le blog

At lunch today, my husband announced that two of his colleagues - one male, one female - were debating the question, Are women minorities? The man said yes, women are minorities while the woman said no, they are not.  "Of course women are minorities," my husband said with a "duh" tone in his voice. "No, no they are not," I replied. And thus the debate turned personal. The problem was, I couldn't fully explain why I felt that way - so I asked for time to collect my thoughts. Having thought about and researched this for the better part of the day, I can say with confidence that no, women are not minorities. My reasons are not based on  pure emotion, but are sound and based on plain reason and logic. My need to (yet again) prove my husband wrong led me to consult dictionary.com,  in order to clearly define the term "minority." The dictionary provided five unbiased and commonly agreed upon definitions of the noun minority : the smaller ...

It is no great secret that I am obsessed with the French Revolution. It may not be as well known, however, that I consider it to be the most revolutionary event in the history of democracy. Yes, that is right...THE most. Even more so than the American War of Independence. Upon sharing this notion, many people are highly incensed and usually quip something to the effect of, "Well, if it wasn't for America, France would still be under German control!" (To which I typically respond, "Yes, but if it wasn't for France, America would still be under British control...")  Then, it is mere seconds until the French jokes commence. You know, ones like: What color is the French battle flag? White. And, how can you tell the French Army? They're the ones with the sunburned armpits. Really. I never really have the opportunity to offer any rationale to my seemingly unpatriotic and ludicrous statement. So, please indulge me a moment and let me explain... ...

Elphaba, where I’m from, we believe all sorts of things that aren’t true. We call it -“history.” A man's called a traitor - or liberator…A rich man's a thief - or philanthropist. Is one a crusader - or ruthless invader? It's all in which label is able to persist. There are precious few at ease with moral ambiguities…So we act as though they don't exist!” ~ Lyrics from “Wonderful” (Wicked) Portrait de Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794) (Photo Source: Musée Carnavalet, Paris) Introduction One of the first things I teach my students is that history is not, as many textbooks would have us believe, black and white.    I suppose I take the “yin and yang” approach. Within every event, every person, there is both good and evil and that the truth in history lies in the vast shades of gray. Like the song above says, as human beings, we tend to be intimidated by moral ambiguity and so we take an all or nothing approach. Perhaps we’re lazy or we just haven...

I know many folks who like Paris. They are people like my husband who don't mind going every now and again for a visit. But me? Nope. I don't like Paris. I truly love Paris; some may even argue I am obsessed with it. Perhaps. But I cannot deny the deep connection I feel with the city. Everything about the City of Light beckons me so that I long to be there with every fiber of my being. Even though it is not my home, I am homesick for Paris. So, I bide my time until I can return by, writing this blog, reading about France, talking about France (to those who will listen), watching French movies, listening to French music, studying the French language, and daydreaming about the place my heart remains.