the president is black

she lets him have it

Watch Rachel Maddow and Pat Buchanan debating Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, and affirmative action, on the Rachel Maddow Show.

what we claim

I've taught a class that discusses media images of underrepresented groups this summer. To add perspective I've invited as guest graduates of the department, former students who a few years out of school are eager to come back and talk. They even admit to missing school...

Erika, one of the young women who came in last week, reminded me of something that had happened in one of her classes a couple of years ago.

I often ask students how they identify - how they choose to label themselves. There is a pattern: Very few white Americans identify as "American" when they're in the US. Instead they refer to their countries of origin, and may say that they are Irish and Italian, Irish and German, French, or Portuguese, even if they have never visited any of those countries and their families have been American citizens for generations. It's an interesting phenomenon, and often the focus of several class discussions. It is odd that white people, who in many ways feel the most ownership of the country, and who enjoy privilege and positions of symbolic power, do not talk about themselves as American.

Erika remembered that she had been the only one in her class of 30 or so students, a predominantly white group, to use the word "American". She referred to herself as Mexican-American. Her parents are both immigrants from Mexico, but, she says, "I was born here, I am American".

it's true

President Obama's pick for Surgeon General is a woman. A black woman. Her name is Dr. Regina Benjamin.

Some people think she is too fat to be top doc.

I am not even going to comment.

update

Whole bunch of new photos on my smugmug site. Current favorite: this one.

the charles m. schultz museum, santa rosa, calif.

sonoma co coast, july 4 2009

bench

somewhere in sonoma

quatorze juillet

Happy Birthday, France.

from sofia

Watch the short film Chicken a la Carte. It's not going to be what you think, and it might make you cry.

quite possibly the best omelette ever

Brie, smoked salmon, and capers, at Cape Fear Cafe, in Duncans Mills, Calif.

on our way up mount hamilton, boy am I getting car sick

lick observatory, mount hamilton, san jose, calif.

refracting telescope from 1888 on mount hamilton

contrasts

Around 10AM on Thursday I had an email from an old friend who is battling depression. She says she finds it hard to enjoy life.

Around 2PM on Thursday I was sitting in a room listening to a 24 year old soon-to-be ex US Marine talking about his seven years of service, including the one year tour in Iraq he finished this past March.

This guy doesn't find it hard to enjoy life. On the contrary: he said these past few months have been the best months of his life. He loves his country, he loves to be alive, and he is looking forward to the rest of his life.

I am not saying that my depressed friend should just snap out of it. It's not that simple. But I am saying that we would all do better service to the world if we woke up each morning with gratitude, where ever we are, and where ever we have been before.