A question of privilege

I saw this at Entropy's site and thought I would take part. Having backtracked it through a few linked blogs, it is interesting to note that some -- me included -- are saying this isn't what matters. I knew I was loved. Even though we didn't have a lot, we had what we truly needed: a home and family.

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An interesting privilege meme from What Privileges Do You Have?, based on an exercise about class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. If you participate in this blog game, they ask that you PLEASE acknowledge their copyright.

Bold the true statements.

1. Father went to college
2. Father finished college
3. Mother went to college
4. Mother finished college
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home -- most of them were mine :)
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home.
9. Were read children's books by a parent
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively -- maybe the now me, but not the me of childhood
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs -- Grants, scholarships, student loans and work study
16. Went to a private high school
17. Went to summer camp
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels -- What's a vacation? We did go visit my grandmother in Ohio when I was in ninth grade and had to stay at a Holiday Inn. Does that count?
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child
23. You and your family lived in a single-family house
24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
25. You had your own room as a child -- maybe for one year after one of my sisters moved out and before she moved back :)
26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18
27. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course
28. Had your own TV in your room in high school -- for that one year of my own room, I had a small black and white TV in my room that wasn't for my use only; mine was the only room it could go in so whoever wanted to watch something different from the rest of the family could
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
31. Went on a cruise with your family
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family


It doesn't look like much -- two definites and two partials -- but I don't feel underprivileged now, nor did I then. I was loved (check number 7 for proof of that!) and somehow we always had a roof overhead, food on the table, and clothes on our back. Anything else is gravy -- and too much gravy isn't good for you :)

~ ~ ~ ~ Because I had to find out more, I tracked down Dr. Barratt's web page about the privilege meme.

11,000 words -- more or less

The Uncredited Google Image Meme courtesy of Christine.

How to play: Type the answer to the following questions into Google Image, then pick from the first page of images.

1. Age at my next birthday:



2. Place I'd like to travel:

OR

3. Place I've been:


4. Favorite food:




5. Place I was born:


6. Place I live:



7. Name of past pet:


8. Best friends' nickname:



9. My first name:


10. First job:


I tag anyone needing an idea for a post! Just leave a comment linking back to yours, please.

One word, no explanations

Courtesy of Angela, the One Word, NO Explanation meme:

1. Yourself: tired
2. Your spouse: workaholic
3. Your hair: brown
4. Your mother: lonely
5. Your father: deceased
6. Your favorite item: books
7. Your dream last night: caterpillars
8. Your favorite drink: tea
9. Your dream car: Mustang
10. The room you are in: family
11. Your ex: uncaring
12. Your fear: failure
13. What you want to be in 10 years: healthy
14. Who you hung out with last night: family
15. What you're not: wealthy
16. Muffins: blueberry
17: One of your wish list items: books
18: Time: morning
19. The last thing you did: breakfasted
20. What you are wearing: casual
21. Your favorite weather: autumnal
22. Your favorite book: AAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH
23. The last thing you ate: Poptart
24. Your life: changing
25. Your mood: depressed
26. Your best friend: Dana
27. What you're thinking about right now: school
28. Your car: minivan
29. What you are doing at the moment: thinking
30. Your summer: over
31. Your relationship status: committed
32. What is on your TV: Disney
33. What is the weather like: dreary
34. When was the last time you laughed: today

I tag Dana, Christi, and Christine. I'd tag new blogger Nate, but I don't know if he wants to do memes.

Book meme

Angela Messenger posted this meme recently and I thought I would join in.

1. Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback? Whatever I can get my hands on -- although if I start a series with one type, I try to stick with that and not mix them.

2. Amazon or brick and mortar? Brick and mortar -- I like the look, feel, and smell of a book as I browse.

3. Barnes & Noble or Borders? Wherever I can go, including used book stores.

4. Bookmark or dogear? Bookmark or remember where I am. Dogearing drives me CRAZY!

5. Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random? With my first bookcase, I sorted alphabetically. Now that I have six bookcases -- and four children who like getting to my books -- I sort them by theme.

6. Keep, throw away, or sell? I try not to throw away books. When I was younger we lived out in the middle of nowhere and my books were my friends. I still have books from when I was in third grade. When we first moved back to Virginia, we had to store all my boxes of books in a small shed in the backyard. Unfortunately the shed roof was bad and rainwater destroyed three big boxes of books. I had to get rid of them and still miss the ones I lost. I have even sold some books when times were desperate -- of course, I didn't get as much as I had spent on them and it will cost an arm and a leg to replace them since they were original Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and Dana Girls.

7. Keep dust jacket or toss it? Keep.

8. Read with dust jacket or remove it? Start with it and use the inside piece as a bookmark, but then remove it if necessary.

9. Short story or novel? Novels, but every now and then an anthology sneaks in.

10. Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)? Anthology.

11. Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? Harry Potter.

12. Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? When I get tired I try to make it to the end of the chapter.

13. “It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”? Once upon a time.


14. Buy or Borrow? Buy. I worry about what my youngest child will cause to happen to a borrowed book.

15. New or used? Used is just as good as new. Sometimes it's better. There is character in a used book.

16.Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse? All.

17. Tidy ending or cliffhanger? Tidy is good. Cliffhanger will work if I know it won't be long to get the next book in the series. I can hardly wait for the end of July to see what is happening with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

18. Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading? Any time is a good time to read!

19. Stand-alone or series? Either way.

20. Favorite series? Harry Potter. Trixie Belden. The Chronicles of Narnia. The original Hardy Boys (not the edited and watered down versions you can find now). The Dana Girls. The Anne books. I could go on, but I have other things to do today.

21. Favorite children’s book? Book Trails for Baby Feet.

22. Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? I'm sure most people have heard of my favorites -- Trixie Belden, the Dana Girls, Kay Tracey, Judy Bolton.

23. Favorite books read last year? Harry Potter -- I finally started reading them after a friend recommended them.

24. Favorite books of all time? Diary of Anne Frank, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, Misty of Chincoteague and the rest of the books by Marguerite Henry. And, again, I had better stop or I will be here all day.

25. Least favorite book you finished last year? I don't think there were any. If I start to read something and don't like it, I don't finish it.

26. What are you reading right now? The Mommy Manual. And I am rereading Bringing up Boys. Allan and I have started reading Misty of Chincoteague together and may go on to some of the other Marguerite Henry books.

27. What are you reading next? The Little House books and like I said in 26, we may go on to some of the other Marguerite Henry books.