In honor of the fact that just about everyone is back to work after the holiday break, I have a bunch of posts about work and how it fits in with our lives.
First, I found a post about work-life balance that really resonated with me, from a woman in tech. I agreed with just about everything she wrote.
There was also a good Harvard Business Report post about the law of diminishing returns at work, something I've written about before, too.
Science- particularly academic science- as a culture could learn a lot from those posts. A few weeks back, Scicurious had a really good post about the persistent idea that being a good scientist requires allowing science to consume your entire life. I don't think that working on science is some sort of magical exception to the fact that most people cannot sustain maximum productivity over long hours. In fact, I first noticed the negative effect of trying to work past my "work limit" when I was still in academic science. And yet, the culture of bragging about long hours in the lab persists. It is a shame, and as the Twitter discussion in Scicurious' post points out, off-putting to a lot of potentially good scientists. Now you could argue that there are still plenty of scientists, so why worry? Well, I think we'd probably get more quality science done if we dialed back the work hour expectations on scientist. And I also think that life outside the lab informs the sorts of questions people ask, and that we as a society are probably missing out on some diversity in the questions asked because we are driving away diversity in the question askers.
Anyway. This all brought to mind a post of Laura Vanderkam's from November, musing about strategy in marathons and careers. The post is about how we motivate ourselves, but the topic made me think about how I've come to view my career as a marathon, not a sprint. I think I can afford to run a little slower when I'm running up a hill like having young children, as long as I stay in the race. The folks who are sprinting right now may run out of steam, anyway. So I'm focusing a bit more on long term strategy and less on short term positioning, and I find that perspective helpful in squashing the occasional career-related panic.
So, what strategies to use? Cal Newport argues for deliberate practice- i.e., seeking out work practices that maximize your effectiveness by actually making you better at your job. He had a recent post looking at how innate talent or intellectual ability factors into his deliberate practice theory. His conclusion is that the small differences in innate ability can be swamped by practice, which is reassuring for those of us who don't think we were born on the far ends of the bell curve!
He also had an interesting post about why we bother reaching for career success. Why don't we all embrace the minimalist lifestyle and try, as one commenter on a Slashdot thread I read once argued, to work as little as possible? His answer is that people generally want to do something meaningful with their lives, and work is how most of us accomplish that.
I agree... to a point. My thoughts on this and on the problems with our culture that glorifies working long hours were clarified by one of Anandi's recent posts. She writes about why she wants to see her crafts published, and that got me thinking about the value of diversification. My thoughts went first to diversification of income streams, and pulled up an old Scalzi post about the various revenue streams he has. It is accepted wisdom that diversification is good in investing, but not necessarily in other ways of earning income. Scalzi's post makes a compelling case for income diversification for creative types. I have long thought it would be good to have income diversification for the rest of us, too. It would certainly smooth out some of the bumps from lay offs and the like!
But perhaps more important than income diversification is self worth diversification. If all of your self worth is bundled into your job, you are probably in for a rocky ride. Even the most lucky of careers will have their down times. In those times, it is good to be able to look at the other aspects of your life and realize that you are still "adding value" to the world (to use obnoxious business speak) even if your career isn't going as you'd hoped at the moment. I actually think that having this diversification in self worth makes me a better employee, too. It (and the hefty buffer in my bank account) makes me less fearful and cautious at work. I will say what I think, and take some risks, because the consequences of failure don't seem catastrophic to me.
Which brings us back to work-life balance. I wonder what it will take to change our culture to be one that really recognizes its value for everyone?
Thursday, January 05, 2012
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Versatile Blogger Meme
Earlier this week, FeMOMhist tagged me on her list of versatile bloggers.
I'm always honored when some one includes me in a meme/list like this... but I confess, I suck at the follow through.
Here are the rules I'm supposed to follow:
Here are the conditions of the award:
1) Nominate 15 fellow bloggers
2) Inform the Bloggers of their nomination
3) Share 7 random things about yourself
4) Thank the blogger who nominated you
5) Post the award badge.
So, thanks FeMOMhist for nominating me! Here is a list of fellow bloggers. Really, pretty much my entire blog roll could be considered versatile bloggers, so I think I'll introduce some bloggers to each other who may or may not have already found each other.
There are the blogs I found via reading women in science blogs- these are written by people working in academia:
Now, for seven random things about myself. I did a similar list earlier, but it doesn't come up when I search on "random things" and I can't be bothered searching more thoroughly. No doubt some of these will be duplicates from that list- I can't possibly have that many random things to share.
I'm always honored when some one includes me in a meme/list like this... but I confess, I suck at the follow through.
Here are the rules I'm supposed to follow:
Here are the conditions of the award:
1) Nominate 15 fellow bloggers
2) Inform the Bloggers of their nomination
3) Share 7 random things about yourself
4) Thank the blogger who nominated you
5) Post the award badge.
So, thanks FeMOMhist for nominating me! Here is a list of fellow bloggers. Really, pretty much my entire blog roll could be considered versatile bloggers, so I think I'll introduce some bloggers to each other who may or may not have already found each other.
There are the blogs I found via reading women in science blogs- these are written by people working in academia:
- Grumpy Rumblings of the Untenured, written by Nicoleandmaggie (yes, they really are two people, but its hard to tell them apart!)
- Academic Jungle, written by GMP
- Apple Pie and the Universe, written by Alyssa
- The Tightrope, written by Micro Dr. O
- The Bean Chronicles, written by The Bean Mom
- Hush!, written by, Hush.
- House of Peanut, written byAnandi
- Zen Master Moo, written by Zenmoo
- Parisienne Mais Presque, written by an American living in Paris
- Adventures of SarcastiCarrie, written by (take a wild guess...) SarcastiCarrie.
- Ramble, Ramble, written by Ginger
- Bad Mom, Good Mom, written by badmomgoodmom
- Antropologa, written by an American living in Sweden
Now, for seven random things about myself. I did a similar list earlier, but it doesn't come up when I search on "random things" and I can't be bothered searching more thoroughly. No doubt some of these will be duplicates from that list- I can't possibly have that many random things to share.
- One of the phrases I know in Swedish is "Can I have an ashtray." I do not smoke and have never smoked. My other phrases are much more useful: "thanks so much," "I don't speak Swedish," and "I don't understand."
- I don't really like to watch movies. Exceptions are made for Jane Austen adaptations and some Sci Fi films.
- I recognize the comic genius of Ricky Gervais but cannot stand to watch The Office or The Extras because they make me far too uncomfortable.
- I used to bite my nails, but managed to break the habit. I cannot, however, get in a good habit of flossing my teeth every night, so I am clearly not a master of self-control.
- I prefer beer to wine. I'm also partial to a good margarita.
- I thought the best thing about being pregnant was that I got to eat a lot of ice cream. Seriously, when I got pregnant with Petunia, one of my first thoughts was "Hooray! Bring on the ice cream!"
- I used to consider sandalwood my signature scent. I've gotten too lazy to keep that up, though, and now use whatever shower gel is convenient to buy and doesn't small nasty.
Monday, January 02, 2012
The Requisite Resolutions Post
Before we had kids, my husband and I had a tradition of taking a long walk on the beach on New Year's Day. In fact, we often took long walks on the beach- that is one of the things I miss about our pre-kids life. We did a lot of talking and planning on those walks. We got engaged on one. We hatched our plan to take an extended break from work and travel around Asia and the Pacific on one. We also discussed more mundane concerns, from finances to career goals to the fact that one of our favorite restaurants was in a 'black spot"- a location in which restaurants never seemed to survive (this one didn't, either, but it lasted longer than most).
I'm sure that we will eventually be able to incorporate our kids in this tradition, but so far, we haven't done so. Therefore, it was a special treat to get to revive the tradition this year. Our day care was open today, but our work places were closed, so Hubby and I had the day to ourselves. We decided to head down to Pacific Beach and go for a walk. We parked in one of the lots by the bay in Mission Beach, walked along the bay and then up to Law Street checking out the changes in our old neighborhood, then headed to the beach. We stopped for lunch, and then walked back along the beach to our car. It was wonderful, if a bit windy.
Note that I did not pose for this picture. This is what my hair looked like as we walked south.
True to tradition, we discussed the state of our finances (pretty good) and our financial goals for the new year (we probably need to get a new roof- we'd love to be able to connect our house to our garage first). We also discussed possible vacations for 2012 (we think we'll try to go earlier this year, to take advantage of our last year in which we can plan vacations without regard to school schedules) and random other things.
So, I've been in a New Year's sort of mood, and have decided to write up my resolutions for the year. I actually have intentions, not resolutions, but taking some advice from Laura Vanderkam's Just a Minute newsletter, I've decided to try to make one specific, positive goal to go with each.
1. Be happy with my appearance again
Sometime in 2011, I gained 10 lbs. I either need to lose them (and preferably an additional 5 lbs) or make peace with the fact that I'm not going to lose them, and go buy clothes that fit and look good on that weight.
I also need to make peace with the fact that I'm going to be 40 this year, and that I no longer look 21. I need to find my grown up style and be comfortable in it.
My specific goal: I've read that exercise makes you feel better about yourself whether or not you lose weight, so my specific goal is to do something active every day, with two serious workouts per week.
2. Figure out my five year plan
I'm working in a job that is literally the incarnation of the job description I imagined for myself when I left graduate school 10+ years ago. And something is missing. I need to figure out what that is- do I need to aim for a different level of job in my current track? Do I need to do something different in my same industry? Do I need to make a far more drastic change?
My specific goal: I use this blog to figure things out, so my specific goal is to finally write the career introspection posts that have been on my future posts list for months and months.
3. Enjoy the journey
It is my blog tagline, but I have to confess that I sometimes struggle to do this. I'm not sure what the specific goal is for this one (that's probably part of the problem!) but I suspect it involves slowing down and enjoying scenes like this more:
This was taken on New Year's Day. Pumpkin is working on her resolution, which is to read more books on her own (she says that she wants to surprise her Kindergarten teacher with all the words she can read). Petunia just wanted to be like her big sister.
There are more things I plan to do this year, but I keep a revolving list of goals/tasks, so they aren't really resolutions. No doubt I'll write about them anyway at some point!
I'm sure that we will eventually be able to incorporate our kids in this tradition, but so far, we haven't done so. Therefore, it was a special treat to get to revive the tradition this year. Our day care was open today, but our work places were closed, so Hubby and I had the day to ourselves. We decided to head down to Pacific Beach and go for a walk. We parked in one of the lots by the bay in Mission Beach, walked along the bay and then up to Law Street checking out the changes in our old neighborhood, then headed to the beach. We stopped for lunch, and then walked back along the beach to our car. It was wonderful, if a bit windy.
Note that I did not pose for this picture. This is what my hair looked like as we walked south.
True to tradition, we discussed the state of our finances (pretty good) and our financial goals for the new year (we probably need to get a new roof- we'd love to be able to connect our house to our garage first). We also discussed possible vacations for 2012 (we think we'll try to go earlier this year, to take advantage of our last year in which we can plan vacations without regard to school schedules) and random other things.
So, I've been in a New Year's sort of mood, and have decided to write up my resolutions for the year. I actually have intentions, not resolutions, but taking some advice from Laura Vanderkam's Just a Minute newsletter, I've decided to try to make one specific, positive goal to go with each.
1. Be happy with my appearance again
Sometime in 2011, I gained 10 lbs. I either need to lose them (and preferably an additional 5 lbs) or make peace with the fact that I'm not going to lose them, and go buy clothes that fit and look good on that weight.
I also need to make peace with the fact that I'm going to be 40 this year, and that I no longer look 21. I need to find my grown up style and be comfortable in it.
My specific goal: I've read that exercise makes you feel better about yourself whether or not you lose weight, so my specific goal is to do something active every day, with two serious workouts per week.
2. Figure out my five year plan
I'm working in a job that is literally the incarnation of the job description I imagined for myself when I left graduate school 10+ years ago. And something is missing. I need to figure out what that is- do I need to aim for a different level of job in my current track? Do I need to do something different in my same industry? Do I need to make a far more drastic change?
My specific goal: I use this blog to figure things out, so my specific goal is to finally write the career introspection posts that have been on my future posts list for months and months.
3. Enjoy the journey
It is my blog tagline, but I have to confess that I sometimes struggle to do this. I'm not sure what the specific goal is for this one (that's probably part of the problem!) but I suspect it involves slowing down and enjoying scenes like this more:
This was taken on New Year's Day. Pumpkin is working on her resolution, which is to read more books on her own (she says that she wants to surprise her Kindergarten teacher with all the words she can read). Petunia just wanted to be like her big sister.
There are more things I plan to do this year, but I keep a revolving list of goals/tasks, so they aren't really resolutions. No doubt I'll write about them anyway at some point!
Sunday, January 01, 2012
A Demonstration of the Cooling Off Period Effect (At Least As Applied to Blogging)
This post started out a lot angrier. In fact, it started life in my head as a snarky open letter. But time passed between when I first wanted to write the post and when I was finally able to sit down and write... and my anger has cooled and my opinion of the incident that provoked it has become more nuanced. So, instead of a snarky open letter, I'll just tell a story and ask a question at the end.
This morning, my husband, my sister, and I took the girls down to our local park. It was a gorgeous day, and we were all in a good mood when we got there. Petunia went straight to the swings. Pumpkin pushed her baby doll in a swing for awhile, but then she wanted to run. The park has a playground, a picnic area (with tables) on a slight slope, a basketball court, and a big open field. Pumpkin wanted to run in the field, but she wasn't sure, because there were also a lot of dogs in the field. All the dogs were with their owners, but none of them were on leashes- even though there are signs all over the park saying that dogs must be leashed.
Now, I'm sympathetic to the dog owners on this point. It is a big open field that just begs dogs to run in it. But here's the thing: it also begs little kids to run in it. Pumpkin wanted to run in the field, and all the dogs were with their owners, so I ignored the little voice in my head that said the dogs might think that she wanted to play with them and chase her. I convinced myself that the little voice was just the little kid I used to be, who was deathly afraid of dogs and whose sister still chuckles when she recounts the time we came upon a dog on our walk to school and I ran around and around in circles with it chasing happily after me, until I broke free from whatever centripetal force had me in its sway and shot off towards home.
I shushed the little voice, pointed to an area without any dogs in it, and told Pumpkin to run there, because if she ran too close to the dogs, "the doggies might get confused and think you want to play with them." She took off running, holding her baby. My sister and I watched her run, and commented on how the fact that she was holding the baby doll changed her gait.
She ran a little closer to the dogs than I intended, and two large dogs stopped playing with each other, right next to their owners, and started chasing Pumpkin. I cannot say whether or not the owners tried to stop this, because I was not close enough to hear them. But if they tried, they failed, because the dogs were definitely chasing Pumpkin.
Pumpkin is not a natural with dogs. She used to be as scared of them as I ever was, but with a lot of time and patience, and the help of a friendly, gentle dog who visits her day care, she has mostly gotten past that and is usually interested in petting a dog when she sees one. She is not, however, interested in being chased by two large dogs. She started to scream and run in circles trying to get away. I was immediately on my feet, running towards her, yelling for the dog owners to get their dogs away from her. Before I could get to her, one of the dogs knocked her over. I don't think the dog did on purpose- he just bumped into her. The dog probably weighed about 50 lbs. She weighs 35 lbs at most. She fell down, still screaming.
I got to her seconds later and picked her up. The entire incident probably lasted less than 30 seconds. The dogs had meant no harm. She had been licked and nuzzled, but not hurt in the slightest.
But she was terrified. It took several minutes to calm her down. She had lost her shoe and dropped her baby. I gathered those up, and I'm ashamed to admit that I told the dog owners, who had by this time come and put their dogs on leashes, that this was not actually a leash free park. That was unkind of me. The dog owners knew this, of course. They are locals, like we are.
Their dogs had not actually hurt Pumpkin, just scared her. They'd scared me, too. The dog owners were no doubt confident that their dogs would not hurt a child. I didn't know that, though, and Pumpkin certainly didn't know it. And, you know what? The dog owners didn't really know that, either. Dogs are animals, and are not 100% predictable. I do not think a child should ever approach a strange dog uninvited, and I do not think a dog owner should ever let his or her dog run over to a strange child uninvited, either. Put yourself in Pumpkin's shoes. The dogs were both almost as tall as she is, and they each weighed more than her. Their mouths full of teeth were roughly at neck height. I don't know why people are surprised that some kids are afraid of dogs. I'm more surprised that some kids aren't.
After a few minutes, when Pumpkin had stopped screaming, one of the dog owners came over to check that Pumpkin was OK. I assured her that Pumpkin was fine, just scared. She understood. She was a nice woman, and I'm sure the other dog's owner was nice, too. The dogs and their owners left, and Hubby was able to get Pumpkin up and running again, although she would only run on the slope with the picnic area, not in the big field. We enjoyed the rest of our time at the park, and then walked home and had applesauce-oatmeal pancakes for lunch. I cannot say, as I was going to in my snarky open letter, that the incident ruined our day. It didn't even ruin our trip to the park.
I now see that incident as a warning to all involved. Pumpkin and I got a fright, for sure, but hopefully the dog owners also stopped and thought about what happened. They were not able to keep their unleashed dogs under control. The dogs caused no physical harm, so they were able to leash their dogs again and go home. If a dog had actually bitten Pumpkin, that would not have been the case. I would have called 911, and the dog would have been taken away, and might well have been put down.
Pumpkin seems to be over the incident altogether, although I suspect that we undid a lot of the careful work that has gone into making her more comfortable around dogs. A little dog walked past us as we left the park, and where last week, she would have walked confidently past the dog, today she froze, grabbed for my hand, and put me between her and the dog. Still, she was happy and playful the rest of the day, save the usual drama that seems to attend the phase we're in right now.
I'm mostly over the incident, too, although I am still a bit unnerved by what could have happened if those dogs weren't friendly. I don't think I'll let Pumpkin get so far away from me near unknown dogs again. And I still feel terrible for giving Pumpkin bad advice. She asked if I thought it would be OK to run in the field, and I said it would be. I was wrong. Hubby thinks that I should have run with Pumpkin. I agree that this would have allowed me to prevent the worst of the incident- I would have swooped her up as soon as the dogs came running over, and I could have held her until the owners came and calmed their dogs down. Perhaps the dog owners think it is Pumpkin's fault: she should not have run in a place where so many dogs were playing. The law says that those dogs should not have been off their leashes at all. It is a law that is routinely flouted in our local park, and as I said above, I can understand why. However, I expected that anyone who had their dog off its leash would be able to control the dog. That was not the case.
So, what do you think? Were the dog owners in the wrong? Was I in the wrong for letting Pumpkin run there? I certainly won't do it again- not that she is likely to ask. But that makes me wonder: where are children supposed to run, if every park is fair game for unleashed dogs, regardless of what the signs say? The dog owners could have taken their dogs to one of several leash free parks within a short drive from our neighborhood park. Where can I take Pumpkin to run?
This morning, my husband, my sister, and I took the girls down to our local park. It was a gorgeous day, and we were all in a good mood when we got there. Petunia went straight to the swings. Pumpkin pushed her baby doll in a swing for awhile, but then she wanted to run. The park has a playground, a picnic area (with tables) on a slight slope, a basketball court, and a big open field. Pumpkin wanted to run in the field, but she wasn't sure, because there were also a lot of dogs in the field. All the dogs were with their owners, but none of them were on leashes- even though there are signs all over the park saying that dogs must be leashed.
Now, I'm sympathetic to the dog owners on this point. It is a big open field that just begs dogs to run in it. But here's the thing: it also begs little kids to run in it. Pumpkin wanted to run in the field, and all the dogs were with their owners, so I ignored the little voice in my head that said the dogs might think that she wanted to play with them and chase her. I convinced myself that the little voice was just the little kid I used to be, who was deathly afraid of dogs and whose sister still chuckles when she recounts the time we came upon a dog on our walk to school and I ran around and around in circles with it chasing happily after me, until I broke free from whatever centripetal force had me in its sway and shot off towards home.
I shushed the little voice, pointed to an area without any dogs in it, and told Pumpkin to run there, because if she ran too close to the dogs, "the doggies might get confused and think you want to play with them." She took off running, holding her baby. My sister and I watched her run, and commented on how the fact that she was holding the baby doll changed her gait.
She ran a little closer to the dogs than I intended, and two large dogs stopped playing with each other, right next to their owners, and started chasing Pumpkin. I cannot say whether or not the owners tried to stop this, because I was not close enough to hear them. But if they tried, they failed, because the dogs were definitely chasing Pumpkin.
Pumpkin is not a natural with dogs. She used to be as scared of them as I ever was, but with a lot of time and patience, and the help of a friendly, gentle dog who visits her day care, she has mostly gotten past that and is usually interested in petting a dog when she sees one. She is not, however, interested in being chased by two large dogs. She started to scream and run in circles trying to get away. I was immediately on my feet, running towards her, yelling for the dog owners to get their dogs away from her. Before I could get to her, one of the dogs knocked her over. I don't think the dog did on purpose- he just bumped into her. The dog probably weighed about 50 lbs. She weighs 35 lbs at most. She fell down, still screaming.
I got to her seconds later and picked her up. The entire incident probably lasted less than 30 seconds. The dogs had meant no harm. She had been licked and nuzzled, but not hurt in the slightest.
But she was terrified. It took several minutes to calm her down. She had lost her shoe and dropped her baby. I gathered those up, and I'm ashamed to admit that I told the dog owners, who had by this time come and put their dogs on leashes, that this was not actually a leash free park. That was unkind of me. The dog owners knew this, of course. They are locals, like we are.
Their dogs had not actually hurt Pumpkin, just scared her. They'd scared me, too. The dog owners were no doubt confident that their dogs would not hurt a child. I didn't know that, though, and Pumpkin certainly didn't know it. And, you know what? The dog owners didn't really know that, either. Dogs are animals, and are not 100% predictable. I do not think a child should ever approach a strange dog uninvited, and I do not think a dog owner should ever let his or her dog run over to a strange child uninvited, either. Put yourself in Pumpkin's shoes. The dogs were both almost as tall as she is, and they each weighed more than her. Their mouths full of teeth were roughly at neck height. I don't know why people are surprised that some kids are afraid of dogs. I'm more surprised that some kids aren't.
After a few minutes, when Pumpkin had stopped screaming, one of the dog owners came over to check that Pumpkin was OK. I assured her that Pumpkin was fine, just scared. She understood. She was a nice woman, and I'm sure the other dog's owner was nice, too. The dogs and their owners left, and Hubby was able to get Pumpkin up and running again, although she would only run on the slope with the picnic area, not in the big field. We enjoyed the rest of our time at the park, and then walked home and had applesauce-oatmeal pancakes for lunch. I cannot say, as I was going to in my snarky open letter, that the incident ruined our day. It didn't even ruin our trip to the park.
I now see that incident as a warning to all involved. Pumpkin and I got a fright, for sure, but hopefully the dog owners also stopped and thought about what happened. They were not able to keep their unleashed dogs under control. The dogs caused no physical harm, so they were able to leash their dogs again and go home. If a dog had actually bitten Pumpkin, that would not have been the case. I would have called 911, and the dog would have been taken away, and might well have been put down.
Pumpkin seems to be over the incident altogether, although I suspect that we undid a lot of the careful work that has gone into making her more comfortable around dogs. A little dog walked past us as we left the park, and where last week, she would have walked confidently past the dog, today she froze, grabbed for my hand, and put me between her and the dog. Still, she was happy and playful the rest of the day, save the usual drama that seems to attend the phase we're in right now.
I'm mostly over the incident, too, although I am still a bit unnerved by what could have happened if those dogs weren't friendly. I don't think I'll let Pumpkin get so far away from me near unknown dogs again. And I still feel terrible for giving Pumpkin bad advice. She asked if I thought it would be OK to run in the field, and I said it would be. I was wrong. Hubby thinks that I should have run with Pumpkin. I agree that this would have allowed me to prevent the worst of the incident- I would have swooped her up as soon as the dogs came running over, and I could have held her until the owners came and calmed their dogs down. Perhaps the dog owners think it is Pumpkin's fault: she should not have run in a place where so many dogs were playing. The law says that those dogs should not have been off their leashes at all. It is a law that is routinely flouted in our local park, and as I said above, I can understand why. However, I expected that anyone who had their dog off its leash would be able to control the dog. That was not the case.
So, what do you think? Were the dog owners in the wrong? Was I in the wrong for letting Pumpkin run there? I certainly won't do it again- not that she is likely to ask. But that makes me wonder: where are children supposed to run, if every park is fair game for unleashed dogs, regardless of what the signs say? The dog owners could have taken their dogs to one of several leash free parks within a short drive from our neighborhood park. Where can I take Pumpkin to run?
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Weekend Reading: The Privilege and Poverty Edition
I considered making my year in review post my weekend reading post for the week, but that seemed a bit narcissistic, even for a blogger. So here are some other things to read:
First, via the Harvard Business Review, of all places, I came across this post about male privilege in geek fandom. It is a pretty good explanation of privilege, particularly as it applies to the "chilly climate" issue.
Then, Nicoleandmaggie wrote a post about how (and whether) they should help a young niece of theirs overcome some bad decisions, bad luck, and lack of money to get to college. They linked to an old post of John Scalzi's about poverty, which you should go read if you haven't read it before. And if you have read it before, it will stand up to a re-reading. (Incidentally, thanks to a more recent post of his that I came across after reading the old one on poverty, I finally figured out why his name sounded so familiar to me- he was the editor of my college newspaper for part of the time I was in college. You have no idea how glad I am to have finally figured this out. His 20 year old self even looks familiar.)
Finally, my friend Stevil wrote a great post about an encounter in a CVS store that helped remind me what is special about Christmas and pull me out of my pre-Christmas funk.
Happy New Year, everyone! I hope 2012 brings you happiness and good fortune.
First, via the Harvard Business Review, of all places, I came across this post about male privilege in geek fandom. It is a pretty good explanation of privilege, particularly as it applies to the "chilly climate" issue.
Then, Nicoleandmaggie wrote a post about how (and whether) they should help a young niece of theirs overcome some bad decisions, bad luck, and lack of money to get to college. They linked to an old post of John Scalzi's about poverty, which you should go read if you haven't read it before. And if you have read it before, it will stand up to a re-reading. (Incidentally, thanks to a more recent post of his that I came across after reading the old one on poverty, I finally figured out why his name sounded so familiar to me- he was the editor of my college newspaper for part of the time I was in college. You have no idea how glad I am to have finally figured this out. His 20 year old self even looks familiar.)
Finally, my friend Stevil wrote a great post about an encounter in a CVS store that helped remind me what is special about Christmas and pull me out of my pre-Christmas funk.
Happy New Year, everyone! I hope 2012 brings you happiness and good fortune.
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