Thanksgiving

I am thankful.

I am thankful for my incredibly supportive and loving family, my brilliant friends, my encouraging mentors, my job, the fact that I can feed myself and have a place to call home, and that I can afford to go home to see my family for the holiday. I am thankful that I am not cold, that I had the chance to spend four self-centered years in pursuit of a bachelor's degree, that my mind is functional, that I am safe, that I am healthy, that I do not struggle with mental health issues, that I can see, that I can hear, that I can speak, that I can move, that I can taste, that I can smell, that I can read, and so many other things.

For all of this and so much else, I am incredibly thankful.

Perhaps it is the fact that I have spent the past 15 months working on policy issues related to poverty, health and well-being, equity, and unemployment, but I find myself becoming increasingly incapable of being appreciative of one thing or enjoying some wonderful experience without thinking immediately of the many that are experiencing the want of some basic need or experiencing terror, pain, sorrow, the polar opposite at the exact same moment.

Call me a pessimist, a naysayer, a negative nancy (or norman, why can't the negative person be a dude...tangent), if you'd like, but I will be thankful for this tendency of mine to be thankful and aware at the same time. It keeps me grounded, it keeps me connected with the rest of our society, and keeps me motivated to do something outside of the day-to-day.

Thankful.

dots and funnels

Andrew Carnegie is credited with inventing vertical integration, a type of management control that condensed multiple steps of supply chain into one owner, allowing for more control over the production of the output as well as a head-on confrontation of the "hold-up problem" in which case production halts due to delays at one step of the process. After all, aren't the worries of a "hold-up" eliminated when in order to hurry along the production of a book all you have to do as a book designer is go next door to yell at the people copy-editing to tell them to hurry up so you don't have to wait any longer for the final version of the text?

However, ideas evolve, and so, naturally, vertical integration has also gone through iterations and modifications as new types of organizational needs have come to be.

In my experience working with and observing non-profit organizations, I believe that I have identified two such iterations of vertical integration or the accumulation of multiple steps of production into one organization for the sake of efficiency.

I present to you...

dot integration

and

funnel integration

dot integration is as it sounds: concentrated in one point. Non-profit organizations are as they are classified to be, non-profit, not-for-profit, and such, are often looking for ways to cut costs and increase efficiency. So, for these organizations, vertical integration makes sense. Keeping processes of production at home may allow for reduced spending; one could imagine that a researcher who wrote one publication may be asked to copy-edit another's report, for example. However, when this gets brought to an extreme, I believe the management control configuration looks more like a dot.

Example: A research assistant might double as a receptionist because she can work anywhere in the office as long as she has a computer with Stata and Microsoft Excel and also triple as a tech assistant because she can Google quick computer fixes while managing the internship program.

funnel integration is linked more to the movement of "funneling" something from a wide opening into a tiny stream. This has more to do with executive-level management than anything else. For the sake of consistency and quality control, it makes sense to have the head honchos of an organization keep their eye on overall operations. It keeps things moving and allows for a group to present a unified image.

But when I say "funnel" I don't mean fine sand passing through a delicate hourglass -- what I want you to visualize is trying to get fruit salad through a funnel that was designed for use exclusively with liquid chocolate in order to put pencil-thin detailing on top of a cupcake. That is funnel integration.

How does this apply to non-profit organizations and start-ups? Well, with these more intimate institutions and projects, the leader or founder is clearly going to be more emotionally attached to the lower-level operations of her or his staff, resulting in some levels of micromanagement and meddling. The founder of a small tech start-up might feel particularly sensitive about the organization of her new office's supply room though that's technically the job of the office manager. That's natural. But again, take it to the extreme and you get funnel integration.

Example: A president of a small research organization may require every single publication or product created by his highly-qualified and educated research team to be reviewed, critiqued, edited, designed, and reviewed four more times by him before being released. On top of this, he is peculiar about what kind of key rings are used for the office bathroom keys, how many rings you allow the phone to ring before you pick up, and how long it takes for you to press the buzzer when he arrives at the front door even though he has his own key.

Here are examples of the potential for disaster that lies behind each of these ridiculously stupid management control structures that every single freaking non-profit in DC ends up using because the entire city is populated with ridiculously educated, perfectionist, workaholic, unsympathetic, cold, jaded graduate degree-holders, and because the system is so much THE system that no one dares to try and take a crack at reinventing it:

dot integration disaster:

The research assistant, being the only research support staff member for her tiny organization is responsible for fact-checking and formatting almost all of the publications that are produced in a given month. However, during this month, she is also responsible for hiring the interns that will become the research support during the academic year, and the only way she can sanely finish her research assistance tasks is by getting interns, but it's her job to get the interns and she doesn't have time to do that because she has to help with research-related tasks. During this time, the network crashes and everyone freaks the fuck out because all their work is now inaccessible, and the research assistant can't work on hiring interns because all her time is taken up by her research assignments, but she can't do them now because the network is down, but she's the one responsible for fixing the tech issues and can't because really she's not a techie and her only response to tech problems is to Google things but the network is down. AND THEN THE ORGANIZATION TANKS.

funnel integration disaster:

The president will scream at you and harangue you if you do not show him everything that is to pass through the organization's doors and be released to the public because his expertise and his self-identified perfect word choice are crucial to add that "sparkle" to each publication. Therefore, all blog posts, statements, press releases, correspondences, newsletters, research briefs, reports, event flyers, internship descriptions, blurbs, website text, in-office memos, staff contact lists, blah BLAH blahhhhhh must be read by him. And every single piece that is reviewed will go through approximately 15 iterations and so every promised product to a funder or outside organization will be late. In order to keep the organization going we need to keep a good reputation with funders. But late reports are viewed poorly. But your president has to read everything. So everything is late. So then you don't get funding. But everything is still late and eventually you get so little funding you can't produce anything.

AND THEN THE ORGANIZATION TANKS.

Theorizing complete. Good night.

adventures in the west: the wildlife

While driving, walking, biking, hiking through the park and enjoying the scenery is wonderful, I'm pretty sure that most people would be lying if they were to say that they aren't anxiously awaiting their first encounter with the animals of the national parks. Christina and I were lucky and had the chance to see a few different kinds of creatures in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons!

The first animal that we encountered was a BULL MOOSE! Very exciting, as not many people who go through the area get to see them! It was to the side of the road as we neared the East Entrance to Yellowstone National Park, and the presence of the moose was made obvious by the cluster of cars and camera-carrying visitors that had gathered to document their witnessing a moose mulling about in a creek.

Then, we had our first of many bison sightings to come. The first sighting not as exciting, as they were far away, but as our trip went on, we came across bison right next to the cars on the side of the road, and some even walking through traffic! I have picked this iconic shot of a bison on top of a hill out West to share with you.

Last, but certainly not least, THE MARMOT!!! We saw three or four marmots, and they were ADORABLE. Our first marmot-sighting was on our hike up to the top of Mount Washburn. We saw this lil' guy close up at the end of our Cascade Canyon hike in the Grand Tetons! This marmot and another one were quite curious to see what we were eating and doing and came very close to us. Take a look!

There are all sorts of other kinds of wildlife that I wish we could have seen, including an elk or a pika. Especially a pika. However, I am quite content with the fact that our bear count stayed at a happy zero throughout the course of the trip.

adventures in the west: the beautiful views

I'm back from my WONDERFUL nine-day adventure in Wyoming and Colorado with Christina!

As it would be quite difficult to condense all of what I saw and did into one blog post, this will be a multi-post account of my trip, complete with pictures!
Enjoy!
-

While I was a major fan of the hikes that we did, I am truly amazed by the number of other ways in which different kinds of people can enjoy the same space. There were people who backpacked and hitchhiked their way through Yellowstone, carrying with them the bare minimum to get through each day, while there were others who stayed in expensive lodges with A/C and explored the beauty of the landscape from the comfort of their vehicles. No matter the approach in which did so, all of these people were able to enjoy the same views.

I wish there were a better way to share with you all of the details and images from this nine-day exploration of two of the national parks in Wyoming, but there just isn't space or time, and I also want to avoid boring you.

So, in this first post, I'd like to share with you top ten favorite landscape pictures from my vacation, in no particular order:

1. View from the North Rim looking down into the colorful Canyon of Yellowstone

2. Bleached, dead trees and snow against a blue sky at the top of Mount Washburn in Yellowstone

3. Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River, complete with a rainbow

4. Sunset in Wyoming, early evening

5. Sunset in Wyoming, later in the evening

6. Rushing water in the Cascade Canyon of the Grand Tetons

7. Soft evening light passing through Cascade Canyon in the Grand Tetons

8. String Lake in the early evening, Grand Tetons

9. Midday view of the Grand Tetons and Teton Lake from the top of Signal Mountain

10. Geysers and hot springs in Norris in Yellowstone National Park

one year and two days

It's already been a year and two days.

He would have been 22 next Tuesday. We are left with the memory of his big, heart-warming smile, his laugh, the peaceful, appreciative calm with which he experienced every moment, and his thoughtful commentary and observations. Sometimes I feel selfish for crying or staying up at night in fear, confusion or sadness, as it was not I who felt all of that pain. I still wish that we had all seen the signs, that I had spent more time with him after that last lunch I had with him in the sun, that I had emailed or called a few more times. I wish that we could have helped take away all the darkness that he carried alone.

But in the end, it's not the regret or the sorrow that he would have wanted us to feel; he was always one to be optimistic and considerate, one to take each moment with a heart full of gratitude, and I think he would want us all to do the same.

So, here's to you, dear friend, to you, your smile, your laugh, the happiness you brought to all of those who were lucky enough to have crossed your path, and to the lessons of open-mindedness, optimism, and perseverance that you have given to all of us.

crash course in public speaking

I have nicknamed May 2011 the "crash course in public speaking." Why? See my previous blog post - I had two speaking engagements this month, the first time I've ever had to give any sort of address or talk in front of people, where the liability did not just reflect upon me but also on my organization. Eeek!
My first presentation was to the Board of Directors about two research projects, one that another senior researcher is doing and another one that I'm leading. The second was for an event hosted by the Women's Information Network (WIN), a panel titled "Social Security on the Rocks: What's at Stake for Younger Women." For a write-up of the event, check out my co-worker and friend Jennifer Clark's blog post! I spoke about the specific importance of Social Security to women of color and the anti-poverty effect of the program. Here's a very unflattering photo of me speaking on the issue and a better photo of Melissa Byrne from the Strengthen Social Security Campaign (another panelist) and myself.
I am happy to report that both events went very well, and that I received lots of positive feedback from IWPR staff, members of the Board, as well as the young women professionals that attended the WIN event. I learned a number of things about public speaking and research-based presentations from these two opportunities. Among these lessons:

• When possible, try to stand when giving a presentation; it makes you feel more empowered.


• You do not need to hit every point on each power point slide, some details are just left up there as a reference for the audience.


• Don't over-rehearse, but make sure you get comfortable with the numbers and technical terminology you'll be using.


• Use your hands to emphasize your points; don't hold them behind your back or cross your arms.


• Stand with your weight distributed evenly, and stand up straight.


• Engage the audience with eye contact. If you're nervous, pick someone who seems to be responsive to what you're saying.

This doesn't mean I won't be nervous for my next speaking engagement, but I'm glad that these went well!

speaking up

It seems that the month of May will be a time during which I will have to become an adept public speaker.

On May 6, I'm presenting at the semi-annual meeting of the IWPR Board of Directors about two research projects coming out of IWPR's original survey data: one project on general economic insecurity and findings comparing data from 2007 and 2010 and another project (mine) on doubling up or cohabitation as a coping method in the face of recent financial difficulty.

On May 18, I'm speaking as a member of a three-person panel on Women and Social Security for the Women's Information Network (WIN) event "Week of WIN," their annual recruitment week. I'll be representing IWPR and our recently-formed Committee on Engaging Younger Women.

WOAH. Yes. I'm really, really, really nervous. This is the first time that I'll be presenting research in front of people in a context in which it doesn't affect just me, where I'll be representing an organization. I think it'll be an incredible experience, but I'm really quite nervous. Wish me luck!

nam june paik

I spent all of Saturday in my house. It was convenient that I scheduled my day this way as it happened to be monsoon-ing outside. I woke up at 8:30 am, deep-cleaned the bathroom (it was...horrific), vacuumed the whole house, and then spent the entire afternoon working on job applications. This was all motivated by my itinerary for Sunday.

On Sunday, it was sunny and rather warm, and I met Sara for a lovely day of activities in downtown DC. We began our day by making a trip to the National Gallery of Art, where we

spent time at the Gauguin exhibit - fascinating, though I still think that Gaugin was an asshole for abandoning his wife and five children while he went and contracted syphilis in Tahiti - and we also went to the Nam June Paik installation and exhibit. I am embarrassed to say that I didn't actually know who he was before I went to see the exhibit, even though I had seen his piece "Electronic Superhighway" at the National Portrait Gallery with Sara, Co, and Steph in January 2010 when we all got together over the winter at Sara's house.

Mr. Paik was an incredible artist. He was born in Seoul, studied music in Japan, was a member of the Fluxus movement in Germany, and was the first video artist ever. He passed away in 2006 after spending the last decade of his life in a wheelchair, the left half of his body paralyzed from a stroke. He was revolutionary in the way in which he combined sound and images, with video art as his medium of choice. He made this incredible "TV Cello" that would show images as his artistic partner, Charlotte Moorman, played it. This was just one of his many pieces that incorporated televisions as the focal point; he also made TV chairs, TV bras, and many other things.

He also said the most amazing thing about technology and humanity, which I wanted to share with you:

"Our life is half natural and half technological. Half and half is good. You cannot deny that high-tech is progress. We need it for jobs. Yet if you make only high-tech, you make war. So we must have a strong human element to keep modesty and natural life."

bullies and hypocrites

These past seven months in Washington, DC have been amazingly enriching. Amazing new friends, free museums, a challenging but interesting job, inspiring co-workers and new acquaintances, a great array of dining options, a delightfully nerdy environment perfect for a policy wonk and news addict like myself, and, of great importance: a wonderful (though very intense and incestuous) ultimate community.


However, there are a few things about this city that makes me want to move away as soon as possible: the hypocrisy and the bullying. Here are some examples:

• Environmentalists who take 30-minute showers and drive two blocks to the grocery store.


• Advocates for the impoverished who seem to think that they deserve an award for donating $10 to a local food bank.


• Senior staff at supposedly progressive organizations that treat their junior staff like indentured servants because they can.


• Meetings where we discuss supports for low-income workers but everyone at the table is from upper middle-class families and wearing pearls and carry Longchamp bags.


• Self-identified non-racists and proponents of diversity who get nervous and scared around people from certain racial/ethnic groups.


• People who pronounce mature as "muh-toor" and negotiation as "nego-cee-ation"

Okay, last one in the list? I kid. I KIDDING...though it does bother me. But seriously. I simultaneously love our nation's capital and want to run away screaming with nothing but a backpack containing cleats, a frisbee, my gifted copy of Middlesex, my journal, a picture of my family, and a few plaid shirts.
Oh, and polar bear. But he probably wouldn't fit in my backpack, so I would have to hold him in my arms, which would seriously restrict my ability to run as quickly and as dramatically away from this place as I would sometimes like to do.

The initial rage that I was feeling when I started writing this post has subsided. But maybe you get the gist of it all. Essentially - the one place where I would expect the idealists and do-gooders to convene, our nation's capital, is the the first place that I've been where I've been made to feel as though my idealism and hopes for the future have been stomped on. If anything, this stint in our nation's capital has taught me that it doesn't matter what you think or try to do, this is just how it is. Whoever's got the most money, whoever was brought up in the most comfortable of settings, whoever can yell the loudest, whoever sticks best to the latest trends...those are the people that our country repeatedly puts up on a pedestal to change things. And that's why nothing's changed.

look at that f*ckin' WHIPSTER

What is a "Whipster"?

Whiptail + Hipster = Whipster.

I spent a wonderful 3 days (April 1-3) in some random town in Virginia with old teammates and Whiptail alumnae for Fool's Fest, an annual reunion tournament. IT. WAS. AWESOME. Really embarrassing but not surprising? I cried a little in the parking lot after I said "bye" to JessKwan, LB, and Pnut. It's interesting - as someone who tends to get very involved in her current surroundings, I get rather used to the limited presence of some people in my life, whether it is because we have drifted apart or we are just simply not in the same place, and I don't feel like I miss them. But the second that I get the chance to be close to them and remember why I loved them so much in the first place, it makes me miss them terribly.

It was certainly a "fool"ish weekend, with all of us in our jeggings, plaid, ridiculous sunglasses, adhesive mustaches, fake sleeve tattoos, and hats. Even the way our tournament played out was silly: we were playing in the Division 2 finals and didn't know until 30 minutes into the game. The only reason we were there was because another team had forfeited and left for the weekend and had neglected to tell us. We then won the spirit award (definitely more exciting than winning the tournament or something), which consisted of a plaque and red plaid hats for the whole team, which happened to match our flannel/plaid gear quite perfectly!

I unfortunately sprained my right thumb/hand during the last game on Saturday while laying out on defense (yay for getting the D, boo for hurting myself), which has left me wearing a thumb splint for the past two weeks, but the weekend was a blast! I didn't know many of these people very well before this weekend, and to be quite honest, I still don't. But there's some sort of inexplicable guarantee that any reunion of Whiptails will result in a good time :)

the cherry blossoms!

The National Cherry Blossom Festival marks the arrival of Spring with a fanfare of beautiful white and pink cherry blossoms and an oppressive wave of weekend tourists in downtown Washington, DC. Last week, my boss sent me an email telling me that I should check out the cherry blossoms in their peak bloom period before Friday, April 1, the official end of the peak. He then came into my office 3 different times to talk to me about when I was going to see the blossoms and essentially forced me to re-arrange my work hours for Wednesday and Thursday so that I could see the blossom during a weekday; so I worked an extra 2 hours on Wednesday night so that I could come in late after a morning down by the tidal basin and the Jefferson Memorial the next morning. I took advantage of this bizarre opportunity and grabbed a quick breakfast with Christina and we went down to see the blossoms together. While it was a bit cold and the sky was gray, it was still beautiful!

After a lovely morning with the cherry blossoms, I headed back to the office to start my work day...with an exciting weekend with the Whiptail alumnae ahead of me! See my next blog post!

crap in south dakota

I usually like to share these links on Facebook so that my friends and contacts can be made aware of what kinds of events and policies and ideas are being circulated. However, each time I tried to think of a comment to attach to the link, I found myself wanting to write something that was mildly offensive or perhaps too scandalous for me to want to write it on a public space. So, I've decided to retreat to my personal blog for now. But one day, I'll take the advice of my friends and start a political blog of my own...when I'm confident enough to share all my stances with more people.

The governor of South Dakota, Michael Rounds, signed into law a bill banning abortion, except in the case in which the mother's life is put at risk, in which case the abortion will not be considered a felony. This is a depressing and infuriating step in a chain of anti-choice legislation that has been proposed and/or passed in various states across the country, confirming my suspicion that we are moving backwards in time, and that our society and government have unfortunately decided to listen to extremists and polarizing voices rather than trying to find solutions that help as many people as possible. As if the broad ban of abortions weren't enough, another law, signed by Governor Rounds on Tuesday, requires women considering abortions to attend consultations at "pregnancy help centers". Why the quotation marks? Well, because these "pregnancy help centers" in South Dakota are run by people with an agenda that is decidedly anti-choice.

The factions in the debate surrounding abortion call themselves a variety of things:

"anti-abortion"

"pro-life"

"pro-choice"

I've decided to call the two sides "anti-choice" and "pro-choice," because that's what they are. As far as I know, NO ONE is "pro" abortion. Anyone who knows anything about the options and procedures for abortion know that it's not an easy choice, that it can be somewhat traumatic, and that it's not something that anyone would want to choose to go through. Those on the anti-choice side wave around graphic images of fetuses in jars, rant and rave about how anyone getting an abortion will burn in hell, etc., etc. But what they don't seem to understand is that NO ONE thinks that abortion is some fun joy ride. It is a painful, difficult choice that some women unfortunately have to make, and making it even more painful, even more difficult, even more traumatic, making it ILLEGAL won't change the fact that nobody WANTS to get an abortion.

I find it horrendously hypocritical and bizarre that the Republican Party was founded on the principles of individual choice and small government but today seems to so haphazardly apply these principles. When it comes to policies that would help low-income families and historically disadvantaged people such as the Affordable Care Act, strengthening Social Security, and the Paycheck Fairness Act, the government, they say, has no role and should not be involved. But when it comes to treating women like beings without agency or minds of their own, when it comes to funneling money to the Department of Defense, when it comes to artificially protecting the agricultural sector, when it comes to making cheap trade deals, there is no hesitation: government rules, whether the people agree or not!

I am terrified and angry and depressed and inspired to act when I hear about things like the recently-passed legislation in South Dakota, and I hope that you all get as enraged and inspired to act, as well.

workin' out

Okay. So, my team has a workout group on Facebook...I posted to it for a little while, but I stopped and don't really feel like doing it again. Here's my own little log:

3-14 : Indoor league

3-15 : Nada. Just a birthday dinner :)

3-16 : Something...I don't remember.

3-17 : Nuttin'.

3-18 : 2.5-mile run, plyos (1st outdoor run in months!)

3-19 : 2-mile run, almost all uphill

3-20 : Rien.

3-21 : Indoor league

3-22: 1.5-mile run, strength training (legs, arms, core), balance training

IWPR blog post: part 2

So, my blog post has been reposted on a few different sites, which is kinda cool :)

At Feministing,

At the Roosevelt Institute's Campus Network blog, Think 2040,

At the Younger Women's Task Force blog,

And it was highlighted in New Deal 2.0's Daily Digest.

japan

I am absolutely horrified, as is everyone else, with what the country of Japan is going through right now. I just cannot fathom having to endure the devastation of both an earthquake and a tsunami, along with the radiation exposure and ramifications of the damage to the nuclear plants in Northern Japan. I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I have avoided reading the front page of the paper the past couple of days simply because I can't bear to look at the pictures and feel that it's gotten to the point that I'm no longer taking in information about the progress of the rescue, clean-up, and damage control efforts overseas, and that looking at and reading the news coverage is simply adding to the already overwhelming and somewhat unproductive emotion that I feel for the Japanese people.

I am frustrated, upset, overcome with sympathy, and I was glad to be able to make a donation to Global Giving on my birthday to go towards the cause but wish that I could do more. I almost feel lazy giving money when I know that in the end, someone has to help collect and identify the bodies, someone has to rebuild the homes and the offices and the stores, someone has to help console and heal the injured, both physically and emotionally...I wish I could do more.

Please consider donating to the cause. I just learned that Living Social is matching donations over $5 to the American Red Cross, so that's another donation opportunity to look into.

birthday

A while ago, one of my close friends (Sara, actually), asked me something very interest. She asked me if I thought I might have a different idea of birthdays and felt differently around my birthday compared to other people because I had always had to share this day. While for others, birthdays are often an opportunity take a moment and celebrate oneself, I always shared it with someone, and made sure to call and write cards and send gifts around the time I was celebrating my own additional year of life. She wondered if that changed how I person treats his or her birthday.

I don't think that the sharing of my birthday has made me any more generous or selfless than the next person. I've still thrown myself parties and dinners, and sometimes I'll treat myself to a new outfit or some expensive books I've been wanting to read, or some other delightful treat. I don't think that sharing my birthday has made me a more thoughtful or better person. But I do believe that sharing my birthday every year makes me a lucky person.

I'm officially 23 years old (as of 27 minutes ago), and as I am a rather introspective person, it makes me think of all I've learned, everything I've felt, all I've seen in the past year. All the happiness, all of the pain, all of the loss, the new friends, the old friends, the changes, and all the things that have stayed the same. But I also think of the 23 years that I've shared with my twin sister.

As people go, we are as different as we could possibly be:

She has light brown eyes while mine are so dark that my driver's license indicates that I have black eyes.

She has a round face. I have an oval face.

She is a mechanical engineer studying architecture. I am a wannabe economist researching public policy.

When she's upset, she yells. When I'm upset, I cry.

We are different. But something about this sisterly bond keeps us tied closely to one another though we see ourselves diverging in our personalities more and more every day. Though she infuriates me sometimes, and I stretch her every last nerve, she is still the one person that can quell my incontrollable sobbing when I find myself up late panicking about life. She is beautiful, brilliant, hilarious, creative, an independent thinker, self-assured in her ideas about living and life, and stronger than almost anyone I know, and she is my sister.

It is possible that I treat birthdays differently, as I've always shared this day, a day that for many is more of a day to celebrate the self. But I'm lucky that it didn't turn out that way. Because on my birthday, I get to celebrate not only my own life, but also the life of my incredible sister.

Happy 23rd Birthday, Jin! I love you.

spring!

Goodbye, Winter.

Hello, Spring!

I haven't had any life-changing events occur during these past few weeks, but have enjoyed a number of activities including my President's Day trip to New York City to reunite with some

Wellesley friends, my winter league games, my weekly winter league games, a free National Symphony Orchestra concert with Alex at the Kennedy Center, some lovely dinners, a "Friendsgiving" event which was essentially a massive Thanksgiving-themed potluck, viewing of an independent film about campaign financing pertaining to the agriculture and energy industries, and I also got to celebrate Sara's numerous graduate school acceptances!

Christina, Sara, Colette, Nick (Colette's wonderful boyfriend), and I met up for brunch at Eatonville, a delicious restaurant in the U Street area of DC that is inspired by Zora Neale

Hurston and named for her hometown in Florida, I had a yummy plate of eggs benedict and potatoes with a cup of hot coffee. De-lish!

We then headed down to the Natural History Museum for the afternoon two look at two exhibits: one about the island of Cyprus and another about forensics in Jamestown, VA...a little creepy, particularly the skeleton of a 22-week old fetus and another one of a woman who had died with the skeleton of an unborn child in her uterus. Yikes. After we parted ways,Christina and I strolled around enjoying the weather and took a little sitting-break in the Hirschorn Sculpture Garden. On our way to the Chinatown metro stop, we passed the lovely magnolia trees pictured above, and noticed that the blossoms were beginning to emerge. Temperature in the 60s? Check. Blue skies? Check. Sunshine? Check. Budding flowers? Check. I'd say Spring has arrived!

Now, I did write a New Year's Resolution for the year 2011. However, they were so abstract and general that I realized lately that I don't actually know what I'm supposed to do with them. Seeing as Spring is a time that represents birth, rejuvenation, and a change, and considering the fact that I kick off my 23rd year of life this Tuesday, March 15, I have deemed this month a perfectly appropriate time for me to make new resolutions that I can actually aim to accomplish. While some of them are too personal to share, I will share with you that I am going to try to continue to live in a more eco-friendly manner by adjusting some of my choices as a consumer, try to continue to learn (specifically, practice my language skills and read up on certain topics), and to continue to improve myself and the way I interact with the world around me.

I am excited to start fresh. I am excited to see how much more I can get out of the remaining 4 months of my fellowship (it got extended 2 months). I am excited to learn, excited to change, excited to grow. Other things I'm excited about?

1. My trip home to NJ to see my parents, Jin, and Jenn!

2. Fool's Fest with the Whiptails/W-hipsters!

3. The National Cherry Blossom Festival!

4. The start of the Renegade club season!

Bring in the new season! I'm ready for it :)

quote

I found this while poking around on the internet the other day. Its author is unknown, but it was posted in The Torch on September 14, 1987. I love it. And while I love it, it also depresses me because the same quote has been applicable since...forever:

"Because women's work is never done and is underpaid or unpaid or boring or repetitious and we're the first to get fired and what we look like is more important than what we do and if we get raped it's our fault and if we get beaten we must have provoked it and if we raise our voices we're nagging bitches and if we enjoy sex we're nymphos and if we don't we're frigid and if we love women it's because we can't get a "real" man and if we ask our doctor too many questions we're neurotic and/or pushy and if we expect childcare we're selfish and if we stand up for our rights we're aggressive and 'unfeminine' and if we don't we're typical weak females and if we want to get married we're out to trap a man and if we don't we're unnatural and because we still can't get an adequate safe contraceptive but men can walk on the moon and if we can't cope or don't want a pregnancy we're made to feel guilty about abortion and...for lots of other reasons we are part of the women's liberation movement."

almond rice w/sautéed kale

Oh man. I love food. And because cooking leads to food, I love cooking, as well. Having grown up in a society in which instant gratification is almost always expected (you know who you are, you texters who freak out if you don't get a response within 5 seconds of sending something to your friends), cooking is wonderful. As soon as you put the effort in, something wonderful is almost always produced!

This afternoon, I decided to try something new. I had seen my friend Annamaria eat rice with whole almonds in it before, so I decided to put a spin on that. I don't know what to call this dish, but for now, I'm thinking of calling it Almond Rice with Sautéed Kale. Here is how you make it:

1. Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan with a cube of vegetable bouillon.

2. When the water is boiling, add rice and boil until cooked (you can use any rice that you want, I used regular long-grain white rice).

3. Coarsely chop a handful of unsalted almonds and toast in a little bit of olive oil over medium heat.

4. Wash about 1/4-head of kale and cut away and discard the base of each stem; then cut the kale leaves and stems into bite-size pieces.

5. Season the kale in a mixing bowl with olive oil, rice vinegar, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Massage the oil and vinegar into the kale leaves.

6. Take the almonds out of the pan and put in the kale leaves and sautée very lightly, just enough to soften the stems.

7. When all three items are ready (rice, almonds, and kale), mix them all together with a little bit more rice vinegar to flavor the rice. It's now ready to eat! Mix with pan-fried tofu for a lil' more protein.

SO TASTY!!! OM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM.

IWPR blog post!

An exciting work development: my first-ever blog post for IWPR went up today! It's about younger Americans and Social Security. I've reposted it below, and you can also find it at the IWPR FemChat blog.

Young Americans and Social Security

Bloggers, policy experts, and politicians are urging young Americans to care more about Social Security, whether they are asking us to love it, hate it, tweak it, or scrap it. But the results are already in: we care.

And if we could have it our way, Social Security would be here forever.

According to findings from an AARP report, the vast majority of people of all ages believe that Social Security is important, including 90 percent of those aged 18-29. A recent Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) survey confirms this sentiment among young adults: 63 percent of those aged 18-39 don’t support cutting Social Security benefits for deficit reduction and more than 60 percent of the group don’t think we pay enough for Social Security.

People my age (somewhere in my 20s) have grown up knowing and expecting that Social Security will be there for us in the future. Another IWPR report shows just how vital the program is for older Americans. It provides 50 percent or more of income for more than half of all men and women over the age of 65. Social Security also kept over 14 million people over the age of 65 out of poverty in 2009, 60 percent of whom are women.

In the wake of the Great Recession, American households saw their savings, home equity, and investments slip away, leaving many scrambling for resources. Pension payouts and asset values rise and fall with the tumultuous economy, and earnings remain uncertain in the face of high unemployment. But Social Security has remained a steadfast source of income in both good and bad times.

It is clear that Social Security will be important when we face retirement. But as the discussion remains focused on current retirees and deficit projections for future decades, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that the Social Security debate needs our attention now and will affect us – young workers – more than anyone else.

Why is our voice important now?

Some of us already need Social Security.

If you’re like me and my friends, the term Social Security conjures up images of old age and years that lie far ahead. However, as of December 31, 2010, approximately 3.2 million children under the age of 18 were receiving Social Security benefits as children of disabled, deceased, or retired workers. 949,000 disabled children over the age of 18 were receiving benefits, as well. More than a third of Social Security beneficiaries are not retired workers. To some among us, Social Security is not only a promise of security when we are old, it is vital now.

We are already paying for and earning our retirement security.

Take a look at your most recent pay stub. It shows that you have had 4.2 percent of your wages withheld for the payroll tax, and therefore, Social Security; before the December 2010 tax package was passed, that amount was 6.2 percent of wages. The inflammatory media anddisconnected politicians have hammered away at the misguided notion that the exhaustion of the Social Security trust fund means ruin for us all. Their hypocrisy lies in the fact that younger people are told to worry and care about our future, yet policymakers give us even more of a reason to worry by threatening to cut and weaken the very program that would ensure income security for us in old age. Meanwhile, working Americans, including those our age, have been paying into Social Security with the expectation that we will receive the benefits that we have earned when it comes time to claim them.

Young Americans want Social Security to stay and stay secure.

We’ve heard the miscalculated and misrepresented statistics and the apocalyptic fear-mongering about this vital program. Now, it’s time that the naysayers listen to what young people have been saying all along.

my hair did

I GOT MY HAIR DID.

Well, kind of. I finally got it cut. The stylist was a very nice woman with a strong accent who liked my hair a lot and thought that I was biracial. She also thought that my hair was in desperate need of a trim and was very glad that I finally decided to do something about it. I decided to leave out the fact that I hadn't gotten it cut since July or August.

Anyways, thanks to Christina, I now know where I can go for a good haircut and not pay an exorbitant amount of money. Woot!

Over the summer, I had a post about food that I had cooked with pictures of said food items. Since I moved to DC about 6 months ago, I've been cooking up a storm, but never took any pictures and haven't posted about it! Therefore, a list will have to do, but I wanted to share with you some of the dishes that I've been making for my lunches and dinners now that I don't depend on the Wellesley dining system (hush, you whiners, I thought it was great):

chick pea salad

chick peas, diced red bell pepper, diced red onion, tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and a dash of balsamic vinegar

kale chips

kale leaves, cut into pototo chip-sized pieces, rubbed with olive oil, rice vinegar, and tossed in salt, pepper, and chili powder, then baked in the oven until light and crispy

swiss chard salad

swiss chard (chopped stems and small leafy pieces), avocado, feta cheese, chick peas, and diced beets, sprinkled with red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper.

curried kale and chick peas

kale and chick peas sautéed with chopped garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper, then heated with sour cream and lots of curry powder and a little bit of crushed red pepper; mixed well and then put over brown rice.

soy-marinated tofu

tofu pan-fried in a marinade made of olive oil, soy sauce, sugar, pepper, a dash of curry powder, and a little garlic powder; serve with brown rice.

egg and cheese on a bagel

1 beaten egg mixed with a little salt, pepper, and curry powder, cooked over low heat in a small circular-ish shape; put on a bagel with grated cheddar cheese and some ketchup.

spinach feta pasta

sautéed spinach, tomato, and chopped garlic with a little lemon juice and salt and pepper; put over linguine or penne with feta cheese.

sweet fruit salad

diced and cored apples, halved strawberries, clementine sections, and blueberries, drizzled with honey and cinnamon powder and mixed well.

time machine

Women's health initiatives and resources have been put on the line, and I'm sure for those who were around for the 1940s-1970s, it must feel like they've been forced into a time machine and sent back in time. I mean, we've even gone back to the fitted jeans for men and platform heels for women. All the anti-choice talk, the ridiculous fear and animosity surrounding immigrants and immigration, the anti-socialist rants and impassioned and insane opposition to public programs and safety net policies...

I guess this is what it feels like when an entire society decides to brake, speed into reverse, and repeat all the idiocy of its past.

"ideal worker"

I've spent the past couple months doing research on paid sick days, why they're important to provide to all workers, why it's important to use them, and how beneficial it is to society as a whole to have them and use them.

So why is it that the one time I'm sick and have to stay home, I feel guilty the whole time?

So guilty that I still got myself out of bed at 9:00 am to sign into my remote desktop connection and work for 5 hours today before finally realizing that this defeats the purpose of taking a sick day?

I've heard references to the "ideal worker," that worker who works tons of overtime without recording the extra hours, who offers to do all of the extra tasks that no one else wants to do, who is constantly busy and overloaded but somehow manages to get most of it done, and never takes any vacation time. While I don't think I am quite in that extreme, I most certainly feel pressure to be that way:

- I felt bad asking for overtime pay when I stayed for 6 hours extra one week to help the president of IWPR with her power point presentations;

- I was uncomfortable asking my boss to sign off on my leave forms when I wanted to take an extra day off to spend with my family during the holidays;

- I habitually stay about a half hour past the end of my scheduled work day;

- When co-workers send out requests for help on projects, etc., I find myself jumping to help them even though I am already working on something else.

Now, some of this is admittedly just me being a giant nerd. I know that. And I'm not saying that I'm actually the ideal worker. I sit on Gchat, I'll take the occasional longer lunch, I chat with my co-worker throughout the day about things unrelated to work.

But some of it must also be the work culture that exists in this country. At competitive universities, students often find themselves in conversations about how much time they've spent studying for this class and that midterm. My co-workers are constantly in the office well past 6:30 pm although most of us are scheduled to work until 5:30 pm. Coming in to work on the weekends is common. Many of us eat lunch at our desks and work while eating.

With all the work I do surrounding work-life balance and work-family policies, I'm beginning to wonder whether all of this will help anyone, if it will mean anything at all if this workaholic culture stays put. A while ago, I listened in on a Department of Labor discussion about how to enforce the breastfeeding protections in the Affordable Care Act, and a number of the people on the call spoke about how it'll be an issue of enforcement, yes, but that changing workplace culture would be the more difficult, and perhaps more important, part.

Just some food for thought.