piedras nuevas

well, its the weekend. i spent my friday night (and most of the day, too) reading Capital vol. I. I'm still about 40 pages from the end, but i'm all Marxed out right now. So I decided to do something productive and finally clean maryanne's home.

now her rocks match my big green rug, which is still shoved in a closet. one of these days i'll either put it in the living room or my bedroom. it all depends on other slow-moving decorating decisions. but my big plan for the weekend (other than reading more Marky Marx) is to buy a couch. yes, the ikea couch everyone owns, but i think its about all will fit through the doorway and stairs to this place. and its cheap.

alright...back to the marxercising.

that's the way....

we all know i have a deep love for all things iowan (except football, of course). well, those hawkeyes outdid themselves now! they've finally (though, before the rest of us) wisened up and made good on their constitution's guarentee of equal treatment. who knows how long it will stand, but for now, i've gotta give them props.

[side note: i think that's the first time i've ever used "props" in that sense, and i'm a little embarassed, but i'll let it stand]

sure, missing my yearly iowa trip (and therefore, missing my yearly veggie corn dog) has left me with a soft spot, but iowa is shooting up to the top of my list of favorite states. at least until november 3.

"i'll tell you what's great:
the hawkeye state
of I-O-WA!"

on not leaping to conclusions

just got to give a shout out to my man, the leap, in his comment about larry craig. sure its a tiny snippet at the end of a long article, but its a good way to close. and i'm pleasantly surprised at msnbc for actually consulting a social scientist!

viva los grabowskis!

well, it looks as if, (if they'll let me), the grabowskis may be the subject of a research methods project. i'm still not totally convinced this is the right way to go (being off season and 4 hours away), but there are finer points to the idea (already having rapport, a backlog of data, and a reason to visit). c howe seems to like it. i'll have to contemplate though, how i'll get around the whole participant observation thing....

in other anthropologically related news, i got to return $168 worth of books today. woohooo! of course tomorrow i'm going to have to make another big book purchase, but it shouldn't be quite as substantial. which means i'm closer to totally convincing myself its time to buy a couch this weekend. which means i'll have a place to read other than my bed. which means i might not sleep so much, and actually finish reading things.....ah, its a vicious circle of books, money, and sleep.....

muchos libros

i bought some books today. over $200 worth. most of them seem pretty good. most that is. included in the lot were some darth weber, durkheim diggler, and marky marx. which aren't necessarily my favorites, but aren't as bad as say, bourdon't. or giddy giddens. anyhow, in the mix is some mary douglas, abu-lughod, and my personal favorite, a book called g-strings and sympathy, among a few others.

i also went on a library tour, where i ran into el peruano. the library is tiny! but in a way that means its easier to navigate than the spaceship, and its not under construction like morris. it seems that you have to rely pretty heavily on the consortium, but hopefully that will work out. plus, in the days of online journals, you can do a lot without paper at all, really. i also found out that there are 2 computers with final cut on them, which is handy to know. and dvds can actually be checked out of the library. so once i actually own a dvd player, that will be just lovely.

i had lunch at guapo's with the wolf's namesake, which was nice. yay! friends! i'm gearing up for my first class and meeting with my advisor tomorrow. scary, but exciting, i suppose.

la nell nueva

so, i'm somehow coming out of my shy shell a bit.
i was actually doing a good job of starting conversations with people on friday at orientation, then last night, i made my big move and went to the party alone! and it was great!

it was a small party, with around 10 guests, so it turned out that everyone was basically in one big conversation. which was great, because it was less pressure on me, but i still felt involved. and i met two other people working on "body" stuff. lots of people i think i'll get along with really well.

plus there are a few 1st year people i have high hopes for. i think after visiting carbondale this summer i was really anxious about how the friendship component would turn out. i realized there that mags, kim, tami, jerry, zig, frank, yukitec, etc really were a great crew and how much i really do miss them. which then made me too quick to judge others. i think its all going to work out.

now my major stress is the leap's class. some of the people at the party made me a little worried. mostly because i totally don't get the althussier. i've got time to re-read though. and hopefully no judgements will be made too early into the semester. ah!

el dia primero

today was orientation. i have a few thoughts...
-c. how looks like heather graham
-the leap is as awesome as i remember
-i am quite glad to have made the acquaintance of the vine
-the 1st year students were less than enthralling, but will make adequate friends
(perhaps, some day i'll be good friends with them, and give them the address to my blog, and they will read back-posts, and hopefully won't be offended-because its not a bad thing. just that none of them strike me as my new best friend. no new wives here).

the last few days i've been trying to remember what i was feeling those first days in carbondale.
so, in case i have similar memory problems of my first thoughts here, i will briefly describe the people and my impressions.
-fratty boy with MA from UMD, does some sort of gentrification stuff ("perhaps in latin america")
-peruvian guy who will likely fill the void left by mr. s espinosa, batres, y rodriguez. not as outgoing as the 3 of them, but not as creepy as c-los. and probably the only good conversation i had today. he studies indigenous development in the peruvian rainforest.
-quiet bio girl who studies "the effects of culture on the skeleton"
-former military guy who studies gentrification. he is the subject of the most exciting thing that happened today.
-older woman getting a MAPA studying similar gentrification issues. she is aunt judy's cool doppleganger.
-older (than me) phd guy who's interests i don't remember, but he may have talked me into being his vice president of the CAS grad student council.
-married woman with specs appeal and an MA from Temple who studies tourism
-MAPA girl from florida who seems like someone i would have been good friends with in high school
-young guy who's mom does some sort of massive international public health something. after hearing he lived on the rez for a while, i wanted to talk to him, but after hearing him talk more i was less convinced of this fact
-another woman who's interests i don't recall, but i do remember that she, like most othrers, does US work.
-a young mother who has "good stories" and souvenirs from Zimbabwe, with a Masters in Ed, who is working on public school issues
-Youngish girl from Oregon doing ESL issues, who reminds me of Ra.Lo. vaguely. Someone who i would have known and liked in college, but not necessarily on the inner circle. i'd say she has the most wife potential. but i'm still not convinced.

now, for the most exciting part of the day: we had a little break in between speakers, and it was suggested we stand up and stretch. we complied, and the next thing we knew, one of the guys and fallen to the floor and was having what looked like a ceisure. he got up right away and was confused and didn't know what had happened. emts came and checked him out. he was fine, but it was a little crazy. quite a way to be introduced to a cohort.

anyway, so i'm left contemplating this party tomorrow night. they did seem to go out of their way to invite 1st year students, and i want to meet more people. plus it starts fairly early, so i could do a quick appearance and leave smoothly, most likely, if its awkward. i'm not well-known for my ability to strike up a conversation with strangers, but i figure i can always ask what their specialities (pronounced spe-see-al-i-tees, if you please) are.

google maps failed me

i got my student id today. and it actually looks like me. people tell me all the time my drivers license doesn't look like me. the woman at PP told me "you are much more lovely than that picture." even i can see how much my siu id looks like i paid someone else to be in the picture for me.

afterwards, i set out for target, but google directions kept telling me to turn the wrong way on one way streets, and take exits that didn't exist. but after about 3 determined hours and 4 trips back & forth between dc & va, i finally found it. its actually quite simple. but more importantly, there is a goodwill next door. so i bought a pair of pant to turn into some lovely bermuda shorts, and an alarmclock. which makes me realize i've done a rather poor job lately of buying used when possible. i do have a lot of used furniture which i am glad about, and in the kitchen i'm generally good at reusing. but i've been a poor consumer with clothing.

at target, i got a good fix for my method addiction and bought 2 pinot noirs. mmmmmm......

mi cocina

there have been requests for photos of the apartment.

the kitchen is the only room i'd consider "done" in any capacity.

















the cactus mama H bought me the day i moved into Hobart House


























note the beaker magnet on the fridge



















i'm pretty sure both of these thai food products were purchased in 2003. so i emptied them and reused. pretty, exotic, and recycled!

mixtec, zapotec, xinka, moche, y aguarana

i worked all day yesterday writing little reports on the above mentioned indigenous groups. plus i did a long summary of santeria. i wish my job had involved more of this while i was actually working full time.

afterwards, i was a little burnt out so i opened my $7 bottle of wine. it wasn't very good. but i drank about half of it while watching crappy tv. then i made a frozen pizza, which made the kitchen & living room really hot, so i thought about making it ndt, but being alone, that just seemed a little too pathetic. i went to bed far earlier than usual, but still didn't wake up until the usual time this morning.

i was more productive today. i actually took a shower, and i called some au offices to find out about student ids and parking. oh, what an exciting life i lead.

the district

well, maybe not exactly. i'm not sure what exactly delineates the district from dc. i was under the impression they were one and the same, but clinton, knower of all but deutschland apparently insists otherwise.

anyway, i seem to be somewhat settled. despite my mattress on the floor and lack of couch, its almost homey feeling. and now there is internet! and i went to target today! and i've been doing art projects!

i have plenty of reading to do though. and ms. E. wants me to work more, which i'm not excited about, but should probably do, especially if i want to actually buy a couch. for now, here is my tv chair

i've been seeing megan a lot. well, not a terrible lot, but more than anyone else. i've been quite the hermit in my little basement apartment, that i'm rather growing in love with.

the whole situation reminds me quite a bit of my first days in the dale. forcing myself to take trips into town for one thing or another. spending hours reading books for free at barnes & noble. unbearable heat. hermit-like activities. molly was a nice distraction from that lifestyle, but megan fills the void better. its hard to have so much free time while knowing you're simply on the cusp of no time whatsoever. but i am rather enjoying it. catching up on bravo!'s programming, doing laundry, arranging and rearranging my furniture, strolling through the internet in search of things i would buy for my apartment if i had more money.