More About Dead People, I Amaze Even Myself, and Our Course of Action for a Teething Baby

In case anyone hasn't noticed, I'm a horrible procrastinator. It'll take me another week or so to get up an update to the baby-drawing. I had a hell of a day Thursday. In my Human Origins class, we talked a bit about cannibalism and Neandethal (that's actually pronounced nee-AND-er-Tall) burials, which is perfect timing, because I just started reading The Buried Soul that same day, and we're still covering it all next week. Anyway, the teacher remarked how unsurprising that some of the more gruesome comments came from me, which is weird, because she's only ever seen me reading about the Body Farm, and that pretty much only scratches the surface of most of the shit I'm into. But, I nevertheless took it as a compliment.
I also spoke up in my history class, which is odd, because it's normally boring. But one guy made the mistake of saying that people corrupted the land because of their greed and desire for more. So, obviously, I had something to say in favor of greed and the stagnancy of security during prosperous times. I think I surprised the teacher.
Film class was normal, except we were learning about camera lenses, and he needed a volunteer to stand in front of the camera for a lighting experiment. I volunteered to be one of the light grips, but at the very end of class, he had me stand facing the girl that was in front of the camera to show positioning of actors for different types of dialogue. He made us move closer, closer, closer, until we were about 2-3 inches from each other's noses. Personal space was severely violated, plus I had a cold, plus when you get that close to someone, the first thing you notice is how they smell. If they smell good (thank goodness 99% of all girls seem to smell fine), that would be a comfort, but then you ask yourself, how do I smell? Then, he asked me to hunch down about 4 inches to be eye-level with her. That sucks to hold that pose for a guy whose out of shape!
Karissa's already explained all this, but we got Is ot try a feeding biscuit. She loved it, but it got really nasty after a while. She sucked on it, and choked on a little piece that came off, nearly giving Karissa a heart-attack. We eventually had to take it away because it got too nasty. We then tried to give her a sippy-cup, which she chewed on. Kind of ironic the way she approached these two new things. Then, we gave her one of those scoop stick things (Karissa will post a picture in a day or two, then you guys will know what the hell I'mm talking about) for her food. She got the general idea down, but couldn't dip it. Pretty soon she got tired of us holding the bowl and making her dip the scoop, so she took the bowl herself and banged it upside down on her tray.
We would have videotaped it, but the camera battery was dead. Everything does have to involve death with me, huh? Oh well.

Not much different, but the pupils are in. 

700 Miles Since I Last Posted...Damn Those Bats...

Nothing to report from Senior Seminar...Spring Break an' all...We had a hell of a busy weekend, though. I didn't get to watch Batman Saturday morning because we were already on our way to Bismarck. I had decided foolishly to take the backroads that Karissa's mom usually takes. The snowy roads and flurries set us back about a half an hour, and the weather sucked ass the whole way down.
Bismarck was fun, we got in a five-generation photo with Is, Karissa, her mom, grandma, and great grandma. I finally got a new copy of ...And Justice For All--I'm going to do a little "study" of the riffs and styles on the album (mostly Blackened, And Justice For All, Harvester of Sorrow, and To Live Is To Die). We also got scented candles...you know what? I like scented candles and I'm a man, so fuck off!
On the way back, we stopped off in Valley City to eat and feed Is. Valley City, contrary to what I thought, is actually a nice-looking town. My brother said the people in it were psycho, but at least the town's nice.
Anyway, we got back Sunday night, then took off to DL Monday night to see my family and go to a spaghetti feed put on by NDTC as a benefit for Loy Wakefield (car accident just after Christmas took 3/5 of the family). It was a friggin madhouse. They cleared their goal of 1000 people easy. We got back into town today just in time for me to go to work.
It must be the season for loss of important people around here: Dimebag was killed back in December; Loy, my dad's secretary for over a decade, lost most of her family; Tab's dad died just a few weeks ago; Hunter Thompson killed himself last week, I think; April's grandpa died last week, and now it's looking like my grandpa might be next. My mom brought him to her home late last week from the hospital, and ended up bringing him back within a day because his condition worsened so rapidly. They went to Park River Hospital, which is kind of odd being that he could have received about the same care in DL, but oh well. His Emphysema has reached its final stages, and the doctor suggested that any available family come visit him ASAP. Jas said he doesn't even look like the guy who used to ask him to "wrastle", or who would ask me "how's Dougie?" Two things make this very unfortunate for him. The first--this is by no means a surprise. he started going downhill three years ago, and I didn't think he'd make Christmas. This time, I'm thinking he won't make it to Easter, but the odds this time are even more against him. Second--He was somewhat of an ass to his family earlier in life, and up to this point, responsibility for his care was getting passed from one sibling to the next. What pissed some of us off was that he seemed to be expecting it. I was never that close to the guy, so I don't think I'll be impacted quite as much by his passing as my mom. How's that for a grave reflection?
Let's end on a lighter note: We took Is in to JC Penney to get her picture taken just before going to DL, and Karissa & I were very proud of her--she smiled for almost all her pics and did a very good job on her "cute" factor. I'm pretty sure that once we get them, Karissa will be posting all of the ones we picked.
Oh, and we stopped at Amadon & Josie's last night. We wound up staying an hour because I had Amadon playing guitar with me. It was weird because I don't think we've jammed together for almost 2 years, maybe more. He made me play Josie's guitar, though, which isn't too bad, but is badly in need of string replacement. I was actually impressed by his guitar--it plays really well, he just needs to work on his effects. A little reverb and a lot of distortion go a long way. Most of the time, you don't need much else.

Chicago is a No-Go, Isabella Gets Charcoal, akewacinyankapiktelo (that basically means 'until I see you again')...

How does language affect the way we view the world around us? Our local culture is responible for our world view, but how does language factor in? That's what we talked about in Senior Sem. on Monday. I had to learn about the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, that states that humans and Klingons will perpetually maintain cultural barriers due to respective differences in their languages and how those languages shape their worldview.
Okay, I'm lying, but how many of you believed me because I sounded like I knew what I was talking about? The main thing I got out of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis is that people are trapped by their native languages. An example: the Lakota, to me, speak like Yoda (oh god, I'm not a Star Wars fan or a Trekkie, and I just referenced both--crickets!). Non-Lakota people would say they spoke backwards grammar, but it's not backwards. It's just that people are so set in a language, they think in terms of that language. I don't agree with it, but that's why it's a hypothesis.
Anyway, as Karissa has mentioned, the Chicago trip is postponed. On the upshot, SOMEONE sounded interested and not digusted (thank you, Kevin)! Sure it'd be fun to see dead people in poses, but there's so much more to it than that, and it's pretty much a once-in-a-lifetime thing for me, so we might still go. But I think looking for a new house is a better idea right now, because we need to be able to give Is her own space.
Okay, so now I'm finally biting the bullet and trying to accomplish what I've been dreading for a long time now. I wanted to wait until the right time to draw Is, at least until she had definable features and not just "baby" features. I did one of Karissa's mom when she was three last Christmas, and it turned out pretty well, so I'm feeling confident. April saw some video stuff I shot while doing some drawings last summer, and she thought it was cool how I would record a few seconds of drawing, pause for a while, then record a few seconds more, all the while keeping the camera in the same place so you could see how it progressed. With that in mind, I'll be posting "progress" shots of my drawing as it gets completed. It won't be as cool as the video, but you'll look at them and you'll like them, or so help me I'll beat your asses!

"Like the Coldest Winter Chill..."

I had to do an assignment which involved tombstone rubbings (for once, something fun), but, like an idiot, I wait until today to do it. So, I went out around 6:30 pm, and imagine my surprise when I feel the wind pick up and a chill creep in. I had to look for tombstones with death dates in the years 1917-1918, which is not aas easy as it sounds, especially when half the cemetery is covered in foot-high drifts, and the other half in six inches of water (which couldn't freeze fast enough). I got one rubbing, took some pictures that were obscured by snowflakes, and probably gave some of the drivers by a good depiction of a guy wandering through a windy cemetery looking for something he can't find--you know, a dramatic movie scene. I soaked my socks right through, and still managed to show up home with McDonalds.
April came over tonight to do laundry then watched the movie Saw with me & Karissa, which is an extremely cool movie. I couldn't believe how fucked up the ending was, especially with the guy on the floor (that's all I'm saying!). The Fear Factory video was a little cheesy, though.
April & Kevin were both over earlier, too. Looks like Kevin's finally brave enough to hold Is! He said he was more comfortable with her now after having dealt with people who've had strokes. It's weird, but that actually makes sense. They're trying to get us to move to DL--ain't gonna happen. I persuaded myself to stay in GF for another year, but DL is there's nothing for me career-wise in DL, and I'm not putting Is through the DL public school system.

The ancient Wal Mart of Tenochtitlan (where you'll find greed, brownies, and blue velvet...)

Karissa brought it to my attention that I was not very clear when referring to this other kid (his name is Chris) in my class is opinionated and pissed off the teacher. I think people got the impression that I didn't like him, but he's one of the few in the field that I respect for his outspokenness.
Case in Point: one of the teachers (the cultural anthropologist hippie in fact) was complaining about how a Wal-Mart is going up in Mexico City. She said, "imagine the beautiful landscape, including the ruins of temples and pyramids, being obscured by this giant Wal-Mart. What is that saying about our consumer culture?" I was thinking it says we're getting on with our lives and learning from the past instead of living in it. Chris then chimed in with, "well, imagine how some of the indigenous tribes might have felt when these huge pyramids obscured their view of the natural landscape." I wanted to point my finger at the hippie teacher rudely and shout "HA!" but I restrained myself.
Anyway, the money-loving son-of-a-bitch was referring to me. I love money. Anytime I refer to someone as that, it will always be a term of respect. If people can admit to me that they love money, even if (especially if) they don't consider it the be-all end-all of life, that sits well with me. Don't ever tell me that money is the root of all evil, or that it means power, because I've always been an Anthropologist at heart, and I'll tell you it has NOTHING to do with the money. The "almighty" dollar is an inanimate piece of paper or metal. It has no capabilities of good or evil, or power. That lies all within the minds of the people wielding it. Thomas Aquinas said, "Nothing is intrinsically good or evil, our manner of usage makes it so." Sure he was a saint, but I'll forgive him. He made a good point.
No, the brownies didn't have any nuts. They were girl-brownies. I don't like nuts either, so I had like two of them. By two, I mean two little 2x2 inch cubes, but a 2/3 of the pan like Karissa and I eat them.
We watched Blue Velvet the other day in my film class. I've seen it before, but it gets so fucked up that I could stand seeing it again. For some reason, it kept reminding me of Donnie Darko. Maybe because that movie took place in the 1980's, while Blue Velvet was actually made in the 1980's. I don't know. I love when someone would shut the lights out, and Dennis Hopper would say, "...and now it's dark." Plus I loved how they managed to fit in a Roy Orbison song. The whole movie has this theme about surface beauty and how ugly the ugliness hiding under it really is. If you actually saw Roy Orbison, you know how ugly that guy is compared to how pure his voice sounds. But what gets you is his content. The guy sings these love songs that are actually kind of twisted or depressing, but they sound so Billy Holiday-ish that the whole result mood of the song kinda fucks with you. Listen to Pretty Woman, In Dreams, or Life Fades Away, and you'll catch it.
Watch Quest For Fire!

Maya Collapse...Big Fuckin' Deal

I thought about writing about our discussion in Senior Seminar yesterday (you know, like the "issues" I'd posted before on Human Violence and such), but it was about the collapse of the Maya civilization, and I thought the two arguments were arguing the same thing essentially, so I won't bore anyone with the details of that one. I will say, though, that we make our teachers love their jobs but hate their students. I had to lead the discussion with one of the most opinionated guys in the class (we actually agree on a lot of Anthro issues, it's weird). I should mention the class is taught by an archeologist and a cultural anthropologist. The archeologist is our Anthro Dept. chairperson, and she always teaches Senior Sem. The cultural anthropologist is from New Mexico and she is one of those anti-corporate hippies. Needless to say, this money-loving son of a bitch does not get along with her. So imagine my delight when my discussion co-leader brought her to the point of almost screaming at him. In exasperation, she asked him, "Does nothing please you?" to which he answered somewhere along the lines of "Not yet."
That, and the fact that there were brownies were the reasons I had no trouble staying awake for this lame discussion.