fin de semana

friday was a really great day. i went with jag and blondie to a congressional briefing on slums. very interesting. apparently brazil has got it figured out (well, more than the rest of the world, at least). no real policy solutions though.

then i noticed hollywood video was closing and bought 4 dvds.

then i read some durkheim.

then i got my stipend check.

then a bunch of us went to heritage india. good times. the first picture of me in dc was taken.

today was less exciting, with the bank telling me my check wouldn't be avaliable for 5 business days, and plenty more durkheiming. but i'm done now! at least until i have to write about him. but that's a good 5 days away. i also cleaned my kitchen today and did some cabinet rearranging. it was much needed. oh, how i love method.

to end the day, i watched volver, finally, and it was pretty wonderful. i want to watch it with my mom & lou. speaking of which, its mamaH's birthday today. which means mine is less than a month away. i think i'm going to buy myself a pair of nice jeans for the occasion. its probably time to start a search. away we go....

el peru y escuela

apparently, crazy things have been happening in el Peru lately. apparently a meteor is causing all sorts of illness.

now, on to the good stuff. its officially been a month of school, and i thought i'd do some follow up impressions. the jag, otto & perhaps delf are becoming friends. though things started slowly, i think the department is solidifying a bit. i even feel comfortable with aud, e.e., the gill, and d-vra. i never see el peruano, but when i do (like yesterday) we have nice friendly, short conversations. i even think i might like the frat boy more than i thought.
aside from that, i'm vp of the gsc, working on a spring conference, and generally feeling less stupid and more smart. though i often have moments....

all in all things are good, and there's an "executive meeting" planned for tomorrow night.

amig@s de classe

the school week started out rather awfully. the leap's class was rather brutal. i went in understanding. i left in a state of confusion. but in the end i think it will be fine. once i figure out what i'm doing this project on. ugh. and as murph pointed out, i think the class discussion dynamic has a lot to do with it. we are too abrupt. too abrasive, and too quick to change subjects. no time to contemplate connections or larger aspects. and of course when i say "we," i really mean "they."

c howe class was fine. nothing much to report as i told gill after he asked me what he missed. and i got the camera finally. the battery chargers were no where to be found, but gill brought me the one from his camera today, so crisis averted. and i finished my copyediting. it felt like being back at nyrb. except no borden. and a much crappier computer (mine).

class tonight was pretty enjoyable. d'kone seemed to think we were all pretty anti-weberian, but i'm a fan of ol' darth. but then again, i'm in a class of a bunch of people who do gentrification, esl, education, and tourism stuff. i guess i should expect a marxian leaning. i tried to defend his interpretive efforts as best i could.

and tomorrow i go to the field. well not the real field. but a field no less. jc, 7s, blondies. all excellent field locations. i know how to pick them i guess. i'm still not packed though. better get on top of that.

comidas

so, i've been trying to stick to this 8 foods to eat every day thing. well, really only 7. i haven't even attempted walnuts. i haven't done them all, every day, but carrots, tomatoes, blueberries, spinach, yogurt, black beans, and oats (oatmeal) have made up a large part of my diet.

i've always been a big fan of oatmeal
especially the peaches & creme variety

vanilla yogurt & blueberries...
i never really liked those little blue guys (its the texture)
but i guess they're alright

black bean burrito with tomato salsa, spinach & cheddar cheese (plus lemonade)
quite possibly the greatest meal ever

so, i'm not sure how long this will last. probably until i go to the grocery store next (which won't be until the end of the week when i finally get PAID!). but its food i like and apparently its good for me (not that it comes as any shock). i'm just not sure how many ways i can eat black beans and salsa before getting tired of them. i might try to eat each thing 3 or 4 times a week. it seems more do-able. with room for other things in there too. too bad potatoes aren't on the list. i could eat them every meal, every day, and every time a different way. that should be a poem.

lentes y bigotes

rumor has it that the mets were handing out 20,000 fake mustaches to their fans tonight at shea. apparently keith hernandez was named as some winner of top twenty mustaches or something. google is disappointing in terms of providing some confirmation, but what i would have given to be there! like my own personal glasses convention.



alas, it wasn't meant to be. instead i read some darth weber, watched 3 eppisodes of what not to wear, and finished the evening off with alton and a glass of smoking loon pinot noir.

and now, as usual, i can't sleep. i'm contemplating doing some more copy editing for c howe, but i'm much more interested in reading blogs apparently. and i have to get up early tomorrow.

historia

its funny how history creeps up on you. such strange ways.


i was looking at old marky marx notes from the dale, and noticed the way i drew arrows was different back then. later in the notes from that semester i had begun drawing them they way i do now, and suddenly i remembered, zig draws them this way. he always sat next to me in johnny mac's class, and convinced me that his way was superior. as i think back, i'm not totally convinced now. aesthetically, i like the old way better.


but i think i'm stuck. its natural now. like a maussian technique of the body. those arrows, that time of my life, that history will be a part of me forever. and in a way that makes me really happy. even if i never speak to zig again, or any of the anthropology nouveauers again (which is unlikely, thankfully), i hope that someday, one of them will look at something random and realize what a role i played in the changing of that one small thing.

oy, german ideology is getting to me.

puedes llamarme cheney

well, i'm now officially the vp of the department student council. which means i also get to be on the cas grad student council, oh boy! not the most exciting of things, but it does feel good to have some sort of say about the environment i'm in.
and i like the other people i'm working with, at least in the dept. we've got e.e. as president, the jag, otto, tudy (that's a contraction for ted-judy), and a few other people who seem nice. the "meeting" we had to "elect" each other was actually really full of laughter, and enjoyable.

i watched jarhead last night. i don't think i'm going to use it for my paper, but it was fairly entertaining, and i took notes, so if i want to use it later, i guess i can.

i have a lot of thoughts on straightness (versus straightness), and the queering of heterosexuality, and stuff, but i'm not in the mood to write it all out. perhaps later. perhaps

no los tenian hambre

well, the bears lost their first game. rather depressing considering the 7-0 start they had last year. fortunately, the mildcats won yesterday, so the weekend wasn't a total waste in terms of football.

its times like this i need a little pick me up


ah, the glory days...

be a woman. be a fan.

the doorbell rings, and woman 1 opens the door, sporting a trendy giants tank top. woman 2 enters, wearing a similar (but distinct) shirt, and they engage in a "secret handshake" style greeting. woman 3 enters wearing a giants track jacket, and a similar greeting ensues. woman 4 enters, wearing a similar trendy tank top, only in green with the jets logo prominently displayed across her chest. she's met with "hello," and a cold stare.

it was clearly marketed exactly to me.

the commercial ends with the postscript: "be a woman. be a fan."

so, of course i immediately went to http://www.reebok.com/ to check out the collection. i was pleased to see that in addition to the skimpy tank tops, there were jerseys, yoga pants, jackets, hoodies, even sandals (though they only came in pink and gray). so, i'm left pondering, what exactly does this mean?

clearly it parallels (or parodies) male interaction. but i'm a little put off by it. certainly the recognition that women do watch nfl, and are a key demographic/money-holding consumers, is overdue. but the portrayal on the commercial was offputting. and in theory, i do like the slogan. yes, one can be a woman (not chick, not girl, not lady, but strong confident, but at times feminine, if that suits you) and enjoy watching football. i'm all for that. but the visuals of the commercial indicate something far different. its ok to watch football as long as you're still cute, still feminine, sexualized, and maintaining what are considered female relationships. while on one hand i would be equally as critical if woman 1 had accepted the jets fan similarly to women 2 and 3, it also seems to reinfoce the cultural notion that women, are petty, catty, and don't get along (as exemplified in oh, so many seasons of the apprentice and many other reality shows as of late).

so, in short, i'm glad reebok finally wisened up and started marketing to women, even if i don't agree with the way they're continuing to relegate women's fandom to a purely "female" realm (and objectify/sexualize in the meantime). but don't fret. you won't catch me wearing this next sunday.

listas

i talked to mama H last night, and she was telling me about an article she read that listed 8 things to eat every day. it seems like a decent list and the only thing i really don't like on it is walnuts. i actually went grocery shopping yesterday (before said conversation), so i'm all stocked up, but next time i go food shopping, i'm totally abiding by this list. we'll see how it works out from there, but it seems worthy of a trial.

i also watched tim gunn's guide to style last night (after 2 episodes of the shockingly similar what not to wear, clearly exposing is derrivitave form), and enjoyed that tim made it simple with a list of 10 things every woman should own.

my closet

surprisingly, i actually own most of them, in one form or another. i'm sure if the gunn came to my closet (conveniently located in my living room), he would judge most or all of them inappropriate, ill fitting, ill constructed, or unflattering, but i'm proud to know that i at least have some sense of what one should be wearing. really, the only thing i don't own is a cashmere sweater (though i do own a few cheaper sorts), and perhaps a "sweatsuit alternative." though i'm not really sure what qualifies and what does not. i imagine my yoga pants and zippered fleece outfit may be an alternative to a sweatsuit, but not quite within the bounds of tim's constraints.

chicas

well, i think i officially might have 2 friends now. the jag, otto & i got pizza and beer tonight. and i like them way more than i anticipated. not that i didn't think i'd like them, but they're supercool. i think we're all going to the antiwar march next weekend. they've both had rather interesting lives though, and i'm not so sure i have. we're all veggie too, which makes sharing food easy.

i also went to the preliminary session for the greenberg lectures today, which is supposed to teach me how to teach. funny thing is, i keep thinking about how this is basically what my dad does, and i never really thought of his work as connected to mine. i can even get a stipend for going to an education related conference, which would be pretty awesome. meet the 'ol dad at a conference and not mooch! unheard of! or if i actually have something to present at an anthro conference i could use it for that. though i don't really anticipate that happening any time soon...perhaps next year.

i've read ridiculously little this week, so i'm forcing myself to stay in all weekend and get some work done. k tu invited everyone to some club tomorrow night, and if jag and the mister go, i might, but likely i'll get myself a six pack, get platoon from the library, and give it a first go. whoo!

no bueno

i'm hormonal. i know. but it doesn't make it any better. i'm so annoyed/saddened/depressed by people today. no one has done anything mean. in fact i haven't really talked to anyone. i said hello to two people, and briefly talked to the leap. mostly just saying "yes, its marx, and no i don't really want to be reading it.

but somehow i'm scoffing at all of them.

i've got a conference call at 3, group meeting at 7, and class from 8-11. ugh. but then my week is over (& on to a weekend of reading. at least its not marx!)

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.

saltar

its been a leap-ful day. i woke up to an email which put me in a bad mood. i got some good reading done in the library this morning, then had a meeting with him, where my frustrations were relieved, and a topic (which i actually am quite comfortable with) was decided upon.

i went to best buy and then cvs looking for printer ink, but apparently hp74 is a hard one to find. i've been on the quest for a week. at this point its time to order online. i also talked to lou, who seems to be having an amazing time.

eventually i went to class, and was worried about class discussion, but somehow...we started talking about the butter cow. we were discussing citizenship as lived experience, and a guy in the class, who is a hip-hop dance teacher was talking about the subjectivity of dance and "the good citizen" vis a vis ballet as "high art" versus hip hop as "low art." Ah, my entry! i though. so i suggested that depending on place and class, sometimes what is perceived by outsiders as "low art" can by symbolic of citizenship. its sense of tradition, belonging and place make it a good candidate, at least for a liberal interpretation of citizenship, and i think, especially in iowa, the idea of the fair as a political place, in which presidential candidates are pretty much required to appear, makes the whole space somewhat politicized, and connected to citizenship. and, no, i wasn't ranting. and people kept bringing it up again. and they want to see pictures!

and then class ended with us all crowding around a little macbook to watch this:

tengo una sofá

it was a big weekend. i stayed in friday night, but went to the bar to see the nu game on saturday. it was wholly different than the blondie's experience, but fun in its own way. plus, i heard reports that blondie's was tame, sans becky, and therefore sans purple shots. the 'cats won handily, though they weren't looking in top form which gives me pause. the big deal of the afternoon of course was app st.'s mountaineers taking the wolverines for a ride. normally, i probably would have derrived a decent amount of glee from this outcome, but since its bij's backyard i had to smile. the game was topped off by some young michigan alum shouting at a former mountaineer who clearly hated sleeves (oh, there's nothing more american...) after dinner at mr. beirut's (as mentioned in a previous post) i finally finished das kapital. you'd think by that point i'd have no problem falling asleep, but as usual, insomnia hit, so i read a diary in the strict sense of the term for a while.


sunday was swell, with a visit from K. we went to ikea where i purchased a couch. i think its the most expensive thing i have ever debited (rather than credited), which is probably sort of sad, but was pretty exciting at the time. there was much debate over what color (slipcover) to get. the patterns were too crazy and distracting, the colors were either too bright or too beige. i wanted something light, since the apartment's sort of dark anyway, so eventually i went with teh white. i suppose time will tell how it will work out. but i'll definitely have to impose the no red foods rule on myself.


sunday evening we saw superbad, then eventually went to rock bottom for some food. of course the chicken was not taken off my pizza as requested, but i suppose a little meat juice is good for the soul every once in a while. unfortunately, the onion rings were cold. we came back and watched some tv before passing out on the couch (yup, it passed test #1).


today i did quite a bit of work for both cic & c howe, but of course no work for school. i should probably read some of argonauts of the western pacific before bed though...

un ver nuevo

so, you may have noticed the new look of the blog.
i guess the best explanation is, i was bored (meaning, i was procrastinating).

and i got rid of the whole lima time thing. don't worry. i'm still on lima time, mentally, but you know...

i suppose that's all i have to say for now. mas, muy pronto

comidas y mas

tonight was one of those great nights, that started off as any other, but ended with a sort of splendid simplicity.


i was again invited by bij and the lebanese to dinner. also invited were mr. beirut's roommate, and (mr. beirut-too), and the third, young beirutee woman. the troops assembled, and we set to work making delicious cilantro chicken (black bean for me) tacos, with homemade guac, pico de gallo, and fresh corn tortillas. when that project was well on its way, ms. beirut (soon to be dr. beirut) and i set upon the task of dessert. peach and blueberry cobbler. it was easy enough, but such an adult dinner, eventually consumed on beirut-too's "heirloom" table.



so the food was delicious, and made with "the luv" as fireboy would say. but the conversation with these people, half of whom i met tonight, was rather inspired. it ranged from mescaline cacti & hallucinogenic mushrooms, to the lebanese war and the insecurities (incompetencies?) of doctors. there were no outrageous moments, but the whole evening seemed to sparkle. and i realized, i guess this was what i was always searching for in new york. that semi-adult life where you are still too poor to reasonably eat out nightly, but wealthy enough (in one way or another) to enjoy a fine meal (and beverages) with friends who are truly interesting and enlightening.


not to say that new york was completely absent of this for me. but it came in spurts. pizza making here, a long walk there. absolutely, i have wonderful friends there who are truly interesting and enlightening, but somehow the circumstances rarely led to those magical nights. maybe its economics, or transportation, or lack of a suitable venue. who knows. i'm just glad i found it here, even if its fleeting.