knowitallgirl

What color is your sky?

My brother asked this question when sending photos of the view of his sky in San Diego. I don't envy his lungs.

Hell Fire

Can arsonists be considered terrorists? My homeland is on fire currently, with no immediate end in sight. Fingers remain crossed for my family and friends.

The Opt-Out Revolution

From the NYT Magazine, a lengthy article on highly educated women choosing to opt-out of the working world to stay at home and raise kids. As I started reading this, I was cringing -- these are the women who are supposed to be running the world, the ones with top degrees from top schools, and here they are sitting at home being housewives. Granted, these women are from the privileged class, obviously married to high-earning husbands or coming from enough of their own money that not working doesn't put their families in dire straits, like the majority of families today. But they're also not the Ladies Who Lunch -- these are lawyers, MBA, news anchors -- women who are supposed to be taking on the corporate world.

I’m thoroughly annoyed with the author for not even broaching the subject of why their husbands aren't staying home, or why their husbands weren’t sacrificing elements of their careers for kids (I’ll grant that maybe it just wasn’t the scope of her story). However, I do agree with her subtle (perhaps too subtle) assertions questioning the validity of how we formulate workplace “success.” (And on a similar note, check out Take Back Your Time Day, which argues against unreasonable career demands for everyone, not just high-paid professionals.) Which, in the constraints of this article, is why high-pressure, high-pay professions have yet to yield in redefining work. I can answer part of that question instantly – because these professions pay enough that these workers can afford to have only one spouse working, yet another assumption in the story the author didn’t call out (but again, considering the audience of the NYT, I suppose you don’t have to point out the obvious).

Frankly, that fact makes this article all the less interesting. It smells more to me like a class of women who were advantaged enough that getting both undergraduate and graduate educations were an expected course for them, and only an incidental means to achieving anything. Wealthy families have almost always sent their daughters to school, and since grad school is to the new achieving class that undergraduate degrees are to immigrant families, it’s no surprise many of these women collect MBAs and JDs on their way to full-time motherhood. The author even picks up on this fact, by mentioning that African-American women who achieve this level of education aren’t staying at home at anywhere near the numbers of White women.

Thank you, NYT, for reporting on a “phenomenon” that’s little more than history repeating itself – there have always been women who worked but could afford not to, and there still are. Whee.

Kiss my condom

Earlier this week, I was feeling generous enough to actually tell a friend I respected Pope John Paul II for continuing to raise the issue of increasing global poverty (despite the fact that encouraging families to make as many babies as they possibly can doesn't help solve that problem). But to hear the Vatican spout that condoms kill really gets my panties in a wad.But I'll let Mark Morford tell you why.
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Technological crap

Admit it. How many ridiculous electronic gadgets do you own, purchased on a promise of coolness or efficiency that are now shoved into the back of some drawer? I'll admit, I haven't been using my StepKeeper Springboard module for my Handspring much these days. And I own at least two calculators, portable CD players, and hell, even a spare computer. What about you?

What could be cuter than . . .

a baby (Max Pelczarski) and an unshaven Mark Contois? Awwwwwww.

SF, the liberal void

It's no wonder we Bay Area folks were thinking the recall effort would fail -- not only are we out of step with the rest of the nation, we're also out of touch with the rest of the state. SF had an 80% vote against the recall? Too bad we can't secede.

Barf

Well, the voters have spoken, and as my friend Sorch points out, we've left the lunacy that marks Texas politics in the dust. What is it with California and Republican actors? I feel slightly better that this time we have a former pot-smoking governor whose posed nude and had group sex (no comment on the groping, I'm just not even going there today), but still, why can't we find some rabid leftist actor to elect for once? Martin Sheen, where are we when we need you?

Anyway. Arnie's made lots of promises, let's see what he can actually accomplish. At least it's not a full term, right?

Garbage Art

While trying to find out more about San Francisco recycling, I stumbled upon Sunset Scavanger's Artist in Residence program. "The company provides studio space, a monthly stipend, and a solo exhibit, but artists seem most excited about having unlimited access to the materials." Who knew?

Friends don't let friends vote for Schwarzenegger

And here's why, from the L.A. Times.



Image from MoveOn.org