Dissertation D-Day approaching!

I defend my dissertation in three weeks and three days! I can't wait to be done with my PhD!

Norplant

Interesting factoid: So in my dissertation I'm writing about USAID's "family planning" program in Bangladesh, with Norplant, which is a form of birth control that is inserted into the arm. The company that produced Norplant finally went bankrupt due to an international lawsuit because of the amount of deaths and severe si...de effects (such as blindness) that Norplant had on women, and even some women in Bangladesh got some money (after they had already gone blind or suffered other severe side effects). Interestingly enough, though, at the Ontario Science Centre that
I visited in Toronto, they had a huge display on birth control, and guess which form of birth control they were advertising as the "most effective"? Norplant. My jaw just about hit the floor. They haven't updated their display since 1996. I sent them an email informing them that they might want to update their records a tad bit...it'll be interesting to see if they respond...

Our Anniversary

We had some professional photos taken for our seventh anniversary--I thought they turned out really nice!

My first book is out!

Here's the cover of my first book, Poetics, Politics, and Praxis: Rereading Audre Lorde and Julia de Burgos. This was originally my master's thesis. It was published by a German press, and is available on Amazon.com here.

Welcome warm weather!

Ok, I have come to realize that Oklahoma weather is absolutely CRAZY. We went through weeks when it was 35 degrees one day, followed by 80 degrees the next day, followed by a hail storm the following day, and 60 mph winds the day after. I spent several months trying to figure out what season we're in!

Then all of a sudden, this week: BAM. Welcome summer. The swimming pool at our apartment complex is open. The weather is a balmy 80-90 degrees, and I'm wishing my air conditioning in my van worked better. What the #@@$%%?? Not that I'm complaining. We've spent the last two afternoons basking in the sunshine at the swimming pool, and I've already got a mild sunburn. Suddenly it's very nice to be living in Oklahoma!

Azfar's childhood photos

Azfar has only a few photos from his childhood--here they are! The baby he's pulling behind him on the bicycle is Rosy. And check out the young philosopher in the top photo!

You know you're in Oklahoma if...

I feel like a true Oklahoman now. I went into a gas station the other day, and discovered that they not only sold gas and potato chips, but also horse saddles, along with any equipment you would need for horseriding! Really. Only in Oklahoma.