MEme

Arduous tagged me.
Here are the rules for the meme:

Archive Meme Instructions: Go back through your archives and post the links to your five favorite blog posts that you've written. ... but there is a catch:

Link 1 must be about family.
Link 2 must be about friends.
Link 3 must be about yourself, who you are... what you're all about.
Link 4 must be about something you love.
Link 5 can be anything you choose.

I think this is a great way to circulate some of the great older posts everyone had written, return to a few great places in our memories and also learn a little something about ourselves and each other that we may not know.

Post your five links and then tag five other people. At least TWO of the people you tag must be *newer acquaintances so that you get to know each other better....and don't forget to read the archive posts and leave comments!

Link 1 must be about family.
From reading my blog you would think that I didn't have a family. I gather because I created this blog as a way to motivate my writing. So the few entries that I mention my family are almost like side notes. My mom and sister are coming to visit in March so I'll be sure to talk about them then. In the mean time you can read some about what I did with my mom and sister during the winter trip to west coast, here and here.

Link 2 must be about friends.
Again, not much social talk on my blog. My last entry talked about some fun time in dissertation town. But I'm lonely here in the midwest.

Link 3 must be about yourself, who you are... what you're all about.
Check out these two post, I'm the crazy bag lady and Confession.
And you might as well read my first post.

Link 4 must be about something you love.
I love making progress. What I really love is rugby, but I'm currently not playing, so I don't talk about it much.

Link 5 can be anything you choose.
I think relationships between graduate students and advisers are tricky.

I think this exercise in posting old post was a good lesson in how boring my post are. Thanks for reading despite this :)
I resolve to write more about my personal life and less about the boring progress of my research.

Oh and I tag
Psychgrad
Janus Professor
Science Girl
Mad Hatter
Just Me

Privledge Meme

Ecogeofemme has this interesting meme that I thought I'd do. She got it from Flicka Mawa who got it from Watershed, who asked that credit be given to the original authors:

This is based on “From What Privileges Do You Have?,” an exercise about

class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen,

Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University.

Green means I answered yes.

1. Father went to college

2. Father finished college

3. Mother went to college (junior college, AA degree in accounting or something similar)

4. Mother finished college

5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor.

6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers (don’t know. Likely same.)

7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home (also don’t know. I did have a lot of my own books. I don’t remember any family books or those that belonged to my parents only)

8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home.

9. Were read children’s books by a parent

10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 (never private lessons but was in sports and band; oh except I did do batting lessons one season)

11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18.

12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively. (is anyone really portrayed positively? But I guess as a white women I’m portrayed better than some.)

13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18.

14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs. (way to go grandparents-they paid tuition I did the rest, no rent first two years then my mom got divorced and we moved out and shared rent somewhere)

15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs.

16. Went to a private high school.

17. Went to summer camp (I was a camp fire girl).

18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18.

19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels. (we also camped or stayed in houses with my mom’s sisters and their family.)

20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18. (a lot but I also remember shopping at thrift stores)

21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them. (we saved my second dad’s truck after he passed away for me. It was made the same year I was born, it was painted for me for my 16^th bday)

22. There was original art in your house when you were a child.

23. You and your family lived in a single-family house.

24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home. (Not any more since the divorce my mom can’t afford to buy anything).

25. You had your own room as a child. (I was an only child until 18.)

26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18.

27. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course.

28. Had your own TV in your room in high school.

29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college.

30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16. (I think I was 13 when I went on a trip in our same state with my mom, aunt and five cousins.)

31. Went on a cruise with your family.

32. Went on more than one cruise with your family.

33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up. (I think only for field trips, I did go to aquariums with family and we probably did some museums so I’ll check this one.)

34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family. (my mom and second dad fought a lot about money but I don’t remember heating bills)

16 out of 34.

In my own analysis I wouldn’t say I was privileged but definitely spoiled, and definitely more well off than a lot of people in this world. I didn’t realize this until later in my life and I don’t think I acted spoiled. I rarely remember my mom telling me no to anything. But both my mom and step father were blue collar folks who worked very hard, and they themselves didn’t come from very privileged families. My biological father died in a motorcycle accident before I was born, and I think because of this his parents became very active in my life. I stay at their house every other week-end until I was in 6^th grade and we went to church every Sunday and I later found out they had a small college fund for me, and me only. None of the other grandchildren had a fund, although I think my grandma helps out my cousin who now goes to junior college with her books and other supplies. This fund was enough to go to a UC and paid tuition for 3-4 years. I also had a grant one year. My grandma told me she expected I’d spend two year in a JC and then go to a 4-year school, but I had other plans, she thought she didn’t save enough for a 4-yr university. Both options I think are good, my husband did a JC first because his high school years didn’t really prepare him for college.

And in summary, I think my children will score much higher on the privilege list that I did, and isn’t this always the hope: to provide for your children what you didn’t have?

End Of Year Meme

End Of Year Meme

I was tagged by Mad Hatter for this meme:

1. Will you be looking for a new job?
Yes, I hope to graduate in May 08'

2. Will you be looking for a new relationship?
Friends. I'm lonely in the midwest!

3. New house?
Possibly if new job is on west coast

4. What will you do differently in 08?
Be more focused, eat less (comfort) food

5. New Years resolution?
None yet

6. What will you not be doing in 08?
Thinking about the past

7. Any trips planned?
Thinking about Hawaii and likely a trip or two to the west coast

8. Wedding plans?
already did that, my cousin will hopefully set a date for 2008

9. Major thing on your calendar?
graduation, of course it's not on the calendar yet

10. What can’t you wait for?
there is a theme starting here. I can't wait for graduation and after that I can't wait to relocate to the west coast

11. What would you like to see happen differently?
I'd like to be less depressed and more focused

12. What about yourself will you be changing?
more exercise, less eating/depression

13. What happened in 07 that you didn’t think would ever happen?
I moved again, oh and I broke my collarbone. The second was more surprising than the first.

14. Will you be nicer to the people you care about?
no, I'm pretty nice

15. Will you dress differently this year than you did in 07?
no, although I plan to buy new clothes when I get a job but they will be in my same style

16. Will you start or quit drinking?
no, although of course if I get pregnant in 08' I will stop drinking. My husband and I have a 5 year plan and I think we won't talk about babies again until I graduate

17. Will you better your relationship with your family?
no, but I have high hopes of writing more notes instead of e-mails to family

18. Will you do charity work?
likely not

19. Will you go to bars?
likely so

20. Will you be nice to people you don’t know?
Again I feel I'm a pretty nice person. I always ask strangers if they need help when they look like they do. I've helped a few people push their cars out of traffic., ect.
So yes, I'm nice to people I don't know.

21. Do you expect 08 to be a good year for you?
I expect it will be a year of change for me, hopefully all for the good.

22. How much did you change from this time last year till now?
I think I've become more depressed, less athletic and less focused this past year. They are all slight changes but I'm not happy with them.

23. Do you plan on having a child?
yep, 5-year plan

24. Will you still be friends with the same people you are friends with now?
yes, I'm pretty good in keeping touch with friends so I don't expect to loose tough with people.

25. Major lifestyle changes?
Hopefully a new job! And my lifestyle changed this year as my husband makes a good salary now so our quality of life is better.

26. Will you be moving?
Hopefully but likely not. I foresee a move in 09'

27. What will you make sure doesn’t happen in 08 that happened in 07?
depression and weight gain

28. What are your New Years Eve plans?
well it's New Years Eve now and the couple that usually has the party here have an 8 month old so no party with them. My husband and I have a few other options but we may decided to hang out with my mom and lay low, go to sleep early and relax since we fly out tomorrow and our other party options we'd have to drive to.
We'll see.

29. Will you have someone to kiss at midnight?
if I stay up that late

30. One wish for 08?
to graduate

I'm tagging:

Tagged I'm it

I have been tagged another meme. As much as it is difficult to do these it's nice to get tagged because it means someone is reading my blog. Yeah.

Seven Random Things Meme from Mrs.WhatsIt

Rules:
1- Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2- Share 7 random and or weird things about yourself.
3- Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4- Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

(1) I've had three fathers. My biological one died in a motorcycle accident before I was born, my "dad" since I was 3yrs old died from a heart defect he was born with when I was in 5th grade. My third dad and my mom divorced when I was a sophomore in college. He is however still in my life since he is my sisters biological dad. *sorry to start on a sad note*

(2) I still have a great grandma who is alive (more positive) and knew two other of my great-grandmas. The positive side of so many dads is lots of grandparents.

(3) I've failed one class. It was an undergrad course that happen to be with the professor my now husband did his undergrad thesis with. I went to the professor for help and she told me to do A and B and come back to her office. Every time I went back she wasn't there. She wrote about this in my narrative evaluation. (I went on to ace the class the second time around-with a different professor)

(4) I didn't get grades as an undergrad, we did narrative evaluations.

(5) I started a new women's rugby team, which is now operating decently with out me.

(6) I interviewed on the phone today to teach a course this spring

(7) I had a stuffed bunny that we put out every Easter Eve. This bunny would turn into the easter bunny and hide my eggs for me.

That was fun. I'll tag people later.

Meme

I finally got around to doing this. Here it is.

The Happy Scientist tagged me for my very first meme, that requires 8 responses to several topics.

8 passions
1. Rugby
2. Women equality issues
3. My Husband
4. Science
5. Environmental issues
6. Grocery shopping/organic food
7. My family
8. My good friends

8 things to do before I die
1. Finish my dissertation
2. Live on the west coast again
3. Play rugby with a Division 1 team (A-side game)
4. Have a child
5. Curb my addiction to all things sugar and food in general
6. Own a home (on west coast)
7. Own a car that is less than 10 yrs old
8. Save the environment

8 things I often say
1. I hate writing
2. I brought my own bag
3. Can we please leave the house today?
4. I went for a run today
5. I hate running
6. That’s what I said
7. No, no
8. What should we have for dinner?
I work at home and don’t talk to people much. This one was hard

8 books I recently read
1. I just finished the Price of Motherhood (recommend it)
2. An older yoga book
3. Taking on the big Boys by Ellen Bravo (just started it Love It, Recommend it)
4. Bitch Magazine
5. Running Magazine
6. Discovery Magazine
7. Veg Times Magazine
8. Signs Magazine (my grandpa gets in for me, it’s good bathroom reading)

As you can see I read a lot of magazines. My sister just had a magazine drive and I just canceled the newspaper so I figured I sign up for a few. I’m not renewing Running Mag. Magazine are good because they don’t require a big time commitment. I don’t usually read more than one book at a time.

8 songs that mean something to me
I’m sorry, I’m cheating, I can’t come up with eight songs so I’m going to write down my favorite bands
1. Ani Difranco. She is currently my running inspiration and I listen to her stuff when ever I’m working on spreadsheets. I could come up with my eight songs just from her work. It’s amazing how I can listen to her work years after I initially heard it and get new meaning from it.
2. Beastie Boys
That’s it. Those are my two passions. I love these artist. They get me motivated.
I enjoy most music but mostly listen to public radio.
I have a lot of Jonny Cash and Bob Marley mp3’s

8 qualities I look for in a friend
1. Honesty
2. Fun loving
3. Into being outdoors/athletic
4. Low maintenance
5. Cares for the environment
6. Intelligent
7. Likes to drink (kind of a funny one but I’m running out of things here. I wouldn’t not be someone’s friend if they didn’t drink)
8. Doesn’t like to text message

8 people who's blogs I enjoy and who may consider themselves tagged if they wish

The Happy Scientist already tagged some of these people. So it you were tagged already, of course don’t do it twice, just know, I like your blog. Also if you are reading this and wish you were tagged, feel free to tag yourself.
1. Young Female Scientist
2. Dr. Mom
3. His Gal Friday
4. I love science, really
5.Janus Professor
6. Pretty hard, dammit
7. Saturday's a Rugby Day
8. What the hell . . .

Great. Hope you learned something about me.
I'm going to yummy Italian food soon with husband and another couple. I hope I can convince them to walk the 1 mile down there but I'm pretty sure it's below freezing outside so it will be a tough argument.