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Monday, February 12, 2007
i had a sort of lucid dream this morning. actually, no. not at all. i just had one of those hyper-real ones, where you're not sure whether you're awake or dreaming. but i did want to get william boyd in there.
soterios johnson was talking about how important npr is. jamie something was going on about efps and someone else was parsing the differences between shiites and sunnis. i was showering, washing my hair. thinking about how odd it was that the bathroom was warm-- i'd just told my parents how cold it gets in there, all marble and windows.
i awoke to soterius johnson telling us how important npr is and jamie something talking about the differences between shiites and sunnis. i hadn't showered yet, though. and when i stepped into the bathroom it was freezing cold.
right now, i'm just trying to beat my time.
Posted at 12:07 pm by Dena
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Sunday, February 11, 2007
Posted at 12:10 am by Dena
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Friday, February 09, 2007
strindberg and helium; or: transatlantic difference in an age of anxiety
good, clean, fun. re: our conversation earlier, yes. some people do get charged up. not me, though . here's the rest of our conversation. i'm putting it up so that we can keep thinking about it:
and why do you feel like you're making your career off the backs of people who suffer? aren't you writing about the treatments that they're getting? and then, also, isn't this sort of the classic question that anthropologists have to come to grips with? when do you intervene/when do you maintain some sort of distance (knowing that that influences results/cultures/whatever, as well)? and look: i walk to work every day in the freezing cold, passing people who've been asleep in doorframes and cardboard boxes.
how do you know where and when to begin and end? someone you know? someone in your backyard? this is not meant to be a jeremiad against, um, helping people in need. real questions, just poorly phrased.yes, you are precisely right, these are the questions one grapples with, as anthropologists, as human beings, but i suppose i havent settled the score yet. i told my mom last night on the phone, and she said "people die here too" -- which is absolutely true, but i do feel this directness to the fact that he is giving me his life story and we are friends but the injustness of our relationship is too great for me to bear at times. i suppose, ultimately, i am a student, on top of things, and i am learning and applying what i learn, --- i wonder how i would feel if the whole dissertation weren't in the mix. say, if it were a beninois friend that got ill, and not one of my key informants. and yes, i did help support him financially for a good many months after they removed his nose, hooked him up with some computer training courses so that he could potentially be qualified to work as something, etc etc, but but but.
and shouldnt part of my role in his life be to activitate resources for him?
how passively am i living and will i ever take a stand for anything?
i think you might be right -- and i am too involved to see straight. and am just whining about the Facts of Life. and some junky stole my atm card two days ago and 420 dollars and where did it all go? but i also wonder if i am being stingy and spoiled and a____ has said that all my generosity is selfish. and apart from that, its remembering and feeling the heat of c____, these days that stretch out and one after another is the same, and a tumour is eating away the flesh on his face while in nigeria there is the radiation treatment available that could save his life. its these days, these repetitive days, and my presence, and his gaze.... (there are some parts i'm leaving out. jeremiads, indeed.) my plan is to keep up with the commenting and thinking. so more to come. how's your weather? still c-c-cold where we are. well, you're not here. you're there.
Posted at 10:52 pm by Dena
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Thursday, February 08, 2007
to eat a peach? or to wear my trousers rolled? or, really,
to run a marathon?
well, i'm giving it a shot. wanna help? i know it's a little gauche just to come out and ask like that, but...i have to raise $4,000-- half that by the end of next month. and i must admit that i'm pretty much as nervous about the fundraising part as i am about the running part-- never mind that i went to the meeting yesterday thinking that a half marathon was about as much as i'd try to handle. a full marathon will truly be a challenge. no, i won't wimp out. plus? backdating my life list, i'd like to run a marathon before my 20s are over. (and yes, i've decided that my 30s will start when i turn 31, a la the millennium.)
so, there.
enjoy the weather...i'm off to the movies.
Posted at 01:29 pm by Dena
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Tuesday, January 23, 2007
do i remember even how to do this?
instead of the Other Things, i've been planning. what about you?
have a good day, y'all.
Posted at 01:49 pm by Dena
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