Cai

Finished Grimspace! It was really engaging, even if the plot was... interesting? The main characters were mostly blundering through and didn't really save the day, though they helped. The main focus was definitely on the romantic relationship, which was snarky and fun with just enough angst without it being overwhelming. I hope the next book has a more solid plot, though, or else I might have to spend some time with traditional Space Opera.

I'm a little over halfway through with Sabriel, which I haven't read since middle school. I forgot how much description there is, and how little character interaction/dialogue. It's getting better, but the beginning, up until the cat is introduced, is a slog. David says I'll like Lirael more.

Working on prepping for my 25-30 minute presentation tomorrow.

Is anybody interested in reading either of my final anth papers? They turned out fairly well, and I think they're largely accessible. The shorter one is on variation in taste perception and in non-gustatory uses of taste. It's a fairly broad overview. The longer one is on looking for ethnicity in archaeological contexts and is a little theory-heavy.

Operation: Draft 20-40 Page Paper on Ethnicity in Archaeological Contexts GO!

EDIT 10:00 AM: 3 pages!

EDIT 11:00 AM: 6 pages! Though I think I've just hit the part where I begin to slow down.

EDIT 1:00 PM : 11 pages! I took a break for lunch in there, too. :) So I'm basically right on track! Also, holy shit, this is as long as my dental modification paper last year, and this has taken me less time to write and isn't even close to being done. I may just have the hang of this paper-writing thing!

EDIT 2:30 PM: 15 pages!

EDIT: 4:00 PM: 19 pages! Yaaay! Only two more articles to describe, and some bridging arguments to make. :) It'll be on the short side, but she's fine with us going as low as 18 pages if we have to, so...

EDIT: 5:00 PM: 20 pages. Not much of an increase, because I set my font size to Times just to see (dunno if she wants it in Times or if she's cool with Calibri), and it shrank a page. T_T; But I have only one more source to go, and then I'm done with the rough draft! :D It's on the shortish side, I guess (but she's okay with it being as short as 18 pages, actually), but who cares! I can always add more mind-numbing detail to a few of my examples. XD

I leave tomorrow at 4 for the dig!


Since I've been turning this over in my mind, here's my thoughts on archaeology, given my (admittedly limited) knowledge of the subject. If I had more time, if I wasn't as lazy, I'd include citations. If I get anything wrong, call me out on it:


Archaeology, in and of itself, doesn't bother me. But mortuary archaeology makes me uneasy. Why? Take Egypt; we know quite a bit about Egyptian mortuary practices, and not only from exhuming their tombs. We've learned from texts, as well. We know how important the physical body was to them, as was its location amidst items useful for the afterlife.

Thus, to me, it appears blatantly direspectful to remove these items and these individuals from their tombs to exhibit in museums, especially now that we are in an era in which we can make replicas to display to museum visitors. Why, exactly, do we need a real mummy in a glass case in a museum? (As far as research is concerned, that should be worked out with the current descendents of those being studied, and their wishes respected.) In Egypt's case, grave robbery is a huge problem. So it might be better to relocate these tombs to a safer place, perhaps still in Egypt, perhaps not. But is it better to allow other nations to make money off of the exhibition of these people and these artifacts? I don't think so.

I will freely admit to having a very limited knowledge of the situation in Egypt. So some of the above? Is guaranteed to be a lot more complex than I just presented it.

So here's an argument by analogy.

Fall semester, I did a project on human cosmetic dental modification (which, for the record, includes braces and cosmetic bleaching/teeth whitening, along with the 'exotic' forms - removal (ablation), filing, inlaying. It's all in the same family). I only came to that topic, however, after I did some resource scouting for another topic - human cosmetic post-cranial skeletal modification. Corsetry, foot-binding, etc.

There is no non-period literature on the medical effects of corsetry beyond a few dissertations written by modern-day tightlacers/corset enthusiasts. There is, I believe, one widely available specimen from the time. There is not enough data to write a paper on the effects on the skeleton. (There's more than enough to write a cultural paper.)

Why?

Because we are not allowed to exhume the remains of the Victorian upper-class women who wore corsets, as it is disrespectful. Oh, and because these women were rich. We exhume paupers graves regularly for research.

...

So if it's not okay to exhume and study the bodies of those who were recently wealthy and are still members of the current dominant, priveleged culture, tell me why it's okay to do the same to members of disadvantaged, non-priveleged, "exotic" or even oppressed cultures.

Is it because they're ~*~ancient~*~? They were still people. We still owe them respect. Even if we have no idea of their culture's views on death, we still owe them basic respect, and I'm not quite okay with the display of the body or the separation of artifacts from the individual.

Is it because they're "unclaimed"? Well, then. Why are they unclaimed? Do they have descendents? Do those descendents have voices? And even if not, they should be treated with respect.

--

I'm an atheist. Not a "militant" atheist, just a sort of going through my life non-religious atheist-by-default. I have no personal conception of an afterlife. And even from that frame of reference, I'm still not okay with disregarding mortuary rituals without respect for the dead and the consent of descendents, if available.

--

And yet, mortuary archaeology can be amazingly useful. Educating. Illuminating. It can help us understand how people lived and died. So I'm not entirely sure how to balance my curiosity with my respect.

--

This dig I'm going on, by the way, isn't a mortuary excavation. It's arranged by the school campus it's on - whenever they break ground for a new building, the anth department goes in and does a quick survey (six weeks, usually) to make sure they aren't destroying anything. That, I am more than happy with.

And material culture arch? I'm also (mostly) fine with that, when it avoids the mortuary part of the question.


But mortuary archaeology makes me uneasy, ethically, even when it lights my curiosity into a blaze.



I know I have at least two anth majors on my f-list. What do you guys think about the topic?

I just got an offer to go on a week trip to an archaeological dig up in Cleveland. :o

I hope I can arrange the time off; the woman running the dig seems really interested in talking to me about the field and such, and I'd get to spend time with my super-cool cousin.

Updates:

My program is STILL not up and running, and I made the guy promise to get me the newest try at getting it to work by Friday morning. :/ Three weeks and barely anything done. Aaargh. I can't even start scheduling participants.

I've been doing some basic graphic design stuff for the bio department in my off time. They tapped me to do a poster at the end of the semester, and apparently I'm decent enough that they want me to keep putting posters together for them. And they're paying, so! :)

(Also, my weaving teacher is lending me a loom for the summer, so I got that yesterday and already have a project on it and half complete. ... eheheh.

ETA: liu_xing's scarf is off the loom and waiting on finishing! Hope you like peacocks, darling~)

Probably no Vincent costume for Otakon. David thinks he can't do his pieces well enough and that it'd cost too much for a one or two time thing. He's going to try and beef up his steampunk costume instead. I'm sad. :<

I am, though, going to add some bits and bobs to my steampunk loli outfit. I'm going to weave some fabric for a bag and then weave the strap for it on the inkle loom I've also been lent! (The bag fabric will also be used to make a pillow or two, I think.)

I'm about 98% sure I'm switching majors, now. I just have to talk with Prof L about it. Luckily, he's so super supportive about everything that I don't think he'll mind too much, but I'm still super nervous. :x

Classes are up!


My schedule for next year:

Monday: Non-Parametric Statistics 10:10 - 11:00
Anthropology of Food (! :D) 1:10 - 4:00

Tuesday: Drawing I (!!!!! Very small, competitve class to get into!) 8:30 - 11:00
Social Psychology (!! With a returning professor I've never met but specializes in a lot of what I'm interested in, and is a hardline Psychology As Science guy) 1:10 - 2:30

Wednesday: Non-Parametric Statistics 10:10 - 11:00

Thursday: Drawing I 8:30 - 11:00
Social Psychology 1:10 - 2:30

Friday: Non-Parametric Statistics 10:10 - 11:00



So I ended up not taking the Fiction Writing class. Prof L and I had a long talk over it, and we decided first that I couldn't take BOTH writing and drawing (too much time taken up on the same days), and second that I was more interested in the drawing class than the writing, and third that I know both professors and I like the drawing professor more. (Fourth was Prof L saying I was pretty good at writing already, and that I'd likely not get a chance to take an art class in grad school).



Also, Summer Science news:


I'll be on campus from May 22 - July 24, living in the Aclands. Which means I have a kitchen!

I'll be back a week before Otakon, which will only give me time to fix up Sati and Sophia, not make anything new. So, current costume list:

Friday: Sati
Saturday: Sophia
Sunday: Steampunk Lolita


If I go out to dinner Friday evening, I'll be changing into Steampunk Loli then, too, in all likelihood, as it's comfy.

So if anybody wants to do meet-ups/photoshoots/what have you, let me know! :)

Again, I've been very busy, so posting daily updates hasn't been working. I've been RPing still, of course, but I still don't have a page number. I also hemmed a skirt and fixed up a jacket yesterday. And drew two pictures of Farsiris.

Heavy, heavy work period for school right now. Yesterday, I did stats homework, wrote a 500-word mini note for English, took notes on my sources for my anth paper, cleaned up data for 250-ish participants and pulled qualitative data out for them, hemmed that skirt and fixed that jacket, read the first story I have to read for Monday, played D&D, and promptly collapsed. XD;

Today, I have two more stories to read and a 15 page anth paper to write, along with a review session to run and probably other things I'm not remembering right now.

Uuuugh. Why can't I feel accomplished after yesterday? D: