Random thoughts and link love

I have turned into one of those bloggers. One who doesn't find the time to blog on a regular basis. One who even lets a week elapse between random thoughts. And I feel guilty.

But should I? For those of you (which means almost ALL of you) who weren't here for the inaugural post nearly two years ago, I began the experiment of blogging as a way to do some pre-writing in preparation for writing my book manuscript (for those non-academics out there, the book is still a work in progress--I'm like the tortoise in that story, definitely NOT the hare, which I suppose is a good thing if the finish line is getting a book contract).

Anyway, I'm in the final stretch of the spring semester, which means lots of time with my students (both undergraduate and graduate) and it seems as if every important or interesting talk has been scheduled for the month of March--and of course it's also admissions season, which means being a person who has a hard time saying "no" I've been doing my duty representing Southern U. for both the English department and as a face who is not white, male, or Southern.

There are LOTS of things I've been thinking of lately that would be blog-worthy: women's history month, the etiquette of campus/academic talks, the much delayed post about sports/atheletics on college campuses, Obama's first 100 days, census data for mixed-race people in the upcoming 2010 census, and what we do with a novel written by an Asian American author with no Asian American content--is it still an Asian American novel? Does one's racial identity categorize a work regardless of its content? Does anyone other than people in the academy care?

For more lucid thoughts, let me direct you to some newsworthy articles and blog posts of interest:

*John Hope Franklin R.I.P. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Dr. Franklin, he is a pioneer in the fields of history, Southern Studies, and African American studies. He died yesterday of heart failure in Durham, NC. Please click here to read his New York Times obituary--Dr. Franklin was a prolific scholar, and he consulted with Thurgood Marshall on Brown v. Board of Education. He was a civil rights and human rights trailblazer, and his legacy will live on in the countless scholars and students and people he influenced through his life and works.

*West Point Grads Form Gay Support Group. This was taken from Angry Asian Man--apparently the gay West Point alum have formed a group called Knights Out. Perhaps this is one more step towards fully enfranchising queer men and women in the military.

*Women's History Month Blog Carnival. Tami of What Tami Said has a great post about her response to an anonymous commenter's fairly glib/dismissive remarks about her very nuanced concerns regarding how things placed out in the Democratic primary last year. You can also head over to Women's Space to read more of the Women's History Month Blog Carnival that Heart and Tami are sponsoring. I wish I had gotten my act together to contribute something. Oh well, maybe I can do a belated April post about this very timely topic of how I felt impacted as a woman of color by the very long run-up to the Presidential election.

*And now for something completely different...



[tip of the hat to Poplicks for this one]