Based on some of the mean spirited comments I've been seeing on facebook and twitter, I decided to post "Man in the Mirror." Cut out all the child molester and plastic surgery jokes! Michael was never convicted of any crime. And, remember, Michael is somebody's father, son, brother, uncle, and friend, so give his family some respect! Before anyone judges, (s)he needs to look at themselves in the mirror and let he who is without sin cast the first stone!
1) I've learned that my dissertation is like a layered cake. Each chapter is a necessary layer that builds on the next. If I'm doing a teacher-research study on an Afrocentric curriculum, I need a) a chapter that provides a context for how Afrocentricity (vis a vis Ebonics) is situated in education, sociolinguistics, and rhetoric and composition scholarship; b) a pedagogical chapter that describes my Afrocentric pedagogical practices and the theoretical rationales for implementation; c) a methodological chapter that uses previous teacher-research studies on Afrocentricity and Ebonics to demonstrate how my teacher-research study builds on them; and d) chapters that discuss my data results on African American students and all students. (Of course there's a conclusion that I'm still working out.)
2) I've learned not to take on projects where people easily lose interest and expect other people to do the work for them. I have a dissertation to write!
3) I've learned not to apologize for being MIA. I have a dissertation to write!
4) I've learned that support and mentorship is irrespective of race, class, or gender. The people you think are least likely to help you with your work are the ones who've been the most helpful and influential.
5) I've learned not to buy clothes when you're bloated and it's humid. I bought two dresses that fit on Thursday only to find that they were too big by Saturday. At least I got the $241 bucks I spent on them back.
At first I thought about The Jacksons, but thought that would be too obvious. Then I thought about the Clark Sisters, and saw that Regina's Family Season chose them. So, what about the Hawkins Family? They are by far the most underrated gospel group out there! Enjoy!
This week is devoted to songs that people wouldn't believe we listened to. Once I post these songs I wonder how much fun Mr. C. will make of me, so Mr. C, you betta not laugh! LOL! OK, here goes...
Spice Girls: "Wannabe" - I was a freshman in high school and really liked the tune. So what!?
This may seem a bit narcissistic, but I'm dedicating this week's song to myself because darn it, I deserve it! LOL! I'm giving myself a huge pat on the back for the progress I've made on the dissertation (with 5 out of six drafted chapters). I met with my dissertation director last Monday and he said although I was on the right track, I couldn't have a bunch of 70 page chapters. I was trying to discuss theory, praxis, and methodology under different aspects of my diss., when I needed to discuss theory in one chapter, praxis in another and methodology in another before presenting my empirical findings (which I'll talk about later, not feeling that right now!) So, I had to chunk my sections/topics and organize them into chapters that made sense. Because I put in tons of hours of work on doing this this past week, I'm taking Friday off to bake a cake for the weekend and have some "me" time. That's why I'm dedicating Beyonce's "Me, Myself, and I" to me!
OK. This post isn't as serious as the title may suggest. I know what you're thinking, but I'm not tackling that Other phobia today! I'm not interested in being an Afrafeminist or a critical race theorist at the present, so forget about phobias and other culturally-insensitive isms for a minute. Yesterday I went to get my hair done by my regular stylist. For anyone familiar with the culture of African American beauty salons, you just know to expect spending four plus hours in the salon per visit! Well, I had a six o'clock appointment and was still there at a quarter till ten when the even that I'm finna to described happened. While waiting to have my rollers taken out, a bunch of us ladies saw a raccoon peek in the window next to my stylist's station, a window that was open even though there was a thin screen!
The funny thing about this is that there was a ton of light in the salon and I thought raccoons primarily preferred the dark. Every time we'd shush him/her away, (s)he'd come back to peek in the window. It was very eerie; he kept staring at all of us! We assumed that (s)he was so comfortable with people because either someone was feeding him/her, or (s)he smelled food. Then, we saw a second raccoon who peeked in too, so there were two of em.
After all the screaming and OMGs calmed down we started to talk about the different phobias we have. My phobia is with birds. I just can't stand them. I've always been afraid of them since a child and still am. Don't know why but it's a phobia. My family thinks the phobia is silly, but my phobia doesn't compare to the one of my stylist's: She's afraid of clowns! Are you serious? Yes, clowns! After I left the salon, I told Mr. C. about her phobia. His response: "Is she afraid of Ronald McDonald?" I'll have to ask her at next week's appointment. A grown a** women scared of clowns... *shakes head.
I am interested in seeing what other people's phobias are. Can you beat clowns?
Grades have been submitted, data have been collected and analyzed for the most part, now what? This will be the first time that I haven't officially worked (at least for employment) since entering the PhD program. The past couple of summers I've worked as a research assistant on particular projects collecting data for literacy-sponsored projects, developing curricular resources, co-authoring teacher guides, and editing first-year writing textbook readers. Now what?
The good news is that I technically don't have to work this summer in order to pay the bills, thanks to a King-Chavez-Parks Future Faculty Fellowship (a fellowship offered to graduate students across Michigan's public universities). Not having to work officially gives me lots of time to work on the dissertation (something I plan to do all summer long) and prepare job materials, dossier, etc. for next year's market. So far I've drafted several chapters and hope to spend this summer doing major revisions. That's actually a good thing.
What concerns me is the fact that I don't have an official schedule with anywhere to be (other than a few meetings to collaborate on articles already in the pipeline). In fact, I don't have to leave the house to write, something I actually prefer doing. During my first two years, I had to physically be on campus and in my office in order to work because I felt there were too many distractions at home. There's a fridge with good food in it. A television with soap operas to watch. Laundry to fold. etc. etc. But during my third year I noticed this big shift: I actually get way more work done at home and can't bring myself to work in the prison-like concrete walls of my campus office. Just can't do it. I'm not quite sure why or how this shift took place, but it did. The other odd thing is that I can't work in my office in home either! Mr. C now occupies that office and gets quite a bit of work done in there managing our church's website. He loves it. As for me, there's a particular spot on the end of our couch in my living where I have to work. If I'm sorting through data, which as a teacher-researcher usually consists of student documents, I just use the coffee table. Don't know why, but it works.
Anyway, I digressed a bit. The larger point is that I'm happy to be on fellowship with more time to devote to writing, but I'm clearly not going to write for the twelve plus hours a day that I'd be home. I need a hobby (besides baking and cooking, of which, I'm sure I'll do plenty!) so I don't drive myself crazy.
This space will serve as my teaching and research blog. My tentative dissertation topic will be a Teacher-Research study on two TIER I (First-Year Writing) courses at Michigan State University. This blog will consist of reflections about the course and research conducted from Fall 2008 - Spring 2009. Students from my WRA 125: Writing the Ethnic and Racial Experience course will also blog about course readings and class discussions.
I'm a PhD student in Rhetoric and Writing at Michigan State University. My research focuses on African American literate, rhetorical, and linguistic practices, Afrafeminist rhetorics, and Writing Program Administration. I'm in the middle of taking my second qualifying exam and will be blogging about that process and the dissertation process. This blog will help me get through my PhD (I hope!)
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