March 2012
52 posts
March/April Resolutions
My March resolution was to do yoga every day. I did only okay with this one. I hit probably 80% of the days, but most of the time I worked at it for only 10 minutes or so. I just felt like I was already doing so many exercises - ankle stuff twice a day, physical therapy, swimming - that I didn’t have a lot of motivation or time to do more.
My April resolution is to change my relationship...
I ran last night.
Only a few steps - to catch the bus - but I did run.
We’re getting there…
What I want to do today:
Play hooky from life and go see The Hunger Games by myself.
What I’ll actually do:
Homework for the class I don’t have to take but am taking anyway, thinking about just what the heck kind of research I’m going to do for the next two years, another sports med doctor appointment (recovering from this broken bone is a full time job, I’m telling...
Things I Don't Usually Consider Work But Should
1) Reading the newspaper. (For goodness sake, I’m getting a policy degree.)
2) Socializing with other students in my program. (I ran into a second year on the the way home and decided to forgo the reading I had planned so I could chat with her. I stepped off the train with - courtesy of her - a great idea for my course outline and a new dataset to check out. Talking about your research with...
A thought I had walking home from the train that I...
I think the main reason I get so prickly when people start talking about gender differences is that all the ways women are seen as different from men ultimately get construed as ways women are inferior to men.
Here’s what I mean. It seems to me that the pop psychology story is that women, on average, are more emotional than men, possess better verbal skills, have better memories, are more...
Did it!
Feeling good. Feeling strong. Feeling like I need to put my feet up for a bit. Entertain me, Tumblr.
Okay.
Let’s try a 2 mile walk on the beach with a 10 minute break after the first mile.
Gees. I remember when I was nervously gearing up to run 10, 15, 26 miles. Oh how times have changed.
“Why extremists always focus on women remains a mystery to me. But they all seem...”
– Hillary Clinton (via apsies)
More LSC stuff...
So after some rooting around, I’ve found that LSC positions in my neighborhood seem to be pretty competitive. In 2010, 6 people vied for 2 “community” spots for the high school I’d run for.
I’m thinking no?
I mean, I’m interested in this for my own experience, but mostly I just want to be useful. If I’m not needed - if there are already good, qualified...
Whoa. Should I run for office?
Maybe it’s all the Parks & Rec I’ve been watching (love you, Leslie Knope) combined with the always frustratingly slow pace of research, but I got inspired today to run for my Local School Council. (This is kind of like a mini school board. Parents, community members - that would be me - and teachers work together to help make their local school’s budget, choose and evaluate...
Things I Do When I Want to Feel Safe
Do you have days when it’s too exhausting to be adventurous or bold or ambitious and you just want to feel comfortable?
I do, for sure. And I usually cope by doing some combination of the following:
- Listen to Jack Johnson’s On and On album
- Drink coffee
- Drink red wine
- Watch an easy movie or an episode of The Office, Parks and Rec, Up All Night, or New Girl
- Ask for a...
“The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. but it...”
– David Orr (via allisonrae, free-wilderness) (via thegreensandyellowsofhappiness)
Another journal rejection...
That makes three for this particular article. The first one was no big deal, the second was also okay, but this time it feels like a mini punch in the gut.
Oh well. The sun’s shining and I’m off to happy hour.
“Elizabeth has many friends. She has a big life.”
– The Descendants
(I want a big life.)
Hey Brady - would you like to take a nap with the...
Why yes. Yes I would, thanks.
Fact.
Choosing a dissertation topic is really intimidating.
What I pick will take up two and a half years of my life and will define my eventual job search.
I’m having mini panic attacks thinking about settling on just one idea.
(Can I just move to Key West and work in a coffee shop please?)
“We also live in a competitive society, and so by lamenting our overwork and...”
– are you as busy as you think? by laura vanderkam | via the wall street journal
This article makes me feel better. I hear people talk about working 60, 70, 80 hour weeks. My cousin once claimed to work 100 hour weeks, and I felt like - how is that even possible? I do think many of us round up and,...
“The hard part, of course, is that it’s easier to be busy than it is to be...”
– Cal Newport
My biggest career issue is always, always am I doing enough…And I’ve certainly learned that having a lot to do doesn’t mean I’m doing anything important. Some of my busiest quarters have been my least productive.
Unpopular Opinion of the Year
I’m over Modern Family.
Practice
Today I was thinking about my “do yoga every day” March resolution and my commitment to work on long-term projects for 90 minutes before I check Tumblr and also this other quote I read once (that I don’t have a link to, unfortunately) about how with yoga it’s really important to just practice it. Just do it. Go through the motions instead of thinking about yoga or preparing...
Truth.
“True gender equality is actually perceived as inequality. A group that is made up of 50% women is perceived as being mostly women. A situation that is perfectly equal between men and women is perceived as being biased in favor of women. And if you don’t believe me, you’ve never been a married woman who kept her family name…My own brother told me that he could never marry a woman who...
“Planning your attitude is more important than planning your actions. You may not...”
– Dorothy Mendoza Row
I like this.
What kind of attitude could I plan that would make me really productive tomorrow?
Well, I learned an important lesson this weekend. Gluten intolerance is no joke. My good friend (who was diagnosed about a year ago) came to visit, we took her to Chilam Balam, we asked the waiter what she could and couldn’t eat, she took his advice, and thirty minutes later she was sick as a dog, lying in our spare bedroom in the dark, definitely NOT coming to Second City with us. I felt...
My Weekend
Last night:
- Apartment deep clean in preparation for today’s company
- Pasta with spinach, tomatoes, and goat cheese
- The Season 2 finale of Downton Abbey (which was so much more satisfying than I expected!)
Today:
- Yoga
- Coffee with cinnamon, eggs and toast
- Indiana friends arrive
- Mista for pizza
- Lincoln Park Zoo
- Chilam Balam
- Second City
Tomorrow:
- Brunch at...
Wow.
Not letting myself check Tumblr until I’ve done 90 minutes of work on my course outline means I spend a lot less time on Tumblr and get a lot more work done on my course outline. Go figure.
I’ve resorted to a frantic catch-up session on a Friday night. I miss you.
Dear Oscar: Women Have Stories Too →
“At Sunday’s Oscars, we were treated to a montage of great moments from movies from the past few decades…There wasn’t a single clip of a woman that didn’t have to do with either her romance with a man or with her getting attacked.
Here are the four things we hear from the women in the montage:
We’re getting married in five hours! (Yelling angrily at fiance).
Woman...
