Dancing Ferret

Things Everyone Should Be Afraid Of....

2008-01-02T01:02:00.000-06:00

or the reason why anti-anxiety medication is now advertised on television.

(compiled with the help of Tom)
1. Galaxies colliding with the Milky Way
2. Asteroids
3. Hemorrhoids
4. Aliens
5. Bees
6. Bird Flu
7. pharmaceutical ads
8. terrorists
9. Oreo being an alien
10. The vague, implausible, and rather paranoid fear that my reading glasses will catch the sun just right and fry my eyeballs.
11. Clowns
12. Pedophiles
13. open manholes
14. getting hit by a bus
15. the government
16. The Man
17. God
18. the Devil
19. Evangelists
20. The Illuminati
21. UFOs
22. Bigfoot
23. Nessie
24. germs (in general)
25. Bird Flu
26. E. coli
27. Ebola
28. Malaria
29. Tuberculosis
30. AIDS
31. Ass cancer
32. Gerbils
33. Richard Gere (if you hadn't already made the association between 31 and 32)
34. The Rapture
35. Being "Left Behind"
36. Enjoying anything with "Left Behind" in the title
37. Video Games
38. Sin
39. Fun

I am totally taping this...

2007-12-25T01:37:00.000-06:00

It goes on for 180 minutes...I think I may have found a cure for my insomnia...

Merry Xmas everyone!

Boredom, Insomnia, and a Bot

2007-12-06T01:15:00.001-06:00

Ask it the proper question with sufficient frequency:

Or discuss the merits of Star Trek TOS...

For real, Santa Bot, for real...

Parasite Free!!!!

2007-04-23T10:31:00.000-05:00

So, I got the labs back last week. Turns out I did not bring any extra souvenirs back with me from Sudan. Problems were caused by the antibiotics we were taking to prevent malaria. So, I should be fine in a few weeks.

The conference this weekend seems to have been a success. Now it's back to work for me, getting ready to teach at Tulane over the summer.

Gross

2007-04-11T23:06:00.000-05:00

No account of my excavations overseas would be complete without the inevitable health problems that occur.

So far, nothing really bad, but as anyone who read my journal entries from the trip will know, doxycycline is the devil. To illustrate, here is a recent picture of my thumbnails.

Note the lovely yellow color, weird shiny-ness, and the fact that they'll probably fall off soon. This, boys and girls, is what a sunburn through the nail looks like. So, yeah. Next season, I either go into debt or risk a psychotic break on one of the other available options.

In other news, I've had to go to the doctor since I'm feeling a little under the weather and don't want to risk it being something serious. I love these trips.

Doctor: "You've been where?"
Me: "In Sudan. Not Darfur. Not around refugees. In the desert. Doing archaeological salvage work."
Doctor: "So, you're an archaeologist?"
Me: "Yeah, more or less."
Doctor: "That's pretty cool."

Fast forward through medical history questions, etc.

Doctor: "You went swimming in the Nile!?!?!?!?!?!"
Me: "What part of we were living in a local village without running water, and only intermittent electricity did you not understand? I'd been bathing in it, washing clothes in it, and washing dishes in it for months."
Doctor: "You used Nile water?!?!?!?!"
Me: "I didn't drink the shit (that was Tom's thing...). Look, what the hell was I supposed to do? Not bathe for 2 damn months? Go dowsing for another water source on my days off? Introduce modern infrastructure to a village that's going to be torn down in a few months?"

Anyway, I wouldn't mind so much - but some of these people are supposed to specialize in travel medicine. Is it too much to ask that they actually...I dunno...travel? I mean, to somewhere other than Paris for the weekend?

By the time they get themselves sorted out and I sort out where I can go on our damn insurance, I'll either be well or will have had something the likes of Alien jump out of my stomach. If the latter, I can only hope it does that at the conference I'm going to end of next week. And that it latches on to the face of a certain someone there....

19 March and random thoughts

2007-03-31T22:22:00.001-05:00

Khartoum, 1:30 AM, 19 March
Last day in Khartoum. Have decided sleeping is pointless as we need to leave for the airport at 4 AM. Such a lovely season. So many memories, not all of them recorded. Finished check-in at the National Museum yesterday. I swear we did 2 days worth of work in 4 hours. I was a trifle irritable by the time we were done, but got over that quickly. Just stress.
Lovely dinner last night at M’s house. Much laughing and chatting. All us girls tried on traditional Sudanese thobs with much hilarity. I joined the guys outside for shisha. M made a crack about T’s “zip” and I laughed. It seems that during our time in Karima at Murtada’s house the guys were hanging out in the kitchen exchanging euphemisms for various body parts. This would explain why, when I stuck my head in to ask T for something, I was greeted with sheepish, guilty stares and utter silence until I left them to it. “Zip” apparently is a term for penis. Anyway, when I laughed, M looked shocked and said, “you told her????!!!!!” Pretty funny.
M’s elder sister (Henneh?) came outside at one point and demanded we tell her that her tea was good – part of an earlier joke about M never complimenting her cooking. Anyway, I didn’t reply fast enough so she yells “Hey, Umm Shisha, say ‘good tea’.” Funny moment anyway, made funnier by the fact that “shisha” is a euphemism for ass. (And the first person to call me “Mother of Ass” is going to get his handed to him…) Then Henneh started asking M if any of the team was paired up. M said, “Well, T and J are married.” She thought that was awesome and them promptly started badgering us about having kids while M laughed.
One of M’s nieces decided that T looks like Chuck Norris. That’s going to be a long running gag.
Both Khartoum’s football teams won games last night, so getting back to the Acropole was a bit challenging. Got stuck in a traffic jam comprised of regular traffic and jubilant fans complicated by a fender bender. Eventually some guys decided to help the khawaji get home to bed and directed traffic so we could move.
Shopping at Omdurman Suq today – incense burners, scarves, a dress, and shisha pipe. Dinner tonight at an Indian restaurant. I just realized that I’ve only ever had Indian food in Africa.
Along the lines of the “zip” conversation, when T was telling me about the various new vocabulary he had acquired, he came up with a new euphemism himself. Jerry cans for boobs. After I stopped laughing, I told him he was probably out of luck on that front.
Guess I’ll throw in a few other random events here. Mostly ongoing stuff or things I can’t quite place in the calendar or things that have stuck particularly in my mind, probably some repetitions from journal entries:

- G trying and never being able to really smoke a cigar.
- Pandemonium at Khartoum luggage claim.
- Various people’s zippers breaking at various times. By the end of the season, apparently some people had a 10 minute long ordeal just to get their flies to stay up. Dust sucks
- G telling me in Karima, as we walked past a line of men at prayers: “Hey, look, they’re all bowing down to you.” Which nearly got me run over by a car as I stared at him in shock and tried not to laugh.
- Worries about the Manasir and others who don’t want to leave the 4th Cataract, or at least don’t want to move to the crappy land the government wants to give them. Ahmed Babakir saying that they’ll fight.
- Realizing that we’ll probably never see the village or most of the people we met there again.
- The workmen saluting me. No idea what that was about.
- The “gerush girl.” Little girl who hung around our house, usually demanding money (“gerush”) from people and being generally annoying. She liked me, though, and would stand in the gateway blowing kisses and share popcorn with me.
- Random guy passing through the site at HG who tried to sell me a freshly caught fish. I sent him to G.
- Walking through the courtyard at the dokhan one afternoon with T and seeing a guy who, I swear to God, looked just like Shaft. And then having to listen to T sing the song the rest of the day.
- Trying to explain sexual innuendo jokes to M.
- Sadomastic Paint
- Taking my kerchief off one day at the site to re-adjust it and the looks of awe from the workmen, quickly followed by them encouraging me to put the kerchief back on. Quickly. Apparently girls aren’t supposed to have afros around here.
- Abdullah and Ramalli borrowing my sunglasses.
- Yassir decorating every stationary or slow-moving target in reach with the Sharpie T gave him.
- G humming all the damn time.
- Riding on a mattress crammed in the back of the Land Cruiser.
- Squat toilets
- Swimming in the Nile
- G getting frustrated with the workmen refusing to call him by name and shouting across the site “What the hell am I? A monkey?”
- M confiding that he couldn’t figure out what the hell a certain member of our team was talking about most of the time, which worried him until he figured out that we didn’t know either.
- Elbow fights
- Yassir responding to nearly everything with “oooooooh, woooooow.”
- Ramalli and Abdullah
- Asir, Babakir, Gamar, and Idris helping me learn Arabic and hiding out behind the rocks ditching work.
- The yellow tea pitcher that refused to die. (Which is now enshrined in the office…)
- Random fish-mongers

And again, here's a link to a Picasa photo album of select photos. Some of the best are actually not ones we took, so friends, do let me know if you want to be subjected to a slide-show via IM or something.

Sudan 2007

14 - 15 March

2007-03-31T22:21:00.001-05:00

Karima, Wednesday, 14 March
Went for tour of Kendall’s work at Gebel Barkal yesterday. Very intriguing. Hashem, our cook the past few weeks, had us to his house in Karima for tea. Wonderful. Off to Kerma today. Still need to finish packing a few odds and ends and inventory the dig supplies, house stuff, etc., that we’re leaving behind. G and T kindly inventoried most of the dig supplies for me yesterday while I was lying down trying to kill a migraine.

Redwan’s House, Tombos, Thursday, 15 March
Brief note: After calls from multiple mosques this morning I am immensely grateful that Christians don’t do the call to prayer. “Morning, y’all, it’s time to offer up your prayer to the Lord.” I can just picture it. Women fighting over who got the honor (or whose husband go the honor). Mega churches competing to see who had the best sound system. I bet that huge cross thing in Effingham would be audible in Chicago if they did that.
Long, bumpy ride across the Nubian Desert to get here yesterday, through a sandstorm, no less. Not a bad one, but enough for Mubarak, the guy who replaced Bomba as our primary driver, to tell me I needed to wash my face when we stopped for lunch. ☺ I apparently attract filth. (And if that’s not an open-ended opportunity to make cracks about T, I don’t know what is…)
Scrambled around the Western Defuffa today. Lots of mudbrick pictures for a certain friend.

Kerma, 10:50 AM, Thursday, 15 March
Sitting on one of the reconstruction outlines of an ancient building near the Defuffa. Lovely morning scrambling around the rocks at Tombos to see various inscriptions. Beautiful Nile views. Awesome quarrying areas. And I got to play with a puppy. (I miss ours.)
As we drive through the towns around here, people stop and yell “Khawaja” (“foreigner!”) not in a hostile way, but it gets a little old. Anyway, on occasion we yell back “Sudani!” which usually gets a good laugh. Recently, though, G, sitting in the front of the Land Cruiser, leans out the window and yells back at a woman “Hey, baby!” I reached forward and smacked him. He turned around and said “hey, I thought you were listening to music.” I told him that didn’t prevent me from knowing when he was acting like a jackass. ☺

5 - 13 March

2007-03-31T22:09:00.000-05:00

AW, Monday, 5 March
Slow day. Took me all day to plan my tomb superstructure. Start excavating again tomorrow. Someone who shall remain nameless was cussing like a sailor today (all in good humor, he just does that sometimes). I said something to the effect of “Quit that, we don’t need the workmen (especially Yassir, who is a quick mimic) to add that to their repetoire.” To which that certain someone replied, with slow, careful enunciation: “What, you don’t want me to say ‘what the fuck’?” Which Yassir promptly repeated. Sigh. Between laughing, yelling at the instigator, and trying to tell Yassir not to do that again, T and I had quite a time. We have been trying to get the workmen to pick up the fist-punch “Respec” thing from Ali G though and go do it to G.
Decided yesterday on the perfect joke to play on G. There’s a yellow coffee/tea pitcher that leaks from the bottom. G keeps throwing it out and Bomba and now the new cook, Hashem, keep retrieving it and using it. G tossed it (for good, he thought) yesterday. I had a moment of divine (or should that be satanic?) inspiration and retrieved it. I’m going to have everyone on the team sign it and stick it on his desk back home.
G found an excellent scarab in one of his tombs today. Man facing off with a lion. Not sure if I’ll have time to dig another tomb before the end of the season. Have to help with object photography. Finish registering stuff. Finish survey. Pack. Not kill people. Looks like being a long week.

AW, Wednesday, 7 March
Only a few days to go until we leave next Tuesday. My tomb is shaping up nicely. Apparently at least 2 individuals and a lot of busted up pottery. One individual has what looks to be a (mostly) intact skull under a rock which amuses everyone who comes by for a look. Abdullah and Ramalli are doing really well. I’ve finally managed to convey that they are NOT TO DIG the minute they see something but to leave it in place and let me decide what to do.
My ankles are a mess courtesy of the kultep. Kultep are these nasty little biting flies – apparently they only show up for a few weeks of the year. Anyway, they bite, which sometimes stings and always leaves a little drop of blood on the skin surface. A few hours later the bite starts to itch abominably.
Fun and games with being vulgar. Mentioned I had finally found the edge of the burial shaft – I was getting “good cleavage.” Couple of the guys said they wished they had some. ☺ I offered to purchase WonderBras for them. Later on in the day, G came by to check up on my tomb and T’s and I yelled up to him “Hey, check out my awesome cleavage!” To which he replied, “I’m looking anywhere but directly at you right now.” To be truthful, my cleavage (as opposed to the soil cleavage in my tomb) is anything but awesome right now what with the weight loss and there not having been much there to start with.
Getting hotter and thus harder to keep working. I got quite a lot of registration done yesterday. Hope to finish my tomb by Friday so I can start on the packing up.

Karima, Tuesday, 13 March
Ended excavations and finished packing up yesterday and this morning. Trip to Karima went smoothly. Staying at Murtada’s house again. T and I rode in the back of the lorry. Made sure people got pictures so we can give our parents and the Risk Management people at the university nightmares. Did well finishing up my tomb. Turns out I had two humans, one in beautiful condition, one in craptastic condition and a ram. The ram was in equally craptastic condition and the craptastic person had his(?) arm wrapped around it which made getting it out and keeping bits separate a little challenging. As did the fact that just freakin’ looking at the bones wrong makes them turn to powder. Argh. Nothing for it. The joys of salvage work. Anyway, apparently the ram-as-teddy-bear thing is pretty common in graves in this region.
The last few days of excavation were pretty stressful. Trying to hurry and do a good job was hard enough but it seemed like we had dozens of random visitors from the village or nearby villages stopping by and wanting to chat. Ordinarily, I’m fine with that, but not when I’m running out of time. Had a couple of yelling moments. The first one was when I needed to share a screen with someone else. We placed it equidistant between our units and explained we were going to share it, but the other guy’s workman decided he was going to move it when I wasn’t looking. Abdullah and Ramalli noticed and told me, so I stood up out of the burial pit and yelled “La! Hinak!” (“No – There!) I was apparently more forceful than I had intended (I’d yelled mostly because of the wind and distance, not because I was particularly pissed) because the dude dropped the screen and scurried back to work. Abdullah and Ramalli looked at me with this combination of awe and surprise, figured out I wasn’t really mad, and started laughing. The second yelling moment was the next day, I think. One of the kids around here is a real punk ass (I don’t think he actually works for us, just wanders around bothering people.) Anyway, he was bugging Abdullah the other day while Abdullah was doing some fairly delicate work and I finally lost it when Abdullah slipped and messed something up (not really badly, but it upset him and he wouldn’t have slipped if the kid hadn’t distracted him). I yelled “Imshi!” (Essentially, “go the hell away.”) at the kid. The only other time I’ve ever said that to someone (when it wasn’t a well-understood joke) was when some kid tried to pick my pocket in Luxor. He wasn’t going to go until he got a look at my face and I started to stand up. Then he beat a hasty retreat. I think he went to bother T, or tell him his wife was crazy or something. Anyway, I calmed down and then Abdullah says in this wee little voice: “Abdullah ma tamam?” (“Abdullah isn’t good?”) And I had to very quickly assure him that no, Abdullah was awesome, (“Abdullah tamam! Abdullah tamam!!! Aywa!!!!) it was the other kid who was “ma tamam.” Not one of my finer moments. It’s really hard to work with random people standing around staring at you, arguing with each other, asking you for stuff they don’t really need, etc., especially when you only understand one word in ten and you’re working toward a deadline.
The random visitation thing extended to the house as well. Apparently the local women decided they wanted to check out our digs and just wandered around, thoroughly startling some of our team working at the house who thought they were mostly alone. ☺
Spent past few days in blazing heat (115°) helping G with photography. (“Dude, you dripped sweat on the drop cloth again…”) Yesterday’s session was helped along by us making vulgar comments about the teapot-like vessel we were photographing. Went swimming Sunday afternoon, rather mischievously “sneaking” out. Kultep have been awful the past week and were just as bad down at the river so it was a quick swim. I actually swam this time and even with the kultep it was worth it.
Had a party Sunday for our workmen complete with roasting an entire sheep and after lunch music provided by some of the workmen. Lots of good video of that. Mohammed Ali insisted that we do a repeat at his house with him as host which was a bit irritating in the end-season shuffle but also nice.
Mohammed Ali is nice, but a little…demanding of our attention and gets petulant if he thinks we aren’t paying him enough attention. T sort of got him back. One of the young donkeys kept running into Mohammed’s house. T went to tell him that the donkey was in there again and said what literally translated as “the house of the donkey” – forgivable given his limited knowledge of Arabic, but T knew exactly what he was saying. ☺
Anyway, lunch at Mohammed Ali’s was worth it if only for some of the photos, including one of G, Mohammed, and R looking for all the world like hostages being forced to say “we’re fine, everything is fine, they’ve been very good to us.”
Have just enjoyed some wonderful grapes and my first cold soda (or cold any sort of beverage) in weeks.
It’s supposed to get even hotter the next few days and then drop again. I’m very tired. We were planning on dinner at the Nubian Rest House this evening as an end-season treat but apparently they want $45 (US) a head which is just freakin’ crazy. (Found out later from M that the European bastards who run the place won’t let Sudanis in, even if they have the money to pay. Won’t let them book weddings there, won’t let them eat, etc. Glad we didn’t go. Bastards.)

24 February - 1 March

2007-03-31T22:06:00.000-05:00

AW, Saturday, 24 February
So apparently G made a major faux pas with his Syrian Arabic on Thursday. He told his workmen to clear around the “ass” of a pot. M thought it was hysterical, especially when one of G’s workmen wandered over and asked if he (G) was an idiot or something. ☺ Worked at HG today. Morning spent helping T with the unit from hell. After lunch continued the Great Grindstone Survey with G. This would go a little more smoothly if we could remember where all of them are. As I didn’t really find most of them, I’m not particularly helpful when G asks “Where’s number X?”
“How the hell should I know? I was digging another damn empty hole when you found it.” ☺
Nor is the situation helped by T singing “She’s a Grindstone Cowboy” everytime we come into earshot.
It’s gotten almost unbearably hot the past 2 days. I was immensely grateful for the irrigation channel running along the edge of the site today. Nile water is nice and cold and very good for dipping kerchiefs in. Only problem was the thing dried out within 5 minutes of me putting it back on my head. Went swimming in the Nile this afternoon. Well, T and G swam, I waded in up to my waist.
G and T had fun teasing me about forgetting to a “t” in “Unregistered” on the sign I put on the cabinet so people will know where to put their stuff so I can register it. Decided to continue the fun by singing snatches of Gold Digger at me, complete with what can only be called a grunt “ungh” until I nearly fell out of my chair while I was trying to edit attribute tables. Yet another song I won’t be able to listen to without laughing for reasons totally unrelated to the lyrics…
Noticed while doing the photo log data entry that G decided that suitable payback for me mocking his spelling a few days ago was to start deliberately misspelling things to keep me on my toes. Decades from now, someone is going to go through that notebook and have no idea why there’s a photo log in pen with snarky comments written in pencil next to some of the entries.

AW, Thursday, 1 March
Strange sense of déjà vu. I’ve just woken to the sound of G calling out the names of workmen, repeated by someone else from the village, and the sound of people coming in for payday. Reminds me of the dig in Egypt. Sick today and yesterday. Fever, headache, and intestinal troubles. I think I may have gone back to work after the last bout a little too early.
Made an awful mess (I think) of digging my first tomb. Will do better on the next one, now that I’m a little more certain of what I’m doing.
The window on the Land Cruiser was broken yesterday afternoon. No one is sure who did it or why but as a result of this and other matters, Bomba will be returning to Khartoum to be replaced by another driver and we’ll be hiring a cook.
Feeling terribly weak, sick, and useless. Probably just from whatever is making sick.
Photographers from a major US magazine that I won’t name here showed up a few days ago. After their visit G had to declare a moratorium on discussions of intestinal problems, bathrooms, etc., after one of the team treated them to a rather detailed description…

AW, Sunday, 4 March
Rather adventurous few days. Felt much better Friday and got a reasonable amount of work done. Finished work on my first tomb yesterday – only pelvis and legs down to the ankles left, the rest of the body is gone, no doubt due to looters in antiquity. (I may have screwed up a bit, but not that badly.) Working with 2 kids of about 14, Abdullah and Ramalli. Pretty good kids but a little impatient to move rocks, dig, etc. at times when it’s better to go slowly. Started a new tomb with T doing one as well right next door. Looks to be undisturbed. The majority of the graves seem to be Kerma period, but not particularly rich. Babies are included with their own grave goods which is interesting in terms of notions of personhood for the people using the cemetery.
Our workmen are much amused by T singing. They do this sort of air-guitar accompaniment when he does. We did a duet of Austin Prison yesterday. I think that will be my only stage appearance here at AW. Yassir, one of T’s workmen, is funny. Nearly everything we do or find is met with Yassir saying “oooo-woooow.” I’ve become the official cigarette lighter it seems, as almost no one else seems able to flick my Bic (well, Mg’s Bic). It’s a nice little ritual. Every 30 minutes or so someone comes by, calls my name and asks for a light. I hand them the Bic. Depending on whether they’ve done it before and on the wind speed there’s a few moments of staring in consternation at this bit of plastic that apparently makes fire sometimes, then a few desultory attempts at getting the thing to light. Then I get handed the cigarette and the lighter.
Enjoying working with T close by. The Arabic/English word game is far more entertaining that way. Especially now that we have both crews doing a chicken dance. T keeps trying to get his guys to throw rocks at me. I think he has a crush on me or something. ☺
J arrived and is settling in nicely. He’ll be very helpful with the HG stuff.
Went to bed last night to the smell of smoke and thought nothing of it – I assumed they were burning garbage. Woke from a nightmare of the house fire we had when I was a kid to D and L yelling in the courtyard. The dokhan (store) next door had caught fire. Apparently D and L noticed it first – the smoke kept them from sleeping - but it took them a while to figure out where it was coming from until flames started jumping from the roof of the dokhan. Finally figured it out and went running to wake the village. T darted out just as I was finally waking up fully in time to see huge flames jumping from the roof of the dokhan, which our nook faces (though the view is mostly blocked by the wall around the house). Jammed my boots on, grabbed a light and whiste and ran outside and nearly into G. G asked where T was. There’s something dangerous going on and people need help, where else would T be but in the thick of it? We started forward as the flames got worse. T came out for a moment and we yelled for him but he went back in. I heard him shouting “La!” (“No” in Arabic). Apparently Mohammed Ali, who owns the dokhan, had come with his keys, hoping to save some of his inventory (and a safe, we found out later). T, knowing that we’d likely loose someone or at least wind up with someone seriously injured if they tried to empty out the shop was yelling at him not to open it.
The wind was out of the north, blowing embers directly across the narrow alley towards our house. They managed to clear everyone out of the dokhan and the attached guest house just in time and we waited outside to watch and see if our own house would catch. I asked G if we should pack up while we could and he agreed. I was shaking – bad memories- but threw all of our stuff into the luggage and T and I dragged it out to the courtyard. Went back out in time to see the portico on the dokhan (made of palm logs and fronds) go up. The women started wailing which made the scene all the more disturbing. T had gone back in and I stood with the others, shivering, to be sure he came back out if it started to get too bad. He finally did, and so we stood in a group watching. By that point there was nothing to be done. I looked up at some point, confused by the lack of light as it had been a bright full moon when I went to sleep to discover the moon was eclipsing.
Finally went back inside at the urging of the villagers, dragged our beds out into the courtyard because it was still too smoky inside and tried to sleep with the smoke and occasional snap-pop of the palm logs snapping in the fire. Didn’t sleep very well.
Still unclear how it started. T thinks it was a short while the generator was running and given that the wiring isn’t exactly up to code around here, that seems perfectly plausible. I think I smelled smoke before the generator went on, though, but that could have been smoke from elsewhere. The villagers think it’s part of a broader pattern of trouble between the people who have accepted the resettlement money and are planning to move and those who don’t want to leave (not all of whom are Manasir, just most of them). A few sheep were slaughtered the other night (and not by the mysterious wolf-thing they’ve been trying to kill lately). Some are inclined to attribute the broken window on the Land Cruiser to the same pattern, but that seems unlikely. We, as guests, seem to be sacrosanct.
Went ahead and went to work today. Long day. It’s getting hotter. The workmen were tired and so were all of us.
I’ve decided to have a lazy afternoon. My ankle is bothering me again and both calves ache so standing up to draw plans seems like too much to ask right now. I need to catch up on registration anyway. Only a few more days before we leave for Karima and then Khartoum – I figure I should relax while I can.

17 - 23 February

2007-03-31T22:02:00.000-05:00

AW, Saturday, 17 February
Still no joy in excavation. Did 3 surface collections today. Asir said an area near our last surface collection might be graves. So, we started a unit there. Area O. For “zero” I think. Not a damn thing. My workmen have warmed up considerably, and now often won’t let me do the hard physical labor. I guess being willing to do so was enough. Thursday afternoon we had little to do so we sat around talking, playing the “what’s this in Arabic/English” word game. They decided T needs a Sudani wife who will give him 10 children since I’m not doing it. (T and I started referring to this as the “Thundercat Incident” hearkening back to the episode of American Dad when they move to Saudi Arabia.) After they got paid, we went, (I was feeling rather conspiratorial) to hide behind some rocks and chat some more. I doubt anyone was unaware that we were “shirking” work, but it was fun anyway. Babakir speaks more English than he lets on, but tends to be pretty quiet. Gamar speaks virtually no English, but can imitate it with disturbing facility. One of his favorite lines, whipped out at totally random moments and pronounced almost perfectly is: “I brush my teeth every day.” Idris is pretty quiet, he’s not from the same village as the others, but he can usually be persuaded to sing, which breaks up the monotony of digging nicely.
Thursday night went to Mohammed Ali’s (neighbor/landlord) to meet his family. Lots of pictures taken. His daughters took us for a walk and tried to teach us some Arabic. The two eldest are very bright and fairly assertive. Mohammed has paid for them to be educated and both plan to go to university before they get married – something of a novelty around here.
Friday went to look at a nearby island that can be walked to with the river at it’s low point now. Decided to split up to look around and Mg got lost. She ran into R, who had also gotten lost while birding. We spent a few hours looking for them but they eventually found their own way home.
Went to visit the Poles later that day. They were as charming and generous as ever and gave us permission to start work on a cemetery near our house.
Gamar told me, through Asir, that he would name his daughter after me. Poor child. I feel a bit out of my depth digging here. Perhaps it’s because we’re not finding anything but I feel like it’s because I’m missing it, not that it’s just not here. My hands continue to be bothersome, though I’ve taken to wearing my gardening gloves with the fingertips cut off and wrapped bandanas around my wrists to cover the gap between my shirt cuffs and the gloves. Haven’t had a full night of sleep in a week because of the burning and itching. G has suggested, and I agree, that since there are virtually no mosquitos here it may be an acceptable risk to stop taking the doxy for the duration and start up again once we head back to areas with mosquitos (Karima and Khartoum). As being unable to use my hands makes being here, malaria or not, pointless, I think I’ll take the gamble. And I intend to email the nurse who prescribed it when we get back to tell her under no circumstances should she recommend the doxy to people who have to work outside. And despite my gloves, now the ends of my fingers that are still exposed are starting to burn and swell. Just no winning it seems. I can’t wait until the damned doxy is out of my system.
Recorded some of the more recent field photography. For reasons passing understanding G took a picture of a lizard and kept it. So, there’s a field photo with the description “lizard.” I refrained from adding “because G is insane.”

AW, Tuesday, 20 February
Little to report past few days. Ill with a migraine on Sunday – a truly horrific one, not one of my “I can mostly work through it if I have to” that I usually have. Finished my work at HG yesterday. (Still not a damned thing to show for all those holes.) Spent the time after lunch helping G track down and measure grinding stones. And listening to him sing Ring of Fire. Not a bad voice, but insufficiently gravelly to truly sound at all like Johnny. ☺ Watched Ali G last night, which is becoming something of a team tradition. C and L are to arrive this afternoon. Started excavating a grave at AW today. T and I planned it, then he went back to the house with a splitting headache and fever. He says his eyes hurt if he shifts focus too quickly. This does not bode well, so I’ll be keeping a close eye on him.
Dug down today to tumulus cross-section. Difficult to figure out which stones to leave and which to move. Still feeling my way to figure out what I’m doing.
Chatted with M and G about dissertation possibilities. Lots of potential in 4th Cataract stuff. The problem is I wouldn’t really be an “Egyptologist” anymore and I’d have to start being nicer to Anthropologists. I’m not overjoyed by either idea. ☺

AW, Thursday, 22 February
Out today and yesterday. T ill Wednesday with splitting headache and fever. I was fine until I was about to leave to walk to the site and suddenly had terrible stomach cramps. By end of day, had whatever T had. Same thing today, along with dizziness. Am down to 101 lbs and don’t want to loose any more. Cemetery is producing great things – whole pots, beakers, etc. Can’t wait to get back out. Hope to work on the database and registration tomorrow for my recouperation. T has most of my workmen from HG working with him while he finishes up his monster area excavation out there. They had him to lunch in the village today at the house of a guy we’ve dubbed “Mr. TAMAM!!!!!” “Tamam” is a word that essentially means, “good” or “great” and it gets used a lot, especially in greetings. Anyway, Mr. TAMAM!!!! had a tendency to come visit us at HG and go around to each team to greet them, and he yells. A lot. Mostly he yells “TAMAM!” at all us khawagas. I’m not sure if he’s hard of hearing or if he’s doing the classic “if I speak loudly, they’ll understand my language” thing.
Gamar, I gather, refrained from his totally random interjections of “I brush my teeth every day” while working for T. And Babakir did not, at any point, find it necessary to look at Gamar and say (in English, for some reason) “Be silent! You talk too much!” to Gamar. T’s missing out on all my fun. ☺ Idris is now working at AW, since he lives here and made a point to come visit me in my part of the cemetery the last day I was out at work. He finds it immensely entertaining to ask how I am and receive the response “tamam!” No idea why – I don’t think my pronunciation is that bad. ☺
C and L have arrived. Bomba had a bit of a breakdown today, I gather. It seems no one really asked if he wanted to cook as well as drive. Apparently a discussion with G over his pay solved that problem, though. He also told T something about fearing he was going mad last night. This should end well.

AW, Friday, 23 February
Stumbled out of bed this morning and made my way to the dining room. Apparently people were pleased to see me up and around and not clinging to the walls for support while walking because as I was chatting with R, G wandered in and greeted me “Good morning, princess, feeling better?” For a minute, we weren’t sure whether he was talking to me or to R. ☺ Still not clear what the hell was up with that. I’m pretty sure I didn’t pack my tiara. Still feeling poorly, but well enough to work on registrar stuff.

Sidebar and 8 - 14 February

2007-03-31T22:00:00.000-05:00

Sidebar
I figure I ought to put something in here about the usual routine. We worked six days a week, with Friday “off” though we usually worked on Friday, just not with workmen. Usually stuff like checking out other potential sites, photography, planning, registration, catching up on notebooks, etc.
Anyway, we usually all rolled out of bed between 6 and 7:30 just as it was getting light. Very light breakfast of tea or coffee, bread if you wanted it, tea crackers, grapefruit, or whatever else you could scrounge rather than a formal meal. When we were working at HG we’d all load into the Land Cruiser no later than 8 to be on site at 8:30. When we were digging the cemetery we just walked out to the site.
Lunch (which the workmen all called “breakfast”) at 11:30. At HG we had a box lunch. Bread (always), oranges or grapefruit, and stuff to stick in the bread. Usual things were hard boiled eggs, this egg-scramble thing with tomatoes and onions, salad, etc. Also, usually had a round of processed cheese (which wasn’t that bad despite the LOUD complaints of a certain person). Finished up with hot tea served in the usual way – small drinking glasses with lots of sugar.
Back to work until 2 or 2:30 when it started to get hot and the workmen needed to get home to do whatever they needed to do at home.
Usually had the time from getting home until 3:30 or 4 free. “Free” meaning washing your laundry in the basins, filling your shower, catching up on notebooks, fixing things, etc. After 4 it was usually back to work, either around the house in the sherd yard or something similar. Depending on the day, people often went back to the site, especially when we were within easy walking distance, sometimes with workmen, sometimes not to continue excavating or to draw plans until dark. I used this time to catch up on field work and also to do registration things.
Around 7:30 or so (a while after dark), AW Power and Light usually fired up. Also by this time the flies were mostly dead in the WC and so people who’d been holding it all day could go in relative peace. I gotta say, having flies on your ass is not cool. Anyway, the lights came on (most nights) and stayed on for 2 or 3 hours. Most people showered around this time as the shower room was really freakin’ dark otherwise, even with one of the battery-powered lanterns. In my case, this involved getting T to hang up our sunshower since I couldn’t lift it over my head as it was filled with enough water for 2 people. Or, when T was sick, swallowing my pride, deciding not to risk breaking my neck falling off a stool, and asking someone else for help. (“I have always had to rely on the kindness of strangers…”) If you caught it early enough, the sunshowers were usually pleasantly warm having been heating all day (if you remembered to fill it in time). Otherwise, it was freakin’ cold – always on the nights when it was really damn cold too. Aside from the hot spells we had, when the water was practically boiling. Couldn’t hang the sun showers high enough to actually stand under them, so I pretty much spent the whole season performing all intimate functions in a crouch or semi-crouch. I can probably whip out some badass yoga moves now. Damn squat toilets.
Dinner was usually around 8. After the first week or so we banned okra stew. Bread was usual. White beans, lentils, occasionally pasta were typical. Meat once a week or so. Plenty of food, just not a lot of fat.
The water filters crapped out, probably because despite the manufacturers claims, they were not meant for “extreme conditions” unless getting some bacteria out of a perfectly clear Rocky Mountain stream is “extreme.” Nile silt, on the other hand, will mess that shit up good. So, we wound up getting bottles of water from Karima. Water for washing, etc., was brought from the Nile a few times a day by the water guys who served the rest of the village and stored in big plastic barrels.
After dinner, some people go to sleep. Other people sit in bed and read. M lights up his shisha every night and T and R usually join him. Depending on how tired I am, I usually sit in for a few rounds. This is actually an excellent arrangement, as the following anecdote will demonstrate. They usually sit fairly close to the toilet-room thing. This is also, for some reason, near where the few scorpions we had liked to hang out. I can’t remember what day it was, but the first sighting was by the shisha-circle. I was laying in bed at the time reading. I heard T come into the dining room which led off to D and Mg’s room and say “hey there’s a scorpion out here if anyone wants to see it.”
D says she does and yells through the window to see if I do. As I was all warm and cozy in my mummy bag and I’ve seen scorpions before, I declined. So, I’m sitting there listening to everything outside. I hear D go out, T say something to R about not throwing more sand at it because it’s getting pissed…then I hear D sort of yell and come running back in, wondering aloud where her bug-spray is. I yell back that that won’t kill it just as I hear the clang of the shovel and amend “but that will.” So, having the guys smoking shisha near the toilet was actually a much needed service for our safety. Or something.

AW, Thursday, 8 February
Started work yesterday on site. Very rich finds from surface collection. Probably primarily Neolithic and Kerma. Hot, long day, but good. Circular collection units with 3 m radius.

AW, Friday, 9 February
Couldn’t finish entry yesterday. Another day Thursday of surface collection and topo mapping. Finding lots of enormous, mostly broken grindstones littering the site. Trouble writing. My hands are so badly sunburned that they’ve been threatening to blister since yesterday afternoon. Just brushing the backs against anything is excruciating. Woke this morning to find them swelling. Hope staying (mostly) out of the sun today and tomorrow will help. T got horribly ill around 2 AM, spent most of the night in the latrine. Woke me at some point for Pepto and more TP. He’s slept on and off much of the day but seems to be doing better. Probably just the usual “welcome to a totally foreign country” variety of intestinal trouble as he doesn’t have a fever. G and some of the others are also ill, just nausea and exhaustion it seems (probably something we caught on the plane rather than the food here or anything like that). He wants to start formal excavations tomorrow. I’ll have to miss out. Just a few moments in the sun today threatened blisters on my hands. I’ve torn a bandana in half, wet it, and wrapped it around my hands, but that only helps so much. I assume it’s the sun-sensitivity from the doxycycline causing the problem. I just hope it goes away soon. The feeling of pulsing, radiating heat in my hands is not pleasant, nor is the threat of infection if they do finally blister. The idea of having to stay cooped up in the house for the next month out of the sun is even more unpleasant though. Plan to try to set up the recording database tomorrow while the others are on site.
The house is going to be very crowded when the rest of the team shows up. B usually sleeps in the courtyard, but stores his stuff in the 2nd of the sleeping rooms where M also sleeps, (D and Mg share the other), Bomba sleeps in or near the kitchen. G and R have beds on the veranda. It seems the whole village has the run of the house, regardless of whether the gate is shut, which is a bit wearing. Our neighbor/landlord is almost too sociable. He insists the women must go to visit his wife. We will, eventually, but as I have the most Arabic, it’s likely to be an awkward visit limited to “hello,” “thank you,”, “good,” “yes,” and “tea.” ☺ I’m beginning to think that I will risk malaria (with no meds), insanity (mefloquine), or bankruptcy (Malarone) next season rather than take the damned doxy again.
The crowd of strangers forever talking outside or wandering through the courtyard is threatening to make me display some unpleasant ethnocentric behavior. So long as I don’t wake to find a face in our “window” or have an audience while I change I guess I’ll be fine. The looks of surprise/disapproval as I made my way back to the room after my shower yesterday (fully clothed) of course were a trifle irritating. This is our house for the time being.
The difference in this dig from my past experiences is remarkable, at least in terms of director. G is easy-going, good tempered, tries to be clear, asks for and considers input, and is, in general, a decent human being. How novel.

AW, Saturday, 10 February
Another day spent at the house. My hands don’t hurt quite so much, but start to when I go out in the sun. Mg is down with a cold. Everyone else seems okay. They’re starting excavations today. I threatened T with dire punishment if they find anything good without me. Told him to keep and eye on G and vice-versa since I wouldn’t be there to bitch at them in person. I think I’ve got the database worked out. If not, it’ll just been more data entry or more fiddling. I’ve no idea how to cope with some of the data right now, but so long as it gets recorded somewhere we can figure it out later. Worked with ArcGIS to display maps of surface collections and grinding stones from the past few days of work.
The radios don’t work between the house and the site, but I’ve little doubt that G is warbling nonsense into his every now and then to see if he can get a response from me.
I despair of ever learning the ceramic typology here. Between a certain someone’s tangential expository style and the fact that it ALL seems to be impressed with some pattern (or at least some is in all periods) I’m a bit frustrated. I’ll puzzle it out eventually, though.

AW, Sunday, 11 February
Unpleasant day, though I did find an Egyptian (style?) seal impression in one of my surface collection units. Starting having awful stomach pains during the morning, so returned to the house with the driver after lunch. Some unpleasantness with Bomba the driver that has, hopefully, been resolved as merely having been a misunderstanding.

AW, Wednesday, 14 February
Back to work yesterday to start excavation with 4 workmen – Asir (who has worked in the past with the British team), Idris, Babakir, and Gamar. Asir is serving as a sort of unofficial “Gufti” for me, as he has several seasons experience and speaks fairly good English. Bit of a false start. I wasn’t helping much with the heavy physical labor because that was something I was strongly discouraged from doing in Egypt. Here, however, my helping shift buckets of sand, etc., is met with great approval, so once we got over that hurdle, the guys started to warm up to me.
I got so thoroughly filthy yesterday with sand blowing into my face that at one point G broke off in the middle of a sentence to ask me “How the hell did you do that?”
My thumbs hurt – weird, I know. I’m convinced that I’m sunburned through the nail. Bleh.
Hoping to find something of moderate interest tomorrow. So far just random sherds, bone fragments, etc, and mirages of mudbrick that turn out to jut be compacted (natural) soil, despite digging around the place I found the sealing in the hopes of finding more. G says my most recent area will only be in the middle of nowhere until I find the Napatan city center. I told him he didn’t ask much of me, did he? I guess digging far away from everyone else does have the advantage of forcing me to improve my Arabic.

Abu Harez and AW 5 -6 February

2007-03-31T21:57:00.000-05:00

Abu Harez, Monday, 5 February, 10:50 PM
At the moment, sitting on a web-bed in an abandoned house near the Polish mission’s house, sans mattress, blanket, or anything else really, in Abu Harez. We set out today around 3 PM. G had found a house yesterday. We rented a sort of lorry for most of the gear, including our luggage. T, G, M, and R rode in it while the rest of us and the more delicate equipment went in the Land Cruiser. Alas, the lorry had a tire come off the bead about 45 minutes out of Karima. G moved R to the Land Cruiser and sent us on ahead while he, T, and M stayed with the lorry to wait for a wrench to be brought from Karima so the tire could be changed. We arrived at our house in a village in Manasir territory only to be told by the local Omdeh (sort of a mayor over several villages) that because it was Manasir territory we couldn’t live in the house, even though we weren’t working in Manasir territory. The young man we’d rented the house from looked apologetic, but could do nothing. The Omdeh was polite, but very firm in telling us that we had to go. Imshi (the imperative for, essentially, “go away”) was used frequently. We did manage to persuade him to let us stay for a little while so we could decided what to do next. After some discussion, B and Bomba decided we should go back to Abu Harez where the Polish team is based. Abu Harez is, I think, at a sufficiently central location on the track between Karima and HG and environs that the lorry won’t miss us when it comes through.
The Poles gave us a very warm welcome, dinner, water, and a great deal of stronger beverages, including smuggled “special tea” (Sudan is a dry country in more ways than one. We dubbed the moonshine Sudangac, like Cognac, only more likely to maybe make you blind.) I had a shot to try to calm my nerves. The Poles also arranged this small house we’re in and the beds. B consumes (and continues to) a great deal of the Poles’ stash, but the rest of us decided to come out here to the house so the Polish team could get some sleep as they have work to do tomorrow.
Paused for a moment to take my doxycyline. I’m too concerned about the guys in the desert with the lorry to sleep tonight, I think. It’s likely to be a long night. If we’ve had no sign by midday tomorrow, I plan to insist we head back to Karima along the route they’d intended to take to look for them. It’s hard sitting here in the dark and cold wondering where my husband is. I hope they’re all right. I can’t bear even to write down the worst going through my mind.
I doubt Mom would believe I’m so calmly sitting here, dirty, tired and cold. Nothing bothers me so much right now than the not knowing. I should have stayed with them. Logically, though, they won’t pull in tonight – it’s gotten too late. But I don’t think they’ve gone back to Karima either. Band I borrowed the satellite phone from the Poles (after we couldn’t get ours to work) to try to call M’s cell phone and got an “out of area” message, suggesting they were still out in the desert. I just hope they’re okay.

AW, Tuesday, 6 February
The guys rolled in around midnight. We had all finally gone inside the house (where it was warmer) to try and sleep when we heard the sound of an engine. I ran on ahead of the others through the narrow little alley between houses in time to run into T and Henryk (the Polish field director) just coming in from the other side. I probably woke half the village saying “Well, aren’t you a site for sore eyes!” and promptly jumped on him. ☺ Much relief to see them. Went into the Poles’ house to be greeted by B, swaying a bit on his feet who confided (in a voice loud enough to wake the rest of the village) that he was a bit drunk. ☺
It transpires that the van sent to bring the wrench from Karima broke down. Someone decided to try to take a shortcut across the desert with the wrench to save time and got lost. So, some people were trying to dig out the van, others trying to fix the tire, and still others were out searching the desert. Fortunately, everyone made it through in one piece. T, G, and M spent a great deal of time just sitting and sleeping, T and G curled up under G’s sleeping bag in the bed of the truck on top of our mattresses (and enjoying one of our precious cans of Pringles) and M in the cab while the rest of us shivered in Abu Harez without our sleeping bags. ☺
Long, cold night. We couldn’t get to all of the luggage in the lorry so I had to loan my sleeping bag to R while T and I unzipped his and tried to share it. My red duffle got thoroughly anointed with peanut oil from the damned jerry cans (despite our attempts to clean them) but I don’t think it leaked through onto all my stuff. By sheer chance, the alarm clock I’d shoved into my backpack got set for 7:30 and woke us all up in time to greet the Omdeh for the Abu Harez area who has agreed to help us out in finding new accommodations near HG.
Poles treated us to breakfast – we owe them a great deal. Arrived here in Al Widay and found a house. Interestingly, this village of Al Widay is populated by Beja nomads who settled down to farming about 40 years ago. We’re about 2 km from our site at HG. The house belongs to our neighbor and the local shopkeeper, Mohammed Ali, or rather to his brother, a doctor who now lives in Wow. The house was filthy when we arrived around 9:30. Spent much of the day cleaning and arranging furniture. T found a dead, partially mummified cat in one of the rooms. There were syringes and razor blades in random places. Half the village turned up to stand around in our courtyard and watch the proceedings. The shower room (just a room, no tap, faucet, or anything) is infested by enormous daddy long-legs. I think I managed to take care of them with D’s bug spray though. No taps at all for water, we’ll be relying on 3 large plastic barrels for all of our washing up and to pump drinking water out of – they’ll be filled by someone we hire in the village. No WC of our own yet either, though one will be dug and a wall built around it in the next few days. Instead we have to take a little stroll out past the village generator (AW Power and Light) to a privy out there, which is fine, except the wall only comes up to about my armpit, making it less a privy and more of a “hey, check it out, I’m trying to pull my pants up and hold on to a roll of toilet paper in the gusting wind-y”.
We’re screening over all of the windows and most of the doors (or door frames, I should say) to try to keep the flies out. T and I have a nice little nook on the veranda, walled on one side by the wall of the room D and Mg are sharing – their windows with shutters open out onto it, but no one really minds, and opposite that the veranda wall with one doorway and a window, both to be screened in. There’s a narrow passage outside that between the house and wall around the house. The other “wall” is 2 huge chests left here in the house placed back to back, one for us to use as storage and one facing the rest of the veranda to be used for dig supplies, etc. There’s just enough room to squeeze past the chests into our nook. We’ve hung our mosquito nets. Most everyone else has tent-like things, unlike ours which are more, uh, Victorian. Anyway, G made some crack about them looking all “fairy princess” I told him I planned to decorate them with butterflies. I think that backfired, because I think he thought I was serious. He’ll learn.
I’m tired and sore and looking forward to getting to work. Writing this sitting with the gang out in the courtyard with the thunk-thunk-thunk of the diesel engine used to run AW Power and Light in the background. Our house is wired but there appears to be a short somewhere, so we’re in the dark. I gather the power is run for a few hours every night. For everything else, we’ll need to rely on our solar panel. G is trying to smoke a cigar, I’m hoping I don’t find bits of the end he’s spitting out on my pants tomorrow. Flies are dreadful, hopefully the screens and judicious use of PiffPaff (the local bug spray) will work.
Though frustrated by the delays beyond anyone’s control, everyone seems mostly in good spirits, if tired.

Karima, 2 - 4 February

2007-03-31T16:56:00.000-05:00

Karima, Friday, 2 February
Too busy to write yesterday. Arrived Karima around 11 PM Tuesday. Couldn’t get the Land Cruisers across the Nile as the ferry was down for the night so retrieved sleeping bags and took a small boat across. Beautiful moonlit crossing of the Nile. More than ready to take off my boots, loosen my belt and curl up in my mummy bag to sleep in the house of Murtada, head of the Gebel Barkal Museum and an old friend of our inspector, MS. Spent yesterday scrambling around Gebel Barkal. Still getting used to local toilets (of the squat over a hole in the ground variety). Can’t puzzle out the aiming exactly or where to put my feet on the concrete frame thingie. I’ll have plenty of time to perfect my technique, though, over the next weeks.
Went to el-Kurru today. Not a lot left to see. Wandered around town looking for evidence of the ancient settlement. Not much visible at surface. Did find, with T and B and the aid of a local boy I promptly nicknamed “Flinders” several potsherds. “Flinders” had attached himself to T, watched what he was doing, and promptly found some sherds. Outside one of the houses, the lady of the house came to watch what we were doing and after a few minutes told us that if we were that interested in broken pots, she had plenty. The women here seem far more free to go out and more likely to talk to foreigners of either sex than I’ve seen in rural Egypt. Very refreshing.
Climbed Gebel Barkal last night to see the sun set. Rough climb, I needed plenty of help and busted my knee up on the rocks. Was more than worth it for the view.
I apparently snored loudly all night in the room with D and Mg. ☺ I’m hoping our more permanent residence will allow for a semi-private room with T to solve that problem.
Spent the afternoon cleaning plastic jerry cans that had been covered with/filled with peanut oil at some point. We’re planning on using a few of them for water transport and the rest will be cut up to serve as buckets during excavation. Went for a walk with T, G, and B through the palm groves near the Nile. Stumbled on a modern pottery production area for zirs. (Large, coarse ceramic vessels used for water throughout the Middle East. The relative coarseness of the ceramic fabric allows some of the water to evaporate, thus keeping it cool. Zirs are placed in stands in houses and throughout settlements, usually with a metal cup, to provide water for passersby.) Got some great photographs of the vessels air-drying before firing, the fire-pits, etc.
T has been going “like the Energizer bunny” according to G. I explained that he’s merely on T-crack. Hopefully we’ll get to visit our site tomorrow. We’re all getting antsy and setting up housekeeping wherever we live is likely to take a full day. Had a freezing shower last night using the tap in Murtada’s house. Setting out the sunshower today in hopes of a warmer evening shower.

Karima, Sunday, 4 February
Went up to visit our site at HG last night. Very rough ride and we were nearly lost on the way back to Karima after dark. Site looks very promising for surface collection, everything from Mid-Paleo to post-Meroitic remains. We’re on the “border” between Shagiya and Manasir territory. Apparently the Shagiya consider themselves more “civilized” than the Manasir. Most of Karima is Shagiya, as is our inspector, M, though his family has lived in Khartoum for a generation or two. M, incidentally, is awesome. His English is superb, he’s incredibly helpful and very personable. Our driver, also M but nicknamed “Bomba” is also great and proving to be a fairly good cook, so we may not need to hire a cook after all.
G, B, and M have gone up to the site area to try and find us a house. The rest of us are hanging around here. Did some laundry. Mostly just loitering around though. Hoping no one gets seriously ill up at HG. It’s pretty remote and a fairly difficult drive back to Karima, especially after dark when it’s difficult to see the tracks through the rocks and desert.
It’s almost 5:30 and the guys still aren’t back. We’re trying to decide how long to wait before either trying to cook something or wandering into town to find dinner. We’ve had troubles with the water purifier already, but no one is sick yet (and we would be) so we’ll see. T apparently drank Nile water the first night we were here, not realizing that the tap in the courtyard feeds directly from Nile water. M was amazed he didn’t spend the whole night regretting it in the WC.
I noticed today that the zir here in Murtada’s house is identical to the ones we saw in the palm groves – same shape, same fabric, same impressed design on the shoulder. Pretty cool.

In Khartoum, 26 - 31 January

2007-03-31T16:44:00.000-05:00

Khartoum, Friday, 26 January 2007
Have arrived Acropole Hotel. Flight through Amman, but alas, we couldn’t get out. Feeling snappish after long flights and delays getting through customs at the airport. Lovely room with 3 beds and sink, WC/shower just down the hall. Plans to go out on the town this evening.
I should sleep, but I suspect I’ve hit the no-sleep point. Khartoum, at least the brief view from the airport to the hotel seems slightly more modern that Cairo in layout. I hadn’t realized how enormous the city and suburbs are until we flew over.
Khartoum, Saturday, 27 January
Took Acropole quickie tour yesterday. The National Museum is dark and rather empty, but we didn’t have much of a chance to look around. The Ethnography Museum is small but pretty cool. Got some great photos of modern pottery. Supposed to go back to National Museum today for meet and greet, etc.

I’m fascinated by the women’s clothing here. All very put together, both the more sort of pan-Islamic style tunic and skirt with ordinary headscarf and the more traditional Sudanese thob – something like a sari, fully enveloping and usually in bright gauzy fabrics.
Khartoum, Sunday, 28 January
Returned to National Museum yesterday, wandered around the reconstructed temples, which are amazing. T rescued a sparrow that had run into a window. Helped out by a lovely lady inspector, Amal. Walked back to the Acropole without G and B. Long, hot walk despite B’s assurances that it was a short trip. Looked over satellite photos after lunch, then did 1st shopping trip with T, G, and B.

Felt poorly last night and passed on dinner but forced myself to shower. Oddly, the tap was electrified. Very odd feeling brushing against it accidentally while showering.
Finished up looking over and marking satellite photos this morning with most of the rest of the team. I expect there will be another shopping expedition this evening. Things seem to be more expensive here than I expected based on my experience in Egypt.
Khartoum, Monday, 29 January
Problems with the site at Shiri Island, apparently. The Manasir and the governor at Abu Hamed are in negotiations at the moment, so it’s unclear if we can work on Shiri, which is in Manasir territory. We do have backup plans if necessary, but will not be able to leave by tomorrow as planned.
Debate with one member of the team over toilet paper – specifically how much we should purchase to have with us. As I commented to G, “Fine, we can get not that much, but if we run out, I’m stealing his clothes and using them.”
Khartoum, Tuesday, 30 January
Yesterday’s shopping something of a trial, but we got it done.
We’ve found out we can’t work on Shiri. Instead, we’re taking on a probable Kerma-period settlement in the Polish concession in the 4th Cataract area closer to Karima and the dam. We leave tomorrow. Have finally met the mysterious “Solar Man” – purveyor of solar power equipment, who does in fact have a real name (which I have forgotten). I was rather upset to discover that he does not in fact have a cape or any indication of super-powers.
T and I went out on our own today to the Suq al-Arabi to gather more supplies and did quite well I think. It helps that we only needed 3 meters of wire mesh (as I can only count to 3 in Arabic).
Omdurman Suq yesterday was interesting. T was offered a horrific assemblage of tourist kitsch, including 2 whips (shades of Indiana Jones), a horrible crocodile head knife-sheaf thingie, and I was offered a purse that would double as a green plaid fez. I was also offered a bra. Full marks for effort there, considering that my sports bra and haircut make me look like a young boy (and the bra was for a generous figure).
T twisted his ankle yesterday on the way back from the Suq al-Arabi. Got it iced and wrapped so it should be fine. He’s doing wonderfully adjusting here – chatting with people, learning as much Arabic as possible.
Khartoum, Wednesday, 31 January
It’s just past 12:30 PM and we’re still waiting to leave. Dinner last night with the Polish team who so kindly granted us part of their concession. Dinner wasn’t bad, very spicy, but I was too paranoid of illness just before a long car-trip to eat much. Bit of an adventure on the way back to the hotel. The mini-bus taxi we were in broke down on the Omdurman Bridge. Most of us piled out and made our way along the edge to the end of the bridge, dodging traffic and hoping no one plowed into the stalled mini-bus. G stayed to steer the mini-bus while the driver pushed. The driver laughingly asked him if he wanted to drive the rest of the way to the hotel. Khartoum traffic being what it is, I think I’d have to be drugged to the gills to try such a thing. We decided to walk a few blocks, but as some people weren’t wearing walking shoes (having not expected to have to walk far) we wound up hailing another mini-bus with a pimpin’ blacklight dome lamp. We’re all getting restless and ready to leave Khartoum.
6:50 PM
Stopped after about 3 hours on the road at Tam Tam station for tea. Used to be a major stop for smugglers and looks it. Did not avail myself of the “facilities” (as these are “Over yonder behind the building in the desert”) as I’m not entirely certain I can manage without peeing on myself. I’m not sure how I’ve managed it, but I’ve never had to pop a squat outdoors before in my life. Really. No idea how I’ve avoided that considering what I get up to on a regular basis, but there you have it.

Sudan Blog

2007-03-31T16:40:00.000-05:00

So, I'm going to start posting excerpts from the journal I kept while in the field. I've changed the names of most people to initials to try to preserve a bit of their privacy. If anyone wants names/anecdotes/photos deleted do please let me know. I'll be doing this a bit at a time to save people having to read 18 some-odd pages of text all at once.
I've also eliminated most of the site names here. To be perfectly clear:
This is not a field report of any kind. No information here is to be republished in any form, nor are any conclusions to be drawn from comments here regarding the archaeological finds and research conducted during the season.

I've been experimenting with including photos in the actual posts and I'm not sure I want to do that.... It's sort of a pain.

I've also been experimenting with Picasa instead of Flickr...

Anyway, here's the Sudan album on Picasa:

Sudan 2007

Delays...

2007-01-21T16:37:00.000-06:00

So, Tom and I were supposed to depart for Sudan this evening. Unfortunately, none of the visas for the team arrived this morning as they were supposed to, so we're delaying. We will instead be departing Wednesday evening (I hope). Everything is packed and ready to go, so now we mostly just have to sit around and wait. Bleh.

Anyway, most of you probably know this already because I think most of my few readers are on the email list I set up to send messages once we get to Sudan on those few occasions when I might have email access. Just thought I'd post here as well. Also, if you want to be added to the email list, let me know...

To True Friends

2007-01-09T00:05:00.000-06:00

So, I'm moderately drunk right now, and may regret this post later, but here it goes:

Here is a post in celebration of all my friends, scattered throughout the world though they may be. You all know who you are (I hope) and I cannot help but express my deepest gratitude to all of you for putting up with me and supporting me through all of my troubles and travails with good humor and love (of the platonic sort, in most cases). I only hope I've done the same and will continue to do the same for all of you.

My love to all of you. I wouldn't be who I am without you, and while there are a few people who might consider that a good thing, you've been the ones who've accepted me warts, bitchiness, and all. :)

To friendship. Loft the beverage of your choice and drink!

Weekend at Bernie's Totally Ripped off the Catholic Church

2007-01-02T07:17:00.000-06:00

So, in the throws of boredom during my overnight shift, I spent a great deal of time on Wiki. I can't even remember why I was looking at the entry for the Cadaver Synod but hey, it's worth a look.

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-24T17:35:00.000-06:00

...and Happy Life Day!

After you've had enough to drink, I encourage all of you to load up BitTorrent and download your own copy of the Star Wars Holiday Special. Because, really, you haven't lived until you've seen that monument to horror. Just remember, drink then watch. Otherwise, you might remember parts of it later, and I don't want that on my conscience.

Sweet, Sweet Freedom!

2006-12-19T02:30:00.000-06:00

I finished comps last Tuesday. I'd like to say that the intervening time between that accomplishment and this post was spent in drunken debauchery but, well, this is me we're talking about. There was some alcohol consumption, but unless you count spending way too much time reading Fark or watching Adult Swim as debauchery, there wasn't so much of that.
For a profession that supposedly involves fighting Nazis, encounters with supernatural/metaphysical beings, hot chicks, and snakes, I lead a surprisingly tame existence.

So, now I just have to wait for word on how I did. I'm not feeling especially confident at the moment. Actually, I'm not clear how anyone comes out of comps and still has an enormous ego. Susan assures me that one regains it with the dissertation, so I guess I'll be all pretentious again in a few years. Seriously, I spent most of last week with a thousand yard stare wondering why my brain felt like it was wrapped in honey-soaked cotton. Actually, that' s mostly how I felt while I was taking the exams too. This does not bode well. Maybe oral exams would have been better. At least then I could have attempted to joke my way out of my predicament. Or been intimidating enough to avoid answering things. It's hard to be intimidating with a laptop unless you're threatening someone with it.
I'd like to add that trying to do translation while also trying to make sense of how Heidegger, Husserl, Gadamer, Bourdieu, Habermas, Weber, Ricoeur and a bunch of other dead or nearly dead white guys relate to archaeology is not something I recommend.
Also, hieratic sucks. It just sucks. I can't read my own damn cursive handwriting, how the hell am I supposed to read cursive handwriting belonging to some dude who's been dead for a few thousand years? And who couldn't be bothered to sharpen his damn reed pen? "Duh, I see a p, w, an m, and what appears to be a comma...screw this shit and hand me my trowel!"

Sigh. Someone remind me why the hell I thought grad school was a good idea again?
At least I should actually be able to do some honest-to-goodness fieldwork again soon. Mmmm, dirt and vaccinations! Whee! Reach in that backpack and hand me my trowel, it's the one that says Badass not-hieratic-reading motherfucker on it.
I'd add a bad joke about "You know what they call a QuarterPounder with Cheese in ancient Egypt?" here, but that would involve me actually figuring out the equivalent measurement and I'm not looking at my grammar books again for a few weeks until the emotional pain of having bombed a perfectly reasonable, downright kindly test leaves me.

So, now I get to prep for the upcoming field season and relax a bit for a few weeks. At least until after I get my shots for the trip. Then I may be making offerings to the porcelain deity for a few days. Just so long as I don't come home with a mystery illness that makes me the most popular patient at the hospital again. "No, you goddamn vampires, you can't take blood from both my arms at the same time for 3 days in a row again. I'll beat you with this laptop and then stab you with my trowel!"

Happy Thanksgiving

2006-11-22T22:35:00.000-06:00

So, here's something from fond childhood memories that still makes me laugh:

"As God as my witness..."

Happy Turkey Day everyone!

Green

2006-11-01T07:45:00.000-06:00

Yeah, so, the pink is gone as I no longer have to wear a virtual pink ribbon for Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Instead I can go about my usual publicizing of this issue:

Walking up to people, punching them in the breast(s) and suggesting they get screened.

I use a similar method for publicizing testicular cancer.

That's probably why no one will hire me as their offical spokesperson.

Hmmmm...

2006-10-18T12:13:00.000-05:00

I've discovered a strange tendency in myself when sleep deprived. I have the irrational desire to write something like a journal or log entry to the effect of: "Three days without sight of land. The crew is growing restless and desirous of mutiny." Or something. Does this mean I was a hapless ships captain in past life?

Fun and games with sleep deprivation

2006-10-18T06:12:00.000-05:00

I just read the headline: "Foley to name alleged abuser" as

"Foley to be named alligator abuser."

I'll stop giggling uncontrollably in a few minutes, please move along.

On an unrelated topic, I hate Lynn Meskell's work on social theory. I'd say I hate her, but I've never met her, nor do I want to.

Yet another way we're all going to die

2006-10-09T18:10:00.000-05:00

Many many moons ago I did a "translation" of a State of the Union address. I felt the need to do the same with the text of the press release from North Korea regarding their recent nuclear tests.

"The field of scientific research in the DPRK successfully conducted an underground nuclear test under secure conditions on October 9, 2006, at a stirring time when all the people of the country are making a great leap forward in the building of a great, prosperous, powerful socialist nation.

If by "great, prosperous, powerful" you mean "starving, disease-ridden, oppressed" I can go with that.

"It has been confirmed that there was no such danger as radioactive emission in the course of the nuclear test as it was carried out under scientific consideration and careful calculation.

We were very careful to use our patented "Little Dictator" geiger counter and everything. Really. And there was some math and stuff.

"The nuclear test was conducted with indigenous wisdom and technology 100 percent.

Quit saying China helped us. I didn't tell people when you copied off little Susie on the 5th grade spelling test, did I?

It marks a historic event as it greatly encouraged and pleased the KPA and people that have wished to have powerful self-reliant defense capability.

A few people keep moaning about "food" and "freedom" and crap, but they displayed just how encouraged they were when we pointed our SKS rifles at them.

"It will contribute to defending the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the area around it."

All your base are belong to us. That is all. Suckers.

When the hell did this happen?

2006-10-04T08:37:00.000-05:00

Time was when staying awake for 36 hours at a stretch was nothing for me. Ha-ha I laughed gleefully while chugging yet another cup of coffee, lighting another cigarette and walzting off to Birminham or Tuscaloosa or wherever the hell we had decided to go while ditching class.

Yeah, not so much anymore, apparently. I've been awake for all of, um...hmmm (bad at math, bad at math) we'll call it 22 hours. Not even a full day! And it's not like I've been doing anything particularly inspiring. I'm working an overnight guard shift. (STOP SNICKERING!) I sit on my ass and turn alarms on and off and make sure people don't try to sleep here or the frat-tards from down the street don't break in.

So, apparently I'm old. The increasing amounts of gray hair was sort of a clue, but I was attributing that to standing too close to the microwave as a kid. Or growing up in Nevada (aka the "Test and/or Dump Scary Ass Shit Here State, Oh, By the Way, We Have Keno!"). Whatever. The fact is, I'm tired as hell (and probably none too coherent) and I still have an hour to go. Judging by the number of people who have walked in and asked if I need coffee and the glimpse I got of myself in a mirror a few hours ago my eyes are threatening to actually withdraw into my head.

Better still it's started to pour rain. I figure the thunder will start about the time I get home to go to sleep. Oreo hates thunder. So, there will be whining and crying and digging . And Oreo will be annoying too.

Seriously, I look like freakin' Skeletor or a Goth or Emo or whatever the hell you call teenaged angst-addicts who draw circles around their eyes with cigarette ash.

And the damn wind keeps blowing the ivy over the windows which looks like something jumping at me out of the corner of my eye, so then I jump and I look psycho. Or, more psycho than usual.
"Why goodmorning Professor X. Yes, I'm doing this job now. Yes, it was a long night. (Jump/Twitch). What, no, I didn't just jump out of my skin."

Ahh, they already think I'm freakin' crazy.

You dropped a what on your huh?

2006-10-02T22:39:00.000-05:00

So, Tom came home early today, startling me and Oreo thoroughly. It transpired that this was all due to his having dropped a wall on his foot. So, after a long soaking in the tub, a healthy dose of ibuprofen, and a lot of me going "oh sick dude!" we've gotten far enough along in the recovery process for Tom to decide pictures are in order.
Visit his blog at your own risk.
See, Tom injuries follow a very typical timeline:
1) The injury occurs, usually involving: dropping something; something slipping; some body part brushing against something hot; falling off of something. Occasionally, it's a mixture of two or more of the above.
2) Witnesses rush to his aid, all the while amazed at his prowess at swearing while bleeding, burning, swelling, or all of the above. Seriously. Think drunken sailor. Druken sailor who just got a peg-leg worthy injury. It's quite impressive.
3) Witnesses usually encourage him to seek medical attention. Tom scoffs at their wussiness.
4) If I'm not already there, I get a phone call or he comes home, whichever is more convenient. Usually several hours after the fact. You know, well after I could have done anything useful. If I am there, I usually don't bother adding my voice to the chorus of "dude, go to the hospital" at this point but instead focus on applying pressure to whatever body part is spurting blood and convincing him that he needs to sit still for a few minutes.
5) Depending on his description of the injury (if communicating via phone) or my own personal inspection, *I* encourage him to seek medical attention. Tom scoffs at my wussiness. If he's still able to remain upright and semi-coherent, I usually let him win.
6) I remind Tom that there is no way I can carry his ass any where so, if he needs medical attention, he'd better hurry the hell up and get it, because I don't want to have to drag his unconscious ass down the hallway to the elevator. It'll ruin his clothes. Assuming they weren't ruined in the "incident" or ripped up to make bandages after the "incident" despite the presence of perfectly good, sterile bandages close by.
7) Ice, pain relievers, and antiseptic are provided for the wound. I usually make another attempt at the doctor suggestion. I'm usually rebuffed. The "your ass is heavy and I don't want to pay for an ambulance" argument is repeated. I give up.
8) Time passes.
9) Tom disappears into the bathroom to "doctor" his wound. Usually within 5-10 minutes I am summoned with the words every significant other wants to hear their beloved utter: "Hey Jus, could you bring me my pocket knife?" I've given up trying to prevent the man from performing minor surgery on himself with his pocket knife. I pretty much won my only victories on this front by convincing him to a) stop doing pocket-knife surgery in the living room or kitchen while Oreo is trying to see what's up; and b) sterilize the knife. (Seriously, do you know how freaky it is to look up from reading to see someone with their foot balanced precariously on the edge of a table while they hack at it with a pocket knife?)
10) Some mention is made of "drilling through the nail." I swear - every time. Even when the injury has nothing to do with fingers or toes. The man just has a fondess for drilling through his own nails. I guess it's better than his head. "That would have worked if you hadn't stopped me."
11) To his credit, he usually is fine in a few days. Because he's a manly man. Or too stupid to feel pain. Whatever.

To sum up - he's fine. I'll let y'all know if it gets gangrenous though. Because as soon as he's out of the hospital for that, there's going to be a huge "I freakin' told you so" party and you're all invited. :)

Well hell, it only took almost another year.

2006-10-01T23:24:00.000-05:00

Why the hell do I have this thing again? No one checked it even when it was almost live. Anyway, it's pink now for Breast Cancer Awareness month. Having gone through the joy of finding a lump and the ensuing WTF!!!! panic, I have a certain heightened sympathy for those who actually are diagnosed.
So, this is why the page is now pink, despite the fact that I hate the color pink and wish they'd picked purple or green or something else...

Well, hell, it only took a year

2005-10-04T23:41:00.000-05:00

I have finally gotten around to posting some photos from my field season in Egypt last year November to December.
Ironically, I found out mid-way through my posting of photos that the field season for this year has been cancelled. Not unexpected, but still irritating and a very long story.
A few notes on the pictures:
- I've labeled them as fully as possible
- There are no photos of our actual excavations as I didn't want to risk breaking SCA regulations.
- There are few people shots, just because I didn't really think to take any and I feel weird taking pictures of people.
- This is only a very small fraction of the photos I took - most were of interest only to me or other Egyptologists, so I posted the ones that I thought might appeal to a broader audience. Or that I thought were especially cool.
- I have photos taken by other people, but unless I have their permission, I'm not posting them. Some friends may well post some in the future though, and if there are any that are particularly entertaining, I'll let you know.

Just Got Home to Chicago

2005-09-19T21:25:00.000-05:00

We just got back. I'm tired and crabby - will post details later.

Another update

2005-09-07T20:27:00.000-05:00

Susan has returned to Long Beach. Her house is indeed intact. There are some trees down and her insurance will not cover the removal of said trees as they did not land on the house. Therefore, Tom and I (and Oreo) are probably going to head down next weekend to help clear the trees.
If you're wondering at the delay it's because a) Susan has said that there is no hurry; b) we feel that the supply situation, especially regarding gasoline, may improve over the next week; and c) we wanted to give some warning to our employer before heading down. Fortunatley, Tom has vacation time accrued and even if he didn't no one here would begrudge him the few days off to go down and help out in a small way.
The trees did take out the shed in the back yard and the fence between her and her neighbor's property - which Brownie and Blue are enjoying immensely as, so far as they're concerned, they just got an extra yard in which to frolic and torment possums, squirrels, turtles, etc...
There are also trees that just fell on the ground. Crews are supposed to be picking up debris placed on the curbside sometime in the next few weeks, so unless someone has a pressing need for wet firewood and a truck in which to haul it off, that's where the trees are going.
As of the last attempt phone calls in to her land-line were not working. The line rings and rings and goes to her voicemail, but apparently does not ring in the house. Calls to her cell phone also do not work, but she is able to call out. Text messages will reach her, but are often delayed by a few hours or more.

2005-08-28T18:40:00.000-05:00

For those who are wondering, Susan has evacuated from her home in Long Beach and is staying with friends in Tallahassee - she just arrived there about an hour ago.
I don't know how much computer access she will have over the next few days, etc., so I guess I'll be the updater until further notice.
Anyone else who wants to post news here is more than welcome and I hope everyone is safe.

2005-06-07T15:22:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah, for those who were wondering I am still in the land of the living. I have a follow-up appointment with a doctor on Thursday so they can be sure I'm still alive and repeat their assertion that they have no idea what's wrong with me but "it might have been mono." I am feeling better and I took a lighter course load than usual this past quarter so I could catch up on everything from last quarter and in case I didn't wind up feeling any better. So today was my last exam all my papers are finished and I have a few months of sweet, sweet freedom before the next field season in Egypt during which I should:
- work on objects in the OI collection that involve my potential disseratation topic
- study for comps
- learn more colloquial Egyptian Arabic
- organize all my old course notes, articles and other assorted crap
- start planning for the course I might be teaching next year
- learn how to do kite photography (courtesy of MAKE)
Instead the summer is likely to be spent:
- sleeping
- reading anything and everything that has nothing to do with what I actually do for a living
- swearing at the television
- swearing at the dog
- more sleeping
- calling Fenway at work because I'm bored
- going to visit Fenway at work because I'm bored
- trying to explain to the Chicago PD at the Point that I am not in fact a "Homeland Security risk" for taking kite photographs, but going to jail anyway because apparently it's illegal to fly kites in the city limits, even though Mayor Daley sponsors a kid's kite flying schindig every year in Grant Park.
All this should culminate with a mad dash to get all my shit together to spend another 2 months in the desert, an attempt to actually figure out how the hell I'm going to do the kite photography, a frantic photocopying session to get all the sources together for ceramic analysis I'm theoretically supposed to be doing in the field, and a last minute effort at a syllabus that I'll email to interested parties from the airport on my way to London. And I suspect that I'll get by on the 10 word vocabulary and associated hand gestures that got me by in Egypt last year.

If you plan ahead for it, is it still procrastination?

2005-05-26T19:50:00.000-05:00

Tut returns! (Sort of.)

Brought to you by the same marketing giants that brought you Celine Dion A New Day…Presented By Chrysler, the Eagles, Usher, Fleetwood Mac, Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera, Dixie Chicks, American Idol and Rod Stewart a few random pieces from Tutankhamun’s tomb equipment and a few other roughly contemporary funerary pieces... Probably worth a look if it’s convenient. Obviously if they can market the sad, sad list above they can make a several-thousand-year-old short, inbred dead guy interesting.

See website for locales and tickets. Supposedly this will bring in a whole mess of money. Maybe this means they’ll get the non-royal mummies out of “storage” in the stairwells in the Egyptian Museum. And maybe get climate control. Or at least an air conditioner. Or a few more placards in Arabic so the Egyptians can actually learn about their own stuff.

2005-03-09T19:24:00.000-06:00

Here's the health update:
No malaria - or any other abnormalities that would easily explain my symptoms. However, on consultation with a specialist in infectious diseases I have been deemed "interesting" so I have to go see them next week. And have an echocardiogram the week after. Until then I'm supposed to rest.
The doctors are obsessed with the idea that this is linked to my field season - I think they might need to get over that, but hey, what the hell do I know?

2005-03-07T17:43:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I posted. I've been very busy. And lately I've also been very sick. Sick enough to finally drag myself over to see a doctor. And based on my symptoms and recent travel they think I have malaria. (Stop laughing.) Seriously - I freaked out the residents and the attending physician over at the hospital. They think I'm very "interesting" - this is never a good sign. I was in a room with a sliding glass door and as the resident who did the primary exam came in and out of the room asking me questions, he left the curtain open a little. A few seconds later about 8 residents sitting at a work station across from my room all suddenly turned to stare at me. I refrained from slapping myself against the glass and going "ooogha-boogha." So, the upshot is lots and lots of blood tests over the course of several days - I think I'm running out of blood (and other, less pleasant tests). I should find out Wednesday if science has a cure for what ails me. Never mind that the travel clinic and every official and unofficial source I consulted before and after my trip said that malaria preventatives (or prophylactics, if you prefer, but I'm not sure how to fit a condom on a mosquito) were unnecessary for travel to Egypt for the areas I was going and season I was there. My advisor has every so reassuringly suggested that it might be "some other tropical disease" - thanks, I needed that extra anxiety, I'm not tired enough.
In addition, I've been sick enough to get seriously behind on my work, which has led me to have to go to my varous professors and ask for extensions because I have a disease that hasn't been common in the US since, oh, the early 19th Century. Maybe I should just tell them I have the vapours.
By the way, feel free to laugh hysterically at the irony of my illness (if it is in fact malaria). I think it's pretty damn funny - almost a weird archaeological badge of honor. Of course, this is before an official diagnosis or treatment. I may not be laughing on Wednesday.

2004-12-21T14:22:00.000-06:00

I got in safely last night. I'll post more about the trip later when I'm feeling up to it and have decided what is and is not for public consumption. Suffice to say I had a wonderful time and we had a very successful season and I can't wait to go back. Happy holidays to everyone!

2004-11-01T15:02:00.000-06:00

This is probably my last post until late December, but it's possible I'll wander into an Internet cafe on a day off and post something. For anyone who gives a damn, Tom will probaby post occasional updates.
I have all my crap packed and ready to go - one frame pack, a small roller bag and my regular backpack - I think that's the lightest I've ever packed in my life. Unfortunately, I'm not taking just my stuff - I also have approximately 50 pounds of excavation gear for the expedition to take as well. So that's another huge suitcase that is probably going to give the TSA guys fits - it's full of odd looking papers, software, an autolevel in an otterbox... And I get to take two of the tripods for the surveying gear which I cleverly (I hope) mummified together in lots of bubblewrap and duct tape in a possibly vain hope that BA will accept them as a single over-size, over-weight piece of luggage and only charge me an indecent amount of money once.
At least once they're checked in I don't have to carry them myself again.
So, when we get to Cairo, we hang around a couple of days and then head down to Abydos by train. Specifically, by the Night Train. So, despite my declarations that I would never, ever ride the Night Train I am apparently going to do so. Hopefully I won't wind up with a hangover.

2004-10-13T01:15:00.000-05:00

So, anyone who wants to see where I'm actually excavating, etc. can check out the article about Abydos on Tour Egypt's site - it's a handy overview. We'll be working at South Abydos on the Ahmose complex. As the article shows, the site has a long history, both in the ancient world and for archaeological research since the late 19th/early 20th century, including work by one of my favorite characters in the history of archaeology Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie.
I'm not really comfortable providing specifics here - anyone who is curious can email me.

2004-10-12T23:36:00.000-05:00

I got my absentee ballot today. And pretty much I have to say that my fingers hurt from punching out the necessary chads with what I will call "the little pokey thingie" and that the styrofoam backing they provided for such purpose was squeaky and therefore annoying. Yay. Civic duty. And they didn't even have the decency to provide return postage. At least I didn't have to stand in line in the freezing-ass cold for hours.
I was hoping that my flight schedule (I leave the evening of 1 Nov) would allow me the excuse to find a payphone at Heathrow and call Tom at 4 in the morning his time after the election screaming "who won?! who won dammit?!" I don't know why I find this scenario so amusing, but I do - looking for a newspaper would be way too easy. Alas, that probably won't be necessary. I guess if I'm really bored in Cairo in between the bouts of Tut's Revenge that will inevitably strike me approximately 30 minutes after arrival I could call the embassy and do the same thing, but I'm thinking that may not be wise.
Yippee, just a few weeks to go! (Ferret dance)

2004-10-04T19:48:00.000-05:00

I have finally done what I've wanted to do since I was 8 years old - booked my ticket for Egypt!
For any who are interested, I can send and receive mail - drop me an email with your address if you'd like a postcard or something (I'll try to accomodate you, but no promises) or if you'd like to send me a letter with some smart-ass comment so I won't feel the lack of the forums or blogs. I will have very intermittent access to a computer with internet access, especially if I go to Luxor on one of our days off, so hopefully I'll get to post something at least once. This trip is going to be absolutely amazing! The only sad part is that Tom and Oreo can't come. And that they'll be alone in the apartment while I'm gone...

2004-09-28T22:02:00.000-05:00

Well, I haven't posted in a while, primarily because there hasn't been much to post about and I've been busy with work and wondering what the hell was going on with my field work this fall. I think I've established the following: we leave 1 November and return 20 December - not a long season, unfortunately, and this also removes the possibility of traveling after the season as everyone wants to come back to the States to be with their families for the holidays. At least I don't have to pay for anything. I do have to make arrangements to vote early, but no big deal.
I have also been provided with a guide to colloquial Egyptian Arabic for archaeologists. I'd have preferred to have had all summer to have it lying around so I could pretend to be studying it and procrastinating about doing so - instead I only have about a month to pretend to study it and procrastinate doing so. Actually, as I work through it, I may post some of the more entertaining phrases. I've already found one in the "Dining Room Comments" section: the very first phrase in the section is "this is not clean" - this does not bode well. There are also phrases for "do you smoke?" but unfortunately not one for "can I bum a cigarette?" And while I will probably get relatively proficient in speaking while I'm in the field it will be the Upper Egyptian dialectic, which most people in Cairo consider to be the country-bumpkin dialect. At least I'll be consistent, y'all.

2004-08-18T22:28:00.000-05:00

As is also posted on the forums I have a new cell phone number. Email for details. The old one will no longer work and neither will Tom's.

2004-07-26T21:53:00.000-05:00

Occassionally, people post something on the UC marketplace that is moderately entertaining in a train-wreck kind of way:
interesting way to get a date...

2004-07-26T21:45:00.000-05:00

Dammit boy! I was reminded that I hadn't looked recently, so I did my own google for "dancing ferret." I already knew about the goth band or whatever the hell it is associated with the name, and expected some ferret-care pages but this was by far the most frightening thing I found. And no, I didn't read any of the "Fiction."

2004-07-26T21:03:00.000-05:00

I officially received my MA last month. Our degrees are really sort of ugly - considering all the money I payed, I really would have liked a prettier piece of paper.
I also just finished (as of an hour ago) the German reading exam. As per usual, it sucked. Two passages. One on "German Naturalist Prose" and the other one titled "German Fairy Tales" that was really about gender roles. Whatever. Hopefully this will have been the last time and now I can actually being to enjoy my summer break.

2004-06-09T16:55:00.000-05:00

I have finally finished all my work and taken my last exam for the quarter. I am never, ever taking four classes for credit again. This quarter it was especially bad because I had the big paper due the second week of the quarter, the French Reading Exam (which I "High Passed" by the way) and I had to turn in all my course papers and take exams early because I applied to receive my MA. The good news is I've been accepted to continue in the program, so now I have comprehensive exams and my dissertation to look forward to. :) But, this summer I plan to relax and in the fall, with luck, I will be excavating in Egypt. Yay! Oreo will be happy - I'll have time to pay attention to him. And Tom will be happy - I'll have time to pay attention to him too. :) And speaking of Tom, I must say here that I could not have survived the last quarter without him - he was awesome! He cooked, he cleaned (sometimes), he handled the shopping, he drove me to class, he came with me to the library and made copies of things I needed while I was busy doing other work, he listened to me brainstorm and whine and carry on and gave me lots of hugs. If I ever doubted how lucky I am to have married him (and I haven't) I sure don't now. TOM RULES!!!!!!! And now he's gainfully employed, so he rules even more!

2004-04-09T04:18:00.000-05:00

THE PAPER IS FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Let the Ferret-dancing commence!)
Ninety-two pages of sweet, sweet Predynastic goodness. 49 pages of actual text, 2 appendices, 204 footnotes, 13 figures (not counting the ones in the first appendix), 5 revisions, and a partridge in a pear tree. Due tomorrow, er, today by 5 PM. There will be much drinking this evening. All done while managing a full course load and working 10-15 hours a week and trying to learn to read French. It would have been done sooner, but I didn't get the final suggestions from my advisor until 9:30 Wednesday evening and, well, I had stuff I had to do besides that. Anyway, it's over, it's done and now I just have to wait and see if they let me hang around here.

2004-03-04T15:48:00.000-06:00

Well, I just got back from my meeting. It was brief, but it went well, sort of. He loved the theroy part of my paper (which happened to be the part that I also liked the best). In fact, he was very complimentary. I feel good now. Especially since I have a massive amount of respect for this man and he's regarded as one of the major archaeological theorists currently working in the Near East. He really wants me to develop it further, but he thought my points were excellent and well stated and very insightful. I was tempted to offer to kiss him with tongue - but I'm married and the door to his office was open. :)

The problem with this being that my advisor thought that the theory part in my very first draft was stupid and pointless and told me to get rid of it. (I, um, accidentally included it in the draft I gave to my second reader.) Of course, three weeks ago, my advisor told me to put the theory back in - after I had left it alone for several months because he told me to and claimed that he had never told me to do that. I have a feeling that I'm going to to wind up writing three final drafts, taking them to my advisor and telling him to pick one.

This is very bizarre - as are most experiences related to graduate school and/or writing something that more than one person needs to approve. On the one hand I have a young advisor who wants to micromanage my paper to the point on insanity and who essentially makes me feel like a rather naive twit when I try to incorporate what I (and other people) consider to be important into a discussion. He also thinks I'm lazy. And one of my fellow graduate students and I have figured out that he confuses the two of us. We look nothing alike. She's interested in metallurgy and ancient technology and primarily the New Kingdom. I'm interested in the Predynastic and Old Kingdom and in injecting some more anthropological viewpoints into archaeology in Egypt. Yeah.
On the other hand I have an older professor who happens to be the director of the Institute and an extremely well-respected and established scholar who apparently thinks I'm great and makes an effort when possible (granted, I have to harrass him) to fit me into his extremely hectic schedule. He also would probably have no trouble picking me out of a police line-up after I bludgeon my advisor with the three anticipated drafts of my paper.

In any case, I thought I would share my bittersweet day with you all. Now I need to go work on translating medical texts for class tomorrow.

2004-02-13T15:57:00.000-06:00

Learning and entertainment, all in one...
I gotta say, I appreciate professors with a sense of humor and they're somewhat rare around here, but damn the last few lectures in our Egyptian history class have been funny. Here's a few fun quotes, some of which are funny only if you know the history of the period, but screw it, y'all don't have to read this:

"Yeah, so at least one scholar has described Akhetaten/Tell el-Amarna as the world's first insane asylum."

"The military was busy running the country while the Jim Jones wannabe (Akhenaten) hung out in his anti-capital utopia."

And the crowning glory to all of this: A slide of a Ramses condom followed by the comment: "I don't think this is such a good idea - the man had close to 100 children."

We also got into a very interesting discussion of personal bias in the reconstruction of history. The Amarna age is often painted as the result of a backlash or rebellion on the part of the king, Akhenaten/Amenhotep IV against the priesthood of the god Amen, who rose to great prominence in the 18th Dynasty. So, the basic picture is evil, excessively powerful priests getting the rug pulled from under them by Akhenaten as a reformer, only then they get pissed and kill him. Oddly enough, it seems like most Protestant scholars paint the "evil priesthood" picture to the extreme, especially British scholars, while Catholic scholars might lean toward that explanation, they tend to downplay it. We didn't talk about any other religious background as an influence, but it was really interesting to see such a clear-cut example of fairly recent history and the biases associated with it being projected on a phenomenon that occurred several thousand years in the past in an entirely different cultural context.
While I'll admit (hell, I'll scream it from the rooftops) that we all bring a certain amount of baggage and bias to our work, this is kind of extreme. I'd like to think that acknowledging and embracing our own context before trying to interpret an different context helps the problem, but who knows? (Obviously, I'd like to think that, otherwise my work is really really pointless...)
Anyway, I have no idea where I was going with that as I got interrupted by a phone call from someone wondering if they'd be shot and murdered or something if they came to visit the museum. Maybe I should have found a better answer than: "Well, no one's ever bothered me, and I wander around here looking weak and vulnerable."

2004-02-04T20:25:00.000-06:00

create your own visited country map
or write about it on the open travel guide

create your own visited states map
or write about it on the open travel guide

Yeah, so I didn't count places where I had only been in an airport. But I did count the states I've driven through, even if I spent all of my time there wishing I wasn't in that state (i.e. Arkansas, Missouri, Texas...)

2004-01-23T01:25:00.000-06:00

Fun quotes:
While doing my required reading (I do manage to do that on occasion) I found the following quotes that my immature little brain must share:

"Come quickly now and take these cities in order that your troops may get booty!"

and further down on the same page in Redford Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times:

"The motivation and the situation from are alike optimal for postulating such an event: a strong Amorite state in the Levant, a weakened Egypt, the prospect of easy conquest and much booty."

I'll still giggle like a schoolgirl at that shit when I'm 80. Then again, there's a good chance I'll still be a schoolgirl when I'm 80.

2004-01-21T19:28:00.000-06:00

The State of the Union
Oh, how many many ways this pissed me off. Anyway, because I'm bored and feel like procrastinating on the real work I have to do, I thought I would post excerpts from the State of the Union address with my own personal translations. The full transcript is available here

Excerpt 1:
Inside the United States, where the war began, we must continue to give our homeland security and law enforcement personnel every tool they need to defend us. And one of those essential tools is the Patriot Act, which allows federal law enforcement to better share information, to track terrorists, to disrupt their cells, and to seize their assets. For years, we have used similar provisions to catch embezzlers and drug traffickers. If these methods are good for hunting criminals, they are even more important for hunting terrorists. (Applause.)
Translation: Ripping away your civil liberties turns out to be fun as well as personally rewarding. Since these methods are good for hunting criminals, they must be equally good for getting rid of damn commie liberals.

Excerpt 2:
Key provisions of the Patriot Act are set to expire next year. (Applause.) The terrorist threat will not expire on that schedule. (Applause.) Our law enforcement needs this vital legislation to protect our citizens. You need to renew the Patriot Act. (Applause.)
Translation: Please, please don't realize what a mockery of the Constitution you made by passing it in the first place. And please, please, please, don't take away my really big stick.

Excerpt 3:
Colonel Qadhafi correctly judged that his country would be better off and far more secure without weapons of mass murder.
Translation: We scared the piss out of Colonel Qadhafi.

Excerpt 4:
I've had the honor of meeting our servicemen and women at many posts, from the deck of a carrier in the Pacific to a mess hall in Baghdad.
Translation: Damn I'm cool.

Excerpt 5:
Some in this chamber, and in our country, did not support the liberation of Iraq. Objections to war often come from principled motives. But let us be candid about the consequences of leaving Saddam Hussein in power. We're seeking all the facts. Already, the Kay Report identified dozens of weapons of mass destruction-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations. Had we failed to act, the dictatator's weapons of mass destruction programs would continue to this day. Had we failed to act, Security Council resolutions on Iraq would have been revealed as empty threats, weakening the United Nations and encouraging defiance by dictators around the world. Iraq's torture chambers would still be filled with victims, terrified and innocent. The killing fields of Iraq -- where hundreds of thousands of men and women and children vanished into the sands -- would still be known only to the killers. For all who love freedom and peace, the world without Saddam Hussein's regime is a better and safer place. (Applause.)
Translation: Watch me attempt to gracefully dance around the fact that we still haven't actually found the weapons of mass destruction that we swore were there.

Excerpt 6:
From the beginning, America has sought international support for our operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, and we have gained much support. There is a difference, however, between leading a coalition of many nations, and submitting to the objections of a few. America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country.
Translation: Fuck the UN, fuck them right up their asses. Especially the French. We have the biggest stick on the playground and we're not afraid to wave it around to compensate for our incredibly small penises.

Excerpt 7:
To cut through the barriers of hateful propaganda, the Voice of America and other broadcast services are expanding their programming in Arabic and Persian -- and soon, a new television service will begin providing reliable news and information across the region. I will send you a proposal to double the budget of the National Endowment for Democracy, and to focus its new work on the development of free elections, and free markets, free press, and free labor unions in the Middle East.
Translation: To counteract hateful propaganda, we will introduce "nice" propaganda. And we'll even be nice enough to use the native languages of the regions we're innundating with American culture.

Excerpt 8:
America is a nation with a mission, and that mission comes from our most basic beliefs. We have no desire to dominate, no ambitions of empire. Our aim is a democratic peace -- a peace founded upon the dignity and rights of every man and woman. America acts in this cause with friends and allies at our side, yet we understand our special calling: This great republic will lead the cause of freedom.
Translation: Empires are a pain to manage. Puppets are better. And you still get to blow stuff up.

Excerpt 9:
We will double federal funding for abstinence programs, so schools can teach this fact of life: Abstinence for young people is the only certain way to avoid sexually-transmitted diseases.
Translation: If you try hard enough, you can deny that teenagers have sex and will continue to have sex regardless of what you tell them about abstinence.

Excerpt 10:
A strong America must also value the institution of marriage. I believe we should respect individuals as we take a principled stand for one of the most fundamental, enduring institutions of our civilization. Congress has already taken a stand on this issue by passing the Defense of Marriage Act, signed in 1996 by President Clinton. That statute protects marriage under federal law as a union of a man and a woman, and declares that one state may not redefine marriage for other states.

Activist judges, however, have begun redefining marriage by court order, without regard for the will of the people and their elected representatives. On an issue of such great consequence, the people's voice must be heard. If judges insist on forcing their arbitrary will upon the people, the only alternative left to the people would be the constitutional process. Our nation must defend the sanctity of marriage. (Applause.)

The outcome of this debate is important -- and so is the way we conduct it. The same moral tradition that defines marriage also teaches that each individual has dignity and value in God's sight. (Applause.)

Translation: This administration hates gay people, but in the nicest possible way.

2004-01-17T17:14:00.000-06:00

Well, I have now added comments to my blog. Given how totally inept I am regarding html, etc, this is quite an accomplishment. Praise the lord for cut and paste code.
Those of you who haven't taken a look at it recently should give Fenway's blog a gander - his most recent entry regarding gender roles is, in my admittedly biased opinion, impressive.
Oh, I believe I figured out what the "prehistoric gold" is - at least one of the pieces. Slag. So, maybe he can go bother a geologist or mining engineer or something for a while.
I made it through the second review of my thesis in the Seminar class - this is harder than you might think, as the professors present to offer up their opinions were not archaeologists and on occasion this has led to some "issues." But, I now have lots of experience tactfully explaining to people that they haven't the faintest clue what they're talking about and should really shut up.

2004-01-16T00:17:00.000-06:00

I've changed the title of my blog in an attempt to discourage the massive number of hits I seem to be getting from people googling "signs of the apocalypse"

2004-01-13T16:30:00.000-06:00

Well, I've gotten through my first week of classes. My advisor's trip has been delayed until mid-February so I will not be left totally hanging for my thesis.
This quarter's classes are Intro to Hieratic taught by a man who many older students equate with Satan. Hieratic, for those of you who don't know is allegedly the cursive form of the hieroglyphic script. In reality, it's an exercise in insanity - as it is a cursive script written on papyrus or ostraca it is far more fluid than hieroglyphs and each scribe has his own handwriting. Rock! Those of you who find what I term "cheerleader script" annoying (i.e. very loopy writing with circles or hearts and crap to dot "i's", etc) will find it interesting to learn that people have been doing that shit since the dawn of time.
Up next we have the second part of our history sequence, this time covering Ancient Egypt. No paper this time around, much to my relief.
And I have a class in the art and archaeology of Syria-Palestine. Our first actual lecture consisted of some basic geography, etc. followed by an introduction to the professor's theory regarding archaeological inquiry based heavily in hermeneutic philosophy, especially that of Ricoer (sp?). You philosophers with pithy comments, please email them to me. Or if you're interested in his adaptation, let me know and I'll send you a copy of the first chapters of his book which outline his ideas.
I am still working in the Museum Office coping with the incoming email from crazy people, among other things. Some of you may be familiar with the letter allegedly from the Smithsonian regarding some guy's "contributions" to science. That letter is an excellent demonstration of what my job is like.
Some of you may remember the guy with the "prehistoric gold" or whatever-the-fuck who emails me about once a month. Well, his pictures have improved. And he's moved on from email. He called the office Monday wanting to speak to a "Paleolithic Archaeologist" as his theory regarding his "electrum" has changed. He now thinks it has something to do with Paleolithic cave art. Methinks I should check the program listing for the Discovery channel to see what they were showing last week... Anyway, I didn't realize who it was until after I had assured him that I would see if someone in the OI could help him. So, anyone up for doing a bad French accent and pretending to be an expert on cave paintings?

2003-12-22T22:57:00.000-06:00

Well, as mentioned in my last post, which was over a month ago, meeting with my advisor is like being abducted by aliens. My ass is still sore and the quarter has been over for a week, but I did manage to pass everything and get all my papers done and turned in on time and take my exams. I still haven't decided which was more painful - the cold translation of an Egyptian funerary stela while dealing with intestinal trouble or the Mesopotamian history final while dealing with my total lack of time to study and my total apathy concerning Mesopotamia from the 1st millenium BC onward.
Anyway, Fenway arrived on the evening of Friday, December 12th with a Penske truck full of his stuff and my bedroom furniture that had been at my parents' home until they moved to California last May. With the help of one of my kind fellow graduate students, we got everthing up to the apartment in just a few hours and arranged the furniture the next day. Sunday morning we shoved Oreo into his soft-sided carrier and headed off to Midway to fly out to California to see my parents, as we saw them only briefly during the wedding in June. They're living in Clovis, just outside Fresno, but we flew into San Jose, thus avoiding the horror that is LA. The three hour drive home was lovely - beautiful rolling hills still tinged green and then down into the San Joaquin Valley and all those lovely fruit orchards - we'll have to go out in the spring when everthing is in bloom, even if it will mean taking massive quantities of antihistamines. The Sierras are just visible in the distance from Clovis and while it's not quite the same the view from Washoe Valley, it was still pretty. Spent a week relaxing, doing some shopping and trying to keep Oreo and Oliver (Mom and Dad's schnauzer) from killing each other. I'm afraid there are no pictures to share as Tom and I rarely remember a camera, or, if the camera is remembered, the process of photography is usually forgotten - the wedding and honeymoon photos were sheer luck, really.
I read My Name Escapes Me by Sir Alec Guiness during my brief respite from school and loved it - it's a collection of his diary entries spanning about a year and a half from January 1995 to mid-1996. Other than that, it's difficult to describe other than to say it was charming.
We returned to Chicago this evening, having taken off from San Jose just after the earthquake hit near San Simeon (sp?) a.k.a. Hearst Castle. I actually felt the earthquake in the terminal, but thought it was just a dizzy spell from sleep deprivation and the cigarette I had just smoked until we heard the news.
Fenway and I will be spending Christmas here in Chicago, just the two of us, and then weather permitting, will head down to Mississippi on the 26th or 27th for a few days. I'm afraid my visit has to be cut short so I can work on my thesis (I have given up on the euphemism "Two-Year Paper") with my advisor (alien abductor) before he goes into the field (Mars) to look for more scraps of the Ahmose temple complex (cattle to probe anally). On the last day of the quarter, he was kind enough to dump on me some of the field notes I needed which are either beautifully detailed with excellent plans and sections or painfully lacking of any useful information with plans and sections that look like they were drawn by a 3 year old using his butt-cheeks to hold the pencil. Oddly enough, the notes are all by the same person. Yet another person to add to my list "Do Not Meet These People with Witnesses Present" (because it's harder to kill them that way, or at least kick them in the shins and run away).

2003-11-20T16:24:00.000-06:00

Before I begin the rant about the past 2 weeks, I need to preface the post with the following, hoping it will give some of you a laugh, even if you don't read the rest of this:

I decided this yesterday as I walked home after a meeting with my advisor:
Meeting with my advisor is like being abducted by aliens. A whole lot of interesting stuff goes on, most of which you can't remember when you leave, but you're pretty sure that at some point you took it in the ass.

Well, I've had a horrific few weeks. As I predicted in my last post, my advisor did try to tell me that I had to write my thesis by the end of this Quarter, only he did it in such a way that I didn't realize what he'd said until I left his office. So I freaked out - I'm not the only one, most of the 2nd Year students were on the verge of a nervous breakdown. We had no idea what was going on, what the paper was supposed to be, what we were expected to do or not do, etc. Anyway, after several meetings with various people we found out the following:
1. Hell no, none of us don't have to write our whole 2-year paper by the end of this Quarter
2. The nitwit who organized the required (but no course credit) Seminar was way out of line in telling us that the paper was due at the end of the Winter Quarter, although we could turn it in later, but if we did, we would surely not receive any funding, because NELC regulations state it's due the 2nd week of Spring Quarter and by the end of the Winter Quarter, the readers for the papers should have a clear idea whether your paper sucks or not and will be able to pass that information on to the funding committee.
3. This years 2nd years (i.e. me) are having the toughest time in recent memory according to many older faculty members, and that sucks. But we still have to grin and bear it.
4. The OI will arrange a courier service for those of us who need to get drafts of papers to my advisor while he's in the field.

So that's something. I'm still confused and over-worked, but my advisor, in addition to being in league with aliens, has also made it clear that he wants me to stay here, so unless I really fuck up I should be okay.

2003-11-05T14:37:00.000-06:00

Well, no posts recently because I've been slammed - still am really, but I have a few spare moments at work so...
I've been spending at least 20 hours a week translating Middle Egyptian texts (specifically private inscriptions from or set up in front of tombs) which is a lot of fun, but leaves me little time for other work. Doing a massive quantity of reading for my other courses. Had to teach a course on the Badarian culture in Predynastic Egypt - ooh, that was fun, talking for an hour and half after having spent several days plowing through site reports from between around 1910 and 1940 that were written sometimes well but usually really badly. My favorite quote from the chief excavator: "Obviously, the Badarians were sufficiently civilised to have carried hankerchiefs." Gotta love that British colonial style. Also, I'm formulating a theory (granted,it's based on anecdotal evidence) that all the really cool sites in north Africa and the Middle East are in or near villages with really nasty dogs. And I was reduced to utter speechlessness at the, um, shall we say obtuseness of a certain person who should know better regarding modern archaeological excavation techniques in stratified locales (or rather, who should really consider the whole "pot calling the kettle black" thing... or the whole "don't talk about stuff you obviously do not understand thing"). But I digress. I've started doing translations with one of the 1st years who has a background in Middle Egyptian and so is in the advanced course and we've decided that we need to have a "gutter vernacular" translation day: i.e. "Yo, I shall build your wicked cool temple..." and "I put the god's bling-bling on him"
I continue to work 15 hours a week in the Museum Office, dealing quite often with people who a) don't understand why we don't know by heart all of the thousands of images that are on our website and/or in our publications and/or just in the archives and cannot identify them via descriptions such as "you know, that Egyptian guy, the one with the spear" b) keep asking when the "Iraq exhibit" - (i.e. the newly reinstalled Mesopotamian gallery) closes, thinking it's a temporary exhibit - after 3 days of constant phone calls regarding this, it almost would have been worth getting fired to be way too literal and tell them that it closed at 4 that afternoon, i.e. when the Museum closes for the day ("What! Oh shit! It's 3:45!") c) want me to do their research papers for them by sending cleverly worded emails such as "Please tell me everything you know about Mesopotamian texts." or "What do you know about the pyramids?" and; d) are just plain stupid. Fortunately, I get paid quite well.
Now I have found out that my advisor and the primary reader for my 2-Year paper which is due at the end of March is going to dig in Egypt from the beginning of January until the end of March. Ummm, shit. This is a problem. No email, no fax, no FedEx... My other reader, cool though he is, does not know Predynastic Egypt, and so will be able only to tell me things like "Gee, it looks good to me, but what the hell do I know?" And the prevailing view among the Egyptologists (to be distinguished, at least around here, from us archaeologists) is that anything before writing - namely, most of the Predynastic, is not really worth their time. I'm waiting for my advisor to inform me that I need to go ahead and write the entire paper before January 1 - I've been practicing flipping him off with both hands in preparation for this announcement. If he catches me on a really good day, I may provide some seriously entertaining dialogue for anyone on the second floor who isn't deaf or unconscious. (And possible the 3rd and 1st floors as well, if I'm pissed enough.)

2003-10-11T23:54:00.000-05:00

I hate pseudoscientists. I wish the "Face on Mars" people would learn to do a bit of research before making sweeping claims. Beginning a few weeks ago I began a dialogue with a young self-proclaimed expert on "Transcelestial Ontology, Posthumanism and Theoretical Ufology" in which he requested permission to use a copyrighted image posted on the Oriental Institute website in an upcoming book. He provided a web address. With a little bit of digging, I discovered that he was violating our copyright by using the image on his websitewithout permission. Further, the ignorant "expert" was first presenting it as a possible corrolary to some formations on Mars. Later in his journal on Mars, he says that it's artificial and must have been sculpted (see his 12/11/01 entry on the page given above).
Why yes, it is artificial. It's a tepe - which is Farsi or Persian (I can't remember which) for tell which is Arabic for: an artificial mound formed as the result of thousands of years of human occupation building up over time as buildings were destroyed and new ones built atop them. It was not "sculpted" deliberately. I negleted to inform him of this fact, however, and am still reluctant to do so for fear of opening a new proverbial can of worms for the Face on Mars researchers - specifically that the "formations" they keep finding while staring for long hours at fuzzy photographs are tepes/tells on Mars which proves that Mars was occupied by sentient beings. I don't want that on my conscience.
In any case, I was instructed to inform him that he was in violation of our copyright and had to either remove the image from his site or pay for use of it. I might add that the OI is a non-profit institution, the money we make on photo orders and permissions covers operating costs and is quite reasonable in comparison to similar institutions. Most of the photographs were taken as part of OI expeditions, all of them have negatives stored in climate controlled conditions on site, they have been catalogued, and prints are made from the negatives when needed - all of these things cost money.
His response was rather snippety - he agreed to take the picture down as he didn't wish to pay for it and was of the opinion that we were stupid not to avail ourselves of free advertising.
This evening, I checked the site to see if the picture had been removed. It has not been. I also discovered that seems to be ANOTHER of our images posted illegally.

I also found the following post on his blog
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Friday, October 03, 2003

I started James Blish's "A Case of Conscience" today . . . and not much else. I was going to see Al Franken this evening, but a petulant student assistant at the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute drove me to distraction by stating that I owed the Institute a cool $40 for an archaeological image I have posted on page 25 of my Mars site. Give me a goddamned break. I'm making absolutely no money from the image; moreover, I've linked to the Institute's source pages. This practice is commonly known as free advertising. Yet they're troubled because of some pre-Internet fine print.

My editor is requesting permission to use the image in my book and I get chills thinking what absurd price he'll be quoted. I personally think we've lavished quite enough time on securing permission for various images as it is. The U. of Chicago can stick it up its bureaucratic ass. Let's get the book on the shelves, already.
posted by Mac at 10/3/2003 12:01:26 AM

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I've been called many things, but never "petulant" - right now, I think righteously angry would be a better description. And I am so sorry I kept him from seeing Al Franken. He kept me from playing with Oreo, translating Middle Egyptian, reading about early Mesopotamian history, and reading abut the Egyptian Predynastic, since I had to stay late to finish working on his order. Oh, and the price he was quoted for use on the web page was a one time fee of $40.00, the same as for commercial print use - if he'd bothered to read the attachement I sent him TWICE that outlined fees and procedures, he'd know that. Hardly absurd. He should try contacting the Louvre for images. Now that's some fun and expense. And I do wonder how he would feel if someone started circulating free photocopies of his book, thus preventing him from collecting royalties? Then again, that would presuppose that a sufficient number of people wish to read such drivel to provide him with a decent income. I'm almost tempted to follow in the footsteps of my doppleganger to acquire a copy of the book when it comes out and burn it.

2003-10-06T17:33:00.000-05:00

So, a week of classes has passed an I am:
1. already way behind
2. have already slept through a day's worth of class (oops)
3. waiting for an outright revolt in our required 2-Year Seminar
4. no longer in my "happy class" that I was auditing, as my advisor ordered me to drop it so I wouldn't "jump of a building or something"

In addition to all of the above, a movie is being filmed on campus. If I had more free time, I'd go looking for Anthony Hopkins and be silly and get his autograph, or dress up to go be an extra on Wednesday, but, well, I have no time. The funny thing being that the "Winona Ryder Effect" has picked up on campus (at least, I think that's why people keep giving me double takes) even though, so far as I know, she is not in the film. Well, when it comes out, keep your eyes peeled for my hunched-over form, frantically smoking a cigarette and running across the quad.
We have another Nobel laureate running around campus now - they're worse than the damned pidgeons.
And there is an ongoing garbage strike making life mildly unpleasant - at least if you need to go into the alley for anything.
Oh, and the world is coming to an end: the Cubs are winning!

2003-10-03T16:13:00.000-05:00

Since discussion of media bias, etc., etc. has been done to death on the forums, I'm posting my rant here.

This week, the Oriental Institute has been priviledged (and I'm not being sarcastic) to host a visit by Donny George Youkhanna
(General Director for Research with the Iraq State Board of Antiquities, Baghdad) who is a very gracious and wonderful man. At a graduate student lunch Thursday, he and McGuire Gibson, our resident Mesopotamian archaeologist, along with some of the other faculty got onto the topic of media coverage of the looting of the main Iraqi Museum in Baghdad. What I found out was absolutely disgusting.
I am not sure how many of you followed the news coverage of the looting, but to summarize, first the media was screaming bloody murder along with all the rest of us about the immense quantities of materials looted or destroyed. A few weeks later, they were informing the public that hardly anything had been taken at all and that all of the so-called experts were liberal anti-war alarmists who hadn't the faintest idea what they were talking about and then the subject was relegated to the briefest of appearances on news tickers.
As it turns out, the media statement that hardly anything was taken comes from a conveniently edited interview with Donny George himself in which he stated (forgive me, but I can't quote exactly) something to the effect of: "Around 41 objects were taken from the galleries [of the Iraqi Museum, Baghdad]..." The sound byte was cut off there. What Donny George went on to say, however, was something to the effect of: "... many, many more objects, the number of which we are currently trying to establish, were taken from storage vaults in the Museum."
Bastards. What the media has also failed to point out is that the Iraqi Museum in Baghdad is only one of many Iraqi museums which house antiquities along with other objects of cultural value. There are several regional museums.
In addition, Nightline also apparently had fun with editing and spliced together several different interviews with McGuire Gibson to make him look like a completly moronic alarmist who claimed that "170,000 objects were stolen in the looting" when in fact it was only 41. Mac can't remember the exact context in which he said 170,000 objects, but he thinks it may have been a reference to his estimate of the contents of the vaults at the Iraqi Museum.
Rat fuckers.
Neither man is intending any lawsuits, etc - why bother? Besides, Donny George had enough trouble getting a visa this time around, God knows what will happen next time he wants to visit the US.

2003-10-01T16:16:00.000-05:00

I received the following email at work today. Make of it what you will - it just made me laugh...
If you feel the need to contact him, I suggest that you tell him that your spy satellites are better than his, and that's how you knew how to get in touch with him...

Dr. Granville Earl Love ll
> The good side of Geo. Magisterial
>
>Granville Earl Lovell
>Sept. 30, 2003
>P.O. Box 397
>Zion Il, 60099
>847-274-5954
>
> GeoBible@msn.com
> GeoBible@yahoo.com I am
>going to the Media or News papers today. This is your last chance to
>get the scoop but, I am sure you are too late . I have E-mailed over
>three thousand hours to all of you and you have ignored my emails
>about the biggest story the world could ever hear.
>
>I seem to have discovered the key to all things that exist, there is
>not a day that goes by that I do not discover even more things that
>the world does not know. I know this sounds like quite a large
>statement but, you have not heard nothing yet.
>My discoveries that others do not know include most everything that exist.
>Human /Animal body from bone to brain to skin, Plant life, Elements,
>Soil, Rocks, Meteorites, Creation, History of Earth, Mysteries of
>the Earth, Bible, Egypt, Pyramids as well as explaining them.
>I not only can explain them I have truck loads of proof which I will
>be taking today to launch this good news. I may not share this news
>with but one news group? because no one has bothered to look into
>the biggest news ever.
>I also do Satellite imaging better than anyone on Earth, even the
>military, They should have looked into my claims. I can tell you
>about all ancient life on Earth as well as about life on other
>planets. You will be able to see for yourself, You will
>not need degrees in anything to see that what I have is very real.
>I also have ancient stone models of flying vehicles and much other
>things. I have so much information that it will change all the
>world, and move our knowledge light years ahead.
>I have been reluctant as to who should know first, or should I have
>auctions for some of the Art or Stone figures and or knowledge I
>have, Or should I write about something the world should know about
>right now. I know Many, Many, Many, Many, Too Many, things the world
>needs to know now.
>Right now I am involved in re mapping the Earth and oceans like you
>would not believe, with better information. Would the world like to
>know more about earthquakes? Volcanoes, all the elements ? I can
>produce proof about the workings of the Earth and more. NASA is
>another that does not return my emails, I can prove to them that I
>know things they should know about Mars, Moon, Sun, and all the
>Universe and space travel.
>Sure this sounds crazy but! it is very true!.
>I do not know any other way to tell you and get your attention. I
>have nothing to gain by making false claims, or wasting your time. I
>do not expect to get any publicity unless I can prove with very
>little effort that what I have is real. You will not have to get any
>professionals to look at a model of a vehicle in rocks or stone that
>have great detail to prove to you that you are right, I am sure you
>will see that it is very true. I have not carved it into the stone
>as you will see. I also have art that should be priceless to any
>collector.
>Another thing, This system of things we call Earth and all in and
>around it has a way that it has been recording pictures and events
>since the beginning of time, I have been able to retrieve many of
>these as you will see. I have a way of revealing Very nice pictures
>or people places and events since the beginning of time. I never
>have enough time to stay with one discovery because there are too
>many, I can't wait to see what is next. I am working on a device to
>retrieve the photos without so much work as well as many other
>experiments, and never enough time, I sure could use some help with
>these discoveries. All the world should be involved . You may think
>these are a lot of claims but! there is much more.
>By the way, I think I can locate someone that has been buried in a
>field or woods etc, I am not sure if I could locate someone that was
>just buried? or how long they would have to be in the ground for me
>to find them. I could prove this very easy if you have known photos
>of areas where searches were done before digging to see if I can
>show you. I am sure I can locate treasures, objects all over the
>Earth as well. I have some locations I want to look into soon. I can
>tell you much more about all ancient ruins than anyone on Earth.
>Egypt is a great starting point, I can prove with out a doubt that I
>can explain Most or all things in Egypt. People only think they know
>about Egypt and the pyramids, They are so very wrong.
>There is so much also about the Bible I can prove right before
>everyone's eyes. NO ONE will be able to make an argument that I am
>wrong. They will be very anxious to get to the research as well. I
>would think I have enough on going to keep a Television show going
>all the time showing new discoveries. It is so amazing.
>Please I an not boasting just trying to get through to you but! I am
>sure you are too late for the scoop.
>I am sending this letter to many others as well.
>Thanks.
>
>Granville Earl Lovell
>GeoBible@msn.com
>cell ph. 847-274-5954
>

2003-10-01T12:37:00.000-05:00

Well, I am now officially through 3 days of classes. I believe that I can schedule in time for a full night's sleep sometime in the middle of October and then not again until the term ends. Our history of the Ancient Near East professor has a patch over one eye - that took major amounts of self-control in class. ("Arr, me mateys, we'll be discussin' Mesopotamia, the cursed scurvy curs this quarter...) Someone wants to get him a stuffed parrot for Christmas. Apparently, he hasn't caught on to the concept of a 10 week quarter yet either - our reading list is hellacious. And while much of it is on e-reserve, whoever scanned the pages was on some seriously bad crack so lines are missing their ends, pages are cut off so the first or last few lines of text are gone. Add to that the reading list for my Predynastic class which is only slightly less hellacious. I also have a page and half of translating to do for each Middle Egyptian class (that's more than it sounds like, trust me...). And our freakin' required seminar is insane - we don't get a real grade (Pass/Fail) but we have a massive amount of reading to do along with getting our 2 Year Papers ready. We have to turn in our introduction at the end of this quarter and the next 2 sections over the course of the next quarter. This will encourage me to actually get it done, but man... Add to that the fact that the departmental rules have changed and our paper is due at the end of the Winter Quarter instead of 2 weeks into the Spring Quarter. Arghh!!!! At least I can enjoy my break. I am also auditing a class that will be ever so interesting, but also requires massive amounts of reading. Oh, and I need to study German so I can pass the damned reading exam. And work 15 hours a week. No sleep for me! Oreo is already starting the "If I drop my tennis ball directly onto your pile of books and papers while you translate, you'll play with me" strategy combined with the "If I go to sleep directly on top or your pile of books and papers while you translate, you'll pet me, or at least yell at me, and that's sort of like talking" strategy.
I've also decided that in the near future I need to write a paper, hopefully co-authored by Tom, entitled "Why the Fuck Did So Many People Think It Was a Good Idea to Bury Infants in Pots under Their Houses?"
I had a brief moment of panic on Monday afternoon when I discovered I had been shorted my $1000 stipend by the Bursar's Office. It turns out that we get stipend checks from our Dean - how I was supposed to know that is beyond me.
So that's my news. If I had time, I would count my existing gray hairs to see how many more appear by the end of this school year. We'll see.

2003-09-28T14:00:00.000-05:00

I have officially returned to Chicago, at the last minute, as usual, since classes begin tomorrow. Specifically, tomorrow at 8:30 AM, which, as you all know, is far, far too early for this little ferret, especially for this little ferret to be translating Middle Egyptian. (*Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy* "Professor aren't we ever going to read anything about a ferret, huh huh huh?????" Yep, there's a way to get excused from class....) Also tomorrow I will do battle with everyone else needing a refund check from the Bursar and everyone needing books for courses that somehow never seem to have book orders placed on time/at all. The rampant ferrret shall be victorious! Or I will dance on their pitiful heads! (Has everyone picked up on the sleep deprivation yet? That's a damn long drive from StarkVegas.)
I have also come to the conclusion that despite my lack of a life insurance policy, I'm worth more dead than alive - perhaps I should start a PayPal account for donations - "Adopt a Pet Archaeologist: I'll babble endlessly about small bits of ancient garbage and dance gleefully at the sight of ruins. Only $9.95/month. (Bull whip and fedora package an additional $5.95.)"
Oh, wait a second - I own my car now. Wait, no...loans. Yep, Tom should kill me and have done with it, it would be cheaper in the long run, even with the legal fees and prison term. Oh well - at least, so far as I know, the Federal Government hasn't been repossessing brains from people who default on their educational loans. Or have they.............

2003-09-15T22:09:00.000-05:00

I saw the headline "Arkansas to grade kids on obesity" on the news today, and all I could think was: "At least they'll pass something..."

In other news, I received a somewhat depressing email at work today. A college student emailed the museum to ask for permission to use an article on our website in a paper she is writing for her World History course. I had to find a tactful way to tell her that she was welcome to use any published work in her paper, so long as she cites it correctly, thus avoiding plagiarism, and that requesting permission was not necessary. She even has to turn in said article as a source. I have a sinking sensation that some professor, somewhere (she sent the email from her parents' personal account, so I can't figure out where) is going to receive a stack of books, photocopies, and print-outs in response to his request that his/her students turn in their citations. What are they teaching kids in high school now? Could you imagine trying to track down every author or publisher for every source you ever cited in a paper to ask if it was okay that you cited them? Using images copyrighted to them or another source or extensively quoting them is one thing, but this is ridiculous.
I suppose I should be grateful that if she thought she needed permission, she went to the trouble of asking for it. But I doubt I'll be so charitable if I receive a reply tomorrow asking why I spelled "site" wrong so many times in my reply...

2003-09-14T22:56:00.000-05:00

You are The Cap'n!

Some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some slit the throats of any man that stands between them and the mantle of power. You never met a man you couldn't eviscerate. Not that mindless violence is the only avenue open to you - but why take an avenue when you have complete freeway access? You are the definitive Man of Action. You are James Bond in a blousy shirt and drawstring-fly pants. Your swash was buckled long ago and you have never been so sure of anything in your life as in your ability to bend everyone to your will. You will call anyone out and cut off their head if they show any sign of taking you on or backing down. You cannot be saddled with tedious underlings, but if one of your lieutenants shows an overly developed sense of ambition he may find more suitable accommodations in Davy Jones' locker. That is, of course, IF you notice him. You tend to be self absorbed - a weakness that may keep you from seeing enemies where they are and imagining them where they are not.

What's Yer Inner Pirate?
brought to you by The Official Talk Like A Pirate Web Site. Arrrrr!

Hmmm, a "Man of Action" - looks like I've been masculated again...
On another note, I should be in town to celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day - I'll be leaving late Thursday or early Friday to grace you all with my chummy presence.
"Arrrr, I'll be needing some Snickers to go with me petrol, you scurvy cur!"

2003-09-10T17:40:00.000-05:00

*After a guest appearance by Hare's Girl, you will now be returned to your regularly scheduled ranting...*
Walked on to campus today - I had a good reason to not ride my bike when I left the apartment which escapes me now. And for some reason, random people feel the need to talk to me on the street, despite my fast pace, obvious headphones, and sunglasses. Today it was "are you going to school?" To which I responded "Yes." To which I got the reply, shouted after me, as I was still walking: "Why the hell are you going to school at this hour?" (It was around 3 PM) *sigh* I restrained the urge to turn and say "because I don't feel like sharing your street corner with you in a few months!" It's still unseasonably hot and humid for Chicago - joy. Presented various required documents to the Student Loan Administration which will, I'm sure, find their way to being lost. Then wandered over the library to fetch various things needed for my euphemistically labeled "2 Year Paper" and caught one of the student workers who was supposed to be shelving books camped out on the floor in the stacks. Hee hee! And then proceeded to accidentally (really, it wasn't on purpose) get in her way while I was trying to get the stuff I needed, which was cleverly hidden by some idiot who couldn't be troubled to shift books to the side to fit things back on the shelves and instead just crammed them back as far as they would go on the shelf, requiring much manuevering and quiet swearing (it is a library) to get them out. Scurried all over the place finding what I needed. Tried not to destroy a very annoying copy machine while making copies of an article in German with lots of figures that I desperately need to be clear so I can identify some pottery, that simply couldn't have been sized conveniently for copying. On that note, all of you who plan on publishing in the future: please, please, please try if possible to make sure that your publications appear in a manner that makes them easy to photocopy. Better yet, publish electronically. I hate wasting money fiddling with the sizing on a copy machine that seems hell bent on taking all my money and giving me only partial pages, no matter what I do to it.
Back to work tomorrow...

2003-09-08T19:23:00.000-05:00

Guest Rant:
What is it with short, young women wearing stacked slides, flip-flops, sandals, whatever? Do they honestly think that 6" of heel makes them look anything but silly? I watch them walk across campus, off balance, trying to make it to class on time, walking as fast as both their legs and shoes allow which is about as fast as a snail, and laugh. Add to this a back pack and not only do they look silly and off balanced, but like they're running in a marathon. And it’s not only on campus. At the mall, it's worse. There they still walk funny and off balanced but they add clothing as if they're on "Sex and the City" and look like cheap ho's as well. Don't they realize those actresses are size 0 or 2? There are times when high heels are appropriate and walking the mall or campus is not one of them!

Also another thing that baffles me is hanging on to ex-boyfriends especially when the ex is dating (or engaged) to someone else and has been for years! Compound this with the realization that the initial two only dated for months and it becomes even more baffling. I would think instead of being selfish, one would want the best for someone you care about, but I guess not.

Thanks for the guest rant, Dancing Ferret

2003-09-05T18:23:00.000-05:00

Mmmm, think I need a new seat for my bike. Certain "areas" are kinda sore today...
In other news, thanks go out to Don and Fesh for making sure that Tom wasn't dead or something last night after he fell asleep, left his phone in the truck, and thus forgot to call me back and was unreachable for a few hours while I was envisioning all sorts of unpleasant happenings. So, thanks, guys for returning the bejesus to me.
Carriage room door still isn't fixed - somehow I'm not surprised. I think I'll give it another week and then maybe take a trip to the housing office...again. Because this really sucks and I'm just waiting to get bitched at for taking my bike through the lobby and scratching up the doorjambs as I try to hold the door, manuever the bike, and keep my backpack out of the way all at the same time. And what will my response be, you ask: "Fix the damn door you lazy bastard! And while you're at it, sweep the back stairs before the dust bunnies start attacking my dog. And re-hang the bulletin board in the laundry room. And fix the light in the hallway. And put a chain of decent length on the lightbulb in the cargo elevator so hopping up and down in the damn rickety-ass thing isn't necessary to be sure that the bulb is indeed dead. And put some freakin' WD-40 on the doors around here." I mean, the man gets an apartment (for free or reduced rent) in exchange for maintaining the building - is it so much to ask that he actually do his damn job? I still can't believe the manager at housing told me that many people in the building look on him as a "father-figure" - a drunken abusive father maybe... Ahh, well.

2003-09-04T17:58:00.000-05:00

Wee-hoo! The streets are no longer safe. I am now the proud owner of a fairly old (and that is a reasonable chronological assessment, as I am an archaeologist) slightly rusty Sears women's bike. Wicked old school style! Twenty-five bucks! The only problem being that while you never forget how to ride a bike, you can get really bad at it as I discovered on the way back to my apartment. (Wobble, wobble, wobble...shit!) The other problem being that the lock on the exterior door to the carriage room is broken, which means walking my bike through the first door into the ante-room to the lobby, then through the locked door into the lobby, and then through the locked exterior door into the carriage room (and back again to get out). God knows how long it's been that way or how long it will stay that way. There is a sign on the door inside the carriage room. How thoughtful. Tomorrow, I get to practice riding again, hopefully I won't show up to work dripping blood all over the place. Hee hee!

2003-09-02T17:36:00.000-05:00

Oooh, boring post! Went to work. Still no photos. People want to kill me. Too bad. Got my new Citibank cards with my new name on them. Yay! Sittin' here drinking me a Mother Fuckin' Grape Soda Okay, so it actually says "M.F. Grape Soda" but what do you think M.F. stands for?

2003-08-28T19:05:00.000-05:00

Well, I am officially gainfully employed for the rest of the summer, despite problems with work-study. Yay! Finished my quota for the week yesterday, so I'm off until Tuesday. Yay! However, today was migraine day. Not-yay! And yesterday was Disaster Day for Chicago: 2 terrible wrecks and a shooting in a factory. Bad even for here. Shooting Crash 1 Crash 2

2003-08-25T23:41:00.000-05:00

I've just looked at my account status for U of C - mostly to be sure that my name change went through without something strange happening - like me suddenly being masculated (I have problems with that, if only I could actually pee standing up when it happens...) or something. Anyway, the university has finally entered the 20th Century (yes, I know, we're in the 21st) and put our bills online. Bills for the fall quarter were mailed out today. They are due on 19 Sept. I don't owe them anything, they owe me a refund. Here is my conundrum: I would be expected to pay them on or before 19 September if I owed them money, yet I am expected to wait until at least 29 September to get my damn refund check (and I will be fortunate beyond belief if I can get it then). If I didn't think it would result in my records suddenly showing that I had been eaten by a yak in Inner Mongolia and am therefore no longer eligible for financial aid, I would walk in and say:

"Give me my stipend, you bitches. It's my stipend. I earned it. See this gray hair? See it? I'm 23 damn it! Give it, give it now!!!!!!!!"

But we all know, that will only lead to erroneous reports of rampaging yaks in Mongolia.

2003-08-25T17:13:00.000-05:00

HOLY SHIZNIT!
So, I went back to work today. When I left in the middle of June there were approximately 30 photo orders waiting to be filled - i.e. prints needed to be made from negatives on file to send these unhappy people photos they'd been waiting to publish, etc. for quite a while (several months in some cases). I return to find the original 30 orders still waiting and at least 30 more added to the pile. Yes, there was someone handling my job while I was gone and yes, she is competent. It's just that we have one photographer for the entire OI, she only works part-time, and in-house requests get first priority. And she apparently goes on vacation every month or so - and no, she's not a student.
As if that wasn't enough fun, my work-study paperwork for the summer was waiting for me in my office. When I left work at 3:30, I went to the work-study office to turn in the paperwork to be informed that work-study jobs are supposed to end on August 30 - this Saturday. They will not resume until September 29. I have no money. Oh god, oh god, oh god! So, I run back across campus to the OI looking for the financial officer, who is in a meeting. Then I run into my boss and explain the problem (quite calmly considering that I really, really have no money!) We go tripping off to find some of the other work-study students in the building and find out that for the month that we don't get paid through work-study, the OI picks up the tab. Or something like that. So, though I won't know for sure until tomorrow, I'm still gainfully employed, though I won't get paid until the 5th of September. But rent and parking and a few other bills are due on the 1st. Shiznit, I say. Shiznit!

2003-08-21T00:02:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I decided to move the blog to my U of C account, which was most entertaining, because it wouldn't take it. After much despair on the phone with Tom, I discovered Don was online and begged for assistance. Don logged in and apparently changed nothing, yet it worked for him. Apparently, my logging in and out of Blogger was enough to fix everything. How aggravating. At least it's fixed...

2003-08-20T23:48:00.000-05:00

this is another test, to be sure that Don doesn't just have weird mojo

2003-08-20T23:44:00.000-05:00

This is a test. Don.

2003-08-20T22:34:00.000-05:00

So, lot's of other people have one, so I thought I'd make a blog too. Because I'm lazy and inept, it's being hosted by Blogger, with ads. So sorry. Today was uneventful, I slept off the effects of yesterday. Yesterday was not so much fun. Got to Chicago, having driven all night greeted by the news that this was to be the hottest week of the year. Moved all my stuff back in. Put in my air conditioner, making two of my fingers resemble grated cheese in the process by inadvertently grabbing the back of the AC. Discovered my toliet was leaking every time I flushed it and had to get Andy, the scary yelling Polish man up here to fix it, then had to wait around for him to return with the parts. Oreo has decided that he doesn't want to walk anymore and just lies on the grass when he's decided he's done enough, but is fine when we return to the apartment. Oh, what fun. Oh, and because I suck, I had to duct tape all around the air conditioner - I guess it's TROI safe now...
Also, have been treated to numerous broadcasts of Ozzy's rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at a recent Cubs game.