World Cup and Politics

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

Personal Style Blog Research

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.

Health Care Reform

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.