Back from Blogging Hiatus...

I know it has been a long time since I last blogged.... In that time, apparently the world didn't pause itself to wait for me.

In Canada the word "prorogue" suddenly entered everyone's vocabumalary. Obama is in the White House, a historic and relatively positive development (since even if his politics are pretty centrist, he looks damn progressive next to the Bush & Co). The oscillating denial and alarmism about the impending recession has settled into a degree of acceptance.

As for me, I finished my MA, took a trip to Havana and am now back and working on setting up a new organic farm. Maybe I'll start a PhD in September (if they'll have me).

If I have any readers left, I hope you'll come on by from time to time for some chitchat, discussion and political wrangling

Why I Study History

When I was younger (19 or so) I had an.. um... let's just call it a mind-expanding experience. It became so clear to me all of a sudden just how far we as a society are from our roots, or from our foundations. I mean this in a pretty concrete way. From a handful of extended family tribes living close to the earth, we built up these incredibly complex civilizations - technology, religion, bureaucracy, global transportation, trade, electronics, communications. We take it all for granted: cities, highrises, airplanes, universities, supermarkets. But most of it is pretty new.

Catastrophe is always lurking around the corner, as a potentiality. Climate change is one likely trigger for many potential catastrophes, and it is possible that our civilization will end with it. Think about Rome. It was around for a thousand years, and it fell. In post-Roman Britain, for instance, with nobody to maintain the infrastructure in the cities there was hunger and plague. People pretty much abandoned the cities and went back to barely scratching out a living, with small scale subsistence farming. These were what we know as the Dark Ages. If it could happen then, it can happen now. And eventually it will. That is certain; the time frame and causes are less so.

Humans have found and continue to find many solutions to the problems of survival. We must fulfill our needs for shelter, food, companionship, etc. But we have a lot of flexibility in exactly how we do this. The incredible variety and creativity of solutions that people have found become apparent when studying in a field like history (and probably anthropology, too). I love learning how different peoples have organized their societies: the religions and culture and social structures, the ethics and cuisine and mythologies.

In addition, if there are so many different ways we have organized our societies, than that tells me that this particular one is not the immutable reality. That means there is also hope for change. We can do things differently, because we have already done them differently in the past. I wrote a whole theoretical paper going into this in more detail - if anyone is interested, I can post it here (here, actually).

As some of you know, I'm currently working on an MA in History (and International Relations) and considering applying to do a PhD. Problem is, I am interested in everything and have such trouble deciding what to focus on. But I'm pretty sure at least that I want to stay in the field of history.

Post #503

This is my five-hundred-and-third post on this blog. I started it in early 2005. Boy I have a lotta crap to say!

Nobody ever celebrates 503. Poor left out number. Let's have a toast to #503!

The Intrepid Explorer Returns, plus links about The Apology

As you may have noticed I have posted very little in the past few weeks. This is because I have been away exploring touristing the far reaches of the world Europe. Regular blog posting to resume shortly.

The big story today is the federal government's apology for the residential schools, and of course the disgusting remarks of Pierre Poilievre. This has been well covered both in the mainstream press and the blogosphere and I have nothing new to add, so I'll just list some good links.

The Toronto Star's coverage has been really good, with about 15 articles, plus videos. For instance: Why the apology matters to us all, Apology 'is not going to fix what happened', Native apology doesn't address grim reality, Apology alone cannot close a gaping wound.

Also check out Dawg's Blawg on the apology, TGB's It wasn't me! It wasn't me! and Stageleft's Apology Day. And don't miss the biting commentaries from Harper Valley (including her trademark graphics).

And on Pierre Poilievre, here's just a few select comments from Canadian Cynic, Scott Tribe, Liberal Catnip, and Just Another Willy Loman

Visiting the East Coast

lighthouse in maritimes
Originally uploaded by liyen (Incognito till August 24th)

Trippin to Halifax and area, leavin' today. Likely this will be a 10 day blog break, barring visits to internet cafes. Everyone play nice while I'm gone and if you have suggestions about where I should go, leave 'em in the comments. :)

In return for your feedback, there's a little something for you in this post

I know I haven't posted much lately, and nothing of substance for quite a while. This last push with work and school and 14 hour days has been wiping me out. As of Friday my schedule will be clearing up significantly and then I promise we will return to our regularly scheduled blog postings (probably more, actually).

Perhaps even a blog redesign. I'm tired of this template. So, here's me asking for your feedback. What kind of features would you like to see? Is my blog currently too cluttered, too plain? What kind of posts? More funny stuff, more commentary, more news, more photos, more videos? Or less of any of these? Any particular topics you'd like me to focus on? Let me know - I'm always interested in what you have to say!

In the meantime, here is your little something, as promised, courtesy of Deleted Images:

"The Junkyard of Art," resurrects digital photos that would have been erased from the hard drive of history. The photographers were shaky, or clicked the button accidentally, or were overzealous in an attempt to capture motion or night shots. But for some reason, the error-as-art conceit sort of works. Via <Neatorama>

How the Cult of Busy Protects Capitalism

I have a confession to make. The other day I was reading Ways to begin gutting Capitalism (and this - Strategies that have Failed), and the first thing that I thought was yeah, but who has TIME for this. Neighbourhood associations, local currencies, growing my own food, it all sounds great, but geez, there's practically no time to eat and sleep any more let alone adding all that face time with people. (I'm also kind of shy, but that's another issue altogether.)

As regular readers know, I'm quitting my job of 9 years and going back to school, and the more I think about it the happier I am about this decision. The truth is, I have a great job, with good pay, a fair bit of autonomy, and great co-workers. But it's not nourishing me. And I have no time to even contemplate a change in my daily routine, such as would be necessary to get more involved in my community. I used to be time rich and cash poor. Now, relatively speaking, I'm cash rich and time poor. I wouldn't really call that progress.

But it's hard to give up busy. There's a certain pride I take in my work and accomplishments, and having a schedule that isn't completely full feels, well, empty. But that's the whole point, isn't it? That unstructured time, that space in the interstices between appointments, is where the mind plays. That's where imagination, creativity, and problem solving all function their best.

So I know all of this, and I accept it. That's why I'm taking about six weeks off (well, I'm taking one class) before full time school starts, and looking forward to it. Despite this, I worry what others will think of me. People might think I'm an unproductive member of society, lazy, morally deficient, stupid, ungodly, whatever. What's this insecurity all about? See, somehow there's this equivalent between how hard a person works in the paid sphere, or how much money she makes, how busy she is, and her moral value. Oh, and the stuff she consumes - people who own BMWs and Audis are superior to people who take the bus, because clearly they work harder.

Let's wrap up. The measure of our moral character is equivalent to our busy-ness. Extra points for each hour of sleep debt incurred. Working so hard to buy more things that take up our time (video games, television, cars, big houses) leaves us us too exhausted to organize. How convenient for capitalism

I'm Now Officially a Thinking Blogger

Thanks to Politics Plus for the Thinking Blogger award.

Here are the rules:

1. If, and only if you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.
   
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
   
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (there is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).
   

Now the hard part. I have to choose 5 from the long list of amazing blogs I read. So, I've taken my daily read list, removed any that (as far as I could tell) had already been awarded this, and also very large and popular blogs. Here's my five, in no particular order:

Marginal Notes is one of my favourite feminist blogs. She takes no shit and I admire her for it.

A Canadian Lefty in Occupied Land for his long, well-reasoned, and thought-provoking posts.

Sand Gets in my Eyes, an American ex-pat in Saudi Arabia. From her I get a very different and valuable perspective on many issues.

Shmohawk's Shmorg helps me stay up to date on many underreported issues, especially pertaining to Aboriginals in Canada.

Thought, Interrupted by Typos not only has one of the best blog names out there, but has clear concise writing and a diverse set of topics.

There's many, many more. My blogroll is in need of an update.

Link Love

On account of Capitalist Propaganda 101 (uh, the Economics class I have to take before September), which I've recently added on top of my already stressful full time job, my posts have been short and sporadic. I just don't have time to craft many long and well-thought out posts. So, bear with me for the next month or so. Meanwhile, here's some good readin':

Thinking Girl's Feminism Friday - domestic goddess series, part 1: Nobody Likes a Blatant Simulacrum: Betty Crocker as a Marketing Technique, Guest Blogged by Shannon

My New Crush about Nassim Taleb and the perils of prediction. It doesn't seem to be loading right now, so you might need to try Google's Cache.

The Corporate Climate Coup by David Noble, and the accompanying controversy. How exactly does science fit into progressive politics and activism?

"Liberal" Types and Official Enemies via Thought, Interrupted by Typos.

The 39th Carnival of Feminism

Finally, More Interesting Stuff to Read from my feedreader - updated daily

That should keep you busy for a while. :)

Hooray, I'm Human

Hello,

Your blog has been reviewed, verified, and cleared for regular use so that it will no longer appear as potential spam. If you sign out of Blogger and sign back in again, you should be able to post as normal. Thanks for your patience, and we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

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The Blogger Team

I've never been so happy to see the orange "Publish Post" button

Google Thinks I'm Spam

force-feeding at guantanamo
Originally uploaded by Natasha Mayers

Blogger won't let me publish anything. Here's what they say:

Your blog is locked
Blogger's spam-prevention robots have detected that your blog has characteristics of a spam blog. (What's a spam blog?) Since you're an actual person reading this, your blog is probably not a spam blog. Automated spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and we sincerely apologize for this false positive.

I have to wait for a human being to review my blog before I can publish anything. WTF? I've had this blog for more than 2 years and now they think I'm spam? Their slogan should be "Blogger: driving you into the arms of Wordpress since 2005."

So in case you're wondering how you're reading this right now, and what's with the picture, I discovered I can still post through my flickr account. So, while you wait with bated breath until my next real post, enjoy the art show.

Last Night I Dreamt of War

Last night I dreamt of war. I dreamt the nameless, faceless attackers were getting close to my house. We needed to get away, and we weren't certain exactly how close they were.

The first moment of panic came when realizing that everybody would be trying to escape. If a whole city is emptying, we were likely to get stuck on the highway - it's like just waiting for certain death. I momentarily considered hiding in the basement, but couldn't stand the thought of waiting in the dark to be found and killed, not that way.

I was trying to pack things I would need in my backpack. My dream here slowed down as I tried to plan what to take. I was going through all the stuff that I surround myself with, the stuff that forms the nest which helps me feel at home. But with such scarcity of space, few things could be taken. That meant choosing between necessities and keepsakes. Is an extra pair of pants more important than a photo album?


Living as I do in the comfort of the peaceful Western World, I can't truly know what it must be like to have one's country invaded. One day to be going about your life, expecting the next day to be much the same, and then suddenly it all changes. No longer can you imagine your future. Survival becomes the only goal.

My nightmares are others' realities.

All I can do is imagine - try to open myself to experience just a little bit of the pain and terror and anger. I think my nightmares help me to be more empathetic. I have a lot of them (I'm recovering from PTSD) and in a weird way I think they help me to be a better human being.

Trying to understand things from the point of view of the other is so crucial, and yet I see such a lack of it from our so-called leaders. It's as if they are afraid to show there's more than one possible view or interpretation. Better to stick to what you're doing, even if what you're doing is walking off a precipice, I guess, then to say: "now that I'm closer to it and have a different perspective, I see this is a cliff, so I'm going to go the other way instead."

Perhaps positions of power simply attract particular personality types. After all, if no one suffers like George and Laura, you'd think they'd be a little more compassionate.

Happy Announcement

I'm going back to school!

As of September 2007, I'll be working towards my masters at U of T. I'll be taking the Collaborative M.A. in International Relations and History at the Munk Centre.

Travel & Blog Break

Going out of town. Won't be blogging for a week or so.