Tomorrow's the day. And I didn't realize I was so nervous. I ended up having a small panic attack in the dressing room of Old Navy. I have excellent timing ; ) Thank God for friends that can talk you down off the ledge and His good timing.
On the upside I find a nice sweater for cheap and my hands have mostly stopped shaking. Let's hope I can get everything under control by tomorrow at 9 am and that I don't throw up the bagel bribes I'm bringing in for my committee. Maybe I should just stay away from food altogether tomorrow morning.
On the upside, this whole process is mostly over. I'm looking forward to the enormous nap I'm going to take after everything is over tomorrow.
So at 9 am tomorrow, say a little prayer that everything goes smoothly and I don't fuck this whole thing up. ; )
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
One Week
One more week...this time next Monday, I will either be someone with a positively defended thesis or I will be crying into my textbooks looking up job openings for Target.
Say a prayer next Monday at 9 am!
Say a prayer next Monday at 9 am!
Friday, March 5, 2010
Cusp of Cara-what?
Well, here I am again. Yeah, I know it seems like I might be using this blog as a way to procrastinate my work, but I like to say my storm of posts is because of my previous months of neglect...of the three people (including my dad) who read this silly, narcissistic thing. : )
At least this time, I can share some fun knowledge. I'm working on my third case for my forensics class, sad this time because its a little baby. And for obvious reasons little kids are difficult to figure out for a couple of reasons. Small children are essentially the same sex-wise. This is because they haven't gone through puberty, which brings on the hormonal changes that instigate the muscular and skeletal changes that give indicators of male/female-ness.
I do use the word 'sex' here because we are talking about someone's sex which is a biological reference and not their gender, which is a cultural creation. 'Gender' goes beyond male and female - it gives social cues to indicate proper behavior and roles. 'Sex' is just about the plumbing.
So I can't figure out if its a boy or a girl, but aging is a lot easier in kids. This is because the timing of growth, while slightly variable between different populations, is pretty standard within populations. You can figure this out based on the formation and eruption of teeth and the amount of growth of skeletal elements.
Another element of information you are generally looking at forensically is ancestry. Now some anthropologists thing ancestry is essentially racist and it has been used in that vein in the past. But I am of the school that thinks trying to figure out the general places of a person's geographic history is only helpful in identifying this person. Further, some things, like estimating a person's stature, are group specific. I can't use equations that estimate height for a person of European descent and expect them to work for someone who was of Asian descent. So I think its fine to figure out ancestry. We are all the same species, but because our descent groups moved around, settled in certain places and adapted, we all look a little different. The funny thing is, while we Americans think of ourselves as mutts from whatever conglomeration of home countries, we actually are creating our own phenotype. There is an 'American' skeletal type. European Americans do not look like Europeans and the same goes for African Americans. There has been so much admixture between people from different countries that we are both culturally and skeletally American.
So when figuring out ancestry, there are certain traits that can point towards a certain broad geographic group. One I thought I saw was a Carabelli's Cusp. It is an extra cusp found on the molars of the maxilla (your top row of teeth) on the side facing the inside of your mouth. Go ahead and poke around with your tongue, if you feel an extra little bump on the side of your tooth, generally above the biting surface, you may have one. Ask your dentist the next time you go.
This trait is found in people of European descent among other groups. Prehistoric Japanese skeletons (Jamon period) have been found to have it in pretty high frequencies, too.
Well, I needed to make sure carabelli's was what I was looking at (it wasn't), so I googled this trait to figure out what it would look like in an infant. But I was surprised that the third return on my Internet search was a message board on a white supremacist website. Just as an FYI Google, you can ignore any hate group website returns when I surf the web. I don't care if they have the exact answer for what I'm looking for, it's ok, I'll find it some other way.
But what started this whole post was that I found myself reading this message board - yeah, I might be on some govt list now because I clicked over, I just wanted to know what they were saying about some random dental trait. I mean why would anyone besides anthro kids care? What they were discussing was that the carabelli's cusp can be used as an ancestry trait. And they saw it as proving their white-ness (see: questionable 'awesome superiority-ness').
So this does prove the point that ancestry can be used in a racist and discriminatory way. I see that. But lets look at it this way, anything can be used in a good v bad way. Cars, guns, superpowers. Ancestry skeletal studies are a tool that can help better understand our population similarities and differences, trace population movement, and identify skeletonized forensic cases. It's important and just because some people want to choose a few traits and say it shows how great they are, well, someone will always say they have 'stars on thars', it doesn't make them right.
But there were some inaccuracies in the few posts I read that I feel compelled, as an anthropologist and supporter of ethical ancestry skeletal studies, to clear up. They won't read this, it's silly to even get worked up about, but it's my blog and I can rant if I want to. ; )
The carabelli's cusp is found in higher percentages among groups of European ancestry, but it's also found in pretty high frequencies among Asian and Australian aboriginal groups. Not to mention the fact that, while not seen often, is found in African groups.
So congratulations, skinheads, you could be white! Or you could be something else entirely. Welcome to the wonderful world of tens of thousands of years of human migration and admixture. We really have no idea who our ancestors were sleeping with, just general ideas. My people are Irish (among other things), but they weren't always in Ireland.
At least this time, I can share some fun knowledge. I'm working on my third case for my forensics class, sad this time because its a little baby. And for obvious reasons little kids are difficult to figure out for a couple of reasons. Small children are essentially the same sex-wise. This is because they haven't gone through puberty, which brings on the hormonal changes that instigate the muscular and skeletal changes that give indicators of male/female-ness.
I do use the word 'sex' here because we are talking about someone's sex which is a biological reference and not their gender, which is a cultural creation. 'Gender' goes beyond male and female - it gives social cues to indicate proper behavior and roles. 'Sex' is just about the plumbing.
So I can't figure out if its a boy or a girl, but aging is a lot easier in kids. This is because the timing of growth, while slightly variable between different populations, is pretty standard within populations. You can figure this out based on the formation and eruption of teeth and the amount of growth of skeletal elements.
Another element of information you are generally looking at forensically is ancestry. Now some anthropologists thing ancestry is essentially racist and it has been used in that vein in the past. But I am of the school that thinks trying to figure out the general places of a person's geographic history is only helpful in identifying this person. Further, some things, like estimating a person's stature, are group specific. I can't use equations that estimate height for a person of European descent and expect them to work for someone who was of Asian descent. So I think its fine to figure out ancestry. We are all the same species, but because our descent groups moved around, settled in certain places and adapted, we all look a little different. The funny thing is, while we Americans think of ourselves as mutts from whatever conglomeration of home countries, we actually are creating our own phenotype. There is an 'American' skeletal type. European Americans do not look like Europeans and the same goes for African Americans. There has been so much admixture between people from different countries that we are both culturally and skeletally American.
So when figuring out ancestry, there are certain traits that can point towards a certain broad geographic group. One I thought I saw was a Carabelli's Cusp. It is an extra cusp found on the molars of the maxilla (your top row of teeth) on the side facing the inside of your mouth. Go ahead and poke around with your tongue, if you feel an extra little bump on the side of your tooth, generally above the biting surface, you may have one. Ask your dentist the next time you go.
This trait is found in people of European descent among other groups. Prehistoric Japanese skeletons (Jamon period) have been found to have it in pretty high frequencies, too.
Well, I needed to make sure carabelli's was what I was looking at (it wasn't), so I googled this trait to figure out what it would look like in an infant. But I was surprised that the third return on my Internet search was a message board on a white supremacist website. Just as an FYI Google, you can ignore any hate group website returns when I surf the web. I don't care if they have the exact answer for what I'm looking for, it's ok, I'll find it some other way.
But what started this whole post was that I found myself reading this message board - yeah, I might be on some govt list now because I clicked over, I just wanted to know what they were saying about some random dental trait. I mean why would anyone besides anthro kids care? What they were discussing was that the carabelli's cusp can be used as an ancestry trait. And they saw it as proving their white-ness (see: questionable 'awesome superiority-ness').
So this does prove the point that ancestry can be used in a racist and discriminatory way. I see that. But lets look at it this way, anything can be used in a good v bad way. Cars, guns, superpowers. Ancestry skeletal studies are a tool that can help better understand our population similarities and differences, trace population movement, and identify skeletonized forensic cases. It's important and just because some people want to choose a few traits and say it shows how great they are, well, someone will always say they have 'stars on thars', it doesn't make them right.
But there were some inaccuracies in the few posts I read that I feel compelled, as an anthropologist and supporter of ethical ancestry skeletal studies, to clear up. They won't read this, it's silly to even get worked up about, but it's my blog and I can rant if I want to. ; )
The carabelli's cusp is found in higher percentages among groups of European ancestry, but it's also found in pretty high frequencies among Asian and Australian aboriginal groups. Not to mention the fact that, while not seen often, is found in African groups.
So congratulations, skinheads, you could be white! Or you could be something else entirely. Welcome to the wonderful world of tens of thousands of years of human migration and admixture. We really have no idea who our ancestors were sleeping with, just general ideas. My people are Irish (among other things), but they weren't always in Ireland.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Wait, what?
Ok, so I know I just posted, but I noticed that the ad at the bottom of my blog (which makes me no extra money, thanks for giving me false hope of an easy income Adsense), is advertising for Single Seniors. What? No wonder I'm not making any money, there are apparently no single seniors reading my blog. I'm not sure if this is my failing for not appealing to a wider audience or if adsense has completely misinterpreted the eclecticism I promote here.
Sigh
I had a really good joke, well more like a funny pun featuring the patella, but all I can remember is the punchline which rhymed with the main part of the joke and ended with patell-ya. Let me reassure you, dear readers, that it was hilarious when I thought of it during my forensics class. If I ever remember it, I'll post it. One can only hope it happens soon as punny little things and a good laugh is the only thing getting me through the last few weeks. That and massive amounts of caffeine (and a weekly dose of cinnamon role, which is being discontinued this week as being both expensive on my poor grad student checkbook and counter-productive to the healthy kick I've been working on - who knew you couldn't lose weight while happily diving into a cinnamon sugar mountain every Tuesday?)
On the bright side, I'm pretty competent at forensics. Good to know I've absorbed some knowledge over the past two years.
Thesis defense is the last Monday of this month. Praise the Lord and pass the Pillsbury.
On the bright side, I'm pretty competent at forensics. Good to know I've absorbed some knowledge over the past two years.
Thesis defense is the last Monday of this month. Praise the Lord and pass the Pillsbury.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Things that make you go : (
So, the Hurt Locker. This is a good movie, but don't be fooled.
This man is very attractive. But he has a lot of issues. Issues that don't even include problems like this.
Or even this.
I guess this is kind of spoiler-ish, so you're forewarned. I had gotten the impression from some of the reviews that this was one of those 'man put in difficult position, survives, puts himself back in harm's way for the good of his men' kind of movies. Those are good films. Also good, Star Trek.
Unfortunately, this movie is not either of those. It's a little like The Kingdom, where it's intense and crazy (and on the HD pretty sweet) and you leave feeling like the world is a pretty dark and cold place. But mostly I just ended up feeling ambiguous towards the main character.
I was all set to really like him. He was hot and had a swagger. He was kind of cavalier about his job, but formula generally states that shit will happen, the team will come together, and the end will be some variation of puppies and rainbows. But, as it turns out, our hero has a major case of disassociation. I kind of wished he was the one talking to the shrink instead of the cute Specialist who we last saw as the guy that almost got shot by Jake Gylenhaal in Jarhead.
Which is kind of ironic considering that he actually gets shot by the main character in Hurt Locker.
But there is no talking to the shrink or working out issues or even enjoying the family. Our main character goes back to war, but he's not doing it out of a sense of duty or brotherhood or even because it's a job. Before he ships out again, our hero has a conversation with his infant son about how, as you get older, the circle of things you love will shrink until there is maybe only one or two things left. And that's the case for him, our hero only loves the bomb. Which is just amazingly sad.
It was a good movie, but I came away sad and upset with our main guy because you get the feeling that his issues are going to get someone killed someday. I think I need to watch some Star Trek and find my happy place again.
This man is very attractive. But he has a lot of issues. Issues that don't even include problems like this.
Or even this.
I guess this is kind of spoiler-ish, so you're forewarned. I had gotten the impression from some of the reviews that this was one of those 'man put in difficult position, survives, puts himself back in harm's way for the good of his men' kind of movies. Those are good films. Also good, Star Trek.
Unfortunately, this movie is not either of those. It's a little like The Kingdom, where it's intense and crazy (and on the HD pretty sweet) and you leave feeling like the world is a pretty dark and cold place. But mostly I just ended up feeling ambiguous towards the main character.
I was all set to really like him. He was hot and had a swagger. He was kind of cavalier about his job, but formula generally states that shit will happen, the team will come together, and the end will be some variation of puppies and rainbows. But, as it turns out, our hero has a major case of disassociation. I kind of wished he was the one talking to the shrink instead of the cute Specialist who we last saw as the guy that almost got shot by Jake Gylenhaal in Jarhead.
Which is kind of ironic considering that he actually gets shot by the main character in Hurt Locker.
But there is no talking to the shrink or working out issues or even enjoying the family. Our main character goes back to war, but he's not doing it out of a sense of duty or brotherhood or even because it's a job. Before he ships out again, our hero has a conversation with his infant son about how, as you get older, the circle of things you love will shrink until there is maybe only one or two things left. And that's the case for him, our hero only loves the bomb. Which is just amazingly sad.
It was a good movie, but I came away sad and upset with our main guy because you get the feeling that his issues are going to get someone killed someday. I think I need to watch some Star Trek and find my happy place again.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Technology is Amazing
Something pretty amazing happened the other day and I feel the need to share. To set the story, I have to give some background info....
Almost four years ago I graduated from college...holy hell, I graduated from college almost four years ago, ugh...anyway...so four years ago on my graduation I was given an iPod (wonderful). Using some grad money, I bought one of those fm transmitters that plugs into the bottom of the iPod so that my music would play through my car stereo. Necessary because my little Alero didn't have an auxiliary input.
The Griffin iTrip I bought (for 70 freking dollars), worked ok. I could listen to music, but it was often really static-y and had a hard time finding a signal. I became jealous of my friends' cars who had tape decks and could use the tape converter. So simple and easy. Why couldn't my car have a tape deck? (Actually it did, but then I switched it out for a CD player with no aux. input before graduation. Damn my lack of foresight!)
Fast forward to about two weeks ago when the piedmont of North Carolina suddenly decided it wanted to be like New York. Seven inches of snow fell. I realized I don't have the kind of cold weather clothing I really need, especially now that I'm trying to actually move to NY (or somewhere I can get a phd).
Well, while there was still snow and ice all around and my brother was out of school for most of the week, my college told me to suck it up and get to class. And there I was making my cold, but merry way to my car two Tuesday's ago, scratching the ice off my windows with a credit card (the thinking woman's ice scraper). As I'm getting my iPod ready for the drive, I realize I can't find the iTrip. I had just had it, literally, in my hand and remembered putting it in my backpack. But I can't find it. And for the next week it is nowhere to be seen.
Then comes Superbowl Sunday and I decide at 9 pm, when its dark and cold outside, that I MUST find this thing. And there I am outside with the flashlight, prepared to tear my car apart, thinking it must have fallen between the seats. As I tromping across the leftover ice, I see something just ahead of my car, in the place where I usually park. I'm thinking to myself that's weird, what is it? It's small. And black. And looks suspiciously, oh holy crap, its the iTrip.
It had apparently, fallen out of the backpack that previous Tuesday and sat outside in the cold and the snow and the rain for a full week. I googled my problem that evening to see if there was a way to fix it, but apparently I am the only person on the internet who has left their iTrip out in the snow for a week. I still feel that this is somewhat unlikely.
The next morning I have to drive to school again and I figure I might as well try and see if it will work. After plugging it in, Dave Matthews started playing through my speakers. ! ! ! Unbelievable.
So, the moral of this story is that I don't complain about my iTrip anymore, it's an amazing piece of technology. And if anyone is thinking of getting one I highly recommend Griffen...or an auxiliary input.
Almost four years ago I graduated from college...holy hell, I graduated from college almost four years ago, ugh...anyway...so four years ago on my graduation I was given an iPod (wonderful). Using some grad money, I bought one of those fm transmitters that plugs into the bottom of the iPod so that my music would play through my car stereo. Necessary because my little Alero didn't have an auxiliary input.
The Griffin iTrip I bought (for 70 freking dollars), worked ok. I could listen to music, but it was often really static-y and had a hard time finding a signal. I became jealous of my friends' cars who had tape decks and could use the tape converter. So simple and easy. Why couldn't my car have a tape deck? (Actually it did, but then I switched it out for a CD player with no aux. input before graduation. Damn my lack of foresight!)
Fast forward to about two weeks ago when the piedmont of North Carolina suddenly decided it wanted to be like New York. Seven inches of snow fell. I realized I don't have the kind of cold weather clothing I really need, especially now that I'm trying to actually move to NY (or somewhere I can get a phd).
Well, while there was still snow and ice all around and my brother was out of school for most of the week, my college told me to suck it up and get to class. And there I was making my cold, but merry way to my car two Tuesday's ago, scratching the ice off my windows with a credit card (the thinking woman's ice scraper). As I'm getting my iPod ready for the drive, I realize I can't find the iTrip. I had just had it, literally, in my hand and remembered putting it in my backpack. But I can't find it. And for the next week it is nowhere to be seen.
Then comes Superbowl Sunday and I decide at 9 pm, when its dark and cold outside, that I MUST find this thing. And there I am outside with the flashlight, prepared to tear my car apart, thinking it must have fallen between the seats. As I tromping across the leftover ice, I see something just ahead of my car, in the place where I usually park. I'm thinking to myself that's weird, what is it? It's small. And black. And looks suspiciously, oh holy crap, its the iTrip.
It had apparently, fallen out of the backpack that previous Tuesday and sat outside in the cold and the snow and the rain for a full week. I googled my problem that evening to see if there was a way to fix it, but apparently I am the only person on the internet who has left their iTrip out in the snow for a week. I still feel that this is somewhat unlikely.
The next morning I have to drive to school again and I figure I might as well try and see if it will work. After plugging it in, Dave Matthews started playing through my speakers. ! ! ! Unbelievable.
So, the moral of this story is that I don't complain about my iTrip anymore, it's an amazing piece of technology. And if anyone is thinking of getting one I highly recommend Griffen...or an auxiliary input.
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