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xposted

Happy New Year, all! Today seems like a good day to dust off this blogging device and surface for a bit. I am basically spending January working and sleeping, and today's list of things to do is pretty indicative of how my January days go:

- sleep 10 hours.
- work on the hospital website consulting project.
- work on syllabus to be used for the Spring semester.
- work on professional development materials for high school teachers - also a consulting project.
- work on job applications for the Fall.
- work on my dissertation introduction.
- do some housework.
- do something fun in the evening. Yesterday it was Make Dinner; tonight it is See a Movie.
- sleep for 10 hours again.

I'll leave hibernate mode in February, by which I mean that I'll be actively teaching three sections while continuing to write/revise my dissertation, work on two paid consulting projects, and apply to jobs. I'll also be auditing a grad class and participating in a task force on the role of Humanities in General Education. And that's all just February. Later this semester, I'll be turning in my dissertation for realsies and delivering papers at two conferences.

So I think my time should really open up in May. Hey, anybody free in May?

griping about catcalls

(cross-posted to lj; where is everybody, for serious.)

I was thinking about catcalls today because I find I receive a different class of catcall than I used to. In fact, I can pretty much chart the catcalls I have received during my time living in NYC by neighborhood.

West Village: "Girl knows she looks good!" generic whistles, etc.

East Village: "For a white girl, your shape is OFF the HOOK." I actually said thank you to this. It remains my favorite catcall.

Deeper East Village: "Baby, why you mad at me?" "Come on baby, don't be like that" etc.

168th Street: "Damn, she f*&^ all the N*&&%@s." and "God bless that ass."

Chelsea: not very many at all. People were far more interested in my boyfriend. BUT, once while walking home carrying books: "Damn, girl, you don't need no books, I'LL tell you a story."

Now, I live on the Upper West Side, spend a lot of time in Midtown and in the UES and in both villages. I'm all over. And EVERYWHERE, I am getting the same thing: as guys pass me in the street, they lean in and whisper to me. Sometimes filthy things, sometimes just "yes" or "nice" but always a creeeeeepily close whisper.

Why is this? Is this the universally acknowledged way to catcall a grown-up lady? Is this the way all catcalls are conducted now in the 2009 era? Is there something about me that screams "whisper creepily to me!"? What, in short, the hell?

(no subject)

Perhaps my strategy should be to use this forum as a reading journal or something. To that end: I just read the first Nancy Drew mystery and it was pretty adorable, though the writing was not good. Nancy herself is so engaging, though, and it is so comforting to have a heroine with no problems who goes around solving other people's problems. Like if Emma was good at her job.

Here I am!

Who else is around?