anti-Blondie dissertation

Don't get me wrong. I love Debbie Harry and Blondie as much as the next person. But I have to draw the line at that awful, awful song some of you might know as "Rapture." I don't think I need to go into much detail about why I hate this particular song. I am quite sure that most people, minus the karaoke crowd of America, can agree that this song just plain stinks. However, it is believed by many that this is the first "rap" song to hit the charts. I will agree that it is the first song to incorporate elements of disco and hip hop. I will gladly give them credit for that. Why anyone in their right mind would want to is beyond me. But this twiggy, two-toned blond, Miami turned Jersey girl was not the first to rap and hit the charts. No, no. Instead these guys are of the pioneers with the corner market on that claim to fame.
With their hit single "Rapper's Delight." This song was one of the 1st hip hop songs to hit the charts and the first hip hop song to ever go gold. So, as far as I am concerned, Blondie can suck it in this regard. Still keep in mind that I am otherwise a Blondie fanatic. However, it upsets me to no end when white folk are able to co opt what communities of color have been doing for ages, make it popular, turn a pretty profit, and get street cred for it. Kinda like this guy...

Elvis wasn't the father of rock n' roll! He simply brought "colored" music into the spotlight of mainstream America. But I will save my Elvis rant for another time and place.

For now, be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

This I believe...

I believe what's good enough for National Public Radio is good enough for me...

This marks the first installment, in a number yet to be specified, of "This I Believe: The Wild Goose Chases and Whimsical Fantasy That I Center My Life Around"

I believe in fairy tales and carbohydrates. I believe in flights of fancy and bouts of binge drinking. I believe in unicorns and love, and John Denver above. I also believe in Diamonds. Not the sparkly gems that justify the drilling and de-beautification of South Africa by De Beers, but instead the Diamonds that have brought pleasure to the cohorts of my generation.

Dustin and Mike Diamond.

After seeing the Beastie Boys in May and watching Celebrity Fit Club on television the other night, I was completely overtaken with a desire to believe that these two are in fact brothers. Mike and Dustin's noses, chins, and current hair do's bear a striking resemblance. It could only be true, right? This desire turned obsession managed to keep me awake for an entire hour before I began obsessing about my financial situation. When I awoke the next day,I cruised the interweb and located a few websites that backed up my theory. Let me tell you, I was thrilled. Just think, if the "D-man" is in fact packing heat (like he announced on Celebrity Fit Club) then maybe Mike D's nuts do in fact warrant a lyrical shout out!

Currently my roommate, queen of BuzzKilLandia, has been completely overtaken with a desire to make me to believe that this is all an elaborate hoax. She, too, found websites that make her nay saying credible. However, i currently don't give a rats ass. Maybe I wanted the connection to be real so badly that I only looked at websites that confirmed my suspicions, but what the hell does Wikipedia know anyway? They let people like this guy write up rodomontades about their notoriety and vast fame. I know this guy. The only thing he is notorious for is saying stupid shit like "i'm your ticket into the scene" and for making air paddles when he walks. He's a nice guy who perfectly proves the non-truthiness of wikipedia.


I digress. Back to the lecture at hand:

This I believe: the two Diamonds are siblings and if I have have the fortune of one day meeting Mike D I plan on asking him: "do you remember that one time when you were Screech's brother? Was that a hoax?"

Important Immigration Event in Seattle

People of Seattle, I pity the fool who does not come to this event. Serena Maurer is an amazing teacher at the UW who actively challenges the pedagogy of institutionalized learning. If you do not have the opportunity to take any of her classes, then I highly recommend your attendence.

"I am Not a Criminal!": Immigration, Security and Resistance,"

July 18th, 6:30-8:30 pm
New Freeway Hall
5018 Rainier Ave S. Seattle WA


Please join us for a conversation about the characterization and treatment of immigrants as criminals. This evening is being organized by the Women Studies Department at the University of Washington. Washington Community Action Network is co-sponsoring the conversation.


Moderator and participants:

Serena Maurer, Instructor in Women Studies and 2006 graduate of our PhD Program. Her dissertation research in the Yakima Valley focused on how notions of immigration and criminalization were tied together in resisting struggles for recognition and resources.

Shankar Narayan, Policy Director at Hate Free Zone

Maria Rivera, a local immigrant activist

Maru Villalpando, a Community Organizer with Washington Community Action Network (Washington CAN!).

See you there!!

color me excited

So far the summer of Shanny has been a bit lackadaisical to say the least. However, it is about to get super rad.
The first item on my agenda is to take vacation. What better way to get motivated than to take a break from doing nothing, right? I agree completely and so does my favorite person, HW.
At around 7pm, he and I will be hop into a shiny rental car and rocket north east past the Canadian line. To this lovely place:

Banff, Alberta!!! Banff is located in the Canadian Rockies. We will hike and bike aboot Banff National Park. Then, after a long day of activity, we will soak in mineral hot springs. HOORAY!!!
When we get back, I will get started on my doula and LSAT prep. not so hooray, but still productive and being productive is fun fun fun.

school's out for summer...

Last wednesday was my first and only final of the quarter and my last final of the 2006-2007 school year. It was for the most difficult class I have taken during my college career--PsychoBiology of Women with Professor Nancy J Kenney. She has an extremely unorthodox teaching style that makes the important information she teaches come across as interesting. She also demands that you put in a lot of study hours for her tests, because they are HARD! I thoought I had done so for the first 2 tests and all I got was a big, fat B on both! So I studied my ass off for the final. I dilligently went through practice tests circiling the correct answers and writing down why the other options were incorrect. It was intense. However, when the day of the test came I was not surprised by any of the questions--I owned the material. On this test my grade was quite different. I got an:
Hip Hop Hooray!! This boost in my test score, combined with my service learning work, got me a 4.0 in the class. And incidentally, I earned a 4.0 for the entire quarter. This brings my cumulative GPA up to a 3.9, a very respectable GPA to be applying to law school with.
So now I go enter into the Summer of Shanny with no worries or regrets and will actually be able to

kittens

If my cats got any cuter...

...i might just hack up a fur ball.

i doula like this, i doula like that....

i doula with a wiffle ball bat.

well, not yet anyway. but i will. I just enrolled at the Seattle Midwifery School for postpartum doula training in August.
Doulas perform support for mothers throughout the birthing process and beyond. Doulas are part of a prevalent birthing movement which promotes the importance of recognizing birth as an empowering experience in a woman's life.
After my training, I will focus on the postpartum--
helping a mother adjust to breast feeding.

changing dirty diapers.

and just generally supporting new mom upon her return home.

I am really excited about this opportunity to take what I am learning in school and apply it to my life.
not many people get to say that, right?
anyway, i wanted to share my excitement with my pool of virtual friends.
yay!

top ten reasons to blog

this post is for one person in particular. in my blog he goes by harpo and/or the harp whisperer (HW for short). i digress...

10. it increases your international exposure and your chances of being the future US diplomat to Latvia.
9. your special lady/your fucking lady friend will have another avenue with which to pester you throughout the day.
8. you can keep the world apprised of your bike maintenance.
7. surely there is at least one person on the planet whom wants to be exposed to your rants and whom currently isn't--let this person find you.
6. you'll be plugged into a community of people doing whatever they can to avoid putting on pants.
5. you will leave a legacy for future anthropologists to use while speculating the demise of the human race.
4. you can, so why not?
3. blogging is sexy.
2. you need diverse feedback re: your capacity models for seattle transportation and what better venue than the interweb?
1. the world deserves to know what all those recycle codes on the bottom of plastic bottles REALLY mean.

anybody else have any shining reasons why HW should blog? leave a comment!!!

a collection of cheap locks

I have become a collector of sorts. I'm not really like most collectors who seek out particular items that bring joy into their lives. No, I'm the type that leaves the house and gets to my final destination missing something I simply can't do without. This morning it was my bike lock. I rode all the way to school and the second I rode up to Schmitz Hall, I remembered that I had forgotten to put it in my bag. So, I had to ride around the U-district looking for a place to get a new lock, because there was no way in hell I was going to risk leaving my bike unlocked on the Ave ALL DAY. I am now the proud owner of a cheap master lock that someone could sneeze on and have a fairly good chance of getting it open. but to look on the bright side, it will be handy for securing my tire to my frame. ...
In conclusion, the last few days have been marked by empty headedness and I am at the end of my patience with myself.
That is all.
Good day.

ha!

knitting M read the post below and though i was going to say i was pregnant!
no way, jose.
i thought it was funny though. ...

28 days

It didn't occur to me until now the reason why I have been so tired lately. Granted there have been some extenuating circumstances over the last month, but i think i have discovered the root of the problem. it is nearing the end of my last quarter of my first year at the UW in the women studies department. in fact, there are only 28 days until my last final of the year. less then 28 days to take 2 more tests, write a personal statement, re-write 3 papers, write 2 new papers, write another set of journal entries and all this while having a nervous breakdown.

where will i ever find the time?

if i hit the switch, i can make the ass drop

so, i have a different rubric than ice cube for determining whether a day is a good day or not. he and i have very different life styles. for instance, i never have to use my A.K. so, if i went by mr. cube's logic, every day would be a good day. and while that sounds good on paper, life would be pretty boring without bad days. right?
anyway. when i woke up this morning, i knew i was going to have a good day. shortly after rubbing the sleep from my peepers, i found i'd been sleeping with a man and i had no idea where he came from! most people would rush to a clinic to get tested for STDs. lucky for me the man i found in my bed was dead. this might not be a reassuring idea for everyone either, but it is when the dead guy you find in your bed is mr. jackson.

i also realized today that i did not get charged for the bus pass that was stolen from me a couple weeks ago.
and to top it all off it was nice and sunny today.
i guess if i'd had to use my A.K. at any point during these events, today might not have been so good.
so i guess ice cube isn't completely irrelevant in my life. ...

you can't hold a grudge against a dog

no matter how much you don't want to get up in the morning. even my brother the grizzly bear can't be angered when roused from his sleep by this little pooch.

and this is why i love dogs. ...

biking for beers

while most of the world was recognizing sunday as a day of rest, i was pedalling my little heart out. ...
L-nutz,my best friend's girl, the harp whisperer, and myself rode all day long. HW and I started at the beginning of the Burke-Gilman Trail and met up with friend 1 and friend 2 a little further along. We continued our bike trek to where the Burke stops and the Sammamish River Trail picks up.
Did we stop there? That is an excellent question and the answer is NO. We continued the ride to our final destination in Woodinville: the Red Hook Brewery. Our reward for the long haul was beer. As an adult I've found beer is the only thing that justifies rigorous toil. the beer was delicious, as was the veggie burger that i ate in virtually one bite. The lemon cheesecake was nothing to sneeze at either. Before we got back on our bikes we made the realization that by the time we got home we would have rode approx 41 miles. On the ride home everyone else seemed to have the energy of 1000 warriors, but I was pretty beat and assumed my position in the rear. there was a point after getting back on my bike that i could feel myself begin to melt down. i began to feel upset and wanted to cry, but i didn't know why. luckily i had enough wits about me to call it what it was--fatigue. Throwing my bike on the ground and throwing a fit was not going to get me home any faster and that is all i really wanted. So, I sucked it up and kept going. This is what i am most proud of myself for.
When I arrived home I had just about enough energy for an hour or so of TV. I was hoping I'd have it in me to finish watching Babel, but I could only muster up the energy to watch a PBS special on dogs and eat leftover enchiladas.
I was asleep by 10pm and did not manage to get out of bed until 9:30am. I was sore, hungry and tired after my day of burning 900+ calories. I was convinced that I was going to give myself a rest before putting myself through anymore physical exertion. so, biking up the monster that is Queen Anne hill to get to work was absolutely out of the question--especially considering how saddle sore I was.
Anyway, here I am blogging, sweaty and hungry. ... I ended up riding to work against my better judgement.
time for eats!!

Pom Pom's not Bomb Bomb's

BLOOD, SWEATS AND CHEERS: 10 YEARS OF RAHRAH RADICAL CHEERING

Pom Pom’s Not Bomb Bombs- • Do we make an impact politically? • Action brag book, or I can’t believe you got away with that! • What was your favorite protest, and why? • How does creative street theatre allow you to express your politics? • How do the physical movements and choreography of radical cheerleading affect the way you participate in and feel about political action? Have you or your squad ever written your own cheer? If so, send it to us!
You Too Can Be a Cheerleader! NO TRYOUTS!!! • Where/when did you first see radical cheerleading? •What made you want to be a part of a radical cheerleading squad? • How old were you when you first started cheering, and do you still cheer? • How is radical cheerleading empowering?
We're here we cheer get used to it! Sex, Gender, and Politics • What were/are the gender politics of your squad? • Is radical cheerleading for everyone?
White Girls Gone Wild • How are race and class accounted for in radical cheerleading? • Why does radical cheerleading appeal to _____________ people? •What did your squad look like and why?
Here Come the Cameras and the TV crew • How do radical cheerleading (and performance activism) generate media attention? • Does publicity help or hurt your message? • Which stunts and antics worked, and which didn’t?
Radical cheerleading and fashion. • Pleated skirts and pom poms: Does radical cheerleading ever reproduce the politics or aesthetics it attempts to mock and reject? Queerleaders, jeerleaders, cuntleaders, raging grannies. How radical cheerleading is part of a larger movement of creative protest. (Queerleaders, jeerleaders, cuntleaders, raging grannies.)
Is radical cheerleading 3rd wave? • Is it DIY? When, how and where does it get out of a certain scene?
Do you have a personal collection of radical cheerleading memorabilia? What does it look like?.

Deadline is June 1, 2007. Send your photos, artwork, personal stories, academic essays, manifestos, cheers, collages, sound files, and more to: radicalcheerleaders@gmail.com - or - Francis Goldin Literary Agency 57 E. 11th Street, Suite 5B New York, NY 10003 Attn: Radical Cheerleading Visit us at www.myspace.com/radicalcheerleadingbook All accepted contributors will receive a copy of the book and financial compensation. The editors – Brackin Firecracker, Cara Jennings, and Jeanne Vaccaro – are represented by the politically progressive Francis Goldin Literary Agency in New York City (goldinlit.com). PASS IT ON.

why is my baby cousin so dern cute?

we may never know for sure. ...

califonia dreaming. ...

this week has been as exhausting as i expected. i'm trying to be my dad while he's not here and he's kind of the gofer of the family--he does all the grunt work. so, i've been making breakfast and other meals; cleaning, the yucky bathroom that looked like it got hit by a serious shit storm, the dishes--these people make some serious dishes; and folding laundry.
as well, i've had personal things to keep up with. I have a paper due for class tomorrow and i'm the schedule writer for the yarn barn.
i've also been quiet busy visiting with my cousins. this part of the family can out drink a fleet of sailors. now i know where my dad gets it from.
good news is that all this crazy business has kept me from getting sad. so that's all good. i'll be home friday.

12:23am

my grandmother passed. ...

hindsight and beyond

there are lots of subtle nuances that go by unnoticed and then a life-changing event happens and you can see all those things lining up as would be premonitions and think why didn't i see this coming. ...?
over the last year i've been having many dreams of my grandma with her dyed-brown afro, in the warm sun, preparing a picnic. she is in a brown pair of polyester koulats and has chanklas on her feet. for the most part, i only see her from the waist down and am mesmerized by her smooth, tan legs. i'm guessing i'm a child in these dreams, or at least have a childlike perspective. i usually wake up from these dreams feeling cheated, because i don't get to have that grandma ever again. i don't get to resent her for sticking her nose in my business and i don't get to yell at her. i also don't get to sit next to her while she reads romance novels and i definitely don't get to sneak into her stash of fresh homemade tortillas.
last week i had a dream that she was in her hospital bed and she was not well. i was there, but i wasn't. it was very different from the dreams i'm used to having about her and i didn't feel any better about it. for some reason, every time my dad called this week i was afraid something had happened to her.
well, i got the call yesterday. she's begun throwing fits. she has ripped off her clothes and refuses to put them back on. she acts like the water forced down her throat burns. she's not eating. ...
up until a week ago she had an appetite twice as large as mine. now she maybe eats a portion of applesauce in a day. she's on heavy doses of morphine and in hospice care.
i look at the last month and think, why did i not plan for this. it seems so obvious to me now. but i could never plan for something this tragic. you just can't foresee this sort of thing.
anyway, i'm flying out in about 12 hours to be with my family and wait for her to go. it may not happen while i'm there, but it will happen soon.
and yesterday was beginning so nicely. i should have known seeing ted leo twice in one week would upset the gods. now i know better. ...

a shout out to my homies in Riga

i am nothing if not a voyeur. i think modest mouse wrote a song about me. because as a rule i am watching you watch me watch you right now... no, i am not a stalker, but i do pay close attention to the people who are looking at my blog on a regular basis. typically i see what i would expect to find: a lot of people viewing from seattle or other places where i have relations in the US. what amazes me are the number of people viewing from around the globe. it makes me curious to know what my global counterparts think of this ranty american bird. anyway, i decided to highlight an area where people are viewing in high numbers. this is an area that rarely creeps into my american consciousness and i thought maybe it should. and while i'm at it, i might as well bring you along. ...
So join me for "Latvia, This is Your Life."
Riga is the largest city in the Baltic States and the capital of Latvia. It is a one night train ride from Moscow or St. Petersburg. Latvia is a member of EU and you do not need a visa.

Riga is a beautiful European city with over than 800 years of history. It is an old town with narrow streets which offer you the spirit of the Middle Ages. There are many historical monuments and numerous cafes and restaurants where you can find both Latvian and European food. Riga has a great colorful farmer's market, beautiful parks, and good shopping. If you are lucky, you may attend an organ concert in Dome Cathedral and listen to one of the best organs in Europe.
Natural resources include peat, limestone, dolomite, hydro power, wood, and arable land.
Here's a link for more statisticsThe World Factbook
Tourism appears to be gaining steam in this area. My suggestion is pick up a translation book, commission a guide and go.
and remember: TODAY IS THE DAY WE CELEBRATE LATVIA!!!!