Thanks to (e:chaibiscoot) I have been reading some excellent books. She emailed me about a post I had written about India (coorecting many of the vague impressions I had) and gave me a few suggestions to read about her native land: India. She suggested William Dalrymple and Arundhati Roy among others. The problem with reading about India is that I don't speak any Indian languages and so am stuck with what English/American/a few others have written in English.



Dalrymple is an Englishman (though he makes reference to possible Indian heritage in a foreward) who studies Oriental/Asian culture. His first book, In Xanadu describes his efforts to follow Marco Polo's footsteps to the fabled city of Xanadu. The catch is that this is in the early 90's. So instead of Persian warlords we have an Iraq/Iran war, a closed Afghani border, and a communist China. This may sound like mere cultural tourism and to a large extent is, but Dalrymple's awe and love of the history of these ancient peoples is evident throughout the book. One of his emphases is architecture and so we are treated to lengthy comparisons of Persian vs. Byzantine columns and such. But he also has a clear message of inclusion that runs througout both books. He's describing these people not to show their alien aspects but rather to delight in how similar their idiosyncracies are.

White Mughals is almost a docudrama. James Kirkpatrick is the British Resident at Hyderabad, India, and finds himself sought after by an Indian princess. He eventually falls in love, and adopts many native customs in the interim. The tale is of the roots of the British Empire in India and shows how different things could have been, if Kirkpatrick's attitudes had been adopted by more. It's the turn of the 18th century, and the British and French are both vying for control of the huge indian "resource." This is a critical time because the whole tone of the next 100 years is being set, will India become a trading partner or a colonial outpost. We know the answer of course and this book delves into exactly why this happened and what percipitated the changes.

The Cheekbook and the Cruise Missile is a series of interviews conducted between 2002-2003. We hear of the huge struggle for power in India, where local people are being forced off their land for hydro-power, fundamentalist religion is being used on both sides of the political spectrum, and the WTO/IMF is dictating economic policy. It is great to contrast what is happening in India to what is happening today in America (and what has happened in the last 100 years or so). One of Arundhati's main points is the distancing of power. In other words, that bigger and bigger institutions are in control of more and more power. She asks, why does it always have to get bigger? Why must everything be more concentrated? To her, this is what globalization is about: the removal or distancing of power. But where is the logic that a room full of men half way around the world knows how to run your city/state/country better than those who live there? It's a good fast read, and because it's interviews you really get the whole Arundhati-flow of conversation. I am in love.

The library has all three books if you wanna read. Just go to their website and request the titles and within a few days you can pick them up at the library of your choice. Whoopie!

the more you can see right through his liberal label.

Like always, Bush is lying. For months now he's been calling Kerry the Mass. Liberal, and Kerry's doing his darndest to put the horrible lie back in the closet where it's been resting since he came home from Vietnam and testified before Congress. The closer the election creeps, the more Kerry's thin liberal coat is sloughing away to reveal the snake of a different color (red?) hiding beneath. He'll increase Defense (read: WAR) spending. He won't back down on the hunt for terrorists (read: continue to check the stats of your civil liberites on a daily basis). "Special Units" (read: assassins/interogators/counterintelligence) expenditures will skyrocket. Who's the liberal now Bush?

It just makes me wonder what other liberal values we'll have to sacrifice in order to capture that suprememe slice of the electorate, these so-called moderates. What the fuck are moderates? People who have no opinions? People who don't like to make a distinction between right and wrong? Fence-sitters afraid of any decisions that might take a bit of comfort/convenience from their personal lives? Fine, I accept the fact that they exist but why the hell do I want to join their party? Anything but Bush will only get you so far. And if you creep closer and closer to the enemy, you may take a couple of his supporters away, but you're also going to alienate many people who still believe that it's not the man, but the values behind the man that we're voting for. If, in his rush to secure these moderate votes, Kerry continues to shed his more liberal values, he's going to lose a lot more than his credibility with me and the other weirdo-commies (or whatever we're labelled by the mainstream) on this site. He just might lose an election.

Here is the new test of Paul's newfangled journal box application. Hope it works.

Ajay, I think this [inlink]ajay,68[/inlink] is a great idea. Now we just have to see who we can get involved and then schedule it. It would be great if we got not only writers but photographers, videographers, and sound artists involved. We could even turn the whole thing into a promotional CD.

sidenote: I think this is a neat idea too, but I actually didn't write this. It was Paul, erroneously logged in as me on our computer. Sorry Ajay, but I've transferred your thanks to him anyways.

The one aparently nice day in weeks and I have to choose between equally enjoyable activities. I can go on the boat in the lake with good friend Dave or I can go to Thursday in the Square and see Arrested Development with mucho friends and peeps. What to do? Either way I will still be able to make Pink-night (thank god, right?). We shall see...



This cute little feller here uses ultrasound screams to alert his pals that danger is coming . It's the first time that researchers have discovered a rodent with ultrasonic capabilities and also deciphered their meaning. I guess it's probably not that surprising that other rodents would use ultrasound, bats are just mice with wings, right?

and I don't know what I'm doing tonight.

I arrived home tonight with an aching bladder to find a locked house. I had foolishly given my key to a notoriously absent-minded fellow who forgot when I came home from work. I waited for a halfhour before resorting to spry methods to enter my apartment. Luckily the offender didn't show up for another halfhour still. My temper had subsided along with the pressure in my bladder. Now I am in a mood. Which one I can't decide. Perhaps it's a mood-to-be, waiting for the right impetus to propel it into fruition. Perhaps. Perhaps it's a call to take it easy and read a book. Who knows? Guess I'll sit back and find out.

Soyeon, that journal is so friggin' cute [inlink]soyeon,51[/inlink]. I especially like my cool breakdancing style, I'm really feeling it!

Stickboy, go with the tank bra [inlink]stickboy,119[/inlink]. Is there even a question as to whether you need a tank bra? Who the fuck doesn't need a tank bra. I want one too. Think it fits on a fish tank?

I wonder if I should slow down a little. But maybe I should just wait for the inevitable winter slowdown that will come soon enough. Hmmm...

to answer your question MK [inlink]mk,120[/inlink]: the camp-site is located just outside of westfield. You go over the big bridge and make an immediate left and then drive for a couple minutes until you get to some other street that veers to the left (I think it's called Ogden). After a couple minutes on this road you'll se a white farm house with 3-4 grain silos. You turn left on the little road right before the house and go until you see a sign that says it's just a footpath now. Park there and hike down to the creek. There are a couple sites down the creek that you can choose. If you keep going you'll start seeing signs stating that it's a nude area (which to some extent it is-though the legality is perhaps questionable). We camped about 15 minutes down the stream where there's a waterfall leading into a swim-hole. Good luck.

About camping: It was mucho fun (see matt's journal for some pics [inlink]matthew,303[/inlink]). The highlight for me at least was when we tackled the tree. There used to be a swing rope attached to this gigantic tree which hung out from a 15 ft embankment over the swimhole. The rope snapped (and I feel very sorry indeed for the poor fool who snapped it, most likely midswing) a while back, and I guess someone became very angry at the tree. They sawed through half of it (a feat in itself as the tree is about 2 ft in diameter) and then graviy took over, propelling the tree into the exact middle of the swimhole. We arrived after all this, to find our nice little swimhole not very swimable. The task became to somehow remove the tree.

At first I despaired; our attempts to even budge the tree proved to be of very little effect. It was about 20 ft long and the half that was completely submerged was heavily waterlogged. The attempt was put off till Sunday. Luckily, reinforcements arrived in the shape of Pat and Terri (some of you may remember them as the folks who tarried till well after dark on a cross country ski trail, eventually leading us to call the rangers to haul them out), who came rambling into out campsite at like 11PM Saturday night. As soon as Pat saw the tree in the hole he became obsessed. Soon he had found a 30 foot sapling which we used as a lever to lift the tree while the rest of us pushed/pulled/groaned. After about an hour or so we had managed to move the offending tree to the far side of the pool where hopefully nature will take over with the next heavy rain. Who said that half-drunk potheads never get anything done!? The next part was slight overkill. Dave suggested that the pile of broken tree parts littering the island (refuse from said tree) should be put to final rest. A lighter and some dilligence resulted in a pretty big blaze (with accompanying explosions from moist riverstone shale), there's a pic on matt's journal showing the fire being lit. Who needs a gym to work out? Just find youself a 1000 lb. tree and start shoving!

sidenote: The Progressive has a great new section called McCarthyism Watch where they're detailing abuses of the Patriot Act in removing or obstructing protestors from carrying out there 1st Amendment right to free speech. Just yesterday a man was removed from Kutztown, PA for holding a sign. He wasn't read his rights, detained for over three hours, and best of all "On the citation where it says victim's name, they put 'society'". Whose society is that?

sidenote2: Beast, if you've read this far, I think letterboxing sounds superduper fun, reminds me of Artbomb [inlink]terry,168[/inlink]! If you wanna start looking call me up and we'll have an adventure night. Looks like Sqb has some experience too, maybe he'll help us?

Somehow I think it's in my destiny to be a housewife. The one thing that brings me joy above just about anything else is a house full of people with happy tummies. Tonight we had an unexpected dinner party of sorts. Fried catfish ala matt(gluten-free of course), collard greens, zucchini with mushies garlic and parsley, steamed clams in butter-lemon sauce, and sweet taters fried in the same canola as the fish. Divine, and all the folks so happy, courtesy in large part to my efforts in the kitchen. I think about being a cook sometimes, but think that it's not quite the same. I like the kitchen ambience, the people talking, slicing the odd veggie, swapping the tales of yesternight, battering the fish, picking up the 40, and just making revelry: the kitchen should be the life of the house. Maybe that's why so many housewives have become so disaffected. When I think of the kitchen that nonna [inlink]paul,1412[/inlink] was brought up in and contrast it to the kitchen of most modern households I can see why no one wants to work there anymore. They're disinfected: of both germs and society. Isolated hubs of efficiency, and slow asphyxiation (is that really how you spell that?). Who whats to hang around there when everyone else is watching the tube?

I can't decide how to take it. Do I rebel in masculine fury over my slow emasculation? Should I feel less of myself that I don't want to be out there earning bread for the table (instead of baking said bread, I suppose)? Am I nearer the feminine me I want to be in touch with (or am I treading dangerously close to the nongender entity I dream about)? Do other people want to be more degendered, like me? Caught up in stereotypes with nowhere to turn. Bake a pie and you're covered. But really, if all I do is sit around and take care of those I love, do I even deserve to live? Is this really an occupation? Obviously not one without accompanying stigma attached. I want to get back into my routine though. I love to cook. I do it well. It makes me happy. Why do I doubt? So let's make some kinda chintzy vow now, to cook at least said number of times a week. But I'll try, I really will. And please, if you're in a position to wish me well along the way (especially if you wanna come partake: there's barely nuthin' makes me happier'n feedin' folks), please do. I happily descend past my gender threshold.

sidenote: As Matthew said, the triplets of belleville is something worth seeing, it's pretty nuts. In a good way. I was even sad when it ended so early. Gotta download that theme song now...

This here monkey (macaque type, she is) only walks upright now. Apparently she had a bad tummy ache and after she got better won't go down to all fours anymore . Don't she know her place? Get down animal, leave the walking to those who been doin it for a while. Stop yo usurpin! Do you think she's available though?

sidenote: US food companies are going to have to label their food for allergens starting 2006 . This is good for those of us who suffer from these horrible maladies of digestive uncooperativeness. The allergens that must be labelled are: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts and soybeans.