“All my life, I have fought against white domination and black domination, and cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society. It is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” —Nelson Mandela, 20 April 1964 Today I visited the prison where Mandela was held until 1990. We were led in a tour... Continue Reading →
The Beautiful and the Damned: Life in the New India (2011) by Siddhartha Deb enlightened me in terms of the research Breeanne and I conducted in India on female practitioners in technical communication. The book highlights the economic changes that have occurred over the last decade or so because of the technology sector and the... Continue Reading →
I recently visited my new university, which will begin employing me soon, for some preparatory meetings. As I waited for one meeting to start, I struck up a conversation with a student who was sitting near me. I asked him if he was an English major, since those are the students I will be teaching.... Continue Reading →
Several years ago, I posted about Susan Cain's book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a Word that Can't Stop Talking. I loved the book. I loved its message. Today I'm posting about my daughter's reaction to reading Cain's adaptation of that book for kids, called Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts (2016). Here... Continue Reading →
This academic study called Our Sister Editors: Sarah J. Hale and the Tradition of Nineteenth-Century American Women Editors (1995) contains historical, cultural, composition, literacy, and rhetorical elements of the nineteenth century. Patricia Okker's research in this book gave me insight into how to approach research on a periodical that was published in Utah from 1872... Continue Reading →
One of my favorite scholars to read and to talk with in the field of technical and professional communication is Brenton D. Faber. I used his article on what it means to be “professional” communication for my first major publication, and for my dissertation, which focuses on women’s agency within large organizations, I used his book Community... Continue Reading →
From July of 2013 to August of 2015, I worked in a history library as an intern for a remarkable scholar who has become one of my dearest friends. Her name is Jenny, and she is fighting leukemia again. I don’t want to focus on her illness, however. I want to focus on her influence... Continue Reading →
From as early as I can remember, I was taught to be proud of my Spanish heritage. My siblings and I all have Spanish middle names. “You are a quarter Spanish,” my mother would always say. My dad would teach me words and phrases, and Spanish colors and numbers were a regular part of my... Continue Reading →
I've been hearing buzz about Ta-Nehisi (pronounced Tah Neh-hah-see) Coates's work for a few months now, so I decided to "read" his book Between the World and Me (2015) by listening to it while driving to and from school. It is a heavy book, one that I wish I had been able to take notes... Continue Reading →
There are two ways I could go in reviewing The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing (2015) by Marie Kondo. I could rave about what great ideas this book contains for organizing and tidying and how when reading it I felt motivated to clean my house and let go... Continue Reading →
