first efforts

Nashville, 8/30/06: Bush attends $2100 a plate fundraising event

     

   

A Tale of Three Mowers: Revenge of the Manufacturer

For those of you following my lawn mower drama, you'll love the latest: my model of mower is being recalled by Black and Decker. Yep. Shaking from what could only be a mild form of post-traumatic stress, I followed the web site's instructions and had my renters check New New Mower. Thankfully, it is a "Type 5," which apparently exempts it (and me) from further Lawn Mower Hell. Types 1, 2, 3, and 4 are not so lucky.

The info on the recall was forwarded to me by the good folks who took Duct Tape Mower off my hands. And apparently, thanks to a resourceful and very handy father-in-law, Duct Tape Mower no longer requires Duct Tape to operate.

I love happy endings.

Chick list

Today's New York Times reports that Hyperion publisher is starting a new imprint aimed at women of, well, a certain age. Okay: my age. It's called "Voice," and, according to the Times, "is specifically focusing on women from their mid-30's and older and will have a resolutely anti-chick-lit bent". Now this all sounds fine and dandy, if a bit contrived. At the end of the article, though, it's mentioned that the publishers have recruited a panel of "ten professional women" who will meet regularly to make sure that Voice meets the needs of its reading audience. These women include a VP for Merrill Lynch and Candace Bushnell of "Sex and the City" fame.

Hmm, this is no good. I am neither a wealthy New York investment banker nor a martini-swilling anorexic. What could I possibly have in common with women like this? I'd like a group of women that is more representative of me and my needs. And a bit more ass-kicking to boot. If they have to be famous, too, then at least let them be alternatively so. My list so far: Sarah Vowell; Nancy Wilson of Heart; Mary Louise Parker (either her "Weeds" or "West Wing" persona would be acceptable); Dana Scully; and -- Stephen Colbert. Colbert is a gender violation, of course, but did you see him on the Emmys? Hilarious. And besides, he has very feminine hands.

Scenes from a weekend

   

(click image to enlarge)

Digs

This is the Vaughn home, which houses the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities. My office is in the back of the house. It's got colonial blue walls, tall windows, and great bookshelves. In addition to a friendly and fabulous staff, there's also a fridge stocked with cool drinks. Glorious.

The house is one of seven original faculty houses built on the Vanderbilt campus. It's named after William J. Vaughn, who lived here with his family from 1884 to 1912. Vaughn was a math professor and the university's first librarian. The Vaughns' five children were raised in the house, which was provided by the university rent-free.

Their daughter Stella rocked. She graduated from Vanderbilt in 1896 and later became the unofficial dean of women. She also coached the women's basketball team and served as a physical education instructor, for no pay. According to this history of the Vaughn home and family, men weren't allowed to watch the games in person, but a reporter for the campus newspaper snuck in and reported that the women could actually play: "The agility of some of them was really surprising." Stella obviously spent her life making things better for women at Vanderbilt. Which is one reason I was tickled to discover that she and I share a birthday. 98 years apart, of course.

You can't tell from this photo, but the house is completely surrounded by larger buildings. Over the past several years brand new campus buildings have gone up on all sides of the house, making it nearly impossible to find. Every day when I arrive I'm surprised I found it, a little oasis of the humanities in the midst of Scienceland.

Dinner as art

(with apologies to Edward Weston)

Paraphrase trouble

A poorly worded, not-so-hypothetical question: If you are working with a concept and have a hard time paraphrasing its definition so you quote it instead, and then you look at other sources and they also quote the concept instead of paraphrasing, does that mean: (a) all of you are stupid; (b) all of you are lazy; or (c) the originator of the concept probably had no idea what it means either?

Identification

Would you buy a used scholarly argument from this woman?

Sunday morning spectatin'

Life here in the GAC (Gated Apartment Community) is shaping up to be a lively mix of Rear Window meets Melrose Place. Here's the view from my third floor apartment's balcony, photographed early this morning:

 

Uncanny, isn't it? If you squint real hard you might just see Raymond Burr drawing the shades or Miss Lonelyhearts crying her pathetic eyes out down there on the first floor. But look closer at the photo (click on it to enlarge). See that trail of tiny white spots in the bottom left of the image? Here's a closeup:

Beer cans and bottles. The trail led across most of the grassy area and ended in a heap of what looked to be a bathing suit. I'm sure that this has absolutely nothing to do with the group of hot (well, fashionably anorexic) girls and buff boys lying about at the pool yesterday, already drunk in the late afternoon heat.

I guess this is what life is like when you graduate from college, get a "good job," and have lots of friends and disposable income. I wouldn't know; I spent most of my twenties broke and working my ass off in grad school.

Guess this year I'll get to see what I missed.

Saturday spam

Dear Amazon.com Customer,

As someone who has purchased the Black & Decker CMM1000, you might like to keep your lawn healthier and make mowing easier with a factory-sharpened blade for your lawn mower. Plus, don't forget you can save $25 on orders of $199 or more in the Amazon.com Tools & Hardware Store.

Um, I don't think so.