No, chocolate is not local, but

No, the chocolate I eat is not locally grown, but I couldn't get it locally if I tried. It's not like, for example, driving out east to the grocery store for bread shipped in from who-knows-where and made with hydrogenated oil and high fructose corn syrup when I could walk a few blocks up the street to the Winter Market Wednesday afternoon and get a freshly-made loaf in which the wheat has been locally ground and that doesn't contain preservatives, hydrogenated oil or HFC. And buying chocolate imported chocolate (all chocolate in this country is imported because we can't grow cacao here) is not like driving out East to the grocery store to get apples when the Winter Market has local apples that have not been doused in chemicals and have not been sitting in a truck, boat, or plane for a journey of several thousand miles.

If I could buy chocolate locally, I would, but that is not an option, and of course, giving it up seems to be too much of a sacrifice.

Chocolate

I just had lunch with Lori because it's more civilized than eating in front of my computer. Now I'm back in my office to eat my chocolate.

I have several courses of chocolate after lunch, going from least to most sweet. First I had a Le Petit Ecolier butter biscuit topped with dark chocolate (45% cocoa content), and now I've moved on to the Le Petit Ecolier butter biscuit topped with milk chocolate (sweeter), and then I'm going to have just a piece of chocolate with no butter biscuit. This will probably be a piece of Green and Black's Organic Milk Chocolate (37%) with Almonds.

After that I should brush my teeth so as not to eat more chocolate.

Is the military by definition a rigidly masculine institution?

Many institutions in our country have been defined by a masculine construction--the presidency, education, etc. But in most of these institutions, leeway exists for women to enter these fields, and , if they wish, to form new, less masculine, definitions of these institutions. But I wonder if the military is so staunchly masculine, that it would be impossible, in the case of a gender-neutral draft, for women to have equality within the military. Ann Althouse has made arguments that would coincide with this idea.

If the military is inflexibly defined by a masculine construction, then women would , in the case of a draft, be the "sex slaves" of the military.

Obama says draft women

If our country must instigate a draft, Barak Obama has said he supports having women register for it.

My response is don't instigate wars and don't draft anyone (men or women), but if we find ourselves in a situation in which a draft is necessary, then it should be gender-neutral.

Ana Marie Cox (Wonkette) and Ann Althouse debated this issue on the NYTimes website.
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2008/10/17/opinion/1194825584629/bloggingheads-a-female-draft.html

Ann Althouse makes some strong, respectable feminist arguments against drafting women, but in the end, I side with Ana Marie Cox--that women should be included in a draft. I only wish Ana Marie Cox had argued her case better. The responsibilities in a draft would have to be equal, so that women were not disproportionately filling in lower-level jobs like kitchen work. Let qualified women in the infantry (if that's the kind of war we would have).

Women should not be protected from the front lines of war, and men should not be expected to deal with war more easily than women.

Self Satire

I'm crafting an internet image of myself. I picked this picture because I think it's just slightly funny, cool, and a little cynical. I like the wrinkled eyebrows in the pic. that imply something like, "What the hell are you talking about?" In my non-internet life, I don't think I ever give this look to anyone but myself.

That's my new internet image, but I don't think I go around looking cool like that. Some days I pull off being cool--I have a few cool outfits, but can't afford to dress "cool" everyday. And even if I could, it would be very time consuming to create that kind of wardrobe. So I have to be cool some other way. I try to be wry in the things I say, even though I can't define that word, but I do think I know what it means. On a lucky day, I say something wry to my students and they get it, but usually I don't think they think I'm "cool" and they probably don't use that word anyway.

So what about today when I'm wearing what looks like a little old lady from Lake Wobegan sweater and my hair is exhibiting some funky caliks (apparently, that word's spelled wrong)? I will not use a picture of myself today for my new internet image.

Not-so-cheeri-Os

I picked up off the floor 4 not-so-cheeri-Os that had been partially soaked in local raw milk and then went to write a feminist criticism of nutrition science.

The Bathroom

Mathew's leather sandals are in the tub.
On the floor near the toilet is a book entitled "National Women's History Musuem" (how did it get there?)
On the floor next to the scale is a paper crown.
Three bars of deoderant are on the contertop supposedly because Mathew can't reach them there.
Dye from wet construction paper is dripping down the window frame.
A pair of short overalls that I won't wear until next summer is hanging on a hook.
Many other things like empty shampoo bottles are visible.

Parade Candy and Cupcakes

Today Maya's diet consisted of parade candy and cupcakes--the cheap kind of each, with lots of hydrogenated oil and high fructose corn syrup. None of this junk food came from me. It takes a village to give children cavities and diabetes.

Daily local food from rural Illinois

Last year it seemed remarkable that I could go the whole day eating mostly local foods. This year, I take it for granted. Below is what I ate today. The ratio of local to non-local foods is representative of how we eat every day. Everything is local (less than an hour from Macomb, Il) unless stated:

BREAKFAST:
-Milk from Ruhl's Ranch
-Egg from Ann Runner
-Pumpkin scones made with Ruhl's Ranch cream and local pumpkin (flour not local, but it often is)

LUNCH:
-Salad with lettuce, shallots, and apple from Barefoot Gardens. (There was some Vermont cheese on it and some olive oil from Italy)
-Hot Chocolate with local milk. (Coacoa not local)
2 squares Organic milk chocolate with almonds (not local)

DINNER
-Cabbage slaw with veggies from local food at the Macomb Farmer's Market (believe it or not, some of the goods sold at the Macomb FM are not local, but I don't patronize them). Slaw also had carrots from our backyard. (There was some Canola oil on it from I-don't-know where)
-Cod filets (no, NOT local), but obtained through Macomb Munchers, which is a food co-op
-bread from Twelve Baskets at the Macomb FM and made with 100% whole wheat flour that was locally milled

A window

How much is a windowed office worth? Would you take a pay cut to get an office with a window?

Or write a novel

Take Job A, Job B, or, write a novel. I'd write what I want to read--that professional mothers in the Midwest don't make the same decisions that those on the coasts do. (Judith Warner and Meg Wolitzer, I beg to differ with you.)

And somewhere in that novel is the shame I feel when I project my white, middle class heterosexual mother and wife world view onto others and they call me on it. Go easy on me-- after all, didn't I spend to years living in a home for abandoned girls in Argentina so I could experience what it's like to be the "outsider?"

This thing called a career

Do I apply for the good job that raises my salary a lot NOW, or the better job that would raise my salary by the same amount, but that I may not get and would not even start until two years from now? (I can't do both.)

If you could teach Spanish, why would you choose Women's Studies?

Why am I teaching Women's Studies and what is Women's Studies? Do people who teach History, Literature, Math or Sociology doubt why they do what they do? (No.) I do it because people want this information and they will not get it any where else.

I'm not "puttin on an accent"

Yesterday in "Introduction to Feminist Theory" I was explaining an essay by Mary Church Terrell that dealt with racism between Black and White women. One of my students kept smiling and I asked her what was making her smile. After some prodding on my part, she said, "well, it's just that when you talk about southern racism you put on a southern accent."
"That's because I am Southern" I said. Then the student and I realized we are both from Arkansas. Ya'll have a good day.