I swear, the Social Science section at Borders and Barnes and Noble gets more and more polluted each time I go. Why are there books written by non-social scientists [aka journalists] in the Sociology section?! And why is this section void of the classics?! Where's Suicide by Durkheim? The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism by Weber?! The Second Shift?! Why are they being replaced by non-sciencey counterparts?! Bleh.

Robsessed

Read my friend Rob's blog here:

http://robsesser.blogspot.com/

You'll be glad you did.

Wise Words from Nancy Drew

Nancy Drew Wilderness Tip #82: "If you see something resembling a shark in a river, don't fret. It's more likely to be a small submarine operated by theives." ~ The Mystery of the Lilac Inn

Voting

I really like that I have the right to vote in this country. I really do. And I appreciate those that have fought for me to be able to vote. But the PROCESS in choosing who to vote for s-u-c-k-s. Yeah we need to work for more clean energy. Yeah we need more jobs. Yeah we're in a deficit. No shit Sherlock. It just feels like I'm looking at the SAME thing on all these different people's websites and then that person says that she lied and she says that he's a cheater and he says her plans won't work and BLAH BLAH BLAH. I hate politics, but it's such a necessary evil. All that to say...vote!!!

Glee-ligion

I've heard mixed reviews on this week's episode of "Glee." The reviews have been on the spectrum of "I cried at the end!" to "Meh. Disappointment." I fell somewhere in the middle--I wasn't blubbering by any means, but I daresay it was one of my favorite episodes--not necessarily entertainment wise [although I did quite enjoy Sue as always and the Grilled Cheesus was cracking me up] but more for intellectual reasons. I daresay this is the best discussion of religion that I've ever seen in the mass media. In general, I must say that when the issue is brought up people generally tend to tense up and get all defensive and what not. But that's not what this episode was--it was an open and honest discussion. In general I feel like discussions of religion through the media are very one-sided--one side is seen as more or less stupid for believing what they believe, whether that is in God or not. However, I loved the story lines because everyone had their own reasons for believing what they believed--and how could I blame Sue or Kurt for not believing in God when they'd experienced so much pain? And as Emma said when she was talking to Finn when he was going through his Grilled Cheesus crisis, these questions are big for a reason. I actually get more afraid of people who DON'T question anything then the ones that do. Kurt pointed out how the church doesn't think too highly of gays or women...I can't blame him for not wanting to be apart of an organization like that, and I think it was good for churchies to hear. Finally, I loved the scene at Mercedes' church where she tells Kurt that hey, it's OK if you don't believe in God, but you're always welcome here, and I hope you find something to believe in. That's how I think it should be--this inclusive community where we walk and think through the big questions together. And I have to thank Glee for not portraying people who believe in God as hypocritical or loud-mouthed or arrogant--I felt like those that believe in God on the show [minus maybe Quinn in earlier episodes] were caring, thoughtful and had just as many questions as everyone else. I was talking to a friend about the show and what he thought and he said that he didn't feel like it had closure...and I pointed out that life sometimes doesn't have closure--We're all wondering what life is about, and it seems to me we focus so many times on the insignificant differences and let those become divisive verses the questions and the times of pain and joy that we all seem to share in common as human beings.

Go NBC!!! And my Sociological Imagination!!!

There's a new show on NBC called "School Pride" in which they take dilapidated schools and make them over (sort of like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, but Extreme Makeover: School Edition). The idea is that by changing the school, kids will then do better, because frankly they're being treated less like animals and more like human beings--by investing money, time and energy into the schools, kids then see that as investing in THEM and actually do better in school [AND let's put it out there...a lot of lower income schools are directly correlated with race...yes folks, racism is still an issue. argh!]. I love this from a sociological perspective because it's about changing the STRUCTURE and thusly changing a LOT of individuals. It's so cool that media is being used in such a positive way! I'll be watching NBC...I'll be watching!

http://www.nbc.com/school-pride/

**As an interesting commentary on race/gender may I proclaim that I am a big fan of NBC right now because I was in NYC with my family and I looked at a promotional poster for all the new shows coming out this fall. There was a really wide range of of people depicted--white men, black women [though I will say from what I remember it was lacking a bit in Asian/Latino/a people depicted]. There were two women who were CIA agents or something equally powerful and kick-ass. I looked across the way at CBS and saw...all white faces, except for like one or two. Anyways, go NBC for diversity!!!!! I haven't actually seen some of the shows so I can't say how these people are being depicted, but from the posters it looked like a decent start. Hoorah!

Short Update

Hello to you good ma'am or sir. You're probably wondering why I have had all but four blog posts for the month of September, when my normal average tends to be approximately 50. Four words: Grad school and work. Oh, let me add one really long hyphenated word: the-gre-is-kicking-my-butt-and-is-the-bein-of-my-quotidian-existence [did you like how I incorporated the GRE word quotidian in there? It means "occurring daily"]. Anyways, needless to say I have been a busy bee, which leaves less time for ridiculous adventures, which is unfortunate for everyone [as in you blog readers and myself] involved. What have I done lately...let me see:

1. Got horribly outrun by college students at Dean's Cup [residence hall competition] this last Wednesday. I've accepted the fact that I am distance not speed. I have not accepted the fact that I am horrendously out of shape.

2. Went to a Whole Foods Tasting party and ate the best cake I've had in awhile [blood orange frosting!]. I'm glad that Whole Foods decided to turn 30 and even more that they decided to celebrate. I also did a horrendous job attempting to flirt with the cute guy at the sampling [Me: "So uhhhh are you like a cook or uhhhh a cashier or something?" Him: "I do everything." "Oh, that's neat uhhh..." His coworker: "Hey--you have a customer on aisle 3!" Him in his head: "Thank goodness, get me out of here." End scene]. Much like being physically out of shape, it seems I am also romantically out of shape.

3. I have cut my coffee consumption down from 7ish cups a week to two. I ironically have much more energy. I'm attempting to view coffee more as a special treat [as well as Splenda because that shit is REALLY bad for you I learned], and decided to walk up to Starbucks early one morning for a carmel machiatto [I don't know how to spell it]. I was going for the decadent drink, you know, not holding back, and by the time I had walked all the way to Starbies I was hot and decided I wanted an iced beverage instead of a hot one. I forgot to say iced. And the world caved in. I could have asked them to remake it, I suppose, but I felt bad given that it was my own fault...and it was the pickle on my crap sandwich that was my day, as Elliot Ried from "Scrubs" would say.

4. My family came! We went to New York City and Boston, and I got to see the NBC studios and where they film Saturday Night Live! Fun Fact: it is harder to become an NBC Page like Kenneth on 30 Rock then it is to get into HARVARD. I also got to eat Italian rainbow cookies and a whoopie pie.

That's been the extent of my life...graduate school prep, work, and some occasional laps around the track just to make sure I don't keel over or anything. Hopefully something extremely interesting happens to me soon so that I have something hilarious to write about. But hopefully NOT some man telling me that women should stay at home in the kitchen and have children on a date.