Bearshorty's musings

This morning I finally finished “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” Good book. It is really a book of four things:

1. life of Henrietta herself (she was my age when she died which is really weird)
2. the origin and development of HeLa cells and its impact on science, medicine and ethical law
3. Henrietta’s children and family and their relationship with their mother’s cells
4. the author’s research into the story

This book brings up the fact that there are really no consent laws on tissue research and the patients who donate cells or have cells taken, even through blood test, have really no control over what happens to it all.

I spent the morning reading/commenting on second section of Close Reading Assignment. They weren’t terrible but not many can be very clear in their ideas.

Teaching: I wasn’t feeling that great in the second class, probably because I’m tired and I’m not sleeping that much lately and it will be a long week and I probably need iron too. I drank some water and was just glad it was Peer Review Day where they worked on reading each other’s papers. Also, in talking to some students it was funny to see how students like to blame the teacher for failing the writing class the first time. Not their lack of effort or ability to read and comprehend. They were sucking up a bit by telling me that I was a better teacher than their past ones because I put my expectations on the board and explain more. Right.

My parents bought me some new clothing. They ordered it online from the designer company Papa works for. I got a work black skirt, two blouses –white and pink, wool black pants, and a grey track suit. Mostly work clothes. I really, really hate shopping and I told them I really didn’t need anything but they got some anyway. They are awesome like that. And I like not having to go to a clothing store in any way. Now a bookstore is another matter.

After I got home I did some Wii Fit exercises and then had a nice dinner of eggs over easy with black bread with butter and vegetables. When I was little every time my grandmother made me an omelet, she would take a piece of bread, put butter on it and cut it into little squares. So to this day if I have bread with eggs, especially in the evening, (and I have black Russian bread with everything, it is how I grew up), I would cut up the bread in the same way. And it always makes me miss my grandmother.

In the evening until midnight I was working on my Ancient China lecture and powerpoint. And I decided to use Monty Python’s constitutional peasants scene from the Holy Grail to discuss legitimacy of government in lecture. So I had to watch it to note down the timing. And no matter how many times I see it ‘farcical aquatic ceremony’ and ‘just because some watery tart threw a sword at you is no basis for a system of government’ I laugh and laugh

Exercise: 31 minutes on the wii

Resolutions for February: (Having these resolutions worked more than I thought it would. I actually go and do some Wii Fit or make myself go walk even in cold weather. It is not a lot of exercising but it is getting up and doing something. No internet until 6 didn’t last long, but I want to try again.)

1. exercise 30 minutes a day on something
2. cross stitch a little every day
3. no internet until 6pm unless for work
4. write and post one fanfic (I am going to write a Torchwood one that has been sitting in my head)

Happy Winter Solstice!

One of my best friends is pregnant! I am so joyous about it! This is awesome. And now I know what my next cross stitch project will be – I’m going to buy one of those baby blankets at Michaels! I think five months will be plenty of time. It’s funny, but a part of my mind was even so surprised by the insanely joyous reaction I had to this news probably because of TV conditioning. I think it is because I keep remembering the recent How I Met Your Mother episode where the characters think Lily and Marshal are finally pregnant (they had a false positive). The other characters are happy for them but of course it leads them all to think of where they are in their life and think of their decision. But that really is not the case in real life. I was just so happy for her and her husband I could not sit still and I had to get up and hug her. And I’m not a huggy person in general (except with Bear). I’m looking forward to being an Auntie.

The girls and I, and some husbands and boyfriends who weren’t working, had our monthly dinner in the city at a very delicious Greek restaurant. It was a late dinner, since Yeva had an exam. The restaurant was a great choice. We even got a bottle of wine and then lots of appetizers and a few entries to share for the table. That way we can try everything and not overeat. There was octopus appetizer – I don’t think I ever had octopus before. Very delicious food. I just wanted mousaka but we also got lamb chops and fish. It was a fabulous night with a full moon too.

On top of a great dinner with great news (another one of my friends is also buying a condo in the city with her husband so there was a lot to celebrate there too), I left for the city early ostensibly to do some Christmas shopping at Barnes and Noble at Union Square. In reality, I just wanted to get to a bookstore since it has really been too long. That really made the evening even more perfect. I discovered that I definitely need to read “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot and that the “Earth” book by the Daily Show team is hilarious. (Henrietta Lacks was a black woman who died at the age of 30 in 1950s from cancer and her literally immortant cancer cells (HeLa cells) kept reproducing and are pretty much responsible for today’s medicine. The book is not just about the biology of it but about the woman herself and her family. I kept hearing about the book and I was curious about it, and now, after reading it a bit I must have it.) I also did get to some Christmas shopping and I got Ayn Rand’s “We are Living” for Bear’s dad and “Persuasion” for his sister-in-law. And I got a children’s version of ‘Iliad’ for the store’s book charity drive because children really need to know their Greek myth early and giving books is awesome. An hour and a half was not enough time at the store. I can live in the book store.

Mama and I put up the Christmas tree this morning (while she had her Lady Gaga CD playing, which was fun). Well, she decorated and I handed the ornaments to her. My mother has a system and nobody can dare mess with it. We have a fake tree that served us well for more than a decade and as usual, it is nice and festive with color lights.

( photo of our Christmas tree )

Some links:

Photos of Lunar Eclipse. I did get up last night to try to see it but I could see the moon from my house and I was too sleepy to go outside.

Nicholas Was. A wonderful animation for Neil Gaiman’s Christmas drabble poem. I do love the subversion of Santa Clause myth in it.

Highlander Holiday Shortcuts is amazing – every day I can’t think how the stories could get better and they do. There is a story in the style of Arabian Nights and a crossover with Sherlock Holmes. And lots of funny, funny capers. Extremely well-written high caliber stories. I love this fest. Today was last night of it but now there are 29 stories to reread.