Month: February 2010

Best of the 2009 Just Posts: The Semifinalists

I would like to announce that finalists for the Best Just Posts of 2009 will be posted and ready for your voting by the end of January.

However, seeing as I have not yet successfully managed to manipulate the passage of time to suit my desires, I will have to settle for announcing that the finalists will be ready by a date in the near future. Our goal is for Monday, March 1st.

It may not shock you to know that this project grew larger than either Holly or I had anticipated. For one thing, we quickly realized that due to the subjective nature of responding to posts, it would be much fairer to make sure that each post was evaluated independently by more than person. Seeing as we had about 300 posts to evaluate, this meant 600 separate reviews.

We could not have even contemplated this task without vast amounts of help from friends and Just Post supporters, who read and evaluated batches of posts. Their ratings and comments have been extremely helpful to us. For their time and care, we send out sincere thanks and grateful hugs to the following beautiful people:
Amanda, Anne-Marie, antropologa, Barbara, blc, bon, bshep, Catherine, Charlotte, Chrissie, Christine, Christine, De, dee, defiantmuse, denguy, Donna, Elizabeth B, Eli, Emily, Erica, Erika , Heather, Janet, Jean, jen, Julie, KC, Kitty, laloca, Leslie, Lin, Mad, Magpie, Mary G., Meagan, Mme. Meow, Painted,
Robin, Sarah, Shokufeh, Stacie, submom, Susanne, Tabba, and wreke.

And extra big fat sloppy kisses go to De, denguy, Donna, Erika , Heather, Kitty, Leslie, Mad, Mary G., Sarah and Tabba for going above and beyond the call of duty, and coming back to help with more. (For that matter, I’m pretty sure I owe Heather my firstborn child (or at least my firstborn child’s weight in chocolate) for all of the additional reading she took on for us.)

We also greatly appreciate those of you who, while you were not able to actively participate in the project through reading and reviewing posts, expressed your interest and support in the endeavor. Thanks, friends!

In the meantime, our list of semifinalists may be of interest. These posts are those which at least one of two reviewers asserted should make our finalist list. Our final finalist list (I love writing that) will be selected from these semifinalists, based on reviews and comments and a few other considerations.

  • 250 Children Dead of Cold in Andes: Death Toll Keeps Climbing by Barbara Drake at An American in Lima
  • A Day with Fibromyalgia by Amy at Je Ne Regrette Rien
  • A House Made of Asbestos by Mary at Them’s My Sentiments
  • A mini home makeover by Quadelle at Quadelle
  • A Voice from the Back of the Queue by Mary G. at Them’s My Sentiments
  • Academic Freedom: Anti-gay Opinions vs. Anti-gay Untruths by Zack Ford at Zack Ford Blogs
  • American Me by jen at one plus two
  • And if I’m gay, what’s your point? by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
  • And so we wait. by Erika at  Be gay about it.
  • Antifeminist Spam by Meloukhia at This Ain’t Livin’
  • Archbishop of Cusco to Evict More Local Restaurants by Barbara Drake at An American in Lima
  • Are you “Man Enough” for the Middle Border? by Rebecca at Flying Tomato Farms
  • Attention White Folks by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
  • B is for Backpack by Laura at Our Feet are the Same
  • Bea and Eve by Emily at Wheels on the Bus
  • Bird by Bird by jen at one plus two (at Blogher)
  • Blog for choice: Priorities for the new administration by Melissa at MOMocrats
  • bob marley has definitely left the building by jen at one plus two
  • Can we talk? by Country Girl at Country Girl/City Girl
  • Celebrating 5+ Years of Marriage in Massachusetts by alejna at collecting tokens
  • Charity vs. Democracy by Magpie at Magpie Musing
  • Chipped by Holly at Cold Spaghetti
  • Civil rights, but just for me by Tami at What Tami Said
  • Connecting the dots. by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
  • Cows for Christmas by XUP at Ex-Urban Pedestrian
  • Creative Freedoms and the Not Now Book by Claudia at The Bottom of Heaven
  • Culture Clash by jen at one plus two
  • East Coast Cats and Christopher Street Boys by Jay at Ill Doctrine
  • Education dollars at work by Emily at Wheels on the Bus
  • Everybody hurts., by Erika at Be gay about it.
  • Everyday Piscasso by jen at one plus two
  • Faces of Poverty by Ashley at The Dhaka Diaries
  • Faculty Responsible for Campus Climate, Too! (NYU School of Law) by Zack Ford at Zack Ford Blogs
  • finding a way to volunteer with my hands full by alejna at collecting tokens
  • forgiveness by Christine at by flutter
  • Free speech, free range by almostidealist at One Year to Change the World
  • Frozen by Meagan at A Certain Lack of Focus
  • Get It? Got It? Good. by Holly at Cold Spaghetti
  • Glamorous by Emily at Wheels on the Bus
  • Good on ya, Greenpeace! by Rebecca at Flying Tomato Farms
  • Government extends State of Emergency; more children to die by Barbara at An American in Lima
  • Guilty Pleasure Monday: Goodnight Saigon Billy Joel by wreke at wrekehavoc
  • guilty pleasure monday: millworker (james taylor) by wreke at wrekehavoc
  • How dare you take your vagina out in public! by Angela at The Many Hats
  • How’s that Gentrification Going? by Phoebe at Rectory Entrance
  • Humanity I Love You by Catherine at Her Bad Mother
  • In Health there is Freedom, Health is the First of all Liberities by thordora at Spin Me I Pulsate
  • Inverted Reality by Fatboyfat at Make Lard History
  • Iowa: a proposal. by Erika at Be gay about it.
  • Just Posts for a Just World by Holly at Cold Spaghetti
  • Laying Down Arms by Thailand Chani at Finding My Way Home
  • Ma: Little Bigot On the Prairie by Mary at The Eleventh
  • Maine. by Erika at Be gay about it.
  • Marriott is a Disgrace by Ilina at Dirt and Noise
  • Merry Christmas to all by Erika at Be gay about it.
  • Missing the Point by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
  • More by Bon at cribchronicles
  • My best friend’s wedding… by BipolarLawyerCook at BipolarLawyerCook
  • My child, every child by Kyla at The Journey
  • My Once A Year Jewish Rant. by Neil at Citizen of the Month
  • My Uterus Sent Me Flowers by Erika at Be gay about it.
  • My, what a gayngled web we weave. by Erika at Be gay about it.
  • Necessary Rant by Thailand Chani at Finding My Way Home
  • No More Hall Passes by Emily at Wheels on the Bus
  • Oh I See, Profiling is Colorblind by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
  • Oh Oh, She’s Back on Her Soapbox Again by Chris at Formerly Fun
  • Oh, HELL no by City Girl at Country Girl/City Girl
  • On Social Justice and Education by Brigitte Knudson at A Liberal Education
  • One couple’s journey to adopting HIV-positive children  part 1, part 2, and part 3 by Jennifer at Conversion Diary
  • Opening doors, come what may.  by Erika at Be gay about it.
  • Oprah and the secret lives of moms by antiracist parent at antiracist parent
  • peace train by wreke at wrekehavoc
  • Pensioneering by Thordora at Spin Me I Pulsate
  • Please tell me by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
  • Pondering Fate by Holly at Cold Spaghetti
  • President Obama Fierce Advocate of Rousing Speeches and the Status Quo by Erika at Be gay about it.
  • Quote of the Day by Adrianne at The Bodhi Tree
  • Race Matters; or, the Judge, the Professor, and the Doctor by Emily at Wheels on the Bus
  • Rejecting Yertle by Emily at Wheels on the Bus
  • Remember by Painted Maypole at Painted Maypole
  • Remember that wishbone I was choking on? by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
  • Sacred Life Sunday: No Slime Zone! by Thailand Chani at Finding My Way Home
  • Safety and Self Worth: $175 by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
  • Samaritans in a Subaru by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
  • school daze by jen at one plus two
  • Shine your light, share your story …AND WIN A CONTEST!! by Erika at Be gay about it.
  • some random thoughts on giving by Em at Social Justice Soapbox
  • Some Thoughts on the Princess and the Frog by Claudia at The Bottom of Heaven
  • Stay or go by Jarret at Creature of the shade
  • Stigma//Taboo by Magpie at Magpie Musing
  • stuck in the freudian anal phase by bon at cribchronicles
  • Stuff black folks don’t do: Creating our own oppression by Tami at What Tami Said
  • Susan Boyle by Thailand Chani at Finding My Way Home
  • Tales of Health Insurance by Neil at Citizen of the Month
  • Tall and Tan, Young and Lovely by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
  • Ten by Painted Maypole at Painted Maypole
  • The Afghanis by Antropologa at Antropologa
  • The cost of a winter tomato by Rebecca at Flying Tomato Farms
  • The Freegans by XUP at Ex-Urban Pedestrian
  • the great american melting pot (?) by Hispanic Fanatic at Hispanic Fanatic
  • The Holy Land by Emily at Wheels on the Bus
  • The Invisible Boy by Catherine at Her Bad Mother
  • The radical act of being ourselves by Mouse at The Mouse’s Nest
  • The Speech, Remix Edition by Kyla at The Journey
  • the un-holiest marriage by Rebecca at Flying Tomato Farms
  • The Unbearable Tenderness of Boys by Hedgie at Princess Hedgehog Chronicles guestposting at Talkin’ the Teenie
  • This (Black) American Life by Claudia at The Bottom of Heaven
  • This is what a leader looks like by Emily at Wheels on the Bus
  • Today is World Water Day by prof susurro at like a whisper
  • Uncensored II by Megan at Missing in Iraq
  • untitled post by Christine at by flutter
  • Venting by Em at Social Justice Soapbox
  • War Ends, Schools Begin by Shahrazaad at Shahrazaad
  • War on Women by Chani at Finding my way back home
  • Whadaya Know Georgia. by Tash at Awful but Functioning
  • What kids need by Emily (from Wheels on the Bus) at LA Mom’s Blog
  • What’s Good for the Goose by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
  • When allies fail – Part One and Part Two by Tami at What Tami Said
  • When is zero not really zero? When it describes your food. by Kimberly at The Gav Menagerie
  • Why does New Orleans have different moral rules of conduct? by Holly at Cold Spaghetti
  • Why the Prop 8 Decision Inhibits Equality by Zack Ford at Zack Ford Blogs
  • You don’t want to meet the new boy in town by Holly at Cold Spaghetti
  • You Think E Coli Spinach is Scary? by Rebecca at Flying Tomato Farms
  • You want to know how much a colonoscopy costs? by Magpie at Magpie Musing

    • cuddly (PhotoHunt)

    Just a few months ago, thanks to the wonders of digital networking, I re-established contact with a friend from high school. We hadn’t seen each other for about 20 years. We had both been living in France back then, so I was surprised to learn that she was now living in Canada. (We’re practically neighbors!)

    My friend asked for our snail mail address so that she could send us a card at Christmas. In mid-December, the card arrived in a fat box guarded by some cute companions: a backpack with some unidentifiable creature, and a cuddly plush of some other unidentifiable creature. These mysterious cute companions were none other than two of the mascots of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, the city which my friend now calls home. The creature on the backpack turns out to be Quatchi, a sasquatch. The plush was Miga, a “sea bear,” some sort of bear/orca hybrid.¹

    Phoebe and Theo were quite taken with them. As the older child, we let Phoebe pick which of the two gifts would be hers. She picked the backpack, as she loves packing things for trips, and said that Theo, who still has comparatively few toys of his own, could have the plush. Judging from her expression in the photos, she may have had some regrets about this state of affairs.

    So it goes that when I tried to get photos of my children happily enjoying their gifts, thinking to send them to my friend by way of thanks, I ended up with a series of photos that would make Poster Children for Poster Children proud. Happy they may not be, but I defy you to tell me that they are not cuddly.²

    ¹ Merci, chère amie, pour les cadeaux fabuleux!
    ² This week’s Photo Hunt theme is “cuddly.”

    heart of scone

    We’ve been going through another hectic stretch, mostly due to John working crazy hours again. My own hours have been pretty well filled by taking care of kiddos and work, plus not quite enough sleep. On Sunday, though, I got to sleep in a couple of extra hours. John was still up working when Phoebe and Theo woke up, so he wrangled them and got them a bite to eat while I slept until after 9. It was a wonderful Valentine’s Day present–even better than chocolate.¹ (Now if only I hadn’t been up till 3 trying to get a little quality time with my laptop…)

    We haven’t really done much for Valentine’s Day in the past, as I am a cynical cold-hearted type who scorns all forms of romance and sentimentality, with an aversion to heart-shaped things and the color pink. However, having the wee ones around, with their spirits as yet untarnished by such cynicism has changed me a bit. In spite of its brittle candy exterior, my chocolaty heart has melted somewhat towards the heart-shaped rosy-colored trappings of Valentine’s Day. A festive heart-oriented activity was in order.

    In keeping with my enthusiasm for baked goods, I thought making pink heart-shaped scones would fit the bill. We used the blueberry scone recipe, but used frozen raspberries instead of blueberries to get the scones festively pink. (They ended up more purple and red than pink, and we all agreed that we like the blueberry ones better, but they were still tasty enough for us to gobble them down in short order.)


    ——

    ¹Though John did also get me some chocolate.

    The January Just Posts

    Welcome to the latest edition of the Just Posts, a monthly roundtable of posts on topics of social justice hosted here and at Holly’s.

    January was tough month. The earthquake in Port-au-Prince was a tragedy of such mind-numbing proportions, and the healing and recovery for Haiti has barely begun. Many of the writers this month’s roundtable have reflected on these events.

    January also saw the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States, an occasion which inspired some happier reflections on progress our society has made.

    Slow as it seems, it helps to remember that progress has been made. In my quest for new voices to bring into the Just Posts community, I came across a short post from early February that really stuck with me:

    On February 1, 1960, for the first time, black students went to a drugstore, made some purchases, sat down at the lunch counter, and wouldn’t get up. It was the first sit-in.

    In six months, that drugstore counter in Greensboro, NC, was desegregated.

    (An excerpt from Fifty Years Ago Today By Morganna of UUCIF Social Justice)

    Something to think about.

    And now, the The January Just Posts:

    This month’s posts were nominated by:

    If you have a post in the list above, or would just like to support the Just Posts, we invite you to display a button on your blog with a link back here, or to the Just Posts at Cold Spaghetti. If you would like to have a post included next month, you can find out how to submit posts and all sorts of other stuff about the Just Posts at the information page.

    —

    We should have more updates soon on our big project to highlight the fantastic Just Posts of 2009. We have gotten 2 independent reviews on all 300 posts, and are working on finalizing our lists of finalists. (Hmmm…our final lists of finalists…) Thanks so much to all of you who have participated in this project! We couldn’t do it without you.

    The Lawn in Winter

    Did you notice how my photos from that last post had no children in them? I just figured I would post some photos that weren’t of a) my children or b) food or c) my children eating food.

    But I can’t hold out long. Here are a bunch of photos of Phoebe and Theo playing in our yard this winter.

    This was Monday.

    You’ll notice that not all of the lawn has snow.

    These were from a few weeks ago.

    Back in December, we got a goodly amount of snow, and our lawn looked more like this:

    Phoebe, our little penguin, loved playing in the deep snow.

    Theo, not so much.

    It’s snowing right now, and we’re supposed to get around a foot of accumulation. So far it’s just a dusting.

    blueberry scones


    blueberry oatmeal scones
    1 cup oatmeal, blended into a coarse flour
    2 cups white flour
    1/3 cup sugar
    1 tsp baking soda
    1/2 tsp baking powder
    1 stick salted butter (chilled)
    about 3/4 cup milk (or soy milk)
    about 3/4 cup blueberries (fresh, frozen or dried. If you use frozen, don’t thaw them first)
    optional: 1 TBS coarse sugar

    preheat oven to 375 degrees
    grease 2 cookie sheets
    • In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. (Be very careful to break up any lumps of baking soda. I hate biting into a bit of baking soda in a scone. The first scone I ever remember eating bit me back with a lump of baking soda. It’s a wonder I ever tried scones again. But I did, and we are friends again.)
    • Cut the stick of butter into smallish marble-sized chunks, then add to bowl of dry ingredients. Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter (also called a pastry blender) if you have one. (If you don’t have one, it sounds like you can use 2 butter knives.)
    • When thoroughly blended, and the mixture appears to be a crumbly, grainy powder, add the milk a little at a time. Add just enough to achieve a very stiff, sticky dough. (I had to add a bit more than 3/4 cup.)
    • Add the blueberries, and stir in. (I used frozen blueberries.)
    • Drop lumps of the dough onto the cookie sheet in whatever size you think looks scone-like. I tried one pan of roughly 1/2 cup-sized scones, and another pan with maybe 1/4 sized scones. They will expand and spread a little bit, so give them a good inch or so between lumps.
    • If you want, sprinkle a bit of coarse sugar on the tops.
    • Bake at 375. The big scones took about 20 minutes, the smaller ones more like 10. The scones are done when you can see bits of lightly browned edges.

    (This recipe is based roughly on recipes found here and here.)

    I made scones with Phoebe this morning. It was the first time I’d made scones from scratch, but I was quite pleased with how they turned out. I was also quite pleased to be able to use my vintage pastry cutter for the first time. I’m pretty sure it’s from my grandmother’s house.

    The scones were really yummy by the way. I use the past tense because they are long gone. I can’t tell you how well they preserve because they didn’t stand a chance in our household.

    Borrowed Pants: Selected Texts from the Pants Archives

    From my place in the seat of the Pants Institute, I am on occasion privileged to receive interesting pockets of Pants Knowledge from fellow Pants Scholars from the wider Pants World.

    PoetTraveler of Reaching for my pen… recently left the following gem of Pants Lore in the comments of my about page, an article which surely deserves your clothes attention.¹

    The quest for perfect Pants is a longstanding one. Many have searched for the ideal symbol of this emblematic icon. There has been much coverage on the subject. Some academics argue that perfection is impossible. Others say not so, it’s all down to genes.

    Indeed, the great pants-philosopher, Levy of Denim, produced a schematic that took Plato’s theory of Forms further . For Levy, Pants was all about form. His addendum to Plato’s idea was not a re-butt-al, figuratively speaking. He postulated that Form clings to genes and to this day one of most widely used expressions in the field contains both a noun and an adjective incorporated in the effusive expression “I’m panting for more”.

    – Excerpt from “Pantalonia – The Path of Bottomless Knowledge” –

    After a brief discussion of the Text, he also shared the following:

    Some dissidents – notably Diogenes of Sinope were critical of Levy of Denim’s association with Plato’s ideas. He accused Levy of being inelastic in his coverage, of dressing part of the Form concept in such a way so that it became an inelastic pro-position. Levy of Denim was noted for labeling his ideas carefully and when Diogene’s criticisms reached him he was said to have sighed and murmured “That Diogenes is not exactly a barrel of laughs” The ancient greek translation is inaccurate because of ambiguity in this context and another meaning could be “He’s not getting me over a barrel”, but there is no collective agreement on this possible alternative meaning and in any case Denim of Levy was, at that time, apparently happily married to Levytica, a seamstressed lady from Syracuse.

    I expect you will agree that briefs of this fashion are a tight fit for the body of Pants Knowledge assembled in the Pants Institute, and should be stored in the venerable drawers of the Pants Bureau Archives.

    This message was approved by the Ministry of Pants.

    ———
    ¹This pun was also borrowed from PoetTraveler.²
    ²Even more Pants material can be sewn, or um, seen here, as well as more of our off the cuff³ exchange.
    ³…or on the fly, as it were.

    head in a fog

    I’ve come down with a bad cold, and my head is in a total fog. It’s really remarkable how hard I find it just to put words together. (I tried to write something funny, but apparently my sense of humor has been impaired by the virus, along with my sinuses. Or maybe my sense of humor resides in my sinuses, and is now inflamed.)

    I also find myself really annoyed that this is the 4th time I’ve been sick in as many weeks. I’m not sure what my point is, beyond, um, blech.

    I guess I should be relieved that this cold waited to strike till after I was done co-teaching my class last week. (It was a week-long intersession class on prosodic transcription.) As it was, I really enjoyed the class. And found myself quite relieved to not be pregnant while teaching it this time. (This is the third time we’ve put on this class. The first time, I was 8 months pregnant. The second time I was only a few weeks pregnant, and had morning sickness.)

    —

    Meanwhile, Holly and I have been making great progress with our project to highlight some of the best Just Posts of 2009. We’re quite grateful to have gotten loads of help from readers, bloggers and other friends. Since evaluating posts is so subjective, in the interest of fairness, we are having each post evaluated independently by 2 different reviewers.  Holly and I will then be making the final cut based on the ratings and comments we’ve received, plus our own two cents. (Or possibly 4 cents, since there are two of us. Is someone keeping track of the pennies?)

    We’re getting close to having our reviews together, but there’s still more to be done. (A few batches of posts to review have gone astray due to spam filtering or other irreconcilable email woes, and need to be reassigned.) So, if you have the time and inclination to join in (or join in some more!) and look at 5 or 10 posts over the next few days, let us know.