cottleston pie
Jan. 30th, 2008 08:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
adrian_turtleI didn't exactly plan on this. I just meant to join a conversation about something else, not play the question-game. But Amaebi asked interesting questions, so I'll answer them here. (I'm not committing to pass it on, though.)
> 1. Of what is your shell composed?
I usually give answers like "hard covers," or "I have my books, and my poetry
to protect me," when people ask about that sort of thing. These days, my shell is composed of fleece, wool, flannel, and down. (Dracomir is lightly quilted, and seems quite comfortable that way..but spends almost no time outdoors and none at my new workplace.) Flinching looks a lot like shivering. One (of many) things I hate about driving is that I can't wear my wonderful new winter coat, The Resolute, in the car.
>2. What do you, personally, make of the book of Esther?
It has facets that are emotionally real, but it mostly has the mood of a tall tale. Ahasuerus was The Most Powerful King In The World like John Henry was The Strongest Worker On The Railroad. People in tall tales aren't sensible...that's not really the point, and it doesn't bother me. Neither is it a big draw.
I'm massively uncomfortable with readings of the story that present Esther or Mordechai as admirable. There's a difference between cheering a wish-fulfillment outcome (Our People live happily ever; the one who attempted to do great evil is destroyed with all his family) and admiring the disturbing actions or characters presented along the way. Of course, I'm so terribly uncomfortable with the custom that Purim celebrations involve getting drunk that I haven't been to one in 10 years.
My favorite thought about the book of Esther is not original, but I love it so much I claim it as mine. A very thoughtful woman I respect a lot once told me, "My mother hoped we would name our daughter Esther. We had to tell her we want something better for our Eliana than needing to sell her body to survive." She and her partner were trying to teach their children to speak out against sexism and other kinds of oppression, to take effective action without violence. "There's only so much we can say while she's a little girl, to help her think of herself as strong and important, someone who can eventually take charge of her own destiny. I don't want to risk her hearing echoes of that story every time we talk to her, maybe even thinking, G-d forbid! we meant the Esther of the Megillah as a role model for her."
>3. Of all the paid employment you've had, what was
> your favourite job, and what was it like?
The second time I was in grad school, I worked on a microgravity
research project. The science was exciting, and I had the heady
experience of having first-rate scientists and engineers respect me
for my (extremely specialized, tiny little niche of) expertise. I
purified materials and tested growth chambers for crystal growth in
low gravity. Our experiment flew on Columbia 3 times, special
microgravity flights where the idea was to keep the shuttle steady
and not have the astronauts jostle anything too much.
In retrospect, I think much of my joy in that work came from having
colleagues I enjoyed working with on many levels. The top level
management of the project was NASA administration, so some of it
was clumsy when it wasn't hostile or stupid...but most of the local
team was wonderful. So were many of the NASA people and related
contractors we worked with in Cleveland.
I had not chosen the project initially because the science was so
exciting. I'd had a bad experience in my first attempt at grad school,
so I went looking for a new advisor with an unusual set of criteria. I
wanted a good teacher, who cared about teaching, who had a
reputation for being scrupulously ethical. I also wanted somebody
who was not perceptibly uncomfortable with the theory or practice
of women in engineering and physical sciences (at all levels.) The
exciting science was a bonus.
>4. Where did you grow up, and what is your impression of it?
I grew up in the northwest suburbs of Detroit. I hated it. The area is
devoted to the worst of car-dependent suburban sprawl, for industrial
reasons that may be obvious.
Lev Raphael's short stories are a little dated now, without quite working
as historical fiction...but the background feels like when and where I grew
up. It is significant that Raphael writes about the Jewish community. My
family was not at all religious, but I grew up with the idea that Jewish
identity was important, essentially communal, and independent of belief
or practice.
>5. Do you think of yourself as alone?
Sometimes. I like being alone sometimes. Actually, I like being alone
quite a bit. (Some of my friends are extroverts. I am even rather fond of a few obligate extroverts...but there are ways in which we don't understand each other at all.) It's easy for me to burn out by committing to too much time with people. I even need to be careful not to overdo remote contact when I'm really fragile. I have a sneaking suspicion that didn't answer your intended question, but I don't understand what you meant to ask.
> 1. Of what is your shell composed?
I usually give answers like "hard covers," or "I have my books, and my poetry
to protect me," when people ask about that sort of thing. These days, my shell is composed of fleece, wool, flannel, and down. (Dracomir is lightly quilted, and seems quite comfortable that way..but spends almost no time outdoors and none at my new workplace.) Flinching looks a lot like shivering. One (of many) things I hate about driving is that I can't wear my wonderful new winter coat, The Resolute, in the car.
>2. What do you, personally, make of the book of Esther?
It has facets that are emotionally real, but it mostly has the mood of a tall tale. Ahasuerus was The Most Powerful King In The World like John Henry was The Strongest Worker On The Railroad. People in tall tales aren't sensible...that's not really the point, and it doesn't bother me. Neither is it a big draw.
I'm massively uncomfortable with readings of the story that present Esther or Mordechai as admirable. There's a difference between cheering a wish-fulfillment outcome (Our People live happily ever; the one who attempted to do great evil is destroyed with all his family) and admiring the disturbing actions or characters presented along the way. Of course, I'm so terribly uncomfortable with the custom that Purim celebrations involve getting drunk that I haven't been to one in 10 years.
My favorite thought about the book of Esther is not original, but I love it so much I claim it as mine. A very thoughtful woman I respect a lot once told me, "My mother hoped we would name our daughter Esther. We had to tell her we want something better for our Eliana than needing to sell her body to survive." She and her partner were trying to teach their children to speak out against sexism and other kinds of oppression, to take effective action without violence. "There's only so much we can say while she's a little girl, to help her think of herself as strong and important, someone who can eventually take charge of her own destiny. I don't want to risk her hearing echoes of that story every time we talk to her, maybe even thinking, G-d forbid! we meant the Esther of the Megillah as a role model for her."
>3. Of all the paid employment you've had, what was
> your favourite job, and what was it like?
The second time I was in grad school, I worked on a microgravity
research project. The science was exciting, and I had the heady
experience of having first-rate scientists and engineers respect me
for my (extremely specialized, tiny little niche of) expertise. I
purified materials and tested growth chambers for crystal growth in
low gravity. Our experiment flew on Columbia 3 times, special
microgravity flights where the idea was to keep the shuttle steady
and not have the astronauts jostle anything too much.
In retrospect, I think much of my joy in that work came from having
colleagues I enjoyed working with on many levels. The top level
management of the project was NASA administration, so some of it
was clumsy when it wasn't hostile or stupid...but most of the local
team was wonderful. So were many of the NASA people and related
contractors we worked with in Cleveland.
I had not chosen the project initially because the science was so
exciting. I'd had a bad experience in my first attempt at grad school,
so I went looking for a new advisor with an unusual set of criteria. I
wanted a good teacher, who cared about teaching, who had a
reputation for being scrupulously ethical. I also wanted somebody
who was not perceptibly uncomfortable with the theory or practice
of women in engineering and physical sciences (at all levels.) The
exciting science was a bonus.
>4. Where did you grow up, and what is your impression of it?
I grew up in the northwest suburbs of Detroit. I hated it. The area is
devoted to the worst of car-dependent suburban sprawl, for industrial
reasons that may be obvious.
Lev Raphael's short stories are a little dated now, without quite working
as historical fiction...but the background feels like when and where I grew
up. It is significant that Raphael writes about the Jewish community. My
family was not at all religious, but I grew up with the idea that Jewish
identity was important, essentially communal, and independent of belief
or practice.
>5. Do you think of yourself as alone?
Sometimes. I like being alone sometimes. Actually, I like being alone
quite a bit. (Some of my friends are extroverts. I am even rather fond of a few obligate extroverts...but there are ways in which we don't understand each other at all.) It's easy for me to burn out by committing to too much time with people. I even need to be careful not to overdo remote contact when I'm really fragile. I have a sneaking suspicion that didn't answer your intended question, but I don't understand what you meant to ask.
