Archive for the ‘Socio’ Category
Expectant parents, back away from the baby-name books
Snippet of my name collection I collect names. I love spotting a new one (my job working in naturalization records, etc. at the national archives means I get many opportunities to collect and find new muses), saying it, relishing the syllables and imaging what type of person is a Josefina or a Beryl or Basilia [...]
May 1st, 2012On my year of living alone
living room (part-time dance floor) and other spaces in the apartment that was all my own For one year, which was the maximum amount of time my (then-more-limited) budget could handle it, I lived alone. I lived in a one-bedroom apartment with my cat, and I adored it. The New York Times reported on the “freedom, and [...]
April 20th, 2012On marriage, gender, income, babies, single ladies
In her recent book, comedian and writer Mindy Kaling makes a comment about those articles that come out every year or so that declare the end of marriage and convention, and cause the women reading them to vow to buck the conventional marriage set-up, and seek moving instead into one of those single convents, to perhaps [...]
March 2nd, 2012Cities. And earth. And living rooms in Seoul.
“It starts with looking at growing cities in a positive way–not as diseases, but as concentrations of human energy to be organized and tapped.” This series of photos accompanies the article I mention here, on urban living and the future of the planet. They are photographs of families in Seoul, South Korea, in their identical [...]
January 13th, 2012New study results find a shocker: being a drug skeptic is a healthy thing
Logo for the Women’s Health Initiative, which has been providing medical research and findings since 1991, and has vastly contributed to what we know about women’s health today. The Women’s Health Initiative, which has been researching and publishing findings on women’s health since 1991, has recently come out with some new results, involving the doses [...]
April 10th, 2011Another bit on American, African, and identity
I can’t help myself, it’s just too complex and juicy an issue. Right after I posted that last bit on nationality, in between cleaning a turkey and chopping up salt pork and tons of garlic, yet another discussion hit my radar on origins, culture, and what you most relate to. This time we’re examining the [...]
November 24th, 2010Location, Ecuador: When your first cinema experience is Avatar in 3D
Indigenous Ecuadorians watched Avatar in 3D; for some of them this was their first movie theater experience. (Image from PRI / World in Words podcast) Not intending to jump on the bandwagon of the Avatar-debating blogsphere, I have to bring up one interesting story from the global audience’s experience. Early this year there was a [...]
March 26th, 2010The vague aspirations of one neighborhood’s street signs
Five months ago, I discovered a townhouse subdivision of sorts called “the Magnolias,” when I moved to a spot nearby. In the months since I’ve lived in the area, I’ve wandered bemusedly around the neighborhood, growing more bewildered with each passing street sign. Anyone living in the United States is familiar with the “Pine Groves” [...]
January 2nd, 2010Museum studies, week 3
Journal entry, which is explained in the previous post, for week three of Museum Studies. Discusses two articles we read to prepare for class discussion– one about the Newseum in Washington, D.C., and the other about the history of history museums and historic preservation in the U.S. Both great topics. Also a blip about my [...]
September 7th, 2009Not from around here: one story of a Chinese immigrant family working in the restaurant business
A couple of months ago, I mentioned Jennifer 8. Lee’s book The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food, and included an excerpt about how very American it is to eat Chinese food. Chinese immigrants make up an enormous portion of the US Asian population; even so, I never really understood the [...]
June 11th, 2009