Friday, September 30, 2016

Sexual Abuse Charges

I just watched a news report about the sexual abuse charges being lodged against a doctor who treated the US gymnastics team. The charges don't surprise me, nor does the fact that it has taken a long time for the young women to come forward. I am an old, post-menopausal woman now but even in the last few years I have suffered from unwelcome attention when in a medical setting. 

In Utah, doctors are supposed to have a female attendant if they have a female patient. Most doctors ignore this, or if they pay attention to the law it is in a passing fashion. I recently left my previous dermatologist after a few odd incidents. The last one was when I was sitting on the plinth (you know, the exam table) waiting for an exam of two odd spots on my upper chest. The doctor came over, looked at where my hands are, and then after determining that one hand was sitting over the edge of the plinth, walked up and leaned his entire body against mine. He had already judged where my hand was so he knew that his genitals would be pressed against my hand. I don't doubt that he already knew that the plinth was just the right height for this to occur. I sat there while he was examining my chest trying to decide what to do. I wanted to grab the testicles and squeeze but for all I knew that was his desired response. He had my hand pinned hard enough that simply pulling my hand back would probably have been a thrill for him.

I didn't yell at him, I didn't report him. At the time the assault was so repulsive that I didn't even want to think about it. I did tell my husband as soon as I got home and I did call my primary care doctor and tell her, assuming that the medical community should know. The unfortunate outcome of my encounter was that shortly after that visit, I looked at my chest and realized that I needed the spots looked at again and quickly. So I had to go back to the same man who was quite abusive. "You should have told me about these spots. Now I have to perform surgery." He probably did end up excising the suspicious spots thoroughly but he sure wasn't happy about it. Now I have a two inch scar and a memory of the doctor throwing down his surgical gloves and blaming everything on me. I also have a new dermatologist.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Vindication, Of a Sort

There is a very interesting article in the current issue of The American Scholar magazine about a charter school in Chicago attempting to adapt a teaching method from Phillips Exeter Academy to both larger class sizes and an entirely different cohort of learners. The teaching and learning mode is called the Harkness Method and relies to a much greater degree than is the norm on student interaction, student participation, and student ideas. The article outlines how this works in the rarefied atmosphere of Phillips Exeter but it also shows how it is used in a radically different setting.

Generally I am not a fan of charter schools because around here they are perverted by profit motives and anti-federalists. There is less interest in seeing students learn than there is in advancing a particular political agenda. That doesn't mean that I am entirely smitten by any top down administration of schools whether it is from the federal or state government either. What I do want to see is results and those have been sorely lacking lately.

Anyway, I don't want to beat a dead horse but the Harkness method as described in the article begins by asking students to speak in class. This happens in all disciplines but of course my focus is on language. Two students in a literature class are given the assignment of describing to each other, and to the rest of the class, their ideas about the meaning of a work they have read. The very first homework assignment I give my tutees is to go home and talk to their parents about the book they are reading for class and also about any shorter assignments I have given them. Far too many students I work with have no familiarity with language. Sure they can talk to their friends or more likely text them but they cannot form arguments with language that use logic and structure. If you don't know how language works, how can you ever understand literature, no matter what language you speak. The kids say "My parents haven't read this book," and I say, "It doesn't matter. It's up to you to tell them about it."

So, parents, don't just ask your kid how school was. Ask them to tell you about their stories, their books, their math, their science.

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Lovely Fall Days

The weather has been good since the storms of last week. Although Utah isn't a common location for tornadoes there were a couple that touched down a little north of here. That's good since the house I live in now was struck by a tornado about twenty years ago. Anyway, now the sun is shining and the weather is breezy and mild. Storms are predicted for later on this week.

I made this quilt in the year 2000 and donated it to a local charity fundraiser for a large area hospital. This used to be a big splashy social event but my only involvement was behind the scenes.

I posted the picture to show that yellow has always been a personal favorite. I got some grief from traditionalists for doing an album quilt with a yellow background but that's fine. Everyone has an opinion even if no one cares about that opinion.

I am having fun working on the applique border. I have reached the upper left hand of the border, moving into the top section. I used the original design as a starting point but I changed many elements to suit my own fancy. The original was sort of alternating sunflowers and grapes but mine moves from the fruit and vegetable bottom through dandelions, violas, birds and moths and then from about halfway up it is almost all sunflowers and grapes so to me they look as if they are reaching for the sun.

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Should Have Used Conditional

Two very nice women have left comments telling me to vote. Their reasons are not the same but their view of voting is similar to mine. The only vote I ever missed since I reached voting age was when I was in the hospital giving birth to my second son.

I should have used conditional, as in "I could vote for X or I could vote for no one." But rest assured I will vote in the November election.  Although there are no major party choices for president that appeal to me there are county council and school board votes that have a large impact here. I don't agree that those who don't vote have no voice to complain, however. That "rule" leaves out children, those who are disenfranchised for reasons that are often racially based and racially biased,  large groups of people who are rewarded or damaged by votes by others.

Although I am in no way a socialist, I supported Bernie Sanders because he was not a major party acolyte. Even here in Utah he won 83% of the caucus though only 50% of the delegates voted for Sanders in the first ballot at the convention. That's what I oppose.There are no provisions for political parties in the Constitution, let alone parties with the massive power that we have now. Our system was never supposed to be a "democracy" since that would be chaotic.

Utah is a prime example of what happens with powerful political parties. The Republican party controls state government (more than 90% of state representation) with a certain type of man (yes, there are more than 95% men in state government) being the ideal candidate. Given that most elections are foregone conclusions, the voter turnout is very low--usually around 30% of registered voters.

We cannot sustain the ideal that our country is supposed to represent if we let cabals hold the reins. Though not in any way a socialist, I  admired and applauded the enthusiasm that Sanders engendered. Thousands of normal Utahns attended his two rallies here. They wanted to vote--they wanted to vote. That's what our country is supposed to represent--our republic needs enthusiasm not ennui. We need to raise the percentage of voters but it won't happen if we let two major parties choose.

Friday, September 23, 2016

In Addition

I am a woman approximately like Hillary Clinton. About the same age (she's 68 and I am 66), about the same educational background (she went to Wellesley and I went to Bryn Mawr), about the same political journey (we both moved from Young Republicans to Democrats). There are still numerous differences between us. She has no foreign living experience (I lived in Germany when I was young), she speaks no foreign languages (how she managed that at Wellesley puzzles me but Bryn Mawr insists on speaking ability in two languages prior to graduation or extra math classes), she is not and has never been athletic (I swam age group, college, and adult competition). There are numerous other differences as well but my point is that in many ways I understand Clinton on a different level since our experiences are so similar. Hell, my brother went out with her roommate at Wellesley when they were both freshmen.

So I know that Clinton is reasonably intelligent. That leads to my next diatribe. Why are her commercials playing to Trump's game plan?  Commercials are different depending on the area of the country, but where I live her commercials are attack ads not thoughtful policy statements. Since one of her drawbacks for many voters is that she is an older woman, attack ads are stupid. Frankly they are stupid anyway, but no one wants to see an older woman shake her finger at them and criticize.

If she would play on whatever strengths she has as a diplomat, she would lay out policies, share a vision, show intelligence. All she shows in her ads in my state is what most people find off putting. That doesn't mean that women can't be strong but for hell's sake, if you want to be President, show me why you are good, not why your opponent is not. I don't think simply being female is a qualification for being the leader of the United States; I certainly don't think acting like my mother is a qualification either. At Bryn Mawr we didn't think vaginas were destiny.

Thursday, September 22, 2016

I Take It Back

In a previous post, I wrote that from what I know, Donald Trump's children are decent, smart people. I take that back. Like many American voters I despair of the choices that we have before us. Where I live my vote won't make any difference at all since my vote will be inundated by the votes of those who vote R (Republican) and M (Mormon). Donald Trump is not LDS but there is no doubt at all that the vast majority of local voters will choose the R even if he isn't of their same persuasion.

I don't like any of the Clintons either.  Their behavior and their choices damn them even without faint praise. Since my vote will be wiped out by other people's votes, I can choose anyone or no one. It won't make any difference here in Utah.


Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Border Photos

My husband came home from rock climbing in Yosemite and took some photos of the borders in progress on Summer Stars.



  The first picture shows the complete section with the center and the others are close-ups of details. As you can see from the complete photo, the basket of tomatoes is straight although the final close-up makes it look  crooked. There will be many different flowers on this, and, as in the original, a beehive at the top. That's sort of funny since the beehive is the symbol of the state in which I live. It's on all of the highway signs.

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Summer Stars

I have been working on the applique border on the Summer Stars quilt. The original quilt has all sorts of grapes and bees and flowers so I am using the same plan but with my own stamp. The original had a birdhouse on the bottom border and I wanted to keep the birdhouse but I moved it to the right side so that I could have different motifs on the bottom. There I put fruits and vegetables. There is a basket of tomatoes, some grapes, some zucchini, butternuts, and a crookneck along with two sunflowers. The left hand corner, already complete as far as the applique and embroidery goes, has a big dandelion. What's summer without dandelions, right? I made the flowers three-dimensional and the dandelion clock is worked in embroidery. That took a long time and I am not a proficient embroiderer. I am about half-way done with the left side so there is still a long way to go.

Monday, September 19, 2016

Time Passes

My husband and I are senior citizens, that's the common parlance. We married young, as we were reminded when we met one of my previous tutees from a very long time ago in San Francisco. He went on to Berkeley as did his sister. Now he works in Palo Alto for a hedge fund investment firm. It was very nice to see him again and to meet his new wife. He met her his freshman year and they hung out, became friends, became lovers, finally married. It happened a little faster for my husband and me but their eagerness for the life in front of them definitely resonated. 

Anyone who questions whether the US needs new policies should meet young people like my young friends. They come from all over the world to become Americans. They work hard, they plan, they study. They are from China, Taiwan, Viet Nam, Pakistan,etc.,  as well as local students whose families came in the great migration of LDS people from all over western Europe. My lone student from last year was the child of a mining background from Wales and she was the saddest case I have ever had. If anyone thinks these bright young people who are Americans from birth are a problem in our country, that person needs to look at 17 year olds like my most current tutee. All her life her parents told her they didn't plan to have her. They told her they wanted to abort her but her mother had health issues that stopped that. Both of her parents earned GEDs rather than finishing high school and both of them tell her constantly that her aspirations are impossible to reach.

I cannot extrapolate my student's issues to the broader issues that face my country. Personal stories are not in any way data. We need all of our young people to be pushed to excel.

My youngest child is turning 37 on Wednesday--I remember planting 100 Elizabeth Arden tulips the day before he was born. Huzzah and hurray.

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Really?

My husband and I just spent four days in San Francisco. The weather was good, even unseasonably warm, and we did our usual  4 to 10 miles walking a day. We went just to see the new extension of the SFMoMA. That was impressive. Most major extensions are obtrusive and odd but this one improves the previous building. We had already seen a great deal of the Fisher art donation but both of us are interested in  architecture.

The big "really?" derives from our hotel experience. We used to live in Sacramento and visited SF frequently. During those years we tried a variety of hotels but eventually ended up at the Prescott. When we first visited, there was a celebrated restaurant, and the hotel was pretty swank, as we used to say. We kept coming even though the hotel was obviously falling apart at the seams. Even at that point the staff was good, very welcoming, and the rooms were lovely with all the amenities a traveler would want.

The hotel was purchased about 18 months ago. For one reason or another, including that the SFMoMA was still closed, we didn't visit the city. Then the museum reopened and we got a solicitation from the "new" hotel to visit and stay multiple days at a discount. Okay, right?

Do not under any circumstances go to The Zeppelin Hotel in San Francisco. I don't care if they give you a discount. The designers ripped out all the soft surface, painted over all the color, took away any hint of romance. That's fine if that's your design style but it takes a tremendous amount of upkeep and attention to keep a black surface clean, there is no debris that is black, so if you don't work to keep it clean, swept, vacuumed, and polished, it will look like hell in short order. This brand new iteration looked like a flop house.

Then we went up to our room and my first double take involved the ironing board. Why was the ironing board sitting in the corner of the room, magnified and duplicated by the mirror behind it? Who doesn't put the ironing board away when done? It turns out there wasn't a closet. That's right--a hotel room without a closet. An expensive hotel room without a closet. There was a six inch wide, three foot tall slit that had three awkwardly arranged hangers that clearly wouldn't work as hangers.

There was a very generously proportioned bathroom but most of it was empty space. A very empty grey space with no shelves, no benches, no place to put one's sundries or medications.

If that's your deal that's fine. But don't sell yourself as a luxury stay in the heart of old SF. It isn't just that the charm was gone. There was no comfort, no care but they had sold us the package as an extended stay. Where were we to put our stuff? It isn't even that I am an older person with a certain degree of needs. I cannot imagine anyone who would have found our room acceptable. The rest of the hotel wasn't much better. Hard, shiny, black surfaces need constant attention. Dirt shows.

So remember that creature comforts are not what is for sale at The Zeppelin.

Friday, September 9, 2016

Feast or Famine

We have had an odd weather summer, starting out cooler and much wetter, then blazing hot, then cool again, then blazing hot. Now summer is fading and most of our harvest is slowing down. The tomato production was adversely affected by the variable weather. We did have a counterful a week ago. So of course we made tomato sauce and ate tomatoes at every meal. Our son, whose restaurant makes weird but delicious bratwurst sandwiches, came over and took tomatoes down to the restaurant to make BLT bratwurst sandwiches. Those sold out so quickly that he came and got more. Now we only have the rejects inside (still good for sauce and jam) and the weather has cooled off enough that the ripening is slow. There are still many green tomatoes and we are still picking green beans and lima beans daily but the season is nearly over.

The pumpkins are almost completely orange and the butternut squash is about to turn the appropriate color. We only have a tenth of an acre yard, including the footprint of the house and garage, but we don't plant grass so there are lots of places for food production.