reading

I thought I had it all under control. I really did. Then my syllabus finally arrived for “Language and Culture.” All 27 pages of it. Oh man. This is supposed to be a killer course in both content and its effect on the students. But I wasn’t prepared for:

Giglioli, LaSC: *Hymes (21-44); !Goffman (61-66).

Blount, LcaS: Hymes (248-82, esp. 255-69)

Silverstein & Urban, NHD: 1-17.

Duranti & Goodwin, RC: Goodwin & Duranti (1-42).

Goffman, Erving. The interaction order. American Sociological Review 48.1-17 (1983).

*Lyons, LS: ch. 1; ch.2, sec. 2.0-2.1; ch.9, sec. 9.0-9.3.

Lee, TH: Intro; !ch. 1 (1-39).

!Bauman, Richard & Briggs, Charles. Poetics and performance as critical perspectives on language and social life. Annual Review of Anthropology 19.59-88 (1990).

That’s for this week. Part of that is due for class today. Which starts in about an hour and a half. Less actually. I’m off to read.

For those counting I did a quick tally and it’s easily over 200 pages of dense material. Welcome to the Social Sciences boot camp Matt.

one day down… lots to go

Yesterday came and went and with it, the first day of class. It went well. The obtuse readings came back into focus very quickly once I understood the concept and goals of the course.

I’m currently waiting for my second class to begin.

As to the questions raised about how to get wireless going, my understanding is to follow these steps:

• Get a wireless card and install it in your computer.
• Leave your computer on and wander into a wireless zone.
• Let your computer do the rest.

  That’s about it. Until something goes wrong I typically don’t get into the nitty gritty. So right now the entire thing is magic.

Speaking of computers, mine is sick. The tablet features aren’t working correctly. So I’m packing it up and sending it to tech support today for about 5 days. While I’m pretty bummed about this, it seemed like a better idea to do this now and get it resolved rather than waiting until I get later in the quarter.

piggy back

I’m blogging thanks to an unsecured wireless account in my apartment. If this keeps up I might not need to get a home internet account. Let this be a lesson to you folks. For those with wireless connections: lock them down! For those poor grad students like me: live like a parasite and save money!

So a question came in through the comments: What are you studying? And I realized that this is something that I had not talked about in a while. The short answer is the social sciences.

That leads to question two: what are the social sciences. From the U of C’s perspective its:

• Anthropology
• Archeology
• Economics
• History
• Political Science
• Psychology
• & Sociology

This leads to the third question: Ok, so which one are you doing? And the answer is: I don’t know. My program is an interdisciplinary program in which my courses are based on my research interest.

Which leads to: OK wise guy, what is your research interest? Great question. To sum it up its:

How do groups observe and integrate new technologies? How does that adoption effect group behavior? And how do those changes in behavior effect the development of the technologies?

How that splits up among the sciences remains to be seen. Oh well, I’m heading back to campus to work on my reading for a bit.

So much for my time off before classes

I’m sitting in the library as I type this. Why am I in the library you ask? Because I’ve been dealt the first surprise of my graduate career: that I have reading assignments due on the first day of my classes. And what makes things more complex is that certain classes currently do not have syllabuses available. So I’m going to need to wait until a day or two before the class begins before I know what I need to read for that class. Or where the class is being held, for that matter.

This is all part of the school’s effort to put a fear of God and the program into us. Discussions have focused on how much work is about to come our way. Judging from the reading, it’s true. For example, my Perspectives in the Social Sciences class has nine full books and 75 articles associated with it. I’ve been told I should expect to read a minimum of 300 page a week. And that’s before I get to the writing assignments.

Still, I plan to explore Chicago this weekend. But for the moment, it’s nose to the books. And tomorrow I’ll be taking a bus tour of Chicago sponsored by the MAPPS program. I’m told it’s quite good and that the tour guide is quite saucy.

I’m heating up the ol’ MC3 and will start to post some videos and pictures of things really soon.

brief breather

I’m taking advantage of the University’s wireless network to blog. I’m currently on the third floor of the Pick building in the MAPSS (Master’s of Arts Program in the Social Sciences)lounge. It’s also apparently the only place on campus with comfortable seats. Today is the second day of orientation, the first specifically for my program.

My brain is full. Like about to spill over.

On the cool side, the hall that I was packed into was used to film an early seen in Raider’s of the Lost Ark.

I still owe a blog on what happened with the move. It’s coming, some day. Oh, and I have yet to open Yahoo Mail. That’s something for this afternoon.

close but not quite there yet

ok. so I’m in Chicago and moved in, but don’t have a ke or access to my apartment until Monday. a long blog will follow soon, by soon I mean within the next few days, to explain what exactly happened. But the short, short version is it was all my fault and the fault of trying to save money.

a bear in his natural habitat! a studabaker! (aka. moving right along)

Well I’m typing this from Toledo OH, taking advantage of the Hampton Inn’s wireless network. Things with U-Haul did resolve themselves, though not without some additional drama that will not be discussed at this time (because it gets back to my own stupidity).

Yesterday I packed the last bit of my apartments and with Drea as navigator set off for Chicago. We made it more than half way, ended here in Toledo around 9.20pm. We ended up after a few minor misadventures finding a place called Jeb’s Bar B Que for dinner. While there wasn’t much BBQ, they did have deep fried pickles which we availed ourselves of.

In a few moments we’ll be departing for the final leg of the trip. Then the unpacking phase. Oy… I can’t wait. Seriously. Don’t expect any more blogs until early next week as I don’t know what my connection status will be.

Oh, as a final treat, I present in my opinon, the ultimate road song:

Kermit:

Movin’ right along in search of good times and good news,

With good friends, you can’t lose,

Fozzie:

This could become a habit.

Kermit:

Opportunity just knocked, let’s reach out and grab it,

Together we’ll nab it.

Fozzie:

Ya! We’ll hitch-hike, bus, or yellow cab it.

Kermit:: Cab it?

Kermit & Fozzie:

Movin’ right along

Kermit:

Foot-loose and fancy free.

Gettin’ there is half the fun; come share it with me.

Kermit & Fozzie:

Movin’ right along!

Kermit:

Doog-a-doon, doog-a-doon

We’ll learn to share the load.

Fozzie:

We don’t need a map to keep this show on the road.

Kermit:

Movin’ right along we found a life on the highway,

Fozzie:

And your way is my way–

Kermit:

So trust my navigation.

Fozzie:

California here we come, come pie-in-the-sky land.

Kermit:

Palm trees and warm sand–

Fozzie:

Though sadly we just left Rhode Island.

Kermit: (spoken) We did what?

Fozzie: (spoken) Just forget it.

Kermit & Fozzie:

Movin’ right along

Kermit:

Hey, L.A., where have you gone?

Fozzie:

Send someone to fetch us, we’re in Saskatchewan.

Kermit & Fozzie:

Movin’ right along

Kermit:

Doog-a-doon, doog-a-doon)

You take it, you know best.

Fozzie:

Hey, I’ve never seen the sun come up in the West.

Fozzie: (spoken) A bear in his natural habitat! A studabaker!

Kermit & Fozzie:

Movin’ right along

Fozzie:

We’re truly birds of a feather,

We’re in this together–

Kermit:And we know where we’re goin’.

Fozzie:

Movie stars with flashy cars and life with the top down.

Kermit:

We’re stormin’ the big town.

Fozzie:

Yeah! Storm is right, should it be snowin’?

Kermit:(spoken) No, I don’t think so.

Kermit & Fozzie:

Movin’ right along

Fozzie:

Do I see signs of men?

Kermit:Yeah, “welcome” on the same post that says “come back again.”

Kermit & Fozzie:

Movin’ right along

Kermit:

Foot-loose and fancy free.

Fozzie:

You’re ready for the big time–

Kermit:

Is it ready for me?

Kermit & Fozzie:

Movin’ right along!

Movin’ right along!

(repeat to fade)

UHaul… U Suck!

I should have known better than to trust any organization with a “U” in it’s name with my future. As long time readers and friends know, I’ve had a long standing war with UPS (who have done thier best to kill many a mardi gras party). Well I never considered the implications of the dreaded “U” in another company I have been engaged in commerce with.

UHaul lost my reservation!

Let me repeat that for full dramatic effect:

U-Haul lost my fucking reservation!

Yeah, the “F” bomb is desereved. So that (combined with the remaining packing I have) is delaying my exit stage left from Rochester by a day. I’ll be picking up the trailer tomorrow if all goes well. If not, then I’m in real trouble.

Chicago, I’m still coming. It’s just going to be another day or so.

new places to live

Finally have the offical new address. For those who are interested its:

5118 S. Dorchester Ave

Apt 605

Chicago, IL 60615

I’ll be there in a few days or so.

Last day: Kodak

Today is my last day at kodak.com.

wow.