My happy place

I didn't get a lot done today. I wound up with what was probably a cramp in the muscle in my upper back and was in pain for a while this morning, and the pain made me irritable and clumsy and I couldn't effectively practice piano.

But then I also remembered: hey, hadn't it been a while since I had an oil and filter change? I was remembering early May, but nope, when I called to check (It's complicated but I lost the little clingfilm thing that gives the "next recommended date*" and didn't have the paperwork handy**) it had been early this year - much earlier than May.

So, okay. I also knew I needed a new battery soon - this one is close to the end of its useful life, it's a little tougher to start up these days, and I didn't want to risk being off somewhere in this heat with a car that would not start. So I started that process.

(* they didn't give me one this time so I better keep the paperwork handy as a reminder, and maybe write something on my calendar)

(** I tend to be organized about some things but I have a hard time with that kind of random paperwork. I would also be hardpressed to track down a sequential six-months' worth of bank statements if I needed them. I know, I know: binders, except during the regular semester when I get home tired at 5 pm and have a meeting at 6, I don't want to be messing with any stinkin' binders)

But anyway. I got at least one useful thing done today, then. I did also do a bit of reading (finished Chapter 4, about the early 20th-century environmental movement) in "This Green and Growing Land," which is a history of the environmental movement in the US. (I am reading this for more background for Policy and Law). It's a *really* interesting book and is written in a style that makes it enjoyable to read. (Some of these kinds of things, they're a little tedious, but this book is pretty fun).

One thing I learned is just how active women were in the early days of the environmental movement, and how often their contributions were downplayed, especially by those who favored business interests over land preservation (the women were referred to as "birdwatchers" and "sentimental" and similar. And apparently some guy also rolled a little homophobia in there, with a crack about "short-haired women and long-haired men," perhaps confusing Walt Whitman (who was gay) with John Muir (who almost certainly was not).

I also learned that a lot of the "first woman graduate of X" (where X is somewhere like MIT) often wound up working in either a social movement like Settlement Houses or in the environmental movement and I wonder if part of that is that other careers were more closed to them. But I did learn that one of the main founders of Occupational Health (part of our Safety degree here) was a woman - a chemist, Dr. Alice Hamilton. And yeah, that makes me chuckle a little bit in light of that TERRIBLE class I had several years ago that was terrible in large part because there were some Safety majors who had the worst stereotypical dude-bro attitudes ever in it, and seemed to think because I was a woman (and a very traditionally-feminine presenting woman*** at that), I couldn't teach them anything.

(*** And I don't think I should have to - pardon the language - butch up in order to earn some grudging respect from people like that. I should be able to be who I am. My colleagues and the students in my major respect me even when I show up to class in a pink dress and jewelry. And I suspect even if I did try harder to be "one of the boys," those types wouldn't respect me any more.)

But yeah. I feel better for having read that, partly because it's a cheering thing to read and partly because I felt like I got something done.

I also cleaned my  bedroom a bit after getting home - it had gotten bad and also I had an anxious spell and it's better to work through those by doing something active. And it's nicer to have my room picked up a bit. And this is a cooler space (temperature wise) than my living room these days, so I can sit here and listen to Pandora (the wifi stretches at least this far) and read and knit - got caught up on the most recent issue of American Scientist and also started a new thing:

It's a very simple knitted "neckwarmer" (like a short scarf, but it will have buttons - and that's my goal the next time I get to JoAnn's or somewhere, to find a nice pair of 1" buttons that will work for this.)

It's the purple yarn I bought at the new Sherman yarn shop - it was purpose-bought for this pattern (it's a free one off of Ravelry and I suppose a person could figure it out for themselves - it's a mistake-stitch rib (I THINK - I think I'm remembering correctly that this is mistake stitch)

And yes, I know I have a lot of stuffed animals here (you can see Clawhauser, and most of Pfred, and a tiny bit of my Pinkie Pie there....) but that's part of why this is my happy place.