This Isn't Just For School

So, I have finally figured out a way to keep up with this blog - make it a school project! It's genius.

In the fall, I intend to do my AHS (Arts and Humanities) Capstone on "feminist engineering". What is that, you ask? Haha! That is what my project will be about. I've taken a couple philosophy classes (spanning Western and Eastern disciplines) so I'm going to be building on that background with a women's studies angle.

My provisional thesis is:
Feminists are often concerned with women’s experiences and the effect of society in constraining and shaping those experiences. Therefore, with so much discussion surrounding the representation of women in engineering, it seems appropriate to bring a feminist lens to this arena.

Personal identity plays a huge role in how individuals interact with society and communities. In this context, what does it mean to balance identities as a feminist and as an engineer? How is that manifested in everyday life? If we approach this from a philosophical point of view, is it possible to do feminist engineering? What is it? Where might it come from?

By overlaying these seemingly disparate identities, we can begin to approach the issue of what it means to belong in engineering and how engineering might change as more and more women enter the field.

In any case, starting in the fall, I will be requiring myself to write one entry per week. Until then, my posts will probably be a little bit less focused and span book reviews to current events to stuff in my twitter feed to the power industry to boats to random things that occur to me.

Anyway, first dilemma: should my blog be anonymous? I can't decide. If I do go anonymous, I'll start a new one - otherwise, I'll keep using this one. I can imagine myself posting things and people getting mad at me for associating Olin with my rants. On the other hand, I hate secrets.

That Healthy Lifestyle I Was Talking About

I'm not sure what I want this blog to be. Or more accurately, I'm not sure what this blog will be.

In a way, it's become one of those things that I want to do, and every once in a while make an effort to do, but never manage to work into my daily routine (ex. yoga, meditation, exercise, washing my face, flossing etc.) It's part of the healthy lifestyle that I envision for myself - one where I write often and fluently, where I am quick-witted and critical, where I have a foundation of solid, well-articulated beliefs.

Somehow, I lost all of these ambitions between motivation and execution. I feel like this happens a lot in regards to my ever elusive healthy lifestyle. Part of it is that I like clean starts - usually this means delaying any change to my daily pattern until I move someplace new and have to change my whole routine anyway. In the process, I forget/lose motivation for all of those little things I was going to do.

I depend a lot on routines. I always feel vaguely uncomfortable in a new place/situation for about a week, until I can develop a routine about it. That's part of why I'm so terrible at being spontaneous - I like to know a little ahead of time so I can adjust my mental routine around it. I'm a lot like my dad that way.

It's also part of why I like boats. Boats always have a routine. It's easy to fall into, from the first day on board. It makes them feel comfortable.