baile de la escuela de doctorado

last friday i went to what i am now referring to as grad school prom. Dvine's book, Island of Shame, hit bookstores and his parents threw him a party. and despite his insistence that is was a casual affair, its location on a rooftop overlooking the washington monument suggested otherwise.

so, the department was buzzing all week with "what shall we wear?" in particular, all the HAGGs were trying to coordinate level of dressiness. this led to conversations (in person, via email, & on facebook) about whether dresses, skirts, or pants were best, what shoes were appropriate, and the requisite "how short is too short?" discussion. in the end we decided dresses, heels, and sax's earrings were most appropriate, as well as deciding we were all acting like 15 year olds.

now, at first glance, fancy events at this age might be more easily compared to weddings, what with the congratulatory speeches, fancy food, alcohol, and number of people of older generations present. but to me this felt more like prom because of the presence of people i see every day. these are people i've come to know in a very quotidian way. i've seen these folks racked with nervousness over class presentations, caving under the stress of final papers, frustrated with losses on the futbol field, and on the brink of utter breakdown thinking about comps. in essence i've seen these people at their worst (and they've seen me at mine). we live in a world where "how are you?" is more often met with "uh......still alive" than "good, how are you?" granted, i haven't seen these folks grow up the way i had with those attending high school prom. but i have seen them grow into their academic selves, which from our (privileged) position is perhaps just as important a formation.

and grad school prom is far superior to high school prom. there is no anxiety about dates. no drama in the women's bathroom (like with LM & MH), and there's WINE! lots and lots of free wine. and food. and beautiful views (not quite available in miller park). and an afterparty (that far surpasses the hey hi afterprom activties). rumagin, being the perennial cool kid, got too drunk on rum with his roommates to show up, so otto, jag & i met him at his place later for our usual basement activities.

i guess in a way, the evening provided a new episode in the saga that is my feelings about the people here: and on that night, in my heels and makeup, sitting in the basement on chesapeake, i felt like i was where i was supposed to be, with the people i was supposed to be. despite my aching feet, it felt comfortable. with the end of the year approaching quickly it was the perfect time with the perfect reason for celebration.

and you know its a good night when you lose important things like your wallet and don't even care.

scandal, blo/no style

http://normalcoalbears.com/

adendum

oh my

"women are hard wired to want peace....its i our DNA"

"boys will be boys"

this just gets better and better

aye, television

ok, so i somehow just started watching GREEK on abc family. i'm not sure why i did not surf around after turning the television on to this channel, but i didn't.

and now i just have to rant (i know, i know, its my own fault). but so on the show (which i know absolutely nothing about) there's a women's studies class of all women and one man. the professor asks a question, what 3 female leaders have in common (i've never heard of any of them....shows you what kind of womanist/feminist/queer/political scientist i am...) and the one man answers correctly: they all have a strong record of conflict resolution.

the professor affirms that this is correct then goes on to say "it is their instinct as women that has cultivated their abilities at conflict resolution." i waited for the "Psych!" and fully expected it, especially because the professor was being portrayed by Janine Garofalo. but no....apparently they were serious.

WTF? I guess I'd expect them to at least consult some sort of women's studies textbook. Maybe they did. Maybe it was written in the 1940s.

Makes you wonder what gross inaccuracies are being perpetuated in the art history class scenes.

la raza

i'm probably not as qualified to write about this as i'd like to think, but rumagin, delf & i were talking last week about comedy skits that satirize racial stereotypes, and (no matter their intentions) whether they serve to reinforce and naturalize sterotypes and ghettoization, or whether they destabalize them. i, being one to usually argue for the revolutionary potential of performance argue that comedic representations of stereotypes do destabalize them. perhaps people find them funny because they think they're "rooted in truth" but i think they also find them funny because they realize that they are satire-that they don't represent reality, but an exaggeration. and this tends to call into question how these things are constructed. overly-"ghettoized" language makes us realize that people who might talk in similar ways are themselves engaging in a social performance. satirizing the employment options in low income neighborhoods focuses attention on social inequalities.

of course, people often bring up Chappelle's resignation from his show because he felt people were laughing at him, not with him. and i don't doubt his reasons for feeling that way. but what this argument ignores is that at one point, and presumably for some time, he felt that his performance did have potential to change things. to denaturalize. perhaps to break down and reform popular and ideological notions of race. and maybe it didn't happen as quickly or as completely as he'd have liked. and he certainly had every right to decide what he did. but i think he was more effective than he thought. npr did a series in 2002 addressing these issues, and some other comic did seem to feel effective in dismantling stereotypes, at least to an extent.

but then again, maybe i give audiences too much credit. maybe i assume a critical viewer, where there are none. now, leap would say at this point we need audience reception studies. so, despite the fact that no one ever comments here these days, i know you're out there. so how do you think this stuff is received?

when you watch WacArnold, does it highlight for you the structural inequalities and violences of urban ghettoization, or do you laugh because, oh, those crazy black urban folks....they really do need to get a job.

Chappelle's Show
WacArnold's
comedycentral.com
Charlie Murphy Videos Buy Chappelle's Show DVDs Black Comedy

do you laugh at bon qui qui because it presents critique of racial stereotypes, or because "those people" really do talk funny?

seriously, i'm curious.

iowa

i used to dislike iowa. mostly because i had family in ames, and every thanksgiving and every december 26th, and often on a random july day, i'd be forced into sharing the blue station wagon's backset with my sister for a 6 hour journey across flat land. inevitably we'd arrive and my cousins, who i did actually rather enjoy, would be off with their cool older friends, and i'd be forced to endure "grownup" time with the aunts and uncles.

then in 2003, everything changed. a little documentary called "pats of glory," introduced me to the beauties of iowa's fair history, camping next to carnies, and deep fried...well, everything. i was hooked. and i won't go into too much detail because as rule #2 of the fair states, "what stays at the fair, stays at the fair," but my feelings on the state have only become more and more positive in the last 6 years.

and now, well, it might just be surpassing my love for its neighbor to the east. and its not just because of gay marriage. iowa has a long history of progressivism, which i admire. and this article really sums it up.

my love of iowa may even be surpassing my love of the land of lincoln (and obama--but then again, if i'm closely associating obama with illinois, some recent presidential actions -such as this and this-may be making the state slip in the rankings independent of what iowa's doing). illinois might have to start selling rooster booster to redeem itself.

sloppy & unprofessional

it seems butter carving (or sculpture) may make its debut on the big screen. but seriously....there's a big difference between carving and sculpture, and the blurb conflates the two. get it right!

just a little duff dog eye candy

also, in case you weren't paying attention, fujimori got sentanced to 25 years.