Before I was married and had my daughter, I would meet my Mom and maternal grandmother for brunch at the beach every year on Mother's Day. For a couple years in a row we took a "three generations" photo in the garden behind the restaurant. After Grandma passed, Mom and I sort of stopped the tradition.

When I graduated with my Ph.D. from UCLA five years ago, I was five months pregnant with my daughter. It was a joyous occasion marking the completion of my dissertation as well as rigorous doctoral-level course work. I was exhausted. And not just because I had already topped the physician-recommended total pregnancy weight gain by my second trimester. Finishing that program, earning that degree was the fulfillment of a dream.

I had to ask myself, NOW what?

They say that with great works of literature you need to read them once every decade. I guess that is because you get different meaning out of them at different stages of your life. My grandfather once told me that he read "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain every 10 years or so, and was surprised at how much more complex it got the older he got.

Well, the same might be said for children's movies.

"We are in a battle for the soul of U.S. education." -- Jonathan Kozol

The other night I had the opportunity to hear writer-educator-activist Jonathan Kozol speak to a packed house at my local university.

We've come a long way, baby.

Or HAVE we?

It always shocks me when I am talking with someone who derides feminists or feminism in general. I usually follow up with a question about equal pay. "Oh, well of course I believe that women and men should be paid the same salary for the same job," they generally respond.

Okay, so I posted awhile back about how we are looking to buy our first house. Ideally we'd like a neighborhood with a strong public elementary school, closer to husband's new job. After four months, we are not having much luck finding a house in target neighborhood.