Kate's Blog

In support of my employer -- Yahoo -- I'm moving away from Google products. I started a blog over at Wordpress. They won because exporting all this content here took two button clicks. That was easy.

http://kdegelau.wordpress.com

Labels: admin

I sort of enjoyed linking to the things I was reading from my RSS feeds last week. Let's do it again! (But not all of them this time. That's too many.)

• Go Fug Yourself. I wanted to pick just one post and link to that, but it's all awesome.
• Teemu Selanne is back with the Ducks. I like Selanne, but, since San Jose has a bit of a mental block where they're concerned, I'd rather the Ducks were worse than they are.
• A Profile of Eli Manning. It's an interesting contrast to the uber-masculine media portrayal of Tom Brady. (Who was the subject of a great piece by Chuck Klosterman.)
• Maarten points out how badly Seattle-ites handle the snow. It matches with my experience living there. And makes me think what a calamity a couple of inches of snow would be here. Oy.
• The Sarah Jane Adventures returns (in the UK) for a second season. SciFi or BBC America, could you please see about bringing this to the US? I'm not getting enough Doctor Who in my life. Thank you.
• The case for being a recession vegetarian. It's not a bad idea, but I do love my meat. Although I have been cutting back.
• Neil Gaiman. I just like reading what he writes, so there's a link to his blog.
• The Five Whys -- maybe I should start trying that at work.

That's the most interesting stuff. At least in my opinion.

Labels: media, sports, WhatKateIs

This is why you should vote for Obama:

The biggest damage is to Mrs Clinton's claim that she will be an effective chief executive. Mr Clinton's frenetic role in the campaign surely prefigures the role he will play in the White House, advising here, meddling there, and using the access to top-secret information that his position as an ex-president affords him to second-guess the most sensitive decisions. Who will hold Mr Clinton accountable for his actions? How will the White House function with an ex-president and a vice-president vying for influence? (One insider once termed the “three-headed” relationship between the Clintons and Al Gore a “rolling disaster”.) The Clintonians like to describe their bosses as complementary figures who act as “force multipliers”. But in the 1990s what actually got multiplied was confusion.

All this will be material for the Republican attack machine. By most reckonings the Republicans should be doomed. But the Clintons' tactics are alienating blacks and young people. The Clintons are in the process of doing the impossible: making the 2008 election a referendum on them, rather than on the Republicans. And the Republicans are inching towards nominating their one candidate, Mr McCain, who has broad popular appeal. If what ought to be a stroll in the park in November becomes a real fight, then the Democrats will know who to blame.

Labels: politics

One of the strangest things about living in California is that lemon yellow and lime green and bright orange are the naturally occurring colors of winter.

This is from our kitchen counter right now. The orange tree in our backyard only produced a couple of oranges this year because it didn't get pruned well last year.

Labels: California, winter

The "What Kate Is..." posts are on hold since I'm reducing my media use. (Although I may rework them to encourage better environmentalism.) Instead, here's a link to everything I just read or marked to read in all of my RSS feeds.

• Double Talk: Adding Twins to the Juggle Because we know some people here who went for their second child and ended up having twins.
  
• Notes from the Road: Laos From Anthony Bourdain's new blog
• A bunch of stuff from Apartment Therapy
• Sourcing Sisal Rugs
• In Praise of the Electric Kettle
• Bamboo Bath Towels: Pros and Cons
• House Tour: Tara's Tiny San Francisco Hodge-Podge
• Blogging the SF Chronicle: The Year of Living Efficiently
• Sarah Connor Faces Chronic Decline I have to admit that we've watched the first couple of episodes, and it's fun but... Let's say that a lot of the fun comes from pointing out its flaws.
• Hackers Take Control of Your Electricity and Water For your paranoia needs.
• Saturn Blocks Out The Sunlight A striking picture.
• Dogs Rule the Planet in Life After People The TiVo's recording this for me tomorrow night, and I'm really looking forward to it.
• Why Are Eight Year Olds Hitting Puberty? For your parenting paranoia needs.
• Dita's Do Is Updid I don't know about her hair, the material or the neckline, but the silhouette is classic and lovely.
• Yale University "Sluts" Strike Back at Sexist Frat Boys Common sense. It's your friend.
• Black Women Bristle at that "Black or Female" Question Can we please remember that it's about the content of your character?
• Why Retail Breeds Sexual Harrassment Ew.
  
• Meg Whitman's Retiring On the one hand, EBay needs new leadership. On the other, boo for one less woman in a powerful position in the Valley. (Although didn't I just make a comment about the content of your character being more important?)
  
• Fed's Action Stems Sell-Off in World Markets Three-quarters of a percentage point? When there was a policy meeting next week? It smacks a little too much of panic... (Disclosure: We totally want housing prices to fall so we can finally afford to buy one around here.)
• Thomson Ends Campaign for GOP Nomination Finally.
• On Day of Surprises, Sharapova Is Biggest I like Maria Sharapova.
  

There you have it: decorating, feminism, science fiction, business, parenting, and some clothes. That's a pretty typical daily snapshot.

Labels: business, decorating, media, parenting, women

Who knew that you could go sightseeing while stationed in Antarctica for work?

Labels: travel

This is a couple of weeks old, but if you haven't read "Young Feminists Can't Decide Between Obama and Clinton" on Jezebel, you should. The best comment after the blog entry is:

Being a feminist is about being able to make up your mind and make your own decisions and no one telling you that you can't do that because you are a woman.

Labels: politics, women

I watched Roman Holiday this weekend and later started thinking: could it be made with the same ending today?

I don't think so. Princess Anne (Audrey Hepburn) chooses to leave behind her personal happiness for the duties and obligations of her job -- a job she's been born into, not chosen. That contradicts much of the extended adolescence we see in the media every day. (Note, I don't think that adolescence happens as often in real life, but the media -- particularly movies -- cater to the young.) At best, in an updated version, Princess Anne would have arranged it so Joe could work PR in the royal organization so she could continue her work, or she'd renounce royalty altogether.

In 1953, it really would have been her job or her happiness.* I don't know how unique it is that she chose her job over a romance. Now you get more options and it's more acceptable to work and have a good marriage. It doesn't have to be one or the other. So maybe it's good that it couldn't be made with that particular ending again. It's progress that she could try to have it all.

But that's also missing the point of the movie. By choosing her job, she's grown up. She realizes that she has obligations to her people and needs to fulfill them. What choice could she make in today's world that would communicate that same sense of responsibility and adulthood?**

Picture from IMDB.

* I know it's more nuanced than that -- it was never the case that women were just shunted aside. I've had enough conversations with my dad about growing up in 1940s and 50s rural Iowa [a deeply conservative place] to know that if it hadn't been for the women doing their fair share, life would have been a hell of a lot harder. But I do question the recognition that they got and the choices they were allowed to make.

** Have I just argued that trying to have it all, not wanting to give up either a romance or a job, is childish? I'm not sure how I feel about that. I think any adult realizes that you have to make tradeoffs and you can't have everything. Hmm....

Labels: adulthood, media, women

From Tips for Teaching Tennis to Young Beginners ( 4-7)

Kids will sense if you don't think they're progressing fast enough, and this can discourage them from playing again.

That's a much more broadly applicable lesson, don't you think?

Labels: parenting

There's probably something to be said about good players on bad teams not getting the recognition they deserve, but I just like watching this.

Labels: hockey