But Call Me Betsy

As soon as my classes are over (at the end of April), I'll try to write posts more regularly. In the meantime, here's an essay I wrote for the latest issue of Philadelphia Stories. I include a recent picture of the cats outside, enjoying the stirrings of spring, as compensation. The Right Prompts Recently, I attended the joyous funeral of my 94 year old grandmother, Lurye LaBrie, mother of ten kids all raised in the Midwest on a small farm in a tiny rural town populated by grain elevators, a town hall, and a juke-boxless tavern (not a bar, it was always called a "tavern"). I use the word joyous to describe the event because she had lived a long and prosperous life and the funeral was evidence of that--all ten children and their spouses were there, along with the twenty-nine grandchildren, and ten great grandchildren. Rather than being solemn occasion, it felt more like a celebration. At the reception, I shared a piece of churc...

We rented Blue Valentine this weekend, starring Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling. I have a soft spot in my heart for Michelle Williams as that wrong-side-of-the-tracks teenage love interest of Dawson on Dawson's Creek . I mean, I always wanted Dawson to get together with the Katie Holmes character (this was way before KH signed the 10 year, one baby marriage and publicity contract with Tom Cruise), but I liked Michelle Williams, and liked her again in Brokeback Mountain ("I can't quit you, Ennis!"--said by one of the gay cowboys in that movie). She was great in Blue Valentine ; she can still look like a sixteen year old girl and then like a jaded, twenty-five year old woman. I didn't mind Ryan Gosling either, thought was more aware of him acting older in the present day parts of the movie, where they tried to ick him up by giving him a receding hair line and a beer belly and a penchant for chain smoking Marlboro Reds. If you haven't seen the movie, don...

My friend at work lent me Knowing Your Value: Women, Money, and Getting What You're Worth. On the cover is the author's photo. Twenty pages in and it's a quick read, but also slightly embarrassing to be seen with-- this self-helpy volume that seems to shout out, "I read books that attempt to improve my low self-esteem!" Whatever. You have to start somewhere.

Having some non-heated arguments with co-workers about the male gaze, spawned in part by the now old news Seth McFarland skit at the Academy Awards about all the actresses who have shown their boobs in movies. And then someone else sent me a link to a video response about all of the men who've show themselves, so to speak in movies. It was sung by a guy though, so does that count? It's called "We Saw Your Junk." And then I recently realized that I still have this sexist speech sometimes--like today, we went to lunch at Houston Hall and there happened to be a set up for coffee. I wanted some coffee, but I knew it was for an event and so felt like I might get in trouble if I took any. Molly, on the other hand, very confidently went up and got a small cup, took her time to add sugar and creamer, and paused to take a sip, all in line of a security guard who said nothing. So, I took some too, and then later, I said to Molly, "That took balls." But...Can I fi...

For my grad class, we're reading Made to Stick , a book about why some ideas survive and others die. The authors have a smart little formula to keep revisiting when creating your ad/idea:  SUCCESS. Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, Stories...Pretty handy little acronym. The writers also do a good job of going back to the stories in the previous chapters so that you can be reminded of how they fit into the bigger picture. It's one of the few books I've read that require the reader to engage with the text in these specific ways--to take a memory test, to try to recall the first lines of "Hey Jude," or memories of your first childhood home, or to write down a list of all the white things in your refrigerator.  Then they make a point about how these things are relevant to your audience only if they relate back to your overall message. Like, let's say your creating an ad and you recognize that you need to start with something unexpected, and the...

1. I have invented a new hair clip out of a thing meant to keep paper together. 2. Over the last 3 days, I have bought this much cold medicine and I still don't feel any better. 3. Molly is pretending to help a volunteer on the phone.  4. Kiera is visiting us from California in her fancy blue stockings. 5. We are all deciding where to place our lovely clocks as part of a lovely staff thank you for a very successful capital campaign.