Tag: Kansas

What Color is Barack Obama

I spend quite a while yesterday morning online researching Sarah Palin’s racism both overt and implied.  So this evening on the subway when My Kid asked me what color Obama was…

I immediately started going through the Rolodex of my mind searching for facts I could tell her about his white mother from Kansas and his black father from Kenya and how the met in Hawaii and how some people get divorced. Also some foolish people with light skin like Sarah Palin decide not to like people who have dark skin like the Obama family, and say words like “those people” to mean they don’t want to even try to be friends.  Even though they are grownups, they have not yet learned the lesson of “The Sneeches” by Dr. Seuss.

Stalling for time I asked; “What do you mean what color is Obama?”

She wanted to know if he was BLUE or RED!  

I remembered an essay I once read by someone, who, attending a gay wedding and reception at a church in Seattle,  wondered what carefully crafted words about love and relationships would be prepared for the child who was marveling at the weird thing he had seen.  That strange thing the child had never seen before turned out to be a rotary dial telephone.

Women Don’t Have Time for Writers Block

At the hotel, I picked up Tracy Chevalier’s book “the Virgin Blue” (by the author of “Girl With A Pearl Earring”) and have been reading it on the train. Because I have access to Bluetooth I have access to the internet and because I have access to the internet, I googled Tracy Chevalier http://www.tchevalier.com/students.html
and found her website where she has written answers to frequently asked questions:
This is my favorite:

What do you do when you have writer’s block?

Writer’s block is for wimps – or men. I have only ever heard men complain of writer’s block. Frankly, I have so little time to write (only during my son’s school hours) that I can’t afford to be blocked. If I reach a sticky point, I do some research, read around the subject – that’s what’s so handy about writing historical novels, there’s always one more source to read.[return to questions]

I also love her open letter to students. She seems like a very nice person, helpful and patient considering her fame and creative success. Well, she is a mommy after all.

One of my New York “Dorothy, you’re not in Kansas anymore” moments took place at one of our regular playgrounds in Brooklyn few years ago. We were chatting and chasing toddlers and Jennifer Egan and Sheri Holman were comparing notes on the difficulties of doing a book tour while nursing infants.