polyquats

Following links from one of my fav political blogs this morning, I came across this interesting blog castironbalcony.media2.org/ and thence to this www.youtube.com/watch

Enjoy!

No chocolate, no pepsi! One of us is having a hard day. Thank goodness Aunty Ali dropped by with the TV Week.

At his age!

In sixteen weeks:
Heather graduated from High School.
I submitted my PhD.
Heather started 'Art School' at the Centre for Creative Arts
I started work.
Jeanne (random_pink) changed her major from Egyptology to Politics.

Nothing really. Why would you write?

Perhaps it is because writing a thesis is so full on, that when you take a break, you don't want to be anywhere near the computer, let alone writing anything.

No excuses now, nothing else to write, right? Well, just a few papers, a postdoc proposal, a position paper, a grant submission, a wiki page ...

Gee, I love writing - not!

OK, got this from inaniac
This is what you have to do:
1. Open your music library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc.).
2. Put it on shuffle and press play.
3. For every question, type the song that's playing. When you go to a new question, go to the next song.
4. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool.

Now, I was writing today, so all the music here is from my study list, about 14.5 hours of classical music. So the rest of my collection, blues, folk, rock etc isn't included. Maybe I'll try that one another day. I wrote down the song that was playing each time I got up from my desk.


It's a bit of a 'blokey' list. Where is graduating, giving birth etc?

Heather has graduated from High School. I no longer have any children at school!!! Unless you count having one at university. But that isn't the same, because uni doesn't send home half a dozen notes for signing every week. It is 14 years since Jeanne started school and I'm proud to say I never did a single day in Tuckshop.

I bit the bullet last week and handed my "Notice of Intention to Submit" to the Dean. Submission date is 4th January. (YES, 2008, why do people ask that?) I have a supervisors meeting first week in December. The final draft has to be ready by the end of the month.

Now is NOT the time to find a problem with the model we are using. So guess what just happened?

And at 5 am on Saturday morning. Can't see Darryl to sort it out until Monday. (assume string of expletives here).

There is not much thesis being written today. I did do a little bit of fiddling around with it this morning, but not very much.

Rebecca and I have been off to Bunnings Warehouse. Richard was away, Bec had the car, so it seemed like a chance to look at plants and pick up bulky gardening items like potting mix and fertilizer. We also called in at the lab, to pick up a pile of water containers that are destined for the scrapheap. They were used for water samples - including mine tailings, but we gave them a good rinse with lab water and they should be fine for recycling grey water for the garden. We had the car radio on all the way, and the election announcement finally came as we pulled up back home.

So now I am sitting here, at the computer. I've already checked all the election websites, read the news articles on the election call, watched Kevin's press conference. I'm wondering if I should search for more elections news. But we have 6 weeks of campaigning ahead, and I know I am going to get very sick of it.

And there is a pile of potting mix, fertiliser, seedlings, sitting in the carport waiting - but the sun is still a little too hot.

So election coverage, gardening, or thesis? Thesis just doesn't stand a chance.

But I've decided that procrastinating can be a good thing. I procrastinated about getting the duco fixed on the car. Then the car was written off anyway, so who cares about the duco? Glad I didn't waste the money. And I procrastinated about fixing the microwave when the turntable stopped turning. And now the turntable is turning again - sometimes. Maybe if I wait a bit longer, it will work properly again. No amount of procrastinating is going to help the thesis though, I know that. But maybe I'll be more inspired tomorrow.

It's a good thing I'm not superstitious. Otherwise I would probably not ever go back to the Campus Club again. Just so you get the picture, here is a summary of my last three visits to the Campus Club:



If there is such a thing as luck, hopefully the bad version has run its course. Of course I'll go back to the club again. Care to join us?

Well, we survived the night of Heather's Senior Formal.

Heather was probably the first girl to go to her senior formal in a dress from Pumpkin Patch and shoes from Bett's Kids! She did look gorgeous though! The hairdo - all those foils - cost almost a week's rent. Yikes! That was a shock. But it did get a lot of comments. And we went to and from the formal on a bus; bet not too many get to do that either.



While Heather was at the formal, Jeanne and I had a night out in the city.  We had dinner in a little place called the Hidden Cafe in Wintergarden; icecream at the Myer Centre, a very expensive and foul glass of wine at the Regent, then saw the movie December Boys at the Regent. Then we dashed back to the Carlton Crest to pick up Heather, just as she came excitedly down the stairs.

We loved December Boys. I laughed more than Jeanne, but I am more familiar with the Australia of the era. It just rang true. And Dan was great, as was the rest of the cast.

A good weekend, I think.

Heather and I went to the pub on Friday night. The Fox, actually, for Bronwyn's 30th birthday. Heather had to produce her 18+ card to get in the door. I bought her a Blue Lagoon, but this time she didn't like it. And I had to agree with her, it wasn't as nice as the one we got at the club on her birthday. It was a lot more expensive too. Later, Richard got her a Fire Engine, and that went down a treat!

Saturday I worked on my thesis, Heather went to the movies. Just how many times can anyone watch Die Hard? I enjoyed the peace and quiet, though.

Today we went to South Bank to meet friends we haven't seen ofr ages. So long, in fact, that the new addition to the family is 14 months old, and this is the first time we had met her. It was a good day, apart from the sudden drop in temperature at around 2 pm.


Jeanne has decided she'd like to be an au pair in France for a while - more to think about. More distractions from study!  She was surprised I didn't hit the roof. She should know me better than that.

Went to hand in the plates from the car to Dept of Transport today. Caught the 599 from Garbo after putting Heather on the bus to school. I was served by Andreas, who went to school with Heather up till she was in grade 4. That always makes the trip to Transport a positive experience. The bad news is, I needed the towing receipt to prove that the car was a wreck. Andreas, bless him, took the plates anyway, and gave me the receipt I need for the insurance claim, but I will have to go back again with it if I want the refund on my rego. I will have to find it - it was on my desk, but isn't now.  Then I caught the 599 home, so now I know where it goes through Sunnybank.

I got to do a little bit of writing, but then an early lunch and up to uni for a meeting. I have been the postgrad rep on the management committee of the research group CESR (that's centre for environmental systems research) as long as I have been a post grad student, and today I finally managed to get some commitment on support for post-grad students. Kinda urgent now that VSU has pulled funds from many supports that the uni used to provide. I used the example of the cancellation of the Statistical Consultant, which was hardly appropriate, because most of our post-grads are statisticians or modellers. Anyway, a full-on meeting as usual. I just love sitting there as a committee member, with the same vote as the Dean!!! I can even disagree with him if I want to.  And sitting in judgement on the funding proposals of some of the school's senior researchers. Anyway, they are going to offer some funding for post grads to write papers based on the thesis once it is submitted, and employ a reasearch assistant whose duties will include editorial support for post-grads. I think the big motivation was RQF - staff members more than ever need their post-grads to produce papers.

After the meeting, off to GC to meet Heather and Fred for the shopping. At least with Fred there, I could buy as much as two people could carry home. Went to Borders looking for the CDs that were supposed to be on special, but couldn't find them. I was hoping to pick up Abbey Road and Sergeant Peppers for $14.95. Instead, Heather picked out two that were on a 3 for 2 deal. I grabbed one to make up the third, and then got home and realised I already had it. Wonder if I can change it?

Funny thing happened the other day. I got a book out of the library at uni, and was sitting in the Enternet with a cup of coffee and opened it up and - out fell a bookmark. Not just any bookmark, but one that Jeanne had given me ages ago and I hadn't been able to find.  I have found my own bookmarks in uni library books before. I must remember to check before I return them.

I handed another chapter to my supervisor today. Only one chapter and the conclusion to go, and then it is time to put it all together - attach bits, link chapters, executive summary, fix all the formatting crap in Word etc. Nearly there, nearly there. Still planning to submit in November. Postgrad office is nagging about my annual report. So wish I'd finished before I had to do another one of those. I'm looking forward to this chapter - there is no data in it!!!!!! :D

I'm glad buses don't always run on time, Heather can really drag her feet getting to the bus stop. Mind you, she got there quickly enough on Sunday when we were going to Southbank for lunch and movies. It was a different story this morning when she was going to school. I was so relieved to see all the McGregor uniforms still at the bus stop, because it meant the bus was late and we hadn't missed it.

I must be n degrees fitter this afternoon than I was this morning. Apart from the dawdle to the bus stop with Heather this morning, I shopped at Garden City after putting her on the school bus, walked back from the bus stop with two bags of groceries, up the hill to uni carrying library books for a meeting with my supervisor , walked back down again carrying more library books, walked to the bus stop again to meet Heather and then walked the dog. At this rate, I might start wearing out shoes.

Only one downer today. I bought a cup of coffee at BBs while I was at Garbo. I ordered takeaway in case I had to dash off to catch the bus. I took the stupid top off, because I just can't drink really hot coffee through those spouts (downside of long black, I guess). Anyway, when I took the lid off, it spilled all over the back of my hand - my left (mouse!!!!) hand. I had to get to a rest room as quickly as I could - with a burnt hand and juggling two bags of groceries, before I could run it under cold water. And I was a whole bus ride away form my aloe vera plants. Result - one rather sore hand.

I am setting up this discussion to debate the serious issues that I think are raised by the story "The Folded Napkin", which you can find here: http://www.snopes.com/glurge/stevie.asp I tried to put it behind a cut, but it didn't work for some reason. Maybe it was too big.

I think there are some serious issues here. The story pushes the emotional buttons in a way that tends to disengage the brain. Most people go all mushy and immediately hit the forward button. And so the story circulates - in flagrant breach of copywrite, I might add! 

I mentioned in an earlier post, about two days ago, how this piece functions as neocon propaganda, to justify the continuation of the market driven health care and industrial relations systems in the US. No wonder the story is so popular with the evangelical right (wrong); a new version of the Good Samaritan story.

But what I would like to discuss here are issues closer to the heart of the diability issues.
How does this story play to the stereotypes of Down Syndrome?
How does this inform the decision of the author to give Stevie DS rather than say Tourettes or Autism?
Does this story (and others like it) benefit people with DS, or is it a form of exploitation? Does it matter?
Why was it necessary for Stevie's mother to be disabled due to cancer? What does this say about the stereotype of mothers of DS?

I would even welcome comments on the portrayal of the truckers. Do they need such feel good stories, given they already have a reputation for being caring, compassionate people. And wasn't there just a bit of 'me tooism" in the response?  And why do we feel compelled to forward these stories? Is it just because the end comments tell us to? Are we afraid of appearing unfeeling?

It would seem that a few people think a DS discussion list is an inappropriate place to discuss these issues. Apparently we should be prepared to just exchange happy stories and compare medical notes.

What has happened to Friday Night Crime on our favourite network?

It was bad enough that we just sat through a series of Silent Witness with pathologists running around pretending to be cops - and getting away with shit that would have anyone else on an assault charge.

Now we have just had the first two episodes of a new series called Proof, the sole premise of which was that half a dozen people managed to get hold of a single disk (serially) with explosive proof of political corrpution, and not one of them bothered to copy the material. Two peope dead, two kidnapped, and still no-one bothers to copy the disk. We see the disk loaded into half a dozen computers, and still no one bothers to either upload or copy the bloody disk!

I will be glad, I think, to see the return of Wire in the Blood, which was never my favourite.I think I will have to start getting a dvd out for Friday night, or maybe work on my thesis. Please Aunty ABC, bring back Taggert, Spooks, Dalziel and Pascoe, repeats, anything but the crap that is being dished out now.

Well, I've done it again! Drawn the flaming wrath of the indignant (or is that the ignorant) down on my head (or, rather, my inbox).

No, I haven't been recommending therapy for Snape fandom again, though I don't resile from that for a moment.

It was on the Down Syndrome Queensland List. Someone, no names, sent in that totally revolting piece of Glurge, "The Folded Napkin". I won't include the text of this revolting piece of tripe here, but you can find it here  http://www.moytura.com/reflections/index.htm with other Prayerful Thoughts and Thoughtful Prayers, or here http://www.1timothy4-13.com/files/family/napkin.html with illuminating articles on such topics as why Harry Potter is evil, and how the earth was created in 6 days.  So I responded, after careful thought, with this

 
I got one very positive response, from someone I'll call Supporter, sayin "Go Janet", and that she also gets irritated by these stories.

Well, then the attack came. But directed not at me, but at Supporter. Seems some people still haven't really got the hang of email. The flame went something like
Well, what could I do? After stewing all day, I sent this
Well, that was my first response, but then I felt I hadn't adequately said why it was that I so objected to this crappy little story. I won't cut it, this was the next response I sent

addendum:
What is wrong with this particular story?
There are millions of Stevies in the US. Not with DS, but without adequate access to health care, and on wages too low to provide a decent living.  Over 9 million children in the US, a country with a philosophical objection to any kind of socialised medicine, have no health insurance. Ask yourself how this story would resonate if Stevie was black instead of DS. The purpose of the story is to make American Christians 'feel good' because God and the US care for the 'deserving' poor. This absolves them of any responsibility to fix their broken and inequitable health care and industrial relations systems, and thus improve the plight of the 'undeserving' poor.

As I said before, a little thought and a little research before we hit the forward button and we could all disengage ourselves from becoming
instruments of this horrendous propaganda.

I've had one response, of support, since - but off-list!!

Long post, sorry!