and finding something to do, a cozy bar- a cinch.

These things will definitely be swirling around my head as I come to terms with the prospect of answering those typically senior questions.

Maybe I should make that singular:

“What are you doing after you graduate?”

Cue the scream.

Are my Suburban roots showing? April 24, 2007

Yay!

In other news, can May 1st get here already? I’m anxiously awaiting Feist’s new album, and would rather pay for it in dollars (instead of pounds).

Tarot Cards April 22, 2007

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

 

Well that was fun. Back to work.

Shameful April 22, 2007

Shameful that my response was “This summer, when I have time.”
http://www.whatisstephenharperreading.ca/the_story_behind_this_website.html

Ditto April 22, 2007

A defense of Chirac.

The French are voting in their first round of elections today, and while I’ll withold comments about all of the issues on the table for now- because there are so many- my plea is simply this:

Please, please–not Le Pen.

Copy/Paste April 18, 2007

Because I’m not willing to explain myself over and over again:
My flight got into London about 10:15 on Sunday night, and I was ‘home’ in Oxford a little after midnight. Not too bad, save for having lectures Monday morning starting at 10, and organized alternate lectures/social interludes that ran until 3ish in the afternoon. I was tired and hadn’t even unpacked, so while the lectures were fascinating (always are) the social time was a bore. I haven’t yet decompressed all of the things I’ve seen and done, and haven’t spoken to my parents since I got back, so questions like “What was your favorite part?” are currently answered with “I loved Berlin” or some kind of grunt of agreement when someone else is talking about the bridges in Prague. I’ll figure out a way to process it all eventually, so I can say more than “Yes, Europe was great.”– but I don’t know how long it will take.

I’m uncertain of how long it will be until I can talk about it/share stories/post pictures because I’ve already been thrown in to this term’s classes. I had my first meeting this morning, with Susan, and my first assignment for my Greek philosophy tutorial is to critique Socrates’ speech in the Apology- the one where he’s (ostensibly) arguing for his innocence, and therefore his life? One of the most famous speeches in history, and my topic is “What do you consider to be the weaknesses in Socrates’ defense? Where should he have argued differently, and perhaps saved his life?” Yeah, like that’s no big deal. The meeting, which involved three other students (one who is learning Greek, another who’s reading Ovid, and the last who will be starting Celtic Studies), consisted of more amazing conversation with the most knowledgeable person on the face of the earth– and lasted an hour and a half. At least this time the class is in English.

There is a link to pictures of the first couple of days in Paris under the “more” tab.