Blurker Gone Bad

Upon continued reflection, especially, as I pointed out last time, reading through this discussion of privilege, I am finding ways to understand where my own defensiveness lies, and thus (hopefully) helping myself to find ways to discuss privilege with others.

There are several areas where I clearly have privilege, two of which are white privilege and heterosexual privilege.

Delving into white privilege is more likely to get me defensive than heterosexual privilege. For some reason, the idea of heterosexual privilege really pisses me off. Perhaps that's because it's much more obvious to me. I was able to marry the person I fell in love with, simply because he was of the "appropriate" gender. It is still considered acceptable to make jokes about homosexuals, at least it seems that way for several of my coworkers, and the word "gay" is used as an epithet by young people all over the country. This is an obvious area where I have enjoyed unearned privilege of being of the "correct" persuasion.

Seeing my white privilege is harder to deal with, although I am well aware of its existence. It might be that it is all the more insidious because I am not made aware of it every day, the way I am with heterosexual privilege. I think that might mean that I am not as proactive about smacking it down when I see it around me, and that is something for me to work on.

The saga clearly continues.

Not strep! (yay!) Although I do have a throat infection that necessitates antibiotics. I'm taking today as a sick day to let the drug (Cefprozil - which is a new one for me) do its magic. After about 24 hours now, the big white spot that was my left tonsil is about 50% smaller. I love modern medicine.

I spent the majority of the day so far reading Leonard Nimoy's "I Am Spock," which was written in 1995. There's an exchange of letters between Nimoy and Isaac Asimov reproduced in this book that had me in tears. It was a touching example of Asimov's humor, as well as a treat to get a glimpse into the interaction between two artists whom I have loved since I was a child. Although I have never met either of these men, I miss Asimov for his work, both artistic and editorial, and I know Nimoy will not be around forever. Perhaps I just get maudlin when I'm sick. *sigh*

Other than that, I have been rereading some mini painting tutorials on line, which has me ready to start my next fig. It looks like the muse has decided to stay a while.

The trip to Vegas was good (in that my presentation went fairly well, and I got some precious industry face-time) and bad (in that I was stressed about some recent tax information that will end in our making a big payment to the IRS). I don't really do the Vegas thing, so I stayed in the hotel room and watched TV during the evenings. I highly recommend watching the old Airport movies all in a row while in between plane rides. It makes for an interesting weekend. Jack Lemmon has some reasonable advice for those of you about to ride a crashing plane into the ocean.

We're all ready for the Lager Rhythms gig this weekend. Last night's rehearsal went well (other than my total space-out on Horoscope, which has the rest of the group wondering if that will happen again on Sunday. I say we'll let it be a surprise.) ;)

It looks like I'm starting to come to terms with my recent job stress. I have a reasonable long-term plan, and I'm working on the short term stuff to match. Reporting to a manager in California has been a difficult transition, but I'm learning how to deal.

I participated in a two-day class on C-level communications this week. (That is, how to effectively communicate to executives - and yes, you do need to change your communication style in order to get what you need from people at that level.) It was interesting, and I received some useful feedback, as well as some cool ego-stroking. Yay!


Many of my friends are dealing with varying levels of pain and sadness right now. Hugs to all of you.

I've been meaning to update for a while now, but other things have been taking all of my extra computer time *cough* TCW *cough*.

So, I spent a few days visiting mcroft and immlass, and met la_directora, and much fun was had by all. I was so glad to finally meet la_directora face to face. Most of you already know how cool she is, and now I do too. :)

The SEM class in NY later in the week was quite helpful, and I've already tried to incorporate some of the techniques into my SEM work. Plus, even more NY pizza was had! Yum!

*sigh*

Recently I have been dealing with a minor medical issue, which may need minor surgery. I'm trying to determine exactly how I want to deal with it, and I'm really struggling with the decision. Juggling my travel schedule with other stuff, plus possible time away from work...basically gives me plenty of excuses to put it off. ;) Don't worry, it's really not life threatening, but more of a proactive measure.

Again, getting old sucks.