I need to learn all of the lyrics to Beck's "I'm a Loser." I mean, every last word, in order. I'd feel very accomplished if I could sing it in the car. I managed to do it for Franz Ferdinand's "The Fallen," though I'm still a verse or two short on REM's "It's the End of the World as We Know It," and seeing as I've been listening to that song for decades, I'm not sure I'll ever get better than I am right now.

Hmmm...what to do with this space?

It's funny to be writing a post for a blog with no readers. I'm not sure yet what this blog is going to be, exactly. I envision it as a space to play with some ideas, to test things out in a place where anyone could happen on them. It will be partly academic (because I seem unable to detach myself from academic expression no matter how hard I try), largely opinionated, undoubtedly sometimes outraged (because, as the bumper sticker on my car says, if you aren't outraged, you're not paying attention).

There are a number of issues I think about most, which will probably form the basis for most of the posts. I spend a lot of time thinking about historical consciousness and memory and the implications of a sense of history for creating justice (social, political, economic) in the present. I think a lot about feminism as a political movement, as the basic guideline of my life, and as the basis of scholarship. I think a lot about the politics of the body, especially through the lenses of pregnancy and birth.

I'm sure I'll write about my kids and my husband, my jobs, our lives here on this island, politics, my love of all things '80s (get ready to hear a lot about The Smiths and Duran Duran), and my love-hate relationship with academia.

But not all of that right now. Right now, I need to go in search of a good Oscar night recap. I wasn't able to watch any of the show because my littlest one insisted on watching Toopy and Binoo. And I must see Sean Penn's speech.