Moving Day!

We get the keys to our new house tomorrow! Well, technically today, since it's past midnight. So starts Day 1 of the moving process, which will hopefully only last...2 days. I'm sure we'll have pictures up within the next couple of days, one way or another. I'm working the night shift right now, and I think this will be our only access to the outside world, at least until May 3rd, which isn't too far away.

A Wedding, a Big Move, and World-Class Learning

4 more days until we move! I'd be excited, but I'm currently on break from packing. The basement still looks like shit, and I've spent the last two nights on it. We'll have pictures up pretty soon after we move in.
Last week was the last week we had discussions on cultural issues, so I'll have to make up stuff from here on in. I'm actually going to miss the debate when that class ends.
We went to Josie & Amadon's wedding last weekend. No offense, Josie, but you're family's a pack of high-horsed pricks who can't accept the fact that you're an adult. That being said, I'm glad you seemed to have a better time later that night. Weddings are usually a time of intense stress for the couple.
My next piece of news:
This one isn't by any means definite. But my advisor was chatting with a history professor about a project in Cyprus, and he (I think it's a guy) happened to ask if she knew anyone who could draw. Immediately she thought of my independent study last summer in lithic illustration, and dropped my name. One of my classmates (a History Minor, actually) also talked to him about this project, and brought me up in the very same context. So I've already had two referrals to a study I didn't even know about! The project is grant-funded, and wouldn't take place until early next Spring 2006. My understanding is that they'd shack me up (and hopefully Karissa and Is too) in a Greek Holiday Inn, where I'd spend at least a month illustrating greek pot sherds and other ceramics. I'd have to submit some samples of my work, but my classmate got in because of her cataloging experience, so I don't think that would be too difficult. Like I said, this isn't definite. I think they're applying for the grant. But this would be one of the things I've always wanted to do--to get out of the country and do some kind of study involving illustration.

I'm Explaining Genital Mutilation and Cultural Relativism, So Eat Me!

Everybody had pretty good points regarding the whole circumcision issue. It's actually much more difficult to tackle this issue than it seems.
First off, clitorodectomy (cutting off the clitoris) and infibulation (cutting off much more) is absolutely illegal in the U.S., despite the fact that it is still somewhat prevalent. Male circumcision, however, is not. This practice is extremely prevalent in Africa and parts of the Middle East. It is mainly a Muslim tradition, though it is not commanded in Islam. There are a number of reasons why females get circumcized:
-attractive to males--traditional women believe that no man would marry an uncircumsized woman.
-reduce sex drive, but not for men.
-sanitation and health, though the exact opposite is true. Actually, this puts the woman at great danger of getting infections, tumors, cysts, menstrual problems, urinary tract infections, and can be a major health risk to birthing.
-it's always been done this way. Okay, virtually every culture uses this excuse.
The problem is, feminist anthropologists (mainly American) have tried to educate women about the risks of genital mutilation, but the traditions have a tendency of overpowering their cultural gender role. Therein lies the problem. You can offer up education, but you can't force it on a culture with strong traditions toward particular gender roles.
Feminism in Africa, the Middle East, and other countries can be extremely different from American feminism, depending on whether you're fighting against traditional norms and typified gender roles, or whether you command the respect of your family only exclusively in your household.
Franz Boas (father of modern American Anthropology) insisted upon studying a culture from the context of its own historical development. That basically means you can't place your own values and beliefs onto that of another culture and expect them to line up. I personally believe that circumcision female and male is a highly unnecessary, outdated tradition. But if African women want to put a stop to this, they're going to have to speak out, and request the information we have ready for them. An important goal for an Anthropologist to remember is that while they usually are an agent of change, they are to do what they can to learn about the culture without alienating it, which they will surely do by telling the culture what they think is right and wrong. Stoicism is absolutely important.
Let me know if you think I missed a point.
Another question, you say? Okay.

Are there circumstances in which cannibalism is acceptable, even encouraged?

A House and a Clitorodectomy All in the Same Day!

Yes, it's true. We finally found a house! I was starting to worry that w'd never find one with decent rent withour being a shithole. Not only is it NOT a shitter, but the landlady is a home renovatorwho went to drafting school. She fixed up the house, repainted, dry-walled and anything else done to enhance the aesthetic of the house herself! I got used to the idea of the stairs being in the bathroom pretty quickly, especially when I saw the rest of the house. It's not like we're switching from lower middle-class to upper middle-class or anything, but we live in a shotgun shack (that's a real term, I've officially adopted it for our house), so this is still definitely a step up. Karissa and I can finally have a little privacy, and Is gets her own room! We're going nuts thinking about how to set it up. The only thing that sucks is that we have three (count 'em, THREE) entertainment centers, and we're going to have to get rid of at least one. And I like all of them. Oh well.
We got the call Saturday that people are coming to see our place, so cleaning got kicked into high gear. I worked my ass off trying to get the garage free of rabbit fur and any remnant of evidence suggesting we ever had the bunnies there in the first place. Then I worked the night shift, which was fun because I was ready to go to bed as soon as I got there. By the time I got home I was exhausted, so I slept for three hours before finishing up the basement. I ended up throwing out all our bunny cages, plus three television sets, 2 of which did not work, and the last one was over fifteen years old. What a pack rat I am.
But, we did it. Then we got the hell out of there and hung with April. After we got back, I slept on the couch until 11pm. I feel so much better, but now I'll have school as soon as I get off work. What a busy fucking weekend! Today was a good day, at least. I got the basement cleaned, Is behaved for the most part, April gave me a cookie, we ate at Mike's (I tried the Chicken Alfredo pizza and loved it), and I got to go to sleep for a while. That's the most satisgying part of exhaustion, is te point at which you finally get to lie down. It's like you've been pushing yourself and waiting all day, and finally it's your turn to relax.
I gotta go work on a paper, but I'll leave everybody with a question on one of the topics we're discussing in Senior Sem tomorrow:

Should Anthropologists work to eliminate the practice of female circumcision?
Enjoy!

Mitch Hedberg RIP

Okay, this is getting weird now. Karissa just found out (she's always the first to hear about death news) that Mitch Hedberg died on March 30. Two fucking weeks ago! And no news report. It was probably on Comedy Central, but I never see news stuff on there, and it may have been on MTV, but I don't really watch MTV on account of there's hardly ever any "M" in it.
Anyway, he was 37 years old, and his family was told it may have been a heart attack, but it's officially "undetermined." That fucking sucks. He was one of my all time favorite comedians. Why are all my favorites kicking off lately? Son of a bitch!
Oh well, at least I got to see him perform. I rarely actually see comedians perform live, so to have one I actually would go see is pretty significant. Not that I hate comedians, I just don't like sitting for an hour listening to a not-very-funny one just to see the main act. I can stand that in music, but not in comedy.

Isabella on Paper!

And it's finished! Sorry, I forgot to take a picture between the charcoal and shading, but so what? Thanks April, for cleaning up the photo!

More of the hair is visible, now for the charcoal...

How Do You Post From a Dirt Road? (When It's a Metaphorical Dirt Road, Duh)

I know, everyone's nosy around here. I was curious about the Catholic question, too (refer to www.picsnthings.blogspot.com). Actually I was wondering about the definition of spirituality like April was, so I guess this is a wholly unoriginal post. Damn.
Anyway, she was dead on with the pagan tradition thing, but Jose touched on a couple things that I was a little confused on, so rather than post it in her comments, I'm just posting here. I just wondered mainly why would one want to go to church if one took issue with its policies (not just the church, but the religion backing it)? Why not convert to something else? Moreover, if the issue is against organized religion altogether, what would be the point of going?
I won't use the excuse that I won't go to church unless I'm Christian, because there are obviously circumstances that fuck that statement. I wanted to see Kevin & April get married (plus I was IN the wedding), so obviously I'm going to attend the ceremony in a Catholic church. April and I once had a long "discussion" about non-Catholic etiquette in a Catholic setting. Needless to say, despite the "discussion" not having a real outcome, whatever the occasion, I never partake of communion in a Catholic church.
I wouldn't go off so much about religion in one post, but this past year has been particularily significant for me regarding this issue. Up to this year, I had gone to Our Saviors in Devils Lake only on Christmas. I went because my mom always wanted us to go, not for any other reason. Then Isabella came along. Agnosticism & Atheism seem to compliment eachother nicely, so Karissa & I didn't have any real battles over religion, and we both agreed not to get Is baptized. But my mom didn't care much for that, nor did my sister, nor some members of Karissa's family. I realized that there are things I'll have to explain to Is someday, and I don't want one them being that I appeased Grandma Linda by going to church when I didn't believe in it because she wanted me there. So, I made the decision that Christmas church is no more. We celebrate the holiday commercially, and I've brought up celebrating the Solstice, but we have to pace ourselves. The breaking of traditions for personal beliefs can be amazingly hard.
I've been asked why we don't baptise her "just in case." I don't mean any personal offense to the "just in case" Christian, but that's a personal peeve of mine. Sorry, but if there's a God, I seriously doubt he/she'll take the guy that didn't believe but kneeled in church just in case he was wrong. Religion is supposed to be about spiritual assurance, not insurance.
Everybody has disagreements with some religion, and every religion believes itself closer to some sort of purity than other religions. Anyone who wants to refute that should look at a history book. Hell, look at the bible. It may not be accurate, but there's enough there to know there was some dissention going on. That's why I love being agnostic. It's a cop out, but with good reason. I don't know what's out there. I don't claim to. But I'm sure as hell not going to pick a side right now. I feel just fine sitting beside my little philosophical dirt road in my lawn chair, I don't feel the need to get on a turnpike.
I'll admit right here and now that I'm positive that I'm right. I'll aknowledge that there are those who feel just as strongly towards another end of the spectrum, if not more so, and they feel just as superior to me as I do to them. Oh well. Whatever the case, life goes on. I'll give appropriate respect for their actions and their thought processes, but I'll still think they're deluded. Like I mentioned before, though. I still have clear reasons in mind when attending a church function. It's not like I'm going to go piss on the altar or anything it's just that I'm attending to see two people starting off their lives together in what they believe to be a holy union. Or I'm viewing someone in a casket to symbolically lay them to rest (I still like symbolism, whether I believe or not. I just think it's cool).
What I wonder is whether or not this is really respecting boundaries, or simply distancing myself? I don't believe that a union under God is any stronger than a union under legal contract. The investment is more emotional than anything else. Not to knock their beliefs, but I see Kevin & April as more emotionally married than anything. But then some of their history together is tied in with their Catholic beliefs. Were I any kind of Christian, I wouldn't be able to see them as sinners if they'd lived together for years before marriage. But, I'm biased. A lot of those beliefs about marriage are cultural and are based more firmly in societal values than religion. That sounds wrong, but there are plenty of other non-Christian cultures pre-missionary that have similar beliefs.
I went on a little too long, so I think I'll quit here. Besides, I have a paper to write. Hope I didn't step on any toes.

I think all my homework is done now. What with Spring Break and Easter break, instructors decided to give us some reading. So I had a little work to do. Anyway, it's been a hell of couple of weeks. I see that my rant about the unusual amount of familiar people dying this year isn't exactly off the mark, is it? The strange thing is, I don't think I've heard much of anything out of Bush lately until Terry Schiavo died. Even then it was more Jeb than George W. Now that the Pope's died, though, we finally saw G.W. on TV. The pope too!
Anyway, where do I start? My mom's doing better, but I could tell she was holding back when I talked to her on the phone last week. She talked about how painful it was to remember the little things, like just calling grandpa on the phone to see how he's doing. I told her she was screwed, because she lives in ND and there are tractors EVERYWHERE. She laughed a bit at that. Hunter's may be insensitive, but no one can resist our charm.
After the funeral, we were just going to take off, but my mom caught wind of it, and gave me the death look while pleading with me to stop by my uncle Jim's where they were having "fellowship"-(church term that seemed to define the get-together best). Needless to say, Karissa & I went. On a good note, though, we forced Ang & Brian to go, too (Brian was pissed). I got to show Karissa where Grandma Eunice & uncle Stumpy are buried, which was cool, because I'd never seen the graves myself. I love the area, just for its simplicity. It takes you back a few years. Park Center Lutheran is located in rural Hoople, just a little ways north of Park River. There's nothing but field and roads surrounding it. Right next door to the church (like, right in the church yard) lies the cemetery. Think of 1930's, maybe a little later. And a church in better condition. And not covered in dust.
Anyway, we were glad to get back. We threw a birthday party for April on Friday night. We did streamers, and I taped balloons to the ceiling. Karissa made angel food cake, which was awesome, and Kevin & April brought an ice cream cake. Kevin also bought me a belated birthday gift, which I thought was really cool of him. He got me a bottle of Jack Daniel's Single Barrel, which kicks ass! We had some, and it actually tastes different from Old No. 7. Don't worry, I didn't have much, so when I went to work I was fine.
Jas and his buddy Matt rode in Saturday afternoon & parked their bikes in my garage. I was a little surprised, because Matt had his pistol with him, and Karissa seemed to take it well (probably because Grandma Lesa had Is for the weekend). My uncle Mark & his band (www.stormproject.net) were playing at the Empire Theater that night, so my mom's whole family came out. Jas, Matt, Karrisa and I went to Mike's Pizza to eat, where we tried Gator Bites (yes, that's real Gator raised in Louisiana and sold to GFG--cool, huh?). They taste like chicken, but a little tougher. Very good, though. Then we got Jas & Matt checked into their suite at Travelodge, which they seemed to enjoy for its roominess. After that, to the Rite Spot to buy pints of liquor to stow away in their vests to drink during the no-drinking benefit concert.
The concert was cool. I've never seen Mark perform, so I was excited to go. The opening band was the Deb Jenkins Band. They were okay, I thought it was neat they did this cover called The Hunter, which Danzig also did. The guitarist for Storm Project was originally from the Boneshakers--I think his name is Tim Walterson--was fucking phenomenal! He was totally into every song they did, and his solos were amazing. His hands went everywhere. There was another guitarist, the one that played with Mark for years--he was awesome too, but I had to keep watching Tim play. They had an after party at Comfort Inn, but I had to work Travelodge again, so I couldn't go. Still, a fun night.
I think that's about it. Oh, and I finished the sketch of Isabella a couple days ago, but the Hello thing is acting up, so I can't get it on here just yet.

Oliver Tillman Goodoien 11/24/1929 - 03/27/2005

We all called him "Tony," I'm not sure why. It was probably something between him and his parents, or him & Eunice. He was born Novemeber 24, 1929, in rural Devils Lake. Early on, he moved to Hoople, and pretty much spent his life around tractors and farm equipment. At some point he started smoking, and oftentimes repaired tractors in an enclosed garage. On December 31, 1950, he married Eunice Flatgaard. I found a receipt for a hotel in Park River dated a few weeks later, and came to the realization that this was where my mom was conceived (she was born in early October, do the math). He lost Eunice January 2, 1962, and remarried Joyce Carlson August 25, 1964.
Many Sunday mornings, you could find Tony hosting breakfast at his house, which wouldn't be complete without visitors and conversation. Before Emphysema reared its head, he attended the funerals of not only his first wife, but also his parents, a brother, a sister, and two of his sons. During the funeral, I caught a line out of one of the songs that went, "you were no stranger to graves." I still can't get that thought out of my head.
I got "the call" Easter morning. Later my mom told me he struggled for a while in pain, but at the end, he was peaceful. I felt disconnected at the funeral for the most part, like it was someone else's grandpa, someone else's entire family. The only two distinctly familial moments I felt (the most distinctly human moments, for that matter) were when I saw him in the coffin, and my mom touched his hand, remarking, "his fight's over," and at the end of the funeral when the pall bearers carried out the coffin, when I watched my mom's face as she followed directly behind. She's right, at least. Whatever he might be feeling right now, whether it's floating around in some ethereal mist or fading to absolutely nothing, at least he's no longer in pain.
I would hope in his last moments that he was dreaming of riding one of his tractors in the Spring wind and thinking of those Sunday breakfasts.