Not all of this blog has to be about our Welsh experience. So, readers, I want to share some recent thoughts and things I’ve been reading.
Having finished my first year as an academic, I have had a lot of time to reflect about learning and teaching and US versus UK academics. As always there are things that I like about the system here and things I prefer about the US. Despite being in a brand new department, I’m finding that I don’t get to mold things as much as I thought I would. There are a lot of systems in place already such that I can’t really change things, and the opinions about what works and what doesn’t work from my colleagues and myself are all based upon what we have done in the past/have experienced. Therefore, it isn’t necessarily as fresh as it should be. So that gets me wondering: what is the ideal university experience?
I also wanted to share some of my favorite blogs that I visit with regularity:
Roger Ebert: not only does he have great insight on films and life in general, but he is also an extremely poetic writer AND a fellow UI alum! I respect him so much for what he has written and achieved in the world. If I were ever to meet him, I think I would dissolve into schoolgirlish giggles. He is my favorite and my hero.
In praise of sardines: a food blog that I have been following for a while. I have tried Brett’s recipes and been to his restaurant recommendations. This guy knows his food! He just opened a restaurant in SF, and even though it was promised to open before we left, it was delayed and we have never been to Contigo. However, we are about to head to Spain in July (Barcelona specifically), and I plan to visit several restaurants Chef Emerson recommends.
Barbara Ehrenreich: I read Nickel and Dimed as part of my beloved Studio 1 book club, first nonfiction book, I believe, and found Ehrenreich to be an incredible writer. She combines incisive commentary with good writing. Her blog always teaches me something new and gives me things to think about. I wish more people out there wrote like her.
The Sports Guy: This revelation may come as a shock to some, but I LOVE the Sports Guy even though I don’t love all sports (for the record, I like the Boston Red Sox, UI men’s basketball, and the Cubs when hottie Mark Prior was pitching for them). I think I stumbled upon him because we share a love of the Sox, but then found that he was awesome in general, so kept reading. He is hilarious, insightful, and logical. I love reading his mailbags and his commentary on the Sox. His post in dedication to his dog, The Dooze, made me close my office door and cry like a baby.
Omniglot: Cuz I, too, am a language nerd.
Our friends’ blogs, I visit with a lot of regularity, and you can find them on the blogroll on the right.
Not a blog, but PhD comics is sooooo right on with doctoral life, especially doctoral life at Stanford.
My favorite authors of all time? Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams. Why hasn’t everyone read all of their works???
Lastly, I have a question to pose to our readers: should Dan and I start a family? I know, I know, for everyone who knows me, you know that I have been rather outspoken about not birthing my own children. However, I am really keen on the idea of adopting kids, and it does seem a shame to miss out on the whole family thing; plus lately I’ve been wondering who is going to take care of us when we get old. My kind mom says that it would be a waste of good genes for us NOT to have kids (thanks for the confidence and frankly, a very big compliment, Ma!), but I still have reservations about 1) the environmental impact of bringing more people into the world, 2) is this world really a good one to raise kids in? after all, gay marriage is still not allowed in most parts of the world/our home in the US, 3) how does one raise kids to not become serial killers/rapists or at the very least, not resent me?, and 4) I’m not sure that I would necessarily be a good parent: after all, I lose my temper when Siena sheds on me, how am I supposed to deal with a spitting-up, poop-ful, drool-tastic baby? Plus, we have a lot of role models here of couples who have chosen not to have kids, and they seem to have a helluva good time! Whereas every time I see a mom pushing a stroller (pram) around, she looks like she has been wrecked by a construction ball (dads seem okay, although they are seen with the strollers less than moms). Readers, I would appreciate your opinion on this topic!
