March 2008
52 posts
“I love watching TV with you: you speak over the programme exactly the right...”
– Me, to Bex, following our emotional viewing of Poppy Shakespeare
Comment is free: Sweet smell of sexism →
Experimenting with my new role as a feminist pundit, I wrote this blog post reflecting on symbolism and gender in the American election, and now I have no friends, apparently. People? I voted for Obama, OK?
I would like a yellow labrador, please
OK, so I really still can’t hear anything. It’s not very nice at all. However, being a glass-half-full kind of person, I have decided to look on the bright side. Bright Side No. 1: Major reduction in awareness of sexual harassment, as I cannot hear lewd remarks made by passers-by. Bright Side No. 2: Imminent eligibility for a guide dog. Could I be any happier?
What time is it?
I think my phone and computer know when Daylight Savings kicks in and out, so I assume that they have already set themselves forward…but what if they haven’t? Cursed technology. My snot-filled head is ever so confused.
I am drinking lots of Lucozade
Yet another weekend ruined by this awful virus. I did manage to scrape myself into an upright position this morning to take tea with Lydia and Alyssa, but then had to come home and go to bed for the rest of the afternoon. I am almost entirely deaf in my right ear. I hope it is temporary, as it was seriously interfering with my ability to eavesdrop on some people having what seemed like a very...
Radio 4 newsreader Charlotte Green gets the... →
Ah, this is quite comforting - I accidentally spoke over the guest on prior to me and thought that I had RUINED THE TODAY PROGRAMME forever. So now I feel better.
“This is a book both painful and beautiful to read: by evoking the sharpness of...”
– New Statesman - The divided self
“As Kevin Myers tells it in Watching the Door, his acquisition of a job as an RTÉ...”
– New Statesman - Here comes trouble
Why fashion has banished the bosom - Telegraph →
Oh, good heavens. Britain has a truly strange relationship with breasts, in which they are regarded not as body parts, but as matters of public interest, public property, accessories which can be adjusted at will. It is so tiresome. What’s next? Will Spring 2009 dictate that teeth and left arms are totally passe? I never buy Vogue, so I can’t boycott it, per se. But I am doing so in...
Is this the end of wedded bliss? - Glitterditch →
Further diversifying my blog action, I’m now also posting on Messy Media’s Glitterditch…bookmark it!
Hello, future husband
A kind reader has pointed out this upcoming conference in Osnabrück, Deutschland: “Terrorism, Media, Literature: Don DeLillo and the Ethics of Fiction” A conference full of DeLillo lovers? Oh, SWOON.
BBC - What's On - Day listing for BBC London... →
Quite handy to be in London on a bank holiday: I’ll be on Drivetime around 6, discussing women’s studies some more.
Listen again... →
If you scroll down the page you can hear me in the 8:30-9:00 timeslot - around 8:45. If you want to. I did one rather horrifying pause, so focused was I on not saying, ‘you know’ and so awed was I by being on the revered Today programme. But I am still a junior at radio (this was my second studio outing; I’ve done phone interviews a couple of times, too) so I hope with time...
BBC - Radio 4 - Home →
What, a slow news day? I am discussing women’s studies on the Today programme @ 8:40.
Farewell to 'predictable, tiresome and dreary'... →
Sorry, readers
I would like to write something piquant and amusing for your enjoyment but I am just too ill. So ill, indeed, that I am wearing a hoodie and have taken Nurofen. Good heavens!
“Can you hear it? The jolly hurrahs issuing forth from households across Middle...”
– Guardian Unlimited: Arts blog - books: Five go Disney
"It would be unfortunate to be a prisoner in...
We (Alex, Christiane, me) went to a debate last night between the Young Democrats and Young Republicans Abroad. It was disappointing. The Democrats were terrible - not only were they not young (average age seemed to be 40), but they were inarticulate. The Republicans were terrible - they were kind of young, and semi-articulate, but they said things like the titular quote of this post. It really...
Dear Edelfam,
Thanks for reading my blog! I am delighted that you do. But please do not worry when I do not post for a couple of days, which is due to me being busy, rather than me being kidnapped. Lots of love, Jean
In honour of St Patrick, I'm having writer's block
I’m having shocking writer’s block today, which is unfortunate, since I actually have some rather important deadlines to hit. I will meet them (oh yes, I will) but only because I have resigned myself to the knowledge that it will take me three times as long to finish everything than it should, because I have to spend 200% more time than usual having crises of self-confidence. Oh, well....
All that glitters | By genre | guardian.co.uk... →
Fiction titles from my paperback round-up…
“Piers Morgan can be a bit loathsome. But as this latest instalment of his...”
– Elderly observations | By genre | guardian.co.uk Books
First we take Manhattan, then we take £113
I can’t believe how many pounds I just spent so that Lauren and I can go and see a man with a three-note vocal range sing at the O2 centre. No, wait, I totally can! It’s LEONARD COHEN! Squeal.
“We laugh. We cry. My flatmate, a lovely Antipodean, retreats to her room, where...”
– Guardian Unlimited: Arts blog - TV & radio: I love This American Life
“The Israeli who hit number 1 on iTunes
07/03/2008
By Jean Hannah Edelstein...”
– The Jewish Chronicle
That's so Smithers
“More than 70% of teachers in schools and colleges, polled by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, report homophobic putdowns as routine: from this it is inferred that homophobia is “endemic” to our education system. Incidentally, joint second in the league of abuse were bitch and slag - so misogyny, by these terms, is also endemic, but that’s so totally obvious I...
And...we're back!
Phew.
Weirdly
My blog has disappeared, due to slight technical difficulties with my domain host. I hope to remedy this…hm.
I am really upset about Eliot Spitzer!
And I haven’t lived in New York for nine years, but STILL. I’m taking it personally. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/nyregion/10cnd-spitzer.html?hp
Role models
“You’d be on a beach in the early 60s and your dad would shout: “Don’t throw stones!” That was it. Now it’s: “Don’t throw stones. I threw stones when I was your age, because my dad left my mum when I was four and I hardly ever saw him. I was looking for love, basically, and by throwing stones I was trying to make my mark on, you know, it was kind of,...
Solitary confinement
For some reason, I always think that living alone must be a good thing - a sophisticated thing, an adult thing. But now that I have been living alone for a whole solid week (Bex is in New Zealand until the end of the month) I realise that I am simply not cut out for solitude. Oh, sure, it’s fun to be able to blast my favourite Belgian folk-pop with the speakers cranked up without feeling...
Parenting 2.0
Mum (on phone) : Are you all right?
Jean: Yes. Why?
Mum: Well, you hadn't written in your blog for a couple of days.
John Crace on how to write a misery memoir | News... →
Am I the only one who sees the fictionalised memoir as a supremely subversive postmodern literary trend/brilliant marketing scheme?
“Face-painting is a fine (if a little itchy) way to mark World Book Day, but has...”
– Guardian Unlimited: Arts blog - books: Conforming to type
I have got to tell you about this sandwich
It’s called ‘three cheeses’ and it’s from the French deli on Broadway Market, near where I work; it has three delicious stinky cheeses and onion relish and it is on a ciabatta and it is toasted. I have now had it three glorious times, and what is most remarkable about this sandwich is that acquiring it is a phenomenally unpleasant experience! The deli staff are rude and...
Arm Update
The swelling has crawled up into my elbows, but it’s less painful. Also, a note: some kind readers have wondered if they should send donations, if me being a human guinea pig is evidence of financial dire straits. While I am very much available for any freelance writing opportunities, I’m actually doing it at the request of a dear (and very brilliant) scientist friend.
Tip or no tip? →
fatmanatee: Nowadays, it seems as though most quick service stores have tip jars. My company’s cafeteria has tip jars for the food servers and another at the cashier. A tip for the lady who just takes money and stands around doing nothing the rest of the day! Inevitably, the tip jars end up looking like the change jars people keep at home. “And here’s your tip… it’s whatever change you’re...
Guardian Unlimited: Arts blog - art: I lost my... →
Jean Edelstein: Equal gender rights shouldn't be... →
Apparently the Indy thinks I am Italian?!