Today I came home from work to find out who McCain chose for his VP. I was floored. He picked a woman. I didn't even think of that possibility (stupidly) while wondering about who both he and Obama would pick. I've been saying a Obama/Clinton ticket would be a nuclear bomb on the Republican campaign (obviously not alone in that sentiment), not that I was particularly happy about that concept. But I wasn't sure who the Republicans could pick to really threaten the Obama/Biden campaign. Then I heard about this. Governor Sarah Palin, a choice so bleeding obvious and calculated that I was just flabbergasted and immediately began getting gloomy about it. For example, "Plan O": Obama wins, we move back to the US; "Plan M": McCain wins, we stay out of the US because they will drive the last nail through the coffin of America's faltering world standing. I'm serious... four more years of Republicans and the US will be completely ruined. The damage that Bush and his cronies have done will be firmly and irreparably set in place.
Then we watched the coverage of the last day of the Democratic National Convention which has been replaying continuously on the BBC Parliament channel. Though it was slightly over-sentimental, I was really moved by it. We were eating dinner when we saw Obama's acceptance speech and I was getting all teary and choked up so I could hardly swallow my food. What an amazing speech and what an amazing convention. Over 80,000 people in there and the line to get in was six MILES long!
Seeing this speech restored my hope that Obama will be our next president and has really stoked the coals under my political motivations. I really wish I could vote, but at least K can. And I really wish we could be in the US now to help out with the election. The best we can do is donate some money, pester our friends and relatives, and keep a close eye on what's going on. We will probably stay up all night to watch the election in November (because we'll need to know as soon as possible whether or not we need to cancel our plans to move back! Hee hee.)
Some political info we've been reading:
Facts about Sarah Palin
Michael Moore's Election Guide
An Open Letter to God
And if you haven't register to vote (shame on you), please do. It's easy!:
Rock the Vote
Friday, August 29
Tuesday, August 26
Ignorance is not bliss
If you're as "lucky" as me, you might have received an email forward at some point alleging that Barack Obama hates white people and so on. The email starts like this: "Think you know who this man is? This possible President of the United States !! Read Below and ask yourselves, is this REALLY someone we can see as the President of our great nation!!!"
It then goes on to (inaccurately) cite quotes from a couple of the books he has written. It's just so easy to misquote someone or quote something completely out of context and make it sound insidious. And because people are a bit lazy when it comes to verifying facts or doing a little research on their own, this kind of tripe gets bounced around the internet, eventually turning into "fact". Anyway, I got this email a couple of months ago (no offense to the person who forwarded it to me), but it really annoyed me, so I spent about half an hour finding the actual quotes and putting them in context. That work follows below. The information in the email forward (with the > next to it) is followed by the actual quote and then a summary of what the true quote means in context.
> ________________________________
> Subject: FW: Books
> From Dreams of My Father : 'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race.'
True quote: NONE. IT DOES NOT EXIST. COMPLETELY MADE UP.
> From Dreams of My Father: 'There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white.'
True quote: "He was smart, I decided. He seemed committed to his work. Still, there was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white - he'd said himself that was a problem." [Meaning: The guy he was talking about admitted that the fact that he is white might be a problem for the project they were working on together in the Southside Chicago community.]
> From Dreams of My Father: 'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.'
True quote: This one hasn't been mis-quoted, but if you put it in context of the chapter of the book, he is just talking about his days in college (a time filled with political activism, radicals, etc.).
> From Dreams of My Father: 'I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa, that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.'
True quote: (in context, he is specifically addressing his earlier attitude towards his stepfather and grandfather): "...men I might love but never emulate, white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa , that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela." Later he writes, "Now...that image had suddenly vanished." "To think all my life I had been wrestling with nothing more than a ghost!" [In other words, he was talking about FATHER ISSUES and who doesn't have those?]
>
> And FINALLY the Most Damming one of ALL of them!!!
>
> From Audacity of Hope: 'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.'
"Of course, not all my conversations in immigrant communities follow this easy pattern. In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific reassurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction." [Meaning: he will stand by any Americans who are discriminated against]
It then goes on to (inaccurately) cite quotes from a couple of the books he has written. It's just so easy to misquote someone or quote something completely out of context and make it sound insidious. And because people are a bit lazy when it comes to verifying facts or doing a little research on their own, this kind of tripe gets bounced around the internet, eventually turning into "fact". Anyway, I got this email a couple of months ago (no offense to the person who forwarded it to me), but it really annoyed me, so I spent about half an hour finding the actual quotes and putting them in context. That work follows below. The information in the email forward (with the > next to it) is followed by the actual quote and then a summary of what the true quote means in context.
> ______________________________
> Subject: FW: Books
>
> If you don't read anything else, read the last statement Obama made.
>
> Think you know who this man is?
> This possible President of the United States !! Read Below and
> ask yourselves, is this REALLY someone we can see as the
> President of our great nation!!!!
>
> Below are a few lines from Obama's books; In his words!
>
> From Dreams of My Father: 'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.'
True quote: "When people who don't know me well, black or white, discover my background (and it is usually a discovery, for I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites) I see the the split-second adjustments they have to make, the searching of my eyes for some telltale sign." [Meaning: He didn't go around calling himself white just so he didn't get discriminated against by white people.]> If you don't read anything else, read the last statement Obama made.
>
> Think you know who this man is?
> This possible President of the United States !! Read Below and
> ask yourselves, is this REALLY someone we can see as the
> President of our great nation!!!!
>
> Below are a few lines from Obama's books; In his words!
>
> From Dreams of My Father: 'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.'
> From Dreams of My Father : 'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race.'
> From Dreams of My Father: 'There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white.'
> From Dreams of My Father: 'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.'
> From Dreams of My Father: 'I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa, that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.'
>
> And FINALLY the Most Damming one of ALL of them!!!
>
> From Audacity of Hope: 'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.'
Tuesday, August 19
Another landmark
I know we keep announcing these "fatalistic" time-based landmarks relating to our evermore imminent departure from these isles, but this one is quite significant which kind of struck us unawares this morning.
Exactly 3 months from this point (around 9:30 on November 19th, barring any air traffic delays) we will be seated in the airplane that is taking us one-way-ticket back to the US.
3 months. That's nothing! It will be gone in an instant.
It's scary and exciting all at once. How we will feel exactly when we arrive is any body's guess. Doubtless it will take some time to settle in, at which point we will try to think back to the day we landed in Brussels with one-way tickets -- at the start of this adventure -- with nary but our suitcases and the clothes on our backs.
Exactly 3 months from this point (around 9:30 on November 19th, barring any air traffic delays) we will be seated in the airplane that is taking us one-way-ticket back to the US.
3 months. That's nothing! It will be gone in an instant.
It's scary and exciting all at once. How we will feel exactly when we arrive is any body's guess. Doubtless it will take some time to settle in, at which point we will try to think back to the day we landed in Brussels with one-way tickets -- at the start of this adventure -- with nary but our suitcases and the clothes on our backs.
Monday, August 11
We've broken the 100 day barrier
Today we have hit a landmark. There are only 99 days left before we move back to the US. Just a little more than 3 months. Things are really moving quickly now. We have cleared two of our major hurdles as of last week.
Kristen passed her PhD viva. And last Monday, I notified my line manager that I would be leaving in November. Something I had been worrying over for a long time (sometimes it filled me with dread), but it went REALLY well! Though he was disappointed, he was really happy for me and offered to give me a reference letter and to put me in contact with some people he knows at a production company in Portland, OR. He adores Portland, too. Afterwards, I felt really silly for worrying about it in the first place (deep down, I knew that would be the case) and I felt a HUGE weight off my shoulders. I've been telling my colleagues little by little.
Both of us have found some interesting job prospects in Portland. We applied for them yesterday. The one for me was actually at the company my line manager recommended. There was actually an opening there!
We are getting close to figuring out which company we want to use for shipping our stuff to the US. We've got a re-patriation budget put together (Kristen did that).
I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be a whole new adventure. Both the end of an amazing era and the beginning of an exciting new one.
Kristen passed her PhD viva. And last Monday, I notified my line manager that I would be leaving in November. Something I had been worrying over for a long time (sometimes it filled me with dread), but it went REALLY well! Though he was disappointed, he was really happy for me and offered to give me a reference letter and to put me in contact with some people he knows at a production company in Portland, OR. He adores Portland, too. Afterwards, I felt really silly for worrying about it in the first place (deep down, I knew that would be the case) and I felt a HUGE weight off my shoulders. I've been telling my colleagues little by little.
Both of us have found some interesting job prospects in Portland. We applied for them yesterday. The one for me was actually at the company my line manager recommended. There was actually an opening there!
We are getting close to figuring out which company we want to use for shipping our stuff to the US. We've got a re-patriation budget put together (Kristen did that).
I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be a whole new adventure. Both the end of an amazing era and the beginning of an exciting new one.
Saturday, August 9
The Great British Beer Festival 2008
It's 2.49 in the morning. I just got back to my little room at King's College - Great Dover Street after the CAMRA Great British Beer Festival final day. I've been volunteering here since Thursday, pulling pints (serving beer) for hundreds and hundreds of punters (customers). If you work both the AM and PM session (which I did) your day lasts from 11.00 to 23.00. Then there's "chill-out" in the staff area upstairs until 24.30 or so, during which the festival director tells everyone how the business went that day, etc. and you get to kick back with a pint or two or three or four. The festival rents buses to take the volunteers to the various accommodations around London. One is really well taken care of volunteering at the GBBF.
Because this was the last day, when the festival closes at 7pm, we have a 3-hour cleaning session and then at 10 o'clock there's a big staff party with free buffet and all the beer you can drink. Plus various beer nerd frivolities. Then there's a 12.30 bus and a 2.00 bus. I took the later one because I was enjoying myself.
On the way home tonight, I got a bit wistful seeing London pass by my bus window. It's a great city with a great vibe. A vibe that you can feel even at 2.00 in the morning. I got wistful because I was thinking about the fact that we are leaving in November. A bit silly since we never even lived in London (we both kind of regret not doing that, at least when we first moved to England), but it's just great to see all the historical buildings and what not. And the Thames river looks amazing at night. At 2.00 in the morning, there isn't much activity and most buildings are dark, but here and there lights are on, the bridges are lit up, and the clock on Big Ben is glowing. Last night we drove past the Battersea power station (the one on the cover of the Pink Floyd "Animals" record). I've only ever seen it from the train, but this time we were on the other side of it and really up close. Quite a building. I will definitely miss this place.
Having said that, I am really looking forward to moving back to the US. We're ready. It's been 5 years living in Europe (four years in England) and it's not exactly easy being in a foreign country by yourself with all family far away.
Last year when I did volunteered at this festival for the first time, I ended up working with a great team and for a really down-to-earth manager. We got along, so they added me as "permanent" staff this year (i.e.- the staffing people assign me to that team permanently and don't try to bounce me around to other bars at the festival as needed). Whereas last year, I went into the situation blind, this year I had an idea what the whole thing is like and went into it already accepted in a team. And more prepared for the whole thing. I had a great time and tried a lot of really good beers. My favorites were St. Peter's Mild, Theakston's Grousebeater, and Regal Blonde.
Hopefully, at some point, even though we will be back in the US, we can come back during the festival and I can work there again. We'll see what happens with air travel, though!
Because this was the last day, when the festival closes at 7pm, we have a 3-hour cleaning session and then at 10 o'clock there's a big staff party with free buffet and all the beer you can drink. Plus various beer nerd frivolities. Then there's a 12.30 bus and a 2.00 bus. I took the later one because I was enjoying myself.
On the way home tonight, I got a bit wistful seeing London pass by my bus window. It's a great city with a great vibe. A vibe that you can feel even at 2.00 in the morning. I got wistful because I was thinking about the fact that we are leaving in November. A bit silly since we never even lived in London (we both kind of regret not doing that, at least when we first moved to England), but it's just great to see all the historical buildings and what not. And the Thames river looks amazing at night. At 2.00 in the morning, there isn't much activity and most buildings are dark, but here and there lights are on, the bridges are lit up, and the clock on Big Ben is glowing. Last night we drove past the Battersea power station (the one on the cover of the Pink Floyd "Animals" record). I've only ever seen it from the train, but this time we were on the other side of it and really up close. Quite a building. I will definitely miss this place.
Having said that, I am really looking forward to moving back to the US. We're ready. It's been 5 years living in Europe (four years in England) and it's not exactly easy being in a foreign country by yourself with all family far away.
Last year when I did volunteered at this festival for the first time, I ended up working with a great team and for a really down-to-earth manager. We got along, so they added me as "permanent" staff this year (i.e.- the staffing people assign me to that team permanently and don't try to bounce me around to other bars at the festival as needed). Whereas last year, I went into the situation blind, this year I had an idea what the whole thing is like and went into it already accepted in a team. And more prepared for the whole thing. I had a great time and tried a lot of really good beers. My favorites were St. Peter's Mild, Theakston's Grousebeater, and Regal Blonde.
Hopefully, at some point, even though we will be back in the US, we can come back during the festival and I can work there again. We'll see what happens with air travel, though!
 |
| Great British Beer Festival 2008 |
Monday, August 4
The British Inquisition
On Friday, August 1st I passed my PhD defense. It was one of the most unpleasant events I have ever experienced and I am so happy I never have to do it again. Why was it not fun? Well, I do not think anyone goes into their defense full of happiness and joy, but I was not aware of how stressed I was about it until afterwards when I got home and slept for ten hours.
The defense was scheduled for 10am so I arrived around 9:15 to go over my notes and pace around. My supervisor arrived at 9:45 and we waited together until it was time to go into the conference room. The panel chair came to fetch us just after 10am and we went up to the 5th floor. I was sort of numb and not feeling my nervousness - it was an out-of-body experience. As we walked into the room, the examiners stood up, introduced themselves, shook my hand and then we all sat down. The panel chair (who looks exactly like Stephen King) went over the order of proceedings. The examiners would have specific questions first, and then it would be more of an open discussion. I am not sure exactly when the 'open discussion' happened because I certainly missed it. As soon as the chair handed over to the examiners, they fired questions continuously for two hours. I expected difficult questions. That is what the defense is all about.
Lots of the questions were testing me to see if I really did the work, so those were not hard to deal with. There were particular aspects of my work that they seemed to have problems with - mostly word and term choices, and my fundamental philosophy regarding the media and society. I expected them to zero in on what I knew were the weaknesses of my research, not stuff like that! One of the examiners comes from a sociology background and he wanted to know why I didn't reference a particular theorist that he especially likes. Umm, because I didn't use sociological theories!? He had the same question about a term I used to refer to the connection between news and society - why didn't I use the sociological term for it? These questions seemed pointless and designed to highlight my lack of knowledge, but they were still manageable. The absolute worst part of the defense was dealing with the other examiner. She had a really strong Italian accent and had the most abrupt way of speaking that most of the time I couldn't tell if she was asking me a question or making a statement. Even worse, when I answered her questions she gave no sign of even hearing what I said. No nodding or comment or disagreement - nothing! It was incredibly uncomfortable.
When they had asked all of their questions, the chair asked me to wait downstairs and he would come get me when they had made their decision. My supervisor and I left the room and as we walked to the elevator, he turned to me and said 'wow, they really gave you a grilling but you did great.' At the time I wasn't thinking of it that way, I suppose because I had no idea what to expect. Apparently my defense was quite intense compared with others he has been to. Lucky me! He also mentioned how difficult the Italian examiner was to understand and talk with. At least it wasn't just my own feeling towards her!
So we went and sat back where we had been only two hours earlier and waited. And waited. And waited. For 50 minutes. Finally the panel chair came to get us and didn't give anything away. As soon as I walked into the room the examiners were smiling and said 'congratulations' and shook my hand. I was surprised because it took them so long to make their decision I thought there must have been some disagreement between them. Maybe there was, but the panel chair read the results and they voted to pass my thesis with nine changes. As he was reading I kept thinking, nine changes seems like a lot, how could it pass? I felt confused. The examiners had been unpleasant, especially the Italian woman, and now they were smiling at me. But I also had to make changes or 'final polishing' as the panel chair phrased it. Several of the things they wanted me to change were pointless and would not improve my work. It was all so odd. During the interrogation they acted like they hated my work and now it just needed 'polishing'? After that, they congratulated me again and I left.
R met me downstairs and from my facial expression he surely must have thought I had failed. Indeed, I felt like I had failed for some reason. Even though I was granted the PhD and can use the 'Dr.' in front of my name, it did not (and still does not) feel like an achievement. It feels more like I survived a horrible hazing ritual to get into an exclusive secret society. A couple of weeks ago I read somewhere that the post-defense reaction is typically similar to post-natal depression, and I can understand that now. Maybe it is simply recovering from the intense stress of the situation which had been building from the moment I finished writing. Or maybe it is the realization that the huge amount of time and effort spent researching and writing the thesis, preparing for the defense, getting through the defense, and making the necessary changes is all to gain entry into a club that I am not convinced I want to belong to.
~K
The defense was scheduled for 10am so I arrived around 9:15 to go over my notes and pace around. My supervisor arrived at 9:45 and we waited together until it was time to go into the conference room. The panel chair came to fetch us just after 10am and we went up to the 5th floor. I was sort of numb and not feeling my nervousness - it was an out-of-body experience. As we walked into the room, the examiners stood up, introduced themselves, shook my hand and then we all sat down. The panel chair (who looks exactly like Stephen King) went over the order of proceedings. The examiners would have specific questions first, and then it would be more of an open discussion. I am not sure exactly when the 'open discussion' happened because I certainly missed it. As soon as the chair handed over to the examiners, they fired questions continuously for two hours. I expected difficult questions. That is what the defense is all about.
Lots of the questions were testing me to see if I really did the work, so those were not hard to deal with. There were particular aspects of my work that they seemed to have problems with - mostly word and term choices, and my fundamental philosophy regarding the media and society. I expected them to zero in on what I knew were the weaknesses of my research, not stuff like that! One of the examiners comes from a sociology background and he wanted to know why I didn't reference a particular theorist that he especially likes. Umm, because I didn't use sociological theories!? He had the same question about a term I used to refer to the connection between news and society - why didn't I use the sociological term for it? These questions seemed pointless and designed to highlight my lack of knowledge, but they were still manageable. The absolute worst part of the defense was dealing with the other examiner. She had a really strong Italian accent and had the most abrupt way of speaking that most of the time I couldn't tell if she was asking me a question or making a statement. Even worse, when I answered her questions she gave no sign of even hearing what I said. No nodding or comment or disagreement - nothing! It was incredibly uncomfortable.
When they had asked all of their questions, the chair asked me to wait downstairs and he would come get me when they had made their decision. My supervisor and I left the room and as we walked to the elevator, he turned to me and said 'wow, they really gave you a grilling but you did great.' At the time I wasn't thinking of it that way, I suppose because I had no idea what to expect. Apparently my defense was quite intense compared with others he has been to. Lucky me! He also mentioned how difficult the Italian examiner was to understand and talk with. At least it wasn't just my own feeling towards her!
So we went and sat back where we had been only two hours earlier and waited. And waited. And waited. For 50 minutes. Finally the panel chair came to get us and didn't give anything away. As soon as I walked into the room the examiners were smiling and said 'congratulations' and shook my hand. I was surprised because it took them so long to make their decision I thought there must have been some disagreement between them. Maybe there was, but the panel chair read the results and they voted to pass my thesis with nine changes. As he was reading I kept thinking, nine changes seems like a lot, how could it pass? I felt confused. The examiners had been unpleasant, especially the Italian woman, and now they were smiling at me. But I also had to make changes or 'final polishing' as the panel chair phrased it. Several of the things they wanted me to change were pointless and would not improve my work. It was all so odd. During the interrogation they acted like they hated my work and now it just needed 'polishing'? After that, they congratulated me again and I left.
R met me downstairs and from my facial expression he surely must have thought I had failed. Indeed, I felt like I had failed for some reason. Even though I was granted the PhD and can use the 'Dr.' in front of my name, it did not (and still does not) feel like an achievement. It feels more like I survived a horrible hazing ritual to get into an exclusive secret society. A couple of weeks ago I read somewhere that the post-defense reaction is typically similar to post-natal depression, and I can understand that now. Maybe it is simply recovering from the intense stress of the situation which had been building from the moment I finished writing. Or maybe it is the realization that the huge amount of time and effort spent researching and writing the thesis, preparing for the defense, getting through the defense, and making the necessary changes is all to gain entry into a club that I am not convinced I want to belong to.
~K
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