Things That Exist: Dialectics for Kids

In the course of initial research for my philosophical anthropology course (i.e. what is the human person, for Aquinas and Hegel), I discovered... "Dialectics for Kids: Dialectics Defined Since 1999"!  It includes "The ABC's of Change" (for kids four and up); three songs about the dialectic, written by the website's creator; and testimonials from real-live kids who learned about dialectics (by watching balloons explode?).

Science, Society, and Entertainment

I came across this story from NPR earlier this week. It's about the beginnings of incubators for premature babies.  Here's a teaser: it does not involve hospitals and does involve a sideshow.  Science has come a long way and gotten some help from unexpected places.


(Photo by Bonnie U. Gruenberg (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

Thank You, Thank You Very Much

First, read the intro to this series here.

50 Ways to Be a Woman: #4

Write thank you notes. It is one of the best ways to make a good impression and literally takes five seconds. It is a dying art that so desperately needs to be revived. If someone is nice enough to give you a gift or recommend you to a position, the least you can do is give them a proper thank you. People remember thank you notes.

I am actually not going to fudge around and change this one.  Write thank you notes.
This one is not something I am terribly good at.  I had a boss who wrote the world's best thank you notes, full of personal warmth and sincere gratitude.  Mine are awkward and stilted, but sincere. It's a skill my mother forced upon me as a child for a brief period of time, and which then lay all but forgotten, momentarily revived when I was told, "Your grandmother sent you money, but it won't hit your bank account until she gets a thank you note."

Enter wedding time.  Do you know what happens when you get engaged?  And then married?  And then have a baby?  People you barely know give you things you don't deserve.  People you know well give you more than you need.  People who love you turn out in material abundance, emotional abundance, spiritual abundance.  I have written so many thank you notes from the time I got engaged to now... Hopefully the habit will stick.  Because thank you notes let those who give know that you do not take them for granted---that you do not expect the world to provide for you---and that you know how to receive graciously.  The art of gratitude becomes manifest in the art of the thank you note.


Way of Womanhood #4: Write thank you notes; it helps you cultivate gratitude.

For next week, we have #5: "Get involved. Join societies and organizations that have a positive influence in your community. Create positive exposure for yourself."

Photo by Flickr user vistamommy [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

In Lieu of a Thoughtful Post...

I give you this image of periodic table battleship, from TYWKIWDBI:



I also will not embarrass myself by sharing how many times it took me to spell "lieu." (Or "embarrass" for that matter...)

The Captain, the Sleeping Dragon, and I spent Valentine's Day eating chocolate chip pancakes and watching the Republican Debate.  The latter especially does not provoke profound thoughts, so this is all I've got this week.

On Pearls

First, read the intro to this series here.

50 Ways to Be a Woman: #3

Certain fashion staples will always remain timeless. A few conservative dresses, a string of pearls, a nice handbag and a good pair of pumps should always be in your wardrobe.

If the last item on the list was about knowing what you are communicating to the world by how you present your body and choosing deliberately, this item suggests that there is a particular image that ought to be presented.  Conservative dresses, a string of pearls, a handbag, pumps---these are timeless, classic, and professional.  For a woman, this wardrobe communicates: I am comfortable with my femininity and I am a woman to be respected.  While there are ways beyond pearls to do this, the message carries:

When I Said Fruit Salad...

First, read the intro to this series here.

50 Ways to Be a Woman: #2

Dress modestly. Gain attention through who you are rather than the parts of your body you choose to expose. It is worth far more in the long run.

The first two items on the list have to do with women's bodies.  The first item I rewrote to focus on the importance of being in touch with our own bodies, of knowing the physical part of our body-soul self---and knowing how to limit it as necessary.

The Problems of Embodiment

I promised one post a week and am already behind... because when Sunday evening rolled around, I had a baby who was having problems with embodiment (read: bowels) and was exhausted from trying to help the bitsy one work through it.  Never fear, however---the next post is one the way.  In the meantime, here's something interesting I found on embodiment: scientist are finding out what the appendix does!

Graceful Embodiment

First, read the intro to this series here.

50 Ways to Be a Woman: #1

Practice good personal grooming habits. If you are going to have colored hair, keep your roots covered. If you are going to have fake nails, keep them filled. Take care of your skin, take care of your teeth. 

I want to go a few directions with this one, so please bear with me.  First of all, my inner feminist is screaming because at the top of the list of how to be a woman, we are told to cover our roots.  This superficial approach to our femininity can be seen as the cause and effect of so many gender problems of our society.  I could go off on a rant about these....

The Art of Womanliness

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am starting a series taking a Thought Catalog list of "50 Ways to Be a Woman" and annotating it, one item at a time.  I chose this list from convenience (it appeared on my Facebook) more than any completeness of the list.

One Down, Three to Go!

I have finished one semester of the PhD program and I have learned that when life is full, the extraneous things fall away.  Most of the extraneous things, I haven't even missed. However, I do miss blogging, and so I have come up with a plan for the coming year.  Once a week, I will write a post inspired by a list I found of "50 Ways to Be a Woman."  Consider it the prequel to my Catholic feminist manifesto.  Await it eagerly, my friends!