How About a Tuesday Twelve?

It is Tuesday, right?

1. After my third cup of Devil's Punch at a Halloween party, I asked a friend to take my picture so I could post it to my blog.
2. Fortunately I sobered up before she sent me the picture.
3. I'm repeating my costume from last year: Janis Joplin.
4. People should not be allowed to eat in libraries. Or, at least, they should have to observe "movie food" rules---nothing that makes noise.
5. I'm bummed that Reese and Ryan have separated.
6. The Brits just make better television. See, for example, MI-5, Coupling, the original of The Office, and Footballers' Wives. The latter puts any Aaron Spelling show to shame.
7. Someone in the building next to mine has a Hanson obsession. Normally I find it amusing, but not so much at 3.00 a.m., even on the weekend.
8. We had what was probably our last gorgeous weekend---temps got up into the high 50s!---and I barely got to enjoy it because I was working on yet another paper.
9. I'm thinking about buying a house.
10. If I do, I can finally get a little brother for Rowen.
11. I'm freaked about the responsibility of a house, though.
12. Yesterday, I said hello to a stranger whom I thought was someone I knew.

On the Pile

Just for giggles and grins, I thought I'd post an "On the Pile."

But first . . . A Rant.

I try very hard not to be overly judgmental of others' charitable acts, even when I think that they are terribly misguided. Let's take Oprah, for example (because Scott foolishly kindled my ever-burning Oprah hate). I'm sure we've all seen the pictures of her surrounded by smiling South African girls in their pretty uniforms with their brand-new sacks of school supplies. A nice gesture, sure. But as one of my favorite phrases goes, "Who's going to play Santa next year?" For a few thousand dollars worth of school supplies (and I'd be willing to wager a fair sum that at least some portion of those supplies were donated from the companies and not bought with Oprah's own money), Oprah gets millions of dollars worth of free positive publicity. And the kids go home with a fancy backpack and fancy pencils. But nothing has really changed. Oprah has the money and power to make real, longterm changes---build a teachers' college, build and staff a hospice, pressure pharmaceutical companies to provide low-cost HIV/AIDs drugs. But what does she use her celebrity for? A short-term, feel-good publicity stunt that benefits her way more than it does those kids.

But the "charitable" act that really gets me het up these days is the latest celeb accessory: the third-world baby. Let's start with the fact that right here in the United States, we have plenty of orphans who need good homes. You would never know it because the stories we hear are how hard it is to adopt a child in the United States. One: It should be hard. You're adopting a child, not getting a houseplant. Two: It's really only hard if you want a blue-eyed, blonde-haired perfectly healthy infant. Yes, those are in short supply. But we have a whole lot of children ages 2 and up, with and without special needs, who are stuck in orphanages or being shuttled among foster homes while the very people who have the money and resources to care for these children spend tens of thousands on private brokers or international adoptions.

Now, let's look at the children who are being adopted by the oh-so-charitable celebs. Of the recent adoptions, at least two (Zahara Jolie and David Banda-Richie) have living parents. So they aren't even really orphans. And in Malawi, even if both parents have died, the extended family would take responsibility for the child. Yes, David was in an orphanage. In Malawi, it is common for infants to go to an orphanage if the mother dies during childbirth or shortly after. It's assumed that the father won't be able to care for the infant and it is too much of a burden for the family. But most of those children will eventually be returned to the living parent or the extended family when the children have reached a certain age (usually between 3 and 5 years).

Also, these children have all been reasonably healthy. The celebs aren't adopting the high-needs kids. They aren't adopting kids who are HIV positive or were born with a disability. Again, the kids who have the best chance of thriving with minimal intervention are taken out and the kids who really need more help are shunted to the side.

I know that conditions aren't great for any kids---healthy or otherwise---in Malawi or any other poor nation. But taking a handful of kids out of the country isn't the solution. It's a selfish way to get publicity.

I have more I could say, but this has already turned into a much longer rant than I intended.

Anyway . . .

On the Pile

Finished: Nothing. Really. I have given up on actually finishing a book. I'm lucky if I make it 100 pages in before I have to move on to the next book. I have not finished a single book in almost two months. Which kills me, because I have a thing about finishing books, even really bad books.

Now Reading:
* Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison by Michel Foucault. A French structuralist philosopher writing on the underlying principles of the Western penal system. And, yes, it really is as exciting as it sounds. Don't read after eating---the first two pages are a vivid account of an old-school execution. Do read before bed, especially if you have insomnia.

* Claude Levi-Strauss by Edmund Leach. Why I thought that it would be a good idea to read a book on an incomprehensible French structuralist written by an incomprehensible English functionalist I will never know.

* Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson. A book I can actually understand! Too bad the current establishment thinks he's a crackpot.

On Deck:
* The Nuer by E. Evans-Pritchard. I'll spare you the mile-long subtitle. I'm supposed to have this read for a class tomorrow. Considering that I haven't even cracked the spine on it yet, I'm thinking that's not going to happen.

* A bunch of articles on mental health, occupational health, and injury.

* Facing Mount Kenya by Jomo Kenyatta

* Elizabeth I: The Competition for Representation by Susan Frye

* The Poetics of Manhood: Contest and Identity in a Cretan Mountain Village by Michael Herzfeld

* A bunch of books on religion and family planning in developing countries.

Added to the Pile: As if I didn't have more than enough to read already . . . Although most are for school.

* High Points in Anthropology ed. by P. Bohannan and M. Glazer

* Outline of a Theory of Practice by Pierre Bourdieu

* The Anti-Politics Machine by James Ferguson

* Europe and the People Without History by Eric Wolf

* Writing with Intent by Margaret Atwood

* Moral Disorder by Margaret Atwood

* Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose

Can you guess which ones aren't for school?

I've also recently bought a bunch of craft books in the delusion that I'd find time for crafts. Ha!

Thursday Thirteen

1. It is damn friggin' cold.

2. I saw snow! Just a few, teeny tiny flakes. But snow!

3. This week, I had my first academic paper and my first exam.

4. I also had an in-class presentation that went horribly. Really. As in Al Gore in the presidential debate horrible.

5. I'm exhausted and it's only Thursday.

6. Rowen is getting more neurotic by the day. About the only time she'll let me take her for a walk is when we're going to move the car, and even then, I have to drag her halfway there. Then, when we get to the car, she hides under it.

7. I think maybe she's been reading Freud while I'm out of the apartment.

8. I wish she would eat the Freud; the man was a lunatic.

9. I've been stress eating in a big way the past two weeks. And haven't run for about the same amount of time. So I'm starting to put back on all the weight that I lost.

10. I'm still glad that I'm in grad school.

11. And I'm starting to think that I'm in the right field after all.

12. I've become addicted to Heroes.

13. And I've been so crazed that it just occurred to me right now that the Project Runway finale was last night. I've been catching up with Tim's blog during breaks from the studying and paper-writing. I love that man. Oh, Tim!

Thursday Thirteen

1. I was thinking earlier that I would post a Thursday Thirteen this week, but it didn't register that today is Thursday until I saw that Bearette had her list up.

2. My days get confused because I have no regular schedule. I have my class schedule, but then all the other things around classes change day to day, and any time I'm not in class is a time that I'm reading for class or working on my PA-ship. I don't have an end to my week anymore, and the actual day of the week has become meaningless.

3. I'm tempted to resay all that in mock-anthrospeak with gratutious references to Marx and Freud, but I'll spare you.

4. I should be reading "Worker in the Cane" right now.

5. I'm actually enjoying Mintz a lot, and his work is giving me ideas for a direction in my own future, possible research.

6. I change my mind every three days about what that possible, future research is.

7. On Monday night, I went out to dinner with friends and had a huge plate of fried food---shrimp, hush puppies, fries---and a glass of wine.

8. We all thought that the server's name was Rowan until we got the bill and saw that it was Ronald.

9. I guessed that his accent was from New Zealand; he was from Georgia.

10. I have two mice in my apartment.

11. I have no patience for old people.

12. I need a new imaginary boyfriend; Bradley got engaged to Jennifer. And he told me the whole time that they were just friends. :-(

13. I'm not very good at living on a budget.

Procrastination, Thy Name is Meme

So I'm completely exhausted and have about 50 more pages of reading that I absolutely have to do tonight (but probably won't). So what would be the smart thing for me to do?

Yeah . . .

1. FIRST NAME? Lisa

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My father claims that my full first name is a family name. But I’ve seen the family tree, and going back 150 years, only one other person has my name. So . . .

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? On the drive up here, so about six weeks ago. Although the next two weeks may see many tears.

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? No. It’s neat, but too round and young.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Tuna.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes.

7. DO YOU JOURNAL? Sporadically.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Already have. And I have photographic proof. If I can ever locate that CD again, maybe I’ll share.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Corn flakes.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No, even though I know that I should.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? No, not at all.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Ben & Jerry’s Peanut Butter Cup.

14. SHOE SIZE? An 8, I think. But my feet keep growing.

15. FAVORITE COLOR? Blue.

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? Being passive-aggressive.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Probably Liz. We’ve become separated by more than miles over the past few years.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? If someone else wants to post this, go for it.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Black pants with green flip-flops.

20. LAST THING YOU ATE? Bread & butter. But there's some chocolate calling my name.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? My obnoxious neighbors who either aren’t students or don’t give a damn about their classes. They’ve decided that a Tuesday night is a great night for a party.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Yellow green.

23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Vanilla, fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies, coffee, my puppy.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? A classmate.

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU'RE ATTRACTED TO? The ring finger. Seriously. At my age, you learn that it’s not worth checking out the rest of the package if the package belongs to someone else. And at my age, if the package is worth checking out, chances are that it has already been claimed.

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Well, no one sent it to me. I stole it from Scott, and he seems like an okay guy.

27. FAVORITE DRINK? Smooth white wine.

28. FAVORITE SPORT? Purely as a spectator: baseball and Aussie Rules, although I haven’t seen the later in ages because (a) I’m not in Australia and (b) I don’t have a television.

29. EYE COLOR? Blue-grey.

30. HAT SIZE? No idea, but I do think my head is larger than average.

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No.

32. FAVORITE FOOD? Seafood, especially crab.

33.SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings.

34. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? White.

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Fall.

36. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs.

37. FAVORITE DESSERT? Only one? German chocolate cheesecake.

38. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING? “The Interpretation of Dreams” by Sigmund Freud. “Poverty, Inequality, and Health” ed. by Leon and Walt. “Worker in the Cane” by Sydney Mintz. Ask me tomorrow and I’ll have a whole new list.

39. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Don’t have one; I have a laptop.

40. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Don’t have a television.

41. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Silence. My puppy’s dream yips. Ocean waves. Brooks. Thunder.

42. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles.

43. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? South island of New Zealand.

44. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? Reciting the helping verbs in under a minute? I don’t know that I have a special talent.

45. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Maryland.

46. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? No one. I stole it. Aren’t you paying attention?

47. NEWEST THING YOU'VE TRIED? Not sleeping for an entire month. And fried cheese curd.

48. ONE THING YOU'D CHANGE ABOUT YOURSELF? I’d be a better listener.

49. WHO DID YOU LAST SEND A CARD OR LETTER TO? A swap partner.

50. WHERE WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO VISIT IF MONEY WERE NO OBJECT? Where wouldn’t I want to go?