Interstitiality

Too Much Information

There is so much going on right now, with too little time for me to comment adequately.

--Of course, prayers out to those in VA, who are healing from the trauma of the VA Tech. shootings.
--Imus continues to try and defend himself after his well-deserved firing from CBS radio. What an idiot. Even with all of the education that is available about racism, it baffles me that prominent individuals and the media continue to spin this incident according to predictable race scripts—“I’m not a racist. Look what I have done for X community.” Uh, last time I checked racism is not just about individual prejudices and poor choices, but about how one’s actions affect a whole system of social realities. Mr. Imus, do you think that the fact that a wealthy, powerful white man saying such profane things about black women might mean something in our present social matrix? Duh!

On the personal front:
--Michelle is working hard on her concluding project and thesis. It all comes to a head on April 20th.
--I have an April 20th deadline for an essay on the Simpsons and Sampson’s mother. No, that’s not a misprint.
--Because of all that is going on in our household prior to April 20th, dinners will be simple, easy, and probably come from a box or a packet.
--My sabbatical is going well. I love the more flexible schedule. I hate spending most of my waking hours by myself with my computer. Although, I really dig my new computer (see the next line).
--I received a grant/fellowship that allowed me to purchase a new laptop. Woo Hoo! It’s loaded with all the newest bible software and useful tools. Very cool. This PC replaces my former laptop that I purchased in 1995 (16 MB of RAM, 1 GB of hard drive, a 120 Mhz processor, and an external CD ROM drive). Talk about a dinosaur! I also got a new laser printer, a new wireless network, and extra money for my first book project.
--My dissertation is going to be published later this year. I am working on my revisions. I’m not sure I how I feel about the fact that my first published book will be on rape in the bible.

On the larger extended family front:
--My grandfather’s funeral celebrated his life in a way that honored who he really was. He wasn’t a warm fuzzy kind of guy. In fact, he would have hated the idea of having a memorial service in his honor. My mother sprinkled some of his ashes in the Snake River, where he would have wanted to be in his last days.
--My sister and brother-in-law are adopting a child from China. They left a few days ago. We are all very excited to greet Mia into the family clan.

Posted by Frank Yamada at April 17, 2007 10:42 PM