Norwegian Wood (This Blog Has Flown)

It’s moving day!

Point your browsers to www.southoftheloop.com. See you there!

Trading Spaces

I am attempting to move this blog to Dream Host and do a little remodeling at the same time. I’m generally pretty tech-savvy, but I’ve discovered that I am a total klutz when it comes to words like MySQL and CSS and SEO. Hopefully very soon you will be able to reach this blog by pointing your browsers to www.southoftheloop.com, and hopefully I will not break the internets in the meantime. See you soon!
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current book: I just started Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird last night. I’m supposed to start a quasi-synchronized reading of Gilead with my friend Ryan, and I’m still fully prepared to do that, it’s just that I got stuck on the CTA for two-and-a-half hours during a snowstorm, and Bird by Bird is what I had with me.

current music: I have Sleater-Kinney’s “One More Hour” stuck in my head on repeat.

current socks: Knee-high blue stripey SmartWools. Did I mention how cold it is outside? And that there’s five inches of snow on the ground?

Close Encounters

I got a racist email this weekend.

I’m blogging about this with some trepidation—I haven’t asked the sender’s permission to reprint any of her comments here, and I’m not comfortable going into very much detail. But the incident is really bothering me, and I can’t seem to let go of it, which is why I’m handing part of it off to you. Sorry about that.

The email showed a photograph of the White House Rose Garden with a watermelon patch photoshopped in. The ‘joke,’ is, of course, that a black man will soon move into the White House, and watermelon has a derogatory connotation when connected to black people. Except that this isn’t a joke at all.

I’m not sure where you draw the line between off-color humor and outright racism.  And I certainly find some politically incorrect humor worthy of a good laugh—you can’t avoid offending everybody all the time. But wherever that line is, this photo is pretty far on the other side of it. A few emails exchanged between the sender and myself only made me angrier—the implication was that I was overreacting to a ’silly joke’ and that I shouldn’t let it upset me. The sender and I are on the opposite ends of the political spectrum, so perhaps she thought that my bleeding heart was too sensitive, or that I was offended that Obama was made the butt of a joke. But I don’t think so.

I’m about the whitest white girl ever. I fit into almost every other majority: white, straight, raised in a Christian faith. I’ve lived almost entirely in big cities with relatively large minority populations. When I was kid growing up in Dallas and Indianapolis, I went to school, church, soccer practice, and ballet class with white kids and non-white kids. Which is to say that I have been, perhaps more than I realized, incredibly sheltered from racism. I know it exists, that it’s not just a toxic memory from the 1960s and earlier. Friends have even shared personal stories. But I’ve certainly never experienced it, never really witnessed it first-hand.

Perhaps it’s strange, then, that I had such a strong reaction to this photo. Although I tried not to, I almost certainly offended the sender with my reply, in which I pointed out that it did upset me, and that it should upset both of us. Our nation has an ugly history in slavery and Jim Crow laws. We don’t need to repeat that, especially for the benefit of—of what? A cheap laugh? I don’t know what pleasure people get from racism, or why people choose to propagate it. I don’t understand the close encounter I had with racism, and I can’t imagine how a black person would have felt seeing that photoshopped image. Maybe because I’ve gone 30 years without intimate knowledge of racism that seeing it exposed so close to me is so shocking, so hard to understand. Maybe because I’ve always been able to look at racism academically, removed from its emotional force.

Condoleezza Rice made some extraordinary remarks on November 5 of this year. She said, “But one of the great things about representing this country is it continues to surprise; it continues to renew itself; it continues to beat all odds and expectations… As an African American, I am especially proud because this is a country that’s been through a long journey in terms of overcoming wounds and making race not the factor in our lives. That work is not done, but yesterday was obviously an extraordinary step forward.”

I guess that whatever our color or experience, we’re all still part of that long journey, falling backward, plodding forward.

My, What Big Paws You Have!

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current book: Finished Dark Water. I think Gilead is up next. Ryan, are you up for some synchronized reading?

current music: “When U Love Somebody” by Fruit Bats

current socks: Snowflake SmartWools. It’s negative fucking miserable out there. I don’t know where early December got the idea to masquerade as late January.

Entering Winter Hibernation Mode

Shoe Junkies: I Need Your Help

Dear Internet,

I need to replace a pair of shoes. I’ve been looking for months (and months!), and I just can’t find anything that does it for me, and I need your help! I know I could just get the old shoes resoled (and maybe clean them up a bit), but I think I can do better. I love these shoes, but they aren’t the most comfortable—there’s very little support, and the leather across the toes starts to pinch after awhile. The brand is Tabarca, but all I can find online in that brand are sandals.

I’m looking for an everyday shoe that’s mostly black. It doesn’t have to be dressy, but I should be able to fake it if I wear them with a pair of black pants. (I work in a pretty casual office). I love love love the red straps on these—enough to make the shoes fun, but not enough that I worry about them not matching. Here are my other requirements:

- Must have at least reasonable support. I live in Chicago and walk a lot—I don’t need to be able to walk all day in them, but I need to be able to walk a couple miles at a time.

- Must be flat or very low-heeled. I have enough knee problems already, thank you.

- No loafers.

- No ballet slippers (I have lots already, including a particularly beloved turquoise patent pair), and no Mary Janes (I have lots and LOTS).

- I thought about something like these, but they are just so dreadfully boring.

- I wear size 10 shoes but am only 5′6″. Things that look cute and dainty in a size 7 often look like boats on me. I’m not overly concerned about this, but really chunky shoes and shoes with long pointy toes (that extend the size of my foot by several inches) are usually no-gos.

- Reasonably priced. I’m going to leave that definition open-ended, but no $400 Taryn Rose shoes.

Okay, internets, whaddaya got for me? Leave links/suggestions in the comments. Photos of my poor beat-up shoes below.

Whoomp! There it is.

When I told my friend John that I might have whooping cough, he listed all the things whooping cough reminded him of. “Reminds me of whooping cranes. And Whoppers, both the Burger King hamburgers and the chalky malt balls. And the 1993 Tag Team classic, ‘Whoomp! There It Is.’ All right, I’ll stop.”

My diagnosis is unconfirmed—my doctor is treating me for whooping cough (pertussis), but said that the antibiotics would kill whatever bacterial infection I’ve got, and that “if you’re still coughing in a month, we’ll know it was pertussis.” Super! I’ve been on antibiotics for four days and feel much better, but I’m still coughing, especially at night. (And in case you were wondering, my coughs lack the characteristic “whoop” sound, but according to the internets, adults may have milder symptoms than children do).

I’m not sure yet how this is going to affect my winter running schedule; presumably I’ll have to modify it to accommodate my reduced lung capacity, but I’m still hoping I can do the Austin 3M Half-Marathon (although I may have to let Mark beat me this year).

And I never did like those chalky malt balls.

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current book: Dark Water: Flood and Redemption in the City of Masterpieces by Robert Clark (and with much thanks to Harriett for the tip)

current music: The last few days have been spent in codeine-induced slumber. Not so much with the music. I fear it would just give me weird dreams.

current socks: Black with multi-colored kitties on them.

Yes We Did

I feel incredibly lucky to be living in Chicago right now. From my office window, I’ve been watching the Obama rally tents go up for the last week. I’m surrounded by citizens who believe in a black man from the South Side of Chicago, whose street I used to run down when I lived in Hyde Park. Last night I went to the rally in Grant Park and cheered and screamed and celebrated because this wasn’t just a referendum on eight devastating years, this was a mandate for change. This was an uncynical, unjaded acceptance of the word hope.

I hope that President-elect Obama exhibits the same thoughtfulness and spirit of unification that he’s shown in his campaign, and I hope that the tears welling up as I type this won’t someday dry up out of contempt or cynicism. I’ve never been so involved in politics before—this is the first time I’ve ever given money to a campaign, the first time I’ve cared so much. Some people complain that Obama is all style and no substance, but I guarantee you that it’s not substance that’s inspired investment in his campaign, and it’s not style that’s kept us there.

A year ago, blogger Andrew Sullivan wrote a beautiful post that I was happy to see reposted today:

Consider this hypothetical. It’s November 2008. A young Pakistani Muslim is watching television and sees that this man—Barack Hussein Obama—is the new face of America. In one simple image, America’s soft power has been ratcheted up not a notch, but a logarithm. A brown-skinned man whose father was an African, who grew up in Indonesia and Hawaii, who attended a majority-Muslim school as a boy, is now the alleged enemy. If you wanted the crudest but most effective weapon against the demonization of America that fuels Islamist ideology, Obama’s face gets close. It proves them wrong about what America is in ways no words can.

I suspect McCain sees this, too. The enormous crowd in Grant Park stood quietly during his concession speech and clapped respectfully when he finished. I wish we had seen this McCain during the campaign—he was moving and gracious, not bitter and defensive, and he clearly recognized the magnitude of this election. This also made me tear up:

In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.

And finally, the words of the 44th President of the United States of America:

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.  Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House – a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.  As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn – I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.

More pictures and video here.

Be Green, Save Green

You can find all sorts of “green” lists all over the internet. Best green products. Best green vacations. Greenest cars. Greenest sheets. Usually the list evolves (or devolves, depending on your perspective) into a list of upscale items made with a blend of premium $$$ organic cotton and bamboo. I’ve seen a couple articles here and there about being green on a budget, but it still sometimes seems like the green movement has spiraled into a set of must-haves—whether a new hybrid car or a new green toilet cleaner, “being green” seems to be less about conservation and more about purchasing power.

Since I started working for a conservation organization a little over a year ago, I’ve been face-to-face with environmental issues on a daily basis. Gaining fluency in issues like climate change, freshwater shortages, and invasive species has redefined the green movement for me. It’s brought me closer to the place the green movement grew out of, and further from the corporate green-washing that uses so-called environmentalism to sell products. (My current pet peeve is the bottled water ad that promises to send 10 bottles of water to Africa for every one bottle you buy. I’m not opposed to giving poor nations water, but you can do that with your wallet just as well as with #2 plastic.)

I should state for the record that I live like neither a hippie nor a monk, and that many of my friends openly mock the number of moisturizers and lotions I have (all those bottles? not so green). In other words, I’m probably not that different from you.

So I thought I’d make a list of things I do—and things you can do—to lessen your impact on the environment. Which is really what “being green” is all about.

1. Not buying new things makes the least impact of all.

I can’t remember who pointed this out to me, but it was kind of an epiphany. Not because I can’t recognize the obvious, but because it made me think about spending in a different way. It’s easy enough to justify new purchases (who doesn’t love new shoes?) and juggle a budget around. But those new shoes—the materials, the packing, the shipping—make an impact on the environment, too. I’m nowhere near the point of only purchasing essentials (I really don’t live like a monk, and I really do like to buy things), but I have cut down tremendously in the past few months.

What you can do: Question your purchases. Is it worth the environmental impact? Do you really need that second widget? I know it’s really cute, but do you need it? If so, is there an alternative? If you’re into thrift stores, get busy thrifting. Look for places like RefurbDepot that sell factory refurbished electronics. Donate your used stuff to Goodwill. Use Craigslist and FreeCycle.

2. Stop buying all those cleaning products!

This gets especially tricky if you’ve already committed to the green movement, because all those environmentally friendly cleaning products? That stuff’s expensive. Save the guilt and make your own. I repurposed an old Lysol spray bottle and followed a recipe (see under “Household cleanser”) I found at the excellent blog No Impact Man. I use it to clean everything from the bathtub to the kitchen floor. I have no complaints—it’s actually a very good cleaner. Better yet, I have not purchased glass cleaner, toilet cleaner, tile cleaner, or kitchen sink cleaner in at least six months. I plan never to purchase those things again. And I’m much happier using lower toxicity cleaners, especially with two cats who get into everything. (Removing the borax will make this recipe virtually non-toxic).

What you can do: Tap water, borax, castile soap, vinegar. A few cheap ingredients go a really long way. This is easy, effective, and will save you plenty of money in the long-term.

3. Unplug.

When I first started doing this years ago, I noticed an immediate difference in my monthly electric bills. Not enough to buy you that dream vacation, but a couple bucks a month.

And it’s easy. Unplug your electronics. I have my tv and stereo system plugged into a single power strip. I unplug the entire power strip from the wall when I’m not using it. Even if you have your electronics on from the time you get home at 6pm to the time you go to bed at 11pm, you’ll still be unplugged for 19 hours a day. People, time is money! If you’ve never heard about phantom loads before, now is a great time to start.

What you can do: Walk across the room and pull the plugs. Are you using it right now? Will you be using it in five minutes? Then pull it out. I live in a small one-bedroom apartment, so this is very easy for me. But power strips should make it pretty doable for a lot of people. If you have a larger living space, consider leaving your least-used room unplugged all the time.

4. If it’s yellow, let it mellow…

I’ve been trying to flush less lately, and I’ve found it’s a really hard habit to break. But when I’m at home, I try to remember to only flush every other time I use the bathroom. I flush at work, at other people’s houses, and when I have company. I’m trying to lessen my impact, not be disgusting.

What you can do: Flush less. Save more.

Open Letter to Sarah Palin

Dear Governor Palin,

I know there’s a double standard in men and women’s fashion: nobody cares (or notices) if McCain wears the same black suit Monday as he does Thursday. And all those red-and-blue striped ties start to run together after awhile, too. You would get called out by the press and by snarky fashionistas for wearing the same black suit all the time—and your suits are pretty fantastic.

But $150,000? That would pay for all of my outstanding undergraduate and graduate school loans. Twice.

Yours sincerely,

Laura M. Browning