More to come, I promise…

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As I discussed in my last post, life is crazy right now. The good news is that I’ve located some childcare assistance. The not-so-good news is that my husband is traveling a lot. So, when I am not solo-parenting, I am spending the bulk of my time on my book manuscript. But, I promise to have another post up in the next month or so. And, I am sure it will be riveting, exciting, and hilarious. Well, I probably can’t promise that. But, it will be something! And, hopefully, it will be informative in some capacity. Until then, be well.

This is Life…

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If someone were to ask me: “How are you? What are you up to these days?” I would probably scream back at them, in a quite frenzied state, “Life! I have been doing life!” Right now, things are stressful…very stressful. I’ll explain the reasons for all that stress in a second. But, before everyone gets all worked up, let me clarify that I am fine. Altogether, things are fine and I am on top of everything. There is no need to worry about me venting. Life is hard. It is hard for everyone. Writing is just one way that I deal with the struggle that is life. Writing allows me to wrap my mind around my thoughts and it helps me to process my feelings.

As I have written about before, I am a stay-at-home parent, which means I am a full-time caregiver to our two, young children. They are now 3 and a little over 1.5 years old. I love them to bits, but (shit) they are a lot to deal with singlehandedly. I have no clue how the stereotype of the bored stay-at-home parent developed (possible future blog post!), because I can tell you that myth is a complete and utter lie. Damn, I wish I were bored. If my problem were boredom, things would be a lot different.

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Shattering the Authority of the Past and Present: Why you should give a damn about Michel Foucault

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These days we are constantly bombarded with the phrase: “Fake News! Fake News!” In the midst of it all, I cannot help but think of Michel Foucault. It seems others have thought of him too—but for strikingly different reasons. Some have pointed out that like the postmodernist school of thought, which Foucault was a part of, the concept of truth is malleable for President Trump. These commentators argue that Trump’s disregard for factual information and his inclination to question the sincerity of settled knowledge, follows the postmodernist assertion that truth is not discovered, but created.[1] Yet, as I see it, anyone who claims that Trump and Foucault seamlessly align on some kind of ideological plane have missed the point of Foucault’s philosophy entirely.

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Breaking the Silence: The Historiography of the Haitian Revolution

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“Why am I just now learning about the Haitian Revolution, especially in a modern European history course? Is it really that significant?” She was a young student. Although I cannot fully remember, I think she was a freshman. I stared back at her desperately trying to pretend that I was not frantically searching my brain for a clear answer. The problem was not a lack of answers; on the contrary, the problem was an overflow of ideas. It was my first semester working as a teaching assistant for a course on the history of modern Europe. At this stage, I still thought that as the instructor, I was supposed to know everything and anything at any given moment. In these early days, my discussion sections felt like twice-weekly pop quizzes.

Returning to the young student, I cleared my throat, broke my silence, and insecurely delivered what I prayed was a satisfactory answer. Gazing at her inquisitive eyes and feeling the other student’s predatory stares, I explained how the Haitian Revolution is significant to our understanding of the French Revolution.[1] I continued: “The Haitian Revolution reveals the inconsistencies within the French Revolution.” Gaining a little bit more confidence, I turned the question back to my class exclaiming, “The Haitian Revolution makes us ask, ‘was the French Revolution about liberty and equality, or was it about private property?” I finished: “It makes us question the nature of revolutionary movements.”

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‘Tis the Season…

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To be stressed out! Seriously. I think the holiday season has to be in the top spot for being the most stressful time of year. This is not going to be one of my typical history-infused posts. If you’re looking for a well-researched, in-depth piece that provides historical perspective for a key issue, try this post, or this post, or maybe even this one.

No, this post is going to be full of ranting and venting from a crazed mother who is listening to her two toddlers screaming their heads off while she tries to write. (Don’t worry their father is watching them.) With that being said, please forgive any typos. I have a small window of time to get this thing done.

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