A Radiant Mephit

Songs of New Asgard

2011-11-07T06:03:00.000-08:00

I cannot wait to read the Songs of New Asgard series by Tessa Gratton. It was announced on Publisher's Weekly today, and it's going to be great!

Imagine if the spread of monotheistic Christianity had been stopped cold hundreds of years ago, and in it's place the Norse gods held sway.

How different would this alternate reality be? It's going to be so great to find out!

I have extra special reasons to be excited about this. For one, I read her debut novel Blood Magic and it was awesome.

Cover of Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton

For twos, she's one of my best friends!

Natalie Parker, Tess Gratton, and Emily Kennedy

So yeah. I AM EXCITED!!!!

e

Indomitable

2011-10-15T18:58:00.000-07:00

This evening we tried to take baby to his first Sporting Kansas City game at Livestrong Park. We lasted about 20 minutes. Then SKC scored, the crowd went wild, and baby melted down. Too loud! Next big event, we're looking into ear protection.

Much louder than the music in this video. Poor baby. It's the never-ending chase.

The Goods

2011-06-12T16:41:00.000-07:00

Let me mention two of my recent creations.

Creation number one: I successfully defended my Master's thesis entitled What She Wore: The Dialectics of Personal Style Blogs. I've added a link to this site in the right hand navigation area. If you click on the link you'll download a .PDF file of my thesis. So my Master's degree in Sociology is complete. On to the PhD.

Creation number two: my son Colin is growing so fast! Five full months old and just as awesome a human as I could imagine. Here's one of my current favorite photos:

My son was born in December 2010 and I defended my thesis in May 2011. It's been a busy six months or so. I'm hoping for a relaxing summer.

Meet Colin, My New Baby

2011-01-01T14:11:00.000-08:00

So! Welcome Colin Thomas Kennedy to the world.

My first child was born this past Tuesday, December 28th, at home at 6:38 a.m. He weighed 7 lbs. 12 ou., and arrived 12 days early. Labor was eight hours long. Mom, Dad, and baby are all healthy, happy, and in blissful love.

The one thing that I didn't accurately anticipate? Nursing is sincerely hard work. Hard work as in a complete preoccupation for many hours of every day and night.

Favorite Books

2010-12-11T14:36:00.000-08:00

Hot Guys Reading Books posted about her favorite books today. Here are mine, off the top of my head.

The Passion by Winterson
Anathem by Stephenson
Middlesex by Eugenides
Howard's End by Forster
Prodigal Summer by Kingsolver
100 Years of Solitude by Garcia Marquez

YUM.

I'm looking forward to the winter break and a return to the decadence of reading fiction. These are on the docket:

Linger by Stiefvater
The Replacement by Yovanoff
Tongues of Serpents by Novik
Zorro by Allende

And, because what is reading without some non-fiction thrown in?

Disintegration by Robinson
The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Pantley
Convergence Culture by Jenkins

Maternity leave here I come!

Style Chains, Pioneers, and Modifications

2010-11-30T10:27:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been seeing the term "style chain" used on some of the personal style blogs I read. Does anyone know who coined it? I would love to give credit. It seems to refer to when one blogger, (lets call her the Modder), "copies" another blogger's (the Pioneer's) outfit.

Copying isn't really the right term because from what I've seen, it's not that the Modder goes out to Target, F21, and Ebay and buys the exact items she saw on the Pioneer's blog. It is instead the case that the Modder uses clothing she owns to create a version of the Pioneer's outfit.

This is a process that seems like it would be pretty innate to people interested in style/fashion, because isn't that what we've always been doing with the stuff we see in fashion magazines? I use the pronoun "we", because the odds are very good, with income inequality statistics being what they are in the U.S., that you, like I, cannot actually afford the clothes that are editorialized in fashion magazines. Yet I still buy the magazines. My best reason for doing so is to get an idea of the current trends. That idea will be in my head the next time I get dressed and I will probably recreate the trends I like with what I have, or what I can approximate with items in stores that are in my price range. Modding, right? Maybe being in a style chain?

I got the term Pioneer from a couple of guest posts on the Freakonomics Opinion Page on the New York Times site. Here are links to the posts:

Tweakers and Pioneers in the World of Innovation
Geeks and Tweaks: What Computer Programming Contests Can Teach Us About Innovation

Scholars Raustiala and Sprigman use the terms Pioneers and Tweakers, but where I come from a tweaker is a person who abuses methamphetamine drugs. So I prefer the term Modder, which could refer to modifications.

Just wanted to expand the conversation about copying a bit. I've seen it come up multiple times, and I think these two links make good contributions.

A Happy Birthday

2010-10-27T05:10:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to me! Man, it's kind of insane to think that the last picture I took of myself, baby was only four months along. Was it four months, or maybe less? Well, we're rounding into week 30, 3rd trimester, so this is what the books and websites call the home stretch. Great time to celebrate a birthday!

These are my friends, from left to right: Natalie, pregnant me, Tessa, and Stephanie. The best way to celebrate a birthday is with friends. CK should be in the picture, but he was being chivalrous and taking it for me. What a most excellent man. You know you have true friends when they don't mind eating off of paper plates, and having take-out Chinese food for the celebratory meal. That's the way this party girl rolls.

Here's to 31 years! Hooray!

The Interview Setup

2010-08-18T15:55:00.000-07:00

I had some time between interviews to create a post. Probably not quite as much time as I need, since I wanted to include pictures, but it's possible.

So here's a staged picture of me doing an interview. I am actually too busy during a real interview to do this, but this is pretty realistic in terms of what is going on on my end of the phone line if you're being interviewed by me.

And here is my trusty equipment, including the very awesome Olympus digital voice recorder that I use:

There you see my handy phone card so that I'm not putting the interviews on my office's phone bill. Also pictured, the beloved Oral Consent form. Very important.

Lastly, here's a close-up of why I call people for interviews and how they get from the phone to the voice recorder:

See the little black box? That's what patches the recorder onto the phone line so I get a great recording. It's just one extra detail to set-up that makes a world of difference in recording quality.

So yeah. I just wanted to preserve for posterity what my evenings after work have been looking like, when I switch over to working on my thesis research. Good times!

Emily K.

My Renaissance Festival Costume

2010-08-09T07:16:00.000-07:00

Last week was busy in two ways. Let's set baseline behavior at working for 40 hours a week. But I always do that. How can we layer on some more?

I emailed requests to many folks in the Personal Style Blogging community to be interview participants. I created a database of contact info, and a database of my interview schedule, and then I started populating both. Thank you SO MUCH to people who have agreed to sit for an interview! This is great!

If you keep a personal style blog in which you post pictures of what you wear, you're interested in being a particpant, but haven't yet received an invite, leave your email address and I'll be in contact.

The next layer was that I worked on my Renaissance Festival costume! I would have loved to use the one I wore last year, but that wasn't going to work with my pregnant belly. So all last week my girl Natalie Parker and I worked out a design, went fabric shopping, pinned, cut, and sewed, and put it all together. Natalie is an outstanding seamstress and made the completely custom mini bodice, most of the chemise and the gorgeous skirt with the complicated ruffle. The skirt has frenched seams! All that I really contributed was making the bloomers and finishing the chemise. Yesterday we took photos and here's how it turned out:

My make-up is garish and the skirt is hiked up because the character I play at Festival is a whore in Madam Red's brothel. It's going to be particularly ridiculous this year with the pregnancy, but what is fun without some ridiculousness?

This costume was so much fun to work on, I really want to make something awesome for Halloween! Any ideas?

So there you have it: work, school, fun. It was a great week!

PSBs and a Baby

2010-07-28T21:05:00.000-07:00

I received a sweet comment on my Personal Style Blog Research post from Lorena, offering to take part, but also assuming I was done with my data collection. Though reasonable, it couldn't be further from the truth. I have spent the intervening four months doing tons of background research and not yet interviewing a single participant.

Here's the part that will make you laugh. Right around the time I wrote that post, I was busy getting busy and conceiving my first child. Yup! I'm pregnant! The baby is due 1/11/11.

Now, I could use 1st Trimester trauma as an excuse for why I haven't started interviews yet, but there's an even more practical reason I've lagged. I didn't have my own equipment yet. Equipment! Every good researcher's most important investment! For my pilot project I borrowed equipment to do seven interviews, which translated into a total of about 20 hours of work (seven hours of interviews and two additional hours for each interview to transcribe and sort the data).

For the next phase, I want to more than quadruple the number of interviews. This meant two things. One: I should own my own equipment. Borrowing stuff for 20 hours vs. ~100 hours makes a difference. Two: if I could find a way to speed up transcription, life would be golden. With this past paycheck I invested in the following, currently speeding to my doorstep: the Olympus WS-400S DNS Digital Voice Recorder Kit.

It comes with Dragon Naturally Speaking Software. Speech recognition technology: HUZZAH! If this program saves me even 15 minutes per interview, I will consider it money extremely well spent.

So that's my news. I have a baby bump, and I will be testing new equipment in the very near future. The project is in progress, and I truly need to get my interviews done in August. Naturally, the fun part will be where I get to talk to you!

Finally Leaving Town

2010-07-14T18:34:00.000-07:00

OK, that's not really a fair post title. I did get to go on an island vacation in March. But since then it's been all work, all the time. All work.

So tomorrow I'm taking a four day weekend! Heading with my sweetie back to the city where I was born and raised. The good ol' Fresno, California.

I don't think I've seen my parents in... well a year or so if I remember correctly. Definitely more than that. But hey, I bought a house, I finished another year of grad school, and I got a promotion in that amount of time. I even crossed another milestone that I've mentioned in comments on some of these awesome style blogs that I'm always following. Probably yours, if you're reading this.

I do love a good packing post, but I live in a city that's 97 deg F, and I'm visiting a city that's 106 deg F. Seriously I will only be wearing tank tops, shorts, skirts, and tank dresses. That's pretty much it.

Funny thing, my husband is talking to his brother on the phone right now and they just got into a conversation about Norteño music. Now that is very Fresno.

World Cup and Politics

2010-06-30T16:03:00.000-07:00

Wondering who to root for now that we're in World Cup stage 2? I posted this on Buzz this morning and here's a re-post:

The Netherlands - Because of legalized prostitution, bike culture, and beautiful ball movement.
Brazil - Because they're world beaters.
Paraguay - Because football is their national sport.
Ghana - Because they're the last African team left.
Germany and Argentina - No sentiment here, if you are a betting man, this is where you put your money.
Spain - Because David Villa is the last secretly great football player.
Uruguay - Because they are the true underdogs, and really no one will be rooting for them.

Pick a reason, and work backwards from there to find your team.

In movie reviews, my sweetie and I watched the Weather Underground last night. It was... disturbing. Good, but I had dreams about it and they were sad. It's a historical/political documentary, so if you don't go in for that sort of thing, maybe don't rent. But if you do, it's good, like I said, just sad.

For somewhat related fun, do you know where you stand on the political ideology spectrum? Political Compass gives a test that is actually pretty interesting. I'm right next to the Dalai Lama, near Gandhi: left libertarian. Posting online about your politics is like posting your weight. Kinda scary actually.

em

EndNote X3

2010-06-10T14:05:00.000-07:00

I attended a training this morning on EndNote X3 that was offered on campus, and I've spent most of the rest of my day building up my EndNote Library. Right now I have 45 references stored!

How cool is this software?! I cannot believe how excellent it is to have this citation management tool that is best friends with MS Word. X3 has tons of citation styles built directly into the program. For example, in my papers I cite with Chicago style, so I just set the controls to Chicago 15th B, and when I go to insert a citation into my paper, voila! It appears in perfect format.

Also, importing the references into EndNote has been pretty simple, since most of the academic articles that I have been using have options right on the sites, like JStor or SagePub, which allow you to just click a button and import the citation off the web directly into your software.

If you get a chance, seek it out. There are versions for Mac and PC, and if your school is like mine, you might even be able to get a copy free!

For all you grad students out there, do you use this? I LOVE it!

2010-05-24T11:25:00.000-07:00

I finished my spring semester, somewhat victorious. One A and one B. Better than two B's! Most importantly, the A was in the class for which I completed my thesis proposal. So greenlight go on my thesis! Huzzah!

In other excellent news: it's summer! Yay yay yay summer!

Have you seen any good summer movies? I've only seen Iron Man 2, and I was not impressed. Maybe hopefully I'll see something else tonight.

Have you seen Charmalade's vacation pics? She's in Thailand. SO BEAUTIFUL!

Procrastination

2010-05-14T12:37:00.000-07:00

Now you see, here's the problem:

This is the time of year that I start to seriously question how bad an incomplete could really be.

Personal Style Blog Research

2010-04-10T06:12:00.000-07:00

Well, Tania of What Would a Nerd Wear asked to hear more about my project. So here we go.

Last semester I looked at Identity and Outfit of the Day Blogs. I interviewed seven OOTD bloggers to hear the story told through the voices of participants, and I followed approximately twenty blogs to watch how the community worked. My research question was: how is identity as an OOTD blogger shaped and influenced by the community of OOTD bloggers? I am a sociologist, so I am drawn to questions about the interplay between self and society.

This semester I am returning to the project and looking at it from a new angle. First, I have changed the terminology to personal style blogger, as that appears to be a cultural trend that has surfaced. Now I have two questions: what influences the personal style blogger's choice to, or not to monetize, and is personal style blogging a feminist enterprise?

A second big difference between last semester and this semester is that my current project is a research proposal for my thesis. My thesis will be due in April, 2011, so I have one year to read tons more books and articles, do more data collection, and do data analysis. This summer I will do a second round of interviews, and I would like to get as many as 40 interviews completed (if you're a personal style blogger and you're reading this, I would definitely like to talk with you). I will also be creating a database about PSBs, like posts per month, ads or no ads, links or no links, blogroll, number of pictures, cross posting, all that good stuff. From what I can tell, there is no centralized data collection of this kind, except probably Blogger and WordPress have use numbers. I suspect that blog companies would be unwilling to share that data, and also, since personal style blogs are not always distinct from personal blogs, mommy blogs, beauty blogs, etc., the info probably doesn't exist for just the type that I'm investigating.

So, what do you think? I have lately seen tons of reflective posts on these exact topics. Those are really cool and helpful, and I want to strike while the iron is hot, before people get tired of talking about why they do what they do. On the other hand, there is no money to do this research; I'm just working on my M.A., so it pretty much happens when I have time for it to happen. Same issues that most grad students face.

OK, so there you have it. Let's talk!
Emily K.

:(

2010-03-20T17:01:00.000-07:00

Oh. So sad. And so snowy.

2010-03-15T15:14:00.000-07:00

I have just returned from vacation!

Oh baby. This was the most insanely excellent vacation ever. EVAR!

My husband and I went on a delayed honeymoon to Turks and Caicos in the West Indies. We stayed at the drop dead gorgeous Bohio Dive Resort on Grand Turk (pop. 3,720) and we got dive certified. We also made tons of friends with our fellow vacationers. It was truly divine. Pictures:

(All pictures property of Emily Kennedy.)

Huge picture size, I know, but you just cannot imagine how lush and beautiful this island was. It was a tremendously wonderful trip, full of sun, local beer, relaxation, fishes, and chilling out.

Then we returned to find that our Kansas Jayhawks have won the Big 12 Championship and are ranked #1 in the nation for the NCAA Tournament. Rock Chalk Jayhawk! Go KU!

Musica

2010-02-17T15:35:00.000-08:00

Yo!

So my dear friend Charmalade tells me I don't post enough. That's because my life is boring and there's already so much great content out there. Scratch that, my life isn't boring; it's germinating. It is fertile soil with seeds planted, but not enough sunshine yet for anything to sprout. How's that for a fun metaphor?

What I do have is a youtube playlist I made. I named her rock folk rock.

I was inspired by all the recommendations from a somewhat recent LeProust Vintage post entitled Jack White Would be Proud. Isn't that the coolest post?! LeProust has great followers, and so many of them contributed with suggestions. Love it! I just sifted through them and collected tracks from the ones I hadn't really heard of (with a few exceptions - the Stupid Bowl was going on at the same time so I also threw in the NFL theme song).

That's pretty much all I've got!

ASOS

2010-02-07T15:08:00.000-08:00

Have you been checking out the goods on ASOS.com? It's kind of wicked cute stuff. More wicked cute (like sharp and chic) than precious cute (a la ModCloth). I ordered two dresses from there today. I await delivery with bated breath! Nope, this is not a sponsored post.

Also, the Jayhawks are #1 in the nation baby. 7-0 in conference play. I saw them play Nebraska at home yesterday and man, the future looks bright! I have little to no tolerance for that other popular sport that is having a big event today. What a brat I am.

So, a few awesome people already know this (probably the same few who read this blog), but last semester I did a graduate research project on Outfit of the Day bloggers. Now it looks like I may write my thesis for my Sociology M.A. on OOTD blogs. In the interest of full disclosure, I comment and subscribe to blog feeds both because I find them interesting and because I'm researching. In ethnographic terms I am doing participant observation. I just want you to know that, because I'm not trying to be some kind of sneakypants.

Hope you're well!

Haircut and other things

2010-02-03T17:08:00.000-08:00

So the Spring 2010 semester started three weeks ago at KU. It's going to be a good one. I am taking two classes that are going to help me make major progress on my thesis. In honor of forward movement, I also got a haircut. With bangs! I haven't had bangs since... oh... seven years or so. But my hairstylist is brilliant. She knows how to make it do.

I'm definitely not a skilled self photographer. But I think the cut makes up for my ghetto picture-taking ability.

And meet my cat, Peaches. She was posing in front of the red craft cabinet, so I had to take her pic. She does not like cameras. Well, maybe she just doesn't like the flash. Frankly, I can empathize.

My Jayhawks are playing in about half an hour and frankly I should be doing homework. Rock Chalk Jayhawk! GO KU!

Hello 2010

2010-01-04T11:49:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everybody!

Have I mentioned that I play Dungeons and Dragons? My New Year's celebration consisted of a good solid five hour DnD session with my nearest and dearest. My man and I took a train from KC to St. Louis to hang out for a long DnD-filled weekend. It was most excellent, the only trip I've made for the holidays, and fuel for the DnD fire. We came away with tons of ideas for new campaigns.

On a related note, if you're planning to ride Amtrak, and you have the money, splurge on business class. It's quite pleasant, with nicer seats, easy access to the Cafe Car, and more room. Train travel reminded me that it's great to get where you're going without having to worry about road conditions, getting lost, and buying gas. One thing though: pack a snack. The train food is mostly packaged and microwaved. None too appetizing.

And the craft cabinet is RED! Bien sur! J'adore rouge! Seriously, between the craft cabinet, the drapes, and the new floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, I definitely need to take pictures! Some day soon! Lawrence is horribly cold though, hovering around 0 degrees fahrenheit. It has been for the past three weeks, and it's going to be for at least the next 10 days. The cold makes me grumpy and more than a little un-inspired.

The next bit of news: I got A's in my classes! What what?! I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the awesome people who helped out with my research project. Thank you THANK YOU! I wrote two research papers on Outfit of the Day blogs, and apparently they were both well received, since I pulled lovely final grades in the classes. Man, what a relief.

This coming semester my tentative plans are to dig deeper into researching the blogosphere. I might focus particularly on the issues bloggers face with the new legislation regarding sponsored posts. That would widen the lens to include blogs of many types, which my thesis advisor thinks is a necessary step to make the work weighty.

Also, do many of you read Fashionable Academics? I think I'm going to participate in their call for pictures of 1st day of class outfits. Seems fun!

Finals Week

2009-12-14T14:37:00.000-08:00

Well. One paper down, one written test and one more paper to go. And of course, I can't bring myself to write much until I read a few more articles. Just a few more. Always just a few more.

There is quite alot of victory in having one paper down though. It was chock full of good interview quotes and interesting theories, if I do say so myself. I hope my professors agree.

The most exciting news of all is that tonight I get my craft cabinet! My husband and I commissioned a cabinet to be made to store my sewing machine, all my fabrics, yarn and sewing supplies, my knitting stuff, my collage clippings, my card supplies, and on and on. You know: the crafties! So the cabinet is getting delivered to our house tonight!!!! YAY! Better than a Christmas tree in so many ways!

The good news is, we will have to paint it, and I need to pick out a color. That will prevent me from spending tonight locating, organizing, sorting, and finding spots for all my crafties. That project really does not need to be distracting me from the reading and writing that has to get done by Thursday. THURSDAY!

Le sigh.

Writing

2009-11-30T19:23:00.000-08:00

I'm writing! The writing has begun!

Yes, yes, I realize that blogging is writing as well, but that's not the only writing I'm doing.

I've decided to compose two pages a night, which, if I can maintain it, will get the whole paper written with a couple days to spare for edits and reorganization. Plus, two pages a night is such a nice, rightly-sized chunk.

Tonight the topic is Foucault, OOTD blogging, and care of the self. Woot!

Man, if I can, I really ought to just take one wee little picture tomorrow. Something to spruce up this monotonous blog space of mine.

Busy Thankful

2009-11-25T20:08:00.000-08:00

Late night web ramblings are rarely decent the next morning. But in the holiday spirit, I'm thankful for time to get work done. And for the willingness to get work done. I have one paper due on December 9th, and a second paper due on December 17th, both on the research I've been doing. It feels like there's so much to do, yet I'm pretty happy with what I've been able to get to so far.

Tomorrow a little trip to see some family, and then, for the rest of the weekend: work work work. Could be a truly fruitful weekend.

Research In Progress

2009-11-18T09:58:00.000-08:00

I seriously can't tell you how excited I am to be doing my first ever interview today. In sociology you can pretty much decide to go in one of these directions for research methods:

theory
qualitative
quantitative
mix of the above

So far I've done a bit of quantitative and a bit of theory, but this will be my first foray into qualitative research; doing interviews.

My research question: how is identity situated in relationship to the process of blogging daily outfits?

I have found online many brilliant women engaging in this activity and I want to know more about how it all works. So today I'll start to learn, then I'll do more interviews on Friday and some on Saturday and maybe with this work, I'll be able to get a better understanding of the question.

Sewing like a madwoman

2009-11-08T13:06:00.001-08:00

Man! I just:

Cleaned the feed dogs on my sewing machine
Finished sewing a drapery for my living room
Hemmed a pair of work slacks
Fixed the back of a work dress

Oh, and before that:

Folded laundry
Got a new air filter for the house

I am all kinds of accomplished. It's amazing what a great sewing machine and excellent lessons can do for you! When I was learning, just a couple of months ago, I was pretty fearful that once my teacher wasn't around I would see that I really couldn't do projects on my own.

But dude! I can! It's insanity.

This is a totally a post that should have pictures, but I'm now tired and ready to tune out and watch football.

2009-10-26T09:46:00.001-07:00

Today I am 30!

This is what I looked like one week ago:
I made some of my outfit myself, but the corset was made by Natalie, from the earlier Ren Festival post.

So yeah. Age. Fun. Yeah.

Riff is teh awesum.

2009-10-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

Oh my word, I am so in love with this video. Linked by Gelman's Blog, source is Minimum Safe Distance blog, music is Royksopp.

Remind Me from Röyksopp on Vimeo.

Crossposted to LiveJournal.

Class Project: You

2009-10-02T12:51:00.000-07:00

Hey! I wanted to give you all an update!

Remember in August when I posted about possibly doing a research project on fashion blogs? Well, the dream is coming to fruition.

So, for the next phase of the project, I am hoping to talk with people who:

keep a blog and
post pictures of their outfits on their blogs

I am considering either having these conversations by phone, or by instant message. I anticipate them being approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour long.

That means you! Ela, Annie, Lar, Cath, Christen, Megan, Esme, Christine, Katy, Krystal, Jessica, Robyn, Heshka, Jenni: you are the project inspiration. You're doing something unique, and I'd like to talk to you about it, and analyze it a little bit within the sociological framework, based on information you can provide. I know you're not the only women doing this, so if you don't want to participate, but you know someone who might, that would be great as well.

Also: Bijou Living: I know you don't fit within my qualifications, but you have had a really interesting take on this project, and I would love to interview you as well.

If you're interested, let me know. You can leave a comment or email me at SophiePinkCheeks@gmail.com.

Ah, the life of a graduate student, right? You people ROCK!

Emily

Over The Top

2009-09-30T07:32:00.000-07:00

The awesome Annie Spandex tagged me! She says it's the Over The Top award. Everyone I know is over the top! We are the Over The Top branch of the interweb, and I like it that way.

Rules:
Answer these questions with one word and then hand the award over to others.

Where's your cell phone: N/A
Your hair: shiny
Your mother: busy
Your father: hardworking
Favorite Food: pizza
Dream last night: didn't
Favorite drink: tea
What room are you: office
Hobby: gaming
Fear: ennui
Where were you last night: home
Something that you aren't: stuffy
Muffins: blackberry
Wish list item: cashmere
Where did you grow up: Fresno
What are you wearing: vest!
Your pets: Peachy
Friends: badasses
Something you're not wearing: socks
Favorite store: Target
Favorite color: scarlet
Last time you laughed: morning
Your best friend: CK
Place you go to over and over: Target
Person who emails you regularly: CK
Favorite place to eat: SushiZone

I have never been tagged before, so can I just break a rule and not tag anyone? Rule breakers don't ask!

Lyons

2009-09-27T13:47:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Lyons, Kansas. My husband's aunt Mary Kay got married there on Saturday. It was a beautiful event. They're both in their 50's, it's her second marriage, and they were so happy. They held it at the Lyons country club, and put wonderful work into making it inclusive. My husband's dad, who is a judge, did the ceremony, my brother-in-law designed the menu, a family friend did the video-taping, two of Mary Kay's three sons brought their ladyfriends to their first major family function; all of that stuff doesn't come together without someone's careful attentiveness.

Mary Kay is right in the middle (age-wise) of eight children. There were these neat generational lines all partying it up. A couple 80 year olds, a bunch of 50-60 year olds, a bunch of 20-30 year olds, a handful of teenagers, and one baby. The colors were red and black, and Mary Kay was given away by her brother and his partner, Scott. Because, as my husband would say, "Mary Kay never misses a chance to make a statement."

Indeed. :)

My Peeps

2009-09-16T07:43:00.001-07:00

These are my favorite people in the world.

Photo credit: Russ.

From L to R: Steph, me, Natalie, CK. Awww...

In other news, grad school is so overwhelmingly monopolizing my life, that I can't think straight any more, and I can't sleep through the night either. So. Yeah, blogging is pretty pointless because nothing makes sense any longer. That is all.

All kinds of awesome

2009-09-07T18:52:00.000-07:00

Martial arts and hip hop, together as one.

I fully want to see this.

Time Management

2009-09-05T16:04:00.000-07:00

If there's one thing I'm learning about the combination of being almost 30, a full time grad student and a full time office employee, it's that time management is crucial. One notably important aspect of managing time in a busy life is leaving room for doing nothing.

It is almost true that I should be reading and studying in every spare minute. However, the three-day Labor Day weekend is providing a respite, and I am taking every advantage. Today I mowed the lawn, watched a movie, went for a walk, sat on the porch and yeah, just generally did nothing. I didn't read. I did drink beers. That is it.

Granted, one other interesting thing about my day today is that it is the first day of Kansas football season. I don't care for American football. I love college basketball, and I like men's soccer (the true football), and that's about all the room I have in my life to pay attention to sports. So why would it matter that today is the beginning of KU football season? Because I live little more than a block from the stadium. Heh. It's been a trip.

My husband and I bought this house in February, and we knew it was going to be crazy come this time of year. People have been asking us if we will sell parking spots. It's a small town and a big sport. Folks come from all the neighboring towns and cities to watch the local college football games. The college kids drink, tailgate, act out, and throw horse shoes. It's not my deal, but I do love spontaneous neighborhood parties. They're weird and neat. They don't happen in suburbia. They smell like barbeque. They start at 11 am and go until the game at 6 pm. It's just oddly interesting.

So no articles, no books, lots of blog reading, lots of general whatever. Letting the mind wander. It needed the fresh air.

Ugh

2009-08-26T19:11:00.000-07:00

Today I yammered on in class, incoherently, for a good three minutes, about Nietzsche and Foucault. I'm tired of hearing myself think. I apologize to whomever experiences it, if I come off like a know-at-all at times. I shall now go window-shop at Forver21 to relive the academic-static brain.

Fall '09 Class #1: Qualitative Research Methods

2009-08-20T19:23:00.000-07:00

OK! So I started my fall semester today. My class on Thursdays is Qualitative Research Methods. I went, and it was great, except for one small thing: I need a research project. Well really, I needed a research project like yesterday, because when we went around the class and everyone talked about what they wanted to research, I was the only one without a clear plan.

I've been mulling over the concept of looking at womens processes of self representation in fashion blogs. That would tie many of my interests together. The research question would be: what factors contribute to womens decisions to write online about what they wear? I can think of several bloggers that I would be interested in interviewing.

But first I need to do a literature review. What have other people written about with regards to this concept of networked female sartorial representation... fashion as motivation for networked female authorship... I mean, this isn't a social justice issue. But it's a social expression and community-building issue. So... I don't know. I'm still thinking it over. One thing the professor said a couple of times is that we need a clearly defined rationale.

What is the rationale behind this project? What does it contribute? I do think there's something there behind the fact that some women get self-motivated, personally involved, and driven to express themselves through this medium. How is this form of social expression safe? How is it risky? How is it a positive experience? How is it a negative experience?

Hm. Just thoughts.

Health Care Reform

2009-08-13T09:27:00.000-07:00

Almost everyone I know has troubles with health care, and we're just normal lower middle class people. Some are students, some are unemployed, some are barely hanging on to their jobs, some freelance, and some make such paltry wages, I don't know how they keep up with all the fiscal responsibilities.

I've been appalled at the resistance to health care reform in this country. It's scandalous. The health insurance system in this country is broken. The only people with decent coverage are those with stable employment, but jobs are scarce, and businesses are faltering and closing their doors. Reform legislation needs to pass with bi-partisan support. The anti-reform movement is powerful, and the pro-reform people need to stay vigilant. That's why I like the simple presentation of info on the White House's Reality Check site. Smart, simple, and clear. That's powerful.

Also, because I never totally drink the government's kool-aid, no matter how cool the president seems to be, I like the PolitiFact site for staying on top of what's real and what's just smoke, mirrors, and false rumors.

Dresses. Again.

2009-08-08T06:54:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was payday, and I went online shopping! I bought two dresses from Modcloth, and I can't wait for them to get here. In the process, I kind of realized something about my style.

It's always going to be kind of pin-up/50's flirt. There's a natural affinity between this style and the hourglass body type. Whether that's in or not, with the rest of the world, seems kind of irrelevant. It's what I like.

So that was kind of a revelation. Lately, going to stuff with friends, I've been finding myself defending my desire to get dressed up for even the simple get-togethers. But, frankly, that's just who I am. I like getting dolled up. I do that thing.

It's fun!

American Dream by DeParle

2009-07-11T13:37:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading American Dream: Three Women, Ten Kids, and a Nation's Drive to End Welfare by Jason DeParle.

Wow. What an amazing book. DeParle is a reporter for the New York Times, and in American Dream he follows three families off the welfare rolls as the U.S. transitioned from AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children - a federal program of welfare) to TANFF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families - state run programs of welfare). The three families are essentially single parent households headed by Jewell, Angie, and Opal. Sometimes they have live-in boyfriends, but definitely no full-time fathers or husbands. DeParle looks at their stories from the legislative angle of Bill Clinton's policy decision, the bureaucracy angle of Wisconsin's management of the new responsibility, from the historical angle of the Caples clan that were once slaves on a Mississippi plantation, and from the cultural angle of what it's like to be a black single mother on welfare.

This book is expansive!

Jason DeParle is an incredible journalist. He is the real deal. Man, if it weren't for the New York Times.

Also, he's married to Nancy-Ann DeParle, Obama's Health Reform czar.

So, it's not a cheerful read, by any means, but it's a well-written and very important book that has helped me to gain a better understanding of how U.S. policy on poverty has evolved in the last couple of decades. I highly recommend it.

Dress Pursuit

2009-07-04T16:06:00.000-07:00

I gotta say, the Bandha experiment didn't work out too well. The dress came in the mail, I put it on, and my husband's response was, "Um... you're not going to like it." My husband is the best. He is so smart. I value his honesty way more than I can accurately describe.

The dress has gone back. It made me look like a Mormon, and that's just not a look I ever want for myself.

In other fashion news, I am watching the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and it's triggering major fashion flashbacks. Figures, since it aired in 1997, the year I graduated high school. The tiny black skirts always worn with tall black boots, the perfect mini-dresses, the unique overcoats, the white tees with cutesy screen-prints. She was totally copping some riot grrl tendencies, wasn't she? I can clearly recall longing for the perfect dress that didn't cling too much, but just enough, and that would make my legs look miles long.

Le sigh.

Different day, different dress, same searching.

Summer Clothing

2009-06-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

In the Kansas summer, there are only two clothing items I ever want to wear when I wake up in the morning: sleeveless shirts and dresses. The clothing item of choice to accompany a sleveless shirt is generally a skirt, and the companion for a dress is a light sweater or cotton jacket.

Shorts are... just not that much fun. I wear them, bermuda for work, and shorter ones for play, but I never feel really awesome in shorts.

I generally feel totally great in something swingy and flirty. But I also walk to work in some pretty humid heat, so I can't ever wear polyester, satin, or silk. The sweat problems with those fabrics would be insurmountable.

This is where Patagonia comes in. I just ordered the Patagonia Bandha dress from Altrec.com. We'll see how it goes when it comes in. I'm crazy excited about owning a swingy dress in a high performance fabric.

That's also why I like Athleta's stuff. I wore their Melody Miniskirt to see Stevie Wonder play at an outdoor venue in 97 degree heat, and although I danced my booty off, my awesome skirt held its own.

Now that's a good summer clothing story.

Requiem for Firefly

2009-06-22T07:05:00.000-07:00

My heart aches knowing that in seven years, Fox still hasn't come to its senses and begged Joss Whedon to re-start Firefly. One movie wasn't enough. That show was brilliant.

I am not much for TV. I think it's mostly rubbish. I frequently campaign my husband that we discontinue our service. I would probably win that argument if there was some other reliable way my hubby could catch all the good international football matches.

Perhaps that's why, after renting the DVD's of Firefly, I really cannot conceive of how this wonderful show got canceled after one little season. HOW was that possible? I realize that FOX is just a crap-spewing media company. I realize they strive for mediocrity, and that their "news" is sensationalized hooey appealing chiefly to poor ol' put-upon rich white people. But if The Simpsons could survive this long, why not Firefly?

I know, I'm late to the party. Seven years late. I just have to say it once more, for the multiverse to hear: Firefly is one of the greatest television shows of all time. It is a travesty that there are only 14 episodes and one awesome movie.

Getting Amped for South Africa

2009-06-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

I know. It's a year away. And the U.S. just lost again in the Confederations Cup. Giuseppe Rossi: you're dead to me.

However, it's still really exciting. When my husband and I got married in 2007 we postponed the honeymoon for World Cup 2010. Now it's just one year away, and I'm starting the research and the budgeting.

My resources:
2 travel books on South Africa - See It South Africa by Fodor's, and another one by National Geographic
Kayak.com
The Frugal Traveler
Hannah Britton, my friend who is a Poli Sci professor. She makes annual trips to South Africa.

My goal:
To live for three weeks, in Pretoria and Durban, out of a carry-on. That better be the best prepped carry-on known to man, for I am a girlie girl. Yet, my experiences from World Cup 2006 will inform my planning, so it's not a totally hopeless goal.

Any recommendations?

Whew

2009-06-10T19:39:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading the 45-page article by John Heilemann entitled The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth. It was published in the November 2000 issue of Wired and it covers the Microsoft monopoly trial, including events leading up to the trial, the trial itself, and some post-decision follow-up.

I can't remember exactly how I heard about the article. I have subscribed to Wired magazine off and on for nearly 10 years, and I also subscribe to their RSS feed. I do know that I bookmarked it to read more than a year ago, and just now got down to actually doing it. It was a VERY worthwhile pursuit. Heilemann is a great author.

I think the most salient thing I took from the article was that the technology industry is, and always has been, just another industry. At times, especially in the dot-com boom, sometimes I did buy into the idea that computing technology was so weirdly different, that it couldn't be fit to any other industry's standards. Yet reading this article, it was clear that Microsoft is a company, much like any other. I'm glad the Department of Justice sued them. It was a good move for business in America, and it was a good process to remind all involved in the tech industry that men are not gods. No matter how much money they have. Good stuff.

Michelle Obama Look Book

2009-06-09T19:13:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things right now is the Michelle Obama look book.

First, I have to say, that from a pure fashion standpoint, I truly love her style. She does five things that are just so cool:
1. Dresses to flatter her body type.
2. Wears dresses frequently.
3. Wears sleeveless tops in professional venues, often with a cardigan, which later comes off.
4. Embraces color.
5. Pushes the First Lady sartorial envelope. Asymmetry? Sheer? Sleeveless? Could it get any better??

Above all, she doesn't conform. It's so refreshing!

Off the shoulder, non-traditional floral top by Basso and Brooke, mixed with white cropped pants (a trend that is very of the moment, but also very difficult for most women to pull off). She is brilliant.

Hence, I like to see what she's wearing. NY Mag is so great to keep the updates rolling.

Dance Party: From 1 to 100

2009-06-04T08:20:00.000-07:00

My honey sent that to me. Like he said, you definitely don't need to listen to the music to be able to enjoy the video. Isn't it cool?

My favorite is how people are running up to join. You don't see that kind of enthusiasm too often. But I guess that's the glory of a snowball effect.

Dialogue or Fight

2009-05-11T06:34:00.000-07:00

What I love about Banksy is how his art always shows the push-pull. There are no winners and no losers; ideas are in conversation. War and innocence. Privacy and surveillance. Beauty and anger.

Food and pets.

This is probably one of the coolest art installations ever. On a personal level, I'm trying not to eat meat more than once or twice a week. It's about being green, reducing carbon emissions, resisting a heart attack, eating more vegetables, grains and beans, urban homesteading, knowing what's in my food, saving money, and a bunch of other ideas that have been floating around in my brain.

Now it's also about not eating pets.

Heh.

Fashion Blogs

2009-05-06T06:48:00.000-07:00

This morning I was reading The Cut, and in a post on MObama wearing the Tracy Feith dress that she wore a couple months ago out in public for a second time (BRAVO!) a commenter said, "who cares what she's wearing.... seriously."

Dude.

You're reading a fashion blog. Fashion blogs are about what people are wearing. People who read fashion blogs... wait for it... care what people are wearing!

Which is only just a funny story lead-in to a blog post expressing my gratitude for fashion bloggers. Some of the great blogs about other people's fashion (like famous fashion) include:
The Cut
The Budget Fashionista
Go Fug Yourself
Omiru
The Sartorialist
lookbook.nu
The Clothes That Got Me Laid

The coolest by far are blogs about people's own fashion. It is so easy to be critical, witty, and chatty about other people's fashion. But it's brave to post about your own wardrobe. And it makes sense. People who care about fashion often have great fashion. I wish EVERYONE posted what they were wearing. So cheers to these blogs especially:
Annie Spandex
Ink and Leather

aM laboratory

2009-04-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

I love the ToneMatrix that Andre Michelle made. He must be really cool, because that toy is crazy fun.

Once again, found via Gelman's blog.

Religions and Political Affiliation

2009-04-18T07:44:00.000-07:00

I swear, I won't be blogging about religion and politics forever. Maybe just once in awhile, but this is also very cool (click on the picture to see larger), found on Infosthetics via Andrew Gelman's blog. Truly, it's very interesting to think about the fundamental ideas within a political affiliation and the ideas within a religion. It also makes so much sense once you've read The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism by Max Weber.

It's fair to say that a constant gripe in the jellybean house is over the willful ignorance of evangelical Christians. Separately, recently in one of my classes we did a whole unit on Abstinence Only programs, and if you want a concise understanding of how jacked up that topic is, read the Waxman report on Abstinence Only "Education" Programs. Also, randomly, NOVA just ran Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial. It was quite good, see it if you can. Also, I'm a sociology major, so I think about how ideologies relate to one another and how systems work. Also, there was a creepy segment in Maxed Out, which I watched Monday, where there was a preacher telling his congregation that when people are having troubles it's almost always because they're not tithing enough.

Heh.

I guess it's just been that kind of week.

Oh, did I mention I just finished reading On The Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche?

He is so amazing.

Christians and Climate Change

2009-04-17T07:11:00.000-07:00

OK. I don't really know how to break this to you. But climate change, to the extent that we're experiencing it today, is REAL, and HUMANS CAUSED IT.

I know. You need to sit down now, right? It's going to be OK.

When you've finished composing yourself, please call up your freaky white evangelical Christian brother, sister-in-law, auntie, or parent, and share the news.

Yes, his/her understanding of science is very hazy. Yes, he/she probably thinks that scientific proof carries about as much weight as myth and stories. Yes, he/she has been brainwashed by creationism and abstinence only programming. All we can do to save these people is to keep chipping away at their ignorance. I know that sounds pretty evangelical, but the earth people. The EARTH is our ONLY RESOURCE.

Thank mother earth for the Pew Foundation. Keepin' it real since 1948.

Promise-filled

2009-04-07T07:44:00.000-07:00

Quite honestly, that is how the day feels.

I am consistently reminded of the long view over the past couple of days. One month until the end of the semester. Mere days until warm weather. One year until South Africa.

If you aren't a high anxiety person, you probably won't be able to identify with what I'm saying, but isn't it an exquisite feeling when you let yourself just be? I had this foreign impulse this morning that it would be simply fine to look slightly messy today. Earlier in the morning I had the impulse that my normally very long Tuesday would end up totally fine if I got up at 4 am, as my body was wanting to do, and started working on my paper. On my way to work, I felt certain that showing up three minutes late, with a warm cup of strong coffee and a chocolate muffin, would absolutely not end in cataclysm.

Exquisite is the only word.

LUE generally conspires to knock you flat on your ass when you feel certainty, but sometimes it's actual instinct, rather than reason that has set you on your path. Instinct knows when to lean into the cracks, as Bjork would put it.

Radical Movies

2009-01-22T13:43:00.001-08:00

I was just reading this post on treehugger.com about five great movies that need to be seen, and three of them aren't even available on Netflix.

WHAT?

Come on! Netflix is huge. I have to say, I don't think I'm a conspiracy theorist to wonder if there's not a reason for this. Netflix is huge, but Monsanto is huger.

Here are the films:

The World According to Monsanto
The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
Food Fight

Now that I can't get them easily, I want to see them even more!

2009-01-14T20:24:00.000-08:00

Class starts tomorrow! Gah! So exciting! I hope I get good grades this semester. I hope I kick some ass and write some good papers!

In case you're interested, as some people seem to be, here's the reading list for Sociology 802: Modern Social Theory taught by Robert Antonio this semester:

Dewey, John- Individualism Old & New 1-57392-693-0 (paper) Prometheus Books
Durkheim, Emile - Division of Labor in Society 0-02-907960-8 (Paper) Free Press (Halls Translation)
Marx, Karl - Capital Vol. 1 (unabridged) 0-7178-0621-9 (Paper) International Publishers
Mead, George Herbert - Mind, Self, & Society 0-226-51668-7 (Paper) University of Chicago
Nietzsche, Friedrich- On the Genealogy of Morals & Ecce Homo 0-679-72462-1 (Paper) Vintage
Weber, Max - From Max Weber (eds. Hans Gerth & C. W. Mills)- Oxford University Press (Paper) 0195004620 Oxford
Weber, Max - Protestant Ethic & the Spirit of Capitalism with Other Writings on the Rise of the West (Paper) 978-0-19-533253-7 Oxford University Press (Kalberg Translation)

And here's the reading list for the other class I'm taking, Women and Gender Studies 689: Concepts in Human Sexuality taught by Charlene Muehlenhard

Stombler, Mindy; Baunach, Dawn M.; Burgess, Eliasbeth O.; Donnelly, Denise; & Simonds, Wendy. (Eds.). (2004). Sex matters: The sexuality and society reader (2nd ed.). Boston: Pearson. ISBN: 0-205-48544-8
Wiederman, Michael W. (2001). Understanding sexuality research. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. ISBN: 0-534-50958-4

I've read some of the Stombler book just this evening and it's really easy and accessible. I might just read the whole thing this weekend to get it out of the way and leave time for the other texts during the semester.

ROCK CHALK!
Sophie