zabster

An amusing recent dream

Mon, 05 May 2008 22:34:16 GMT

It has been many months since I have posted. I was spending too much time surfing LiveJournal, and not getting to more important responsibilities, so I quit cold turkey. If I haven't replied to your posts in months, that is why. I haven't seen them.

But I was emailing someone about a recent dream I had that I had found fascinating, and I remembered that lrc said the dream was worthy of a post on LiveJournal. I hope that others are as amused by it as we were.

I was dead. The afterworld was entirely populated by women, no men in sight, and we were all clothes crazy. Understand, none of us dead women looked like corpses, we looked like slender, attractive women "of a certain age," as the French say--forties or fifties. We spent all our time going into clothing stores and examining cuts and styles and colors and fabrics, sometimes alone, and sometimes in chattering groups.

If we liked the way something looked on us, we didn't have to pay for it, we just took the soul of the outfit, and left the material outfit behind.

There was one hitch, though. If a particularly beautiful living woman went into the store and tried on an outfit we had taken the soul of, and if it suited her, the dead woman who owned the soul of that item of clothing would suddenly be yanked from whatever she was doing, and would appear in the store where the living woman was trying on the outfit. The soul of the outfit would waft through the air back into the material outfit, and the beautiful living woman turning and striding in front of the mirror would suddenly be luminous in her beauty.

The dead woman would stand there in her slip, (fortunately, we dead women liked buying pretty underthings too, so the slip was always attractive in itself) looking on in dismay as a beautiful younger living woman walked away with one of her favorite outfits.

I particularly remember watching one of my dead friends, a slender graceful blond German woman with delicate features who looked to be in her late forties, suddenly appearing in a department store, stripped to her lovely peach silk vintage slip, as her dress's soul flitted onto the body of a plump dark Middle-Eastern-looking living woman in her early 20s.

The expression of disbelief on the face of the blond delicate-featured older woman when her dress's soul chose a young woman so unlike herself still lingers in my memory. I especially remember the sparkle in the young woman's eyes, and the way she turned and smiled and flounced in the mirror while her mother and sisters nodded approvingly. Also still vivid in my memory is the way the dead German lady's expression changed from disbelief to surprise, admiration, and regretful acceptance that the soul of her favorite dress had found its rightful owner. Defeated, she walked from the store in her pretty peach slip, not even stopping to see if any other clothes in the store caught her fancy.

Getting older is a bitch. Still, I may be of a certain age, and not as slim as I used to be, but at least I am still alive...

Interesting anonymous online test to take about your biases

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 22:59:59 GMT

So, I've been reading the book Blink, which talks about the importance of snap judgements in decision making, as opposed to the long encouraged rational analytical mode. Because my mom is something of a loose cannon, who makes all kinds of sudden and often destructive snap judgements, and I've always been closer to my dad, who is deeply committed to the scientific method, I have tended to shy away from my intuitive responses, and overthink things. Which can make me inefficient and indecisive. Anyway, I've been fascinated by the book. But that isn't the focus of my post.

The author talks about a set of studies that are run by Harvard University and available online. The studies are designed to identify unconscious biases in people's beliefs. In other words, while a person may like to think of themselves as color blind, are they more likely to see people of European ancestry as American, and people of Asian ancestry as foreign? Are they more likely to see weapons as associated with African-Americans and harmless items as associated with European-Americans? (For those of you reading this who do not live in the US, fear not, you can enter the site through different flags.)

Anyway, I've been fascinated by the tests they give--it helps that for the most part my results have matched my conscious values pretty well, if I was getting results indicating I was a homophobic racist I would be bummed. Of course I'm well aware that everyone is steeped in a culture of stereotypes, and we all have to educate ourselves to overcome those prejudices, we can't just coast on our good intentions, so it is useful to learn areas where I do have work to do.

Anyway, if anyone else is interested in trying these tests, they are anonymous, and this is the URL.

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/takeatest.html

In which I pick up an interesting hitchhiker

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 08:59:25 GMT

Longish entry below the cut.

This afternoon I drove down to Santa Cruz from Felton to go swimming with my friend Irene and her two little ones. I noticed a man standing by the side of the road. I took another look at him in my rear view mirror, and saw that he had a white beard, and his thumb out.

I don't generally pick up strangers when I am alone in the car. But I try to be generous about giving rides to people I know, because I have been without a car for much of my life, and I know how much I appreciated people doing it for me. The white beard decided me to turn back and offer him a ride. If I remember the criminal profile info off the FBI website accurately, violence against strangers is almost exclusively associated with male gender in combination with youth. Well, as it turns out, he didn't give me a moment's anxiety for my safety. But I did find myself concerned for his welfare.

He got in and started to chatter. And chatter. Within a minute or two I found myself thinking "Pressure of speech. Mania? Possibly bi-polar?" It has been a long time since my psychology training, and a long time since I briefly worked in that field. It rarely occurs to me to contemplate diagnoses of people I meet.

He said he was on his way to Santa Cruz to help a Spanish speaking friend of his who is making a movie, but doesn't speak that much English.   I asked if he spoke Spanish, and we talked in Spanish for the rest of the drive.   He said that he is a linguist specializing in Meso-American languages, and that he was secretary and treasurer for ten years for the Endangered Language Fund. Okay, so now I like him. He is smart, educated, and a language geek.   And I'd really like to see endangered languages saved for future generations.

I told him about linguaphiles on live journal, though I think I got the link wrong. He wrote down his website URL for me. Then he announced that he is a candidate for president of the United States. I said "Oh yeah?" in a friendly tone, meanwhile thinking, "gotta be hard to put together a campaign if you don't even have the money for your own car."   He elaborated that he had been fired from the University of Montana for speaking against the Iraq war.

Six miles and maybe 10 minutes after I picked him up I dropped him off in Santa Cruz.

My thoughts have returned to him time after time throughout the day. I checked out the website he gave me.   Rambling, disorganized thought. No one had replied to any of his posts, far as I could see. That made me sad. Then I googled his name. Sure enough, Wikipedia described him as a linguist specializing in Meso-American languages, who had held office in the Endangered Language Fund and had been fired from the University of Montana for speaking against the Iraq war. So, his information on himself was reliable.

I found an article in the U of M student paper in which the administration explained they didn't suspend him from his position for his political opinions, but because numerous students in his class had complained that his comments about the war were emotional and rambling, and his behavior was "erratic, bizarre and crazylike."

I guess we will never know whether his dismissal was due to his political views or perceptions of him being mentally unstable. From what I could make sense of on his website agree with much of his assessment of the war. But I share the impression that he is mentally unwell. He said on his webpage that he has run through his savings, and has almost exhausted his retirement fund, etc.

He seemed like a smart, good-hearted, Henry David Thorough type, who is losing his grounding in reality and facing probable poverty. The whole thing really made me sad.

Very interesting short video

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 06:07:24 GMT

No wonder our view of what (who) is beautiful is so skewed...

Don't know if the link I tried to embed worked...haven't done it before. but if it doesn't, you can find it by pasting this link in your address line...
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/268634/model_evolution_with_makeup_and_photoshop/

Are you a nerdfighter? Wanna become one?

Wed, 04 Jul 2007 04:15:48 GMT

http://www.brotherhood2.com/?page_id=63

A song I can really get behind (NSFW)

Wed, 04 Jul 2007 03:43:06 GMT

Not Safe to listen to/watch at work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWqa7cbdOC8

A cool website for those interested in language and culture

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 05:02:57 GMT

So, I've discovered a cool website today, and am enjoying exploring it.
The home page is:
http://zompist.com/default.html

Some amusing locations:

http://zompist.com/amercult.html
Attempts to define American culture. It was responded to by others who defined Canadian, English, Indian, Brazilian, Japanese culture
in similar terms. See how multiculturally literate you are! A fan of the site created the convenient cultural comparison page:
http://www.geocities.com/yvain.geo/culture.html#menu

Fun lists of words in English from East Asian languages, languages of India, Indigenous languages of the Americas.

He kindly provides a phrase book for ugly Americans.
http://zompist.com/phrases.html
Come on, admit it, it would be fun to know how to say:

How much is that in real money?
I may be drunk, but tomorrow morning I shall be sober, and you will still be ugly.
Don't "imperialist pig" me, my good man.
I bet those machine guns are fake.
Oh, sure, you're going to shoot me, right?
Yessir, you folks certainly have made a mess of this country.
You wouldn't have these ghettos if you people were willing to work.
I'm a personal friend of the Ambassador.
This is the third time I've told you, so listen up this time.
Have you ever considered that we might be insulted because you haven't learned English?
If I died tonight I'd be saved, but you would burn in hell.
We kicked your ass in World War II.

I was particularly amused by the careful translations below:

I understand your language perfectly.
Je parle français comme une vache espagnole.
Hablo español como un gringo borracho.
Ich sprechen deutsch wie italienisch Fußballtrainer.

I admire you above all for your purity of spirit and your appreciation of the arts.
J'aimerais bien une petite gâterie, ma jolie.
Si quieres chuparme el pito, no voy a protestar.
Willst du mir nicht mal einen blasen, Schätzchen?

I must compliment you on your understanding of our language.
Tu n'entends donc rien, espèce de con?
Mecacho, ¿no entiendes ni jota de lo que digo?
Sach ma', kapierst du überhaupt, was ich sage?

Impressed as I am with the New Wave in cinematography, I must say that this particular film seemed both pretentious and unsatisfying, and that the director's imagery, though compelling, is no substitute for a true cinematic message.
Mais c'est de la merde, ce navet.
A esto le llamo yo estiércol cinematográfico.
Der Film ist Scheiße.

Hate crime that has barely been seen in the news...

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 20:09:15 GMT

On April 12th of this year, in a small, poor town in Indiana, a young man was beaten to death over the course of hours, by other young men who have since claimed they killed him because he propositioned one of them. Before clicking on the links, I warn you, it is a really vicious, brutal crime, and the victim suffered for hours before his death.

Indiana has no laws for prosecuting hate crimes against gays and lesbians. Some locals are saying such laws imply that a gay person's life is worth more than a straight person's life. I would say that hate crime laws prevent murderers from claiming "gay panic" as a defense for murder and an attempt to gain sympathy from a jury they believe will be homophobic. This story has gotten little attention in the local or national news. Bloggers are mostly getting the word out.

Here are a few links to local papers and blogs that have covered the story.

http://bookshop.livejournal.com/834653.html?view=28843613
http://www.bloomingtonalternative.com/articles/2007/06/06/8379
http://bloomingtonalternative.com/content/8413
http://www.hatecrimesbill.org/aaron_hall/index.html

Also, a rather interesting reference to a psychological study that provides support for the theory that homophobic men are more likely to be repressing gay feelings than non-homophobic men.
http://www.unknownnews.net/homophobia.html

Up to date with the foot.

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 01:03:17 GMT

The foot is doing okay. Tomorrow will be six weeks since I broke it. I'm scheduled to have a follow up x-ray on the 22nd of June.

I can put weight on it now, in fact, I sometimes walk short distances--like across theroom--without crutches. It tends to be a little swollen at the end of the day. A physical therapist I met at a party a few days ago gave me some exercises to restore strength and flexibility. I've tried them out, and some of them hurt. I'm going to wait to see my doctor Friday and see if he advises going ahead with them or not. No point in working on exercises before I'm ready and undermining the healing of the bone.

Anyway, I am trying to exercise the foot and go on with as much as I can without overdoing things and hurting myself. I hope the x-ray on Friday will have good results, and I will be able to give up the crutches and the boot and get back to being active again. I wonder when I will be able to dance again. And I wonder whether I will be able to return to Indian dance, which involves a lot of foot stamping, without hurting myself.

Self-diagnosis

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 23:21:24 GMT

In Which a librarian in training uses her research skills to diagnose her injury--correctly, as it turns out.

After falling into the drainage ditch I limped into the house, and put a bag of frozen peas on my foot. Then I went back to writing papers. A couple hours later, there was a lump on the outside of the foot, like half an egg cut lengthwise. I could no longer put any weight on the foot without intense pain, though the pain when I didn't have weight on it was barely noticable.

I went on Google and searched for foot anatomy, to find out what the internal bone structure was under the lump. I found the following two sites most useful:

http://www.drfoot.co.uk/anatomy.htm
http://www.physioroom.com/injuries/ankle_and_foot/metatarsal_fracture_full.php

I then did a tentative self-diagnosis. I wrote a good friend who is a doctor, "my best guess based on the location of the swelling is the fifth metatarsal bone, near the ankle end, or else supportive soft tissue in that area." I wanted to know if I was taking any risks if I didn't bother going to the doctor because of the expense. (I don't currently have health insurance.) She encouraged me to go to a doctor because if it was broken, and the bones weren't lined up correctly, I could have chronic pain in that foot for the rest of my life. That was convincing. Then another friend pointed out that as a student of a large state university I could probably get medical care at their clinic at very low cost. Right she was. Three meetings with doctors and three x-rays later, I have only had to pay for the boot that protects my foot.

Here is a picture of the boot:

http://www.donjoy.com/index.asp/fuseaction/products.detail/cat/6/id/162

Oh, and the diagnosis?  Multiple fractures of the fifth metatarsal, proximal base.  Proximal base means near
the ankle end.  So Google skills pay off yet again!

A wonderful mobility device for injured feet and ankles.

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 22:59:56 GMT

On May 14th I posted the following in a reply to a posting to lrc's live journal:

One lesson from my first broken bone is that it earns you a lot more sympathy than a bad cold, but it really shouldn't. I have suffered worse with the flu. Except when I first broke it there has been surprisingly little pain. It's just a big inconvenience, mostly.

When I went to San Jose State to get my foot diagnosed at the Student Health Center I got lots of help from interested strangers. One of them gave me the most amazing tip on a mobility device. It is called a knee walker. You rest your knee on it, so you don't put weight on the injured foot. It has wheels, so it rolls, and you walk naturally with the other foot. Here's a link to see how it works:

http://www.rehabmart.com/product/11977.htm

I found a medical supply store that rents them as well as selling them. $35 a week, $100 a month, or $600 to buy. If anyone who reads this ever injures a foot and isn't allowed to put weight on it, look into it. It is the way to go. I don't think a lot of doctors know about them. Certainly when lrc's friend Dr. Julia visited this past weekend she had never seen one.

Going from crutches to the knee walker is the difference between night and day. It must be similar to the experience of people who had to cope with the inconvenience of candles, when they suddenly had the ease of electric lights. I can move around without difficulty, it does away with the pain to elbows, armpits, hands and upper body that crutches created, I am much more stable and not at risk of falling, and I can even carry a plate of food or a glass of water --impossible with crutches.

First post re my foot.

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 22:51:35 GMT

Advice to fellow intellectuals who wish to perform physical labor safely.

1. Don't overload a wheelbarrow so it is too heavy for you to manage easily. Especially if you are going to be pushing it up a hill.

2. Don't wear clogs, or other shoes that provide little protection to the the foot and ankle. Wear work boots. Please note: lrc will be highly annoyed if you disobey this directive. :-)

3. Be aware of your surroundings. Be especially careful if you are pushing a wheelbarrow right next to a concrete drainage ditch or other hazard.

4. Make sure you use the right tools. If your sweetie has hired a contractor to do some yard work, find out if he is going to be bringing earthmoving equipment to shift dirt around. If he is, there probably isn't much point in your digging dirt out with a pick and shovel and pushing it with a wheelbarrow the day before the contractor turns up with a bobcat.

5. Think about safety considerations before plunging in and taking action. A whole bunch of injured people can look back and say "boy was I being stupid when I did that thing that led to my getting hurt."

6. Last but not least, Do as I say, not as I do!

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 22:47:36 GMT

So, I want to start posting to this journal. lrc would probably say that I have more important things to do with my time, and he is probably right, but nonetheless, I am becoming more and more interested by the things I find other people post, and am sorry that I have nothing of my own up. (Although I have been replying to friends' posts and posting to a couple of communities.)

lrc will be pleased to know that I have scheduled a contractor to come by and look at the septic tank/leachfield this afternoon. Jacobson and Daughters. That "and daughters" won them my first call over the other contractors I found. Go women in the trades! And supportive papas! Now we just have to see if they come up with a fair bid and do good work...

Anyway, the major event in my life of late is this damn broken foot. Those of you who have been reading lrc's site will already know the details, and I realize it is old news at this point, since I broke it on May 8. However, my next posts will be about the foot anyway. I'll put repeats and long entries behind cuts. You see, my mom has been on crutches since I was a kid, and being temporarily disabled has been incredible eye-opening for me. Walking a mile in my mom's moccasins, and all that.

Friday of this week I will get the foot x-rayed again and find out if the bone is all healed. I'm really hoping I'll be able to start walking and dancing and getting around again. My mom has spent 34 years on crutches. Six weeks has been a major drag, and I've had a light at the end of the tunnel.

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 01:58:34 GMT

Ah, that sounds more like me:

You are... 3.3% unique (blame, for example, your interest in vikram seth) and
14% herdlike (partly because you, like everyone else, enjoy writing).
(Normal is 30.7%, Interesting 32.7%, Peculiar 19.3%)
When it comes to friends you are lonely.
In terms of the way you relate to people, you are keen to please.
Your writing style (based on a recent public entry) is intellectual.

Your overall weirdness is: 39

(The average level of weirdness is: 27.
You are weirder than 80% of other LJers.)

http://www.wotayu.com/phPie.php?data=a%3A5%3A%7Bs%3A6%3A%22unique%22%3Bi%3A4%3Bs%3A8%3A%22peculiar%22%3Bi%3A31%3Bs%3A11%3A%22interesting%22%3Bi%3A43%3Bs%3A6%3A%22normal%22%3Bi%3A36%3Bs%3A8%3A%22herdlike%22%3Bi%3A16%3B%7D&SortData=0

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 01:25:18 GMT

Guess I'll have to post some quirkier interests and befriend more people on livejournal...

So, zabster, your LiveJournal reveals...

http://www.wotayu.com/phPie.php?data=a%3A5%3A%7Bs%3A6%3A%22unique%22%3BN%3Bs%3A8%3A%22peculiar%22%3BN%3Bs%3A11%3A%22interesting%22%3Bi%3A2%3Bs%3A6%3A%22normal%22%3Bi%3A1%3Bs%3A8%3A%22herdlike%22%3Bi%3A5%3B%7D&SortData=0

You are... 0% unique and 63% herdlike (partly because you, like everyone else, enjoy skiing).
When it comes to friends you are lonely.
In terms of the way you relate to people, you believe in give and take.
Your writing style (based on a recent public entry) is simplistic.
Your overall weirdness is: 6 (The average level of weirdness is: 27. You are weirder than 6% of other LJers.)

http://www.wotayu.com'
Find out what your weirdness level is!