Where is Everybody?

What does one do when she or he is sick of grading exams, avoiding writing a paper, and generally trying to evade the demands of everyday life? One goes on line and reads what other people have to say.

Except today, with a few exceptions, everybody seems to have fallen silent. Why? I needed some assistance with my procrastination and only a few of you indulged my needs.

So it was off to Plan B: let's do our taxes! Now you know you are REALLY sick of grading when doing taxes is a better alternative. I even managed to do my Rhode Island state taxes, which by the way is quite a trip down bureaucracy boulevard. Fortunately, Washington State has no state income tax.

The bonus of the evening was to discover that we will actually get a refund, both from the Feds and the state of Rhode Island. Not much, but money flowing in is always welcome. See, as a graduate student I usually got a stipend from some sort of grant or fellowship. While this money is taxable, they don't withhold taxes. So come every April, I had to scrounge around to find enough change under the couch to pay a year's worth of taxes. Having your taxes withheld works much better. Now I could go on for a long time about the inherent unfairness of taxing people who are in school with barely enough money to live while there are corporate swine evading their taxes (we can thank the Reagan Revolution for that change in the tax system) and I could also rant about how depressing it is that the money I did pay in taxes is being grossly misused for all the wrong purposes by our lovely government, but I won't.

Taxes are done, and that is that. The exams are still not completely graded, but I am slowly making progress. It is better that I take my time. If I grade for too long, I get cranky and the grades start to plummet. So it is in the students' best interest that I don't get cranky (and in reality mine too, because with low grades you get a long line out your door with students questioning their grades).

I am certainly ready for Spring Break. It's less than a week away. The scary thing is the amount of things I need to get done before then.

And once again, thank you all for helping me avoid my grading... [please note the caustic sarcasm here]

Oh time machine, where are you?

I am sorry I missed this exhibit.

Sunday Evening

Exams are half graded.
Dog got a walk -
Including a tryst in a fountain on campus.
Paper is still sitting quietly waiting to be worked on
(it better start to complain or it will continue to be ignored by yours truly).
The sun was wonderful.
The flora were blooming.
People frolicked and soaked in the glory of spring.
All the while, however,
My mind continues to drift
To places colder than here.
It longs to be with the one
That brings true warmth to me.

Sunday Morning

Exams wait to be graded. The paper I need to finish writing for a confernce next month sits patiently on my desk without saying a word. Lesson plans for next week need to be drawn up. Yet here I sit, listening to Los de Abajo not accomplishing much.

The weather outside is calling me to leave all this behind and take in some sun. It is hard to resist.

Despite all this I sit around lost in a dream of when I will be back in Boston with my soulmate.

Last night some of my students from last semester cooked dinner for me. It was a nice gesture on their part. Nice people. Although there is something strange that arises as a result of the age difference and a certain power dynamic. It really did not interfere with the meal, but it was there lingering in the background. At least I noticed it.

I should go and try to be productive.

My students had their midterm yesterday. I think it was too long and perhaps a little hard. Students should be challenged, shouldn't they?

This whole issue of grades is one of the few things I just can't deal with in teaching. What exactly are we grading? Effort? Ability? Ability to do what? Reason? Recall information? Apply the concepts? Write clearly? The truth is that in grading I am supposed to evaluate all these abilities (and more) and condense it all down into a letter (grade). Most of it is so arbitrary. Yet what can I do when a student challenges me about a grade? Do I reconsider it? If I do, do I lose my authority? And if I reconsider, do I have to reconsider everyone else's grade as well? It is a hopeless situation.

Academia seems appealing because it allows you to wonder off into far away worlds (real and imagined). When teaching duties call, however, we are pulled back into the reality of being part of the machine - just another cog in the wheel - reaffirming the structure of the social system we live in. I have a problem with that, yet I am in no position to challenge it. At least not yet. Just wait until I have tenure... heh heh...

Ultimately I do rest easy. Most students do get the grades they deserve. I try to keep an eye out for those that don't. If someone gets a better grade than they deserve, well I let it be. However, if someone does worse than what I would expect, I try to find out why. Usually I try to remedy the situation in some manner. Things happen - an unfortunate event before the exam, language obstacles, some people just don't test well...whatever, I don't believe they should be penalized for these issues. I know I can't catch all of them, and most students won't bring it to my attention if I don't. But I try. This is one of many reasons there is grade inflation. You raise the grade of those who deserve it, but you really can't lower the grade of those who don't.

I do need to grade all those exams. This is when I kick myself for not having written a much shorter exam. Will I ever learn?

I indulged my material wants today. I spent the money from the award earmarked for "project equipment". I bought a digital camera and a digital voice recorder. I will get the camera and the student I am working with will get the voice recorder. I am excited because I have had my eye on this camera for a while and I have wanted a digital camera for even longer. So soon I will be posting lovely pictures of myself...ok, maybe not.

Sara and I also had a paper we co-wrote accepted into a volume that will get published sometime in the future (I am learning that these things tend to move very slowly). It is being published in the Netherlands, so we need to go through it and change all the spelling and formatting to the British form. This can be a pain. The paper was a fun one to write: it is on Food and Identity in Italy.

Rejection letters keep streaming in, which is always discouraging even if they are from places I really did not want to go to. I did get a bit of good news, though. I found out today that I might be able to get some part-time teaching positions in Boston next year. The chair of a fairly well-respected university in the area sent me an email where he seemed willing to be helpful. Part-time is not ideal, but it is better than nothing.

It is early Friday night and I am ready for bed. I sure got old fast. Of course, if I had any energy I probably would not do anything anyway. My sweetie is far away and there isn't much to do around here. Perhaps I would do some work and be productive. Nah, I probably would find some better and more creative way to procrastinate than writing nonesense here and then going to bed.

I hope everyone has a good weekend.

I am back in the Pacific time zone, but I am still feeling like I am on East Coast Time (hence three hours later).

I barely made it back because there was a big snow storm the night before I was supposed to leave. Sara and I were both quietly hoping that my flight would get cancelled.

It didn't.

The only good thing about it not getting cancelled is that the dog got picked up from the doggy hotel as scheduled.

My students have their midterm tomorrow. I just finished writing it. It isn't too hard, but I think it is a bit long. I hate exams. I hated taking them when I was a student. I hate writing them now. And I really hate grading them. And this one is not going to be an easy one to grade.

I had a review session today. I asked the students if they had any questions and one just shouted out, "Why, God, why?" I did not have an answer to that one. I told him I would have to get back to him.

Random pondering: I wonder if there is a taxi cab in Boston that does not have it check engine light on.

The daphodils in the yard have started to bloom.

I need to go to bed.

It has been a hectic week.

I am off to Boston tomorrow. While I am not looking forward to the trip there, I am very much looking forward to being there (I am not even sure that makes sense - but at this point I don't care).

I had to drop off the dog at the kennel this afternoon because my flight leaves very early in the morning. He usually stays here during my trips and either a student or my housemates take care of him. Last time I was away, my housemates had difficulties with him, so I told them I would board him the next time I went away. He does get needy when he is stressed and he tends to get into things.

It was so difficult dropping him off. I don't even want to think about it anymore ...

Changing the subject - I submitted to present a paper at a conference in Merida, Mexico last weekend. It was accepted. This week there was a proposed session that looked interesting and I ended up submitting a paper for that one as well. So I will have to present two papers. Great! The good thing is that the topic of the second session is something Sara is interested in and she decided to make an exception to the no travel rule she set up for herself and submitted a paper as well.

It was hard for me not to be too pushy (I still was despite my best efforts). It not only gives us another opportunity to see each other, but it will make the trip fun. I have not been to Yucatan in ages, but I do remember the people there as being the nicest I have ever met in all my travels. The people in Thailand gave them a run for the money and I might even concede a tie. In any case, I was looking forward to going back, but going anywhere without Sara is just not that fun. I understood her reluctance to travel and did not want to force her to go. I was delighted when she decided to submit.

We will have to play hookie at least one day and go see some Mayan archaeological sites. My old neighbors from when I lived in Mexico now live in Merida, so I hope to see them as well. The children of that family were almost like sisters and we did have our sibling rivalries.

Ok, I am off to bed. I have an early wakeup call tomorrow and I need to get some sleep. I probably won't be around for the next couple of days...but that is a good thing - at least for me!

Remember a while back, Sara got stuck in Miami on her way back from Chile because there was a blizzard in Boston?

She had just arrived from an overnight flight and was told that she would probably be in Miami for a couple of days. So she called me and I helped her book a hotel room. All the logistics took a couple of phone calls - collect of course.

I just got my phone bill. It was $117 just for the collect calls! It was over $2 per minute! Now that is just not right. They don't even need a live operator anymore to place the collect call.

I will pay it, of course. And it was still a good thing that Sara was able to call me and I could help her. I am just getting over the shock of a phone bill that is five times higher than what I usually pay (and mind you I am calling Boston a lot!).

Moral of the story: if you have a cell phone, carry it with you everywhere (and avoid AT&T for your collect calls - although all the other companies are probably equally as bad).

In honor of my friend over at The Daily Texican who got awoken by a rooster this morning and witnessed chickens in Austin, I offer you an equal unnatural mix of the rural and urban:


What are these people looking at?

The picture is from when Sara and I lived in Italy. I took it from our apartment's bedroom window. If you look closely, on the hood of the dark car there is a chicken! The man closest to the car is actually a police officer. In classic Italian fashion they stood around for a while arguing about what to do. The police officer made a few feeble and unsuccessful attempts to catch it and then he rejoined the ongoing argument. Eventually an old woman arrived with a cardboard box. She walked right past everyone without saying anything. She put the box over the chicken and took it away [presumably for dinner that evening].

In other news, a student with whom I am collaborating with on a research project and I won an award from the college. The award is to promote joint research between a student and faculty member on the issue of multiculturalism. We each get $1000 and together we get $500 for research expenses.

All that stuff I posted a while back on meat and the workers who bring it to you...that came out of this research.

[By the way, the vote to decertify the union was successful, although the union is challenging the vote. Since the National Labor Review Board is in the pocket of the Bush Administration, it is likely that the challenge will be unsuccessful. So if you are buying Tyson meats or meat products, don't be surprised to find bits of human fingers, flesh, or blood in your food].

It is nice to get some recognition, especially in the wake of some job rejection letters. The money is nice too.

Today I had to make up for yesterday's inertia.

Actually, after getting fed up with my lack of productivity and just about when I got as restless as the dog, I threw on some warm clothes and got out. The dog and I went for a drive. No particular destination - we just headed up into the mountains to see the snow. We went as far as we could before the snow on the road told us it would be a good idea for us to head back.

Sometimes you just need to get out and away. It was quite pleasant, just driving in the snow, listening to loud music. Of course, I think the dog would have liked to have stopped to explore every now and then, but I think he enjoyed the ride as well. On the way back I stopped and got a large caffinated beverage to bring back home with me.

Now I am waiting for a spark of creativity to hit me. In class tomorrow we are discussing an ethnography we read - Tell Them Who I Am - which is about homeless women (and a good read, if you are at all interested). I need to come up with a good way to break up the class into small groups and have them engage the material (the class is too big to have a fruitful discussion). I have been waiting all day for something, but so far nothing. I guess I am overly eager to engage the students after so much lecturing. This means I am putting too much pressure on myself and thus stiffling the creativity.

I am off to watch some teevee while I iron my clothes for the week. Maybe inspiration will hit me then.

Lazy Sunday

Today is one of those days when it is hard to break the inertia of not being productive. There is so much I need to get done, yet the ethusiasm to do it is just lacking.

It is snowing outside. It isn't sticking, but it still is not inviting - much to the dog's chagrin. He really wants to go somewhere. Add that to the list.

There is another list of things I was planning on doing tomorrow but then I realized it is a holiday. Things will be closed and my list needs to be put off until Tuesday.

I am off to look for some energy...maybe there is some in the kitchen.

Donkey II

This is actually the wallpaper on my computer.

Just sitting here with my glass of wine - a good one at that. I would go look up the label for you, but I am too lazy and I am sure you don't really care. Ask if you are interested.

The dog and I went to the nearby reservoir and took a hike around it. No pheasants to chase today and the path was rather muddy. It was good to get out, though. I am finally getting over the stupid cold that had me in its grips for the past week. Everyone at work is getting it now. I am sure that's where I got it. So I probably just returned the favor.

Tomorrow needs to be a productive day. Do you ever have one of those instances when you realize how much crap you need to get done and it is just incredibly daunting? I think I am having one of those right now.

But rather than running off in a panic, my mood is tempered by the calming (numbing?) effects of the wine, the long week, and the fatigue from the hike earlier today.

I am craving chocolate.

I am really craving chocolate.

I should write in Spanish more. Or maybe in Italian. It is annoying though that Blogger doesn't have accents. I can write something in a word processing program and then just clip and paste, but that is annoying. And I am lazy. Yes, I am a very lazy person.

Quiero chocolate. Y mi amor. Extra~o mi amor. [See I hate not having my n+~!]

I rented The Last Samurai about a week ago. I still have not watched it. I probably owe a fortune in late fees.

I am going to look for chocolate. I don't think I have any, but you never know.

Sometimes teaching can be difficult and trying - like the students sleeping in my class today despite my best efforts to make the lecture interesting. However, every now and then you get some encouragement. Yesterday I received the following note from a student who took a course in Culture and Human Development for high school students:

Hi Xolo,
this is [Name Withheld] from your anthropology class this summerat [University Name Withheld]. I am currently taking an AP Psychology course and we just finished a unit on cognative development, where we had to design a preschool curriculum. I of course aced this project thanks to you. I learned so much in the summer about this and I loved reading Preschool in Three Cultures. I just wanted to thank you for making a great impact in such a short time and let you know that I learned things that I am putting to great use. I hope everything is well.

Thanks,
[Name Withheld]

A nice note like this one goes a long way. Thanks, [Name Withheld]!

I have two housemates here. Very nice housemates, by the way.

A strange phenomenon happened today, though. We happened to be eating dinner together and we finished at around 7. At which point the each retreated to their corner of the living room/dinning room, pulled out their cell phones and began calling. Calling and calling...

When they weren't talking, it seemed like they were brainstorming about who else to call.

An hour later, they are still calling and talking.

This is such an alien concept for me. I do spend a lot of time on the phone (for me), but that is because my wife is in Boston. I never have had this near obsession to be on the phone, though.

It is fascinating, though. Always the anthropologist....

For those of you who are new around here, I need to explain the donkey picture. When I lived in Rhode Island last year and had some webspace, I had the donkey picture as the backdrop to my blog. When I moved away this past summer, I lost that webspace and hence now there is a blah white backdrop.

Some people say it is easier to read the text now, others miss the donkey. Perhaps the donkey will return at some point...

...for now, it was a way to play around with my new discovery of "Hello" and "Picasa" which are pretty cool.

===================

Overheard recently at the local taqueria:

The staff working there were talking about the Motorcycle Diaries (in Spanish, of course). Among the issues being discussed were:

• Whether the film was a good adaptation of the book.
• The life of Che Guevara and how his ideals changed after he became involved in Cuba.
• What Marx would have thought of Castro and Che.

Some of the ideas being tossed around were worthy of grad school banter.

I wonder when a similar conversation has taken place at a McDonnalds, Burger King, or KFC staffed by gringo youth.

Donkey is back - kinda...

More on Meat
You may wonder where yesterday's rant against Tyson came from. There is a large Tyson plant near where I am currently living and as I have been doing research on immigrants (mostly from Mexico) in the area, it became an unavoidable issue. Tyson recruits among the foreign community here - it is the only people who are willing to work there. A student of mine has actually been following the case closely as part of some collaborative research we are doing.

As the student and I have discussed the project and where to go from here, I suggested she look into the consumption side. What are people concerned about when they purchase beef? Is there any way to inform them of the struggles and dangers workers in the meatpacking industry face? Would they care?

The only concerns consumers seem to have is the price of meat. For the few who have other concerns, they focus on one of three issues. The quality of the meat, the safety of the meat, or the treatment of the animals themselves. No one seems to think about the workers who labor to bring the cuts of meat to your table.

Let me illustrate. Take a look at the site for Whole FoodsMarket on meat. Now, I must say that I love shopping at Whole Foods (although there isn't one anywhere around here) and I have purchased meat there of very good quality. The page goes into detail how the beef is safe and natural, thus addressing the health concerns the consumer may have. It also discusses how the animals are treated humanely, thus addressing some of the ethical concerns of consumers. There is no mention of the meat packers in the slaughterhouses, however. I don't doubt that Whole Foods is probably concerned with the ethical treatment of workers. The fact that they don't mention it just illustrates that it is not a concern for consumers, even the enlightened Whole Foods consumer.

Consumers are more concerned about the ethical treatment of animals than of people. I am not saying that people are more important than animals, but there should be at least equal concern. Should there not?

It is a sad state of affairs.

------------------

On a separate meat related note. As I was watching television this evening, I noticed a commerical for Pizza Hut featuring the muppets. In one scene, Miss Piggy is about to eat a slice with pepperoni on it.

Is that not cannibalism?

That too just seems very wrong.

Now for something serious...

If you are a vegetarian, you can disregard this post (and know that you are probably living a healthier and more ethical life than the rest of us).

If you are not, then I have a request for you.

Think about where your meat is coming from. If at all possible, avoid purchasing Tyson meats. Tyson is an example of all that is evil in capitalism - profit over the well-being of people.

Tyson's record on workplace injuries is disgraceful. One in four of its workers is injured in the work place. One in four! Meat-packaging is a dangerous job in this country. The pressure to work quickly under stressful conditions with little training make for a deadly cocktail. Yes, those are sharp objects that cut the meat from the carcass. They cut human flesh pretty well too. It is not a surprise that most Americans do not want to take that risk, especially for the low wages that are paid. So most of the workers are foreign, which adds another safety concern: language.

The sad thing is that it does not have to be that way. Other countries have much safer (and cleaner) meat-packaging factories. Greed pushes companies here to have the fastest production at the lowest cost.

Some of the workers at the Tyson plant in Wallula, Washington are unionized and are trying to fight for better working conditions. However, Tyson is resisting their actions and is even trying to decertify the union. I see it as institutional racism, since most of these workers are from Mexico. What is even more depressing is that Tyson seems to have a local Latino businessman in their pocket. This particular businessman is the publisher of the local Spanish newspaper and he has used the newspaper to slander the Union leaders (there is a lawsuit pending).

I am just trying to get the word out in what little way I can. So the next time you stop to buy some meat, think about the people who suffered, perhaps in more ways than one, so that you could purchase it. And think about the people who are profiting from that suffering.

There are alternatives. Eat less meat. Buy meats that are produced by small farms. Look for organic/pasture fed meats. I urge you to pursue these.

If you haven't already, I highly recommend reading Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation.

And if you can, let Tyson know that you refuse to purchase their products until they treat their workers fairly and take an interest in their safety.

I wish I could be more eloquent, but my current state of health is impeding that. Nonetheless, this is something I wanted to get out.

I was in a funk last night.

Now I know why. I was under assault from the forces of illness.

Last night I woke up with the dreaded sore throat. The really bad kind. Rats, I thought to myself, I don't need this right now.

Lecturing today was painful. I could not concentrate on what I was saying. The students probably think I am a total flake. Gone one day and spacy the next.

So it is saline solutions, zinc (Zycam), teas, juices, soups, and sleep for me. There is so much I need to do, but I know I won't be able to do them well if I attempt them now. All I can hope is that I beat the bug before it can settle in my head and air passages.

Gosh, I wish hibernation were an option.

Discovery of the Day: Rusted Root. I am not sure why our paths have not crossed before, but I like them a lot.

I am still pretty tired and out of it. The past few weeks have taken their toll.

There seem to have been some good discussions going on in the blogosphere lately. I am sorry I have been missing out. I'll catch up, but I won't be able to participate. Oh well. I am not sure whether I would have much to contribute given my state of mind.

I spent part of my afternoon out in the yard doing doggy doo doo duty. Yet another thing I fell behind on. At least the sun was out and it was not too cold. In fact some of the plants have decided that spring has arrived. Some bulbs are popping up and a few of the trees have buds. This always happens...the plants think spring is here and winter gives them a good whack by dumping some snow on them and/or throwing some freezing temperatures on them. Winter does the same to me. I am ready for spring.

The days are getting longer for which I am very grateful. Light past five in the afternoon is a good thing.

Enough from melancholy corner here...

Back in the Saddle Again

I have returned to the West Coast and I am missing Sara terribly. On top of that I have to deal with a huge backlog of things that piled up while I was gone.

It is 6:30 and I am still in my office. Mind you that I am still on East Coast time so it is feeling more like 9:30. Bleh.

Word to the wise: if you ever have to travel, Super Bowl Sunday is the day to do it. Boston's airport was almost empty and my first flight (Boston-Salt Lake City) was half full. I did miss the big game, but I really don't care. I got to see the last five minutes or so when I landed in Salt Lake City.

Super Bowl Sunday is probably also a good day to do other things like go skiing, go to an amusement park, or go see some action flick. In other words, anything that may draw a crowd of men and accompanying individuals (kids, wives, girlfriends, etc.).

Ok. I need to get out of here. Tomorrow's lecture will be done on the fly. I just don't have time or energy to write a detailed outline for it. The good thing is that my classes this semester are only 50 minutes each. In teaching terms, that goes by so quickly. I may be eating my words tomorrow....

Sherri over at For Myself and Strangers complains about the phrase "Brutally Murdered" used by television news.

This is just another example of the stupidity of most newscasters (or at least their writers).

Another example. I recently heard one newscaster commenting about the film "Ray":

"Too bad Ray Charles died before the film came out. It would have been nice for him to see it."

Um...think before you speak.

All this travel and "excitement" has really worn me down. However, I am still thinking of traveling.

Why?

Sara won't hear of it. She is done with traveling for a long while. I think that when I conjure up ideas of travel, I am dreaming of plopping myself down on a beach and not having to worry about anything. Wouldn't it be nice to be under some palm trees, sipping a pi~a colada, feeling the warm tropical breezes blow off the salty ocean without a care in the world?

That dream soon disappears as thoughts of reality rush into my head. Reality is exhausting.

Another week gone by.

But what a week it has been.

Last I wrote, it was the eve before I was to leave for Boston to see Sara. That night I got the call that in the back of my mind I always dread getting. At 3:00 am, the phone rang.

"Huh...hello?"
"Hello, this is N."
"Um...N?"
"N from Boston..."

It was Sara's neighbor/landlord.

"I just took Sara to the hospital. She had severe abdominal pain. Here are some numbers for the hospital."

My heart sank. I felt so helpless as I frantically called the numbers. After some dead ends and being passed along, I finally got a hold of Sara. She couldn't talk for long, but let me know that they thought it was kidney stones.

I called around trying to get on an earlier flight to Boston without any success. I called the hospital again and talked to Sara some more. It was so difficult to hear the pain in her voice and to know that she was going through the ordeal on her own. It was going to get worse. After a few hours, she was released - it was kidney stones and they gave her some pain medication. She called a taxi, but it never came. It was snowing in Boston and it is impossible to get a cab in incliment weather. Our landlords and neighbors were at work and we don't know anyone else with a car. She ended up walking home - about a mile - in her pjamas (at least she had a coat), with kidney stones, and on morphine. I sat by the phone waiting for her to call me and let me know that she made it home. I was relieved when she did.

My next concern was to get to Boston. I had to lecture before I left for the airport. I had already called off class for the next day since I was going to be gone (I gave them an exercise to complete instead of lecture), so I did not feel it was right to cancel class that day too. I am not sure how I got through the lecture since I was tired and my thoughts were elsewhere.

Getting to Boston was not easy. I had to connect through Salt Lake City and my flight from there to Boston was cancelled because of the aforementioned snow. I thought I would have to stay in SLC and leave the following morning. The rerouted me from SLC to Las Vegas and then an overnight flight to Boston. I saw if I could get there sooner by flying to Providence or New York. I couldn't.

The flight to Vegas was late. The flight to Boston was late. But I finally made it.

When we landed in Boston, the world outside the airplane's window looked like something out of a documentary about the South Pole. There was snow everywhere and it was blowing across the runway.

It was so good to see Sara, although I could tell she was weak and not feeling well.

After a follow-up doctor's visit I decided that I needed to stay here longer than I had planned. Instead of flying back on Monday (yesterday), I am staying until next Sunday. One of my fellow professors is covering my lectures for this week and my housemates and one of my former students are looking after the dog. I was able to switch my ticket very easily because I will be flying during the Super Bowl.

I am very happy I stayed. We needed to be together after this traumatic event and I have peace of mind being able to be here as Sara reovers. She is feeling better, although she is still sore. Kidney stones are extremely painful. My sister had one about ten years ago. A woman told me on my flight here that she had them a couple of times and that they were more painful than childbirth. The cause? Probably dehydration. Sara was most likely dehydrated: it was hot in Chile, she got a stomach virus when she was there, and airplanes are notorious for dehydrating you. Having to stay a couple of days in Miami probably did not help.

So go drink a glass of water, it never hurts to be hydrated!

Here I am on the eve of leaving again.

What a crazy week it has been. The interview in Southern Cal went well, but you can never predict the outcome of these things. We will just have to wait and see.

The interview process is exhausting and an exercise in repetition. In addition to teaching a class and giving a lecture, I met individually with about 12 people. And they all seem to ask you the same question. Around the sixth or seventh time around it is painful to remain enthusiastic about your reply. All the people seemed nice and genuinely interested in me and my research (and potential areas of teaching).

I did enjoy the warm sunny weather. It was strange to see all the hills and mountains draped in green - they are usually an earthly brown that I don't much care for. The mountains are all capped with snow and the smog was absent so that you could actually see them.

Speaking of weather, poor Sara was supposed to return to Boston on Sunday. After an overnight from Chile to Miami, she found herself stuck at the airport because of the blizzard in the Northeast. I booked a hotel room for her because I was pretty sure she would not make it out. She had to wait until this morning for a flight. I guess it was a blessing in disguise because she also did not have winter clothes since she had been in the summer of the Southern Hemisphere. The time in Miami gave her time to visit a mall and buy a coat. Something she will need this afternoon as she makes her way home from the airport in wind chills that are in the single digits.

All that snow awaits me for tomorrow evening. It is supposed to snow even more tonight and tomorrow. I might find myself standed in some random airport. I hope not.

Upon my return and after worrying about Sara, I needed to prepare for my class. I love teaching, but prep time doesn't excite me. Although without it, you can really bomb. So it has to be done. This week were are talking about place and space.

Here is a question for you: Is cyperspace a place? Why or why not? It is something we will get to in tomorrow's lecture.

I just looked out of my office window into a thick blanket of fog. I then thought about the sub-zero temperatures awaiting me in Boston along with piles and piles of snow. Southern Cal seems very attractive at this time...traffic and all.

I am off to Southern California today. Perhaps it will be sunny there this time.

I am somewhere in between being nervous about the interview and being in denial about it. Perhaps the denial is the way I cope with the nervousness.

The weather here went from cold and snow, to cold and ice - leaving a nice layer of the slippery stuff everywhere, to being 59 degrees. Everything is a nice slushy mess outside. At least the pipe in the kitchen unfroze sometime last night.

I need to finish packing and head off to the airport. Wish me luck!

Dear Dr. King,

I regret to inform you that your dream is not yet achieved. However, I am still committed to fight and struggle for it so that it may yet be reached. Once again thank you for setting the wheels in motion.

With utmost respect.

X

P.S. If it is not too much trouble, could you channel some of your oratory skills to me for my two interview lectures this week? It never hurts to ask, does it?

It snowed last night.

It is still cold and my kitchen pipe is still frozen.

My skin is complaining about the cold, dry weather (it does this by rashing and itching).

The dog caught a squirrel this morning, which was slowed down by the snow or the cold or both. The dog picked it up and snapped its neck because a few seconds later when I told him to drop it, the squirrel was history.

I should be working on my teaching plan for my interview, but I am procrastinating.

I don't even feel like writing here. So I won't...

Random Thoughts on a Late Friday Evening

It's too cold for my chilango butt right now. It is a good thing that I am an academic and I don't need to spend any unecessary time outside - other than walking the dog, of course.

Things are busy around here. Catching up from being away for five weeks, preparing for a new semester, and getting ready for a big job interview have all kept me on my toes.

I am also missing Sara more than ever - if that is possible. She's in Chile and now I can't even hear her voice (she really can't call and email is very sporadic). The good thing is that I am going to Boston soon after she gets back. I am so looking forward to that trip. I am also happy that we are more than halfway through this time apart mistake.

After eating too much and unhealthy foods for the past month and a half, I have decided that it is time to eat healthier food and eat less in general. It has been hard the past couple of days. I have enjoyed all the fruit and vegetables I have eaten, but I find myself craving food a few hours later. Mostly chocolate, of course. Ok, I can't write about this because my stomach is starting to complain and I really don't want to eat another apple or orange.

I should also be doing more exercise, but it is hard when you have so much to do and when it is so cold outside.

The Chilean Red Wine Blend from Trader Joe's is fairly good, especially when you consider it only costs $2.99. I wish we had a Trader Joe's here in town. Alas.

There are more interesting things I could be writing about...but I am not. Is it because I am lazy or because I am tired?

Cynical Observation

Orphaned children as a result of a tsunami - outpouring of compassion and charity.

Orphaned children as a result of AIDS - help dependent on location. Eastern Europe - they get help. Africa and Thailand - ignored.

Orphaned children as a result of genocide - forgotten (i.e. Rwanda).

Orphaned children as a result of war - seldom acknowledged (e.g. Iraq).

Yes, there are needy children everywhere, but why are some object of our attention and others not?

Back in Washington (State)

After four days of driving, I made it back. Now I have to deal with having been gone for 5 weeks. A lot piles up in that time period.

And yes, I am very tired.

Here I am.

I know I have been absent quite a bit. It is hard to make an appearance when you don't have your own computer. Ok, I admit that I have also been a tad lazy as of late. I'm on vacation, though, so it is understandable.

Things have been busy. I am back in San Diego and Sara is in Chile. Tomorrow I start my drive back to Washington despite the forecasts for a horrible storm. These forecasts have intimidated me and led me to plan my trip back along the coast. I do not want to get stuck because of snow-closed mountain passes. The trip will be slower and I am adding an extra day to the journey. If all goes well, I will be back on Wednesday.

In other news...
Just before Christmas I had a phone interview for a position at a college in Southern California. It must of gone well because they have invited me for a campus interview. This means that I am probably among the last 3 or 4 candidates. This is a big confidence booster, but at the same time it has made things much more hectic. I am flying down for the interview less than a week after I get back. Before I do I need to prepare a lecture on my research and teach an Intro to Anthro class. I also had to find someone to look after the dog while I am gone and I still need to figure out what to do with my own class since I will be missing the second and third meetings. Not a good way to start the semester.

During my visit here in San Diego I went to see my best friend from high school's daughter who is in the hospital with cancer. She had a tumor in her leg that has spread. While that tumor has shruck with chemo, she now has cancerous growths in her lungs. To be honest, when she was diagnosed almost two years ago, I doubted that she would live this long. But her outlook is not that good. While we were there, they had to reinsert the catheter in her chest where she receives medications and numerous other fluids. She began screaming and crying even before they touched her. As they inserted the needle, she screamed in a way I have never heard anyone scream. My heart goes out to this child who a couple of years ago was a vibrant and joyful little girl. Now she is a lonely and scared little person in a hospital. I must say though that the Children's Hospital in San Diego is an outstanding institution.

Yesterday I went to donate blood into my friend's daughter's account. It was the least I could do. If any of you in the San Diego area have a pint of blood that you don't know what to do with, please consider donating it at the San Diego Blood Bank - account YG01.

I should get back to my packing. I will be gone for a couple of days again, but I am sure you will all do fine without me. You always do. I will try to make an appearance when I get back to Washington, although things are bound to be hectic and busy.

I hope you all are well.

So here we are at the end of another year. 2004 is in the bucket.

I have never been into New Year's. I just don't believe in arbitrarily creating a beginning and end to something. Why stop on this particular day to think about all the crap (and the occasional good thing) that has happened in the past year? It is also a day in which you are supposed to outline your shortcomings and make an effort to change them starting tomorrow. I really don't need to mutilate my self-esteem in that way.

That said, let me wish you all a good new year. May tomorrow arbitrarily mark the beginning of better things and dreams coming true (as if I would not wish that on you any other day).

---------

In other news, Sara leaves for Chile tomorrow. :-(

I am really excited for her, although I wish I could go with her. I am going to miss her terribly.

I get to hang around in here in Boston for a couple of days before heading out to San Diego on Monday. I was looking forward to getting some sun and not wearing a coat, but it seems like all it seems to be doing down there right now is rain. It is one of THOSE years.

Be good!

If you celebrate it, let me wish you a Merry Christmas, Joyful Kwanza, Solemn Solstice.

Sara and I are not much into the holidays. We get each other some random gifts, but mostly we try to avoid the crowds and find something to do on the days when everything is closed.

When we lived in Providence, we used to go to an Indian restaraunt that is somewhat innovative. I always would get duck with tamarind, figs, and hazelnuts. Yum. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

We debated driving down to Providence today to keep up our "tradition", but we have been down in Providence twice over the past week and we just don't feel like driving down again. We looked around for a new place to go to around here, but really did not find anything. So we are going to cook here.

I have been remembering nostalgically some of the traditional things I used to have during the Christmas season in Mexico: tamales, atole, cafe de olla, and pozole. So we decided to make enchiladas today - New Mexico style (where Sara is from). The best enchiladas are not rolled, but served flat and stacked and topped with a fried egg. In New Mexico, the ongoing debate is whether enchiladas should be topped with Green or Red chile sauce. The compromise is to have them 'Christmas" style: with both chiles, half and half. It seems appropriate to have them that way today.

We are also going to see the Motorcyle Diaries. Also appropriate because Sara is going to Chile in a week.

I hope Santa (or Madman Winter as I call him) brought you all everything you wanted.

Posting is sparse because I have better things to do...

Being in Boston has been wonderful despite the bitter cold weather, bad drivers, horrible traffic, and short hours of sunlight. Can you guess why?

I had a phone interview last week. Yay. I think it went as well as could be expected given that I was talking to eight people at once through a speaker phone. Talk about awkward and confusing...

We are looking to get a new car - the old-defunct-brand car is just too much of hassle. If all works out, Sara will be driving a hybrid soon. Yes, it is cool and environmentally friendly too.

I think I can see a ghost hanging out by the house across the street.

We have attended too many Christmas - er, Holiday Parties.

The troubles of modern day technology.

I was going to post about my drive to San Diego when I got to my mother's house, but I could not remember my Blogger username. You see, on my computer at home I have it set up so it automatically logs me in. I tried every username I have been known to use without success. I then tried to have it sent to me, but I could not remember which email address I used either.

It dawned upon me that I have too many damn usernames and email addresses.

After fussing with it for much too long, I gave up and walked away. No posting about the drive.

Now I am in Boston. I fussed with it some more, then I remembered that I have yet a different email address and low and behold, it worked! So here I am back in cyberworld again and back in New England.

And damn, is it cold here! Yesterday I did not even go outside. Today I will venture out...well bundled.

The semester is over! I collected the papers based on projects the students have been working on. Grades are not due until the 23rd so I can take my time grading them. I got some good feedback about the course, so I feel fulfilled. Now I can really start thinking about next semester's course.

I am not sure if my relationship with contacts is working out or not. I have not worn them all that much. The air has been very dry here, so it makes wearing them all the more uncomfortable. I did wear them to yoga yesterday with mixed reviews. I loved not having clunky glasses flipping around on my face as I moved from one pose to another. However, my contact for the eye that has the flat cornea is weighted so that it moves into a specific alignment. This meant that when I was in a pose where my head was inverted, the contact would start to rotate in my eye. Then it would rotate back as I brought my head upright. Maybe I will get used to having something in my eye moving around, but I am definitely not there yet.

I wore them today to the barber. I am so used to not paying attention when I am getting my haircut, it was somewhat startling to look up and see what was going on. I guess that was pretty cool. Oh, another cool episode involving contacts. I was waiting for a prescription to be filled today. As I sat looking around I completely overlooked the large rotating rack of sunglasses. Then it suddenly dawned on me that I could actually try them on (and see what I looked like). I am definitely going to get some sunglasses soon.

Ok, that's it for the contact lenses stories.

I am avoiding packing...actually, I am also waiting on some laundry. The dog is freaking out about me packing, although I think the stress has finally gotten to him as he is passed out on the floor next to me. It has not hit him that this time he gets to come too. Oh, if I could only speak dog.

Well, boys and girls, this is going to be it for a while. I might post some from Boston, but for the next couple of days I will not be connected, so you are on your own. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves in the comments section below. Have a great weekend and stay out of trouble!

Take the internet away from an academic for a day and her/his world is rendered meaningless.

Yesterday the college's network went down. They had a blackout that broke a router...or something technical like that. In any case, we did not have internet access on campus for a whole day!

My office is in the social science building, so I can only attest to the impact it had there. Perhaps things were worse in the science building. Perhaps no one noticed in the humanities building. These things I do not know.

Personally, it was irritating and annoying not to be able to access information with a click of the mouse. I was working on some job applications and I wanted to look up information about the particular schools I was applying to. No dice. That had to wait. I had a long list of emails I needed to reply to. No dice there either. I did have a few students come in to talk about their term papers, so the day was not totally wasted. Oh yeah, I had to be in my office because I had office hours.

So after working on some cover letters and helping some students, I took to wandering the halls and observing the behavior of the other faculty. It was so amusing. They were wandering the halls not knowing what to do with themselves. A few gloated that they had already collected their term papers and they could spend the down time grading. Believe me, I will never gloat about being able to grade.

We are seriously addicted to the internet. We use it for work and we use it to procrastinate when we are at work.

Is it like that elsewhere? Of course, look who I am asking...no offense.

Today the system was up and running again - with some quirks, of course. They tell us what to do in case of a fire, earthquake, etc. But I think they need to come up with a plan for us for the next time the internet goes down on campus.

==========

In other news, I have two phone interviews for jobs. That's the good part. The bad part is that neither is in/near Boston. One is at Miami University (which is in Ohio - it is the name of the Native American tribe that lived in the area in case you were wondering if just some Floridian's got lost). That interview will probably take place in January. The other one is at the University of Redlands. They wanted to interview me on Monday, but I will be driving to San Diego that day. Ironically, I will actually be driving right past Redlands on Monday. Fortunately, they were able to do it on Wednesday, so I will do it from Boston.

So yeah, I am busting out of here on Saturday. The plans is to drive down to San Diego (which I will do in 3 days because it will just be me and the dog driving) and then on Tuesday I board a plane bound for Boston. This time I get to stay there for three weeks! I know, Boston in December is nothing to write home about, but it is not about the place rather it is about the company.

I am pretty eager to get out of here and see Sara. I hate packing, though, and I really have not started. That is tomorrow's project, along with laundry, haircut, and giving the dog a bath (he needs to smell good if he is going to sit in the car with me for three days!).

I should quit my online babbling and go do something productive.

It is that time of year...the one where you try to take the easy way out and you still end up spending more time on something than if you just did the "not easy way out thing".

That probably makes no sense. I'll try to explain. Because I am wading through grading and other end of semester chaos, I am feeling particularly burnt out and lethargic. Instead of writing something, I thought I would just point out the fact that my stat counter has gone past the 10k mark. I think I said something like, "Wow! That's a lot of visits, thank you everyone for stopping by (and leaving a comment every now and then)." Then I would do something that I have never done here before - write down a poem, which I did. But then blogger ate up my post and swallowed it down to that place where many cleaver and intelligent posts end up when Blogger decides to sabbotage them.

I know, I know, I should have saved it. I even thought of it. But I didn't. So sue me...

Before I get any crankier, I will go to the efforts of writing the poem again.

The Mexican Sangwitch

Is it a tortilla with peanut butter and jelly,
or jalapeños piled on Wonder Bread?
Is it a coney made with tortillas,
or a Kaiser roll smothered
with salchichas y salsa mayonesa?
Is it chorizo con huevo on whole wheat,
or refried beans on white bread?
Is it the patron saint of botanas,
or a Mexican who can only speak English?
Is the same as an American Taco?
Is it a Mexican playing tic-tac-toe?
Is it carne asada on rye,
or guacamole on toast?
Do you really want to know why?
Is it me inside of you,
or you wrapped around me?
Is it a güera dancing with two Mexicans,
or two gringos putting the moves on my sister?
Is it a super sandwich, with the official
ingredients labeled: HECHO EN MEXICO!
Is it a plain sandwich

made by authentic Mexican hands?
Is it true Juan de la Raza invented it?
Is it a moot question?
Are you a lawyer or a poet?
Does the judge really care?

Detroit 7/1990

I wish I could claim the credit for such brilliance, but the honor goes to Trinidad Sánchez, Jr.

Let's see if this works on this second try. I am saving it this time, though!

After some wonderful time with Sara and a quick and hectic visit by my family, I had to return to my duties at the college. Things had piled up and we are now into the busiest time of the semester. Now you understand why I have been scarce around these parts.

There is a lot going through this feeble head of mine that I would love to get down here, but I just haven't found the time nor the energy to do it. I do want to mention the fascinating discussion over at The Daily Texican recently on the term Naco that is used in Mexico. Apparently it is also used in the US by Chicana/os and Mexican-Americans, but I have never heard it used here. I have toyed with the idea of doing research on the term and its use in Mexico City. Perhaps later I will develop my thoughts in this forum and elicit some responses.

This week I also took my class to the Washington State Penitentiary on a fieldtrip. I have a lot of thoughts on the visit that I would like to explore here.

For now I must return to my grading and preparations for my upcoming drive to San Diego and subsequent flight to Boston.

Sara left to go back to Boston this morning and I already miss her very much.

I am sad and I don't feel like writing much.

The carpet here keeps taking a beating thanks to the dog(s), but more on that later.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, if you celebrate it.

Two more weeks and I am back to Boston to be with my sweetie! Yay!

I am back, but Sara is here. So my time is devoted to her [she is napping right now, so I am doing some computer/email sorting].

The trip? Fantastic. More about it later.

Short story:
We took the dog for a walk today on a trail where people also ride horses. When we were not looking, the dog started eating some horse poop. I know, yuck! It's the first time he has done this - and he has been exposed to horse poop on many occasions.

When we got home, I gave him a greenie bone (a bone that brushes his teeth and freshens his breath). I was making some tea when I heard that horrible sound no dog owner ever wants to hear: blurp, blurp, blurp...hack. Yeah, the dog puked the greenie bone, some of his breakfast, and the nasty horse poop he had eaten all over the living room.

Fortunately I had just bought some carpet cleaner. It works fairly well. Although I am going to have to rent a carpet steam-cleaner and shampoo the carpets sometime.

I'm leaving on a jet plane ... (actually, it is a prop plane - the only kind that flies here).

I can't believe I am traveling again today. While I am not looking forward to the air travel, the destination should be lovely.

I was supposed to go to a conference in San Francisco today, but the organizers moved it to Atlanta in December because of a labor dispute at the conference hotel. I was able to get refunds on my registration fee and my hotel deposit, but the airfare was non-refundable and the change fees were almost as much as the plane ticket itself. So I am flying to San Francisco.

Tonight I will visit with my sister who lives there. I finally get to meet her boyfriend of I don't know how many years. Then Sara arrives tomorrow. I am borrowing my sister's car and we will drive down the California coast. I will tell you more about it when I get back. Now I need to finish packing and head off to the airport.

Have a great weekend everyone (aren't you envious that mine starts today?)!

Addendum: I found out that the college will pay for my plane ticket since I was supposed to go to the conference and they were going to pay for that. YAY!

Rich and Powerful People

You would think that certain people who have loads of power and money could afford some basic products to help their public image. For example, why doesn't...

• Condoleeza Rice get braces?
• Dick Cheney get some laxitives?
• Bill Gates get a better barber?
• Donald Trump get a better hairpiece or some hair transplants?
• George Bush get a speech therapist? Same goes for Ahnold...
• The Red Sox get a shaman? Oh wait...they broke the curse this year. They must of secretly gotten a shaman. The Cubs should get one too.

Can you think of any others?

Adventures with Contact Lenses - Part I

I got my contacts on Friday.
Saturday, I managed to get them in my eyes in about 20 minutes.
Sunday, I cut the time to about ten minutes.

This morning I was going to get a haircut. I thought, Great! With my contacts I can now see how the haircut is going. I don't have to wait until the end when I get my glasses back to see the new hairstyle surprise. I gave myself half an hour to get my contacts in. The right side went in pretty easily. The fun began with the left side. I could not get the darned thing in. I pulled my top eyelid back, pushed the bottom eyelid down, wedged my eye open with my fingers. Nothing worked!! Meanwhile I was shedding eyelashes like a mangy dog and dropping the contact like it was a hot potato.

Finally, I got it in. Or did I? I closed my right eye to discover that I could not see through my left. The stupid contact was not in. Damn it! Where did it go? I searched all over the bathroom counter. No, it wasn't there. I looked on the floor without success. The trash where I threw the tissue I used to wipe my tears? I emptied out the small basket with an old toothpaste box, some tissues, and old razor blades. Not there. I looked at my eye, was it stuck under my eyelid? I could not see it.

Time was getting away from me and I had to get to my haircut appointment. So I took the right lense out of my eye and put it back in the case. As I did I thought I fel something in my left eye. I decided to probe way back under my top left eyelid, and low and behold, there was the missing contact. No time to fuss with it then, so back in the case it went and off I went (slowly - read the previous post) with bloodshot and teary eyes to get my haircut (which despite my near blindness during the process turned out ok).

Epilogue: After my haircut, I came back and gave the contacts another try. The right one went in easily again, and after a brutal struggle with the left one, I finally got that one in too. I am not sure if I will be able to deal with this everyday, though.

Misc.

• Got a speeding ticket yesterday. I was going fast, I admit it. The reason? The highway was going from 4 lanes to 2 and I was trying to get by some slow traffic before then. I am sure a lot of people do that and that is why the cop sits where he was. It's the speed-limit from here on out, baby. So if I am late, you know why.
• Before my ticket, I went shopping for films. I bought the aforementioned Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. I also purchased Coffee and Cigarettes, which Sara and I watched together a when I was in Boston. It will be useful for some of the classes I teach. I don't know if I recommend it. I liked it, but it is very strange. And I acquired A Day without a Mexican. I heard about this film a few months ago and I have been eager to see it since then. I will post a review later on.
• It's been too damn foggy around here. On Saturday I went up into the mountains to look for some sun. I found a few peeks. There was also some snow.
• I definitely need to move closer to the Equator. Darkness by 4:30 is no good.

After I watched Before Sunrise, it quickly became one of my favorite films. I saw it when it first came out in 1995 and I have not seen it again since then. The film is about two strangers, a French woman and an American man, who meet on a train. They both get off in Vienna and they share thoughts, affections, and past experiences during one 14-hour tryst. The film ends when the French woman boards a train. They agree to meet back in Vienna in six months without exchanging addresses, phone numbers, or anything.

The film touched the romantic side of me and it was an experience I could relate to. Having traveled alone through Europe while studying there both as an undergraduate and graduate student, I met many people. On occasion I met fascinating women with whom there was a romantic spark (this was before I met Sara, of course), but nothing ever came of these enounters. At most there were some nice dinners and interesting conversation. After these experiences, I would think to myself, "Wouldn't it be cool/romantic if...?" The film was the response to my musing...

Last night I watched the sequel, Before Sunset. The film jumps back into the lives of the two characters nine years later. It answers the question whether these two people met up again in Vienna and it explores what they have done with their lives. I loved this film too. It mutes the naive romanticism of the first film with the cynicism of the realities life throws at you. Yet it also rekindles the romance that lies in the souls of people.

While I don't relate to the direct experiences of the two characters anymore, I do share some of the realizations they discovered as they grew older.

The fact that I thoroughly enjoyed these two movies reveals the consistent struggle within me between the romantic, the pragmatist, and the cynic. I do not know if this makes me a balanced person or one that should be medicated...

After 17 years of wearing glasses, today on a whim while I was at the opthomologist I decided to get contact lenses.

I am not wearing them right now because I am too squeemish to stick them in my eyes. Just kidding. I am not wearing them because my eyes have been poked at enough today.

The process of getting them was not as routine as it usually is. It turns out that my right cornea is flat (I wonder if that would get you out of the draft just like flat feet). Yep, I have defective eyes...they were made in Mexico.

[When I was little there was state run propaganda in Mexico to generate confidence in people to buy Mexican products - which were inferior and rather shoddy thanks to protectionism. The slogan of the campaign was:

Lo que está hecho en México está bien hecho

.

I was hecho en México hence the abnormal cornea.]

.

In any case, the first pair of contacts they put on me did not fit correctly. I had to get a special pair to accommodate my flat cornea. This meant a lot of extra poking in my eyes.

.

It was almost miraculous, however, to be able to see clearly without the borders of my frames (and in my peripheral vision). It was also strange having two pieces of film in my eye. One eye adjusted well (the well-adjusted one?), but the other one complained the whole time (the rebelious one?).

.

I like my glasses, though. I don't think I will stop wearing them altogether. However, I need to get new ones as my eyesight has deteriorated even more sine the time I got this pair - oh, about five years ago.

.

I also found out that I have rather large pupils (it makes sense since I am a rather large guy). This meant that the doctor did not have to dilate my eyes during the exam. A good thing, I suppose. Also the pressure in my eyes (measured during my glaucoma test) is normal in the right eye (of course) and excellent in my left eye.

.

At some point I want to get the contacts that change your eye color. I think that would really throw people off. First, however, I am going to have to get over the squeemishness of sticking foreign bodies into my eyes.

So after telling us that we need to supplement our diet with vitamin E to live healthy, now they are telling us that it will kill you sooner. In that spirit, let me tell you about a few things that are bad for your health:

• Writing a dissertation.
• Being very far away from your sweetie.
• American politics.
• Food.
• Work.
• Driving in Boston (and Rhode Island).
• Following any advice that starts with "A new study suggests..."
• Rugby.
• Medical school (law school and grad school are also bad).
• Unemployment.
• Underemployment.

That's enough for today. Be healthy!

Random Thoughts

I have too much to do!!!

That means I have less time to goof-off. Rats! That is what I do best.

And this jet-lag/time changes is killing me. I am in perpetual space-out mode.

[YAWN!]

It has gotten cold and foggy around here. I don't care for the damp, moist cold. It chills you to the bones. Brrrr...

Today I fought it off with some home-made vegetable soup (healthy too!) and a nice warm fire in the fireplace.

Ok, I am off to curl up under the covers. Maybe the dog will be let up onto the bed tonight...it's just much warmer that way!

I am back from Boston. But I am beri beri tiard...so I won't write much.

Had a lovely weekend with Sara.

Now I have to come back to reality...sorta.

Post-election therapies:

• An hour and a half discussion with my students in class about the outcome, their fears, and their plans. The #1 concern? A return of the draft.
• Satirical jokes: they are floating around the blogsphere - maps, magazine covers, etc.
• Yoga...ahhhhh.
• Brownies and Ben & Jerry's.
• News avoidance. Although I had a peek today: some bits of good news. Specter is ready to use his position in the Judiciary committee to defend Roe v. Wade and Ashcroft is leaving.
• Trip to Boston...where the Red Sox still are the winners of the World Series and my sweetie will confort me (truth be told we will comfort each other).

Back on Monday. Have a good weekend (put this past week out of your mind).

Post election poll...

<---- Check it out.

Fuck...

There is so much to say about the election and the state of the nation, but I am still too pissed off/depressed/upset/stressed to deal.

Fuck, indeed.

It's over.

The Bush machine won again.

This country is so screwed. Unless you are an evangelical (hypocritical) Christian.

I am depressed.

AAaarrrghhhh!!!!

I hate this! I was on an optimistic kick earlier, but now I am very pessimistic.

That map is just too damn red.

There are fishy things going on in Florida (again!) and in Ohio. Is the election being stolen again?

I finally broke out the cerveza. I wish I had tequila though.

It is going to be a long night.

Wha...?

Why are you here?

Go VOTE!!!!

If you already voted, go make sure all the people you know vote. And then make sure all the people they know vote.

Then come back tomorrow so we can all celebrate or cry together (if it is not decided that will be a different reason to cry).

Come on Everyone

Make sure you vote tomorrow! Even if you are in a strongly red or blue state.

And make sure that everyone you know votes. Remind them (as if they would forget). Pester them. Make them pester other people.

Let show everyone that the polls were very wrong.

Then it will be time to heal. Although if the red guy wins, we all know that won't happen. We have had four years to heal and a major event that brought us all together, but look at where we are today.

So go vote (for Kerry, of course - actually vote your conscience, even if it means voting for Bush, just make sure you vote).

New Poll

Check out the new poll. It will only be up today and tomorrow.

By the way, Autumn was by far the most popular season.

FYI

If you don't know where to go to vote, look it up here.

Now you have one less excuse not to vote!

[link courtesy of Elenamary]

It is Friday night and here I am working away on job and grant applications.

The fun life of an untenured anthropologist.

I am bummed that we switch the time on Sunday. It is already getting dark at 6:00 pm, next week it will be 5:00. I need to move closer to the equator. I need my daily dose of sunlight, ten hours at the very least.

I also started using the fireplace in the living room. It is cool having a fireplace that works. The dog likes it too. Curling up in front of it is his favorite evening activity.

My brain is done for the day. I have been looking at my CV too long, writing too many cover letters, fussing excessively over research proposals. I will probably go let my brain decompose in front of the television for a while before I finally let it fade into sleep.

Oh, I forgot to say:

GO SOX!!!

.

.

That was pretty cool, although pretty anti-climactic after the series with New York. Boston had waited long enough, I am happy they get a chance to party now.

Now if only the Cubs could win one.

It's official - the Anthro meetings will be in December in Atlanta. And they will be without me.

And for your information, the hotel in question was the Hilton. I for one will not stay at a Hilton again. I already had problems with knowing that my money (or the college's, since they are usually who pay for these conferences) was going to support the lavish lifestyles of two spoiled girls.

I also have problems with the leadership of our professional association. They really did not respond to the situation correctly. Unfortunately, at this stage of my career I need to remain a member, but I have thought of giving that up as well.

Sara and I now have two tickets for San Francisco that are not refundable (and will cost an arm and a leg to change). So we will just take a romantic vacation to someplace nearby: Napa, Mendocino, Santa Cruz? Any suggestions?

Ok, I am back.

I have been out of town for a conference and then I have been playing catch-up with all the issues that piled up on my desk while I was gone. I still should be doing other things rather than writing here.

The conference went well and the weather in upstate New York was cooperative. It was nice to see the autumn colors and even nicer to spend time with Sara. Getting there and back was a long journey, though. Now I am tired and jet-lagged.

There is a big crisis in the field of American Anthropology. We were to have our meetings in San Francisco next month. Unfortunately there has been an ongoing labor dispute at the hotel we were the meetings were to be held. First the workers had a strike and now they are locked out. Anthropologists, being the progressive bunch that we are, were not about to cross the picket line. Moving the meetings is a complicated matter because we are talking about 5000 people here. The pressures were that the association has a contract with the hotel for a butt-load of money; the union, however, were inflexible in their demand that the meetings be cancelled. The association sent out an email survey to figure out what to do: keep the meetings, cancel the meetings, or try to move the meetings to San Jose. The decision? Move the meetings to Atlanta in December. Huh? That was not one of the options on the survey.

This new option is problematic on many fronts including: 1. The week proposed is finals week for most of us. 2. Most of us have already made our travel plans, including non-refundable airline tickets.

The mayor of SF stepped in to ask for a cooling-off period by both sides. So there was hope that we might be back in SF. The union agreed, the hotel didn't. So we are back to square one.

What makes this more stressful is that Sara and I made visiting plans around this stupid meeting.

Ok. Venting over.

I am finally starting to feel better. Just in time for another trip.

This time I am heading to Clinton, NY for a conference. I will also get to see Sara because she is meeting me there. Yay. For her troubles, she gets a spa day while I attend the conference. I wonder if she will trade...probably not.

I have not gotten around to write about the fieldtrip I took my class on last Friday. The way things are going, I probably won't do it at all. So I will let you have a look on your own. I took them on the Pendleton Underground Tour. We are addressing issues of place, space, and culture, and how these are often politicized. It was good way to make these issues real and tangible. It was fun, even though I was not feeling well.

In other news, there are two more job applications thrown out into the wind.

Tonight I am roasting a chicken I picked up at a butcher that has free-range poultry and pasture fed meats. I brined it overnight and I stuffed it with lemon, garlic, and rosemary. We'll see how it turns out.

After that I have a fun-filled night of grading waiting for me. Woohoo!

As you may have noticed, I have not said much about the election. At this point I have nothing more to add. Saying anything here would just be preaching to the choir. I don't think I have any undecided or Bush-supporter readers. Unless there is a particular reason to warrant it, I will remain mum on the issue for here on out.

I am off to baste my bird!

My health has followed a path similar to the Red Sox. There was some hope, but I ended up getting pounded.

Stupid cold.

I am in the congested with copious amounts of mucus stage. Lovely, isn't it? I am just being forthright - it isn't a pretty picture here.

And I think this is only the preview. I think we are going to have a nasty flu going around this winter. Woohoo, I just can't wait...

There is much to tell, but I am just not in the mood. Plus there is a ton of work that is awaiting me. It has been neglected for quite a while now.

I hope you are all are healthier than me.

The gargled-razorblade throat is slowly fading away, but the illness is migrating up into my nose and sinuses. I am fighting it all the way. The outcome seems to be as close as the upcoming election.

I have been gulping down tea, juice, water, and any other liquid that happens to cross my path. I also have been ingesting massive doses of vitamin C and a steady stream of zinc. Yesterday I chomped on a Thai chile with the hope that it would scare away the germs. That sucker was deceptive: the bottom half was very mild and the top half was firey hot! It was a good way to clear out my sinuses. Maybe I will eat another one with lunch today.

I have so much to do, yet I seem to be in a fog. Today I am taking my class on another fieldtrip. More on that later.

I think I am going to try a power nap.

I am back from Boston.

And I am sick. My throat feels like I gargled with some razor blades.

At least I had a nice time with Sara.

More later.

I am slowly catching up with films I have wanted to see. I guess the recent kick I have been on has been films that address gender issues. Two in particular have stood out:

• Real Women Have Curves
• Whale Rider

Both were fantastic. They are definitely going on my wishlist. The first one really brought back memories of my childhood in Mexico. Little rhymes such as "Sana, sana, colita de rana" and torturing saint figurines when things are not going your way (a little more incentive for the saint to help you out).

I think I can use these two films in classes I teach, although now I think it would be interesting to put together a course based on films. Not necessarily a film class, but where films are the means for illustrating ideas and fostering discussion.

I just need to get a job - a permanent one. I sent out four applications today. Several more are in the works. I hate writing cover letters and printing them out is a pain. I don't have a printer in my office, so I need to use the collective one for the floor. The problem is that it is on the other side of the building. The cover letters need to go on letterhead, so I need to walk all the way over to the printer, put the letterhead in, run back to my office to send the document, all the while hoping no one else on the floor sends a print job, and then go back to pick up the printed letter. Try that a couple of times in addition to walking over to pick up writing samples, CVs, and other documents and you would be kvetching too. Especially if you still had two huge blisters on your heels from your strenous hike the previous weekend. I ended up taking my shoes off and running back and forth in my socks. I am sure I will now be known as that weird prof that runs around the department in his socks. At least the socks I was wearing today did not have holes in them.

One last comment before I head off. In an email today, I offered to help a student brainstorm for ideas for a fundraiser he is organizing. In his reply he wrote:

"I defiantly want to brainstorm ideas with you..."

I am alamred on how rebelious the youth of today is. Ha ha!

Ok, so it is not that funny. Give me a break...I had a long day. And tomorrow is going to be longer...but then I get to run away to Boston. [SMILES]

Veep Debate

It was ugly. It did not make me want to vote (although I still will).

The moderator, Gwen Ifill, was horrible and her questions were poor.

The best and most insightful analysis came from Jessi Klein on cnn.com:

Garfield anyone?
Posted 9:00 p.m. ET
Even though they haven't spoken, just looking at them, I have finally realized who they are...Garfield and Nermal. Cheney is Garfield, the grumpy old fat cat who hates Mondays, and Edwards is the lesser known "Nermal," the obnoxiously too-cute, little kitten with long eyelashes that Garfield hates.

This quiz was pretty funny...and right on [thanks Kristin].


You are Fish 'Tacos.' You might think you're
exotic and worldly-wise, but in reality you're
just a bunch of crap on toast. Repeat after
me: 'just because you put something in
quotation marks doesn't make it so.' And
'taco' isn't Spanish for 'toast.'


What Weight Watchers recipe card from 1974 are you?
brought to you by Quizilla


The result probably has something to do with my mixed cultural background.

Hmmm...I could go for some real fish tacos.

Escape II

Yesterday the dog and I went for a rather intense hike. We hiked from 2300 feet upt to 5800, in a fairly short distance. That is quite a steep grade. The weather was great - maybe a little too hazy for the views from the top.

After the hike we drove around some dirt roads in the mountains and kind of got lost. It was fun except for when we stopped for a bathroom brake (behind a tree, of course) and we were both startled by gunshots (luckily we just had emptied our bladders - so no mishaps). Yep, it is hunting season. I just don't get it. Let's go commune with nature by killing some wildlife. Needless to say, we were quickly back in the car and we got the heck out of there.

Today we are dealing with the fallout: the dog is pretty tired and I have two blisters, one on each heel. Can anyone tell me why blisters hurt so darn much?

Tonight I will have to limp over to campus for a lecture. One not to be missed: Yolanda King, daughter of MLK. I wonder if the power of oratory is genetic. I hope so.

Are you online this Friday evening because you have nothing better to do?

If you want something to truly engage your mind and imagination, grab a a good beer or glass of wine, head over to Oso's and read his belated September 11 post. I suggest putting on some good ambient music - I had on my just-purchased California Guitar Trio album, which was the perfect accompaniment. The post is less about the WTC tragedy and more about the web of human interaction that we are all part of. It is an introspection on how events and people can concurrently be ever so close and so distant. It is long, but indulgingly fascinating.

Of course, you can ignore my suggestion and continue to roam around cyberspace aimlessly...but I still recommend the beer/wine (unless you are a recovering alcoholic or need to drive somewhere in which case drink some lemonade or coffee)...

Juvenile Detention Center

What do those words bring to your mind? Troubled and trouble-making youth probably. Today I took my class on a tour of the local JJC (Juvenile Justice Center) as they call it here. It is a small place, but striking nonetheless. It is a place where every little action and activity is controlled and monitored. It is a place where there is a a constant paranoia of the adolescents committing suicide (and it is not a misplaced one). It is a place that simultaneously dishes out discipline and safety. It is a sad place. It is one of the two worlds these children live in. The other world, the world out here is one that has no structure and no rules...or at least not rules that they understand. The world out here is one of drug-addict parents, missing parents, abusive parents, and alcoholic parents. It is a world that would rather forget these children.

So back and forth they swing from this world to the one in there...until they grow old enough to be put away somewhere else, somewhere more permanent.

Some of these children spoke to us. One fourteen year-old, who has been a meth addict and in and out of this institution told us, "I hate this place, but it is a safe place. I don't like being in here, but things are okay when I am here." I asked her if she would like to have the safety she feels in there on the outside. "That would be ideal," she replied. "But there isn't." Why? Because when she gets out, she does not receive the support she needs to keep her clean, to keep her out of trouble, to heal the mental illness she undoubtedly has; she does not get it from her parents, from her family, from the community, nor from society. Why? She should not be our responsibility. She should take responsibility for her own actions. A fourteen year-old going on thirty five.

Another girl was only twelve...twelve! And she already has been in and out a few times. She was first put in for threatening her teacher. "I did not know I could be put in here for that. But they did!" The children are in upto 30 days. When they get out, they are on probation. Any violation and back in they go. So once they get put in, their lives more often than not become a revolving door. As once girl put it, "Once you're in the hole, you might as well keep digging."

I must say, the staff were all great. They provide discipline, but also encouragement. There is a school teacher who engages the students without alienating them by pushing them to the point of frustration. Reading is encouraged and it is pursued as it is one of the few activities and vehichles of escape. The staff also recognize the artificiality of creating an evironment that is totally controlled. It is necessary, unfortunately.

The solution? As the staff told us, by the children make it there, the damage has been done. They are a bandaid on the bigger problem. More action needs to start at earlier ages. More Head Start, more early Head Start, more parent education and counseling. This is not happening, and in fact the way the political pendulum is moving right now, these things are getting cut.

Poor children - victims and criminals, all wrapped into one.

Debates

The first presidential debate is tonight. To be honest, I don't want to watch. I am afraid. I don't want to know what we are in store for over the next four years.

I will watch, though. I just wish I could detach myself and not think of the implications.

I remember past elections:

Bush vs. Dukakis - Bad vs. Silly

Bush vs. Clinton vs. Perot - Bad vs. Icky vs. Nutcase

Clinton vs. Dole vs. Perot- Ho-hum vs. snore vs. again?

Gore vs. Bush II (vs. Nader) - Snooze vs. Joke (vs. megalomaniac) ...and the joke won? Well, not really, but...

This campaign is characterized by the politics of fear. It is true, there is fear all around. The Republicans are playing upon people's fears, while I fear what four more years of this administration will mean for this country.

Off to my day of teaching about race (a tough task - how do you engage a class that is all liberal, wealthy, and white about race and get them beyond the "There is racism in this country and in the world and that sucks" mentality?).

Ah, I also have yoga today, so at least I will be relaxed for the debate. Perfect timing!

Escapes

I think my transition time is over. I can no longer put all the pressures of life on the backburner and just say to myself, "I need time to adjust to my new environment, to my new situation."

Deadlines are looming once again. With these deadlines I feel the pressure of having to be more productive with my research, with my publishing goals, with my life.

Yesterday I escaped. I went up into the mountains and I hiked around with the dog all afternoon. We tracked some animals (I saw the pawprints and the dog caught the scent), including racoons, deer, and maybe a bear (I would like to think so, although if it was a bear, I am happy we did not see it). We came upon a huge ravine/canyon which almost appeared as if out of nowhere. We hiked up to a peak above the ravine where we stopped for a snack and water. Then it was back to the car, which we used to do a little more exploring. From the top of the ridge we saw the even higher mountains, which were calling us to come explore. But by then the day was done and we headed back to the lowlands.

I hope the weather holds up so that I can escape a few more times before the season changes. Although up there the trees and shrubs have begun to transform their colors, so the transition is on its way.

Winter won't be bad. I am planning on getting a season pass for a nearby ski resort and get reacquainted with the sport. I definitely need to get back into shape before then or my legs might just walk out on me in protest. I also plan on trying some snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. My new roommate is an expert on the latter, so maybe I can get some pointers.

Yes, I will need many escapes. The uncertain future, the huge distance between me and the one I love, the pressures of balancing what I have on my plate now and making the opportunity I have at the moment count, they are all weighing down on me. Escapes will keep me sane. Escapes will give me clarity.

What if I escape and never come back, though? What if...?

For now, I need to get back to my CV, to my lesson plans, to my articles, to my presentation proposals, to the books and articles that await reading, to my grant applications.

But, in less than two weeks I will be in Boston for the best escape of all...