Sound advice for those who might also make sexist or homophobic comments. Learning to confront people based on what they (in fact) did, rather than confronting them on who they (appear) to be.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Tale Spin #18: Worry.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Binaries are Tools of Oppression: down with the Jock/Nerd divide!
In our collective memories of high school, rings a "truth" so frequently cited in popular discourse that rarely is it ever challenged in any substantive manner – but I honestly think that time is long overdue.
Perhaps it is the year in sports thus far - we went from the Olympics, to the NHL Playoffs right into the World Cup of Football - but I've been thinking about sport more than I like to admit. In honour of the nerdish celebration of jock culture we are currently surrounded by (only pollsters value stats more than sports fans), I think it’s time we challenge the concept of a unquestionable, insuperable abyss between the two camps of jocks and nerds.
I'm not a big fan of generalizations, though I surely make them all the time, but I truly disdain the simplistic, reductionist principle that one cannot be effectively both a jock and a nerd. Frankly, I believe the best jocks are likely nerds - of sport - if nothing else. While I'm not sure that the opposite claim can also be made - I may explore this thesis for a future PhD dissertation. It's just that important to me.
Consider the following:
San Diego Padres pitcher Chris Young went to Princeton wrote a senior thesis entitled The Integration of Professional Baseball and Racial Attitudes in America: A Study in Stereotype Change, which examined the impact Jackie Robinson and the integration of Major League Baseball had on attitudes and stereotypes regarding race in the media. Man, that sounds pretty damn nerdy.
Anaheim Ducks right wing George Parros also attended Princeton, majored in economics and maintained a B-average, had a GPA of approximately 3.18 - presumably while training intensively for his sport.
Free agent utility player Eric Bruntlett attained a degree in economics in just 3 1/2 years, recorded an SAT score of 1440, posted a 3.97 GPA in high school, started studying algebra when his parents introduced him to it when he was in first grade. Such early signs of nerd-hood, are particularly interesting - he was likely nerdy long before knowing he was also a jock.
Anyway - enough with the anecdotal stuff. There are SO many such examples to be found on the interweb. Many of these men chose sport over knowledge work, as it can be so lucrative and presumably because sport was their true passion. I had a harder time finding female athletes for this exercise - presumably because the comparable women are likely more notable for their knowledge careers, given the relative dearth of women known for their professional athletic carriers. Moreover, searching anything about female athletes always leads to a plethora of "100 Hottest Female Athletes" lists - which despite my orientation, I find rather tedious. However, during my lifetime of playing a variety of sports, I've noticed that the best athletes have been what one might conventionally consider highly intelligent - as they generally have a better grasp of the training and strategy needed to excel in their sports.
Further, in a Northwestern State University study it was discovered that 133 "student athletes" were on the school's honour roll, and a full 21 students had achieved a 4.0 average. (Not knowing how many students in total qualify as "student athletes" makes it hard to interpret the study results as significant or not - but that academics are excited enough to talk about the findings to the media, suggests a certain degree of significance).
I think it's high time to acknowledge the false divide between jocks and nerds. I would suggest just like the controversial concept of "highly intelligent beautiful people", the idea that someone can be both kinestheticly wise and intelligent in more academic ways seems unfair in the grand scheme of things. Well guess what? Life is not fair. Deal with it. And while you are at it put your kids into sports - especially your daughters - you never know, it might help with their math grades.
Note: I recognize that rhetoric around Nerd/Jock relations is incomplete without addressing the issue of Preps. I feel the particular tension between the two former groups requires careful attention and at this point I did not want to burden this foundational issue with additional complexity.
Perhaps it is the year in sports thus far - we went from the Olympics, to the NHL Playoffs right into the World Cup of Football - but I've been thinking about sport more than I like to admit. In honour of the nerdish celebration of jock culture we are currently surrounded by (only pollsters value stats more than sports fans), I think it’s time we challenge the concept of a unquestionable, insuperable abyss between the two camps of jocks and nerds.
Photo: me and the sysop - Flikr Creative Commons
Consider the following:
San Diego Padres pitcher Chris Young went to Princeton wrote a senior thesis entitled The Integration of Professional Baseball and Racial Attitudes in America: A Study in Stereotype Change, which examined the impact Jackie Robinson and the integration of Major League Baseball had on attitudes and stereotypes regarding race in the media. Man, that sounds pretty damn nerdy.
Anaheim Ducks right wing George Parros also attended Princeton, majored in economics and maintained a B-average, had a GPA of approximately 3.18 - presumably while training intensively for his sport.
Free agent utility player Eric Bruntlett attained a degree in economics in just 3 1/2 years, recorded an SAT score of 1440, posted a 3.97 GPA in high school, started studying algebra when his parents introduced him to it when he was in first grade. Such early signs of nerd-hood, are particularly interesting - he was likely nerdy long before knowing he was also a jock.
Anyway - enough with the anecdotal stuff. There are SO many such examples to be found on the interweb. Many of these men chose sport over knowledge work, as it can be so lucrative and presumably because sport was their true passion. I had a harder time finding female athletes for this exercise - presumably because the comparable women are likely more notable for their knowledge careers, given the relative dearth of women known for their professional athletic carriers. Moreover, searching anything about female athletes always leads to a plethora of "100 Hottest Female Athletes" lists - which despite my orientation, I find rather tedious. However, during my lifetime of playing a variety of sports, I've noticed that the best athletes have been what one might conventionally consider highly intelligent - as they generally have a better grasp of the training and strategy needed to excel in their sports.
Further, in a Northwestern State University study it was discovered that 133 "student athletes" were on the school's honour roll, and a full 21 students had achieved a 4.0 average. (Not knowing how many students in total qualify as "student athletes" makes it hard to interpret the study results as significant or not - but that academics are excited enough to talk about the findings to the media, suggests a certain degree of significance).
I think it's high time to acknowledge the false divide between jocks and nerds. I would suggest just like the controversial concept of "highly intelligent beautiful people", the idea that someone can be both kinestheticly wise and intelligent in more academic ways seems unfair in the grand scheme of things. Well guess what? Life is not fair. Deal with it. And while you are at it put your kids into sports - especially your daughters - you never know, it might help with their math grades.
Note: I recognize that rhetoric around Nerd/Jock relations is incomplete without addressing the issue of Preps. I feel the particular tension between the two former groups requires careful attention and at this point I did not want to burden this foundational issue with additional complexity.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Boozer Bookshelf
I've been collecting wine bottles - attempting occasionally - mostly unsuccessfully - to make drinking glasses out of them. I had a few of these blue Aufkellerein bottles kicking around when the need for more book storage became evident.
After a visit to Instructables.com I found a great idea for this little boozy bookshelf project. And voila - an afternoon, several nights of drinking white wine in the park with my sweetheart, and a trip to the hardware store later: a lovely little place to house the children of my Amazon.ca addiction.
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