August 2005

To the zoo!


Yesterday afternoon, I had a painting date with Weezy (our retired medical anthropologist neighbor*). So Paul took Will to our neighborhood Zoo. It was a quiet afternoon visit for them and they spent a great deal of time in the bayou nusery with the baby nutrias and snakes. (Unfortunately, those photos didn’t turn out.) But here is Will with the giraffes!

*Weezy and I love to talk shop. During our talk yesterday I found out that she is very close with Rayna Rapp (very awesome anthropologist and author of a book on amniocentesis that I think is fabulous called “Testing Women Testing the Fetus“) — that is TOO COOL.Posted by Picasa

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Coming in for a landing


This toy mimics a plane control panel — when buttons are pressed, it okays for take-off or landing and makes ‘whoosing’ flying through the air sounds. We press the buttons and go running around the room, arms wide, pretending to be airplanes. As the picture shows, it takes a lot out of him. Tired out from playing “airplane”, Will rests. Posted by Picasa

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Creepy One

I am having a tough time with the “ONE” campaign. All in ‘one’ place (pun intended) you can read about the plight of poor (read: pathetic) folks living in vulnerable places of the world, *and* get your fix of glossy photos of your favorite celebs. A bit creepy, no?

While I am absolutely for celebrities coming out in support of foreign aid, debt relief, and fair trade, when these messages are surrounded by pictures of Brad Pitt and trendy bracelets, they are reduced to catch phrases. Somewhere along the line, the effort misses the point. Educating the world about poverty shouldn’t be about celebrity, fundraising, donations, and sorrowful stories.

It is either patronizing to assume that Western youth will only engage on important international issues when brought to their attention by celebrity, or it is terribly sad. Do we honestly need that kind of buzz to think beyond I-Pods and Idol?

And yet I have to admit: if I were the director of CARE, or Save the Children, or OXFAM, or another of the One campaign partners, I would be all over this. I would know that this campaign would be an important political tool and possibly help us acquire funds. But I would also be sad, as I do not believe in trotting out the world’s hardest luck cases to drum up sympathy money. On the outside, I would champion the One campaign, play to the sympathies of celebrities, and work to promote my agency. But inside, I would know that I had only compromised to something that would never be a solution to the problems I seek to challenge.

The campaign would do more if it put efforts in educating the on the why(s) and how(s) of health and poverty. Educating about the dangers of liberalizing trade agreements, ill-focused structural adjustment programs, drug company games, and business monopoly — this is more worthwhile than yet another picture of starving children. While giving voice to those ‘on the ground’ is incredibly important, I am not comfortable doing so when it is framed in such a limited and damaging binary: rich vs. poor — white vs. black — giver vs. receiver — educated vs. noneducated — free vs. not free — etc. These distinctions only serve to create divides between us, minimizing our similarities, trivializing the complexities of our lives and experiences. They do not make us One.

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The door saga… continued

Turns out Paul wasn’t so off in the doom-and-gloom estimates for the door timing.

One side is stained… 24 hours until the first coat of poly. Then wait 24 hours until the next coat… for three coats. So, that’s 4-5 days per side, just for staining and sealing.

So, it is probably going to take 10 days to 2 weeks per side. We’re still on the first of 8.

Did I mention that old homes are a lot of work!?

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The door… sanded. Ready for stain!  Posted by Picasa

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Stained with Mahogony Red (Benjamin Moore, our favorite paint/stain brand). Wow! Posted by Picasa

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But Daddy said it was a hat!


As we are experimenting with Will on the toilet, we got him his own toilet seat. Will helped us unwrap it and then happily put it on his head. Posted by Picasa

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Raisins = Gato Food?


Will tries to feed Scout a raisin. When this didn’t work, he tried other methods… Posted by Picasa

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Will encourages Scout to eat a raisin. He is trying to push Scout’s head over to the raisin to try it. “Yum!” Posted by Picasa

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Hi little man!


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