never trust an archaeologist

i often forget this....and then suddenly, i'm snapped back into the realization that it should be the central tennant of my life.

but that's beside the point.

i was worried c howe was pissed over the copyright situation, but it seemed fine when i talked to her. she also approved of my "hanging out" as participant observation, so a ny/nj visit is planned for sometime soon. class, otherwise, was disappointing. all these wonderful monographs. malinowski, geertz, rosaldo (even mead i can enjoy). but the discussion fell flat. first i had to endure a 30 minute "history of anthropology" lesson, in which i drew pictures of armchairs and elephants. then on to the meat (lentils)! but the class is too full of International Service people and undergrads, and I feel selfconscious dominating the conversation. i kept wanting to say things about reflexive anthropology, the crisis of representation, ortner, chagnon & neel, practice theory, writing culture, but it just didn't work. we were even forced to endure a peer-created activity in which we watched a clip of a "friends" episode and reply to it as a "classic anthropologist" and a post-interpretive-paradigm (post-cadillac?) anthropologist. c. was in my group and i made a good point about reflexivity, but it wasn't repeated to the full group. fair enough.

now i'm home, working on this damn dv project. it should be done by friday, and i'll be relieved. i'm watching top chef and eating a little chic pea salad. and its miraculously good considering the contents of my fridge were chic peas, salad dressing, feta, and yogurt. an inspired combination, perhaps.