Snow Day!

Was warned by my pop yesterday to make sure I have plenty of food and supplied for the incoming snow storm. Ha. It never snows here, people just freak out and buy all the water and milk and then nothing happens. So I went to sleep last night figuring I would get up early and read some before class. I woke up to a call from one of my cohort asking if school was still a go. And outside my window was beautiful snow...and even now in the early afternoon it is still snowing! It snowed so hard and the wind blew so much last night that my recycling bin, sitting by my door and protected by the covered walkway, has a thin covering of snow on it. Good thing I went to the store a couple of days ago, I have plenty of soup and grilled cheese and mt dew to last me until it melts. Which will probably be tomorrow. But I did go out and play a bit and made a snowball. Ah snow days. Reminds of elementary school and praying the night before that God would just please please let school be canceled.




We have a new president today and I found myself getting choked up a little as the procession made their way to their seats. So many people standing out in the cold watching this, even if they can't really see it without the jumbotrons. The mall is covered with people. Amazing when it's even colder up there. The big thing though will be how Jon Stewart is going to be able to make fun of this tonight on The Daily Show.

The Mysteries of Town Creek

So in my research of the Town Creek group - hopefully the early Mississippian group will be my thesis people - I come across this picture of one of the Siouan burials on the site. The Siouans were a different culture group (made up of different tribes) that moved into Town Creek after the Mississippian inhabitants had left. You can tell this from a number of things - one of them is through burial practices. The Mississippian group buried their dead in a slightly flexed (usually the lower limbs were folded or bent) or completely extended position along cardinal directions (some angle of N-S) with their heads angled East or West.

The Siouans buried their dead in the fetal position, completely flexed. While a lot of Southeastern US groups buried their dead in this position, the interesting thing about this picture is the clay cover that retained the impression of the skeleton. The really interesting thing is that another blogger (http://gulahiyi.blogspot.com/2008/11/clay-sepulchres-along-cullasaja.html) posted some historical documents of Western Carolina settlers finding burials with clay lids. I had originally thought that those reports were anomalies, now it looks like, for the Siouan groups, it was a common practice.

(Picture is from the master's thesis of Martha Graham)

The arm bone is connected to the hand bone is connected to the I need some sleep bone

Osteology test and rough draft of my environmental archaeology paper on the decline of Cahokia due tomorrow...going to be a long night. But at least there is Grey's Anatomy and the hot army dr, so that should be a good time to take a break.

It's cold, officially, and I am layering up because Florida definitely thinned my blood out. All the trees are showing some amazing colors. Walked by the big white oak when taking out the recycling and couldn't help but kick the thick cover of leaves on the ground like I was 5. We had a tree just like it across the road at the last place we lived in WV when I was a kid, and for a minute I was right back there standing across the street, getting ready for the bus...feeling how cold it was. Funny how little things like that can trigger sensory memories.

Working on getting the money together for my Thai field school...whoohoo digging up bones. If you would like to donate to the cause, I accept cash, checks, and all major credit cards : )

Yay for November, I can listen to Christmas songs now without feeling like I am starting too early and I think I may put up my tree soon. If ABC Family can start their countdown to the 25 days of Christmas countdown next Sunday, then I can start singing carols.

Back to work....

Everyone needs to take a deep breath

If you have read a few of my earlier posts, you probably know I am a fan of Obama and I am excited about the turnout of the election yesterday. BUT...I am worried about all of the incredibly negative messages I see on my friends' and family's facebook pages - people who are worried about the beginning of socialism and the end of America.

This is a difficult time for our country...we are losing jobs and homes and carefully invested retirements and college savings. There are people in this world that really do want to hurt us. And for a lot of people, Obama was an unknown and unwanted choice - not because he was Black- but because some of his polices and his rhetoric (and lets face it - a really good smear campaign trying to label him socialist/Marxist) made people nervous. I don't agree with these fears, but that doesn't mean they aren't legitimate. NOW - that does not mean they are entirely accurate - but it does mean that people are nervous and scared about the direction the country could go in and they don't trust Obama.

I'm sorry there is a lack of trust for him and I am sorry that there is so much animosity between conservatives and liberals - as a conservative liberal, I think Obama will turn out to be more centrist than people think, which is good for such a diverse country as ours. And he is no dove that will call the troops back from everywhere - I can only pray that he listens to the men on the ground in Iraq because we can't afford to lose the ground we have gained - we have a moral obligation and duty to leave that country better than when we first arrived. But you will see - liberals and conservatives - a stepped up program in Afghanistan...and some of you liberals will be pissed. But there, we also have an obligation to help...and we have a few people we need to find.

But the bigger thing right now - more than an historic election, more than worries about becoming Communist - is that we have major issues going on in this country that need attention and we need to come together and fix them. That means that even if we disagree about economics or social issues - we need to put those aside and remember that we all live here, together.

People will probably say - well, thats easy for you, your guy won. Honestly...honestly...if McCain had won, I would be saying the same thing. Granted, I would be all down in the mouth and sad right now, but I would suck it up...because my country is more than the issue of McCain or Obama, abortion, or the war in Iraq. However you voted on Tuesday - you voted for America...and we will be fine. That means liberals need to not be douches and gloat and call McCain supporters racist. And conservatives need to realize that some of the stuff said on the campaign trail about a turn towards socialism (and is this the 50's again all of a sudden? don't we remember the awfulness of McCarthyism?) are inaccurate and was done to scare you.

Everyone just needs to take a deep breath. We are going to be fine, but we all need to work together. I am no fan of Bush, but he's my president. And in January, Obama will be all of our president. This is democracy, this is what we stand for as a country.

Obama rally yesterday was awesome. He made some really good points about the economy and came off really strong about defense and taking care of our troops. His ideas about encouraging people to enlist or otherwise volunteer for some sort of national service are important. I especially liked his emphasis on making college affordable, as a broke college student I am all ears. He ties this in with national service - he wants higher education to be attainable for everyone, but those that join the military or the peacecorp should have their college paid for and college work study should be used as a way to volunteer in the community. This is all well and good and I support it, but I need a little help paying for grad school.

It was really cool to be part of one of the largest crowds in NC that he has had so far - 20 to 30,000 people showed up. It feels like all the stories you hear about the '60s - its like a movement...like something different and exciting and good is just around the corner. I have never been so emotionally invested in a campaign and if he loses...ugh, I'm going to be dissappointed and heartbroken. But no matter who wins, everybody has got to suck it up and come together because its going to be a tough job getting this country back on track.

Anyway, Christmas is just around the corner and I have already started watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas - makes me feel warm and fuzzy and I can't wait for the season to start (which happens right after Halloween is over).

Civic Duty

I voted today, am very excited because it's my first national election and, aside from this year's primaries, my first election in general. Doing it early was pretty easy and there was only a small line - which was actually kind of exciting because there you are getting ready to exercise your right to vote and your surrounded by 20 or so of your countrymen getting ready to do the same thing.

So, I'm feeling very connected and part of the process right now. Yay, for being an American : )

Remember to go vote!

Wednesday can't get here fast enough

I have purposefully kept politics out of my posts becuase its a polarizing subject and I think that we need to have more unity now a days....also, I don't want to lose the little viewership that I have based on different points of view..yeah, I'm being a tool, whatever.

BUT! This I have to share and will hopefully be posting video of later...I am going to see Barack Obama on Wednesday!! I know some people don't like him and even I disagree with some of his ideas (not a huge fan of his Iraq pull out plan, though his idea to encourage more community involvement is good)...but I have never felt so energized and hopeful (though that's really cliche now) than I have during this campaign. It feels like we are on the edge of huge change in this country - and I feel like he can take us in an amazing and positive direction.

Plus, his mom was an anthropologist (cultural) who did her fieldwork in the Philippines on blacksmiths..crazy specific. So he's an anthropology baby...which doesn't have anything to do with running the country, but I think is a neat connection.


Can't wait till Wednesday!!