2015-02-23

夜喫茶 #7: 右近

これは・・・明らかに「喫茶店」ではありませんでした。先月のシンポジウムの後、発表者の方達との懇親会に招待されて、「四季の蔵 右近」に行って参りました。雰囲気もオシャレだし、お料理も美味しい。おまけにお酒の種類も豊富。そこで食事ができた事は、とてもありがたい。

お任せコースの「うさぎ」を頂き、食前酒から始め、前菜盛り合わせ、お造り、鍋料理等々。美味しいお料理でお腹が一杯になりました。

問題は、私の和食に関する知識の無さ。今の季節は、この魚が旬なの?このお料理には、この器なの?何故この食材は、この調理の仕方なの?

てんで分からん事についてウッチャウッチャ言えないので、何しろ美味しかったと言う事だけをご報告しようと思いました。チャンチャン。

さて、「名古屋で食べたいお店」の記事からほぼ一ヶ月。前回以来リストに追加されたお店をご紹介します。(リンクは全て食べログです。順番は特にありません。)

  1. 鯱乃家
  2. 浜木綿
  3. さくとん
  4. 蛸ん壷
  5. 天むすびの多香野
  6. 志石
  7. 中国料理龍
  8. 気晴亭
  9. その他色々

と言う感じです。まだまだ時間はあります。ん〜、朝ご飯食べたばっかなのに、また腹が減って来た・・・

2015-02-20

Boulder Brands, or, How I Maintain a Funny Food Filosophy

My dinner last night consisted of chicken (two types), tuna mayo onigiri, and chocolate. Mmm.

Hey wait stop. I'm usually pretty good about eating more balanced meals, but lately I've just been...off. It's OK, it happens. (But PK got me a Klean Kanteen food canister that can hold up to 3 servings of soup, so at least I'm set for my lunch.)

I have a strange relationship with food. I love to eat, but I'm a bad cook. But I try to cook, because I don't like to eat out. (I don't like not knowing what's in my food, or paying for food when I can make acceptable meals with stuff in my kitchen.)

The conclusion: I am mindful about the effects that the food I eat has on my body and the environment—but I don't stress over it.


I try to stay away from junk food (despite my love of 7-Eleven (specifically—not all convenience stores)), but if I really want junk food, then I eat it.

I try to eat gluten-free because of eczema, but I love mini cake ring donuts from 7-Eleven (that come six-to-a-pack and only cost ¥100 including tax).

I tend not to eat (or cook) meat, but if I want some, I eat some (like my karaage stick from 7-Eleven). (Besides, my avoidance of meat is primarily for my lack of cooking skills, secondarily for the environment, and tertiarily for ethics and morals.)

I tend to skip dairy because I think cow milk is for cow babies, not for human adults. But I love yogurt (plain) and ice cream, and I must have cheese with wine. Otherwise I go for soy milk and almond milk (but NOT rice milk. That stuff is just white water. Then I'd rather have water) and choose coconut oil over butter.

I eat organic when I can, but not when I can't. I eat local when I can, but not when I can't.

I don't do coffee because I don't like its taste, but I do like mochas and Starbucks Frappuccinos. I don't mind having green tea through an IV drip.

I like maple syrup and agave nectar more than I like honey—but I like brown sugar the best.

I try to not to break my bank with groceries, but I'm happy to splurge on quality.

I like companies like Boulder Brands (with their array of brands that cater to various dietary practices) and companies like Dunkin' Donuts (with their array of donuts that cater to various taste preferences).


I've been thinking a lot about food lately, and I've been trying to think more positively about it. I don't stress over food, but I do eat when I am stressed out—so some occasions of eating 1) are caused by stress, which then 2) cause more stress (and guilt). I want to sort out my relationship with food so that I don't turn to it to relieve stress (which itself has nothing to do with food)—otherwise I feel like I've failed at being healthy.

It's cool; one step at a time. If I can get through today without a donut, great. Then tomorrow maybe I can try to eat strawberries or something.

2015-02-18

GSA #12: On (Ac / Alt-Ac / Non-Ac) Career Directions, or, What Do You Have to Show for Your Efforts?

In the weeks leading up to "The Humanities and Changing Conceptions of Work" Career Workshop in May of 2014 (organized and hosted by the UC Humanities Research Institute), I said to Kelly Brown that I wanted to write a blog post about the workshop for the UC Humanities Forum (which—is now defunct...so I can't even link to it anymore). Anyway, long story short, I didn't. Which makes this post long overdue—and though Kelly may have forgotten about it long ago, I've been nagged by guilt about it for nearly 10 months...

But then my friend messaged me yesterday reminding me that the event was happening again this year—and I thought, "If I don't write this post now, I never will." And since it was kind of a life-altering workshop for me, I wanted to pay it forward by writing about it here on my own blog.

First of all, I can't thank Kelly, the other organizers, UCHRI, and the Mellon Foundation enough for having made possible the Workshop for us in Berkeley last May. (I say "us" to mean not just those who attended, but also those who, I hope, will benefit from having these kinds of events institutionalized.) The Thursday workshop was filled with thought-provoking presentations and hands-on activities, as well as opportunities to meet and have great conversations with graduate students from other campuses (as well as those from our own). And for anyone interested in seeing what took place, there are videos of the workshop available on the event site.

But. But but. I had a major frustration bout last year, which is what I wanted to write about today. And it's precisely the kind of thing that, I think, prevents really smart Ph.D.s from getting a job they want, whether it be ac or alt-ac or whatever.

One of the sessions that day was a résumé workshop with San Francisco-based résumé writer Jared Redick, who runs The Résumé Studio. If you watch the video, you can tell that Jared is an incredibly smart guy: the way he organizes the presentation, the way he explains the materials, the way he responds to questions—this guy knows his stuff. And while, granted, the idea of a résumé writer might seem silly to some of us (what, you can't write that stuff on your own?), for a guy charging $180 an hour in a city where anything can be bought with money, we were lucky to have a workshop with him at no cost to us.

Throughout the workshop many participants expressed that the practical advice he was giving us was helpful. And at one point (about an hour and 13 minutes into the video of the workshop), a participant asked the question of how we might make something like our dissertation a component in our résumé—when, in reality, a "dissertation" doesn't really mean much to many employers. 

What irked me was not the participant's question (which was valid), or even Jared's response to it (which was thoughtful). It was the reaction of the room when Jared illustrated the concern of the participant—that people outside of academia don't know what a dissertation is, or even what it looks like. (If you are curious, you can watch the video from where the participant starts her question, or fast forward to about 1:15:30 to watch the point of concern.)

For those who want a textual summary: Jared makes, in his response to the question, a reference to a "50-page dissertation" that someone might mention in a résumé. Of course, Ph.D. students in the throes of qualifying or ABDness know that this is ridiculous. So they laugh. And when Jared reacts with humor and good nature—to diffuse the awkwardness he had created—they laugh more. But what you don't get from the video is that the laugh emitted by the students was simultaneously one of incredulity as well as scoff. And as I sat there in the room, I identified it as one that was scoffing at Jared, the guy in the front of the room that was helping us learn how to write a good résumé. 

Why did this piss me off so much—this attitude of "I can't believe this guy doesn't know how long a dissertation is!"? Because it's condescending, that's why. And it's precisely the kind of attitude that prevents us from preparing ourselves to be strong candidates on the job market—any job market. It's the attitude that says, "I have a Ph.D.—and that's a big enough deal for me to get a job without making any other effort."

That sounds unfairly mean. And it really is true that most (non-academic) employers wouldn't put much weight on the fact that someone completed a dissertation—or even a Ph.D. program. But that isn't our problem. We can't change what people know or understand; we can only work to develop and present ourselves in the best way so as to make ourselves employable (and attractively so).

And let's face it, the nature of a dissertation (even something as simple as its length) depends on the department, the discipline, even the institution. My literature dissertation is not going to look like a history dissertation. I wouldn't even venture to compare it with an ethnic studies dissertation, or a chemical engineering dissertation...or an education dissertation from a different institution. A million dissertations, a million different things. So, how are employers outside of academia supposed to understand such nuances?

We can also think of things this way: A company isn't going to hire some random 22-year-old just because he has a piece of paper in his hand that has the letters B and A (or S) on it. The employer will want to know: What have you done in the past? What kinds of leadership positions have you held? What can you do for us?

So why would the evaluation of a Ph.D. be any different? No one is going to hire us just because we have a Ph.D.—employers want to know what we've done, and what we can do. In other words: What have we got to show for our efforts?

The point of a job search is to weed out candidates that 1) don't have the qualifications and 2) don't stand out. (Only after that comes the "Does this person fit in with our company culture?" hoop.) If you're lucky, you may actually have the qualifications necessary to do (or even apply for) a particular job. But will you stand out? If the main thing you've got going for you is the fact that you wrote a dissertation, good luck—because you know that every other Ph.D. also has done that. That doesn't make you stand out; that just puts you on par with everyone else.

So what are we supposed to do, as Ph.D. students who will have spent 5+ years in grad school to go on the job market in our late 20s (if we're lucky) and beyond?

The answer is the same as what we might ask of the undergrads in the classes we TA. How are you doing in your classes? What are your extracurricular activities? What kinds of special projects have you done? What kinds of officer positions have you held in organizations? What kinds of work experience do you have?

A strong résumé isn't going to fill itself out while you do your coursework, TA, and write a dissertation. Presenting at conferences is great, publishing even better—but even those are more geared toward a CV, not a résumé. What are your responses to the above questions that you might pose to the undergrads? What kinds of research groups or conferences have you organized? What kinds of grants and fellowships have you received, and what have been their outcomes? What kinds of roles have you filled in student and community groups? What do you have to show for your efforts, as more than just a "researcher" or a "teacher"?

Being a Ph.D. student—and earning that degree—is a lot of work. Those who recognize that, will recognize that. Those who don't, won't. If we're serious about opening up the possibilities of life after grad school, then we need to be serious about the amount of effort we put into building up our résumés. And we can't ever scoff at people for not understanding what we do—because if you're the kind of person who scoffs about that, chances are, your résumé will be something that people will want to scoff at too. 

[Just so you don't think I'm talking out of my hat, here's a story to illustrate just how much scoffing some employers do. Once upon a time my boss and I were screening candidates for an office manager at my old job. We offered some people interviews based on their résumés, and after one of the interviews—in which the candidate had not-so-much the qualifications we needed and not-at-all the company culture we had—my boss marked the applicant's résumé with the words "His tie was ugly" and tossed it aside. And that was that.]

The goal, I think, is this: Be well-rounded. Be humble. Be yourself. Only then can we begin to make the M.A./Ph.D. work postgraduation, whether ac, alt-ac, or non-ac.

2015-02-16

夜喫茶 #6: mairo cafe

週末は掃除と図書館の時間です。でも、何週間か前の日曜日は、川名駅の近くの mairo cafe に行ってきました。私が引っ越して来た頃丁度リニューアルオープンだったので、お互いサポートするべき!との事で、やっと行ってきました。

雰囲気はまさに「喫茶店」で、インテリアもとても可愛いです。何と言うか・・・木、木、木。とても暖かい感じです。

メニューのバラエティーも豊富なのですが、私が頼んだのは・・・何だったっけ。アスパラガスと魚介類のリゾット風?とほうじ茶ラテ。ラテは美味しかった〜。リゾット風も美味しかったです。でも。でも、でも、ん〜、これって普通にお家でできるかな、と思いました。折角外で食べるんだったら、自分では作れない物を食べたい!と思う私がセコイのかもしれません。(実はリゾットだったら結構ちゃんとした物が作れるかも。)

ここ数ヶ月間は忙しいので一月の様に外食三昧はできませんが、来週は今後行きたいお店のリストを整理します!!!

2015-02-13

All Aboard the Barbie Train

I'm not crazy about hot pink crew neck sweaters or distressed denim on vests, but I don't mind boots (if they're not pink). And I don't mind turquoise so much either, though I admit I'm more often in the mood for coral...

OK, so maybe I don't think that's the greatest outfit or me, but maybe it is a great outfit for someone else. Someone like...

...the All-American Barbie doll. (Produced by Mattel, Inc. in 1991.)

I mean, look! It's almost as if someone saw the All-American Barbie and then tried to come up with a Polyvore set to recreate her outfit or something.

But the story I wanted to tell you was not of turquoise vs. coral, but of my first—and only—Barbie doll. And yes, it was the All-American Barbie doll.

I remember it like it was 24 years ago. It was my first real birthday after having arrived in the United States, and who can believe it, my parents decided to have my birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's. Oh man, I must have been the happiest kid. I really liked ski ball and I loved the corn and croutons at the salad bar even more. (And Thousand Island dressing. I loooved Thousand Island dressing.) So celebrating my birthday at Chuck E. Cheese's? Mind blown.

It's funny, I can't really remember who came—maybe Grace? Thuy? Crystal? But I do remember that one of them got me an All-American Barbie. I couldn't believe it—my very own Barbie. I was so excited, I didn't even know what to do. (Actually, I probably actually didn't know what to do, because the concept of dolls was pretty foreign to me.) What was I supposed to do with it? Feed it? Take it out on walks? Take off its clothes and then realize that I had no other clothes to put on it?

What I ended up doing was cutting her hair so that it would be short like mine, only to learn that Barbie's hair doesn't grow back. Too bad for her. I guess it was fine either way, since I maintained my bowl cut until I entered middle school—so she actually did look like me, except she was blonde.

But you know what was funny? (Not this TV spot for the doll, though it's a pretty good candidate.) I wasn't an All-American kid. To this day, I'm not really sure what that means. (Remember Margaret Cho's "All-American Girl"? I rest my case. (Don't get me wrong, I love Margaret Cho—I'm talking more about the screwed-up-ness of the fact that it only ran for one season.)) In other words, what the hell was a kid like me—an immigrant kid with no interest in Barbie—doing with an All-American Barbie doll?

To be honest, I was really happy about getting that doll—and I was really grateful to my friend for giving it to me as my birthday present. Even though I didn't really get into the whole doll thing (I'm more of a Sylvanian Families type), I feel like I got a taste of what it was like being a commercially represented 7-year-old in the United States. And in some ways, that's probably the closest I'll ever get to being All-American.

2015-02-11

伊藤比呂美に人生相談をしたら

Q. 母が私の人生に干渉し過ぎます。私ももう30なのに。

A. 干渉するのは当たり前です。それが母親の仕事ですから。

確かに30にもなったら(いや、その前からでも)「もういい加減にしてよっ!」と思うかもしれません。でも、娘がいくつになっても、母親にとって娘は娘です。そして、その干渉は「心配」や「愛情」と言う名の物にすり替えられ、そしていつの間にかありがたく思わなければならない物になるのです。

でも、不思議な事に、本当にそれがありがたい物になる日が来るのです。(このケースが大半を占める。そうでない場合もある。)それは、いつか親がいなくなった日。その時、その「干渉」と言う愛情がなくなってしまって、安心よりも先に、寂しさが訪れるのです。

親を変える事はできません。或る意味、自分も変える事だってできないのですから。そして、親に何かを期待してはいけません。自分が何をしたいか、どう生きたいか。それだけです。そして、いつかやって来てしまうその日まで、できるだけ後悔しない様に生きるだけです。

[してません、伊藤比呂美に、人生相談は。でも、もししたら、こんな感じの答えが帰って来るかもしれない。帰ってこなくても、まぁ、こんな風に生きてみようじゃないか。]

2015-02-09

夜喫茶 #5: 味仙

行ってきましたよ〜、皆さん。先日31アイスクリームに行った日、お夕飯は味仙で頂きました。

ん〜、やっぱり辛いラーメンっちゅ〜モンは美味しいです。何しろ、辛くて熱くて(外は寒くて)ハナミズがダラダラでしたが、とにかく美味しかった。

「台湾ラーメン」自体台湾にはありませんが、そんな事気にしていたら美味いモンが食べられない。味仙は創業50年だそうで、それはそれは活気付いたお店でした。

結構小さなおどんぶりで、630円。でもまぁ、食べてたらこれで結構お腹いっぱいになりました。でも、気をつけなくちゃいけないのは(誰が?私が)、挽肉を上手に麺と一緒に食べないと、最後におどんぶりの底に残ってしまう。あ〜、危うく食べ残す所だった。

と言う訳で、着々と「名古屋で食べたいお店」とやらを食い尽くして行っています。次回は mairo cafe. この分だと、もっと近所にあるお店探しといた方がいいかもしれないな、遠くに行くのめんどいから。

2015-02-06

Japan is Licca-fying. (Oh, stop. It's the name of a toy.)

The other day I was on the subway and noticed an ad for honeymoon packages from a travel agency. What I noticed wasn't the advertised product itself (I'm not quite on the market for a honeymoon) but rather the...

OK, so the ad had Licca dolls on it. Or, to be precise, a Licca doll and her...boyfriend (or husband?) doll, whatever his name is. [Disclosure: Actually, at first I thought it was a Jenny doll, because all these dolls look the same to me. And to be honest, I thought "Licca" (リカ) was spelled "Rika", but oh, how ignorant I am.]

And I was like...oh. OH. O. M. G. The young people of Japan are turning into Licca dolls!!!

It's true, folks—or, at least, in my eyes, it's true. The more I looked at the ad, the more I felt like I was seeing merely doll versions of countless couples and young women and men that I had seen walking around in cities of Japan. People with brown hair. Huge eyes. Pale skin. Super skinny limbs.

According to Wikipedia, Licca dolls were developed in the '60s by Takara, with Jenny dolls following suit in the '80s. They both have their backstories (and wardrobes full of pretty clothes), but you can probably imagine the kinds of gender ideologies that have been packed into them over the years.

And of course, since they were manufactured as Japanese versions of Barbie dolls, there's also a particular racial element to that ideology as well. And these have taken on additional layers with globalization and media marketing that spews out all sorts of funny beauty ideals for people all over the place.

I felt more than slightly disturbed. There's nothing wrong with these things, really—dyed hair, makeup that makes your eyes look like those of manga characters. I mean, I think it'd be cool if I could actually learn how to use eyeliner. But...it's also kind of creepy, this whole...looking more and more like a plastic doll thing.

No no, that's not quite what I mean. There's nothing wrong with these things, really—when in ISOLATION. Dyed hair: fine. Makeup techniques that yield astounding before/after photos: fine. Skincare regimens that make your skin look clear, bright, and "white": fine. Plastic surgery of all types: fine. (Well...hmm.) But when taken all together, something about it just unsettles me. But it's also so real. Whoa.

Oh, just listen to me. I sound like such a naysayer. ::sigh:: It's cool, people. Don't mind me. Please carry on looking like the happy plastic couple in the picture. I'll just sit over here in a corner being weirded out...


[But actually, all this thinking about Licca dolls and Jenny dolls has reminded me of my experience with Barbie dolls—or, just one doll, to be precise. I am now itching to tell that story. Maybe next Friday.]

2015-02-04

The Privileged Traveler

[Note: I got permission from my friend to blog about his recent visit to Japan. Then he added, "Well, unless you're going to say horrible things and say 'my friend' in quotes or something." I hope he knows that this isn't necessarily about him, but rather what his recent visit made me think.

And the other thing—I can only really talk about what it's like being Japanese, traveling abroad; or seeing how people in Japan react to tourists; or being American, and traveling abroad; or seeing how people in the United States react to tourists. So that's the position from which I'm writing.]

So, my "friend" recently visited Japan (just kidding, he really is a friend, no quotes necessary), and I got to do all sorts of touristy things that I hadn't done because, well, when you live in a city, sometimes you just don't make time for them.

During his visit he spent a part of his time exploring the city by himself, and since my friend doesn't speak Japanese, I asked him how it was for him getting around. He said that there were no problems, that he could order things in eateries, figure out maps and signs, and enjoy Nagoya even if he didn't speak the language.

This conversation and his trip in general got me thinking about those people who might be considered "travel savvy". My friend also travels a lot for work, so he might be a good example of such a savvy traveler. But I got this feeling that there was also something else going on.

When I say "travel savvy",  I'm not talking so much about being able to book cheap flight tickets, find good but not-too-crowded lodgings, and pack five-days-worth of luggage into a small carry-on. I'm talking, instead, about that ability to navigate a city that you don't know, that speaks a language you don't know.

And if that's what we're talking about, I'm not so sure that it's because you're necessarily "travel savvy". It might have more to do with who you are, and what you have.

Because you see, I think that how "savvy" you are at getting around depends a lot on the color of your skin. If you're white, especially if you're visiting a country like Japan, I have a feeling that people around town will be a little bit nicer, a little bit more patient, than if you're not white. I have a feeling that it would be different if you were all sorts of other kinds of Asian, or black, or Middle Eastern, especially in a country like Japan.

I think that how "savvy" you are depends on the language you speak. If you speak English, there are probably a number of countries that you can get around in without encountering too many problems. I mean, just look—most of the major signs in large cities are now written in English (or at least in Romanization). If you're a visitor speaking English in Japan, store clerks will at least feel guilty because they think they should be able to respond to you, so they'll probably try a little harder to understand you (and forgive you for not speaking the language of that country).

But if you speak, say, a European language that isn't English, things will probably be a little different. Even comparing something like French with an Eastern European language that isn't identifiable for many, the level of accommodation will probably differ. And if you speak something that is clearly not what's spoken among pale-skinned people, the point at which people "give up" on you will probably come a lot sooner.

I think that how "savvy" you are depends on whether you're male or female, too. Not because men and women are inherently different, or because certain places are more welcoming or dangerous for one or the other—but because, in practice, it's probably a bit easier for men to be traveling than for women, especially when traveling alone. (I have to think about this a bit more—I'm not convinced by my own point, and I don't want to make assumptions about certain environments. It's just...a guess. And there are, of course, different perks to each positionality.)

I think that how "savvy" you are depends on how threatening you look to other people as well. You'll probably receive more welcome if you're small and attractive than if you're somewhat large and burly-looking. I mean, if people can't figure out whether you're safe for them or not, the situation gets a bit dicier.

And of course, I think that how "savvy" you are depends on the amount of privilege that is implied in you already getting to travel in the first place. Maybe it's not that you're "savvy", really, but that you're in a position where traveling is a part of what you (get to) do—and it's really got nothing to do with how practical and knowledgeable you are. And since money speaks volumes, people are probably a lot more accommodating to people who look like they are going to spend some money in their stores.

So the next time I hear someone described as "travel savvy", I'm going to have to wonder—really?? Is it really that you're savvy, or are people just accommodating you because of so many other factors?

Because I think it's probably the latter.


But who knows! I could be totally wrong. I'm curious to hear other thoughts, especially from people who actually do travel...


[The photo is of Nagoya's famous "golden dolphin" in front of the Kirin beer factory. Although...any idiot can see that that thing is no DOLPHIN...]

2015-02-02

夜喫茶 #4: ボンボン

ボンボンは昭和24年(1949)創業の洋菓子屋さんです。甘党の私は既に何度も行ってます。(最初行った時は閉店間際で、それでもケーキ食べてちょっくら仕事して・・・で、お店の人達が感じがよかったです。)

ケーキが美味しいです。飛び抜けて美味しい訳ではないんですが、お店のレトロな雰囲気だけで、「ん〜、幸せ」と感じるお店です。ご夫婦と娘さんで経営している様です。

写真は「アメリカンケーキ」です。何がアメリカンなのかは分かりませんが、まぁとりあえず、そうなんだな〜、と言う気持ちで食べました。(おそらく「シナモン、ナッツ、レーズン」が入って、おまけに「ボリューム満点」だからだと思います。)美味しかった。

他にも色々食べてます。チーズケーキとか、サバランとか。ホント、毎日食べたいです。でも、毎日食べたらおそらく体に悪いです。あ、でも、ランチはカレーやってるので、それでもいいかもしれません。