Hypothetically Speaking or PaleoObama

(note: I actually wrote this and published it yesterday, but it... disappeared. Somewhere, in the bowels of blogger.)

So, in anthro when discussing preshistoric hunter/gatherer populations there's a social set up where the population lives at a year round "base camp" while individuals wander off to gather resources from pre-determined areas that surround the base camp.  Previous thought was that the women would stay behind to do the child rearing and whatever processing was required at the base camp, creating an extremely gendered view of work distribution.

Then along comes Dr. Kristen Hawkes from Utah (who, coincidentally, I met a few years ago and who was the Master's advisor for my old boss) who while studying paleodemography realizes that more and more women in these early prehistoric time periods are living later and later into their post-menopausal age.  She determines (using much statistics and evidence and such) that there is a reason for this.  Older women can care for weened children, freeing adult females to also procure resources.  This eventually becomes a behavior which selects for genetic longevity.  If your grandmother lives longer, then not only is there a chance you'll live longer bc of genetics, but you'll also have the resources to facilitate living to a reproductive age because your gmother lived longer and then you'll pass on those genes. 

Taking it a step further, it has been tied into why females typically have longer lifespans.  See, males were just along for the ride.  Their behavior didn't promote their lengthened age but that their grandmothers kept them alive past childhood, because the highest rates of death are 1)<5years and 2)old allowed them to utilize and pass on their grandmother's longevity genes.

Where am I going with this?

Grandmothering Hypothesis now has a modern correlate! (sample size, n=1)

Michelle Obama's mother is moving into the White House, the home base, to help take care of her grandchildren!  This will allow Michelle and Barack to do anything that needs to be done.  I think that's awesome, while their mother and father are off saving the economy and representing the past "Country No. 1" of the free world the girls will have someone to help them with school work, who will help them get settled in, who will take them to go visit things in DC.  That, First Family, is putting family first in a truely timeless way.  Kudos to you!

And that's my geek out for the day.

Ok, I'm a nerd.

link dump

My good dear friend Kazen, who is leaving for Japan in a few months (awesome) turned me on to Delicious. I know it's been around for a while, I just never tried it. It's pretty fun to work with. So we've been trading links back and forth for the last few weeks, and I have a tag of "blogable" articles and stuff that I think would be interesting to write about. I've had a similar bookmark folder in Firefox.

But some of these have lost their fire. And yet at the same time I saved them because I thought others would find them interesting. So here's a dump. Some are frivolous, most aren't.

• On Sexual Rights:
• "Rape only hurts if you fight it" - A college journalist claims that an editorial was meant as a satire. The problem is that a satire is supposed to be funny and thought provoking. On Women's Space the full text of the editorial is presented along with a well organized rebuttal including statements from officials involved in this issue and an exploration of the white male privilege.
• Battling the Myth of Gray Rape - This is part of the whole "she was asking for it / she deserved it" argument line. Cosmo and multiple books have addressed this "issue," where if a partner withdraws consent but the other chooses to ignore it, then "it can't be rape."
  
• Puberty is Consent - The link to the original CNN article wasn't working at the time of this blogging, so the link goes to an analysis. Basically one of those Evangalist cult preachers who marries young girls (some at the age of 8) to older men claims that puberty is the only consent that any man needs.
• Take Back the Tech - The Private is Political. But sometimes you want to keep your private as private. This site has tools, technology, and information to keep your privacy and to prevent others from leveraging power by controling your communication.
  
• On Environment
• How to use less CO2- At slate.com. This is a good list of things to do to use less CO2. It also includes links to Slate's green challenge.
• Stop Mountain Top Removal - I said: STOP MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL! I used to have a picture of a stripped mountain on my sidebar. This site has information about strip mining, environmental impacts, links to petitions, and activist opportunities.
• On Technology and Science
  
• The Order of the Science Scouts of Exemplary Repute and Above Average Physique - Badges! For Scientists!
• Take Back the Tech! - Worth repeating, prevent yourself from individuals using your communication technology against you.
• T3knomanser's Illegal Colors - Remember the illegal number for un/coding DVDs? T3chnomanser converted the hexadecimal number into a set of five different colors (using hex-color codes).
• Rushkoff Here - A discussion as to whether or not culture is open source.
• Speigel Online - Pictures of what new TSA body scanning software shows.
  
• On Politics
• Palin: wrong woman, wrong message - Gloria Steinam on why Palin is NOT a feminist icon.
• No Ordinary Woman -"women will truly have arrived when the most mediocre among us will be able to do just as well as the most mediocre of men" (another article on Palin)
• McCain's hero Teddy Roosevelt was more socialist than Obama - I've been saying this all along. Why doesn't it get publicity until some white dude writes about it. Talk about priviledge. It's not like Timothy Noah (the author) has any credenti.... oh, he's the senior writer.
• Callie Shell - Obama - A series of photographs from the campaign trail. Many are very personal and candid. (I'll prob do more on this one later)
• That One 08 - Using McCain's gaffe as a reason to register another domain name. And sell merchandise. Vote for That One in 2008.
  

dexter

the other night morgan and i watched "dexter", the series on hbo.  he had somehow temporarily aquired the dvds from the first season. so we watched the first episode, excited because of all the good reviews we heard about the series.

i really didn't like it.

it seems like the potential for a good drama couched in the shock value of realistic looking dead people.

granted the porosity at the end of the long bones looked somewhat accurate (i'm not the most experianced among my crew) in the dismemberment, but really.

there was a lecture a few weeks ago for class. it was billed (in my mind) to be about the logistics of the 9/11 recovery process and forensic anthro type stuff there.  instead we got to see lots of dismembered body parts from different criminal cases.

i don't like soft tissue.

but at the same time i'm glad that physanths are able to develop the methods and technology to apply to such forensic situations in order to identify individuals and methods of body "modification".

dexter is cashing in on this.

ah well. shock shock shock.

media morning

i had found this a while back. i like it. it gives me the warm and huggies.



i found this more recently. it makes me feel conflicted.  gendered violence for the humor, anyone?



and this one is for my heather

total nerd

So, I played DnD last night. Total nerd. Level 1 Gnome Warlock.  The players seemed pretty cool and the DM was very welcoming.

I might do it again.

new experiances

oh, yeah

Sarah Palin for GOP VP....

Seriously McCain, that's insulting.

more on that later

A rundown

It's been a busy while. I'm posting a blog that i wrote in my word processor a while ago, so if you scroll down, you'll see it dated to its creation. I have quite a few fronts to report on, though, so feel free to read on.

Cats

Boy

School

Friends

Thanksgiving

Cats -
Orion and Neci are both getting along very well. They are still vessels of boundless kittanic energy, so they keep me going and on the ball. Orion loves spicy tomato sauces as well as beans and pasta. She doesn't like, however, any meat that I cook. She just got her rabies shot, so my little bitty itty kitten has two big shiny radies tags. The blingbling of the feline world? The vet is actually surprised at how small Orion is, so we're waiting as long as possible to spay her. Probibly some point in January. As she's an inside cat, if we don't get her before she gets fertile, it'll be a bit annoying on our part, but it won't hurt her. I would rather she be large enough that she goes through her surgery safely.

Neci was spayed before I was even allowed to take her home. Granted she was with a recue group, so not actually belonging to anyone, I'm sure that the sentaments if she didn't pull through ok would be different. Neci likes to drink water... out of my glass. It doesn't matter how much is in her water bowl and whether it was just washed or not. She goes for my water glass. I wouldn't mind so much if she was also not so facinated witht he bathroom. She likes to walk the rim of my tub whether or not i'm in it. She also likes to watch the toilet, and once surprised a male in the bathroom by popping up between his legs and watching the happenings.

They have also learned that if my phone alarm goes off, I don't wake up right away. That gives them time to knock it off the table and under the bed, where I won't hear it go off again. This means that I'll stay in bed, where they are also snuggled under the covers (except for the one to knock the phone off, who i saw go right back under the covers when I did wake up once)sucking off my body heat. Neci alone, however, has learned that if she doesn't want music, she just needs to jump on my clock radio. In fact, I'm totally messing with her by playing music from my computer. She came over and started walking on the clock radio, knowing that if she does it enough, she'll turn it off.

School

I hate school. I want to be done. And the catch 22 is that it won't be done until i put in sufficient effort. I want real life again. I don't mind school, but I would love to do the part time thing. Not to put the cart before the horse or jinx me in any sort, the park will be opening my old position back up. If I get it, then I can totally and entirely do my real life job, which frustrated me to no end, but at the same time fulfilled me. I just hope that everyone will be able to put up with the exhaustion and intensity that this job gave me. I do so hope that it all works out. Losing that job, even though it was from funding problems, was a huge ego drain, and I feel so incomplete without it.

Yes, I'm one of those people who define themselves by their job. If I didn't want a job so intent and crazed, would I be killing myself at school for it? All you old schoolers know that the one thing I prided myself on was what I got paid for.

Boy

Wow - well, he's definitly proven interesting and good. Those two adjectives are horribly insufficient, but they'll provide a base. Well, he did halloween with me and with some of my friends. We started at Sr. Taco. While there, we invited his brother, his brother's wife, and another friend of theirs. So there were many people enjoying themselves. After Halloween dinner, we had planned on going out, but for some reason, perhaps because it was Wednesday, we ended up going to my place to drink vodka and play with kittens. The weekend after halloween was SEAC, and well, after past experiances with official stuff and bringing a sigoth, I was a little hesitant, but he wanted to come to the friday night dance. I figured that I had built up just enough of a reputation for myself between my past job and my time put into the department that I could introduce an "outsider" to the conference. Besides, it was local so everyone from Ktown brought their spouse(-to-be). Plus, it was not the first time for my circle to meet him. We had had a pot luck a few weeks earlier, and everyone had only positive things to say about him.

So we go to the dance and have a good time. One of my friends is in the middle of an intoxicated conversation with a rather renowned SE Archie, and as we were driving her home, we had to stay with her. He insisted that the conversation continue at the hotel bar when the dance venue kicked us out (midnight).

The following evening is the department party. I was definatly wanting to bring him to this as it's very informal anyways so it's a good venue to debut new members of the anthropology auxilary. We all dressed up, picked up two other friends along the way, and had a blast that evening. He even met and sweet talked the prof who had been giving me relationship advice before. The interesting thing is that, if I haven't mentioned it before, this guy went to highschool with two of my best friends (one in the department), and he graduated with my girlfriend's sister. At this party, we found that half of the significant others in the department (ok, a bit of an overexaggeration) went to highschool with them. This is a little podunk town abotu 1.5 hours from knoxville. Apparently they train them to put up with UT Anthopologists.

Friends

I love my friends, I really do. I do with all my heart, and I would and do do most anything for them, if I can. They've been having it rough, both the ones down here and apparently a few of the old schoolers. Guys, you'll all get it done. Remember what I always said in college: enough hard work will get you your way.

Thanksgiving.

I'm hosting Thanksgiving! So come here! I'm doing an Orphan Thanksgiving for anyone who doesn't have the time to head home. As far as I know, I'm doing meat, stuffing,sweet taters,a vegetable dish, and probibly I'll make an apple cobbler just because. I currently have 4 definate guests, and two who will be showing up later (one being the boy who had originally planned on being here the whole time, but was slammed with a family obligation just this week, so I'll deal.) I do hope that it goes well. I think we'll be so totally fooded out, that we'll be sooooo happy.


See - I update - occasionally

Brewers jam and boys

Him: "I feel bad, talking to you and keeping you away from your work."
Me:"You know, having someone where I can look forward to talking to them is actually quite motivating, I feel like I need to get something done because there's something definate to look forward to."... especially since he can not only keep up but also contribute to my conversations.

This is a paraphrase of a conversation this past evening between me and a gent I've been spending an inordinate amount of time with both in person and on the phone. Label it whatever you want, but I like him and he's cool.

I'm rather excited, as I was getting to the point where I felt I should start recording my social meetings with the opposite sex and publish them in a book. One with all the proper disclaimers that "they really aren't real people, if it seems so, it's all coincidental."

I met him at Brewer's Jam. There's a long story of many levels, as my stories get at times, but the "short" version is as follows:

My friend had relationship problems starting on Monday. Really REALLY bad problems, so we decided to go out Friday Night. She gets nice and trashed on PBR while we see Cutthroat Shamrock and Zombie Bazooka Patrol. While there, we see someone who is mutual friends with her and someone who used to be in the department. We start hanging with their group a bit and find out that those that don't need to work are going to brewer's jam. yay!

So we go to Brewer's Jam and see those guys. Don't really hang out with them as we have our own group from the department there: S who studies holes in kid's heads, C the 1st year PhD, friend with problems and her mother, Mssr. E (from past adventures) and see a few others from the department also. We're all having fun and Mssr. E and I are plesently having random conversations and "cheer"ing sessions with anyone who happens to walk by. My favorite move is to say to some dude passing by "OH MY GOD! YOU MADE IT!!! THAT'S SOOOO AWESOME, MAN!!" and try to get them in a conversation till they realize that they really don't know me (many actually asked if they knew me) and that I'm just crazy/drunk.

Well, in line this dude is wearing a Tshirt saying something like "Mustache Warrior" or "Mustache Fighting Leaugue" or something related to mustaches and violence. So, like one would do, I say to him "does this mean that you battle mustaches, or that you fight while wearing a mustache." He brings up some arcane celebration known as Mustache May. A friend and I start psuedoquoting from the Camelot song about May "Well, May is lusty, gusty, and busty. Mustache though, it is not!"

The gent starts hanging out with us. Not uncommon, actually, so I'm just taking it in stride. Always good to meet more interesting people, correct? He and I start talking, and in retrospect, he really doesn't talk to many others in the group, mostly just me. But I probibly didn't notice it because the conversation was not forced. It was a pleasent conversation of brewers jam drunk observations, pleasentries about types of beer, random puns, and other such things that are natural in a conversation mit ze Gexx.

After a bit he admits he needs to find the loo, as one would need to at a beer fest. So he asks for my number so he can find us later. We swap numbers. Why not? My drinkaged mind is not phased by such. If anything, I'll end up putting him in my "do not pick up" phone catagory (specifically for bad/not thinking/"it was a good idea at the time" decision phone number swaps so I don't accidentally pick up when someone attempts to arrange a booty call). It's all good. I have planned all my escape routes.

Well, he calls back a bit later to find us. Not right away, but after he hung out with *his* friends for a bit. That's good, methinks, as it means he's not creepily obsessed like some odd birds I've dealt with (I told you this earlier, I should right a book about all that crap and those crazy dudes). But we do end up meeting again toward the end. When he goes to leave the jam itself, he asks if I would be interested in meeting up later (after we've had a chance to sober up some), and I figure why not and tell him to call me.

He then surprises me (those who hate adorableness scroll down. I mean you, Betel!! No, not really.) by asking if I would allow him to kiss me on the cheek before he heads out. I'm so flabbergasted (consider my mental state at the time) and so cynical from past dude-speriances (book! book!) and think that it's so sweet and at the least it'll make a good blog story that I agree. And he does. Awwww!

And it has made a good story - but the whole story isn't done yet.

So beer is running low and Brewer's Jam is wrapping up. My peeps are coagulating and heading out. My girl with problems and her mom go together, and the rest apparently left for pizza. I was invited, and they all thought that I had been invited, but no one actually completed the inviting circle by telling me what was going on. They left thinking someone else told me and that I was with one of the other groups. No worries, but suddenly they weren't their. Apparently my missing wasn't noticed until the couple/three cars (driven by the sobers) got to the pizza place. By that point, it was too late. I see the dudes from the evening before, and they're like "where's your crew?" I respond that my posse has abandonded me, but that I'll just hang at my office till I can drive home. They then invite me to go with them to get pizza (not where the others were, though).

So we go to get pizza, walking through parts of downtown that are perfectly fine to walkthough as a group during the day. We get the pizza and eat it, and I figure we'll head back soon, no worries, right? Well, they start to drink again. I ask what their plan is. Come to find out they're friends with one of the waitresses, and that she'll drive them back to their car when she gets out of work - at 1AM. Gah! It's 9 right now and I'm ready to pass out (tired, not drunk. i spent the whole day outside!!). I scramble through my phone looking for someone who could be sober and was not out of town. 67 people in my phone, and who do I decide is the best idea? The gent from earlier.

I know many of you will say that I took a bad risk. But getting a taxi would have been too visible, and I didn't want to walk back alone. I like to say I'm a decent judge of character and don't often trust people. And I haven't been too wrong in the past. 99% of people I've trusted have atleast been a decent human being with no intent of violence toward me (ax murdering, shooting, etc). Pricks are still decent human beings, in my book, because the important part of their moral compass is still intact. Besides, might as well find out sooner rather than later, right?

I text him "Wouldn't mind seeing you again, but I'm stuck in Old City, and my car is on campus." I get a message back saying "I'll be there in 15 minutes." After about 15 minutes, he texts saying he's outside, so I pay my part hastily and run off, thanking the dudes for allowing me to accompany them and sharing their pizza (it was damned good pizza). I bound out and almost knock right into the gent, and he drives me back to my car, like any decent human being would do.

I realize that I just totally used someone's feelings of good will toward me, and I feel horrendously guilty. Especially since he seemed really really cool while we talked on the ride to my car, so I suggest we get a drink together. We do, and I find out that we're rather compatable, and we've been meeting up and talking on the phone rather much ever since (yay).

So yeah, that's one of my latest stories. He'll get a name... eventually. You know it takes a while for that to happen. But I think he'll be showing up quite a bit.

i'm back from the dead!

It's starting to get chilly here. Which is good. I filled up my gas tank and exclaimed "wow - finally it's feeling like fall".

So - excitement - this weekend is brewers jam. Six hours of beer drinking awesomeness with bands and all that stuff. I'm going to park by my office so I can hang out there if I get to the point of not being able to drive.

I've been doing some pleasure reading, which is bad. i should instead be working on my many many other projects. But some days and nights I really really really don't want to do anything intellegent.


Janet Evonavich - this author has done a whole slew of light chick books. The main character in most of them, Stephanie Plum, is a bond agent with plenty of her own foiables. With her pluck and the help of her boyfriend, a homocide cop, and her lust-buddy, a professional bounty hunter, she manages to bring in the bad guys. Sounds sorta cliche, but there's enough twists and jokes that it's an easy fun read.
Preferred refreashement: Laird's Apple Brandy over ice or extra strong Mojitos (I grow my own mint). Peanut Butter Chocolate Ice Cream

Song of Solomon - Awesome book that I picked up because I wanted to read something "controversial" for banned books week. I love her way of description, tossing out details that over the course of the story are not only important but create a seamless narrative and description.
The main plot is of a Macon "Milkman" Dead, the son of a well done landlord and the grandson of a well respected doctor growing up in the middle of the century in Michagan. The story follows his negotiation of his race (african-american / black) and class (upper middle) not in the general world, but in his community and his family. Once he thinks he realizes where he stands and how to improve the public's view of him (become financially independant) he, no kidding, goes on a multi-state huntfor a stow of gold his father mentioned in stories. In the search, he meets individuals who were but characters in his father's stories of childhood, causeing him to search deeper for where "his people" come from.
Preferred refreshment: hot tea and chocolate chip cookies, South Paw Light

Hocus Pocus - Kurt Vonnegut
I've always loved Vonnegut, I'm sorry. This book, published in 1990 tells the story of an ex-professor ex-soldier who loves older women, fought in Vietnam, taught at a college for disabled individuals, and is currently being held for trial for his involvement in a deadly prison break. Vonnegut writes with such wonderful detached sections that, after devoting some time, make sense. Running jokes, themes, symbolism: this book is an english teacher's paradise. And his character (telling the story) doesn't swear as his grandmother told him "profanity and obscenity entitle people who don't want unpleasant information to close their ears and eyes to you." One key theme in this book is how the character can't stand his service in Vietnam, not because of the any inhumanity, horrible sites, or anti-war stance. Instead, it is brought by the futility of the war and the public's anger of the government leading the country into such (in the end) meaningless conflict to general animosity toward the return of the soldiers. The main character is consistently jealous of World War II veterans because of the respect the country's populous gave to them. This theme is one that the many yellow ribbon on our vehicles is aimed at preventing. Some call it "patriotism light" but instead, it's supporting the safety and return of the troops and not the continual conflicts that the ruling class tends to get its lower classes into.
Preferred refreshment: Cabernet Savagnon or Pearl Pomegranate Vodka. Mochi


Class struggle! Class struggle! I just eat it up!!! Yum yum!!!

Kittens! pictures coming

So I now have cats. Last week I had a cat. Last month I had fish. I still have fish, no worries there.

How this transpired:
A few weeks ago I helped run a public education program at one of the local historic sites. There, a volunteer brought a carrier with four kittens, two long haired, two short haired, two gray, two butterscotch (blue and buff, respectively if you want to use proper terminology, but we aren't worried). Not a one the same, a mendel square of distribution. As we had no one at our section, we played with the kittens. One short haired gray one fell asleep on me, and the volunteer said "they need a home." Well, I may be a heartless bitch, but even that was too much for me. So at the end of the day, when we picked everything up, I looked for the cat woman and told her I would love to take one home. I ended up picking the little gray one. All of the remaining kittens, I was told, were male. So we rode home, totally unsafe. I stuck him on the passenger seat, and he (thankfully) meowed the whole five miles home. He made his way to the back seat, to the back shelf (that one against the back window, you know what I mean). We get home, and I bring the little, stinky, flea ridden fuzz ball right to my massive claw foot tub and stick him in it. Then I go to the supermarket and buy food, litter, a plastic shoe box, dawn (safe for kittens, bad for fleas I was told), and a pack of toy mice. Then we go, and he has a bath. He's rather patient with that, i'm surprised. In the next few days I discover he has "butt worms" (I learn that they are specifically tapeworms), I set up an appointment with the vet (reccomended by a friend), and the receptionist at the vet reccomends some OTC worm pills for kittens. I then go out and buy all the pampering supplies: pet bed (fuzzy brown), more toys (squeeky frog), brushes, lead, coller, tag (I decided to name him Orion as he continually pounced; I was thinking Siddartha but he was in no way calm enough), harness (yes, he will walk on a lead), and all that stuff. He sleeps with me, but a full night's sleep is rare as he wakes up constantly and thinks that my lips, ears, and nose are toys. We go to the vet, and I'm informed that Orion is female. Oh well, the name will stay. She gets her shots, more worm medicine (another type was also infesting her), and Advantage. She is 1.9 pounds and 2 months old at this point, and her coat is noticably much better than when she got to my house a week prior.

My professor, after 3 beers, asks me how I'm doing and I tell him that it's uneventful, save for the kitten. He takes that to mean "I am a single bitter female who has given up on human companionship" and proceeds to offer me life encouragement and relationship advice. Yay.

Still, she refuses to let me sleep through the evening. I start to close my bedroom door to keep her out, but she just cries. After some consulting about the nature of kittens, I decide I need another one.

So this past Saturday my neighbor and I went to the mall (we both have a wedding this month) and then to the petstore where the feral cat rescue people set up. I talk with them, and we pick out a quirky 3 month old female calico kitten. Her tail is broken. The tails of all her littermates are broken in the same spot, actually. This just adds to her personality. I pick up some extra supplies: another carrier to take her home with, a cream fuzzy bed, and a pink flamingo squeeky plushy. I take her home and she and Orion really don't hit it off. They tolerate each other, but continue to hiss. One took her post on my knees, and the other on my chest (I was laying down reading) and they hissed at each other, then stared, then they fell asleep. So I think they'll learn each other's roles and deal well.

Saturday night we go out to grab some pizza and listen to a band. I figure it will give the cats some time without my interferance. The band was relatively decent (all cover tunes), the pizza was marvelous (sausage, artichoke, olive, tomato), Florida lost, UT won, and dancing was uneventful (as long as you don't count the dude who kept rubbing his arse against mine and pissed me off enough that I kicked back against the back of his knees, causing him to collapse). We get sorta bored, and in trying to figure out what to do next (it's only midnight, if we go home now, we're pathetic), we decide that since I still have a bottle of Pearl in the freezer that one member of our party brought to the last potluck, I should host people and we'll play with the kittens.

The kittens are overjoyed. They love people. I'm glad about that. Kitten number two, in being a little spitfire when Orion gives her a hard time gets her name Neci (pronounced by me a NEE-see), derived from Latin for Fire.

The two of them are odd. They can both eat from the food dish at the same time and not get mad at each other. But if they get bored, they get all over each other. Orion was rather nippy and sorta agressive before, but she's taken to hissing rather often now. Neci is calm and inquisitive until Orion starts hissing and batting at her. Then she's all sparks. Orion has started giving her a wide berth, but I'll walk into a room and find Orion ready to pounce if Neci walks through the door. So when she sees me, she looks guilty and tries to look like she was going to play with a piece of paper, dust, or invisible string on the other side of the room. Maybe there's some relation to how Neci like red wine and Orion likes hot sauce. I need to remember that the two can now get onto the table themselves.

I need to get a lead, harness, collar, and such for Neci. I wasn't too pleased with the selection at the petstore there.

So now I just need to work on my house, my halloween costume, and the 30 papers due soon. Yay SEAC!

Report from the field

I'm heading back out to the field for a week, but thought that I would give a quick update on the general status.

The first week that we spent out in the field was fun. It was a touch chilly in the early part of the days, but a sweater was all that was needed. This coming week should be plenty warm. I have plenty of pictures of rusty metal, so you'll get some posted eventually. I even found my new most favorite artifact. It might make its way to the blog.

The week went fine, and I have one of my two interns in. He seems like he'll work for the summer.

Now I'm just trying to get all my stuff together and put together for next week. I'll be gone, but will make it back on Saturday - maybe.

Don't you steal it!

Ok - riding on the coattails of the copy protection 09 F9 128 bit number "criminally" released to the internet last week, I have taken my own number.

Don't steal it by publishing it elsewhere.

D2 92 F9 F2 A2 A5 1D E8 96 51 F9 14 16 46 C9 26

I'm not joking, you take this number and I get to tell you to remove it.

Get your own number *here*.

meta-blogging haiku

primary information

love. blogs have lots of info.

but all second hand.

Work and Play

Also called:

• Academics
• and Search: (Alcohol OR Sugar) AND Music Result: FUN

I'm just getting so burned out on this school thing. But my book chapter is in. WOOHOO!

"I" turned in 75 pages to my prof. I'm saying "I" because I actually compiled 75 pages for the chapter I'm leading on, but contributed to a total of 4 chapters. See, this is how we're doing it:
There are four of us Historic Arch's in the department. We each have our complimentary facets of archaeology that we're most interested in: Domestic, Military, Industrial, and Bioarch/Mortuary. There are also 4 distinct time periods that we need to deal with: Proto-His and EuroSettlement, Early Statehood and Antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction. As most site reports deal with the function of the site (dom, mil, ind, biomort), it's much much easier to write a paper on a site type rather than a time period, or else everyone will use the same 80% of the reports and miss major chronological connectors and themes. So instead, we each wrote a section on our theme (mine being indutrial, natch). We got them out to each other by Thursday noon. Then Thursday afternoon we were supposed to copy/paste the relevent sections into chronological chapters. We had divided responsibility for these chrono-chaps as one to each of us. This way, we each get a SELF et al citation. Yay! plus, we are also recognized as the et al in three other chapters.

So - I get a good amount prepared for each of the chronochaps, and I get sections for my stuff, and put it together. We were all thinking we'd get 45-50 pages, right? I got 75. The whole reason: a heck of a lot of archeology was done on Antebellum sites. I keep getting criticized for the size of my chapter's draft. but, think about it. In the Proto/Settlement time: there were few people around to make sites. In the Civil War: we have 5 years worth of sites. In the Reconstruction/Victorian time: things are not as old and still standing so they don't get dug or they're not as old and people don't care so they don't get dug. The Antebellum however: HUGE population explosion, major building episodes, major buildings, plantations and increased social stratification (ie: slaves), and stuff is "old enough." Therefore, LOTS of archaeology is done in this time period.

So - it was handed in at 15.30 on Thursday. Marvelous! Why? Because I could work on my Paleo paper!

HAHAHAHAHAHA! Of course not, don't be stupid! Thursday night was the free George Thorogood concert! So - as i am quite a fan of classic rock (and free concerts and plenty of beer), I load up A and E (my apparent constant partners of crime) into my car and we head off. Well, think of the demographics of a GT concert held during a local bike week. Dirty, old, leather clad gents and their ladies drinking cheap beer (how someone would drink a 3$PBR when Newcastle and RedStripe are only 4$ is beyond me, but mebbe it's an image thing)pervaded the atmosphere. No worries. Well, before GT got on, we hung out in the PrezPub for a bit. Two beers down and a stage hand, approx 50yo and tiny as all comes up to me

Stagehand: You know, you're awfully cute?
Me: You know, that's quite a coincidence. You know why? Because every morning I wake up, look in the mirror, and say "God DAMN! Why do I have to be so damn cute?"
Stagehand: So - You like George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers. You know - Bad to the Bone?
Me: Oh please, he has hell of a lot better songs than that overplayed trite. Plus, is he going to destroy anything while he's here That would be cool.
Stagehand: Well, he destroyed Delaware.
Me: Dude, seriously. Delaware is like, Delaware. You can destroy Delaware, swing down to Rhode Island, have a long lunch, swing by the store for some milk on the way home, and still be able to mow your lawn before the kids get home from school. Is he going to destroy anything while he's here? If he's not, I don't want to talk to you.

We get back to the crowd and in front of the stage as GT is about to get on. Sidetracked, A and I separate from E in order to talk to a few other classmates. No worries, we'll find each other eventually. Besides, E was probably going to the front to take pictures (his shtick)and A and I just wanted to have fun. Well, the classmates left for more beer. A and I made our way into the crowd. We were 10m from the stage (maybe) and in the direct center. Well, the concert rocked. It was loud, it was roudy, and he was a legend. Now, as a legend, he was on his downhill slope, and he did employ some cheesy lights, but - whatev - it was GEORGE FUCKIN' THOROGOOD! And I was tempted to order the one bourbon, one scotch, and one beer. But - I had to drive.

So - concert's over - we regroup back at the PrezPub. One more beer because E ordered Newcastle and they gave him a draught. He prefers bottle. So - leftover beer is still beer, and Newcastle is nice. We're hunched against the bar, I'm sorta standing, but leaned over the bar and we're mostly huddled, talking about our problems with the opposite sex. I straighten up and get hit by a DOM (dirty old man) on with the cheesy "you're cute" thing again. I blow him off, hunker over again, we laugh. I stand up again, a new DOM shows up "You're cute" blow off hunker down. Repeat ad nauseum. I start to think about this statistically. Are we weighted because of the proliferance of DOM skewing our normal curve? Or am I suddenly this darned swan? I think it's the former, no matter how I would like to believe the latter.

But, my "favorite" was with this 500 lb 50 yo with sweat pouring down his stringy long hair:

Dude: Hey - I think I know you.
Me: Probibly not, man.
Dude: No - I know your grandmother. It's Bettie Page.
Me: Dude - seriously. While that's one of the better lines I've heard all night, you still need some practice on the delivery. Go - elsewhere.

Soon after, we left. Walking home, we saw some other classmates as they yelled from their car "WOOHOO LOOK AT DEM ARCHAEOWHORES!" Now *that* was hilarious.

Saturday (today), A and I decided to celebrate Earthday KnoxVegas style: with a free all day music festival within walking distance of our office! We slathered on our SPF 50 sunscreen and headed over there at about 4PM. We had us some funnel cakes and snowcones. Yay! Sugar! A left at about 5.30 but I stayed for about another hour. After all, Dishwater Blonde ( www.myspace.com/dishwaterblonde ), one of the local bands I really really like, was playing. Thankfully, there were really no DOM there (at least of the GT calibre), so The GT experience was not continued.

And to all who know my music preferences: Yes, I realize Wolfmother is playing tonight (right now actually) at the Bijou, but I am too poor for $35 tickets. Especially since I spent the same amount to see the King Tut exhibit when I go to Phili. No worries. I'll just see them in a few years when they play the Sundown circuit.

Well, it's 10PM on a Saturday, and I'm blogging. I think it's time to pack up and find some dinner.

I don't think I'll be doing much with music during the rest of the week. I really need to work on this Paleo paper.

overthinking: Pool

I want to get better at pool. I have purely selfish reasons for this. Last June, at a conference, a colleague who became a friend totally kicked my arse. He played all of his balls, then played my balls, then got the eight ball in. Granted, he didn't do it continuously. We probably took about 10 turns each, but I think I only sank two balls the entire game. Therefore, he's not marvelously good.

I'm just that bad.

I will be attending a conference with this colleague in June, and our hotel's restaurant is a British Pub with what seems to be an ample amount of pool tables. Therefore another game is very possible, and I really don't want to be as embarrassed this summer.

So on Friday, A, a friend and co-student in my department, and I decided to take advantage of two situations.
1) We are both rather attractive single women.
2) I have a pool hall 50 m from my front door.

After dressing "rockstar cowgirl" style, which is appropriate for 90% of the clubs and bars in K-ville, we wandered over and snagged ourselves some cues, a table, and a pitcher of Blue Moon. As we expected, we were the only single women there. Of course others noticed it also. On many occasions we turned down offers for drinks, and one gentleman was threatened with "git yur grubby paws offa mah table afore I jam this stick up yur arse and drag you away wit' it." by me.

Where does the geeking out come into play? Surely I've become used to conversations where "liminal," "cultural relativism," and "postprocessual" are thrown about like four letter words at a junior high lunch table. Yes, I have, and that is not what I am referring to. Instead, I continually watched the movement of the balls and the angles at which they hit. One time, the cue ball was spinning in place and I mentally reconstructed the force paths, picturing the little arrows that my physics textbook used to use. I told A about it, and she laughed and told me just to play the game. The final mental link that this game which cause me to realize how much of a geek I am was when I thought of a cartoon that I once had: Donald in Mathmagic Land.

In Donald in Mathmagic Land, Donald duck learns the value of knowing angles when playing pool (three cushions billiards, to be particular), but that scene has always stayed with me. Babysitting in high school, I had a chance to watch this when I first started playing pool. Therefore, the connection was made between geometry and rebounding.

In conclusion, I gradually improved. At one point I managed to get three balls in consecutively. The whole, time however, I thought of Donald Duck as well as little blue arrows. A and I have plans to go to the Grad Student Social on Monday night and play a few games for free there. I think that I'll be able to hold my own come June.