imho, most politicians are self-obsessed, so I would never say they won't like someone telling them they're amazing.

Also, when I clicked reply Jonelle's reply wasn't there, so we both used the term brown-nose independently, and for the record, I hate it too! (I click lots of reply tabs and think on replies a lot before posting, so I can sometimes miss bits!)

Yeah, I sort of assumed that it was a setting where she was herself as a representative, so talking about that was appropriate. Maybe introducing yourself and saying how much you are excited to read the book?? Then somehow linking in the student org. Ok, giving this advice would help if I had any idea what the student org you run is... Though am assuming a women's rights group?

So how about introducing yourself, saying how excited you are to read the rest of the book, and hope that "people like you" can continue the work towards a society where women's rights are [you probably have the words for this bit better than me] and that you're learning as much as you can to continue to push for opinions to change etc etc. which is why it's such a great honour to meet her. Then when you part just mention that hopefully you'll see her as an intern soon (without mentioning specifics.) If she mentions the actual internship (if it's still possible to apply for it) you can say that you've already applied, and are waiting to hear back?

If it's a Q&A session, then you might get one question, that's it. So think on what question you'd like to ask... When you arrive, enquire about milling around time/meet&greet, and if you do get to mill around, then just talking to her about topic(s) of mutual interest and show your enthusiasm for them. Hopefully if you manage to mention the internship, she'll remember your name and your enthusiasm. I'm assuming that the topic of roe v wade is something that she works on in many levels, with the book, and politically, so it's not an inappropriate topic to talk about.

Yesterday was a bad day. I don't have bad days very often, but that was definitely one of them. I realized I should probably get new black dress pants, because the only pair I have are tight enough that I can't breathe out all the way when I button them. SO. I went to the mall, as well as three stores outside the mall, probably about 7 or 8 total...and found nothing. If they fit in the waist, they were too tight in the thighs. If they fit in the thighs, the waist was way too big. If both the waist and thighs miraculously fit, they were too short. And the hips! Ohhh, don't even get me started on the problems my hips gave me. So by the end of this stupid little excursion, I was a crying mess, because do you know how frustrating it is to feel like some idiot designers have suddenly decided your body type just doesn't exist? It's especially absurd because everything else fits-I've never had problems buying jeans, tops, skirts, whatever. JUST THIS. And I'm pretty much within the parameters of what's considered "average" or "normal," so I can't even imagine how much more frustrating this could be.

Anyway, I laid low the rest of the night, watched the Golden Globes with my roomies, and went to bed early, so that helped. Today I went back out to Macy's and Target to continue the dress pants hunt, and I think I finally found some that will work once they're hemmed. Since then, I've just been bumming around my apartment watching The West Wing (with a brief intermission for working out). Fairly low-key day.

Still have not heard back from this guy about my internship...wondering whether I should just email the first woman I interviewed with and ask her what's going on.

Also I really want these boots. Black or grey?

They're a good price, get them both. I have a pair of black boots that I wish I had also bought in grey!

Also I feel you on those days. I hate going specific-clothes shopping for that very reason. I'll let you know something though, all the dress pants I own, every last one, I've bought at thrift stores with the original tags still on, or in such great condition that they looked brand new. I even got ones that once I brought them home I realized they had clearly been hemmed, and they fit me perfectly, in fact I'm wearing them right now.

But girl I feel you. I have a relatively small waist, curvy hips, a huge back porch, and muscular thighs. Oh, and I'm all of five feet one inches tall. It's SO hard for me to find pants. It's why I buy my all my jeans at Aeropostale. The rest of their clothes are too juvenile for my tastes, but their jeans fit without lots of hemming!

I have an interview!! The aide finally emailed me back. I went to my gramma's house last night to have her hem up my dress pants, and then today my dad gave me an iron and ironing board, so I am all set for tomorrow morning.

Other good things:
-I bought the boots in black and they are lovely. The store didn't have them in grey, but I'll live. Now I can finally say goodbye to my old boots!
-I really really REALLY didn't want to go work out today, but I did anyway. There were several people working out at the same time that made me wonder why I even try, but I kept going and I'm glad I did.

I'm planning an apartment-wide cleaning binge this weekend, before class starts. We rotate chores each week, but we've never done one big, thorough clean.
Upstairs
-Bathroom: Shower, toilet, mirror, floor, countertop, sinks

Main Floor
-Kitchen: Stove, sinks, countertops, toaster, Keurig, microwave, floor
-Bathroom: Toilet, sink, countertop, floor, mirror

And vacuum EVERYWHERE. Our entire place (except kitchen and bathrooms) is carpet, which means vacuuming vacuuming all the time. So that's gonna be my weekend. Anyway, now I'm off to figure out what to do for the rest of the day. I was going to head to Target, but I might wait to do that until after my interview, so I can buy new clothes in the same trip if I need to. Hmmm.

Congrats, and good luck!

I goooot it, I goooot it! I got to meet her, and I was geeking out SO hard. I start Wednesday. Eeeeeeee.

Wow, that is awesome! HUGE congratulations!! I hope this internship opens a lot of doors for you!

It is snowing like crazy here, but I went out to Target anyway to start shopping for internship clothes. I was not happy about spending $100, but I did pretty well:
-A blue-and-white striped button-up shirt
-Grey dress pants:

-A really cute black knee-length linen skirt with removable belt
-A black belt
-New flats (these, in black:)


I wanted a pair of khakis, too, but the only ones they had were so thin I could see all my fingers when I put my hands in the pockets So it looks like I'll have to look elsewhere for those.

Not much else going on around here...it snowed pretty much all day, so I think I'm in for the afternoon/evening. Watching TV shows online, warming up with a big pretty candle, considering what to make for dinner tonight. At some point in the next week or so I have to finish my FAFSA (blegh) and pay my utility bill (once I get checks from my roommates), plus classes start on Monday. I am so not ready for that...

So classes started, which has been interesting. It's only the second day, but I can already tell I'm going to be overloaded with Spanish, reading, and (oddly) movies. We're watching at least a movie a week in two completely different classes-one of them is Advanced Spanish Conversation, which seems like a bizarre class to watch so many movies in, but oh well.

Right now I'm having a REALLY hard time focusing. I know it's just because I'm still adjusting to a new routine so I'm kind of scatterbrained, and because I start my internship tomorrow, but knowing the cause doesn't really help. I just feel very...all over the place, off-center, disjointed, weird. My stomach is doing this lovely thing where it doesn't actually feel hungry when it needs food, it just makes me all lightheaded and mildly nauseous instead. But then when I try to eat, the slight nausea just gets worse, which makes me NOT want to eat. I'm eating a salad right now, and I can only do it a few bites at a time. I think it's just underlying nervousness about my internship tomorrow, but again, knowing why doesn't really help me stop it from happening. I hate feeling like this; I thrive on being organized, making lists and ticking things off, being busy. I do not do well at just sitting and waiting for things to settle.

Maybe making a list of positive things will help me chill out and focus on the 50ish pages of reading I have to do?
-I got this internship for a reason, and I am entirely capable of doing well at it. I earned the resume and reputation I have now by surpassing people's expectations. I secure opportunities like this for myself because I'm smart, motivated, sharp, and committed. I didn't get to where I am by being less than everyone else.
-I dyed my hair a bit darker today. Even though it's not a big change (my hair is naturally almost black), it's still fun to do every once in a while. Plus now my hair is suuuuper soft.
-I realized today that Jerry Orbach (Lenny on Law & Order) voiced Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast, and my mind was COMPLETELY blown. I know I'm probably the last person in the universe to figure that out, but it made me love that movie so so so much more.

And possibly the most positive thing to happen in the last few hours of studying...Boyfriend just sent me a text that said "You know those white patches of ice people always step on because they sound and feel awesome?" (Me: "Yes...?") "You're cooler."

So now I think I can relax and get some work done.

Congratulations on the internship. And in the Badger state right now working on that side of the aisle puts you on the "side of the Angels." [Yeah Jon...nothing like telegraphing YOUR political biases.] I wish such things had existed when I was at the UW.

Working in governance (not just the government) whether you are on the legislative end of things or the executive side such as I was is often frustrating, but you do get a sense that whatever you do is important, not routine, and not something everybody gets to do.

My best wishes for you. Now do I have to reclaim my Wisconsin residency so I can vote for you someday ?

Jon

PS, right at the moment my locale is right on the edge of a gerrymandering that it is so close to my house I have not been able to find a map with enough detail to even tell which congressional district I'm supposed to be in for the next election. Even my current state senator, who is an acquaintance, cannot tell me if I will still be in his district for the next state house term. Right now the line appears to be so close that it may run right through our bedroom, LOL. I could end up in Maryland's Sixth Congressional District and my wife in the Eighth...unless we switch sides of the bed.

Jerry Orbach?? As in, Baby's dad from Dirty Dancing?? HE'S the voice of Lumiere???? MIND STATUS = BLOWN.

Hope day one of the internship is going well!!

Jonelle wrote:

Jerry Orbach?? As in, Baby's dad from Dirty Dancing?? HE'S the voice of Lumiere???? MIND STATUS = BLOWN.

Hope day one of the internship is going well!!

If your mind isn't yet sufficiently blown, this might do it: Jerry Orbach was ALSO the Billy Flynn in Chicago's original Broadway run.

www.youtube.com . . . Quality is crap but it's amazing!

Jonelle wrote:

Jerry Orbach?? As in, Baby's dad from Dirty Dancing?? HE'S the voice of Lumiere???? MIND STATUS = BLOWN.

RIGHT?!? And ahhh, Ginger, that's crazy-I can't watch the video now cause I'm on a campus computer, but I will when I get home!

First day of the internship was really good. I didn't do much, just filed a bunch of bills and wrote a letter to a constituent, but I already love it there. It still feels totally surreal to think that I'm working in a government office...

Not much to add. In class for the rest of the day, then going out to a nice dinner with Boyfriend to celebrate my internship and a job interview he got.

I just got back from my high school's production of Beauty and the Beast. Hmmmmm. The only numbers that were actually pretty good were "Belle," "Gaston" (SO good compared to the rest of the show), and the end of "Be Our Guest." "Beauty and the Beast" (the dance in the famous yellow dress) was nice, too; they kept the scenery really simple and had a backdrop of the moon so it actually resembled the scene in the movie. But I just kept wanting more-more energy, more skilled voices, more projection, MORE everything. I love my high school's drama program, but that show was...lacking for me. They've done better.

Now I'm watching 30 Rock and just hanging out...I might actually watch Beauty & the Beast again on DVD, I love it THAT much. Just a chill night in for meeee.

Copy & pasted from my tumblr, because I don't have time or energy to retype the whole thing:
So I teach ballet to 3-5-year-olds. We read a different children’s story each week, and integrate ballet technique with costumes and props. It’s the best job I’ve ever had. I really do love it there, and I don’t want to undersell that with what I’m about to write.

This week we’re doing Pocahontas, and part of the kids’ costume is a headband with a single red feather in the back. One of my fellow teachers decided to take the feathers out of the headbands, because she was uncomfortable with perpetuating what she felt was a very stereotypical image of Native American people. I worked with her earlier this week, and it was a complete non-issue; the kids didn’t care, the parents didn’t care.

However, after that, our boss went to watch this coworker teach. My boss often emphasizes that we should all be teaching things the same way, so she was thrown off-guard when she found out that this coworker of mine wasn’t using the feathers in the Pocahontas headbands. Basically, they're TOTALLY at odds right now. My coworker feels strongly that the single feather in the headbands is a highly stereotypical, offensive representation, and our boss cannot even understand how that could be offensive to anyone. Like, it’s not that she gets it and disagrees; she doesn’t get it in the first place.

Now here’s where I come in: I am teaching my own classes tomorrow morning, and I had to decide whether or not I’m going to use these feathers in the kids’ headbands. I’m torn, because:
-I completely understand where my coworker is coming from. We do the Thanksgiving Story at this studio every year also, and Squanto is played by one of the teachers, who’s expected to wear-you guessed it-a headband with a single feather in it. It’s always rubbed me the wrong way. I can absolutely see how that representation could be offensive, and to be honest, I’m not totally okay with it either. Buuuut...

-I also understand where my boss is coming from. I’d be lying if I said we didn’t have a whole mess of other stories with which I take issue (like, ah, every Disney princess story EVER). So if I chose not to use these feathers this time, wouldn’t I have to then stick up for every other element of every other story we do that I don’t like? (The way my boss is seeing it, I absolutely would, and frankly, she’s the one signing my paychecks. There is definitely something of a power dynamic going on here as well.) This honestly leaves me wondering: What’s the significance of taking out JUST the feather? If we’re not comfortable with using that, why aren’t we talking about the fact that half the princesses we talk about are rescued by handsome princes, or that we’re being hypocritical by using the Thanksgiving Story and Pocahontas to tell kids to “be nice to others”? What’s the significance of taking away just the feather, when the kids might not even notice its absence anyway?

Earlier today, I told my boss that I would use the feathers. I made it clear that I still don’t totally agree with her, because I don’t, but honestly…I don’t know, it’s almost like if I don’t feel strongly enough about this, I can’t justify NOT doing it.

Anyway, now I feel like I might be leaning towards not using the feathers, because the more I think about it, it is sort of offensive. But that feeling is also complicated by the fact that whatever I do, I’m taking a side. To my boss, not using the feathers would be taking my coworker’s side (and “ganging up” on her); to my coworker, using the feathers would be letting my boss “win”.

Blah. I guess if anyone has any opinions, I'd appreciate feedback. I think for now, I'm just going to have to side with my boss but not agree with her (I am teaching in literally 14 1/2 hours; I don't really have time to fully develop my position on this). I just feel so guilty.

disclaimer: not really an American history buff.

Is it that fact that all the headbands have a single feather? Would it make a difference if some of them had more and some of them had less? What room is there for compromise? That's all the questions or input I have right now.

^For my coworker, yes, that's the significant part. I don't think she's totally off-base here, because it's true that the Native American with a single feather was used in HIGHLY stereotypical images like these. But I also don't agree completely with her, because I have to keep my job, and unfortunately money is a very big reality at play here as well. At the same time, I do NOT agree with my boss either, but "siding" with either one of them makes them think I'm picking one over the other.

Unfortunately, there is really no room for compromise. I'm teaching this story tomorrow morning (in about 13 hours), and on top of that, my boss is...not good at deviating from the routine. She's big on having control over what happens in the studio, and on everyone being "the same across the board." That's been exacerbated by my coworker getting ready to leave the studio after this session, so it doesn't look like things are likely to change.

Well, the Great Feather Debaucle of 2012 is officially over and done with for now. It felt SO GOOD to leave work today and just...leave. And I talked with two other coworkers of mine who understood exactly where I was coming from, so that helped a lot.

Aaaanyway. I just finished The Outsiders, one of my absolute favorite movies ever ever ever, and now I'm watching the NFL award show thing. I have no idea why...part of me wanted to see if Aaron Rodgers would win MVP, but he didn't. Randall Cobb is still a Packer, though, so I'm happy

EDIT: Wait, no, apparently they haven't done MVP yet. Randall Cobb won Play of the Year, not MVP. Haaah. This is why I'm not a football fan.

Cheer up Grace. Aaron Rodgers DID win the MVP by a landslide, only a couple of votes short of unamimous and made one of the most gracious speeches ever about that by an athlete and particularly to his presenter, Peyton Manning. He is a totally class act. Proud to be a Packer fan. (Note, I grew up, in part, in Green Bay and the rest of the time in nearby Manitowoc. As a third grader in Green Bay in 1950, one of the Packer players lived in the other half of my parents duplex apartment. He went with me to my third grade "show and tell" once, visited me with other players in the hospital that year when I had an emergency appendectomy, played ball and instructed me and other neighborhood kids in football skills and arranged for his wife to take me to my first football game. This player, Alex Wizbicki, is still alive at age 90 and I believe is currently the oldest living Packer player. Fifteen years later, in 1965, he and his wife and daughter came to my wedding.)

Randall Cobb won an award for the best single PLAY of the year, a record 108 yard kickoff return, in his first game as a professional during the course of which he escaped a tackle by an acrobatic flip. It was a pretty good year for Wisconsin sports, even if we did not win the World Series, the Rose Bowl or get in the Super Bowl again!

Jon

College is the only football worth watching. Pros fail.

PACKERS!!!!!

Erin.
::righteous babe::

^Awww you love us too?!

And yeah, Jon-as soon as I typed that about Cobb, I came back down to my computer and Rodgers had won MVP. Hahah.

PinUp-The NFL Honors were on TV already, and I'm from a family of Packer fans. Whether or not I care about football (and I don't, for the most part) is irrelevant; my heart is in the Packers by birth.

^And seeing a UW game is worth it just to see the band even if you don't care much for football! I'm a bit far away now to see UW games live, but I did go twice to see them here in the East. Once at the old Meadowlands Stadium outside NYC in Jersey and the other time at Penn State the first time the Badgers played them in the mid-90's. The UW Band was at both events and impressed the heck out of the locals...particularly the "Budweiser" routine "When you say Wisconsin, you've said it all."

Jon

CienPorCientoPAZ wrote:

^Awww you love us too?!

I do. In 1997, I was in Hawaii on holiday with my family, and as Super Bowl day that year was also Australia Day back home, my Dad decided that we needed to have a BBQ and watch the Super Bowl. The Packers got up that day, and since then I've always sort of semi-followed them, from all the way down here.

Erin.
::righteous babe::

Well, my coworker and I are okay after several days of not speaking, so that's good. She just wanted me to know that she's been where I am, and that she's had to fight to earn her status at the studio right now. I hadn't thought of it that way, but I'm definitely keeping that in mind for the future, if/when I have to disagree with my boss again. Either way, I'm glad we're cool now.

Now I'm just waiting around to leave for class in a few minutes, and then after that I've got work. Things I like today...
www.digitalspy.com . . .

feministing.com . . .