Beaded kitchen

Apparently I'm not the most bead-obsessed person in the world ... Liza Lou spent five years creating an entirely beaded kitchen. You can hear her talk about her story on This American Life (search for the story on "Obsession"), which is also available on iTunes.

Flight or invisibility?

I'm listening to This American Life, and John Hodgman is talking about the following hypothetical choice: If you could have the power of flight or the power of invisibility*, which would you choose? Whichever one you choose, you would be the only person in the world with this superpower. Once you had this power, what would you do with it?

Well, what would YOU choose? And what would you do once granted this power?



*The Power of Flight means that you can fly at speeds up to 1000 miles per hour within the earth's atmosphere. The Power of Invisibility means the power to make yourself transparent at will at any time, including your clothing. However, any objects you pick up can be seen.

Thorax cake

Some things look just too disgusting to eat.

What makes you cringe?

I'm listening to an episode of This American Life which is talking about the stories that make us cringe. They are exploring what aspects of a story are critical to the "cringe factor", and it got me wondering. Is cringing the same as embarrassment? They seem related, but perhaps not identical. What are the things that make us cringe?

When you think back on your life, what are the experiences that made/make you cringe?

Textile Art Tutorials

Such cool information about things textile-related -- it makes me want to go work in my studio, even though I'm supposed to be grading and gardening today. {pout}

Overdoing it again . . .

Too many hours of gardening today . . . hurty hurty! Still not done, either. *Sigh* But it was a lovely day and now we have more flowers in the garden.

Evolution of dance

Ok, I may be the last person to have seen The Evolution of Dance video on YouTube, but if you haven't seen it, you should check it out. I don't know whether to be impressed or appalled, but it certainly made me laugh!

Strange toys . . .

So now we have to feel guilty about throwing away used tissues and hug our tampons? These are the new, avant-garde plush toys, and who knows? Perhaps they'll start a whole new generation of plushies. ***nudge nudge, wink wink***

Too much time on your hands?

Try creating creatures from bed linens and towels! Martha Stewart, eat your heart out.

It was a good day

I kicked off this semester's Psychology Brown Bag series today with a talk entitled Gay, Bi, Lesbian, or Straight? Sexual Orientation is Not Categorical. The brown bag series was my idea, and I organize it each semester. This is our second semester of the series, and they have been really well-received and well-attended. I buy the food (usually way more than we need -- I can't help it!), set up the space, organize the speakers, do the advertising, and so far, I've also been a speaker both semesters. Today's talk went really well -- lots of students and faculty came, and the larger conference room was a good choice, as it was full but not too overcrowded. I kicked off the talk with the data from some of the major sex surveys -- Kinsey, NHSLS, NSFG, etc., along with some cross-cultural and historical data, about the ways in which identity, behavior, desire, fantasy, and love can diverge. Example: A recent study of more than 4000 men in NYC found that 1 in 10 men who identify as straight had sex with a man in the last year. There were loads of questions and comments, and I only wish we could have stayed longer to discuss the issues. I was pleased that there wasn't any hostility, as the topic can evoke prejudice (e.g., many of the flyers were torn down).

And, as always, everyone loved the Seven Layer Cookies I made (nod to my friend B who gave me the recipe in high school -- thanks!). Plenty left over for Q to give them to a colleague -- yippee!

Taught my Human Sexuality class, which went pretty well. This class hasn't been particularly strong in discussion, but we had a vibrant discussion of the pros and cons of circumcision today, as well as the cultural equation of penis size and masculinity (and the role of pornography in perpetuating that myth), which was great.

I came home and visited with Q for a bit -- always wonderful.

Then off to my dance gig. Pretty big crowd there for a Monday night, and they were very receptive and enthusiastic (gosh, there were even a few tips, which is really rare there). I had a lot of fun and I was pleased with my dancing. I even got out a bit early, since the manager let me start 15 minutes early.

Came home and visited more with Q. Yay! Various web browsings later, I am off to bed. Future plans involve getting up early to get into work early to get some grading done before my first class.