CultureCat - Rhetoric and FeminismA weblog about my life as an assistant professor of rhetoric and composition.Quote of the day- May 25, 2008 I LOLed at this one (comment in this thread -- yes, I read FARK; it's a guilty pleasure): Well, have a little bit of mercy on me, at least. Could you give a code word or something so that when society collapses and the cities are in flames and I'm leading a rag-tag group of survivors west away from the cannibals and zombies in the small hope of finding peace in the open desert and we arrive at the stronghold in which you're ruling over a tribe of like-minded individuals, we could at least be...http://culturecat.net/quote-day Do Not Ask- May 19, 2008 Questions you should never ask new parents: these are along the lines of asking a torpid ABD graduate student, "How's the dissertation going" 1. "Were you able to sleep much last night" or a variation such as, "Are you getting much sleep" The answer is always no, and I don't want to talk about it. 2. "Why is he crying" I DON'T KNOW WHY. It's not like I'm just walking around, tra-la-la, and when my baby starts screaming I need someone to prompt me to think about the possible reasons. BELIEVE ME,.http://culturecat.net/do-not-ask Nursing Is Awful (TMI, Perhaps)- May 18, 2008 UGH. Friends of mine have told me before that breastfeeding is "an art." La Leche League has a book titled The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. I never understood the claim, and after nearly a month of doing it myself, I still don't. Not unless one means that it's art in the sense of some kind of masochistic performance art, like if an artist stands in a museum and lets people come up to her and inflict pain on her in the form of pinches, burns, and cuts. In other words, nursing HURTS and I hate..http://culturecat.net/nursing-awful-tmi-perhaps Mixture- May 11, 2008 It's very strange to have a mixture of emotions as I have now. I'm feeling the loss of my dad, but at the same time, I still get joy out of my baby; it hasn't really tempered that. I don't feel that guilty admitting it, as I think my dad would have wanted me to savor this newborn-baby time with Henry. On that note, I'd like to lighten the mood around here with a list of products that have become even more useful than I expected: My Brest Friend: first recommended to me by Jodi. This thing has..http://culturecat.net/mixture 1937-2008- May 6, 2008 Last night my mom called to tell me that my dad passed away in his sleep. Some of you know that he had been very sick (emphysema and prostate problems) for years now, so this isn't unexpected, though it is obviously sad. Emails are fine, but I'm not really up for talking on the phone yet. The plan now is that he will be cremated -- both of my parents have always said they wanted to be cremated -- and that a memorial service will be held at a later date, probably sometime this summer. I'm still..http://culturecat.net/1937-2008 |