Wednesday, July 04, 2007

bleagh (or, tofu and the patriarchy)

thats how i feel this morning, and there are a couple of culprits.

first, i cooked the tofu last night. those with weak stomachs, look away now.

marinating:



cooking:



ready to eat:



it was ok really, a bit tough, and it doesnt really absorb the marinade much. i think i need to buy some really good quality stuff. or else just not bother.

for those wondering what the big deal is, the whole blood pressure debacle made me realise i dont eat enough green stuff, even tho my blood pressure turned out to be fine. i will be 39 this year and i have come to the realisation that you dont just get old one day and die, its a slow lengthy process, and one that needs managing. ergo, if i eat some green stuff it might not be so dramatic. the tofu was added as a red meat substitute. f*** that idea. give me dead animal anyday.

the other culprit for my bleagh-ness is just the usual. i dont like to whinge. (ok yes i do). i know im very lucky to be doing a phd in a field that is of personal interest and hopefully of some longer term social significance. (if i hear one more news story about how young people hanging around in groups or hooning around in cars are un-australian and therefore terrorists im going to go postal and shoot someone myself). but i am soooo sick of the bullshit that goes with academia. let me be more specific, male academia. i have two male supervisors. they both have egos the size of a small planet. one at least knows this about himself and has some reason for his ego, being very well published and well read and intelligent and a very senior respected academic. i have not made his life easy but he gets what i am trying to do and is trying really hard to be supportive. my other supervisor i have blogged about before and wont bore you, except to say there is no warrant for the size of his ego apart from the large chip on his shoulder.

we had a major disagreement (which i had to lodge official documentation about) and then he went on leave and i havent seen him for many months. i have been very happy and productive in that time. yesterday he was back on campus. i thought i would be nice and go say hi. he was just downright rude. so the time away hasnt done anything to reduce the ego or the chip, nor to help him let go of a grudge that is entirely his own fault in the first place.

and then i talk to two other males about how to deal with this and they tell me 'dont worry about it, hes a dickhead'. yes i KNOW this but is it really the case that men just dont worry about anything? do they REALLY not have feelings, or are they just so 'well socialised' that they have them and then really get over them? or, and this is my preferred reading, do they have the same feeelings as the rest of us, but they are supposed to repress and sublimate them, and thats why they go and start wars? and then they think that this is the normal way of being in the world....

so today, tofu and the patriarchy really get my goat, as they say.

on a lighter note, i am only about 4 rows from finishing the baby jacket pieces. i will sew it up over lunch and blog it later today.

k >:(

3 comments:

Jo said...

hmmm, think I might have to develop an allergy to tofu. Dead animals sound much nicer. We have those 'chip on the shoulder big ego guys' in the health system too.

Go out and get yourself a nice big chunk or red meat and cook it rare for dinner tonight.

I'll loan you my voodoo doll if you like,

Dave said...

If you are going to shoot a few people can you let me know i might bring some people down to add to the count.

Bells said...

nasty poo head academics. Yuck.

What kind of tofu did you use? The harder stuff is good for what you're doing but the silky stuff can work really well too and kind of breaks down a little. You should try it.