Pages

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Quotable Quotes

So every now and then something gets said that should really be repeated, because it is really funny or just so horrible I have to tell someone about it. Here are three (hopefully I can add more to this list, I just never remember to write this stuff down).

"...no you are thinking of John, who said he was BETTER than Jesus. And that would be Lennon, not the apostle."
- Erin to Fokion during a discussion about religion 11/8/04

"You should really feed your brain hamster"
- Violet to Erin after hearing that Erin's brain was run by hamsters 11/22/04

"The Pharisees killed Jesus because he was taking away their church members."*
* There are so many things wrong with this statement I really just couldn't do a thing about it other than shake my head and go back to sleep
- Dumb girl on the bus from Boston to equally dumb boy 11/23/04

Just flew back from San Antonio and boy are my arms tired...

So I went to the ASOR conference this last week and had a great time. Nothing like a bunch of archaeologists getting together to make for some fun times. We drink a lot of beer and talk about dirt; you have no idea how much fun that is! And there were some good papers and some bad papers and some so bad you wanted to slit your wrists (and some of these guys are professors, it makes my blood curdle). Then there was my favorite paper. A lovely guy by the name of Eric Cline gave a talk about how the past is used/abused in today's political hot spots, ie Israel and Iraq. It was HILARIOUS. Since most of us know our ancient history and current political situation, the quotes Cline used were gut busters. An example of this would be Saddam Hussein and his obsession with Nebuchadnezzar. Neb. was the leader of the Babylonians who came in and sacked Jerusalem and carried off the Jews in, oh, 598 BC. SH had himself depicted as good ol' Neb in various paintings in Baghdad and even had a reconstruction of Neb's chariot as a parade vehicle. Cline had pictures. Oh, boy were they funny! Anyway, Thomas's paper went well and he headed back to Denmark relieved and excited about writing his thesis.

And for those of you who want to know, yes, I visited the Alamo, or as it is called "the shrine of Texas liberty" and you must dress appropriately, speak in hushed tones, and if you wonder about the Mexicans who lost their lives, forget it, they aren't mentioned. In fact, nothing is really mentioned about the Mexicans, other than that they outnumbered the Texians (which is apparently bad form) and that they finally killed all the men (however, there is a grudging note that the women and children survived, but they DID surrender [how dare they!]) and in the end, they lost Texas to the US. To me the Alamo is a shrine to Stupid White Men and the Stupid Heroics that they can get themselves into. It is really a very small building set in a very lush almost tropical town (rather than the American West desert most people imagine). San Antonio itself is a rather nice town (well, downtown) with a river system that has been turned into a riverwalk were you can eat right on the banks or even take a boat ride. It was a pleasant stay in a pretty liberal area, no I VOTE FOR BUSH signs anywhere. So that was my trip. Good times, good food (for the most part).

Be Well

Friday, November 12, 2004

So this is what blogging is all about...

Well, I finally decided that in order to keep everyone updated as to what I am doing I had to do one of two things:
1) stop doing stuff so that I wouldn't have anything to keep you all posted about.
2) make a blog.
So I took direction from my dearest friend Laura and made me a blog. I will now try to keep it up to date (har).
But don't think that this will only be for updates on my life, I will also blog other oddities that happen and generally try to amuse you, dear reader. I will probably only amuse myself, but eh, c'est la vie!

So what am I doing these days? Well, I am in my fourth year of grad school, I passed my German exam (the first person to write to me in German will be shot) and am now studying for my comprehensive exams which are even scarier than they sound. I am involved in a pro-Israel/pro-Palestine/pro-peace group called Tikkun which gives me an outlet for my general frustrations. I am enjoying my boyfriend's company, since he flew out from Denmark for two weeks, and we'll be going to the American School of Oriental Research annual meeting in a few days. Think lots of archaeologists and lots of alcohol. Good times. Thomas (that would be my boyfriend for those of you who are really behind) will be giving a paper this year, if he finishes in time (he will, I just like to tease him). Meanwhile I study study study and not much else.