Over at Insidehighered.com...

...there's a great conversation getting started at the Mama PhD blog. I don't have children, but I often wonder how women with children manage it all--and I couldn't imagine doing it as a graduate student or without a partner. I love Susan O'Doherty's closing paragraph, a genuine invitation to keep the conversation going.

Yeah, that's not funny...

So Gawker (a site where I spend perhaps too much time) is running this piece about Kim Delaney's speech at the National Constitution Center. The video is cringe-worthy, but the writer of the Gawker piece seems to take a perverse pleasure in it.

But it's not funny. It's sad. There's nothing funny about watching someone who has struggled with addiction going through what appears to be a relapse. The writer of the Gawker piece ought to take a lesson from Craig Ferguson.

(And yes, I do have a soft spot in my heart for Kim Delaney, who was one-half of the first soap super-couple I ever loved, Greg and Jenny on AMC.)

Two more episodes...

That's all that's left of All My Children. It's kind of surreal. I am also amazed at how quickly I've gotten sucked back in after about a year of not watching. It's gotten so that when I see a commercial for "The Chew" (the stupid show that will take AMC's timeslot), I mutter a curse under my breath.

Anyway, today's episode, which I just finished watching featured the return of Sarah Michelle Gellar. It was lovely and silly and fun. And that's not all: Tad and Dixie, my all-time favorite AMC couple, got engaged (again), and yet another beloved Pine Valley denizen came back from the dead.

There have also been lots of great flashbacks this week and episodes devoted to each of the main families. That's been a nice treat for long-time fans.

There's talk that with the proposed move to the online format, original plans for an ending that tied up all the loose ends has been scrapped in favor of a cliffhanger. Not sure how I feel about that...especially if the rumors of (POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT?) a shooting/bloodbath finale are true.

How about that Megyn Kelly?

Who knew she could be so open-minded? Was someone at her network asleep at the wheel when this aired?

Sad news, sad memories

Yesterday I heard that a former student took her own life. I had only had this student in one class (a general studies class a couple of years ago), but I remembered her as a bright, kind, and lovely young woman. Some of my colleagues in my department had also taught her (one in several classes) and remembered her with equal fondness. I know it sounds trite, but it's just so very sad and senseless when something like this happens. And it brings back all the awful memories of when the only son of one of my very dear friends killed himself. The people left behind never get over it.

You just want to find these kids before they make these awful choices and tell them, "Hold on! It gets better, but you'll never know if you are not here to see it!" (This is why the "It Gets Better Project" does such great work, not just for LGBT teens/young adults, but everyone who is filled with despair.)

Not a great way to start the week...

UPDATE: This helps a bit.

Ten years...

I won't even try to write anything. I'll just link to this video courtesy of StoryCorps.

A man and his duck

This brings back memories of my dear late ducks, Fred and Tad, who were very good at following me around. Pretty cute stuff. And, uh, who knew you could "train ducks for competitions?"

Ugh, school dances...

Has there ever been a better depiction of the false-hope-inducing, drama-filled, angsty, awkward, painful, and often-ultimately-disappointing world of high school dances than the "Life of Brian" episode of My So-Called Life?

I'm watching it right now as I get some work done and it's so good and so true that it almost hurts. Rickie's words to Angela--"I belong nowhere, with no one. That I don't fit."--kill me. Brian telling Delia that he'd rather go to the dance with someone else might be one of the top ten most awkward TV scenes ever. Angela's super-intense encounter ("Why are you like this?") with Jordan is hot but so frustrating (that's teenage romance, isn't it?). The awesome Delia/Rickie dance scene is also perfect--such a moment of joy and release for these two remarkable characters.

On this re-watch, Corey's words to Rickie stood out to me: "It's just weird, you know, when you have a picture of how something's gonna be, and it turns out completely different." That just about sums up my teenage years, too.

Fingers crossed...

I've been a bad blogger lately. Same old excuse...busy, busy, busy.

Anyway, I just sent off the Poe article again (after receiving a revise and resubmit last spring). Feels good to have it out of my hands, but (as always!) hitting that "send" button is just so scary!