Communication Awards

I feel like I should give my professor an award for Most Confusing Answer Ever.

I'm writing an ethnography on my own food consumption for my Cultural Anthro class & the prompt has provided a sample chart with the columns "time," "description of food," "who purchases the food," "who eats with you," and "disposal of food items and serving items."  I don't feel like properly addressing all of these because that'd end up with me having to write a 20+ page paper and that shit is just not going to happen. Thus, I e-mailed my teacher last night:

On Sat, Feb 26, 2011 at 9:20 PM, Hannah wrote:

It's a little late to ask this, but does the food ethnography HAVE to address every column on that chart, or is it okay if we focus on a few?

-Hannah

Sam sent this EXTREMELY helpful reply today:

 "yes"




THAT DOESN'T ANSWER MY QUESTION. YES TO WHAT?!! I gave two options! Which are you saying yes to?! 


Take home point:
My professor will be getting a paper. It will be an interesting paper. It will nominally address all those things, but really I'm just going to write about what I want to write about because, um, if he has an issue with it, HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN CLEARER.
I feel I should point out that he's actually an excellent teacher.  This was just such a prime moment of *facedesk* that I needed to share it with you, my imaginary readers.

Be Seeing You.

Where do I hang the penguin painting?

1)My Tassajara training has served me well.
2) I finally realized my wrists are chronically weak because of CLEANING THE FLESH OFF BONES.
3) That is not a euphemism.

4) I shouldn't have done an ethnography on myself. 

Be Seeing You.

I kept forgetting to name this post. Now that's it's name.

I have absolutely no clue what the crap I was all worked up about in that previous post. Okay, maybe I kind of have an idea, but pretty much, I needed to srsly ctfo. It's late. I should have printed out my paper a while ago, but I didn't. Really I'm going to actually go to sleep after I write this, but I felt I should share some gems from the 3-5 pg. paper I'm writing for Magic, Science, and Religion that ended up being eight or so pages. In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have selected the question on DEATH.  Actually, before I even started I made sure my teacher was okay with me using a lot of the same resources I cited in my previous paper for Medical Anthropology. She was like, "you should cite your own paper!" So I did. Several times. In this paper I cite me, Wil Wheaton, Christopher Lee, George Romero, and a dude from 1881. 
Anyway, here are a few bits that I am deeply amused by.


(No, this is not the actual title. )

Paper 2: BRAIAIAIIIIIIINNNNNNNSSSSSSSS

(I got this quote from my new osteology field guide by Bill Bass. I'm very excited to own a textbook by him. Very excited. Who is Bill Bass, you ask? GO LOOK HIM UP. HE IS ONE MY HEROS.)

“…At either end of the line bereavement by death tears the heart and mortuary customs are symbols of mourning. The mystery which broods over the abbey where lie bones of king and bishop, gathers over the ossuary where lie the bones of chief and shaman; for the same longing to solve the mysteries of life and death, the same yearning for a future life, the same awe of powers more than human, exist alike in the mind of the savage and the sage.” (Powell, 1881)


"Nowadays elaborately padded “comfortable” coffins are the norm, and one can buy crypts “with a view” (Harris 2007), as if purchasing condos for a relative. "

I included a chunk of my previous paper which I may have shared before because it contains the best footnotes EVER. Here are the footnotes:

"[1] He was actually kicked out of New York University’s medical school but occasionally practiced medicine and went by “Doctor” for the rest of his life. Iserson (2001) cites the reason for his expulsion as “his cavalier way of leaving corpses in inappropriate places,” while Mitford (1998) notes that “he was forever carelessly leaving [cadavers] around in inappropriate places.” The repeated use of the word “inappropriate” begs the question of what constitutes an “appropriate” place to mislay a spare corpse.

2Lincoln actually began to decompose during the trip, and required extensive makeup for public display."

Bad Pun #1)
"Ghosts serve as a medium between the terrifying reality of death and our desire to ignore it."


This is a poorly written sentence. I am not going to change it though.
"The classic desired food is brains, which is interesting when viewed in the context of the Haitian zombi whose soul/will (what we might call “the brain” of a human) has been stolen and may only return to normal life if that soul is retrieved. "


"In “The Day After,” (Wheaton 2010), Wheaton eloquently parses this trope into a few simple lines of dialogue..."


Bad Pun #2)
Though this mental separation makes sense within fictional worlds as a matter of survival (it’s easier to kill a “zombie” than a “human”), it can also be viewed as a reflection of creator and consumer’s uneasiness when confronted with this potent symbol of death “in the flesh”.  


The real meat of the paper, so to speak. BAHAHAHAHAHA! These questions came to me one night and I shared them with the twitters. ....Then I used them in my paper for class.

When a zombie is fully killed (past the point of resurrection), does it go back to being a dead human? Given infinite time and security (i.e. no danger of infection/ravening hordes descending/etc.) would characters bury the bodies of zombies the same way they would bury the bodies of slain human companions? How does one distinguish the bodies of dead humans from those of dead zombies?  Philosophical questions about zombies may seem silly, but they highlight the inconsistencies inherent in our insistence on separating ourselves from the walking dead. 

Last one:

"Instead forcing us to confront that the mystical realm of death and the terrifying reality of putrescence are one and the same, vampires allow us to imagine that we might acknowledge the inescapable reality of death whilst remaining perpetually sexy."


Be Seeing You. 

Because when I get tired, I get irritable

Do you ever have that thing where exhaustion overwhelms your being? When every step seems like an opportunity to collapse on the ground, every moment of movement just to the side of nausea.  I collapse in the corner weeping and shatter every two minutes, but only in my brain. My body lurches on, clawing its way through life because it must, because this is the path to what I love.
I realize it sounds like I'm having a complete mental breakdown, and maybe I am, but don't get too worked up about it. It seems like half my life has been lived on willpower alone. Maybe less than half. That sounds really depressing, and my life is anything but. Sometimes my body decides enough is enough and refuses to go on.
I'm tired right now, but I've hit a point where things may be starting to happen. I've decided to go on an archaeological dig and somehow wound up partially curating an excavation collection. I'm also working with people who do not yet realize my level of competence and intelligence. Or my passion. That bit they obviously haven't copped to. I do not know how to network. I do not know how to talk to people, but my buffers are wearing thin and my core is about to start making an appearance.
This should be amusing.

The Canal of Schlemm (Scleral venous sinus)

Should I be studying for my anatomy lab test tomorrow? YES. Am I kind of freaking out about it even though I should be fine and even if I bomb it, I'll still be able to salvage my grade? YES. Does this maybe have to do with insane hormones and also the headache/general exhaustion that sometimes rules my body? Probably. Will this entire post be semi-rhetorical questions that I opt to answer? Maybe. What are you going to do about it? Huh? Yeah. That's what I thought. 

I'm going to Ecuador for a month this summer to work on an archaeological project and work on community projects with the people of a small town about 20 min outside of Quito. This means I will be attempting to learn some Spanish, which I really should have done by now since I live in frikin' California. I mean, I know some super basic stuff, but not really anything useful. So that will be hilarious. Also I'm beginning to actually work with bones and death a lot more these days. That combined with all my anthro classes is leading to some interesting stuffs fomenting in my brain. 

Got two things in the mail this week: a Star Trek uniform (yes I have already worn it out in public. it is amazing) and a field guide to human osteology by Bill Bass. I asked Dan what books I should get to start learning about that stuff (osteology, not star trek) and he was like, "well this is essentially the Bible. I assume you're familiar with Bass?" My brain: "DUHHHHHHHH!!!!" My mouth said something less blunt, but only upon reflection do I realize that that reaction indicates how deeply I've absorbed forensic anthropology culture, for someone who's not even in the field yet. I have to wonder how many of the other students there (who were actually working on human osteology, even more so than me, though I feel like I'm beginning to edge my way into taking possession of the research into the stuff from CA-SCI-354...we'll see about that, since the thought only just occurred to me), but I have to wonder how many of them know the name so instantly. People are so fascinated by human bones and osteology, but how many of them feel that connection, that love and reverence and respect and fascination? If I'm going to be working on bones from the salvage excavation, I need to learn more about how I should be treating them. Ohlone funerary practices HERE I COME.

Daffy and Me

The reason I don't keep a real decent blog is that I'm sorry, but I'm NOT A WRITER. Forcing my thoughts into cohesion is just not worth the energy I could be using to finish my friggin' painting. I hope you realize that it's only a matter of time before I start using "Frakking". I get Season 1 of Battlestar Galactica from the library tomorrow. I can feel the tendrils of obsession twining through my brain like the Guinea worm through a hosts' viscera.
Speaking of parasites, I do have the option to go somewhere where I could get a botfly, but I think I'm going to go with the one that lets me meet llamas & alpacas. I've long wanted to visit the Andes, and though it's pretty high (10,000 feet, I think) and that'll likely trigger some altitude headachage, alt. sickness will pass, and then I'm in the fucking Andes.

The Temerity of the Tibial Tuberosity

I actually learned about the Circle of Willis the other day in class! I was excited. In case you're wondering, it's pretty much a loop o' blood vessels that carry blood to your brain. I will not explain further because 1)I'm on headache medication and that would require thought and 2)I have to study anatomy and physio a whole shit ton this weekend and don't want to waste that section of my brain on stuff I won't be tested on yet. Also, see number 1.
 Will you ever get TeleTARDIS Part 3? Yes, yes you will because sooner or later I want to get these screenshots off my desktop which is where I've been storing them as a constant reminder to myself to get on it.

This is what my Desktop looks like:

 

Is it the coolest thing ever? Yes. Yes it is.

That background image is a painting Julia made for my birthday.  In case you've somehow managed to avoid me shoving my nerdtastic obsessions DOWN YOUR THROAT and have no idea what the hell it is and why it is the coolest thing ever, then I pity you. I pity you deeply.
It's actually  a little odd that it took me so long to get into Doctor Who because I've been utterly obsessed with The Prisoner for a number of years and though they may seem totally unrelated, there are a stunning number of connections between the two shows. Maybe I'm the only one who really sits down and ponders this at great length.  It probably speaks well of humanity if that's the case. Time for a list because oh man, remember the headache meds? Yeah. Those.
1)

*****RANDOM SIDE TANGENT******

The original idea of this post was to get into just how nerdy my desktop is, so this is kind of relevant, but not really.
I take opiates for my headache.  We learned the other day that opiates can cross the blood-brain barrier which I recently learned is an ACTUAL PHYSICAL BARRIER. I don't know why I found this so awesome but I did. Anyway, if you're chilling in the CNS (central nervous system- brain and spinal cord) unless you're all up ins a choroid plexus, the things forming the blood-brain barrier are neuroglia cells called astrocytes. My teacher was showing us them the other day and was like, "and I always remember its shape because I think it resembles that crystalline [entity] in that episode of Star Trek." About four or five of us started laughing because IT TOTALLY DOES.

Crystalline Entity aka Omnomnoming Everything

Astrocyte aka Those "feet" are the blood-brain barrier!

 Okay, let's get back to the list thing.

1) Both shows were on BBC in the early 60's
2) The Prisoner features amazing writing, acting, cinematography, sets, Patrick McGoohan running around being AWESOME, occasional Leo McKern, and an episode with the guy who plays the head of Scotland Yard in Help! (that episode also features a brilliant split-screen sequence where No.6 is trapping a pigeon in a box and Kosho: the strangest sport ever which apparently McGoohan just sort of came up with. Not both at the same time mind you, but still). Also McGoohan was kinda hot back in the day.
3) Early Doctor Who does not particularly feature any of these things, but it did start moving in that direction as the years passed and it did rank high on the WTF?!!! quotient that was such a defining hallmark of The Prisoner (I mean, a police box that travels through space and time? Wut? Oh hai cavemen! Wut?! Out actor's leaving...let's write in that his character has the ability to change EVERY CELL IN HIS BODY so we can continue the show without interruption. Wut??!!!)
4) Though I hear it's not so much the case with the first or sixth doctors (look man, I'm slowly slowly starting to get a broader exposure to the vast canon. Give me time), for the most part the Doctor is portrayed as an incredibly intelligent individual who would rather solve problems with ingenuity and reason rather than brute force. Who does that sound like? Oh wait: how about Number Six?! (Patrick McGoohan was actually the first choice for James Bond, & if you ever watch Danger Man/Secret Agent, you'll understand why. They actually approached him twice with the role & only after the second rejection did they ask their second choice, a dude named Sean Connery. McGoohan's reason for refusing the role? He didn't like the violence & copious gunplay and he didn't like the way Bond treated women.  Though Number Six gets into several scrapes, the only time I can think of guns being used is the episode where his REFUSING TO WEAR ONE is a major plot point. Yes, I am in love with 1960's Patrick McGoohan. I will admit it. Anyway, in terms of a main character avoiding violence, I'd say the tendency for the Doctor to run rather than incite or fight is nicely summed up in a certain song by Chameleon Circuit.  The point is, both shows glorify intelligence over force, something one does not see very often in television or even movies. I realized my third obsession, a certain dude named Sherlock Holmes is EXACTLY THE SAME WAY. One of my few real gripes with the Downey Jr. Holmes movie is that a defining characteristic of Holmes is that he almost never carries a gun. He's always asking Watson to bring along his service revolver, but I'm not sure Holmes even actually owns a firearm. [Edit: Duh Hannah! Of COURSE he owns one. The VR on the wall attests to that!] Like Number 6, Holmes tends to resort to fisticuffs.
The point is, you usually see wealth or looks or athletic/fighting prowess glorified in the main character. It's relatively rare that extreme intelligence is portrayed so favorably. It's a little hard for me to express exactly what I mean.  The other thing is that though these characters try to avoid violence, it's clear that all of them would be willing to kill (and probably have).  In fact, it's possibly because they have the potential to be such effective killers that they do their best to avoid violence. Though the more contemporary character of Agent Pendergast tends to be slightly more violent than the other three, he's still much the same, and guess what: I'm pretty obsessed with that character too.  Something interesting to note: they're all men. It always seems to come back to the fact that if I didn't identify so strongly as female, I'd totally be a dude.  Also maybe someday I'll talk about how I am an extremely violent person which is the entire reason why I work so hard to not be.
5) Remember that whole list thing we were doing before I went off into insane rant land? Let's get back to that.
6) An esoteric and intensely nerdy thing to have noticed: Ron Granier composed the fabulous opening theme to The Prisoner; guess who composed the original Doctor Who theme. Granted, he was co-composing the latter with a woman named Delia Derbyshire, but still: Ron Granier FTW!

Maybe someday I'll share with you the things that are scattered on that desktop. In addition to the screencaps for TeleTARDIS Part 3, there is a picture of a Dalek Christmas tree, patterns for Star Wars snowflakes, a print-out Ewok mask, an episode of a Wil Wheaton podcast, an image of an Owlbear, an Olde-Timey add for Kraken Rum, this mash-up of extreme nerd, and MORE!!!!!  Nerdtastic overload? Oh my yes.

Be Seeing You

Boil Update:
We skinned out, eviscerated, and boiled a rather stinky raccoon last week. Today I spent about five hours straight taking most of the flesh off of two of her limbs (it's a subadult female- we can tell age b/c the epiphyses of several of the long bones aren't fully fused and actually came off the shafts). Also I've started helping to inventory, curate, and eventually develop teaching modules for the random teaching collection of human bones the Foothill Anthro department has. Where did the bones come from? NO ONE KNOWS. Not sketch AT ALL. There's a lot of sketchiness to the history of that department to the point where it's kind of hilarious. The point is, once a week I get to spend two hours working with real human bones. I adore it. Holding a human (or really an animal's) bone is like holding a child but in reverse: the child carries the potential of a life story yet to be told, while the bone carries a life story that is over and may never be changed.