My New Favorite Magazine

Kelly Marie Deathe

And her alternative names:

The Kellster
You Turkey
Kell-Kell
My precious baby
Best dog ever
Baby girl
Sweetie Pea
You little angel
You stubborn bitch

There's a Munkee in the kitchen...

and he's making something delicious.

A few months ago Munkee took over cooking for the Traylock Flock. He needs no recipe or cookbook, just a few ingredients and the magic happens. You may have read about his wonderful Pot-ato Salad, and above he has created a layered PO-r-T-abella Delight. One time recently he added a chopped hard boiled egg to mac-n-cheez and Wow! Who knew how delicious that could be?

My Future Sister-in-Law's Grandpa

he has such style. :)

Women at Cornell

"According to Morris Bishop (A History of Cornell, Cornell University Press, 1962), women's rights advocate Susan B. Anthony declared that the day Cornell University admitted women on the same basis as men 'would be celebrated by posterity as sacredly as the Fourth of July or the birth of Christ.' Bishop goes on to note that, some three years following Anthony's challenge, Cornell's trustees decided to do just that -- admit women on the same basis as men. The date was February 13, 1872. While celebration of the milestone event was considerably less grand than Anthony thought appropriate, the fact remains: Cornell was among the first coeducational institutions in the country."

• Caroline Baldwin Morrison, Class of 1895- first woman to earn a Doctorate of Science at an American university.
• Susanna Gage- never received formal recognition as an educator and was not an official member of the faculty, but she was a highly regarded embryologist, as well as one of the first women to teach laboratory physics. Her name was listed alongside her husband's in American Men of Science.
• Anna Botsford Comstock, 1880s- respected engraver, illustrated her husband's entomology texts.
• Kate Gleason, 1880s- business woman and a pioneer in developing low-cost standardized housing for suburban expansion. She was the first woman to serve as the president of a bank and the first woman member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
• Pearl S. Buck, Class of 1925 (master's of English)- only American woman to win both the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Pulitzer Prize.
• Barbara McClintock, Class of 1923, MS 1925, PhD 1927- received all of her training as a geneticist at Cornell. She won the National Medal of Science and the Nobel Prize.
• Constance E. Cook, Class of 1943- elected to the New York State Assembly and a leading advocate of abortion reform legislation.
• Joyce Brothers, Class of 1948- respected psychologist and author.
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Class of 1954- first woman faculty member of the Columbia University Law School and second female Supreme Court Justice.
• Janet Reno, Class of 1960- first woman appointed to the position of Attorney General of the United States.
• Toni Morrison, M.A. Class of 1963- first black woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature; Pulitzer Prize winner for Beloved.
• Jane Brody, Class of 1962- internationally known health expert and author.

The rain

I started to record the rainfall with my John Deere Weather Station...but it's just too much.

Stop raining darn it!!!

Cornell: A Staff Perspective

"Cornell is my Rushmore" not only because I loved (note: not "thrived") being a student there, but also because once I eventually did graduate, Cornell became my employer and family.

Since moving to the Hill in 1992, I've worked:

Concessions
Engineering Admissions
Graduate Admissions
International Students and Scholars Office
Alumni Affairs and Development
Campus Information and Visitor Relations
[insert five year hiatus here]
And then back to Alumni Affairs and Development (AAD)

The AAD job in 1997 was really my first "real" one. I set up a retirement account and "dressed up." It was fun! I shared an office with Amy (left), and that's when I met Julie (second to right), Murray, Katy, Cheryl, Lena, and so many others. Twelve years later, the friendships persevere. The jobs are really different. Today is really different. This begins the start of fiscal year 2010 and of the 432 Cornell retirees, 26 are from AAD. Today they won't be there.

Layoffs, budget cuts, "realignments," strategic planning, no more free coffee in Carpenter Hall...
it's weird. None of my bosses, or even their bosses, have ever been through anything like this.

Aside from HR bullshit and bureaucracy, and some other annoying things that may just be a function of a large organization, Cornell is a great place to work. We get a lot of vacation, paid well (compared to other places in Tompkins County), flexibility in the work place, free classes. Nonetheless, I think of leaving at least once a week. I get so pissed off and just want to say "F*ck you Cornell. I did my time." But I'm trying to be optimistic and hopeful that this ick will pass and Cornell will be my Rushmore once again.