Edie's 1st Birthday

Edie's 1st Birthday
Originally uploaded by bourgeoisbee

Hopefully Bee won't mind if I blog his video of my daughter's first birthday party. As you can see, slight confusion on the baby's part.

Happy Birthday Edie!

Audience Participation with Flags and Puppets: Now THAT'S Pomp and Circumstance!

Perhaps the single most tell-tale social characteristic of YouTube I can think of (aside from all that social networking stuff) is the ability for most videos to stand devoid of any context whatsoever. Take this clip for example. What the Hell's going on here? We all know the tune. To me, first flute for four years of High School, this song resembles more of a death march. Or better, it reminds me of the art of repetition. And repeating. And repeat again -- and coda*.

Not so for this audience. I have a newfound love for the song after watching these people. Of course I haven't gone to any graduations yet this year. Maybe I'd feel differently if I had, especially if it was required of me. But that's not my circumstance** ... [wait for it]

Sarah's Graduation from Law School is this Sunday! She got all dressed up in her regalia tonight, complete with six corner hat and colorful hood. The law degree is called Juris Doctor, but Hallmark just calls it "lawyer degree" in their card section.

*In fact, read this oh-so-accurate comment from the video (notwithstanding the "Wtf is wrong with that audience?" quip):

lol. our band's lyrics go
Pleaseee let it be o-ver
this is, the 23rd time
if, we play this again
I'm go-ing to cry!
when, did we get so many sen-iors
I swear, they're going too slow
Oh-yay, es finally over!
Tha, aaa-aank, you
GOD!

**Get it?

for you sociology nerds: bibliographic edition

Quick! Without using a search function or looking at your bookshelf, how many Arlie Hochschild publications can you name that begin with the word THE? I'll start you off with some easy ones...

The Time Bind
The Second Shift

I'm editing a bibliography and just noticed that all six references to Arlie start with THE and then reveal a new concept, to be forever etched into the minds of sociologists.

No links from this post, as that would give it away.

My New Best Friend, the Harvey Ball

So in my new position at The Place Which Shall Not Be Named*, my job is often to present a lot of material in a very little amount of time. In order to accomplish this end, I am quickly learning the wonders of The Matrix.

Not the Meatrix, and not the movie either, but rather an 8x8 chart (or 7x5, or 6x9, or what have you) that usually compares a set of criteria to multiple entities. Here's an example, from a quick image search.

Using symbols instead of words. The most challenging part of using a matrix is that I'm confined to boxes. Not only that, but I'm finding that people like to see pictures instead of words, a further confinement. Sure, I can (and have) developed matrices of text. This works in narrative-style reporting, or in cases when one-to-three words will suffice. It doesn't work so well with the at-a-glance snapshot, however. My solution? A series of checks and check-pluses, stars, frowney-faces** and smiley-faces.

And then I discovered Harvey Balls. Developed by a consultant, Harvey Balls are quick reference indicators of scale. A filled in circle exceeds criteria; an empty circle is akin to a frowney-face. Mostly, I just like saying "Harvey Balls" to people and seeing their reaction, especially in a meeting. There must be a better name for these!

Why "Harvey Balls?" Why not "Criteria Circles" or something resembling the function of the things? Turns out that Harvey Balls were developed by a consultant named Harvey Poppel. Harvey Poppel did not like using check marks on matrices. He had to come up with something that displayed a range for criteria. And then he named that thing after himself.

Harvey Ball did not invent Harvey Balls. Most importantly, when referencing the inventor of the Harvey Balls, remember that it was Harvey Poppel, not Harvey Ball. Harvey Ball is another person entirely. Harvey Ball invented the smiley face.

Let's recap: If you, like me, use a smiley face for matrix criteria, then it's from Harvey Ball. If you use Harvey Balls, then think of Harvey Poppel.

This makes me wonder, were Schweaty Balls invented by Harvey Schweaty? Well, they should have been.

*Thanks to Ralph for the title. It's not that I care if you know where I work; it's that I'd rather it not come up in a search engine. Here's a hint.
**I cannot express enough the strength of response to a frowney face.

just in case you wondered if they sold coffee in a coffee shop

Those who go to Starbucks regularly will appreciate this overheard comment by a barrista:

No, don’t spray it. Don’t spray it! You will eliminate the coffee scent. You’ll be written up.

sociology of babysitting

If you're interested in the topic of the field exam I'm just finishing up, read this. My paper is so far titled For Love or For Money: somethingsomething. Its theme? The value of care. Is caring its own reward? Should we pay top dollar for care, and will that make it better? Should we test to be sure that our children are loved, in addition to receiving caring services? How much does that cost?

Case in point. In January, when I used to stay home with Edie part time, I needed a babysitter for about 12 hours a week. I placed ads for ten bucks an hour babysitting services, what I understood to be the going rate from a former student emphasizing in early childhood education. In practically no time at all, without even seeing the ad, a different former student said that she would love (note the word: love=good) to sit for Edie - and her schedule even fit our schedule.

I haven't written about this because this person reads my blog (and so does her Mom). But the sociological lesson I believe is a good one. Said student was visibly surprised at the ten dollar pay rate, so much that she agreed to do it for eight. I sort of felt bad reducing the initial promise for pay, a negotiation faux pas, where I should have started with less with a chance to increase later. But she was truly honestly fine with the $8, especially because she really wanted to help us out*.

Love as commoditity. What's interesting, and really what has always bothered me, about this is that we paid less to gaurantee better care. Paying the full $10 to someone answering our ad would have meant a stranger in our house taking care of our daughter. Maybe she would have been fantastic, maybe not.

Not to commodify care for a child, but in essence we replaced two dollars an hour with a gaurantee of love. Sociologists of care distinguish "caring for" versus "caring about." The first means that caring services are accomplished. The second means that someone genuinely has feelings for a person. For our money, we got both. We received $26 per week of love, and it was worth it.

We pay more now. I'm going overboard with the analogy, of course. But it's true that we deliberately paid less for better care. These days we take Edie to an in-home daycare four days a week, but we still pay Edie's favorite babysitter (thank you Ellen) on occasion. Sarah and I are working more and we can afford the full $10 per hour. But since our sitter is worth that extra $2 of love, really we are getting a $12 an hour value for her services, no?

All of this to make a point. When it comes to care, do you really get what you pay for? It would seem that the people you love are the ones better at the service, and paying your friends and family seems counter-intuitive. But what if you pay really a whole lot of money? Would private daycare be the best care Edie could get?

And the questions keep on coming. It's a good day to be a sociologist in the field of care.

* I should point out that when Edie was born she offered to watch her for free, so actually this is a signifcant increase in payment for the service.

how a bottle of scotch can jumpstart my dissertation

Random Thing #42: in High School and college I was into theater. I'm even a member of Alpha Psi Omega, the national honorary theater society*. After school I didn't pursued theater. I don't have a single acting (or techie) class to my credit. I sort of closed the door on the whole thing after college, not intentionally but more by happenstance. The result: I haven't been on stage in a good twelve years.

Back on Stage. Correction, I haven't been on stage in 72 hours! My alma mater invited me back for a production of Enchanted April, a play about four women who escape their predictable British men for an Italian retreat. We rehearsed and performed the show in six days, from the Sunday script read-through to Opening Night on Friday. I can't speak to the quality of the production, but the play ran smooth, was reportedly entertaining, and most of all, We did it! I'm super impressed with this accomplishment and sort of want to do more.

"I've been translated!" is a popular line from the play. My wife in the show discovers a new world through her retreat, reforming her life's outlook and purpose. In a quirky parallel, I did the same.

This is where the dissertation part comes in. Remember that I'm a sociology student? With my full time non-profit position, caring for my daughter, and supporting Sarah through the end of law school and bar exam, I haven't spent much time inside of my studies since Thanksgiving. If you count the three months I took off last summer when Edie was born, I've lost nearly a year of study. This is discouraging. My friends are passing me up with their ABD status and dissertation research beginnings. I feel like I'm almost there, I don't feel bad about where I'm at, but all the same I am ready for a boost.

This week I feel rejuvenated. I'm tired, but that's something different than how I feel. For the last few months I've needed a fresh start of some kind. Some transition, or gate to pass through. A trip to Jamaica (not that I would do this) was not what I needed. Surprisingly, a sleepless week of project-focused rehearsal closing in full production was.

I accomplished my goal! I performed in a play as a hopefully convincing character. Maybe it took revisiting a college student schedule to figure out that I can also pass my pre-dissertation field exams. Maybe it took stepping away from my past routine and looking forward to a new one to be able to think about school again. As my director friend suggested, maybe it took using my right brain for once as opposed to crutching on my left. No matter what, the sense of accomplishment from this experience is invaluable.

This is where the scotch part comes in. My last show - 12 years ago in college - I played head school master dealing with issues of AIDS and sexuality at my school. The Old Boy was a deep play, and not without controversy in Central Kansas in 1995. But more than that the show was transformative for our theater prof.

Glenlivet, if I'm not mistaken. My prof had just finished his dissertation, defended and passed, and hadn't let down from the stress that went with that process. As the story goes, The Old Boy was a time for him to finally let go of one cumbersome life chapter and move on. In appreciation and honor, the cast got him a bottle of fine scotch whiskey. We all signed the box.

Last week I saw the empty box with signatures for the first time in over a decade. I had forgotten about it, and when I mentioned The Old Boy as my last show before now, our prof produced the box and retold the story. I was touched by his sentiment. After all this time, the box with our signatures sets above his desk at home as a reminder.

Jumpstart. Not only did I accomplish something great last week, but I reunited with a part of me that had been covered up. Much like my prof's bottle of Glenlivet which signified dissertation-related new beginnings, so my experience last week refreshes me and moves me forward. Symbolic yes, and also cathartic.

Denouement. Where before I was constantly consumed with stuff that I felt constrained my progress toward a Ph.D., now I feel that a majority of that stuff is not nearly as crucial as I imagined. I'm ready to practice patience in my writing, and not feel overwhelmed when I set aside the time. In short, I feel a preparedness for getting back to work.

And also I might start drinking Scotch.

*Seek a life useful!

the Boss endorses Obama; disses Bittergate

Look if Bruce isn't bitter, than neither am I. Click the subject heading for link.