staying warm(ish), and an essay on football culture
It's really cold here. Outside, yes, yes it's super chilly (hovering around 0°F outside, not counting windchill, which is considerable), but it's also quite cold inside the house. Oh, we have the radiators going, and I am currently pressed against the one in the living room (literally; probably throwing my back out of whack as I do it, but oh man it's worth it). There are places in the house where it's not-freezing. Unfortunately none of those places are my room.
It's an old house, see, and it's been the kind of low-rent-district old house that hasn't encouraged a lot of repairs over the years, so when the wind blows against the front door, it also comes zipping down through the hall, the dining room, the kitchen, and out the cracks in the back door. It's also quite a big house. We're working on winterizing, slowly but surely, and I have hope that this will be the worst of it, but man, it's cold.
Peter and Esther and I did go out to a local pub tonight for half-price nachos, and it was worth the walk through the ice and wind, to sit somewhere warm(er) and eat tasty food we didn't prepare. On the walk back, I even thought, Gee it's not so bad out here--until we turned down onto our street. The collection of highrises, plus the proximity to the lake, makes for windy conditions even on the best of days (this is actually great in the summer, when it's hot and sticky). Tonight the wind ripped up and around and down again, like vicious punches from icy fists, and my scarf, which I'd been wearing around my face, froze against my lips. It became so crucial that we get out of the wind that Peter and Esther started running down the icy sidewalk to make it back to our house sooner. (Neither of them slipped.)
I don't mind it when winter behaves like winter, really I don't, but I also wouldn't complain if it got, say, fifteen degrees warmer again. Meantime, I sidle up to radiators and wear a lot of non-cotton layers.
...
On a completely different subject, I found a really thought-provoking essay today by Jess Luther about Penn State and former football coach Bill O'Brien. Luther is not from Pennsylvania (I don't think; I follow her on Twitter, too, and my impression is that she lives in Texas), and in the past I've been extremely wary about people not from Pennsylvania offering opinions about Penn State. I'm questioning that tendency now, in light of what she says in her latest essay. Check it out, let me know what you think:
Bill O'Brien and the Benefits of Coaching at Penn State
'The benefits that Coach O’Brien received from taking over the football program (media attention, accolades for his sacrifice, painted as hero for bringing about program’s “redemption”) exist because of the storied history of PSU, a storied history maintained by sheltering and enabling a child rapist.
O’Brien has benefitted from our society’s often devastating desire to see redemption in almost every sports story, it’s endless need to focus attention and praise on such stories, no matter at whose expense that narrative comes. He is benefitting from our absolute inability to come to terms with the reality, the horror of sexual abuse and assault.'
It's an old house, see, and it's been the kind of low-rent-district old house that hasn't encouraged a lot of repairs over the years, so when the wind blows against the front door, it also comes zipping down through the hall, the dining room, the kitchen, and out the cracks in the back door. It's also quite a big house. We're working on winterizing, slowly but surely, and I have hope that this will be the worst of it, but man, it's cold.
Peter and Esther and I did go out to a local pub tonight for half-price nachos, and it was worth the walk through the ice and wind, to sit somewhere warm(er) and eat tasty food we didn't prepare. On the walk back, I even thought, Gee it's not so bad out here--until we turned down onto our street. The collection of highrises, plus the proximity to the lake, makes for windy conditions even on the best of days (this is actually great in the summer, when it's hot and sticky). Tonight the wind ripped up and around and down again, like vicious punches from icy fists, and my scarf, which I'd been wearing around my face, froze against my lips. It became so crucial that we get out of the wind that Peter and Esther started running down the icy sidewalk to make it back to our house sooner. (Neither of them slipped.)
I don't mind it when winter behaves like winter, really I don't, but I also wouldn't complain if it got, say, fifteen degrees warmer again. Meantime, I sidle up to radiators and wear a lot of non-cotton layers.
...
On a completely different subject, I found a really thought-provoking essay today by Jess Luther about Penn State and former football coach Bill O'Brien. Luther is not from Pennsylvania (I don't think; I follow her on Twitter, too, and my impression is that she lives in Texas), and in the past I've been extremely wary about people not from Pennsylvania offering opinions about Penn State. I'm questioning that tendency now, in light of what she says in her latest essay. Check it out, let me know what you think:
Bill O'Brien and the Benefits of Coaching at Penn State
'The benefits that Coach O’Brien received from taking over the football program (media attention, accolades for his sacrifice, painted as hero for bringing about program’s “redemption”) exist because of the storied history of PSU, a storied history maintained by sheltering and enabling a child rapist.
O’Brien has benefitted from our society’s often devastating desire to see redemption in almost every sports story, it’s endless need to focus attention and praise on such stories, no matter at whose expense that narrative comes. He is benefitting from our absolute inability to come to terms with the reality, the horror of sexual abuse and assault.'