Texas

Way back in June I took a short trip to Fort Worth/Dallas Texas for another conference, where I presented another chapter of my dissertation. I didn't take many pictures on the trip as I wasn't really there for sight-seeing. The first two are from our motel (my dad and Rusty came with me). I thought the towel elephant was a nice touch considering it wasn't a very nice place and the chair in the lobby cracked me up.

I only took one picture as I was walking around campus and snapped the other two as I was driving away (which explains the quality of the pictures).

The last three pictures are of Rusty in his new bag, I have had the bag forever but have been reluctant to start using it as Rusty seemed quite comfortable in his old bag, but a Delta rep in the Las Vegas airport told me I really needed to change bags as Rusty had made a hole in the side of his old one- just big enough to stick his nose through.

Johnny Cash

I figured since I got the name of my blog from a Johnny Cash song I should post one of his songs every once in a while, so, here it is-

Albuquerque

I recently (ok, it was waaay back in February) I took a trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico for a conference, where I presented a chapter of my dissertation. It was a quick trip so I really did not get to see much of the town- but what I did see was beautiful.

Here are some pictures of Old Town-





















And here is cute Rusty waiting with me for the airport (or Sunport as they call it in Albuquerque) shuttle to come back for us after our flight home was cancelled. The ground was freezing and the shuttle left us waiting there for over an hour so I tried to get him to sit on my suitcase...

For Bernie

Language

I was reading a book earlier about violence and thinking about Elaine Scarry's discussion of the difficulty we have expressing or describing pain. I was having all kinds of deep thoughts about language and feeling all philosophical and then I saw this-

Changing my name

I have been debating changing my name for a while now. I go by my middle name and always feel a little strange when people refer to me by my first name or when I am forced to use my first name like when I am traveling or whenever I use my debit card (banks insist that my first name appear on the cards, same with my driver's license, etc). However, it was never a big enough deal that I felt I had to change my name- until I started teaching.

At both schools I have taught for I appear in the class schedule by my first name. On the first day of class I re-introduce myself by my preferred name but there are always some students who continue to address me by my first name or to list my first name on their papers. And it drives me crazy. On the other hand I feel petty when I correct them- especially on papers. So I have been thinking far more seriously about going through the process of changing my name legally.

Then the other day at the airport the gate keeper (as I like to refer to the people that work at the gates) paged me to come to the desk using my first and middle name, which he mispronounced- he called me Michelle. And I realized that at least no one (well only one person so far) ever mispronounces my first name- Mary, so by changing my name I'd have to deal with that far more often. It's completely understandable that someone would look at Michaele and think Michelle, especially when they know that they are referring to a female. I used to let it go when people called me Michelle if I thought that I'd never see that person again, but I learned that you just never know. For example, a bank teller once called me Michelle and I didn't bother correcting her because it was not a bank I went to all that often. Bu then i got a job near the bank and started going there all the time. The teller called me Michelle for 3 years and because I didn't correct her the first time I met her I never felt like i could and I honestly didn't care all that much. Then one day I made a deposit for my sister and she paused because the account was not mine and asked, "it is Michelle, right?" and I responded "Actually it's Michaele." She was mortified, "Why did you let me call you Michelle all this time!" Then I was embarrassed.

So what's worse, being called a name that feels a little foreign or being called the wrong name and having to correct people all the time? Blurg, this was more complicated than I thought It'd be.

The biggest thing holding me back was the fact that I am named after someone. Would that be disrespectful? I decided that the best way to deal with this was to take her (Baba's- my grandmother) middle name. When I mentioned this to my mom she told me that Baba had chosen her middle name (I assume she chose it when she was confirmed), so it seemed right somehow to chose the same name she had picked for herself.

Then, this morning a friend sent me a link to this article about a woman who changed her name and reinvented herself. So who knows, maybe after I change my name I'll become a rockstar! Or maybe I'll just approach the coming year (which I have been terrified about because my funding ends this year) with more excitement over the possibilities instead of with terror over the possibility that I will end up on a street corner with a cardboard sign reading "Will lecture you in history for food" (I don't think I'd have many takers).

So here's to a new name, a new year, and endless possibilities (that sounds a little corny, but it's the holidays so corny is more acceptable).

Follow up post

I have no words.