I decided several days ago to save blogging for the end of the day with the idea that I would have more time to compose my thoughts, thereby offering you pearls of wisdom from the ocean rather than the fresh water variety. Well, the best laid plans blah blah blah!  By the time the last dog leaves (sometime between 6-7:30 pm), the dinner is cooked/served/disposed of, and the child is picked up from the sport practice du jour, I can't even remember my own name, let alone express my reflections on the day in any eloquent or interesting way!  So, here we are at 6:45 a.m. again.  The dogs will be here soon and it is a nice day, so I have big plans for the swimming pools.  Thus far we have only pulled one of them from the basement.  The weather being rather iffy lately, only the true pool whores (yes, that's an industry term!) have been interested in the water. However, with several days in a row in the mid 70's, the more cautious members of the pack are beginning to dip in a toe or two.

If you are reading these blogs regularly, you already know that our research team at UB has been invited to contribute a chapter to an edited volume on anatomy and dissection in the nineteenth century.  I spent my break yesterday trying to get started on this chapter.  After reviewing the book proposal and chapter outline I realized that I know absolutely nothing about Structural Violence theory, which is a problem because our chapter is framed within this construct.  So, my short break was spent doing a literature search.  I found out that structural violence refers to the ways in which social structures can harm people (so structural refers to social structure and violence refers to harmful consequences).  Structural violence occurs among those people whose social status denies them access to scientific or social progress.  I am excited to apply this theoretical construct to the experiences of poorhouse inmates.  However, I have much more reading to do!

My first book signing is this Friday (May 30th) and I am scared to death!!  We are selling the book in the shop of a good friend who sells everything from flowers to jewelry (and now books!).  The signing was scheduled to coincide with a large neighborhood event, so hopefully there will lots of foot traffic.  I am the person who did not want a video camera at my own wedding, so I am not at all interested in being the center of attention.  However, I am told that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.  I wonder if it is too late to hire a stunt double?