DQ: Proud Woman of Color?

DQ has taken a new direction in her fascination with the Disney Princesses. She's shunned Cinderella, Belle, and Aurora. Now she favors Jasmine and Pocahontas. She just saw Pocahontas, and yes, I used it as a "teaching moment." We got out mommy's textbooks to see a portrait of the real Pocahontas and to talk about how movies aren't always the true story. (I didn't mention that Pocahontas was 13 when she met John Smith... that can wait.) Plus a little about land ownership and definitions of savagery. You can take the mother out of grad school, but you can't take the grad school out of the mother.

Her latest obsession is Mulan.

She's never even seen the movie Mulan, although she wants to desperately. We did get a book about the legend of Mulan -- in Vietnamese and English translations -- at the library and she's been poring over that.

I'm a little intrigued. Why this sudden interest in a new wave of princesses? Spouse and I chatted about it, and wonder if she is finding some link to these three as women of color. She's also tended to be drawn to the non-white students in her pre-school class (among the girls but not really among the boys). And we have worked very hard to talk about different places, different cultures, different languages, etc.

This is an experience that I can't really share with her as she experiences American society as a minority. Well, maybe. Will she even be thought of as a minority? Will she think of herself as Asian? Mixed? Nothing? I want her to have and to celebrate both of her cultures. But what will she want?

Peyton Manning: Laminated List-worthy?

Perhaps, now that I've seen his Saturday Night Live performance, including that snappy dance.

Oh, and if you didn't catch Maraka, DevilMacDawg's got it. Worth a look for any household that's been infested with Dora.

Spring Street

The basketball world is going to hell in a handbasket, and only Georgetown's overtime victory over UNC is saving me from renouncing the whole March Madness thing. (The women's side, if possible, is even worse. Duke out? NC State out? UNC in? Oy!)

But seriously, today we went to a tulip festival about a half hour away. Lovely. Just lovely. DQ took the second picture.

The Wild Boy says...

GO DUCKS!

A Bittersweet Sixteen

I've entered the ESPN Tournament Challenge (both men's and women's), filled out my brackets, and joined two groups. One is a group of my college friends; we do it every year. One is a family group, which is new this year. It's been interesting to see how other people select their choices, especially those who may not follow basketball year-long.

My kids "filled" out a bracket, basing their choices on their favorite mascots. So you get the Florida Gators, the Louisville Cardinals, the Texas Longhorns, and the Oregon Ducks in the Final Four. My pregnant roommate opted for her child-to-be, "N. Utero," to choose teams based on what would be important to a fetus: warm climate.

Taking a different approach, another amiga selected them based on who's got the hottest coach. (I have misgivings about this method, although it would have allowed me to go against my heart and pick VCU over Duke.)

Then there's my aunt, who selected based on religious preference. She gave teams extra points for being from Catholic schools (go Georgetown!). Points off for being from Oral Roberts.

Oh, and did anybody catch the best historical reference in Sportscenter history? During conference tourney week, one of the announcers noted that Oral Roberts needed another 7 points "or God would call them home." HA!

Overheard during March Madness

As Miami (OH) cuts into the Oregon lead down the stretch:

Spouse: This would kill my brackets.
Quinn: This would kill my family.
Spouse: Yeah, I don't know which is worse.

February was so long...

Spring is on its way. Real conversation from a walk to the park last weekend:

Quinn: DQ, come look at this.
DQ: What is that?
Quinn: It's a crocus.
Spouse: What's a crocus?
Quinn: It's a flower.
Spouse: What's a flower?
[Pause.]
Quinn: I still love you.

Things are going. I'm still harboring some animosity toward this evil winter of my discontent. I'm hoping things are turning around, and that February won't last into March (or, should I say, late March). It's time I turn my attention back to what's important.

Basketball.

Crafty Meme

March is National Craft Month. So get your craft on! And if you're so inclined, feel tagged to answer this crafty meme:

What do you do? I crochet.

Who taught you? T from my study group taught me. It was during a very difficult time in my life, when I needed a release for nervous energy. So rather than pull my hair out or scratch my face off, I opted for crochet. And boy, was I bad! T was very patient though. And eventually I finished that first learner's project. It was a baby blanket, and it was trapezoidal. Just goes to show: count your stitches.

What are you working on now? I'm experimenting with some boucle yarn. Very difficult to work with, but if you make a mistake, nobody will notice. I couldn't resist the colors in the yarn, and it was on sale. It's just a simple dc pattern to make an afghan.





I tried a few more complicated patterns with this yarn, and they were all failures. Sometimes, easy is best. And hey, it's rectangular!

Future plans? Learn to knit. I have needles. I need know-how.