Pioneering Women

Up at some weird hour, unable to sleep, I just re-read a short story I used to teach in A.P. English: The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. She was a prominent poet, writer, lecturer and social reformer during the early 1900's -- known for her pioneering writing about postpartum depression and female mental health. (No, I'm not related to her.)

http://www.womenwriters.net/domesticgoddess/gilman1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Perkins_Gilman

I know how much we are still learning about the female psyche and, in a day when Hollywood stars like Brooke Shields get so much press for their "work" in this field, I just thought I'd try giving a little credit to those women who risked severe social criticism and alienation to speak out when it just wan't acceptable to do so. If you've already read it, then pass it along to your sister, mother or girlfriend. It's an eye-opening, first-hand account of what women used to suffer -- alone.

The Yellow Wall-paper (short story text):
http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=GilYell.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1
Gilman, on why she wrote the story:
http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/whyyw.html

Scholarly commentary:

http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/gilman.htm

Old School Research

Having worked on two Masters Degrees (one before the globalization of the internet, and one after), I couldn't help but salivate as I browsed through this powerful digitized library that doesn't require matriculation for access. How nice of BYU to share so much with so many, free of charge. I can't believe all the manuscripts, photographs, publications, and full-text documents avaliable to the public. You should take a peek:

http://www.lib.byu.edu/online.html

My dear friend Breena (the youngest Ph.D candidate I know) gets the credit for the find, and I can't help but wonder where in the world was this digital library during my curriculum development Masters and teaching A.P. English in the late 90's? When I think about the hours I spent visiting multiple libraries, hunting down archived private collections of pre-civil war slave narratives, and Victorian women's postpartum journals... sheesh!

Question: Why couldn't Mr. Al Gore have "invented" the internet before my time as a zoobie? But then again, one can not truly appreciate the power of the information superhighway until one has experienced the research-writing fun of spending hours and hours searching old card catalogues, LAN databases, and microfiche film. Does anyone else remember carrying around about $10 in nickels for the photocopier/microfiche, and a floppy for saving your hours of work?

Michael Jackson meets Fantasy Island's "Tatoo"

This is just so wierd it's laughable.
AWESOME!

The Greatest Generation v. Gen X,Y, and Z

Last night I attended a very memorable combined Young Women/ Young Men activity. I'm ashamed to say I've been in the Folsom 3rd ward for a year now, and didn't know about the great contributions Brother Lewis had made to our country.

In fact, there is a section in Saints and Soldiers all about Doran C. Lewis, master seargent and tailgunner, who completed 33 successful combat missions over Japan in the B-29 (the biggest bomber that the US had during the last year of WWII). His brother Oren was also a gunner in the same plane. They are now the only two surviving from that crew. Brother Lewis had all of us captivated last night -- sharing stories of amazing courage and service. Throughout their time fighting in the Pacific, they worked hard to share the Gospel and set up a tiny branch in Saipan -- baptizing many.

It was obvious to me, as the youth listened to several couples speak, that they very quickly realized the immediate need to contribute to their communities and countries just as their great-grandparents had. I thought of my own grandfathers and, as I drove home, I cried. How I miss them; their courage and their larger-than-life examples of industry, integrity, and purposeful living.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXtFbtY9xs8

Then today, I found myself wondering what, exactly, has my generation done to give back? If Gen X only counts the internet and the hybrid car once, then we, along with Al Gore, are in some SERIOUS trouble!

This great little clip summarizes my thoughts on the matter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCNIBV87wV4

We are, indeed, quickly becoming an inarticulate, convictionless, directionless, solutionless and yet complaining bunch. Time to roll up the sleeves and catch up with our grandparents and great-grandparents!

The Japanese don't need Saki...they've got Human Tetris!

EXCELLENT! My favorite: the group of four that don't even come close to making it! Next they should have elimination rounds where they speed up the platform shapes...

Leslie & Alex's Wedding -- Monterrey, Mexico

Les and Alex decided to have a destination wedding. Well, at least a destination for all of us. (They will be making Monterrey Mexico their new home.) And so we came. That was some party, Latin-style. As you can see Leslie was a beautiful bride and the wedding was just perfect. The girls gathered and... as you can see, some are married, some not. Some are pregnant, some not. With all our different, busy lives, it was nice to get together and celebrate this happy occasion with Alex and Leslie Esparza! Felicitaciones! :)

My Adorable Family

The end of July -- a hot month in Utah. The month my family picks to gather round and have a little reunion. So hot, in fact, that my niece Anna can't decide which will help her stay more cool -- playing pearl diver, dancer, or dolphin trainer. (Just look at her face! That kid is always cracking me up!)

She's got to stay on her toes in order to survive with these 2 crazies as her older brothers. This shot was taken right after Nick (black t-shirt) gave Corbin (blue shirt) a noogie. The girls can usually get away from the boys if they put on a "dance concert" to some music that their brothers (and grandpa) really hate, i.e. Barbara Streisand. Imagine these 3 little cuties dancing around the living room in their ballerina outfits to Babs. Yeah... all the boys left. :)
We had hours of fun at the waterpark (baking) all day Saturday, with over 50 cousins from the Perkins side. It was life-guarding duty all the time for Aunt Kristie. But, how could you not want to jump in with the kiddies when they are so dang cute!?

On Sunday, we got to see Conner James, the oldest grandchild, (who was just ordained a deacon) pass the sacrament! I can't believe my little sister Lori has a 12 yr. old!!! He did such a great job, and he takes his responsibility very seriously. Conner is a great kid, a help to his mother, and great example to all the rest of our family. His younger brothers and sisters all look up to him and even his baby cousin, Alaina, lets him hold her. It's official. I love my family. :)

Michael Bublé -- Will you marry me?

Is this man still single? Pretty much... if he sang to me, I'd do anything he asked. *grin*
O.K. so this video is dumb, but you gotta love this guy for his voice. I want to be the mic he's dancing with! ;)

Sequoia Nat'l Forrest

Two weekends ago, I made the four-hour trek from Sacto south, to meet my old L.A. friends in Sequoia for a weekend backpacking extravaganza. I had just finished up with third round interviews for next year's position, and was exhausted. Tired or not, waterlogged or not, my L.A. compadres wanted to meet in Three Kings, make the one-hour windy drive to Mineral King (clandestine style, so as not to pay the rangers) and hike the 3.5 miles in to Mosquito Lake #1. I needed to make a pit-stop around Fresno area, but John said, "Sorry, just put on a diaper and keep drivin' -- we're burning daylight." Awesome, huh?

Yes, we did start our evening hike at around 10:30p.m. after a couple slices of greasy pizza. This is what the trail looked like at night, minus the AMAZING stars that seemed to light the night on fire. *sigh* At mile 1.5, we saw headlamps down the trail in heavy pursuit. It was then that the lie was hatched. We decided that we'd be visiting French hikers that were on the way to our designated campsite. (John's mission days to France would come in handy, and yet, how sad that we'd be using it to LIE!) :) Somewhere around 3:00a.m., after getting off the trail a couple of times, we somehow stumbled on Mosquito Lake #1. We found flat ground, put up tents, loaded the bear cannisters, and fell over into bags. How tired is Whitney? Did her legs fall off?





The next day, we set out to find the other three Mosquito Lakes. This required some bouldering. FUN. Since I forgot my swimsuit and I didn't want to skinnydip in mixed company, I watched Whitney, Joel, and John swim out the island and take turns diving off. Look how funny Joel's "no-arm" dive looks. (That was in honor of his wife, Natalie, who we all missed dearly on this trip.)

The trek out provided some of the most beautiful views of the Sequoias yet. If the boys didn't think we'd mock them, I'm sure they'd have frolicked through these fields of wildflowers singing "The Hills are alive...." Instead, we got to watch Joel get eaten alive by all the mosquitos in the world. I suppose that itching, or the layer of dirt & grime was the reason for the head dunking contest in the river that was proably 10 degrees. (I think John won. He might still be suffering from slurred speech.)

Upon our exit from Mineral King, we were pleased to see that Sarah's reliable Sub-y-ru chariot had NOT been eaten through by the marmots. AWESOME!

Singing Johnny Cash all the way home was certainly a highlight. Amongst the L.A. crowd, for years now, Yosemite/Half Dome Kamp Krusty has been the annual tradition. Should the semi-annual be Sequoia? Why not? :) Thanks friends!

My Mensa Friends

Know Your Presidents - The best bloopers are a click away Did you know that the word "Mensa" means "table" in Latin? The name stands for a round-table society, where race, color, creed, national origin, age, politics, educational or social background are irrelevant. The only classification that matters in this society is intelligence. Mensans range in age from 4 to 94, (see genius baby video), but most are between 20 and 60. In education they range from preschoolers to high school dropouts to people with multiple doctorates. There are Mensans on welfare and Mensans who are millionaires. As far as occupations, the range is staggering. Mensa has professors and truck drivers, scientists and firefighters, computer programmers and farmers, artists, military people, musicians, laborers, police officers, glassblowers--the diverse list goes on and on. I have decided, in my 37 years of life on this earth, that I know (personally) about 8 certified geniuses. I can't count Hugh Nibley, because I only sat in on a lecture, and have read his work, but never met him in person. These 8 acquaintances of mine collectively hold more than a dozen advanced degrees from prestigious universities in fields of study ranging from law, langauge, and music, to engineering, rocket science, and nuclear physics.


Last weekend I was out on the Sacramento Delta, wakeboarding. There was a moment in choppy waters when the boat owner made reference to the possibility of cavitation within his engine. Kristie's response? "Cavi-what?" Oh well. Engineer, I am most certainly not. I am, however, a very naturally curious person, and I spent Saturday evening reading up on cavitation as it pertains to the Bernoulli principle. Ahhh, I love to learn about things I've never heard about! It really does make me happy! So... let's see... for those of you reading this posting, what can you tell me about cavitation as it pertains to Bernoulli's principle? Here, I'll give you a little hint (see picture below), but you can't cheat and go look it up. If you think you might be a Mensa candidate, or, perhaps, you took college physics, post a comment, and we'll see who our newest Mensa member is!

A cruel summer, indeed!

O.K. These are, quite possibly, the 3 worst coiffed/dressed women in history! Seriously, did they have a stylist? It's funny how teens fall prey to every trend, no matter how AWFUL it may look. Although I can't scare up a picture to prove it, I am embarrassed to admit that I owned one of those disgusting "Units" outfits, complete with matching jelly shoes and bracelets. My thought: Where were the fashion police in the 80's, or at the very least, the folks from "What Not To Wear"?

Police Visit #2

So... my summer job has been interesting to say the very least. This visit with the Police wasn't nearly as exciting as the one in L.A. (see Police Visit #1) and Officer Avila not nearly as sexy as Sting. ;) Friday morning, during the first week of summer school here at Cordova High, the principal and I arrived to find a stolen SUV crashed in the outdoor amphitheater. How did it get there you might ask? Apparently, the handy drivers stole the car from a nearby neighborhood and proceeded to drive it all over our campus, tearing up lawn and shrubbery where'er they went. (Cordova has a wide-open campus, which, I soon found out, is an administrator's worst nightmare.) We don't suspect the culprits to be Cordova students, because they would have known where the amphitheater was and, most likely, stopped the car before it went sailing into the air. The tire marks started at the top of the amphitheater, showed up again about 5 steps down and then ... there were none. So... it is apparent that these unsuspecting drivers "Thelma & Louised-it" off the top, got some great air, hit once on the way down, and then smashed into the cement stage at the bottom! Nice! Both airbags were deployed and the keys were left in the vehicle. When the police arrived, they took fingerprints to try and find the punks who deprived a poor, unsuspecting family of their transportation. My thought: How did these crazies actually walk away from such an airborne event without broken legs, or a massive concussion, at the very least? Hmmm...


Now, if you thought that was crazy, fast-forward with me to week two. Wednesday morning, I was instructed to go buy a tall coffee for our janitor who had been trying to sweep up broken glass outside our student store. Here is a picture of what we found on this particular morning. Now, you might posit that, under normal circumstances, one would not need to use a backhoe to open a building. However, that concept would only apply to normally functioning human beings. This fine piece of machinery was left out in front of the elementary school across the street. I don't suppose it could be our same SUV bandits who hot-wired this one, drove it down a residential street, through campus, down the 10 cafeteria steps and up to the windows of the student store? Perhaps. As you can see they used the bucket to "open" the window to try and rip off whatever they could find -- and that wasn't much. My thought: Do you suppose they were mad when they didn't find much to steal? After all, that's a lot of heavy machinery operation for little to no loot. The question then remains: if they got hurt during the process, might they try going after workman's comp? :)

Most excellent! I can tell that being a public school administrator will never be boring.

Police Visit #1

A couple of weekends ago, I was down in SoCal for professional conferences. I made the most of the time in L.A. and, on Saturday evening, had a visit with the police. (Not at all as scandalous as you might imagine.) It's really quite innocent, you see -- I have had a crush on Gordon Sumner (a.k.a. Sting) since I was 15 years old. I own all but one Police album, and I own every Sting CD ever recorded. Up until five years ago, I had the same b&w poster of "Nothing Like the Sun" on the back of my bedroom door. When I worked for the Salt Lake Olympics, I was gifted the chance to serve Sting among other Closing Ceremony guests at Rice-Eccles Stadium. (I tried very hard not to drool and to offer up cogent sentences for the few mintues I sat by him.) I've seen him in concert six times now, but was too young to see The Ghost in the Machine Tour 25 years ago. June 23rd, 2007 was my night. I heard The Police play live for the first time in my life. I was in heaven for two hours, right there in Dodger Stadium. My good friend Sarah and I found ourselves singing along with 50,000 other fans to some of the best rock songs of the past decades. With a 2 1/2 hour setlist that kept you screaming and whistling for more, I dare say that these guys play better now then they did as punks in the '80s. The encore versions of Roxanne, King of Pain, and Every Breath You Take were proof that Sting is really truly one of the most talented singer/songwriter/musicans of our time.



Perk-o-lating thought: How is it possible that this man looks and sounds this good all these years later? It can't just be the yoga and green tea. Hmmm.....