Strange and Awkward

No better way to define the day today.

The morning was warm, almost muggy. Yet tomorrow they say snow: three to six inches.

I had a conference call as part of an anthropologist committee I am on. Having people pop in on an ongoing conversation is a bit strange. With all the issues going on with people in the gov't listening to conversations they aren't supposed to, it has made me a little paranoid I guess.

I went to a lecture by one of the leading anthropologists who studies homeless people. It was a smallish group. Who happens to walk in? My psychiatrist with whom I have an appointment tomorrow morning.

By the way, I will throw a set of questions out there for anyone who wishes to answer it (they came up during the lecture today):

When did you first learn about homelessness? Who explained it to you? And how was it explained to you?

Ever since the last post, the Pink Floyd song has been running through my head. Especially that last line: Come on you miner of truth and delusion, Shine! I guess that is the most concise description I have come across for what it is that anthropologists do.

Time for bed.

Shine On

I spent the better part of yesterday and a good chunk of today doing taxes.

Someone does not like me. In 2006 I worked in three different states (MA, RI, and NJ) and I resided in two (MA and NY). Adding it all up, it means that I filed 6 sets of taxes: 1 Federal, 4 State, and 1 City.

And each state has its own convoluted way of figuring out its taxes.

Last year I thought I was so cool because the previous year I worked in WA that doesn't have state income tax. I am paying for it now - in more ways than you can imagine.

Meanwhile, Zephyr is the image of tranquility: she is passed out, stretched out on her pillow, her mouth slightly open, while Pink Floyd's Shine On You Crazy Diamond chills the air. How apropos!

Nobody knows where you are, how near or how far.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Pile on many more layers and I'll be joining you there.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
And we'll bask in the shadow of yesterday's triumph, and sail on the steel breeze.
Come on you boy child, you winner and loser,
come on you miner for truth and delusion, and shine!

Rats!

Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage
Then someone will say what is lost can never be saved
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage

- Smashing Pumpkins,
"Bullet With Butterfly Wings"

My lovely day of being screamed at in Chinese and attacked by giant wild turkeys ended with my new computer's operating system dying.

I called Apple's tech help line and got pressured to purchase the extended help plan before I was given any real help. I would have probably purchased it anyway, but I did not like them preying on the panic one has when there is a computer crash.

As I suspected I had to reinstall the operating system, losing everything that was saved on the computer. While I had not backed anything up officially, since the computer was new there was not much new on it. Most of my files for teaching are also on my computer at work (I email them to myself there). A few pictures are gone and some music, I think. Everything else is still on the old clunker, so I just had to transfer everything over again. Not a good way to spend a weekend, but it could have been worse.

One annoyance is the fact that you cannot upload your music from your iPod back to the computer it is synced with. Your iPod should be a way to backup your music files, but that it ain't.

Sara left to visit her family in New Mexico yesterday. I would have liked to have gone with her, but I just have so much to get done during this coming week of Spring "Break". I drove her to the airport - Newark. It is sad how they have turned airports into mass-hysteria zones. The area outside the "security zone" is a waste land inhabited by transients trying to get to their flights. Even though we arrived at the airport with time, there was absolutely nowhere where we could sit together and wait for her flight. No seats, no restaurants, no cafes, nothing.

Eventually Sara joined all the other departing passengers in the maze leading up to the security check. As I waited to wave one last goodbye, I noticed how the workers herded the people through the chaotic maze as the crowd ebbed and flowed. It really reminded me like cattle being led to the slaughterhouse. You could smell the paranoia. It was probably leaking out of someone's three ounce bottle of liquid in the one quart zip-lock bag.

It turns out that Sara's flight was delayed about an hour and a half. I do think the area in the "secure" zone has more amenities, so hopefully she was able to entertain herself and sit.

Property of Joseph A. Maloney © 2004

The airport experience along with teaching a course on urban anthropology, living in New York city, talking to my mother for the first time in a couple of months (she was traveling around Mexico and out of phone contact), and trying to ground myself over this "break", has made me reflect about the interaction we have with the people around us.

For example, the building in which we live has a lot of nice people, but we really don't know any of them beyond the usually pleasantries we may share if we pass by in the hall or elevator. The people who live below us are a young couple (with Grammy tickets) and a nice dog. We have spoken about getting together for dinner, but it has never come to fruition. Our most meaningful interaction has been picking up each other's mail when we were out of town.

The man who lives above us went to the same university where Sara and I got our Ph.D.s and his sister even has a Ph.D. in anthropology from there (she lives in Brooklyn). How did I learn this? When I went to investigate why water was dripping from our kitchen ceiling and I was happening to be wearing a collegiate t-shirt. We also have spoken of the need to meet up, but have not done so.

And then there are the students with whom I fished through the discarded books in the basement, the friendly and cheerful woman who seems to have a similar schedule as mine since we always seem to be in the elevator together. Our lives pass by yet they never do connect.

Beyond that, one of my colleagues from work lives about a mile away, yet we have only met up a couple of times. I know there are some alumni from my college here, but I have not even come close to looking them up. Even Frankie from this cyber-psuedo-reality lives and works a subway ride away (we were also living in close proximity in Boston) and have discussed meeting up on occasion, but never have done so.

I am not sure where I am going with this. I have no answers. I guess I am wondering if I have become a cog in the social wheel. Have I become trapped in the iron cage of modernity (extra credit to whomever can site the sources of those two references)?

I have become fascinated with rats. I get to see them running in the gutters, scavenging in the subway stations, eating at Taco Bell (the rats are-not me!), and sunning themselves in the park. I even bought this book:


which I hope to delve into over the next week. Perhaps I believe that they might have some answers for me. Either how to survive or how not to become a rodent like them. Dunno...

The gears are cranking in my head. Whether anything good will come from it is anyone's guess.

Highlights from Today [Take 2]

Take 1 was swallowed up when Firefox crashed. It keeps crashing on me - I wonder what is going on. It has been that kind of day.

An old and angry-sounding woman called my cell phone and began yelling at me in Chinese. I tried to tell her that I thought she had reached the wrong number.

I don't think she understood me. She kept calling back and continued the yelling.

Sometimes knowing how to speak Chinese can come in handy.

I wonder if she ever got to yell at the person she was meaning to yell at.

As if that weren't exciting enough, my car was attacked by wild turkeys - while I was driving it.

The turkeys were in the middle of the road, so I slowed down so as not to hit them. As I rolled past them, they charged the car and began pecking the tires. When I stopped, they backed off. There was something about the turning wheels that they did not seem to appreciate.

As I began to move again, they rushed to peck the tires again. I was happy I was in the car. They were rather large birds.

I wonder if someone will make a meal out of them.




Maybe the angry Chinese woman...

Life is strangely interconnected like that.

Stocking up in NJ and taking stock of life


It seems that even though we live in New York, I end up shopping in New Jersey for most of our groceries and other supplies. True, I do work in NJ and I tend to stop to pick up things on my way to or from work. For groceries, though, it is just easier to shop just across the river than trekking down into the city. There is a Whole Foods and funky Japanese grocery just across the bridge. I also saw that soon there will be a Trader Joe's opening up just down the road (I hope they will sell wine there - the one halfway between here and work doesn't).

There is one grocery I do shop at in Manhattan - a funky place wedged under the West Side highway (an elevated freeway).

One of the benefits of shopping at the Whole Foods in NJ is that it allows me to stop and take in that I am actually living in New York City. The parking lot faces the river and it has amazing views of Manhattan. Living in our bubble in northern Manhattan and commuting to work in NJ, it is easy to forget that we are living in this city. I do have to drive over the George Washington bridge to get to work, but usually I am focusing on avoiding trucks and other drivers that I cannot take in the view.

At the Whole Foods parking lot, I can jump over the little dirt divider and take short stroll on the path along the water. Especially if the dogs come along for the ride like they did today. Although usually they are not all that interested in the view: they much rather figure out what it was that washed up along the shore.


Wow, I am living in this crazy city.

East/Spanish Harlem


I am starting a new research project in East/Spanish Harlem (the name is a contentious issue - although soon it might be called Mexican Harlem or Harlemtitlán, but more on that at some other time).

I went down to walk through the neighborhood last Sunday and do some basic observations. I came across this interesting mural that is so rich in symbolism. I am hoping to find who painted it and try to figure out their intentions. That is one advantage of working in Mexican (and Latino) communities they tend to put their thoughts up on the wall in some form of creative expression - whether officially condoned or not.

I just wish I had more time to work on the project, but time is so stretched right now. I am really looking forward to Spring Break which is coming in two weeks.

When you need to go...


How would you feel if they put up one of these down the street from your home?

Way back when...while I was studying in Bologna, Italy. There was something similar on my path between the university and my apartment. There was a little more privacy, but not much.

At first it was a bit jarring, but then I came to understand the benefits after I witnessed the amount of public urinating that took place in other parts of the city. I do admit I made use of it one night following an evening of much wine sampling at a cool jazz bar. It was a long walk home and my bladder was just not big enough.

The pit-stop spot also became iconic of how male-centric Italian society is. Unless a woman has some form of uncanny ability with certain bodily functions, the relief was only available to men. Although someone (female) I knew back then is purported to have been able to urinate off a bridge - there were reliable witnesses.

Anyway, this post just shows that my mind is incapable of writing of any significance. Not that I would otherwise have anything significant to say, but I think under different circumstances I could probably fake it better.

Just asking...

Is the garment I put on Zephyr when we go out in the cold a sweater even though she doesn't sweat?

You know when...

...things are a bit overwhelming and you are a tad burnt out and you still have so much to do? Then you go and waste time by doing nonsense?

Yes, that is what I have been up to.

Taking pictures out of my office window.


I just switched my desk so now I look out on to the park, rather than having it to my left side.


I wonder how much daydreaming a distraction will take place.

That was a rhetorical question.

It will nice witnessing the changes once spring decides to get here. Sara has always had an idea of documenting the eruption of leaves during the one week in spring by taking a picture of a the same tree every day during the week the leaves come out.

Maybe I will do that.

I am always stealing her ideas. That's because she has good ones.



By the way, thanks to all for the kind words of support and encouragement. I truly appreciate them.

Sorry but...

I am taking advantage of a rare snow day when the college was closed to stop by here.

I really needed this day off, but it comes on the day I have two classes that only meet once a week. That is a lot of material to try to make up.

My absence can be explained by the following factors:

• I am teaching four courses this semester. I have come to learn that my limit is probably three.
• I had to give a lecture to the college, which was a bit time consuming.
• I got news that my father, who as most of you know lives in Mexico, had a brain aneurysm. He got to the doctor quickly, had surgery, and seems to have pulled through.
• The news unleashed a flood of emotions stemming from the strange relationship (or one might say lack of relationship) with my father. This is much too complex to go into in a bullet point.
• Dogs.
  
• Developing my urban anthropology course. It has been a trial and error process. For the most part I think it has gone well, but it is time consuming. Last Sunday I took about half the students into New York City.
• Learning how to use a Mac and some of the pitfalls of making the switch from a PC. Overall I am still quite pleased with my choice.
• Grading.
  
• Participating in college meetings, committee work, etc. Even though I am not on tenure track now, it is looking likely that I will be and I need to be active on this front.
  
• Sleep.
• Trying to design a small research project here in New York City.
  

During this time I have missed interacting with online friends. Sherri had a birthday, Frankie had a mini-crisis, Scott might be earning what he really should, Oso has gone intellectual, Red Robin has found good fortune in a job switch, Kelly ran off to an interesting conference and came back sick, heliosphan saw one of my favorite movies and got hit in the head, cindylu went through her own family health stress, and Beaver has been making the world a better place in India. While I shared the experiences, I wasn't able to respond in the way I would have liked.

Maybe I will have carve out a little more time (and energy) to spend time interacting with these friends. It probably will be hard to do. I am thinking of you all, I really am.

Just a nice picture to start off.

Cooking - I enjoy it. Some friends and family members have told me that I should open a bistro or restaurant. I would never want to do that. It would move cooking from something fun to a chore.

Plus people are petty. I just don't want to deal with that, at least not when I am cooking.

Today's dinner was a combination of leftovers. A couple of days back I made some African Groundnut (peanut) Stew, which you usually eat with rice (or plantains or some other starch), but we ate all the rice. However, we did have left over rice from yesterday. It was some Chinese Forbidden Rice (which is a reddish black color) that we had with some Salmon and Fennel. When Sara saw me putting the two together, she said, "Ah Chinese forbidden rice with African stew...fusion!"

That's when it hit me, if I were ever to open an eatery, I would call it Confusion Fusion.

I thought I was clever, but then I googled it and found that I wasn't all that creative at all. Oh well.

The Xoloitzquintle Free University
Lesson 429 - Religions in Chiapas

My mother and step-father are currently undertaking a long road trip in Mexico. They are driving with their fifth-wheel trailer from San Diego to Yucatan. They have already driven down the Pacific coast and are currently in Chiapas.

I get sporadic and brief email updates from them. Recently, their observations have been quite anthropological. I almost feel like an arm-chair anthropologist (definition pilfered from Wiki):

Modern socio-cultural anthropology has its origins in 19th century "ethnology", which involves the organized comparison of human societies. Scholars like E.B. Tylor and J.G. Frazer in England worked mostly with materials collected by others – usually missionaries, explorers, or colonial officials – this earned them their current sobriquet of "arm-chair anthropologists".

There is quite a mess brewing up there when it comes to religion. I already knew about Catholicism replacing/merging with indigenous beliefs and the more recent arrival of Protestant missionaries (mostly Pentecostals, Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses). But according to my mother, there is also an indigenous belief revival. They went to a Catholic church where they were told not to take any pictures or their cameras would be smashed. It turns out the whole service was a traditional belief ceremony.

In her most recent report my mother mentioned the conflict emerging with the growing Muslim population there. I had only heard brief mention of this somewhere, but I guess it is a growing issue.

After looking into it a little more, I also found out that the anti-immigrant movement in the US is already using the phenomenon in its propaganda. Alarmism at its best. When do we send troops to Chiapas? It is better to fight them over there than over here...but wait, they are already over here. They are among us.

I think I will just give up.

Humps are a Bustin'


This semester is really sapping all the energy I have. I am teaching four courses this time around. My first job in Washington state was one course per semester. As was my first semester teaching in Boston. Then I moved up to two. Last semester I taught three.

Four is just too many. I barely have time to think of the next one that is coming up, much less think about becoming involved with the college, my own research, writing, publishing, etc. There was talk that I might only have to teach three each semester next year, but that fell through. It will four and three.

What makes it worse is that should this job become tenure-track (and should I get it), my tenure clock has already started. Now it is not too hard to get tenure at school where I am at, but it is still hard to get anything done that will help make that transition easier. Should I want to try to move somewhere else, it is hard to keep productive research agenda that would make me a possible candidate somewhere else. And last, but not least, I am just not as good as a teacher when I am spread so thin. I start passing on activities, projects, ideas that I would like to do just because I don't have the time and/or energy to plan and prepare them.

Oh well, nothing is going to change. I am just tired and cranky and needed to vent.

Would you expect anything else from me?

You scored as Ecclectic Pagan. A veritable blend of all the pantheons and perhaps a dash of a few other religions as well, you're the versitile Ecclectic Pagan. You have no problem wearing an ankh while setting an offering to Herne on your alter just below your image of Hera. You don't believe in coloring within the lines, and are a bright free-thinker. While you respect the views of your fellow pagans, as far as you're concerned, religion is the sky, and there's no one about to clip your wings with lines and limitations. Ecclectic Pagan 80% Shamanic Pagan 70% Zoroastrian Pagan 60% Eastern Pagan 50% Kabbalistic Pagan 50% Egyptian Pantheonic Pagan 45% Celtic Pantheonic Pagan 20% Greek Pantheonic Pagan 20% Roman Pantheonic Pagan 15% Catholic (Pagan?) 15% Norse Pantheonic Pagan (Asatru) 10% Sumerian, Babylonian, and Mesopotamian Pagans 5% What kind of Pagan are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Once again, this mindless exercise comes to you via Sherri who has saved me from having to power on the few brain cells left functioning in my head after this week.

An Opportunity Lost



Yes, we could have cozied up with the stars at the Grammy Awards, but we won't. We had the chance, but it disappeared this evening.

Our neighbors who live in the apartment below us are a young couple. When we went to San Jose in November, we asked them if they would pick up our mail. Our box is small and even a couple of days worth of mail would have had it bursting. They were kind enough to do that for us.

Last week they asked us to return the favor. It really isn't that much of a chore since their box is about a foot away from ours. In the process of picking up their mail, one envelope caught my eye. Not that I snoop through other people's mail, rather this one had a huge picture of an old style grammaphone and "Invitation Included" in big letters. A few days later there was a large envelope with the same picture and Grammy Awards written next to it.

The guy whose mail we are picking up is a musician who plays in the band for a big name musical on Broadway and has been invited to the Grammys. We could have misplaced that envelope and shown up to the awards with a real invitation. But we didn't misplace the envelope, we gave it to them today when they came to get their mail.

That's ok. I really didn't have anything to wear. Plus the Grammys are kind of boring. Now if there is an envelope with Oscar on the cover...

The State of my Mind: Proof


I have mentioned my feeble-mindedness previously. You may have thought that is was just an excuse I was making for my perverse laziness. Today I offer you proof that I am indeed lacking in mental capacities - especially in the morning.

During our recent (and on-going) eating healthy episode, we have been eating a lot of grains, legumes, and seeds. I bought most of them in bulk at our local chain health food store. Among our lovely offerings, we have partaken of amaranth - which in it original form looks like this:


So this morning I proceeded to make some with some soy milk, apples, cinnamon, and walnuts. You really need to let it cook for about half an hour, but I was hungry so I served myself after about twenty minutes. As I ate my bowl while reading the paper, I noticed that it was rather crunchy...but I figured it was because I had not waited for it to cook fully.

Sometime later when Sara got up, I served her a bowl. She took a bite, looked at me with a perplexed look and asked, "Is this a bowl full of sesame seeds?"

Indeed it was.

Among the other grains, legumes, and seeds I purchased, there was sesame seeds. So I mistook the sesame seeds for the amaranth, cooked a pot of them, nicely seasoned mind you, and proceeded to eat a bowlful of them.

Sesame seeds don't digest very well. Needless to say, I am not looking forward to tomorrow morning.

But I do know now where the amaranth is should I care to have it for breakfast tomorrow.

Feeble-Minded Once Again

[Via Sherri - and I am not linking because you should know where to find her by now...then again she doesn't exist so I don't even need to link her]

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 2 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

So I guess it is just me and my alter-ego.

The Xoloitzquintle Free University

On Line Lesson # 157 - Capitalism around the World

Ideal Capitalism
You have two cows.
You sell one cow and buy a bull.
They multiply themselves, the economy grows.
You sell the herd and retire. You are rich!

American Capitalism
You have two cows.
You sell one and force the other one to produce the milk of four cows.
You are surprised when it falls dead.

Japanese Capitalism
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they have a tenth of their regular size
and produce 20 times more milk.
Afterwards you create cute cartoons called Vaquimon and sell them to the whole world.

British Capitalism
You have two cows.
Both of them are mad.

Dutch Capitalism
You have two cows.
They live together, in a union of fact, they don't like bulls and it's okay.

German Capitalism
You have two cows.
They produce milk regularly, according to standard quantities
and pre-established schedule, in a precise and lucrative way.
But what you really wanted was to raise pigs.

Russian capitalism
You have two cows.
You count them and you see 5.
You count them again and see 42.
You count them once more and find 12 cows.
You stop counting and open another bottle of vodka.

Swiss Capitalism
You have 500 cows, but own none.
You charge to store other people's cows.

Spanish Capitalism
You are very proud of owning two cows.

Italian Capitalism

You have two cows.

One dies and everyone stands around arguing about why it died and who is to blame.

Meanwhile the other cow gets stolen and resold on the black market.

Brazilian Capitalism
You have two cows.
And you complain because the herd doesn't grow.

Indian Capitalism
You have two cows.
And no one get's near them.

Portuguese Capitalism
You have two cows.
One of them is stolen.
The other one was bought through the Social European Fund.
The government creates the "TICV" - "Tax of Increased Cow Value".
An inspector comes and tickets you, because although you paid correctly the TICV, the value was for the presumed number of cows and not of the real amount of cows. The Ministry of Finances, also through presumed data based on your consumption of milk, cheese, leather shoes and buttons, understands you should have 200 cows.
You give the remaining cow to the finance inspector so he overlooks the whole thing and hope to get rid of the situation...

There will be a quiz on Monday. Have a great weekend...

Memes are for the Feeble-Minded...

...and for those who lack the creativity to weave words into innovative and coherent ideas. And that would be me. Moreover, Sherri, in her most perverse state, has tagged me with this one. Because it is rather untaxing, I shall comply.

I have been commanded by the powers that be through the words of their prophet (Sherri) to:

Grab the book nearest your computer. List the Title and Author. Turn to page 123. Read past the first 5 sentences, then read the next three. Type out those three sentences in your blog, then tag three bloggers.

First of all there are books littering my home office and there are multiple volumes that could tie for the honor of being closest to my computer. I shall pick two.

1. Reckoning with Homelessness - Kim Hopper.

All but the last two of those observed or interviewed were by themselves; the exception was a quarrelsome couple who had been living at the terminal for some time. Last, the terminal's homeless poor appear to be much older than the shelter's population. Health problems: Edema and related circulatory problems (e.g. cellulitis) were fairly common, as is often the case with homeless people who go for long periods without elevating their feet.

2. El Otro Lado: Notes from the New L.A., Mexico City, and Beyon - Ruben Martinez

Skept will sometimes ensconce himself in the studio, drawing for days on end. Or he'll go out piecing in the yards. Then there'll be the urge to do a daring, illegal piece on the streets.

So there you have it. I am not sure what the point of any of this is. But that is nothing new and it illustrates how I am trying to find a point to everything.

The last commandment was to tag three people. But because I am a sinner and a rebel (and just part of the rabble-rousing riff-raff), I am only tagging one person: Sara. I hear everyone is doing it, especially the cool people. I also know she won't do it, thus bringing this misguided crusade to the much needed end - at least down this path.

Update: Rats! As I was doing this, Sara has gone and done this silly meme. I know she did it just to prove me wrong (again!). In any case, I refuse to tag anyone else. May I be cursed for the next five minutes or so ...

Took this extremely hard quiz that Sherri mentioned...

...the results were uncanny in how true they were...

...so I entered Sara's facts and they were so spot on I had to post my results here (Sara can post hers if she wants)...

Your Birthdate: September 24

You understand people well and are a natural born therapist. A peacemaker, people always seem to get along when you are around. You tend to be a father or mother figure to friends, even to those older than you. You enjoy your role, and you find that you are close to many people. Your strength: Your devotion Your weakness: Reliance on others for happiness Your power color: Lilac Your power symbol: Heart Your power month: June

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

I just love it that my power color is lilac! Now I know what color my spandex superhero outfit should be.


Blah...I don't want to go to work tomorrow!!!!

Late Sunday Evening...

Sara has updated her blog! It is a intriguing post: I think it shows that we have been going to too many Himalayan cultural events, restaurants, etc.

Random question:
Does a hearse get to use the carpool lane?

Sara and I are on a eating regimen that is supposed to help your body detoxify and recalibrate your metabolism. It is from the book Ultrametabolism. The food is ok for most part, but I am hungry most of the time and I really, really miss bread. Sara also pointed out today that while I thought the regimen was for one week, the books clearly states that it should be done for three! I am not sure what is going to happen with that...

So far I love my new computer.

School starts this week and three of my four syllabi are finished. I was supposed to have the last one done today.

Zeus got a bath instead. As did the bathroom. And Sara.

I really like the podcasts from Mangatune.

If you are in the need to procrastinate, go check out the project being done at the Museum of Sex. It is quite fascinating and anthropological.

That rumbling you hear...yeah, that one...no, it is not thunder...its is my tummy.

A New Beginning ... (or back to where it all started)

I got my first computer at the end of my first year in college. It was a Mac SE that looked like this:


When I started grad school (the first time), I switched to a PC laptop (a 386, if I remember correctly). The old Mac got left at my mom's house where it was used by my sister and eventually made its way to the basement. I liked my Mac, but I was going to Italy and I needed something portable. Laptops were pretty new then - strange thought. It was a funny little thing with its black (more of a grayish green, really) tiny little screen and its fat keyboard/base.

I used the laptop a little my second time around in graduate school, but by then it was already getting a little old and clunky. It got stolen when someone broke into Sara and my first apartment (actually second...but that is a long story). By then, you had to pop the battery out and put it back in everytime you wanted to start it up, whether it was plugged in or not. The joke was on the stupid people that broke in.

I bought a new laptop - a Quantex (PC) a few months later right before Sara (and Zeus) and I went to Italy for the first part of our dissertation fieldwork. That computer lasted quite a while, but it was getting a little clunky and I needed something more reliable when I started to work on my dissertation. I purchased a HP Desktop. The Quantex passed on to Sara who wanted to play with it...something to do with Linux. She didn't really play that much and then it was given a better home by Volume 22's Scott.

The HP had some bugs from the beginning, but who of us is without fault. The computer served me well; somehow I managed to crank out a dissertation on it. It also moved around quite a bit: Providence, Walla Walla, Boston, and now New York. During these journeys, as it exhibited its flaws and its age, I began to think of moving on but I could never justify it. A while back it began to crash more than usual. Then the CD-ROM died, and then the DVD-CD writer. The strange noises got louder and more disconcerting. I knew the time to move on had come. Being the winter break, I had some time to research computers and debate my next move.

And I decided to go back to where it all began...many generations later.

So here it is, my new baby:



May its keys bring me much productivity and success. And may its innards stay healthy and cause few problems for many years.

And this is the first post from it - hopefully there will be many more.

For Sherri

For Sherri

Since she asked and I am a bit swamped right at the moment...

House Cleaning

I got rid of the Bravenet crap in my sidebar. If you still get popups, let me know. I will continue to remove junk until the problem is solved.

In other news, I have not had the wherewithal to write much here. Just needed some time off.

I have been exploring NY with Sara and recovering from the semester and that hellish move last August. I have one more week "off" before the next semester starts. I wish I had three. There is still so much that needs to get done.

A Life in Trash bags

A couple of days ago I noticed workmen taking out bags of trash from one of the apartments that is off the lobby of our building. I thought they might be remodeling it or something.

As I came and went (which if often because the dogs are always pining for a bathroom break), I noticed that the contents of the bags seemed to be mostly books.

A few days later, as I passed through the basement of the building (where the trash receptacles and laundry are) I was stunned to find an enormous pile of clear trash bags full of books. Off to one side there were cartons upon cartons of vinyl records.

I peered through the translucent bags to see what kinds of books there were. I noticed books on language, Judaism, old volumes of encyclopedias, and biographies (mostly of Nazi leaders). I picked up a brand new elementary Japanese language book that was on the surface of the pile. Deeper in the pile I saw a stack of photographs. There was also a box with junk that included an really old Atari computer (it probably had something like 4K memory).

Here before me was someone's life...all in trash bags. Had the person run off? Died? Whatever happened, this was what was left behind.

Being in the middle of my own crazy and hectic week, I held the sense of sadness and melancholy for a few seconds and then let it drift away.

Tonight, when I was taking out the trash, I came across the pile still living in the basement. Rummaging through it were three twenty-somethings. I asked them if they had found something good. It seems like there were quite a few science-fiction classics. I told them that I had some extra boxes if they needed them. They took me up on the offer. When I returned a fourth individual was poking through the vinyl albums amazed at what was there.

Intrigued, I joined the scavenge telling myself that I would get one good book. I came back up with about eight. I picked up some old H.P. Lovecraft paperbacks. Not high quality, but I knew that Sara like HPL. We already had those stories in an anthology, though. I did get a nice hardback H.G. Wells from 1923 or so and a strange book on Magic and Witchcraft iconography.
The other people were certainly taking away more, including many first edition Phillip Dick, Isaac Asimov, and other sci-fi writers.

I asked my fellow rummagers if they knew what had happened. The story they had heard was that the person was carted off to a nursing home and no one wanted to deal with his things. So there they were, hanging out in the basement until tomorrow when they will be taken off to some landfill. From this person's archaeological record, he was some kind of computer scientist interested in space, science-fiction, magic, and languages. He was probably Jewish - maybe a Holocaust survivor or related to one. He enjoyed music and strategy games.

The whole experience has made me think of all the people we pass everyday. As an anthropologist I know each has a story, but this is the first time I have tried to get to know a stranger through their own collection of material culture. Put together a snapshot of a life through the windows of transparent trash bags.

I wonder what story my possessions will say of me someday...

Interlude

I am tired. It has been a long semester after a particularly difficult move after a particularly stressful spring.

Finals are this week. I have lots of grading to look forward to, but I can also count on a little break. A brief moment to catch my breath and find my equilibrium.

A nice surprise made its way to Sara and me recently: a small token of friendship from Sherri that was very much appreciated. It is nice to know that kindness is still floating out there.

Crisis of a Dying Computer

My DVD Player/CD-Writer on my computer died yesterday. I came into my office and it was making some strange noise and the light was flashing in an unsettling pattern.

After shutting down the computer and rebooting, the light changed to red and the computer no longer believes that the drive exists.

I also had a CD-ROM drive that died on me a couple of months ago. The computer still talks to it, but the drive refuses to open up to anyone else.

The consequences of these events are dire. I can no longer put music on my computer from CDs.

The recent failure is just a sign of the fragile health of my computer. I have had this computer for four years now and it is starting to have random fits (old things and people tend to do that). I got it to write my dissertation on (the laptop I had - which is not in the loving care of Scott - was too unreliable to entrust the massive undertaking of a dissertation and the keyboard was just too small for writing 300+ pages). I knew the day was coming when I needed to start considering replacing it.

I think that day is upon us.

What to do? Among my options:

• Get a cheap external hard drive and hope that the computer continues to clunk along for a little longer.
• Get a cheap PC to replace the computer for now.
• Invest in a better PC that will carry me through the next couple of years.
• Switch to a Mac - also a bigger investment.

This is a decision that will have to wait until the semester is over and I can ponder it with a better functioning mind. I will entertain suggestions/advice, though...

Irony of Freedom

It is sad day when students are more free to voice their dissent in Iran than in the US (and the leadership is more willing to accept it).

Do I think there is more freedom in Iran than in the US?

No.

But I do think that the current administration's policy of segregating (at best) and silencing (at worst) dissent is a very slippery slope that we are on.

And despite the last election, we need to remain vigilant.

Moving On

Sometimes it seems like tyrants live forever. Fortunately one has come to pass. Augusto Pinochet has joined the Chileans who died from torture and executions under his watch in whatever awaits us beyond this earthly existance.

I had an uncle when I was very young, about three or four, who was from Chile. I don't remember much about him except that he treated my aunt poorly, he played the accordion, and he used to talk about Pinochet. I do remember asking my parents who this Pinochet was.

This is how I learned the meaning of the words dictatorship, coup, torture, and persecution.
Even my father who is rather conservative, did not have nice things to say about this Pinochet guy. I also thought it was silly for a leader to have a name that was so close to Pinocchio's.

It is nice to see that Chile has moved forward, being the first Latin American country to elect a woman president on her own merit.

And could someone tell me why the Texas flag looks so much like the Chilean flag?

At Work and Being Bad

Thanks to Sherri I am procrastinating and not grading. Mindless fun is just what I need right now...

Working


These days it seems like I am working at at least three jobs (but only really getting paid for one).

1. Teaching: This is what I would consider my day to day job. I have to prepare lectures and activities for my classes, grade, and meet with students regarding the course.

2. Research: Implicit with working at an institution of higher learning, one has to do research and prove the value of said research through scholarly channels; that is, one has to publish or at the very least present the findings.

3. My third job, however, I think comes more out of working at a public institution rather than a private one. Recently I feel like I am also a social worker. I seem to be encountering students with all sorts of problems and issues. Depression is the most common and prevailing issue. Some of them recognize it, while others try to hide it. As someone who suffers from this illness, I can usually recognize it whether hidden or not. Other issues some of my students face: domestic abuse, unwanted pregancies, dyslexia, and deaths of loved ones.

I have mixed feelings about this third job I have been thrust into. These students need help, but often do not know where to get it or are unable to get it. It seems that other faculty seem unsympathetic to their situation (but I am just acertaining that from the way they react to my willingness to listen and help). I let them know that I am not trained to help them with their specific issues, but I can lend an ear and try to help them find help.

Trying to help students with these issues is not in my job description, but I realize that often they are overwhelmed by these circumstances and they are not going to be successful with their education as a result of it. And making sure they are successful IS part of my job description. So what to do? The stream of students coming into my office has grown because as the semester comes to an end, the stress grows, the deadlines loom, and the students crack. The meetings and converstations are draining and time consuming, yet I feel I need to do what I can for them.

Why am I facing this new dimension of the education profession now? It must have something to do with the fact that I am dealing with a broader socio-economic spectrum of students. There are more students that do not have the resources to find and get the assistance that they need. In addition they might even have family situations where there is a lack of understanding of the issues that they face. Moreover, the school itself has less resources allocated to address the issues these students face.

For now I will continue to do what I can. Listen, give advice when asked for, and help find more competent forms of help when needed.


And there are some small rewards: the smile on a student's face who has gotten back on track and is doing well in class when a few weeks before she had been distraught and in tears in my office.

That said, I need a break soon. Just a few more weeks.

To Hell in a ...

I have been meaning to write more here, but I haven't. There are thoughts bouncing around in my head that need to be written, but they aren't. You know the saying about good intentions and pavement. No, wait...the road and good intentions...Damn! How does the saying go?

Forget it.

Among the things I wanted to write about:

• Details about our trip to San Jose
• Our funky hotel in San Francisco
• Some random thoughts about the San Francisco Bay
• My tasty smashed potatoes recipe
• An account of the fun New York City exploration we finally got to do
• And some other things that have hidden in the depths of my mind just now when I wanted to list them
  

But the following things seem to have gotten in the way:

• One of our dogs seems to have bowel problems - very unpleasant in many ways
  
• Tons of grading
• A presentation at a Latino immigration conference at the college (I am debating whether I want to put the text or portions up here)
  
• Accounting (travel reports and receipt chaos)
• Student crisis #1: brother died from skin cancer. Moral-wear sunscreen.
• Student crisis #2: father died in tragic car accident. Moral-wear seatbelts.
  
• Student crisis #3: got pregnant, freaked out, got an abortion, and is estranged from family (not necessarily in that order). Moral-use protection.
  
• Ordering books for next semester
• Submitting paperwork for courses I want to teach in the fall (you gotta love bureaucracy)
• Lack of energy

I am so looking forward to the end of the semester.

Things that Amaze Me:

• I am living in New York and I have not had good pizza (not for a lack of trying)
• Ditto Chinese
• Ditto bagels
• Inwood is a pleasant place to live but has a dearth of good eateries
• It has been four years since I was last in Italy
• Anytime I hear music written by Johan Sebastian Bach
• Ditto Beethoven
• The power and beauty of nature
• My sister is 30 – she will always be kind of a kid in my mind (maybe this is because she has a kindred spirit or maybe it is that she is the shorty of the family). Nonetheless, I do recognize that she is a strong, intelligent, and fun woman.
• We have had Zeus for seven and a half years
• Airplanes
• Most of the first-year students I am teaching were born in 1988 – the year I was deciding where to go to college, got my drivers license, and finalizing my adolescent existential crisis.
• Sara
• My iPod has the same amount of memory as my computer
• One of the most popular video games is about being a vandal and criminal
• Zephyr’s metabolism: she can eat and eat then lounge and sleep all day, yet she remains thin as a pin.
• Water. Not water as to drink, although I do appreciate a good, crisp, cold glass of water, especially when it’s hot or I am really thirsty, rather water in the landscape. Be it a river, lake, the ocean, or even a pond, I find a certain spiritual tranquility when I stand in the presence of a body of water. Some of my favorites: Lake Tahoe, Big Sur, Reykjavik, Capri and the Amalfi Coast, Catalina Island, Tulum, Lago di Como, the west coast of Sweden, Acadia National Park, and Cinque Terre
• I am very close to being in my LATE thirties
• Pre-colonial Mesoamerican architecture
• How much our dogs shed
• The capacity of humans to both love and hate (and how often they can not distinguish the two)
• The ignorance of many of my students when it comes to geography and their apathy on the matter
• The internet

There are myriad more, but I will save them for later.

Just back

And I appropriately did well on the exit exam (thanks Kelly).

You're totally like 78% California!

Ahhh... a true California Aficionado! That's just like a California Avocado but not as green. Come on over and we'll make some guacamole and chips and watch a CHP chase on the news.

How California are You?

More on the trip in a bit.

Do you know the way to San Jose?

Tomorrow we leave for San Jose.

Today was pretty brutal trying to get everything done before we leave. And wouldn't you know it, the world refused to cooperate. For example, the dry-cleaners did not have our order in. Not only that, the attitude-laden girl/woman was so extremely rude about it. Time to find a different dry-cleaner.

Tomorrow is not going to be much better. Up at 5 am (I need to get into work early to take care of somethings in the office before 8 am class), avoid bears in the parking lot (probably upset that they could not find the frat party), two classes, drive home, try to get the dry-cleaning, pack, pick-up Sara, take the dogs to the "doggy hotel", park in the remote Newark lot, find our way to the airport, catch the 7:15 flight to San Francisco, find the stupid shuttle, ride for an hour with stinky strangers, and then collapse. Lots of opportunities for the world not to cooperate there. Let's hope for the best.

I kinda, sorta, almost finished my paper. It is not good, which is disappointing because it has potential. I keep telling myself that I will come back to it. It is hard, though, because you have to face the new things life continues to throw at you.

I am not sure how much I will engage these meetings. I feel so burnt out that I might just stand by the wayside. On the other hand I have this nagging voice (don't you hate those) telling me that I need to be more active in the field. I will see how I feel once I get there.

I am looking forward to seeing my sister. It has been a while since I last saw her.

One saving grace about all of this is that next week I don't have to teach. There is a giant pile of things that have been pushed off until then waiting for me, but for now I am just pretending that said pile is not there.

By the way, does anyone know what there is in San Jose other than the Winchester Mystery House and a bunch of computer geeks?

Lions, Tigers, and ... (well, you know)




I am not sure if this qualifies me for hazard-pay...

A message from the Security Department:

Please be advised that two black bears were observed in the vicinity of the Mansion on campus on Tuesday, November 7, 2006
at approximately 3:30 a.m.

The bears are in search of food and do not usually approach human beings in a menacing manner.

Nevertheless, if you do see a bear, use extreme caution, and do not move toward it. Rather, follow the instructions below and
contact Security at Ext. 6666 immediately.

1. Make lots of noise so that the bear is aware of your presence. An automobile horn is extremely effective.

2. Make sure the bear has an escape route.

3. Stay at least 100 feet away from the bear.

4. Slowly back away if you are too close to the bear.

For further information about living in the vicinity of black bears and
your safety, type the following web address into your browser:

http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/bearinfo.htm

Grounhogs, squirrels, chipmunks, even deer (I saw some the other day), I can deal with. An encounter with a bear as I make my way to class at 7:30 am, maybe not.

Musings

Panic:
There is this pesky paper I need to write and it is hanging over my head like a piñata (credit for that silly pun goes to my sister). It should already be in the hands of the discussant who is to comment on it at the anthropology meetings next week in San Jose (the one in California).

As you may have guessed, it is not done. I am supposed to be working on it today. But here I am.

Elections:
So things went well, for once. It is a step in the right direction, but there are so many things that need to be done. Moreover, just because the Democrats are slightly better than Republicans that doen't mean that we are now all saved. There were disappointments. I was following the race in NM-1 closely which the Republican incumbent eked out. The Senate race in TN showed that racist tactics still work. Speaking of race, I received a poll which had questions about race in politics such as would you vote for a multi-racial or African American candidate? How warm or cold do you feel towards illegal immigrants, welfare recipients, Hispanics, etc.? Good god! I digress...


I was curious to see what voting would be like in The Big City. The polling place was fairly similar to other places I have voted - I went around 2 pm and it was pretty quiet. The voting equipment was MUCH different. They still have the ancient lever machines here in NY. It was my first experience with one of these.

Unlike the shaky corregated plastic "stands" I punched my ballots in California or that I filled in bubbles in Massachusetts and Washington, the machines were large behemoths that stood behind a dense curtain that seemingly was designed to double as a fallout shelter. My pulling of the lever for each of my choices was answered by a lound clank from within the bowels of the machine.



Once I was done with my choices, I had to pull the giant lever at the bottom of the machine. It felt like I was switching the tracks at Railroad station as I moved the lever from right to left. With the giant final clank, I was done.

For once, I was on the winning side of things. The outcome was not close in any of the races, so my vote was not all that crucial. At least I was part of the process.

Celebrity City:
Once again our neighborhood (more specifically the block around our building) is the locale for the filming of a television episode. It is still Law and Order, but this time it is the Special Victims Unit spin-off. While the first time was a novelty, this time it is more of an annoyance. They are definitely taking up more street space than the last time and they have marked off the space where I usually park as no-parking for all of today and tonight. Since I got home last night from class at around 10:30, I could not be bothered to hunt for an alternative space. I just parked the car in a nearby garage.

The kicker is that I don't even really like the spinoff and there isn't a chance of me running into Jesse Martin again.

Ok...time to work on the stupid paper or prepare for class tomorrow.

Preaching to the Choir



Need I say more?

Still not voting? I did not want to resort to this but...


Ok, you called my bluff. I could never hurt a dog. But you should still go vote.

Nope, not combobuluted yet.

Not even close.

Thanks, Beav', for the definitions. It helps to know more or less what you are aiming for.

Sara has been really sick for the past five days. It is a nasty cold or maybe strep. I haven't been feeling too good myself, but next to her I have no right to complain. I am not sure if I am fighting off whatever got her or something else. It has been hard to focus, get motivated, and be productive.

This is not good because I am supposed to have a paper written for a confernce next week. I have ideas that pop up in my head, but nothing concrete. And somewhere between the idea popping up and the effort it takes to get to my desk to start working on the paper, it disappears. So I sit, exhausted from the effort, and end up doing nothing.

I should know by now, after countless years of college and graduate school, I am not going to wake up and find the paper written. So I am not sure what I am waiting for.

Perhaps a break in the time-space continuum?

Hmmfff.

The above description as to my state of mind is also an explanation as to my lack of writing here. Same sequence of events, more or less.

Despite all the poor health, unfocused minds, and general clutter (mental and physical), the dogs went to the vet today and got a clean bill of health. Actually Zeus does have a small heart murmur, but nothing to be concerned about. The vet, a very personable and thorough one, praised their good health and overall cleanliness.

One novelty was that the scope he used to look into their ears projected onto a monitor in the room so I could see the ear canals of my dogs. Zephyr had a little wax in one of her ears, which looked like moss growing on the side of a cave. The three other ear canals look spotless. Too bad they don't have that gizmo at my doctor. I would love to see inside my ear.

I guess I should go and at least pretend to be productive.

Discombobulated

Yes, I am discombobulated.

I am looking for someone who is combobulated so I know what I should be aiming for as I try to get my act together.