Girl Scout cookies

It's Girl Scout cookie time in Upstate New York! I have a box of thin mints in my offie and they probably won't last the week....or maybe even the day. Thin Mints are really the only cookie for me from the GS menu, I don't find many of the others that special. I'm not a peanut butter cookie fan, so the DoSiDos and Tagalongs don't excite me. I like the Trefoils okay, they are good with a cup of hot tea. The chocolate chip cookies are too dry. I have taken a liking to the Samoas, a newer cookie with coconut, caramel and chocolate (how could you go wrong there!) This year I bought a box of Dulce de Leche cookies, they are a caramel chip cookie with a drizzle of caramel on the top. I like them, but they aren't a "must have." In past years there have been sandwich cookies, a variety of lemon cookie variations, and I remember a square shortbread type cookie with chocolate on one side...something about animals.

The Thin Mint is just perfect. When I was younger, the cookie inside was not chocolate, though. I like to lick off the chocolate mint coating and then eat the cookie, but that is not as easy with this new cookie. Also, they used to have the trefoil imprinted on them.

In NY the cookies come from Little Brownie bakeries, so maybe in Indiana we used a different bakery. In my Girl Scout days, we didn't collect orders ahead of time. Instead, you were given a selection of cookies by the "cookie mother" and then sold them. When you ran out, you went back and got more or swapped the slow sellers for more popular varieties. The cookie mother had to estimate what cookies would sell, how many would be needed, and run a warehouse operation out of her house. I remember boxes and boxes of cookies stacked in our entry one year. I think I've seen recipes using the Thin Mints in pie crusts, or with whipped cream or ice cream, but why ruin a perfectly good cookie? I like mine straight up.

Books I've just read

Time for a book report. I just finished 3 books, but I wouldn't recommend any of them very highly.

The first is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. The book takes place on the island of Guernsey just after WW II. The most interesting part of the book was learning about how the Germans occupied Guernsey during the war and basically cut the island off from the rest of the world. The rest of the story is a predictable sort of love story. It is written as a series of letters, which is a neat device, but seems like a cheap way to write a book. I've often thought of writing a story taking emails I've written and received and weaving them together. Maybe some day I'll get there.

The second book was Loving Frank. It is a fictional account of Frank Llyod Wright's several year affair with a woman whose name I've forgotten. It is a true story, but the fiction comes in the creation of dialogue and scenes that could only be imagined. The woman, Mamah, is caught up in the early feminist and suffragist movement. She is torn between following her heart to Frank or staying with her children. She chooses Frank, he is her soulmate. Do soulmates exist? I have always doubted that notion, but maybe I'm just not romantic enough. The story follows her enchantment, her abandonment of her family, her struggles and doubts. The ending is no surprise to those familiar with the true story, she dies in a tragic murder at Wright's Wisconsin estate.

The third book is The God of Small Things. This story takes place in India. It is a commentary on the class system, but on a basic level is a story of forbidden love and family dysfunction. A pair of young twins are caught up in a family drama that affects their lives from then on. I find it hard to describe the story, without completely revealing the plot and twists. I enjoyed the book, but it is not an easy read and takes some work. Partly I had difficulty with the character names and getting a good image of the people in my mind. I'm still thinking about the title.

Well, just thought I'd catch people up on my reading adventures. I'll let you know when I get to a book I can really recommend. Did I already talk about the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? I really enjoyed that one......

Birthdays

I've been away for awhile. Sorry to let you all down. I'm sure people have been anxiously looking for an update. Here it is.

Well, I am now 52 years old. I guess I have to admit that I am middle aged now. The current period life expectancy for white women in the United State is just about 80 years. At age 52 life expectancy is about 30 years. Of course, higher education increases both of those numbers, and these are period, not cohort estimates, so they assume no future improvements in health care. We can think of them as minimums (I hope, although the situation in Russia shows that you can't always count on that.)

Still, birthdays just aren't what they used to be. I'm not sure when that changed exactly, maybe after my 21st! I remember that turning 40 seemed somewhat relevant, but all the time I was 38 I was thinking I was almost 40, then when I was 39 I WAS almost 40, then I was 40, then at 41 and 42 I had JUST REACHED my 40s....so turning 40 was like a 5 year process. I didn't feel that way about 50 at all.

There are some interesting historical accounts of age and the meaning of age. Some historians who have studied diaries and letters of "common folk" (of course, how common were they if they were keeping diaries....) find that birthdays and age are rarely mentioned. Social life was organized around what you could do, not how old you were. If, as a man, you were able to support yourself, then you were old enough to marry. If, as a woman, you were able to bear children, then you were old enough to raise them. Our whole concept of time and age really developed with the Industrial Revolution and the concomitant arrival of public education and railroads. Suddenly age and time were more relevant. Over time, age grading become important, child labor laws developed, and educational requirements were introduced. At the same time notions of a "work day" and "retirement" were developing. Now, birthdays had relevance as they marked your movement through the age system and your access to new rights and responsibilities.

Interestingly, in some ways age now is less relevant as a marker of ability, health, or maturity. There are movements to breakdown the age graded system and replace it with one that is more flexible and matches the longer life expectancy and better health of the population.

Things I don't understand

I saw an ad the other day for this item, a combined calculator alarm clock. Who needs one of these? What would you use it for? Help in counting sheep? Maybe you wake up from a wild dream and just feel the need to calculate the square root of 97 (I wonder if it has a square root function..) Or maybe you can't sleep until you finally know the answer to 987 divided by 32... Maybe you want to calculate how many hours you have slept, or how many hours until the alarm rings... I don't understand.

Chairlift stories

I wrote awhile back about taking the "plunge" to go skiing. Well, I did that a few weeks ago and find myself skiing better than ever. I guess the knee recovery can be considered complete and my extra efforts at strength training are paying off. I ski at a very small hill near our house. The main hill is serviced by a double chairlift. If I make it out there on a weekday afternoon, I don't have to wait at all to get on and ride by myself.

On the weekends, however, the story is different. Saturdays and Sundays have a pretty long line and the lift attendants make sure "singles" (those skiing alone) match up to make the line go faster. I don't mind riding with a stranger and have had some great conversations on the few minute ride to the top.

My favorite companions are kids. A few weeks ago I was just walking up to the line for the first time when a young girl, maybe 8 or 9, approached me and asked if I was a single. That alone was unusual, because usually kids are too shy to partner up in line. I answered that I was, indeed, single and would be happy to ride with her. We chatted as we waited in line. She talked about her pets, her family, her school. Just as we were getting ready to load, she turned to me and said, "Your gray hair makes you look a lot older than you are." I'm used to gray hair comments, and replied, "Well, how old do you think I am?" My companion was very diplomatic and answered, "Your hair makes you look like you are maybe 70, but you don't talk like you are 70." I didn't want to press my luck and left it at that!

Yesterday, I found myself riding with a young man. He was silent in line, but once we were in the privacy of our liftchair, he opened up. Turns out his name is Christopher, but he prefers to be called Chris. I pointed out our similarity, my name is Christine, but I prefer to be called Chris. I told him I only used "Christine" when I wanted to act grown up. "But," he countered, "you ARE a grown up!" I guess the gray hair did me in again!

Mom Vision

We all know that teachers have eyes in the back of their heads. That is how they can be writing on the board and still say, "Mary, stop passing notes" or "Johnny, put that toy back in your desk." Of course, professors all use overheads and projected images, so we face the class all the time. We don't need those extra eyes.

But Moms have "mom vision." Mom vision comes in two versions. The first is the ability of mothers to see items in other locations not within their normal field of vision. Like the ability to be in the kitchen and yell, "Your iPod is downstairs by the computer." (Mom vision is often accompanied by "mom ESP" as well, the ability to know that someone is looking for their iPod before they even ask.) Mom vision is particularly powerful when she is outside of the home. For instance, when she is called at work with the question, "Where is my blue biology folder?" With her mom vision she is able to say, "On the floor under the coffeetable next to the couch."

The second version of "mom vision" involves the ability to see things that kids do without actually looking at them. Although similar to the teachers' "eyes," Mom vision usually manifests itself more in response to the declaration: "Watch this, Mom!" Mom is able to see the child perform said action (cartwheel, difficult Wii maneuver, writing a name, etc.) without actually LOOKING at the child. "That's great, honey!" Mom is able to say without seemingly have looked in the direction of the child. Moms use this type of vision most often while cooking dinner or reading the newspaper.

Of course, there is also Mom hearing, but I'll leave that for another day.

Education and Social Class

My office at work has "adopted" a pre-K classroom in a local city school. We help with holiday parties, collect winter clothing and books, and once a week volunteers go to read in the classroom. There are about 15 4-5 year old kids in the class, all African American, from a poor and working class community. I've gone to read twice now, and I find it very difficult. I bring some of the books my boys liked when they were younger and the kids seem to enjoy the stories. It is the teachers I have issues with.

I realize that some people who read this are, or will be, teachers. As a sociologist, I certainly realize the role of the school system in the socialization process. And I'm only there for 1/2 hour, so who am I to judge? But, it seems like the teachers spend most of the 30 minutes I'm there yelling at the kids--"sit down" "sit up" "stop fidgeting" "be quiet" "don't laugh" "keep your hands in your lap"....There is a steady stream of commands. When I read, I like to ask questions--"what do you think will happen next?" "can you see the dog?". But the teachers don't want the kids to react at all, just to sit quietly. I want to just get down on the rug and let them crowd around and look at the book and climb in my lap. I can see that the teachers are afraid that if they give an inch the kids will be out of control, but it is very hard for me to see the enthusiasm and spirit of these kids quashed. No wonder they learn to dislike school. I'm sure there is another side to this, but it is hard for me to see.