What is this?

jujuegler: oh okay. I need to stop going on weather.com

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 18:11:50 -0400

jujuegler:

oh okay. I need to stop going on weather.com

Photo

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 22:28:00 -0400

barackobama: POTUS boxing!

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 21:52:54 -0400

barackobama:

POTUS boxing!

jujuegler: michaeledwardson: you don’t know how inexplicably...

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 10:14:54 -0400

jujuegler:

michaeledwardson:

you don’t know how inexplicably excited I am to finally be going back here.

SEE YAA TOMORROWWWWWWWW

kileyrae: think-progress: President Obama stopped shaking...

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 10:01:05 -0400

kileyrae:

think-progress:

President Obama stopped shaking hands for a moment today so that he could embrace a sobbing woman whose uninsured sister recently died of colon cancer.

And the Republican response.

JOURNEY

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 09:59:53 -0400

Going to camp today! Last weekend I went to visit Jack in DC and he lost power. Yeah DC heat w/o air conditioning! Today I’m heading to NH and while I’ll probably leave sobbing, I’m glad it’s a chance to see everything in action.

believed: everyone stop being mean look at this dog he thinks this whole parade is his parade what...

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 13:39:18 -0400

believed:

everyone stop being mean

look at this dog

he thinks this whole parade is his parade

what a happy lil pup

Photo

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 17:25:20 -0400

Psyched that @jujuegler is making it rain in NH… still not...

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 06:59:02 -0400

Psyched that @jujuegler is making it rain in NH… still not over the fact that I’m not also there.

barackobama: FLOTUS! (In Pueblo, Colorado today)

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 22:20:41 -0400

barackobama:

FLOTUS! (In Pueblo, Colorado today)

Annoyed by Albom

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 20:42:00 -0400

This article by Mitch Albom was published yesterday in the Detroit Free Press and I find it to be, above all, annoying. Reacting to Kindles-best-kept-secret that everyone knows about, Fifty Shades of Grey, Mr. Albom spends most of the article wistfully reminiscing about classic sexual tropes that include the ideas of “mystery” and “modesty” which most people whom have taken a women’s studies class know are really just euphemisms for virginity and/or traditional gender roles. Which are fine… but don’t deserve some sort of revered and holy preference.

Now, for the sake of full disclosure, I haven’t read the book in question, but for no other reason than I’m just not that interested. I have a great deal of respect for any writer who is able to turn Twilight based fan-fiction into a multi-million copy selling franchise, but those roots alone are enough to convince me the book probably is not my cup of tea. That being said, it’s unfair of me to dismiss his argument wholly without explaining my perspective. And I’ll admit that the women’s studies comment is a stereotype unto itself, but much of what Mr. Albom argues is problematic in a way that is easily hidden behind his “Call me old fashioned, but…” tone. To begin with, Mr. Albom starts his argument with what seems to be genuine shock over the premise that the book is all about sex - but then goes on to add “Not your typical sex. Kinky sex. Sex with ropes.” Now forgetting the fact that the idea of “typical sex” is already a confusing enough concept to begin to unpack and a curious categorization for somebody who claims to be shocked by the content anyway (is typical sex straight sex? gay sex? no sex? other kinds of sex? the possibilities are endless!), what I find to be most strange about this idea is the genuine shock as sex as a literary topic.

Sex in literature has existed… since literature was invented. While Mr. Albom would be fair in arguing “Well never before have we seen this!” as few texts considered part of the “cannon” deal so explicitly with sex, it seems unlikely, with no offense meant to E.L. James that this story will be taught in high schools of the future - and if it is, I’d like to see how it’s approached. That being said, aside from stories that make their allusions (for example, Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert… or just about anything written by the brilliant Tennessee Williams) it’s unfair to decry this kind of writing as novel. “The Story of the Eye” by Georges Bataille, in all likelihood, could give Ms. James a run for her money when it comes to explicit description and shock factor, and it was published in 1928 - a little before the free-lovin’ 60s from which Mr. Albom hails. Bataille’s tail chronicles the sexual exploits of two young teenagers, laying to shame the questions of consent inFifty Shades of Grey.

Furthermore, aside from sex as a human action that much like birth and death are parts of human life that merit acknowledgement in literature, Mr. Albom makes the classing mistake of longing for the past before shows like the short-lived Don’t Trust the B- in Apt. 23. Ahh the good old days… where shows like Laugh-In (a play on sit-ins of the time) featured Goldie Hawn as a prop wearing a bathing suit were there to keep us modest and mysterious. Harkening back to his “controversial” decade of birth and longing for a time when words like penis and vagina - or in his words the “p-word” and “v-word”* were not mentioned on television also longs for a time in which life was not better for a lot of people whom Mr. Albom is not. The Women’s Rights movement blossomed in the 60s, giving the United States organizations like NOW, and the once promising but now dead Equal Rights Amendment that has still never been ratified by all the states. The 60s was also a time when many nations around the world, such as Argentina and Bolivia were giving women legal majority. Not to mention this statistic about the state of women’s economic standing today. The 60s was the dawn of the gay rights movement as it saw the Stonewall riots. Not to mention the Civil Rights Movement, which as a writer for a Detroit paper, Mr. Albom should know all about.

Most of that is a leap, but it’s what stuck out to me in the article. While maybe today new literature/pop culture in general has become more “explicit” there are also more choices. If it makes you uncomfortable don’t read it - but do not label it as problematic simply because it’s not to your taste. But more importantly, don’t pretend it’s totally new and surprising. I think people were making similar arguments about talking pictures… No matter the caliber of the writing itself, I think it’s awesome that there’s a woman out there who is writing about sex in a way she wants to write about it - something that may not have been so widely consumed and appreciated in a more modest and mysterious time.

*As a writer from Detroit, Mr. Albom’s decision to use a euphemism for the word vagina is particularly upsetting considering the current politics in the Michigan State Assembly.

Some things never change.

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 10:35:31 -0400

I just spilled coffee all over my khaki skirt and am now wearing a too long and too large pair of students’ pants to compensate. Awesome.

SUBmarine

Mon, 21 May 2012 13:08:44 -0400

I really enjoy reading other people’s tumblrs, which makes me feel like I should pay in exchange by updating my own - but then I remember that would only be payment to those souls longing to read my own tumblr, and I remain complacent.

I moved Jack down to DC this week. DC is an interesting place that I sometimes secretly wish I lived in and always outwardly profess to be annoyed with. As a city itself, it’s small and manageable, with a weird but workable train system. There are approximately 9,000 neighborhoods, all of which vary in terms of look, safety and population, and of course, there is our beloved federal government. I enjoyed wandering around the publicly funded museums and looking at all of the different federal agencies (and of course the capital building) and even began to wonder what my life would be like if I was working more directly in politics instead of teaching.

And then I remembered that I get to live in NYC and hang out with crazy teenagers instead of living in DC and hang out with crazy adults. And I felt fine with what I’ve chosen.

Just kidding to all you DC-ers out there! Or am I?

If he's not voting for Obama...

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:54:54 -0400

barackobama:

spoonsafterdinner:

that’s a Dealbreaker, ladies!

We should say so.

Photo

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:54:30 -0400

Hipsterlicious

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:26:23 -0500

I really like this song and I AM OKAY IF THAT MAKES ME A HIPSTER.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_wsJLBMG0M

Sometimes I wish I updated this more, but sometimes I realize that few people are (rightfully) interested in my life musings.

Tonight is my second parent teacher conferences.

I’m looking forward to being a better teacher.

Photo

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:49:18 -0400

I’m glad that when I typed into google “Thomas Paine...

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 09:26:36 -0400

I’m glad that when I typed into google “Thomas Paine and T-Pain” it knew exactly what I needed. Thanks INTERWEBZ

world-shaker: MUST WATCH Matt Damon defends teachers against a...

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 09:22:14 -0400

world-shaker:

MUST WATCH

Matt Damon defends teachers against a [expletive] cameraman!

Obviously NSFW language, but the best thing I know I’ll see all day.

(by GLteachers)

Photo

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 09:19:43 -0400