Yesterday, my little house smelled like a turkey cooking in the oven. This was nothing unusual for most people on Thanksgiving day, but what was strange for me was knowing that when the 20 pound animal cooking was done, I would be eating it. I’ve … [Read more...]
My hands smell like turkey: reflections on a long-time vegetarian eating meat
November 26, 2010 By 2 Comments
Dear NFL: Women are people, too
November 17, 2010 By 1 Comment
I’m a woman with a Ph.D. in sociology and I love the NFL. I realize that makes me a fairly small demographic and so the commissioner, the networks, ESPN and NFL Network are not really that concerned with my own personal perspective. But there are … [Read more...]
The gooey insides
January 30, 2010 By 1 Comment
Nobody likes to scrape the gooey insides out of a pumpkin. Or almost nobody. I don’t mind so much. It’s just pumpkin guts. But I understand that there’s something disconcerting about the contrast between the solid, shiny exterior of a pumpkin and the … [Read more...]
Monkey Mind
January 14, 2010 By 1 Comment
In the fall, one of my colleagues in the philosophy department brought to campus a Tibetan lama, of the Bon tradition, which you’ll excuse me for summarizing, is kind of like Tibetan Buddhism, but also different. I claim no expertise, and though the … [Read more...]
For the love of books
April 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment
In the last year or so, I rediscovered how much I love reading. It’s sad to say that I somehow forgot. Partly, in the first three years or so of my life as a professor, I did enough reading on the job to make wanting to come home and read for … [Read more...]
Thoughts on Dollhouse
February 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Two episodes in, and here’s my initial reactions. First, much like the last season of Buffy, I think there are too many characters, and even worse than the last season of Buffy, few of them seem in any way related to each other. Topher Brink (the so … [Read more...]
Control
October 9, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Statistically, the odds of being killed in a plane crash are infinitely smaller than the odds of getting killed in your car. But few of us feel that gut-wrenching, white-knuckled fear when we get in our car to drive to work or the grocery store. Why … [Read more...]
Ike in Indiana
September 17, 2008 By Leave a Comment
I lived in Mississippi for five years and Alabama for one year. I never thought I’d have to come to Indiana to live through a hurricane. Now I don’t want to sound hyperbolic or like anything we’ve gone through here in southern Indiana compares to the … [Read more...]
The election and my mental health
September 11, 2008 By 1 Comment
I’ve by and large avoided talking about the election so far for several reasons. First, it just seems too insane to even wrap my mind around. Two, I was hoping that if I just didn’t talk about it or think about it, it would all go away. I’m still … [Read more...]
I know what a peach taste likes…
September 10, 2008 By Leave a Comment
I don't want to sound pretentious, but I know what a peach tastes likes. I just ate something, and it wasn't a peach. It looked peach-like. It came from the produce section of the grocery store, though I myself didn't buy it. It was mildly fuzzy in … [Read more...]
