Say What?

"Let us therefore begin by putting aside all the facts, for they have no bearing on the question."

No, we're not talking about WMDs or the Bush administrations' environmental policies (or the Bush administration in general, for that matter) - it's a charming quote from the book I'm reading for my proseminar class - Rousseau's "Discourse on the Origin of Inequality," as translated by Donald A. Cress.

I spent the afternoon reading in the room pictured here; sheer bliss. At 4:00 stopped in order to meet an old friend, Andy Chignell, for coffee. It was (to my relief) a relaxed meeting of old friends. I can't believe it's been 10 years... Terry did not follow through with his plan to call at 4:10 and growl over the phone :-).

In knitting news, I have a couple WIPs and a few FOs (that's works in progress and finished obejcts) - sorry the photo is such poor quality.

Tonight I plan to watch the second half of "The Two Towers" and knit. Terry is in VA tonight; back tomorrow night.

Upside Down

The upside of having been a student here before:
1) I know my way around campus. Registration at Bartels Field House? Ah yes, that's where it was last time. Orientation session at Statler Auditorium? Never been there before, but Statler is where the bus stop was...
2) I am familiar with CU grad school culture. E.g.: I ran into Claire, an archaeology student and Pratchett fan whom I met at the March recruitment event. She is freaking out b/c we can't register for classes yet, and classes start on Thursday, and our Field Orientation isn't until Wednesday night... I told her about "shopping", where everyone browses courses for 2 weeks before actually deciding what they're going to take, and how it drives the professors mad. It didn't really calm her down but she noted that it seemed useful to me to have been here before...

The downside of having been a student here before:
1) I found out today that the Graduate School has been mailing a number of things to my 6-year-old Ithaca address... and the Harrisonburg address they had listed for me was Lincolnshire Drive, where I was when writing my thesis. I was relieved to be able to get my stipend check, bus pass, and fitness center membership, but it took a lot of standing in lines and explaining in order to do so.
2) I can't think of any other downside... except that half the grad students look like, well, recent undergrads. I am a good ten years older than a lot of them. Older but wiser, that's for sure. And really, there are probably just as many people my age or older who are registering. And about a gazillion international students, which is always fun!

Really, biggest upside of having been here before is the sense of belonging. It also has to do with being a 3rd or 4th generation Cornellian, walking past the dorm my grandmother lived in when she was here, being in the building next to my dad's. I read something in the local paper, a reference to people who lived in Ithaca once and spend the rest of their lives trying to get back...

Check back and see if I still feel the same once the temps drop below 50 degrees! For now I am in the honeymoon phase.

Maslow's Hierarchy

So we are all set up in the new apartment in Ithaca! Cayuga Heights, rather - it's own little village up the hill from campus. It is a lovely old neighborhood with quiet streets and burgeoning gardens.

I just had to post a few parting photos of the 'Burg - a view of downtown, as seen from Luigi's (I think part of what you see may be the Masonic temple).

I thought often about Maslow's hierarchy while packing up. Yarn, of course, factored in at a pretty basic level for me. Because I was uncertain how much room there would be in the van for everything I wanted to bring, I divided my clothes, books, and yarn into "Must Take Now," "Can Come Later," and "Maybe Eventually" piles. In the end we were amazingly able to get ALL THREE divisions into the van, thanks in no small part to Terry's amazing packing skillz! (Note that the colloquial spelling indicates that this is an eXtreme sport...)
Last night and today were spent unpacking, arranging, and putting things away. We agreed that it feels really good to have this small apartment - it could be described as simple, basic, or minimal, but it doesn't actually feel like that at all - it feels very comfortable and nice. We have so many nice things (including some lovely bon voyage gifts from Tara and Gretchen!)! Being here really makes our house in Harrisonburg seem enormous, even though it is only 1000 sq ft which is less than half the average size of a single family home in the US today (avg is 2500). This 2-room apartment is fully adequate for the two of us - it really helps redefine my sense of what is "enough." I'm so glad that Terry is supporting me in this new adventure, and that it really feels like we're doing it together.

Tomorrow orientation begins in earnest, and Monday is registration. Tuesday and Wednesday are essentially free days, so now that things are pretty settled in the apartment I should be able to get a good deal of reading done! And if I knit a few rows between chapters... well, it's stress relief, right? :-)

I'm already planning the Kishers' October visit... :-)

Live from NY, Part II

We're here! It's quite exciting! The drive was uneventful, the day lovely. We worked up a sweat moving some furniture out of the apt. into the basement (maneuvering the bed frame that was here through several narrow doors was a feat of geometric genius) and unloading the van. I would be happy to put the furniture just about anywhere but Terry likes to maximize the space so we have yet to finesse it and finalize the placement. Well, have to run I suppose... Love to all!

For Now

This week I keep thinking "this is the last time I . . . for now!" Here is a snapshot of now -

What I am reading:

The one on the left is the first required text for the proseminar class. It is not, as Terry snidely suggested, an epithet for someone I dated a long time ago!

The one on the right is just for fun - a novel about academic life that rings all too true at times...

What am I knitting? Alas, no pictures! I'm pretty much done with Christmas, moving on to birthdays! No sneak peeks! :-)

I also had a couple micro-insights today: 1) hot, soapy water works wonders. Especially on spilled molasses in the fridge. 2) I must actually like moving, otherwise would I do it so often?

For an amazing array of fruit/veg hats see this link (scroll down past the birthday party!):
www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/

Story of a Hat

So Tuesday night, I went to Community Stitch Night at the LYS, where I showed Heidi et al my first strawberry hat. (Yes, the one I was knitting in the hammock). I was disatisfied with it, because it was just too long - it looked out of proportion. But if I tried to roll the brim up higher, the green strands between the "seeds" would show unbecomingly. So, I had this brilliant idea that I would just snip a thread about 2" from the bottom edge, unravel to the bottom, pick up the live stitches, and the re-knit the brim upside down using a picot trim. Brilliant!
Someone, I don't even know who, said, "Why don't you run a life-line through first?" Ah yes... genius! I actually used a circular needle to pick up stitches all the way around, BEFORE snipping the yarn. THEN I began to unravel.
When I was finished unravelling, I transferred the live stitches to my trusty DPNs and commenced knitting the trim. The last picture shows the sewing of the edge to make the picot thingies. The result? Immense satisfaction. Here is my fruit/veg/berry garden. Can you identify: strawberry, eggplant, blueberry, raspberry, and pumpkin? I bet you never saw a raspberry the size of a pumpkin before...! Last night I gave them all (plus 3 not pictured) to Tracey for the Farmer's Market. The saddest part of love is saying goodbye...

Transition (with lots of links)

Moving day is 10 days away; Friday is my last day at the office. The first real sign of transition occured this morning: I gave away a house plant. This Peace Lily was given to us by Doug and Cristina as a graduation gift when I finished my MS in 2001; it was in a pot about 10" in diameter. It has been tended by various Star Trek people* while we were on cross-cultural; sunburned when we moved to our new home on Willow St.; repotted many times as it has grown; now I have found it a new home at BBBS where my successor will actually look after it. The leaves hold a story in my mind, the old burnt-edged ones from a dry spell when no one watered it, the sunburned ones, and the fresh new ones that came out just as soon as the weather (and our house) warmed up. The plant's departure from our home is a portent of things to come, and gives me butterflies. It didn't seem real until today.

*Last night Terry and I were at the usual Monday night gathering to watch a taped episode of DS9. 3-year-old Simon looked around the room and, pointing at each person, said "Her, and he, and he, and he, and her, and you, and me, are all Star Trek people!" Not highly explanatory, but very charming.

(part of) the Phelps clan

Tractor Wave

The Tractor Wave is a ritual of the Jantzi clan of Au Gres, Michigan, hearkening back to the agrarian roots of this tribe. Although now primarily urban dwellers, these Mennonite Christians recall the mechanized farming days of yore. Congregated at the site where the original Will and Rose Jantzi household was formed in the middle of the last century, an inter-generational group of relatives from various branches of the clan mimic the stance of a farmer driving his tractor and lifting a hand to wave at a passing person or vehicle. The presence of a canine is not essential to the ritual, but is felt to enhance the authenticity of the moment. Thus the values and beliefs of the elder generation is passed on to the young, and the collective memory of the tribe is reinforced in a physical narrative.

It was a fun, relaxing reunion where more sleep than knitting occured (and given that I finished a sock and a half, plus two baby hats, tells you just how much sleeping occured!!!)

I obviously don't have enough work to do...

You Are a Mermaid

You are a total daydreamer, and people tend to think you're flakier than you actually are. While your head is often in the clouds, you'll always come back to earth to help someone in need. Beyond being a caring person, you are also very intelligent and rational. You understand the connections of the universe better than almost anyone else.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

Snuffeluffagous

I am thrilled to report that I met my quota of one fruit/veg hat per day while in NY! Eggplant (pictured below), strawberry (see previous post), pumpkin, and raspberry. See if I can keep up the pace in Michigan! :-)I think I caught Reuben and Sophia's cold...
We got in at 3 am last night and I was at work at 9 this morning.
I added some photos to Monday's post.

Here is what I am missing right now:

Live, from New York...

It's Monday afternoon! What an idyllic afternoon, lying in a hammock under the maple tree in Aunt Cathie's backyard, sipping lemon water and knitting a strawberry hat...

Lovely weekend with the family, lots of food, conversation, and we even managed to orchestrate a group photo although Vince had to be called back from a bike ride (we introverts all need our breaks - hence my afternoon in the hammock). The highlight of the festivities has been the six little ones, the next generation - Dillon Bordges (5), Madison Phelps (4), Sophia Bechtold (3), Kamryn Bordges (3), Solana Kane (almost 2), and Brody Phelps (1.5). At one point Vince took them all for a ride in a big red wagon, followed by a trailing mob of mom/grandma/aunt paparazzi with digital cameras. It was pretty hilarious.

(clockwise from lower left: Madison, Brody, Kamryn, Solana, Sophia. Not pictured: Dillon. Heidi says: "it's about time the girls outnumbered the boys in this family!")

Feeling Twitchy

I cast off the second alpaca sock Sunday night and did not cast on a new project - big mistake. A day without a sock in progress is a day with Twitchy at the helm. All the calm and peace of mind from Sunday afternoon's hike in the woods vanished in a whirl of Monday - Twitchy is definitely at it with gusto, scrabbling at thought-nuts in my head, such as "Furniture for Ithaca?" "Don't disappoint Rajan!" "Worry about all of your family members - incessantly" and "next knitting project - now!"

Find the happy place... find the happy place... speaking of the hike in the woods, that was a very happy place! So very very green, and a clear stream of water trickling through the rocks, pooling under flowering bushes (mt. laurel? I don't know, it sounds poetic though!). It was utterly lovely. We climbed up to a rocky ledge looking out over the valley and ate sweet wild blueberries growing thickly there. Just heavenly! Sorry I don't have pictures - we left the phones at home.

Link to Happiness Quiz

http://www.blogthings.com/howhappyareyouquiz/outcome.php

(near-)instant gratification

I am utterly charmed by the apple hat - copied shamelessly from Tara, of course. This is my new yarn obsession... look for more fruits and veg to come! They knit up unbelievably quickly and are just too cute. Farmers' Market, here we come!

I stumbled across a fun-ish link somewhere in the blogosphere, the How Happy Are You? quiz. It's not terribly scientific, but kind of interesting. The questions definitely suggest that happiness is a chosen attitude, rather than something determined by genetics, context, etc. Terry would probably say that is comes from a Modernization perspective (if you are unhappy, it's your fault, and you need to change your values/attitudes/beliefs/actions). It is just fascinating how we try to measure things that are not really measurable in a scientific way. According to this quiz,

You Are 60% Happy

You're definitely a happy person, even though you have your down moments.You tend to get the most out of life, though there's always some more happiness to be squeezed.

How Happy Are You?

Comments, anyone? (Oh - if you click on the link, just scroll down past the "Know anyone pregnant?" box.)

First Syllabus of the Year

I just got an e-mail with my first syllabus from Cornell - the Anthropology pro-seminar that everyone takes. Here's a sample grab:

"By refracting social theory through its own social life and intellectual history, I hope for something more than conceptual clarification. Methodologically, by profaning the claim of theory to transcend context, I hope that we (students and instructors alike) will develop a more unsettled and healthy relationship to anthropological professionalism and expertise.

"As befits a program of radical professionalization...students should read as much as possible and then feel anxious for not having read everything" [ok, I've got that part down pat]...

Etc.
Then follows a list of nineteen (19) texts. For one class. Plus another 15 essays on reserve at Uris. We are encouraged to start reading as soon as possible. I just dropped $400 at Powell's Books. While I wait for the books to get here, though, I suppose I ought to see if I can check the first ones due out of the JMU library...

It's exhilerating, and frightening - I will soon learn to speak like... that... hopefully without giggling or rolling my eyes too much. Seriously - "profaning the claim"? Yeah, I agree, on principle, but this use of language will take some getting used to.

It's just another language. Like knitting.

Home again...

Home is a tricky thing for MKs - if I were a computer and pushed the "home" button, I wonder where that would take me? Where is the beginning of the line? When we moved to Harrisonburg I looked around and decided that this would make a good home base - a place always to return to - much to Terry's chagrin! He's truly a global nomad, always with the itchy feet. Growing up Anita and I always had a home base - either the Wycliffe center (see link on sidebar) or the Phelps farm in Chaffee. The Wycliffe center in Yarinacocha has closed, and while the farm is still there, Grandma is not (although there is a cousins reunion in the works for the end of this month!), and that changes everything. Harrisonburg is nice and rural, with a critical mass of Latin American influence so I can maintain my sense of connection. It's not the same as living in Latin America, but an approximation... it takes effort to keep the connection here.

It was wonderful to sleep in my own bad last night :-) It's hotter here than in Costa Rica, though. We had a great weekend before returning, hanging out with Ruben and Lina Maria's church at a weekend retreat of sorts (very casual), and climbing Mt. Poas volcano with Fiorella.
It was misty and cool at the top, I was chilly in a heavy sweater and shorts. The volcano is part of a National Park, so all around the cone was a tangled wet cloud forest full of little birds and tourists.

Good progress was made on the socks - although just for kicks (ha ha) I tried on the finished one last night, and it fit my size 9 1/2 foot perfectly... although it was supposed to be for my abuelita's size 6 foot! Oops... well, I can certainly put these to good use in Ithaca this winter! Meanwhile, I'll just have to start another pair for my grandma - darn! (well... not yet!)

Hi from Costa Rica

We are here:

The sock is thrilled! Although the 100% alpaca with cables is looking a bit large for my granny, it nonetheless serves as doodle-prevention during meetings and conversation-starter during breaks.

We had an uneventful if sleep-deprived trip, and are housed in a lovely "Apart-Hotel," which means basically a hotel in which your room consists of a little apartment complete with kitchen. I am eating all the tropical fruit I can get my hands on.

Yesterday Terry faciliated a very fruitful workshop during which a team of very smart Habitat for Humanity workers analyzed the transcripts of 17 open-ended interviews on the topic of "what sustains Habitat volunteers?" We're talking about governance volunteers, not the ones who come from the US for a week of hefting hammers with Jimmy Carter. We had some very interesting conversations about "protagonismo comunitario," which as I understand it is Habitat's new initiative to foment community ownership of development projects... a hot-button topic to me as I turn out to be something of an ideological purist when it comes to grassroots development...

Lovely people here, and strong representation from Peru! Lina Maria Obando and husband Ruben had us over for a delicious meal; Peru was all over their house: the quena music CD, the art on the walls, even the earthenware dishes and fish soup... not to mention the chakana pendant around her neck!

Today we have a little bit of down time, Thursday we resume analysis with the research team here, and Friday Terry will doing a workshop on social service vs. social change organizations. Saturday we'll probably join Lina Maria and Ruben on a church outing to the country, and Sunday maybe the beach! Monday we return to the US.

Being here certainly whets my appetite to live in Latin America again. It feels like home.

Walking and Socking

What an incredibly lovely day yesterday - clear and sunny and cool. I spent far too many hours in a windowless cubicle wedged between a computer screen and a telephone, conducting an archaeological dig into desk drawers that I've been chucking paper into for two years. Unearthed a few interesting finds, but mostly scrap paper. Walking home was balm for the soul.

I had NPR on at work (WEMC), and on Talk of the Nation they were discussing research about why human health is enhanced by the influence of nature - "nature" meaning the usual Romanticized concept (trees, flowers, grass), in opposition to what is "artificial" - manufactured. One thing they said was that in our everyday lives we are surrounded by stimuli that demand our focused attention: the phone ringing, cars going by, even the stacks of paper on the desks. This constant demand exhausts a certain part of the brain. But trees, grass, and flowers do not - in fact, the stimuli of nature renew and refresh that part of the brain, because these natural sights and sounds and smells demand nothing of us. Basically, researchers are identifying the specific ways that our neorology responds to these different kinds of stiumuli. One study showed that the presence of trees, grass, and green spaces in urban areas had a direct correlation to reduced levels of violence, especially violence against women and children.

I really ought to try to find the sources of these findings - but the upshot was that after I head the broadcast, I walked home (knitting) and lay on the grass in the backyard watching the bees burrow their snouts into the bachelor's buttons, and listened to the wind in our (dying) pin oak tree, thinking happy thoughts. Bliss...!

Leedle Sock

This was a total vanity project - it fits my thumb, but it's not a thumb-sock - it's for a little exercise at work where we each have to contribute something that represents an aspect of our personality or self. So of course I had to knit a tiny sock. Size 0 dpns, self-striping yarn - it took about an hour to make. Warning: technical writing ahead!

Here I try my hand at writing a pattern: CO 18 st. (6 on each needle). Join in the round, being careful not to twist. K1 P1 rib for 2 rounds. Continue in stockinette stitch for 10 rounds. Divide stitches on needles as follows: 9, 5, 4. Make heel: *Turn and P9. Turn, and K1 Slip1. Repeat from * once. P4, P2tog, P1, turn. Slip 1, K1, K2tog, K1, turn. Slip 1, P3, P2tog, P1, turn. Slip 1, K2, K2tog, K1. Continuing in the round, PU 3 st. along side of heel flap, K9, PU 3 more st. on other side of heel flap, K3 (this leaves half of heel stitches on one needle, half on the next. Maintain this division as you redistribute stitches). Redistribute stitches as follows: 7 instep stitches on needle 2, gusset and half heel on each of other two needles (1 and 3, respective to instep needle). K 1 round even. Needle 1: K to last 2 st, K2tog. Needle 2: K 7. Needle 3: SKP, K to end. Slip 1 stitch each from needles 1 and 3 onto needle 2 (4, 9, 5). Continue in Stockinette stitch for 10 rounds more. * Next round: K to last 2 st on needle 1: K2tog. Needle 2: SKP, k to last 2 st, k2tog. Needle 3: SKP, K to end. Repeat from * once. 10 st. rem. Graft toe shut using kitchener st. Weave in ends.

Wow - I think I could write patterns! What a thrill :-) Since I design my own sweaters half the time... ! The point, of course, is really to impress people - but suddenly I'm envisioning a knitting legacy for any future heirs that might appear. That would be pretty cool.