Announcing Audrey

Well, I had to fly out to the Great Northwest in order to finally get some pictures of our new niece, Audrey. She was born on May 5, 2007. She joins her big brother, Alex, and sister, Lindsey who both enjoy giving her lots of hugs and kisses. Here are some pix for all to enjoy.

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was P's birthday!
Happy 25th!
KJ

Rock City

P and I spent this past weekend in Detroit because I had a presentation at Computers and Writing (I will refrain from telling you what I presented on). We were a little bit nervous about staying in Detroit because lore tells us it is a high crime, high poverty place. In actuality we really enjoyed ourselves; we stayed at a great hotel overlooking Canada, the conference was held at Wayne State University, a fairly nice campus, and though there are clearly run down parts, the city is clean and the architecture is neat.



Our Detroit highlight had to be the MLB game we went to at Comerica Park between the Tigers and the Cardinals. Having been only to Mariners games, we were quite shocked that Detroit managed to score 14 runs in the game. Those who have been to Safeco will notice the similarities in the stadium structure. Like Seattle, the football and baseball fields are adjacent to one another.

On the way home, we stopped in Ann Arbor, Michigan to walk around town and eat at a recommended delicatessen named Zingermans. Easily the best gourmet sandwiches either of us have ever had! We were surprised to find that Ann Arbor was so similar to Bellingham. Like Bellingham, it is a college town with hippies and outdoor markets, lots of trees and old brick buildings. The university's campus was also really beautiful.

Breaking News . . .

I am D.U.N.
a woohoo

Things not to say to someone who is about to determine your grade in a class . . .

1. Be Kind
2. It's not as good as I would like it to have been, I just needed more time
3. Sorry you have to read this
4. I haven't slept in, like, three days
5. Yep, I just pushed through this cause I have more important stuff to take care of
6. Thanks for an "interesting" class
7. I really like my HOL paper, but the rest is really bad
8. How hard are you grading these?
9. Yeah, I am just not really that into technology (in a class about technology)
10. I hope I pass
11. This cover art thing you had us do was bullshit
12. Me: why do you have a picture of a cartoon man hammering a computer on your cover?
Student: why, do others have a similar picture too?
Me: yep, is that how you feel about this class?
Student: (sheepish grin) kind of . . .
Me: (as they turn the corner out of my office) "F"


Yikes, maybe I should start my courses with what not to say to the instructor in order to maximize your grade potential. Are students really that oblivious?

For those who want to worry about me . . .

P. called me this morning with this news. I don't know him, but this is pretty scary.
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/05/09/news/125994.txt

UPDATE: I asked some of my peeps in the department whether they knew this kid, they said no comment and "that comes from the president." hmph...while it is nice to know that steps are being taken to get rid of potential violence on campus, why do we not have an outlet for discussing these topics. Silence seems not to be the answer.

Maybe this will reach national news. I think what is most scary about this situation is that there is an elementary school on our campus. Wow, I really just don't know what else to say.

(We Hope!!!) Our Future Sister In Law . . .

For a long time, our little brother JG. brought home these girls that made you want to stick your head in a grease vat. So pretty, yet so utterly vapid that even his mom had to question his better judgment. There was Trisha who giggled incessantly and couldn't quite figure out how to play a relatively simple board game, then there was Kristen who left him alone bleeding in a hospital after a motorcycle accident that was HER FAULT!!!, then there was the beauty school dropout whose name we didn't even bother to learn, we'll call her Daphne. Since Thanksgiving, however, JG. has scored himself a winner, a former basketball and soccer star who snorts when she giggles and whom we ABSOLUTELY love. She knows her hoops trivia, she is wicked competitive (and violent! don't let her near a pingpong paddle), and she laughs at Shugs' jokes even when they aren't funny (let's be honest are they ever funny?). In short she is a keeper. Perhaps the most amazing thing about her is that she has worked at Subway since she was about 7 years old, which means she can make a mean cold-cut-combo. Today, she sent us this photo of her and JARED, yes THAT JARED!!!!

Here's to you AP! We sincerely hope you stick around forever. We miss you and your boy very much and hope you are coming to visit soon!
KPJ

It's less abstract than you think . . .

I catch a lot of crap for spending my time reading ideas that others perceive as "having very little to do with the real world," and whenever I hear this argument I know (I KNOW) that it comes from a larger cultural belief that academics live and work in some ivory tower. The truth, however, is that we work in asbestos filled buildings whose brown carpet has existed since the Nixon administration, but that isn't the point. The point I wish to address is that academics don't care about the real world and what they read has little to do with the everyday lives we lead unless they choose to make it so vis a vis protest or business writing. My argument, of course, is that we care very much about the real world and that is precisely why we do what we do. For example, those who have talked to me recently know that I am in a bear of a course on the philosophy of Michel Foucault. Of late, we have been talking about governmentality and the care of the self which is fancy for - paying attention to how you conduct yourself and what that says about the way power functions in our culture. So think about it in this way, our everyday lives are not influenced by a kind of State based oppression where police make us do things with the threat of violence. Instead, we know how we are supposed to act and do so even though no gun is at our head. I was thinking about this when the power went out around the block of the university campus. The traffic lights, I noticed as I drove home, were out (not flashing, out) and people were acting so politely, each taking their turn to ensure proper traffic flow. Here's what I thought: what makes people do this? Seriously, what makes people adhere to the rules of a traffic light, when the traffic light is not there? The answer, I would argue in light of this Foucault seminar, is governmentality: we have been made automated and docile through governmentality. Now, if you really think about this, it applies in a lot of other places as well: things that we take for granted or merely don't pay attention to. What would happen, though, if we stopped and thought about the process by which we were made docile and whose interests those serve? Wouldn't that be an interesting conversation to have? Post if you think of something.

I just thought of something! When the power went out, I assumed it was a fire drill and walked outside with my peers. AUTOMATION!