I've been getting used to operating in the corporate world... an adjustment, and generally cool. It's allowed me to abandon some of the stereotypes I had about it, I meet interesting people in my building every day, on the elevator or other places.
I've realized that I'm several people there rolled into one: translator, interpreter, HR, archivist, interior designer and office manager. It's fun to have so much variety.... but sometimes I look at the publications and at the meeting rooms, and realize that it's all men in there in the top positions, and that I'm doing things which are more stereotypically female. Which makes me wonder how to break through that, and I've decided to study more about how this may be done, the top of the list being increasing my portfolio of computer capabilities, to zero in more on what's needed there to be a computer guy or top management as well. It's actually sort of invigorating; my grad school composition was largely female, and it didn't really feel that I was doing anything new or pioneering in terms of being a grad student there. At the same time, at the time I entered, needed a bit of respite, which did not work out to be quite that, but perhaps was able to find it between the cracks... Had another female colleague in the office today, and interviewed her about her background and so on to find out more about how she ended up at the building site, which is 95% male, at least. For now I'm a fly on the wall figuring out how things are done, and doing what my skills allow me to, and being inventive where my experience fails, and it's not been difficult. So, aok so far...
Mittwoch, 30. Jänner 2008
Sonntag, 27. Jänner 2008
opera babes
It's pretty neat. They're doing a "powerful women of the stage" series.
They've already done Carmen and Cinderella, coming up are Rodelinda and Aida.
Here's what they write about each:
Carmen: She's free. She's wild. And she's fearless.
Cinderella: She’s sweet. She’s tender. She’s gracious beyond belief.
Rodelinda: She's powerful. She's dependable. And she's smart.
Aida: She's passionate. She's trapped. And she's torn.
source: http://www.portlandopera.org/
They sound a little like Barbie ads.
I will nonetheless be checking out Rodelinda and Aida.
They've already done Carmen and Cinderella, coming up are Rodelinda and Aida.
Here's what they write about each:
Carmen: She's free. She's wild. And she's fearless.
Cinderella: She’s sweet. She’s tender. She’s gracious beyond belief.
Rodelinda: She's powerful. She's dependable. And she's smart.
Aida: She's passionate. She's trapped. And she's torn.
source: http://www.portlandopera.org/
They sound a little like Barbie ads.
I will nonetheless be checking out Rodelinda and Aida.
Samstag, 26. Jänner 2008
Maslow's hierarchy
Here's a diagram of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
I think that, being a hierarchy, it's also built in some ways for sustaining existence within hierarchies.
In grad school, it seemed that I never really felt I had safety needs met. This is now better for me, but I continue to recognize, with experience, just how key many of these things are.
I think that, being a hierarchy, it's also built in some ways for sustaining existence within hierarchies.
In grad school, it seemed that I never really felt I had safety needs met. This is now better for me, but I continue to recognize, with experience, just how key many of these things are.
Dienstag, 22. Jänner 2008
gelandet
Phew. Now the internet is set up at home.
Yesterday was moved in as of 11:15, then returned the truck and got the car.
Then I went into work and did some things, though the internet has been down there both yesterday and today.
So today I went to the lawyer's office-- they set me up with a workspace and laptop and coffee and so on-- to do some translations they needed for a visa, it was 19 pages of payroll documents for which one needs to know the correct translations for tax codes. It was also neat to meet the lawyers, and all 19 pages are done.
Excited about the team, both in the office itself and extended, a good mix of Germans and non-Germans, small to start with. My building's downtown, with a view, on an upper level, can very easily catch a bus across the bridge & to work. On the other hand, it's one of the first places which would be bombed, or the building next door would be, should anyone wish to bomb it.
Also excited about my new place. It's a 1-bedroom on the second floor, #207, hardwood floors, an old building. On the corner of the building, great morning sun, windows all along the east and south sides, from my bedroom a terrific northeseast view. Everyone-- the people I hired for $20/hr to help me move in, the internet guy, etc. have been taken with the place and asked me what the rent is, and when I tell them, reply that it's reasonable. I think that I would never have found a comprable place in S-town for the same amount.
Long days and sleepy.
Yesterday was moved in as of 11:15, then returned the truck and got the car.
Then I went into work and did some things, though the internet has been down there both yesterday and today.
So today I went to the lawyer's office-- they set me up with a workspace and laptop and coffee and so on-- to do some translations they needed for a visa, it was 19 pages of payroll documents for which one needs to know the correct translations for tax codes. It was also neat to meet the lawyers, and all 19 pages are done.
Excited about the team, both in the office itself and extended, a good mix of Germans and non-Germans, small to start with. My building's downtown, with a view, on an upper level, can very easily catch a bus across the bridge & to work. On the other hand, it's one of the first places which would be bombed, or the building next door would be, should anyone wish to bomb it.
Also excited about my new place. It's a 1-bedroom on the second floor, #207, hardwood floors, an old building. On the corner of the building, great morning sun, windows all along the east and south sides, from my bedroom a terrific northeseast view. Everyone-- the people I hired for $20/hr to help me move in, the internet guy, etc. have been taken with the place and asked me what the rent is, and when I tell them, reply that it's reasonable. I think that I would never have found a comprable place in S-town for the same amount.
Long days and sleepy.
Sonntag, 20. Jänner 2008
U-haul disappearing into the sunset-- truck girl
today: difficult day.
first: tire change. oil change. they wanted to do more to the vehicle, but I said tell me what you think needs to be done, and I'll look into it in P-town.
then: u-haul car trailer enterprise. goal: get car attached to U-haul truck. Truck: parked in eastlake. me and car: had stayed overnight in greenlake. U-haul branch: Rainier Valley.
called u-haul branch to see where I could pick up the trailer I'd reserved. Were busy and said they'd call me back. I hang out for an hour with my book and some coffee. Called 411 and got dir. listings for other U-haul places in Seattle. Chose the most convenient one. Tried them four different times over an hour and nobody picked up the phone. Tried original branch again, again they took my number and said they'd call back. Frustrated, called the 1-800 Uhaul number. Expressed need to get trailer asap at convenient location. Nobody seemed to really know anything. Transferred 4 times, and eventually hung up on. Frustration level is red-hot. Decide to just drive to Rainier Valley. Stand in line. They say they need the actual truck present to do anything. It's two bus connections... on a Sunday. Hey, at least got to see Benaroya again. Get U-haul truck from Eastlake and drive it to Rainier Valley. Wait in line. They wanted to give me one of three trailers, on all of which the winches were too rusty to use. I reached boiling point and threw a fit. The woman in uniform who was heading the enterprise said to give me the new one, the good and working one, which had just come in. I put my car onto the trailer and hooked everything up, and chained and winched it.
Hopped into the truck.
Got on I-5 at 4pm.
Drove off into a beautiful sunset listening to some international music station, first indian than irish.
I actually like driving a truck, one can do 70mph quite easily, unless there's wind, in which case it becomes difficult to steer. Made it to P-town at night, drove my car off the trailer, unhooked it, dropped it off, parked my car securely there. Transferred belongings from car to truck, on the way, a plate broke. A good omen for a start of a new relationship with a new city and new company.... Then found a hotel near the rental agency. Have found some wine and have the moving guys I found on craig's list set to go tomorrow early after I sign some papers. Didn't end up in the lovely Queen Marie, but nearby, which is also close to work.
For awhile lost The White Castle, which had fallen between the passenger seat and the door, and in the meantime, on the bus, started another book I had in my bag, The Illusionist-- not the one which was made into a film, but the French one, in which the 15 year old girl is seduced by her father's mistress. I found that at Third Sister Books (I think that's what it's called...) in Vancouver... loved the preface, and chapter 1...
first: tire change. oil change. they wanted to do more to the vehicle, but I said tell me what you think needs to be done, and I'll look into it in P-town.
then: u-haul car trailer enterprise. goal: get car attached to U-haul truck. Truck: parked in eastlake. me and car: had stayed overnight in greenlake. U-haul branch: Rainier Valley.
called u-haul branch to see where I could pick up the trailer I'd reserved. Were busy and said they'd call me back. I hang out for an hour with my book and some coffee. Called 411 and got dir. listings for other U-haul places in Seattle. Chose the most convenient one. Tried them four different times over an hour and nobody picked up the phone. Tried original branch again, again they took my number and said they'd call back. Frustrated, called the 1-800 Uhaul number. Expressed need to get trailer asap at convenient location. Nobody seemed to really know anything. Transferred 4 times, and eventually hung up on. Frustration level is red-hot. Decide to just drive to Rainier Valley. Stand in line. They say they need the actual truck present to do anything. It's two bus connections... on a Sunday. Hey, at least got to see Benaroya again. Get U-haul truck from Eastlake and drive it to Rainier Valley. Wait in line. They wanted to give me one of three trailers, on all of which the winches were too rusty to use. I reached boiling point and threw a fit. The woman in uniform who was heading the enterprise said to give me the new one, the good and working one, which had just come in. I put my car onto the trailer and hooked everything up, and chained and winched it.
Hopped into the truck.
Got on I-5 at 4pm.
Drove off into a beautiful sunset listening to some international music station, first indian than irish.
I actually like driving a truck, one can do 70mph quite easily, unless there's wind, in which case it becomes difficult to steer. Made it to P-town at night, drove my car off the trailer, unhooked it, dropped it off, parked my car securely there. Transferred belongings from car to truck, on the way, a plate broke. A good omen for a start of a new relationship with a new city and new company.... Then found a hotel near the rental agency. Have found some wine and have the moving guys I found on craig's list set to go tomorrow early after I sign some papers. Didn't end up in the lovely Queen Marie, but nearby, which is also close to work.
For awhile lost The White Castle, which had fallen between the passenger seat and the door, and in the meantime, on the bus, started another book I had in my bag, The Illusionist-- not the one which was made into a film, but the French one, in which the 15 year old girl is seduced by her father's mistress. I found that at Third Sister Books (I think that's what it's called...) in Vancouver... loved the preface, and chapter 1...
Samstag, 19. Jänner 2008
flats and sharps
back to s-town w/o incident, didn't do anything exciting before leaving because of all the sleet, snow, and rain.... got a flat tire somehow in S-town while running errands, so trying to get it fixed when everything's closed has been an endeavour. the best to be done, it seems, is a temporary fix and now I worry about all the toxic chemicals I got on my hands with this spray stuff called "fix a flat." had wanted to sauna or dance tonight, but not to be. found friend to stay with. still scheduled to drive south tomorrow, but now with a tire change scheduled beforehand. I did not find anything sharp in my tire, though I looked, and wonder how it happened, but it was really hissing away whenever I stopped.
Freitag, 18. Jänner 2008
adventures in V-town cont'd
last night cruised around on davie street for awhile & ate dinner there. a very international mix of options.
today slept in and then, since the art museum is closed on several floors for work, travelled directly to chinatown and walked about-- I like it much more than I like the chinatown in S-town. from there to the police museum, was not expecting a ton of interest, but was pleasantly surprised by an extensive and gory autopsy room, a history of violent unsolved and solved crime in vancouver (the "babes in the wood" murder of two young boys in stanley park, for example... or the man who killed his wife over time by giving her arsenic-laced white spot milkshakes, and more, along with forensic materials & procedures and various other crime apparati. The illegal weapons part was also interesting, the sorts of implements of torture you'd see in Xena.) I also liked the exhibition about policewomen and the evolving role of the policewomen over time, replete with pictures. this trip has been great so far in terms of girls in uniform. The police museum also sold handcuffs, but I decided to put that off. I didn't spend much time in the fake slammer, but in general the museum was fun.
From there, went to Commercial Drive and walked the entirety of that and then back up again, stopping for coffee, and when I felt like I needed to sit down for a bit, stopped to get a haircut and now my head is lighter with four or five inches of hair gotten rid of. I do like this Canadian accent, but in general there's so much of an international population that I've only come across that accent a handful of times.
Then I returned to where I'm staying and stopped to shop along the way. It's a great time to shop, because they're having their winter clearance sales and I was able to find an outfit, the best part of which is a versatile purple blouse. I was too afraid to go much further than one outfit without an objective fashion consultant on hand. that, and I couldn't put myself through much more shopping.
public transportation is great, it's been fine to leave the automobile in the locked & gated parking garage where I've been staying.
Now reading Pamuk's The White Castle.
I guess I'll be driving out tomorrow, maybe stopping at the suspended bridges and treehouse community or in victoria along the way. with more time, perhaps a night in victoria could be fun. In other news, enjoyed this interesting news story on my google reader. I didn't know my new work was enconomist material quite yet, and was pleasantly surprised by that.
today slept in and then, since the art museum is closed on several floors for work, travelled directly to chinatown and walked about-- I like it much more than I like the chinatown in S-town. from there to the police museum, was not expecting a ton of interest, but was pleasantly surprised by an extensive and gory autopsy room, a history of violent unsolved and solved crime in vancouver (the "babes in the wood" murder of two young boys in stanley park, for example... or the man who killed his wife over time by giving her arsenic-laced white spot milkshakes, and more, along with forensic materials & procedures and various other crime apparati. The illegal weapons part was also interesting, the sorts of implements of torture you'd see in Xena.) I also liked the exhibition about policewomen and the evolving role of the policewomen over time, replete with pictures. this trip has been great so far in terms of girls in uniform. The police museum also sold handcuffs, but I decided to put that off. I didn't spend much time in the fake slammer, but in general the museum was fun.
From there, went to Commercial Drive and walked the entirety of that and then back up again, stopping for coffee, and when I felt like I needed to sit down for a bit, stopped to get a haircut and now my head is lighter with four or five inches of hair gotten rid of. I do like this Canadian accent, but in general there's so much of an international population that I've only come across that accent a handful of times.
Then I returned to where I'm staying and stopped to shop along the way. It's a great time to shop, because they're having their winter clearance sales and I was able to find an outfit, the best part of which is a versatile purple blouse. I was too afraid to go much further than one outfit without an objective fashion consultant on hand. that, and I couldn't put myself through much more shopping.
public transportation is great, it's been fine to leave the automobile in the locked & gated parking garage where I've been staying.
Now reading Pamuk's The White Castle.
I guess I'll be driving out tomorrow, maybe stopping at the suspended bridges and treehouse community or in victoria along the way. with more time, perhaps a night in victoria could be fun. In other news, enjoyed this interesting news story on my google reader. I didn't know my new work was enconomist material quite yet, and was pleasantly surprised by that.
Donnerstag, 17. Jänner 2008
Stanley Park
Today I spent all day wandering around Stanley Park.
I'm a little cold still, but it was worthwhile to walk around in the forest and around the circumference and also around Beaver Pond. Marshland and noteworthy trees, no time to describe further at this point. The activities they have in the park are sort of blah, aside from walking about, I think.
It's very nice in terms of parks, but I'm a bit jaded or simply spoiled in terms of beautiful places. I feel the call of the expanse of wilderness around me and maybe I'll travel into the mountains.
I think I'll hit the Davis street next or tomorrow, am staying on the Robson shopping district, great for people watching. I absolutely hate shopping but think I ought to put myself through at least a little bit of it with my new job in mind. Maybe a good time to see a film or two, if the weather sucks again tomorrow.
Last night finished my book, On Beauty by Zadie Smith, and time to choose the next one.
I'm not going to get into a prolonged diatribe about On Beauty just now, other than to say it's great, and is a timely thing to read given the Clinton/Obama debates and other current events.
I love reading at a paced rate and enjoying it. The guy I hired to help me load up the U-haul was sort of shocked that half of the space filled in the van was filled with boxes of books, he was like, God, read much? Why don't you start a library, you could make money that way? He agreed with me that the yellow German book boxes are a good concept, after moving all 14 of those as compared with various other boxes (I'd hit up the liquor store for lots of free empty boxes as well) I'd filled with books, which ranged from a bit to significantly heavier. I simply have not been able to give them up, they are coming with me. The thing which I think was the most of a pain in the ass for him was the filing cabinet. My belongings only filled about half the truck to begin with and loading it only took an hour, and my car is also only half-full of things, but still. I had kept out just one box of books and other publications until the very end as a 'just in case I had some free time' measure, that's a thing which is now in my car, and I'm glad for that.
My move-in date has now been moved to 8am on Monday morning because nobody's at work on Sunday. It's a place I'm sure I want, otherwise would have ditched it and the rental company by now for elsewhere.
Have also been able to do some organizational things for my new job from afar and feel I'm on task in that regard........
I'm a little cold still, but it was worthwhile to walk around in the forest and around the circumference and also around Beaver Pond. Marshland and noteworthy trees, no time to describe further at this point. The activities they have in the park are sort of blah, aside from walking about, I think.
It's very nice in terms of parks, but I'm a bit jaded or simply spoiled in terms of beautiful places. I feel the call of the expanse of wilderness around me and maybe I'll travel into the mountains.
I think I'll hit the Davis street next or tomorrow, am staying on the Robson shopping district, great for people watching. I absolutely hate shopping but think I ought to put myself through at least a little bit of it with my new job in mind. Maybe a good time to see a film or two, if the weather sucks again tomorrow.
Last night finished my book, On Beauty by Zadie Smith, and time to choose the next one.
I'm not going to get into a prolonged diatribe about On Beauty just now, other than to say it's great, and is a timely thing to read given the Clinton/Obama debates and other current events.
I love reading at a paced rate and enjoying it. The guy I hired to help me load up the U-haul was sort of shocked that half of the space filled in the van was filled with boxes of books, he was like, God, read much? Why don't you start a library, you could make money that way? He agreed with me that the yellow German book boxes are a good concept, after moving all 14 of those as compared with various other boxes (I'd hit up the liquor store for lots of free empty boxes as well) I'd filled with books, which ranged from a bit to significantly heavier. I simply have not been able to give them up, they are coming with me. The thing which I think was the most of a pain in the ass for him was the filing cabinet. My belongings only filled about half the truck to begin with and loading it only took an hour, and my car is also only half-full of things, but still. I had kept out just one box of books and other publications until the very end as a 'just in case I had some free time' measure, that's a thing which is now in my car, and I'm glad for that.
My move-in date has now been moved to 8am on Monday morning because nobody's at work on Sunday. It's a place I'm sure I want, otherwise would have ditched it and the rental company by now for elsewhere.
Have also been able to do some organizational things for my new job from afar and feel I'm on task in that regard........
Mittwoch, 16. Jänner 2008
homeless, now in Canada
The adventures continue.
Moved out of the apt. for good this morning, and, did all I needed to do in Seattle, including returning my library books, a case where one parks as close to the library as possible and runs over to drop them in the drop slot before jetting away from campus.
Then I learned that where I'm moving into in P-town won't actually be ready for me to move into it until Sunday, though it was supposed to be ready sooner. I need to do some orientation activities for work on Monday, but officially start on Wednesday, so Sunday will still work for moving in.
So after digesting this, I sat in my car in Volunteer Park for an hour as though I were some bum cruiser and decided what to do while checking out the view and making calls and going through papers. No place to live for the next four days. Camping at this time of year is out of the question, my handful of friends in Seattle seemed all tied up, and the ones in P-town as well. So I decided to make an adventure of it. After visiting the greenhouse and climbing the water tower, I hopped in the car and drove by my U-haul truck to make sure it was parked and locked securely, and then got onto I-5, but instead of going south as I had planned, I went north.
At the border to Canada about two hours later, I had to go through customs. They pulled me over and did a complete vehicle search and background check, because it bothered them that a) I had no current permanent residence, b) I had many belongings in my car (they were afraid I would try to emigrate illegally, I think) c) I was alone and don't know anyone in Canada, d) I wasn't sure where I would be staying in Vancouver, e) I wasn't quite sure how long I'd be there f) all the strange foreign visas in my passport, g) the car is not yet registered to me, but actually to my dad as I buy it from him, etc. I didn't have any firearms or pepper spray or narcotics, so that cleared the way some. They even almost called my dad to validate that I was allowed to take the car across the border; apparently, one usually needs a letter of permission to do that, and had a narcotics dog investigate my car. I got a full interrogation of about 30 questions from fully armed customs officials, who seemed most confused by the fact that it's a rather spontaneous trip. The female ones were actually pretty cute, in keeping with my ongoing life theme of girls in uniform. Anyway, I got through that after explaining the situation a couple of times (and also explaining some of my life history as they tried to figure out what the hell the different langauges and Erlaubinsse in my passport were all about) with a warning to leave my belongings at home the next time I came, to have a permanent address, to have a letter about being allowed to bring the car across the border, and so on. They also didn't seem to believe me about the U-haul, so I had to show them my U-haul reservation forms, and the contact info of the leasing agency in P-town and my job offer letter. All of this bureaucracy excites me all the more to have my very own army of stamps in my new job to stamp all the cross-cultural paperwork with. I've decided to get a personal stamp too, which looks offical, just as a backup thing to have in situations like the above.
Anyway, about 30 or 40 minutes later I was on my way again and arrived in Vancouver. Visited tourist info and found an inexpensive place to stay. Deciding what to do here-- it really is a gorgeous place, just a bit chilly. Am glad to finally get a chance to visit, would have taken much longer to get here all the way from P-town.
Moved out of the apt. for good this morning, and, did all I needed to do in Seattle, including returning my library books, a case where one parks as close to the library as possible and runs over to drop them in the drop slot before jetting away from campus.
Then I learned that where I'm moving into in P-town won't actually be ready for me to move into it until Sunday, though it was supposed to be ready sooner. I need to do some orientation activities for work on Monday, but officially start on Wednesday, so Sunday will still work for moving in.
So after digesting this, I sat in my car in Volunteer Park for an hour as though I were some bum cruiser and decided what to do while checking out the view and making calls and going through papers. No place to live for the next four days. Camping at this time of year is out of the question, my handful of friends in Seattle seemed all tied up, and the ones in P-town as well. So I decided to make an adventure of it. After visiting the greenhouse and climbing the water tower, I hopped in the car and drove by my U-haul truck to make sure it was parked and locked securely, and then got onto I-5, but instead of going south as I had planned, I went north.
At the border to Canada about two hours later, I had to go through customs. They pulled me over and did a complete vehicle search and background check, because it bothered them that a) I had no current permanent residence, b) I had many belongings in my car (they were afraid I would try to emigrate illegally, I think) c) I was alone and don't know anyone in Canada, d) I wasn't sure where I would be staying in Vancouver, e) I wasn't quite sure how long I'd be there f) all the strange foreign visas in my passport, g) the car is not yet registered to me, but actually to my dad as I buy it from him, etc. I didn't have any firearms or pepper spray or narcotics, so that cleared the way some. They even almost called my dad to validate that I was allowed to take the car across the border; apparently, one usually needs a letter of permission to do that, and had a narcotics dog investigate my car. I got a full interrogation of about 30 questions from fully armed customs officials, who seemed most confused by the fact that it's a rather spontaneous trip. The female ones were actually pretty cute, in keeping with my ongoing life theme of girls in uniform. Anyway, I got through that after explaining the situation a couple of times (and also explaining some of my life history as they tried to figure out what the hell the different langauges and Erlaubinsse in my passport were all about) with a warning to leave my belongings at home the next time I came, to have a permanent address, to have a letter about being allowed to bring the car across the border, and so on. They also didn't seem to believe me about the U-haul, so I had to show them my U-haul reservation forms, and the contact info of the leasing agency in P-town and my job offer letter. All of this bureaucracy excites me all the more to have my very own army of stamps in my new job to stamp all the cross-cultural paperwork with. I've decided to get a personal stamp too, which looks offical, just as a backup thing to have in situations like the above.
Anyway, about 30 or 40 minutes later I was on my way again and arrived in Vancouver. Visited tourist info and found an inexpensive place to stay. Deciding what to do here-- it really is a gorgeous place, just a bit chilly. Am glad to finally get a chance to visit, would have taken much longer to get here all the way from P-town.
Sonntag, 13. Jänner 2008
Pagliacci
Pagliacci was great, sat in the very back, but enjoyed it, though had forgotten my glasses which I need to see distances well with my left eye. It was intense and I cried. Quite a switch from Iphigenia, didn't grab me in quite the same way, perhaps becuase it was simply so clear. I do like this Nuccia, who sang in both Pagliacci and Iphigenia. I had not paid much attention to baritones or tenors before this piece, to be honest, but this time I tried to, because that's the thing to listen for. Then went to hear this Speight guy speak, because I simply wanted to see him in person after reading so much about him, and he seems on the ball and a good guy. I was sort of scared to ask my question, however, because I was afraid I would speak off-key and he would cringe or something awful like that. How does one even speak after an opera, is my question. There were some great lines in the piece, which I will perhaps repeat here at a different point. After that, went to have dinner at, well, Pagliacci, how could one not. Already planning out which weekend I'll come up for Tosca. In other news, went to the symphony yesterday with a pal and then tango dancing. Have tried to think of places to spend some final time in, and I think I've done most of it. Decided to pass on the dyke bar, which is just plain boring and lame, and can't really feel sentimental about it. Had wanted to see a little red show at some point, but maybe later. When I finally return my books to the library, will get to see that for the last time. Basta.
Half-packed and moving early next week. Like the new place, in a good place, heard I was accepted for it yesterday. Will miss the cats, but perhaps will get one or two of my own later. the new job goes well as I've done some things from long-distance.
Auf Wiedersehen, Seattle.
Half-packed and moving early next week. Like the new place, in a good place, heard I was accepted for it yesterday. Will miss the cats, but perhaps will get one or two of my own later. the new job goes well as I've done some things from long-distance.
Auf Wiedersehen, Seattle.
Montag, 7. Jänner 2008
why
Stanley Fish wrote in today's NYT:
"To the question “of what use are the humanities?”, the only honest answer is none whatsoever. And it is an answer that brings honor to its subject. Justification, after all, confers value on an activity from a perspective outside its performance. An activity that cannot be justified is an activity that refuses to regard itself as instrumental to some larger good. The humanities are their own good. There is nothing more to say, and anything that is said – even when it takes the form of Kronman’s inspiring cadences – diminishes the object of its supposed praise."
I love the humanities and probably always will.
I also think, however, there's something to be said for their place in and illumination of cultural context, as a part of a larger scenario.
The article makes some good points, many interesting comments, and is worth a read.
"To the question “of what use are the humanities?”, the only honest answer is none whatsoever. And it is an answer that brings honor to its subject. Justification, after all, confers value on an activity from a perspective outside its performance. An activity that cannot be justified is an activity that refuses to regard itself as instrumental to some larger good. The humanities are their own good. There is nothing more to say, and anything that is said – even when it takes the form of Kronman’s inspiring cadences – diminishes the object of its supposed praise."
I love the humanities and probably always will.
I also think, however, there's something to be said for their place in and illumination of cultural context, as a part of a larger scenario.
The article makes some good points, many interesting comments, and is worth a read.
Mittwoch, 2. Jänner 2008
snowbound
An adventurous holiday, got stuck on the wrong side of a pass the afternoon before I was supposed to fly out, as we were on our way back from the mountains. They didn't open the pass again until the following afternoon, and all alternate routes were also closed: lots of snow and very high winds. So we stayed at my uncle's dacha for the evening, which was near the pass, fortunately. So am flying out today now, two days later than originally planned, and changed my new year's plans.... all the snow meant great skiing. All the wind meant skiing at 40 below zero. It was great but at the end of it was a popsicle. only thing was forgot to bring some medicine with me, which has had me quite on edge in the last days, but better now. back to the apartment hunt and working....
Abonnieren
Posts (Atom)
