I've thought a lot in the past year and a half about my identity. Specifically, I've tried to breakdown my identity and place my various characteristics on a point in a number of power struggles. For example, I've thought about what my whiteness means in the city, country, and world. I've thought about what my whiteness means in terms of my teaching kiddos that may not be white. I've considered how my whiteness will be something very different in Ecuador.
I've meditated of the same things with regard to my maleness, my heterosexuality, my middle classness, and lately, my Americanness. Americanness in the sense that a large part of my identity which, much like those aforementioned I didn't choose, plays a role in how I am received by those with whom I share Americanismo and those with whom I differ as well.
Just as with whiteness, there are small, seemingly insignificant areas of privilege that we must deconstruct. An example I think of is the band-aid example. I've never thought that the color of a band-aid is clearly an attempt to match what is informed by my being 'white.' Most people out there don't often receive bandaging which approximates their skin color. Seemingly insignificant, but worth a thought.
The other day, while starting a game of 'Wikipedia plinko,' which is the open-ended jumping from interesting article to interesting article, a kind of 6 degrees of kevin bacon experiment, I decided I wanted to know about the United States Senate. I had been listening to them drone on and on about Obama's stimulus package, and I damned the Senate. I wanted to know more about what I'd damned, to be fair.
In the search bar on Wikipedia, I typed in, naturally, "Senate," assuming I would be taken to a page that discussed the US Senate. As one can imagine, the page I was navigated to was a more general overview of the idea of a senate, little 's.' I wasn't surprised, as when it occurred, I thought of the expansiveness and the history of the term. This, however, is a sign that I've yet to fully deconstruct my Americanismo, my Americanness.
Soon, my friends. Pronto, indeed.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Notes from 2/6/2009
I'm sleepier than shit. I'm at work. That's a terrible mix. I was thinking while searching for documents about sleep. I wonder if anyone who has fallen asleep at work has ever done so with the end of their nose accidentally on the 'z' key, causing it to fill their Microsoft Word page with an endless string of 'zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...'
Interesting things on the internet
-Brain in a Vat
-Bearforce 1
-Fu Schnickens
-Lords of the Underground
-Poor Righteous Teachers
-Photoshop technique for making a photo look like a tiny model.
http://recedinghairline.co.uk/tutorials/fakemodel/
Here's a good example.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bunchofpants/106465357/in/photostream/
-Read James Dickey's Deliverance
-Narwhal-is a medium-sized toothed whale that lives year-round in the Arctic.
-Buy and read The Bell Curve
-Citizens Against Public Waste website
-http://ecuador-rising.blogspot.com/
Interesting things on the internet
-Brain in a Vat
-Bearforce 1
-Fu Schnickens
-Lords of the Underground
-Poor Righteous Teachers
-Photoshop technique for making a photo look like a tiny model.
http://recedinghairline.co.uk/tutorials/fakemodel/
Here's a good example.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bunchofpants/106465357/in/photostream/
-Read James Dickey's Deliverance
-Narwhal-is a medium-sized toothed whale that lives year-round in the Arctic.
-Buy and read The Bell Curve
-Citizens Against Public Waste website
-http://ecuador-rising.blogspot.com/
Thursday, February 5, 2009
The Great NY City Maple Syrup Fragrance Mystery
I was listening to cnn live coverage online. They cut to a press conference with Mayor Bloomberg. He said he had information that might blow the "Great New York City Maple Syrup Fragrance Mystery" Case wide open.
Apparently, over the past couple of years, NY City has been, for a few days at a time, shrouded in a smell reminiscent of maple syrup. Ha. They love it, but it confuses them. They want for explanations about its origins, its cleanliness, its implications on their health. Well, the case has been cracked.
In said cnn press conference, Bloomberg outlined the four major clues that were involved in cracking the case. He thanked the unbelievable number of agencies and commissions dedicated to rooting out the cause of the stench. In the end, the source was somewhat lackluster and might not live up to the Scooby-Dooesque narrative. As it turns out, a fragrance company in nearby New Jersey who creates a variety of fruit flavors processes fenugreek seeds for their fragrances. If the weather is just right, the winds agreeable, and the humidity where it needs to be, the smell from the processing of these seeds is wafted over the Jersey side of New York City.
Case Closed.
Apparently, over the past couple of years, NY City has been, for a few days at a time, shrouded in a smell reminiscent of maple syrup. Ha. They love it, but it confuses them. They want for explanations about its origins, its cleanliness, its implications on their health. Well, the case has been cracked.
In said cnn press conference, Bloomberg outlined the four major clues that were involved in cracking the case. He thanked the unbelievable number of agencies and commissions dedicated to rooting out the cause of the stench. In the end, the source was somewhat lackluster and might not live up to the Scooby-Dooesque narrative. As it turns out, a fragrance company in nearby New Jersey who creates a variety of fruit flavors processes fenugreek seeds for their fragrances. If the weather is just right, the winds agreeable, and the humidity where it needs to be, the smell from the processing of these seeds is wafted over the Jersey side of New York City.
Case Closed.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Reasons I've Chosen Ecuador.
I seem to be getting this question often. I understand why I would be. I also understand why I've chosen Ecuador. Here's 10 reasons...for now.
1. Ecuador is relatively small, about the size of Nevada. No, there's no Las Vegas. A smaller country will make my goal of being able to poke fun at lame cities and lame regions, in a similar way that I joke about Houston, or maybe Waco, that much easier. Silly, but we're being honest now.
2. The weather in Ecuador is terribly agreeable. There is a rainy season, but being on the waistline of the Earth renders the climate conducive to swim trunks. Not to mention sunburns.
3. The geography is wildly varied. There are mountainous regions. There is the coastline. There are the Galapagos Islands.
4. Speaking of Galapagos, the flora and fauna are equally varied. I'll have new fruits and veggies coming out the wazoo, literally.
5. Ecuador provides an interesting cultural experience. There is African influence in the north, Spanish influence in the cities, missionary influence peppered throughout, and a strong contingency of indigenous groups living all around the country, including the Quichua and Waorani Indians.
6. The political system interests me. Our government would like us to believe that Ecuador is the third, albeit least threatening head of Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guards the hell of socialism...the other two, of course, being Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia. The truth is likely much more complicated. I want to explore that complication.
7. The citizens, especially the indigenous people are becoming more active in the protection of their mega biodiverse country, specifically in terms of ecological conservation, but also conservation as relates to cultural conservation and issues of social (in)justice.
8. None of my close friends have ever been to Ecuador, and it'll be nice to know the weight of my description of it to people back home. They'll have to take my damn word for it.
9. Ecuador is in a strategic place for South American travel, Cameron-style. I'd like to visit, in order of interest, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, and Cuba. Ecuador shares a border with Peru, and the others are almost equally accessible with each other, with the obvious exception of Cuba. Cuba would be a dream come true, though.
10. The people of Ecuador seem terribly gregarious. Given the troubles they've had in their existence, especially with their Bolivarian fight for independence from Spain and their more recent economic hardships, I get a sense that they've emerged a happy and hopeful peoples. This I gather from my discussions with folks who have visited or lived there.
1. Ecuador is relatively small, about the size of Nevada. No, there's no Las Vegas. A smaller country will make my goal of being able to poke fun at lame cities and lame regions, in a similar way that I joke about Houston, or maybe Waco, that much easier. Silly, but we're being honest now.
2. The weather in Ecuador is terribly agreeable. There is a rainy season, but being on the waistline of the Earth renders the climate conducive to swim trunks. Not to mention sunburns.
3. The geography is wildly varied. There are mountainous regions. There is the coastline. There are the Galapagos Islands.
4. Speaking of Galapagos, the flora and fauna are equally varied. I'll have new fruits and veggies coming out the wazoo, literally.
5. Ecuador provides an interesting cultural experience. There is African influence in the north, Spanish influence in the cities, missionary influence peppered throughout, and a strong contingency of indigenous groups living all around the country, including the Quichua and Waorani Indians.
6. The political system interests me. Our government would like us to believe that Ecuador is the third, albeit least threatening head of Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guards the hell of socialism...the other two, of course, being Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia. The truth is likely much more complicated. I want to explore that complication.
7. The citizens, especially the indigenous people are becoming more active in the protection of their mega biodiverse country, specifically in terms of ecological conservation, but also conservation as relates to cultural conservation and issues of social (in)justice.
8. None of my close friends have ever been to Ecuador, and it'll be nice to know the weight of my description of it to people back home. They'll have to take my damn word for it.
9. Ecuador is in a strategic place for South American travel, Cameron-style. I'd like to visit, in order of interest, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, and Cuba. Ecuador shares a border with Peru, and the others are almost equally accessible with each other, with the obvious exception of Cuba. Cuba would be a dream come true, though.
10. The people of Ecuador seem terribly gregarious. Given the troubles they've had in their existence, especially with their Bolivarian fight for independence from Spain and their more recent economic hardships, I get a sense that they've emerged a happy and hopeful peoples. This I gather from my discussions with folks who have visited or lived there.
Simon Bolivar Provides the Ending to Any Personal Journal
Here's a quote from Simon Bolivar's The Jamaican Letter-Response from a South American to a Gentleman From This Island.
It was written in 1815.
This is the end of the letter, and a paragraph that I will include in any journal I write in. Forever.
"Tales son, señor, las observaciones y pensamientos que tengo el honor de someter a Vd. para que los rectifique o deseche, según su mérito, suplicándole se persuada que me he atrevido a exponerlos, más por no ser descortés, que porque me crea capaz de ilustrar a Vd. en la materia."
-Bolivar
"Such, sir, are the observations and thoughts that I am honored to submit for your consideration and which you may correct or reject according to their merit. I implore you to understand that I have expressed myself forthrightly, not to be discourteous but because I believe I am in a position to inform you on these matters."
-Bolivar
'These matters,' naturally, being my personal thoughts and feelings. I really like that.
It was written in 1815.
This is the end of the letter, and a paragraph that I will include in any journal I write in. Forever.
"Tales son, señor, las observaciones y pensamientos que tengo el honor de someter a Vd. para que los rectifique o deseche, según su mérito, suplicándole se persuada que me he atrevido a exponerlos, más por no ser descortés, que porque me crea capaz de ilustrar a Vd. en la materia."
-Bolivar
"Such, sir, are the observations and thoughts that I am honored to submit for your consideration and which you may correct or reject according to their merit. I implore you to understand that I have expressed myself forthrightly, not to be discourteous but because I believe I am in a position to inform you on these matters."
-Bolivar
'These matters,' naturally, being my personal thoughts and feelings. I really like that.
Remnants of Creepy Dream
I am climbing up a spiral staircase. The walls are light blue. They look like large bricks of an elementary school. They are painted with thick paint. There is scant room between the staircase and the walls. This small space would be enough to fall through. The stairs are also a shade of light blue. They look like they lead to a slide on a playground. They are metal. Something about them says that they're precarious.
I look down. I look up. I see the same thing in both directions. More stairs. Eventually, what I see disappears into darkness. The damn stairs could go on forever, for all I see. I imagine a large machine dropping ten foot segments of stairs into the top of the building. With such little room, they would land just right. This process, like the stairs, could continue indefinately.
I continue my ascension. At some point, a pebble drops. I assume my foot knocked it off the stair. I can hear echoes of the pebble hitting stairs on its way down.
I tell myself, reassuringly, that if there were werewolves in the building, I would absolutely hear their shrieking.
I look down. I look up. I see the same thing in both directions. More stairs. Eventually, what I see disappears into darkness. The damn stairs could go on forever, for all I see. I imagine a large machine dropping ten foot segments of stairs into the top of the building. With such little room, they would land just right. This process, like the stairs, could continue indefinately.
I continue my ascension. At some point, a pebble drops. I assume my foot knocked it off the stair. I can hear echoes of the pebble hitting stairs on its way down.
I tell myself, reassuringly, that if there were werewolves in the building, I would absolutely hear their shrieking.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Notes 1/29/2009
I want to punch this group in its nose. Hard.
-The Center for Consumer Freedom
Learn More About:
ALF/ELF Internationally
Crimeth, Inc.
-The Center for Consumer Freedom
Learn More About:
ALF/ELF Internationally
Crimeth, Inc.
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