(Or, Maybe somebody ought to do something about those effing sharks….)
Much has been written about science and the Impostor Syndrome by people more eloquent than I. Much less has been written about the challenges of facing a chronic illness while being a scientist. I have some thoughts about both. Also, sharks (of the metaphorical inclination.)
I was diagnosed with a medical condition about half-way through grad school. I won’t unpack that story here but suffice to say the condition (which I will refer to henceforth as ‘SFMC’ – as in Stupid F’n Medical Condition) is chronic, intermittent and usually progressive. It lasts a lifetime and can result in fairly severe disability. Due to the circumstances of my diagnosis, disclosure during grad school wasn’t really an issue of choice. I’m happy to say that people in my academic circle were very supportive and actively helpful, including my…
Today, April 23, marks the 3rd year of WBN-USA‘s annual book-giving campaign. It is also designated by UNESCO as World Book and Copyright Day. I will be a WBN-USA book giver for the third time. And for the third time, I have chosen a YA/Middle Grade book to share (YA stands for Young Adult). This year, I will be providing copies of Zora and Me by Victoria Bond and T. R. Simon (2010). It’s a book appropriate for Middle Grade readers (usually designated as readers between the ages of 9 to 11). There are significant differences between Young Adult and Middle Grade literature, though these differences can vary. However, that’s a topic of discussion for a different post. For now, let’s talk about the pleasures of reading…and the advocating for self-determination through libraries.
Since WBN is about sharing the love of reading person to person, it’s expected and encouraged for a book giver to choose something that is personally relevant. I hadn’t read Zora and Me till I was assigned the book. It was not my first choice, but now, after I have read it, I am very, very glad that it is what I will be give away.
Zora and Me
Zora and Me is the fictionalized tale of the young Zora Neale Hurston, lauded author of Their Eyes Were Watching God. I had read the novel many, many years ago. So long ago that it has faded from my memory. Recently, my oldest daughter had to read Their Eyes for her AP English class. We discussed the book, the events in the story, and the characters, awakening for me fond memories of my undergraduate years and the many reasons, all bittersweet, why I had fallen deeply in love with cultural anthropology back then.
The power of a great tale, beautifully rendered, has the capacity to awaken deep feelings within us. It can motivate us to go beyond our zones of comfort, to dare, and to exceed our limitations.
John Green, re: WBN13
The intentions behind World Book Night is to reveal this simple truth. As book givers, tonight we will go up to perfect strangers and say, “I really loved this story. You may love it, too. Here’s a free copy.” No strings, no questions, no hoops. Just here. Just enjoy. For those of us who find solace between the pages of a book, book-giving can be a profound moment of revealing and sharing a small part of our inner lives with others. Of course, the books may not be read, or even kept. But for a book giver, the bulk of the meaning derived is in the act of giving. At least it is for me.
Of course, I’d like to know that I’ve been effective. It would be nice to know that the books I have decided to give away are just as loved and well-regarded as I had found them. WBN-USA wants to know this, too, without being too obstructive. WBN-USA started out as a grassroots effort to share the love of reading and it continues to be that type of an effort.
The pleasures of leisure reading are manifold. Interestingly, the benefits communities and the whole of society can derive from such a personal, individual, and often solitary activity are just as plenty. According to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the provider of the Big Read grants, “good readers make good citizens.”
Please sign.
Libraries of all types enable good citizenship by helping its members be better stewards of their personal and communal destinies. By signing the Declaration for the Right to Libraries, I am lending my voice to loudly state the value of libraries, library workers, and library resources to anyone.
While the opportunity to officially join World Book Night 2014 has long passed, it is not too late to sign the Declaration for the Right to Libraries. Click on the image on the right to sign the Declaration online. I hope you will do so.
In the video below, American Library Association (ALA) President 2013-2014, Barbara Stripling, talks some more about the Declaration for the Right to Libraries.
Many people are genuinely willing to help, but do not know where to begin. Because of this, we often offer by saying, “Call me if you need anything.” This is a great effort to reach out, but unfortunately, it does not work. For that reason, we cannot put the ball in their court and expect them to call us. So, how can we help if they will not ask when they need it? Simple…we call them!
Most of the time, I feel I have to apologize for not meeting other people’s expectations of me, even if I am greatly hampered by my various conditions, all of which are hidden, invisible, and unmarked. I often feel that I need to wear some visible sign that I can point to, so I can remind myself and others of the various challenges I experience, regardless of how comparatively mild and unremarkable they may be.
Then, I remember that I am not on this Earth to explain and apologize for my existence.
Click to go to InsideHigherEd.com: Dropping the Ball on Disabilities
As an added bonus, here’s an awesome Bingo card! Share it with your friends!
Our Goal: To affect everyone’s tomorrow by generously giving time, attention, and material goods today.
Being good is hard work! It doesn’t take much to create a habit of generosity, but sometimes one’s personal concerns loom so large in one’s imagination that it crowds out any positive thoughts about one’s fellow human beings.
I give thanks for the people in my life who inspire and encourage me to be better. They are among those whom I admire greatly. Two of them, in fact, are people who are the driving force of a new, local nonprofit organization, Share Today Shape Tomorrow, that I had been asked to be a part. (Please see the About page of ST^2 for specifics.) I am very, very happy and proud to be part of ST^2 and to help its development along. I take this as a sign that I must be doing something right.
I have always said that I am aiming to live a life of purpose and meaning. This is also the perspective I hope both my children have come to appreciate and take on themselves. I am thrilled to further this personal goal of mine while serving others through ST^2.
Today is Easter Sunday 2014. Amidst the chocolate-covered marshmallows, cute, fuzzy chicks and bunnies, springtime dresses and hats, and jelly beans, I want to take a moment to consider on this blog the recent news of the Vatican’s seeming reversal on liberation theology by welcoming Rev. Gustavo Gutierrez with open arms. Huzzah!
Before I even had an inkling that Communist or Marxist points-of-view existed, I was exposed to the social teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. I had begun my formal education at a Catholic school in the Philippines, so the principles and teachings of the faith are huge influences on me. I was a teen when I became aware of liberation theology, the Communist movement in the Philippines, and the nationalist fervor that served to answer the social, political, and economic inequities in Philippine society. My drive for social justice is not fueled simply by my formative years in a poor, developing nation or by purely political or intellectual philosophies. The heart of my desire for justice is born from religion. Roman Catholicism, to be exact. Liberation theology, to be even more specific.
Like many, I try to follow the path to God, a path of love and righteousness, by following a path of social justice. Because of this, the Easter story, to me, is a story of liberation from oppression. Christ’s Resurrection is humanity’s redemption. Like Rev. Gustavo Gutierrez, I hope to live a life that embodies my Christian faith.
I had expected their cumulative sentiment to be one of mostly anger. But if you boiled down to a single feeling what was most often expressed in the nonbelievers’ statements, it would be Why do Christians hate us so much?
Today is Black Saturday. It is the day that Christians who follow Lenten practices traditionally commemorate the descent of Jesus into Hell.
Contemplating on life, especially the tragedies that have come really, really close to my family members and me, I have become ever-more convinced of the great value of faith, religion, spirituality, and the communities they let flourish.
While I have taught my daughters to value the specific Christian tradition that has defined my own upbringing (Filipino and Roman Catholic), I have also taught them to value the traditions others follow. The choices we have made as a family, I believe, reflect this. I sincerely believe that to live a life on the path of love involves embracing others in ways that can’t be simply condensed into self-congratulatory platitudes like “hate the sin, not the sinner.” This is a challenging, very narrow, and winding path to travel. One can get easily lost, confused, and turned around. But it is the one path I’d rather be traveling.
Today, we will be thinking about this path, filled with many contradictions, hardships, and paradoxes.
And remember the truth that once was spoken,
To love another person is to see the face of God.
~ Les Misérables, 2012 film adaptation of the 1980 Les Miz musical
Election, 1999. Pick Flick. Image from TVTropes.org, “Go-Getter Girl.”
I am no Tracy Flick. Let’s get that out right now. I am not after supreme world domination. I don’t do what I do because I want to be the best (but I won’t turn down an offer to be better, though). I do what I do because I think the efforts I back need the hand. I’ve got two of them (hands, I mean). And a brain. And some experience under my belt. And most importantly, I have a heart. At the moment, all these are still fully functional, so I’d like to make the best use of them while I still can.
I should admit that I do have Tracy-Flick-like tendencies. Chalk up my bid for APALA Executive Board Member-at-Large 2014-2016 office to my need to fulfill a personal goal (see my By 45 list). I know it also looks good on my accomplishment belt (a.k.a. my CV). But, as I said in my personal narrative for the election, I do aim to do what I say and say what I do. I ran because I love APALA, my professional home. I have always been appointed (or tapped, as I like to call it) or volunteered myself. I have never run for office (as an adult) before. I had been exceedingly happy just being power-adjacent. I saw myself as a worker, nothing more. With great thought and deliberation, and lots of conversations with people I greatly admire (you know who you are, I hope), I ran. It’s like offering up one’s self for scrutiny and judgment, which I so dislike intensely.
I am fully aware that I am not perfect. And I don’t pretend to be, either in private or in public. Since the circle of friends I have gained in APALA has convinced me that authenticity is highly valued there, I believe that this is something I can do. And, truthfully, I would and should want to do.
The Iron Lady, 2011. Image from TVTropes.org, “Iron Lady.”
I like having a sense of humor. I am too aware of my tender spots, my vulnerabilities, and my (immense) flaws. I have no interest in cultivating a cold, no-nonsense persona. I will never, ever be an Iron Lady. Nor do I want to be. (N.b., no offense to Iron Ladies. Props to you. I’m just sayin.)
I don’t want to embody the Iron Lady trope, strictly and literally rendered. But this doesn’t mean I am not packing any steel. If I have to go with a trope commonly used in film and television, I’d rather be a Broken Bird in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). I think that trope suits me better.
At any rate, THANK YOU to those who voted for me. I take your vote of confidence very seriously and I will not let you down. I am grateful that you recognize my efforts, my desire to join people who are working to fulfill the goals and objectives set by APALA’s founders.
Duel between Jen and Yu Shu-Lien. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 2000.
In the Christian timetable, Holy Week is one of the most significant times of the liturgical calendar. It is the time of immense losses and suffering, making amends, redemption, and, ultimately, triumph over massive obstacles. While the stories of resplendent resurrection emphasize the triumph of faith and the fulfillment of old promises, our earthly existence teaches us that resilience in the face of overwhelming hardships is a precarious undertaking that tests our best intentions of steadfastness and constancy. Sometimes such faithfulness requires from us engagement of the not-so-peaceful sort. Sometimes standing in solidarity with those who need or want redemption the most means spoiling for a fight.
Now, I don’t understand what happened to our love.
But, Babe, I’m gonna get you back.
I’m gonna show you what I’m made of.
I can see you,
Your brown skin shinin’ in the sun.
I see you walkin’ real slow and
Smilin’ at everyone.
I can tell you, my love for you will still be strong,
After the boys of summer have gone.
Out on the road today, I saw a Black Flag sticker on a Cadillac.
A little voice inside my head said,
“Don’t look back. You can never look back.”
I thought I knew what love was.
What did I know?
Those days are gone forever,
I should just let them go, but…
I can see you,
Your brown skin shinin’ in the sun,
You got the top pulled down and
The radio on, Baby.
And I can tell you, my love for you will still be strong,
After the boys of summer have gone.
I like to write. I also like to read, watch, and observe. I love playing rpg video games. I'm an academic librarian. All of these end up on my blog. All posts are drafts. I make no special claim to authority or talent. I just try, try again.
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