(no subject)

[aprilstarchild]

I'm thinking of looking into nannying (which is what jenhowell and ourglasslake do) after all. I poked around the nanny listings on craigslist, and many of the jobs are super-flexible (yay for school!) and pay $10 to $12 per hour. No benefits, though.

My two biggest worries in terms of that kind of work:

1. It's been ages since I baby-sat regularly, or was around small children all the time. As in, like, a decade--I stopped babysitting right after high school. So I'm not used to children anymore. I haven't even been around Boo that much, really.

2. What if I suck at it? I don't have the highest level of patience in the whole world. Can I really keep a kid or two entertained and/or out of trouble for hours on end every day?

I've had it pointed out to me that I plan on having my own kids, so why not nanny? And it's like--if they're mine, I don't have to care as much if the house turns into a mess, or if I have an "off" day now and then. And, in theory, I'm not doing it alone, either.

jenhowell said she'd help me write a bit for a nannying ad on Craigslist if I wanted.

I've applied for a cell phone call center today, and I have to get to the library to print out Central City Concern's application to bring to my interview Friday (the same day my period's due--yikes!). I hope I get that job. I thought I was done with medrecs, but I think it might be an awesome environment to work in!

One of my holds came in, too. I'm hoping it's the Globetrekker DVD about Iceland. I'm waiting for Jarrod to get home from his visit with his mentor, because the weather's nasty and I'm hoping he'll drive me! Maybe I'll get a book on child care while I'm at it.

I wish PSU had a major in Political History.

Comments

[ourglasslake.livejournal.com]

Whoo nannying!! I think you'd be awesome at it. Different families want different things...I think you'd be great with a couple of older kids that you can run around and play with. My baby job is capital-B Boring, but it's kind of what I need right now because I get to do schoolwork. But with your energy and positivity, the right family will lap you up. Plus, if you go back to school, you pay for insurance through your tuition anyway, so who needs on-the-job benefits!

I'm a REALLY impatient person (just ask James), but for me it's different with kids. I just had to realize that they're little people doing their best to figure out what's up in the world, and my wells of patience became infinite. In those cases. Heh.

What exactly do you mean by "political history"? As opposed to cultural history? Because the history faculty at PSU is fan-fucking-tastic, and you can essentially specialize your degree program to that level if you want. I've taken all the history classes I need to graduate but one (historiography, which isn't specific anyway), and I've never taken a US history class or an ancient history class because they just don't interest me.

There is also political science, which covers a lot of history, too. Or maybe you're talking about something totally different than I'm imagining, in which case I'll just be quiet now!

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

Both you and Jen have told me I'd be good at nannying. I checked out Dr Spock (who, btw, advocated a vegan diet in his last book before he died) from the library today, and if none of the stuff I've got going right now pans out, I'm thinking about it. I'd rather do that than work in a call center for cell phones, that's for sure. (But if the job at Central City Concern works out, I'm taking it! $11 an hour, full time, full benefits, woot!)

Political history: For me, it means the history of political ideas. One of the most interesting classes I've ever taken was called Political Ideologies and we just went into the worldview of different ideologies, and into their histories as well. After that class, I'm angry that people don't learn about John Stuart Mill, for instance, in high school. Or John Locke! He's not just a LOST character! He's the guy that Thomas Jefferson cribbed for the Declaration of Independence, after all...although his idea was "life, liberty, and property," not pursuit of happiness. Although in the USA, the two are interchangeable, of course. *rolls eyes*

Or for that matter, the British Revolution of the early 1600's. I learned about it in Western Civ, and it amazed and fascinated me how much our modern politics comes from that era.

Anyway. *cough* *ahem* I know that that's not what you're interested in, so that probably bored you to tears. *LOL*

[ourglasslake.livejournal.com]

I had amazing history teachers in HS, and we were also required to take a government class, so I actually did learn about those guys then.

I think you'd love upper-division history classes. Sometimes I forget that though both you and James have been to college, you've never really had the experience of a 400-level class with an intense focus on one topic. Though the kind of thing you're describing you could probably find in the philosophy, int'l studies, and history departments, it sounds like all you need is a history class beyond the (unfortunate) breadth of a class like Western Civ, and with a little more depth.

You don't think I'm in it because I like to learn about *battles* do you? ;)

I'm not sure what was supposed to bore me to tears, though, because none of it did. :-)

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

For the record: I really enjoyed what I took of the 100-series Western Civ. at PCC, especially since I had Mr. Bruno, who has to be one of the best teachers ever.

It's probably not a coincidence that the Poli Sci teacher at PCC Rock Creek is one of my favorites, too; Mr. Sonnleitner. I loved him. If he'd been any younger and/or better looking I probably would have had a major crush. I had friends who, by the time they finished their transfer degrees, had taken all of their social science classes from him. One term I was taking two of his classes, and another friend was taking three.

I got interested in the Peace and Conflict program at PCC simply because he was the head/adviser for it.

He had an odd tendency to wear ...very small shorts. And worn-out polo shirts. As in, hello, I can see your nipples. NOT ATTRACTIVE. *lol*

Which of course has nothing to do with his teaching ability.

[ourglasslake.livejournal.com]

I'm not dissing lower-level courses, don't get me wrong. There are awesome teachers at all levels. I'm just saying that you can cover more, and at a greater depth, in an upper-division course. A lot of the reason is just because the classes are smaller, and because you're never going to be trying to cover 5000 years of history in 10 weeks.

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

*nod* Totally. That was one of the things that admittedly attracted me to Evergreen--they get really in-depth with their topics.

[ourglasslake.livejournal.com]

And for what it's worth, objective physical attractiveness has never really stopped me from having crushes on history profs. They've been my weakness since I was 13, lol.

There are some genuine hotties at PSU, though. ;)

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but Mr. Sonnleitner was kinda Ew.

[ourglasslake.livejournal.com]

I'm still really curious to know how you would describe/classify the study of history.

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

In what sense? Just a broad definition of what history is? I'm confused.

[ourglasslake.livejournal.com]

Yeah, pretty much. I'm just chatting (aka procrastinating), and after this conversation last night I just wanted to know what you thought about history as a subject because I'm not sure we've ever talked about it. :-)

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

I'm not really sure....I mean, saying "oh, History is the study of past events" is sorta accurate, but I know that's not everything. How people lived? What they did? Hm.

[ourglasslake.livejournal.com]

I'm just curious because of how you were dividing out the "history of ideas" as a separate topic, though that's a huge part of history as a whole. I'm reading an (unfortunately rather dull) article about Japanese colonialism right now, and it's all about ideas of racial superiority, the rights and responsibilities of "modern" nations, etc.

I love talking about history because so many people think it's either wars and battles or names and dates. I love it because it's so alive, and there's so much rich debate, and it's like this whole other world behind what we're presented with as the linear "story of the past" (which doesn't exist anyway).

I've just been e-talkative lately I guess, and I know you're online, so...:-)

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

Our connection's been super-wonky today though, so if I repeat myself or look like I've abandoned the conversation, I haven't.

[sagcat.livejournal.com]

I had off the top of my head, 6 different ways I studied political history.

1. Political theory. This was basically political philosophy. We studied political ideas and approaches throughout history. Plato, Machiavelli, Jefferson, Marx, Moussalini... books like that.

2. International Relations. This was basically things like "The Politics of Southern Africa" or "The Politics of Central Africa" (you get the idea). This necessarily involved a detailed understanding of the historically political relationships between various factions of an area of the world.

3. Peace Studies. Same as the last. To understand conflict and conflict resolution, you had to learn history. There's no way you can study conflict and peace without understanding why political entities clashed when they did. Mind you, not all Peace Studies classes were governmental. The classes were in every liberal arts department.

4. Constitutional Law. At every turn, you study every debate on "how should a government be run?" and it's got historical precedent. What was the debate between Hamilton and Jefferson? What did each believe and why?

5. Comparative government. I took very few courses with this classification, but it was basically a class in which different political approaches were discussed. This naturally involved political debate throughout history.

6. And a bit more specifically, I took a seminar called "The History of American Law," in which i argued every point with the professor and the fucker graded me down because i didn't agree with him. grrr.

I'm so glad i'm out of school. I still have the nightmares. =-/