Around the World in 20 Days

Ok. That posting title is as sensationalistic as a National Enquirer headline. Truth be told, I won't even be coming close to circling the globe. But I bet it caught your attention. If you read beyond the headline, you'll discover that Aviva and I have slightly more modest, yet extremely exciting, travel plans that will involve visiting a much smaller portion of the globe.

Aviva left for Germany yesterday afternoon where she'll spend a week visiting family. I'll meet up with her in Paris and we'’ll spend six days exploring the city before going to London for three days. Then, we will meet up with Aviva's parents in Southampton and the four of us will spend six days returning to New York City the long way, on board the Queen Mary 2. It all sounds too incredibly decadent to be true. Once again, I have Fred and Rita to thank for asking me to come along on what will surely turn out to be a fantastic adventure. As the week progresses, I will begin to frantically fill my suitcase, clean up the house for our house/pet sitter, prepare for a conference I'm attending in June, and clean up my office in preparation for my eviction (the one down-side of receiving the Ball fellowship--no office next year.).

My travel plans are complicated by the fact that I am heading directly to Guadalajara, Mexico for the Women and the Silent Screen conference from June 7-10. In fact, in order to save money on the plane ticket, I'm flying out of New York City two days after we return from the cruise. While Aviva, Rita, and Fred will head back to Rochester, I will stay in Brooklyn with my friends and then leave for Mexico on June 6th. The Susan B. Anthony Institute gave me a grant that will cover most of my ticket, but none of my hotel costs, so I'm trying to keep expenses to a minimum. Although I may be too exhausted to fully enjoy Guadalajara, I'm looking forward to seeing Mexico for the first time and I'm excited about attending a conference that will be populated by dozens of silent film geeks.

Just trying to pack the right clothes for such a diverse series of destinations should be a challenge. I watched Aviva struggle with this last week, contemplating what clothing would be appropriate for traipsing through Paris, walking around London, and partaking in the sometimes-formal events on a cruise ship. I have to add clothing that's both cool and appropriate for a professional conference. Actually, I envision myself presenting my paper in a skirt and flip flops! Ok. I'm off to do some writing. I'm hoping to get another 20-odd pages of my Gertrude Stein/Janet Flanner chapter written before I leave town.

Yipeeeee!

I know. My entry title lacks sophistication, but it encapsulates my mood perfectly. I just found out that I was awarded the Raymon N. Ball Dissertation-Year Fellowship for next year. In the Spring, each department in the Humanities and Social Sciences is invited to nominate one doctoral student. Then an inter-departmental committe headed by the Dean of Graduate Studies selects one student to be awarded the Ball. They sometimes award one or two semester-long fellowships to other applicants. I submitted a prospectus and a sample chapter to the committee last month after the Director of Graduate Study informed me that I'd been nominated. I'm very excited because this means I won't have to teach in the Fall or Spring--I can't teach, in fact, as the award stipulates that the recipient must not pursue other employment. Although I love teaching, it's a tremendous relief to know I won't have to spend so much time preparing for classes, grading papers, etc. Instead, I will have the entire year to focus on finishing the dissertation and applying for jobs. Hurray to that first thing and blah to that second thing. Not that I don't want a job; in fact, I want one pretty desperately. I'm just dreading the stressful and demoralizing process of applying for academic jobs.

Identify the American Psychos

Today was the final day of class and I gave my students a quiz. Cruel? No. It wasn't officially graded, and the winners received prizes: first place, a Freud bobble-head doll; second place, Van Gogh's ear in the form of a key chain. See how you do!

1. Identify the Celebrity who most exemplifies the following disorders. Please Note: It is not recommended that you use these definitions to diagnose your friends, family members, or favorite celebrities. As should be clear, these definitions are not scientifically accurate. (But then again, one could argue that neither is the DSM.) Some are adapted from Vanessa Grigoriadis’s “Celebrity Psychos,” an article that appeared in the July 25, 2005 issue of New York Magazine.

A. Exhibitionism: "Celebrities with an exhibitionism disorder tend to favor halter-tops, tattoos, even bare feet." Celebrities who suffer from this disorder often seen more memorable in amateur films than in professional ones.

Brad Pitt Lindsay Lohan Paris Hilton Jennifer Aniston

B. Dissociative Behavior: "Celebrities with dissociative-behavior disorder tend to act in outlandish ways with no knowledge that others perceive these behaviors as out of the ordinary." They are usually oblivious to the fact that others see their behavior as bizarre and remain confident that they know best how to handle any given situation. This disorder is most often seen in megastars with extensive entourages.

Angelina Jolie Tom Cruise Emeril Legasse Gweneth Paltrow Susan Sarandon

C. Dependent Personality Disorder: is often characterized by a tendency to passively allow others to assume responsibility for major areas of one’s life. It often results from a severe lack of self-confidence or lack of ability to function independently.

Liv Tyler Katie Holmes Heath Ledger Keira Knightley Orlando Bloom

2. Which one of these celebrities does NOT embody the following disorder.

A. Body Dysmorphism: "Body dysmorphism often develops in celebrities due to excessive media attention to the celebrity’s secondary sexual characteristics (breasts, buttocks)." The pleasure of the subsequent weight loss often turns to guilt when the media then focuses on the celebrity’s extreme thinness, and on the bad example the celebrity is setting for the nation’s children.

Nicole Richie Lindsay Lohan Mary-Kate Olsen Kate Winslet

3. What famous film depicts the grotesque crimes of a narcissist discusses the artistic merits of Huey Lewis and the News and Whitney Huston, completes a thousand crunches a day, and performs a daily beauty ritual that involves at least eight brand-name hair products? What is the name of the film’s protagonist?

4. In As Good as It Gets, Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson), an unfriendly novelist, attempts to control the world around him with a rigid daily routine and as little human interaction as possible. From which of the following disorders does Melvin seem to suffer?

A. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

B. Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)

C. What disorder? He’s just an asshole

D. Dissociative-Identity Disorder (DID)

5. Jack Nicholson has built a reputation for playing “crazy” people. Name three films that showcase Nicholson’s ability to play such roles.

6. In Copycat, Helen Hudson (Sigourney Weaver), a criminal anthropologist, helps discover who is responsible for a series of “copy cat” murders. Unfortunately, her own psychiatric disorder makes it difficult for Hudson to leave her apartment. Name the disorder from which she suffers:

claustrophobia xenophobia agoraphobia arachnophobia

7. When gangster Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro) seeks medical help for heart attack symptoms, Dr. Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal) diagnoses Vitti with an anxiety disorder. Soon, Vitti becomes so wracked with anxiety that he cannot perform everyday tasks—like offing his enemies. What are the names of the two films that depict the interactions between Vitti and Sobel.

8. In Girl, Interrupted, Lisa is diagnosed as a ______________ and Susanna is diagnosed with _________________.

9. Vincent van Gogh seemed to embody the myth of the “crazy” artist, producing incredible paintings during his lucid periods and residing in sanatoriums during his manic episodes. He’s also famous for the following memorable action: lopping off his own _____________.

10. Some social critics claimed that Larry and Andy Wachowski’s 1999 film, entitled ________________, inspired the “crazy” acts that led to the Columbine killings. On the other hand, Michael Moore’s 2002 documentary sarcastically encourages us to blame the murders on the following recreational activity: ________________.

11. Which of the following authors or artists did NOT (reportedly) suffer from depression?

Sylvia Plath Curt Cobain Pablo Picasso Virginia Woolf Charles Mingus

12. Which U.S. president had a sister who underwent a lobotomy?

John F. Kennedy George H. Bush Jimmy Carter Lyndon B. Johnson

13. What actress appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to publicize her battle with Postpartum Depression, a disorder that, according to the DSM, often includes “depression, thoughts of suicide, an inability to respond to a baby's needs, and delayed bonding.”

14. In Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Norman Bates suffers from what disorder?