A Conversaton with Elizabeth
1998
Turkle

From:          Elizabeth
To:            larry.m_mixson@bvs.com
Date:          2/25/98 12:43pm
Subject:       Turkle

I wonder if Sherry Turkle is the daughter of Studs Turkle, who was a sort of free lance sociologist writer. He wrote a book I think called "Working" which I read and which was rather dismaying. He interviewed 100's of Americans about their jobs and found sort of an acceptance of being dis-satisfied. I flipped through some of The Social Construction of Reality last night and it talked a great deal of how we construct social realities in face-to-face encounters. There was some discussion of how that differed from what we do in other forms of communication. Basically he seemed to think that except for intentional acts to deceive in the face-to-face encounter that there was more "truth" discoverable. I was trying to relate the discussion to the contemporary practice of rapid fire e-mail which seems to be promoting many intimate on-line relationships. Turkle sounds a lot like she's updated Berger. I'm not certain the libraries here get Wired. If its the current issue I can read it in Barnes and Nobles--one redeeming newly arrived feature of Montgomery--although currently the attorney general of Alabama is attempting to sue the store over promoting child pornography by selling certain art books. Extremely ludicrous, but Alabama.

I've never heard the word "Netizens." I think I'm definitely one. It reminds me of the words Denizens as in Denizens of the Deep, as well as the word Citizens.

I'm glad you told me that about your family and Julie. I don't even remember what your mother looks like, but I remember she seemed to despise me. It was very hard because my self esteem was so battered with Mr. Fred (for some reason I want to call him that) and then it was battered with your family--not you and not your Dad. For instance that "up top" remark. Was your mother big busted or something. I remember I wanted to tell her that all my up top was in intelligence. Oh Well.

My mandala showed I was in a "gathering energy stage" also possibly involving anger, with a lot of motion. I didn't add in my discussion of them that you don't just move through stages and lock in, but that overtime, with different issues, you can cycle back and forth through the stages.
I really want to find that Turkle article and also see if she is Stud's daughter. I bet she is. Berger is very dense at parts, but the book was very formative for me. I would come home from AGH at lunch and read it, and then have a hard time going back to work. Often I would call in sick so I could stay home.

Do you remember Wendy's apartment or house where she lived. We went there. If you remember it, my place looks like that now, which is rather uncharacteristic, but it does. If you don't remember it, I won't tell you.
What will your new job be. Will you still be able to write? Its coming up soon. I found out I will be closed here March 9 because there is construction going on. A lot of people coming in. Need to stop.

Ok, I there definitely was a missing email, as clearly I told her I about a new job, more on that later. About this email first...
 
I think despise was too strong a word about how Mom was towards Elizabeth, I would rather say cold. But I totally understand why she felt that way.  Elizabeth just didn’t meet Mom’s vision of a wife for me which would have been “a nice girl from church” as she would say. Although meeting a “good girl” at the Baptist Student Center would have been OK as my sister met her boyfriend and future husband there. I tried that route, hanging out at the BSC and even dated a girl I met there, but I didn’t find what I was looking for. [link 1973 BSC] Elizabeth on the other hand was a whole different level of woman than the “nice” girls from church or the BSC, she was super intelligent, knowledgeable, and beautiful on top of that, I thought she was perfect for me.
 
Elizabeth’s comment about “up top” I found interesting. Mom was large breasted, she wrote on the opening page of her 1959 diary, “Bust 34”, but I don’t think Mom would have said anything about Elizabeth’s breasts, which I found pleasantly small.  I actually think the whole breast thing with Elizabeth rather came about from Mom’s sister Aunt Dixie.  Aunt Dixie was also large breasted, even more so than Mom and Aunt Dixie had a way of blurting out most anything on her mind with no filters. So I think Aunt Dixie was at Mom and Dad’s when Elizabeth and I visiting and Aunt Dixie, who would have heard all about Elizabeth as in our family such things spread fast, after meeting Elizabeth, probably blurted out some comment about her having small breasts. I remember when Dad was in his 80’s, years after Mom had died, Dixie was visiting and she asked Dad in the most straightforward way, “Do you miss the sex?”. 

RE: Turkle