It's official: I'll be spending a large portion of my summer in a tiny little country in the heart of Africa. No not Maui, Malawi. The tickets were boughten last week-en and, well, something I've been mentioning in conversation as a possibility/probability for a year or two now is finally starting to seem real.
I'm a bit scared. I'm a lot excited. Here's why:
--I will miss my piano.
--I will miss my friends.
--I will be in a foreign country, observing things, talking to people, letting it all sink in
--It will be beautiful
--It might be lonely
--I may or may not accomplish very much
--I most likely will learn quite a bit
--I have wanted to do this for a long, long time
--I hope I don't get Muh-Lay-Ree-uh
--I will need support, thoughts, and prayers
--I'm getting PAID for this (?!?)
--I guess I'm really a sociologist now
--I can't wait to meet some Malawian peeps
--I have no idea what to expect.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Sunday, March 18, 2007
South-By-South-Williteverend???!!!?!?!
Yes, yes, all you music and madness lovers: SXSW has just taken place. Let's see, what can I say about the streams of mullets, tight jeans, aviator glasses, retro-vests (VERY in this year), and endless debauchery that crowded the streets of downtown Austin for the last four days??? How can I pay homage to the mother of all music festivals (at least, that I've witnessed) in such a humble blog? Especially since I could probably claim familiarity with only about 10 percent of the bands featured and I mean, look at my pictures--I'm not that cool.
What I DO have to offer, though, is the highlights of "SXSW on a budget." As a poor grad student, I was determined to do as much as possible with as little green stuff as possible, and I will have to say I did pretty well, though it did require endless patience with long lines and flexibility with plans. Every morning I got up and headed downtown around noon, not to return to my apartment till 2 or 3 AM most nights (if you were noticing that this post has a little extra "something"--yeah, that's sleep deprivation). The best part of all??? While many people paid nearly 200 dollars on passes or door fees, I saw the following fabulous acts:
1. The Walkmen
2. Peter, Bjorn and John
3. Architecture in Helsinki
3. Ghostface Killah (yes, the real one, not some skinny indies trying to be ironic)
4. Rakim (my pastor's hero--I got him into this show and he brought his 4-yr-old)
5. Peter and the Wolf
6. The Zincs
7. Cursive
8. David Garza
9. Faultline for Now (Austin friends)
10. Radiant
... and paid 0 dollars for all of it. With a little research, persistance, and doggedness in the face of unbelievable odds, you really can enjoy SXSW on a "shoestring", as they say. Oh, yeah, and the head cold from exhaustion was free too.
In conclusion, dear readers, let me say that, while I may not know about all the bands and their manager's shoe size or what-have-you like so many of the cool kids crowding Austin's streets this week, I really enjoyed myself. And, as Frank would croon, "I did it mmmyyyyy waaaayyyy....."
ps. and I saw Jessica and Ashley Simpson's dad at a show.
What I DO have to offer, though, is the highlights of "SXSW on a budget." As a poor grad student, I was determined to do as much as possible with as little green stuff as possible, and I will have to say I did pretty well, though it did require endless patience with long lines and flexibility with plans. Every morning I got up and headed downtown around noon, not to return to my apartment till 2 or 3 AM most nights (if you were noticing that this post has a little extra "something"--yeah, that's sleep deprivation). The best part of all??? While many people paid nearly 200 dollars on passes or door fees, I saw the following fabulous acts:
1. The Walkmen
2. Peter, Bjorn and John
3. Architecture in Helsinki
3. Ghostface Killah (yes, the real one, not some skinny indies trying to be ironic)
4. Rakim (my pastor's hero--I got him into this show and he brought his 4-yr-old)
5. Peter and the Wolf
6. The Zincs
7. Cursive
8. David Garza
9. Faultline for Now (Austin friends)
10. Radiant
... and paid 0 dollars for all of it. With a little research, persistance, and doggedness in the face of unbelievable odds, you really can enjoy SXSW on a "shoestring", as they say. Oh, yeah, and the head cold from exhaustion was free too.
In conclusion, dear readers, let me say that, while I may not know about all the bands and their manager's shoe size or what-have-you like so many of the cool kids crowding Austin's streets this week, I really enjoyed myself. And, as Frank would croon, "I did it mmmyyyyy waaaayyyy....."
ps. and I saw Jessica and Ashley Simpson's dad at a show.
Thursday, March 8, 2007
A Freudian Food
The human psyche is to an avocado as:
Temperment is to pit.
Personality is to flesh.
Mask is to rind.
The temperment--we're to an extent born with it. It's us in our natural, diverse states. Personality is what develops as our temperments interact with our social environment and give us a self-image and a set of normal behaviors. Finally, our mask develops on the outside as a self-protective mechanism from specifically painful and wrong experiences.
Or at least, that's my take.
While it isn't so common for a sociologist to talk about tendencies we're "born with," I recently took something called a Temperment Analysis Profile that is mainly designed to help people see through the mask and the complications of developed personality into their more essential selves. The idea is that living in harmony and awareness of our natural temperment will make us most happy. The analysis uses questions that seem obvious and that you answer quickly, yet the profile assesment that comes back was, at least in my case, really personal and really revealing. So I guess I'm saying, I'm a believer.
Just don't tell my colleagues.
There is a freedom, though, in this that is so refreshing. Sure, there were things that came out that I wish weren't true about myself. But recognizing and accepting that they ARE true does wonders. Some things, I should work on. Others, I just need to embrace because there is truly nothing "wrong" with me. I recommend something like this for everyone who experiences regular frustration over certain of their own behaviors that they just can't understand or control. So often our immediate reaction is to try to change ourselves; yet what about the necessary process of understanding ourselves and what does and does not need to change?
So (get ready for cheesy wrap-up) next time you eat an avocado, think about that-- you are made up of several layers and they all have their own rationale.
Just don't try to extend the metaphor to guacomole.
Temperment is to pit.
Personality is to flesh.
Mask is to rind.
The temperment--we're to an extent born with it. It's us in our natural, diverse states. Personality is what develops as our temperments interact with our social environment and give us a self-image and a set of normal behaviors. Finally, our mask develops on the outside as a self-protective mechanism from specifically painful and wrong experiences.
Or at least, that's my take.
While it isn't so common for a sociologist to talk about tendencies we're "born with," I recently took something called a Temperment Analysis Profile that is mainly designed to help people see through the mask and the complications of developed personality into their more essential selves. The idea is that living in harmony and awareness of our natural temperment will make us most happy. The analysis uses questions that seem obvious and that you answer quickly, yet the profile assesment that comes back was, at least in my case, really personal and really revealing. So I guess I'm saying, I'm a believer.
Just don't tell my colleagues.
There is a freedom, though, in this that is so refreshing. Sure, there were things that came out that I wish weren't true about myself. But recognizing and accepting that they ARE true does wonders. Some things, I should work on. Others, I just need to embrace because there is truly nothing "wrong" with me. I recommend something like this for everyone who experiences regular frustration over certain of their own behaviors that they just can't understand or control. So often our immediate reaction is to try to change ourselves; yet what about the necessary process of understanding ourselves and what does and does not need to change?
So (get ready for cheesy wrap-up) next time you eat an avocado, think about that-- you are made up of several layers and they all have their own rationale.
Just don't try to extend the metaphor to guacomole.
Monday, March 5, 2007
Closure...
...I never really understood what people meant by it. I was suspicious of the term, suspecting that it was probably more a disguise or a fabrication of reality than a real emotional landmark. Yet recently, I got to experience a sort of indescribable something for which, remarkably, closure struck me as quite simply the best word.
It doesn't mean that your heart closes completely.
It doesn't mean that the story ends.
It doesn't mean memories are erased or you get to start over.
But it IS a settling, a fading, a sealing feeling...
... and it feels good.
It doesn't mean that your heart closes completely.
It doesn't mean that the story ends.
It doesn't mean memories are erased or you get to start over.
But it IS a settling, a fading, a sealing feeling...
... and it feels good.
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