I'm So Bad... Sorry for not Posting

Sunday, July 31st, 2005 - 8:20 pm

My apologies for not having posted in over a week, but life has gotten really interesting and a bit rough, this past week. But enough of that.

I want to think Peachy for the suggestion on where to park at Wal-Mart and still be safe, and I want to thin CJ for the suggestion on someone to contact for information about Harley Davidson. I will definitely do that.

Joy (another Tennessee Motor Maid) and I went to visit Mildred (a Motor Maid member of 48 years) yesterday. I want to thank her for the wonderful visit and all the information she willingly gave us so that I could scan them. I now have a list of the charter members of the club and a list of all conventions from 40 to 88. The other will be much easier to get. There are a few old Advisorys and newspaper clippings galore. There are also many 8x10 black & white photos of wonderful women and their motorcycles. I can't wait to dive into all of that stuff and start scanning.

However, before I can do that I must make it through the end of this summer session and to Sturgis and back (which I am so looking forward too). Emotionally rough weeks, which this one has been, can really take it out of a person and I need to relax and regroup!!!

Please keep reading and encourage other Motor Maids (or anyone for that matter) to check it out. I will do better about updating it. I promise.

Di

No Such Luck

Friday, July 22nd, 2005 (later)

Well, no luck with the parking ticket. I parked in the "striped" area at a Wal-Mart on a busy Saturday to avoid any possible mishaps with the bike. We've all done it and it really is the safest place to park a motorcycle on a busy Saturday when there are children all over the place and cars racing for parking spaces. Well, I guess the city of Lebanon has jurisdiction over the parking lot at Wal-Mart and they gave me a $97.00 (not $92.00) parking ticket.

I went to court in hopes that the judge would see the logic in this argument, but no such luck. I ended paying $110 for court cost as well. My advice, don't go to Wal-Mart on you motorcycle unless your willing to take the risk of a car hitting it or children getting hurt on it, or in the case of our Wally World, most of the parking lot is on a slope which makes it nice on a hot day when the kick stand sinks into the pavement and tips the bike over.

Back to work,
Dianna

Another Week Almost Gone

Friday, July 22nd, 2005

Yes, it seems like time just doesn't know how to slow down. I have so much to do and it seems so little time to do it. The older I get, the faster time flys. Remember when we were young and thought the day would never come would we would leave home? We couldn't wait to grow up, and now here we are wishing things could slow down just a bit.

Well, I'm off to court to fight a $92 dollar parking ticket for parking my bike in a "striped" area. We'll see how that goes.

Dianna

UUUGGGHHHH

Saturday, July 16th, 2005

Okay, I feel better. I hate, I'll repeat hate, doing one thing would I would rather be doing another. I have spent all day reading for my class in Liberatory Pedagogy when I would much rather be working on my dissertation reading. I guess I got spoiled reading Bike Lust, the book I mentioned in my last post.

The problem with reading what I don't want to be reading is that I let myself get distracted far to easily. If I would just go ahead and read what I want I could probably have done a lot of fun reading along with the reading I'm not so thrilled about. Actually, the Pedagogy reading isn't "bad;" it's really quite informative and thought provoking. But the point is that I did not want to be reading this stuff.

Okay, I've vented. Now I'll start reading the good stuff and hopefully not fall asleep because I've struggled all day to stay awake and read the other stuff.

Dianna

Interesting Book

Friday, July 15th, 2005

I just finished a book by Barbara Joans called Bike Lust. She deals exclusively with the world of Harley Davidson and groups in California, but it is an interesting read. She has an interesting take on both the men and women who are involved in Harley Culture. She is an anthropologist and does a cultural analysis of what she calls Harley culture.

I found it interesting that she said that there are basically no "old-timers" when it comes to female riders. I attempted to email her and ask if she had considered the many women who are still a part of the Motor Maids, but her email address has obviously changed. From what she talks about in the book, it sounds like she is new to riding, and has just begun to study the biking world. She mentions the Motor Maids one time when she says that Harley sponsored the organization. I'm not sure how actuate that is. If anyone has any information about this, please let me know.

Have a great weekend and ride if you can
Dianna

1st Constitution

Thursday, July 14th, 2005

I have been goin over the 1st Constitution of Motor Maids of America and it is surprisingly short. Only seven articles, with 4-7 dealing with the officers of the club, and four by-laws. The first thing that is obvious is the use of the world "girls" instead of "women." Sometimes we forget the changes that have occurred over the last 50 or 60 years until we look at something like this.

Record keeping back then was not meticulous though, and I was wondering if anyone might know when this first constitution was drafted. I'll have to contact the Historian to see if she might know, but if anyone else knows, please comment or email me.

Below is yet another picture from convention. This one is from a trip some of us took over to Bob's BMW in Jessup, MD. Really great bunch of people who gave us the whole tour of the place. Quite impressive. Bob even has a museum.

Movin' Ahead

Monday, July 11, 2005

Being back home seems to always bring routine back into my life. Is that good or bad?? Hard to say, but considering I'm attempting to write a dissertation, I guess some routine is good.

I have a lot to do before now and going to Sturgis on the 6th of August. I am writing my first chapter of the dissertation (which does not necessarily mean it will be the first chapter when all is said and done) on the Motor Maid constitution. Thanks to Kathy, our historian, I have the first constitution, but I definitely could use copies of any after that first one. Any help in this area would be greatly appreciated.

I also just finished writing what is called a "response paper" for my critical pedagogy class, and I have one more writing assignment plus a final project to do for that class, not to mention an annotated bibliography for my dissertation chapter, and all before leaving for Sturgis. Any suggestions on time managment?? :o)

Well, I have pictures from convention that I will begin placing in my post, beginning with the group picture pictured here:

What a Convention

Sunday, July 10th, 2005

One week since my last post. My apologies. I was attending the 2005 Annual Motor Maid Convention in Hagerstown MD. I had my laptop there, but what little time I spent in the room was usually spent sleeping!! It was a great convention, although the hotel left a little to be desired. That fire alarm on Thursday night at 11:00 PM in the rain was exciting!!

I announced during the Welcoming meeting my intentions to write my dissertation on the Motor Maids and begged for any and all assistance possible. I also asked for any assistance possible in gaining access into the Harley Davidson Archives. Thanks to those who spoke with me and are going to attempt to help me with that little project.

There are so many things that I could use. Any and all copies of the Advisory; any and all copies to the constitution as it has changed over the years; any copies of magazine or newspaper articles that people might have saved over the years; and basically anything that has to do with a Motor Maid or the Motor Maids in general.

I AM WILLING TO TRAVEL to just about anyone's house if need be. Just keep in mind that I am a college student and funds are not always easily accessible!!! But I understand that it isn't always feasible to maid things, especially if you have a lot.

Again, thanks for the support. I believe I'll have some exciting news soon.
Dianna

How To Post a Comment

July 3rd, 2005

It dawned on me that posting comments is not the easiest thing to figure out on these blogs. So I thought I list some simple directions in case anyone would like to speak up.

At the bottom of each posting is something that looks like this:
posted by Dianna 10:53 AM 0 comments
To post a comment in response to that days entry, all you have to do is click on the "0 comments" link and another window will pop up that allows you to leave your comments. Once people start leaving comments, the "0" will change to show the correct number of comments left for that particular post.

Feel free to chime in at any time. Especially if you have information that will help me with my dissertation, but any comments are appreciated.

Later,
Dianna