Jump to content

pears

Members
  • Posts

    737
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    6

Everything posted by pears

  1. Another Jumbo here! Based on the graduate students I met as an undergrad, everyone in a grad program at Tufts seems to be brilliant, but not overbearing, conventional, selfish, or competitive. I'm pretty convinced that the students at Fletcher are going to save the world. Everyone seems to be very passionate about what they do, from incoming freshmen to tenured professors; I sorely miss the positive, engaged learning environment that was fostered on campus. I'm sure that sounds like a line out of a cheesy pamphlet, but it really is a magical place full of wonderful, quirky nerds! As others have said, TuftsLife is probably the best resource for housing; as an undergrad, I just moved into houses that my friends moved out of, but I'd trust the posts on TL if friends' old houses hadn't been an option. Medford/Somerville can be a really expensive place to live without housemates, but all the people at Tufts are so nice that it's worthwhile to live with at least a couple other students, especially if you go a bit further off campus. I love the areas around Davis, Porter, Harvard, & Central. Pay a visit, if you can. Boston is wonderful & really livens up in the springtime!
  2. FWIW, I'm at Montana, & our forensic folks are in a bit of a pickle right now: short on funding, & one of our (super awesome & brilliant) key professors is leaving at the end of this semester. I'm not sure any FA applicants were accepted, although I heard secondhand that the number was something ridiculously low, like 2. Major bummer. Mercyhurst has an amazing program, though, so congrats on that! & for those I met, the faculty at Chico are really nice. Also, their students do some seriously cool research!
  3. Very well said! I, too, was a major procrastinator for a long time; it was never an issue, since I did well in classes despite doing most things last minute. I was worried when I started last semester, but grad school has been a great, albeit tough, means of learning how to motivate myself & minimize slacking off. All it took was trying to make a 20 page paper happen in two or three days: I got an 89, which made me angry at myself, & that really lit the fire under me. My planner has become my best friend, & I've got two monthly calenders pinned to my wall, right near my bed. When I'm really busy, I break apart my tasks, then plan them out for the following week or two; if I have a paper, I set goals in 5 page amounts, & so forth. I also set bite-sized goals, e.g., finishing a certain amount of reading within two hours, & then reward myself, e.g., a snack or spending some time on Facebook. Also, Self Control — the software — is super helpful if you're really struggling to keep yourself from procrastinating on your laptop/computer!
  4. Working for the government, hoping to keep it that way. I'd like to be the Tahoe or Eldorado NF head archie one day. Mostly USFS, but I guess I'm working sort-of-for the NPS this summer. That reminds me!: Pickle Suit: US Forest Service uniform.
  5. "Samurai" - Jazztronik "Catgroove" - Parov Stelar (bonus epic dancing in the video!) "B**ch, Don't Kill My Vibe" - Kendrick Lamar (Madeaux Remix) "Let's Leave Tomorrow" - Netsky (ft. Bev Lee Harling) "Night" - Benga & Coki "Critical Hit" - Emalkay "Eclipse/Blue" - Nosaj Thing "Get the Money" - PANTyRAiD "In the Waiting Line" - Zero 7 "Wake Up" - DJ Harry Minimal, ambient, soaring melodies or driving beats, soft vocals (if any). Mm-mm-good.
  6. Ohhh, those Mucha pieces are so gorgeous! I've considered incorporating Whistler's "Nocturne in Black & Gold" into my (eventual) full sleeve. I wonder if there are any Klimt tattoos floating around the interwebs?
  7. Mmm, butter. Our love is a one-way street. But pasture butter is the greatest! Avocado oil is also nice. Really high smoke point, nice butter replacement if dairy fats aren't your thing. Regarding scary chicken & "cheese(?) product": sometimes CSA programs offer cheese, egg, & meat shares! No saline, no pink slime, no curious orange paste, just tasty food that's actually food. If you live with a group of people, it can be pretty affordable. There's usually not too much of a price reduction from buying local organic products item-by-item, but it's nice if you know you regularly eat, say, a particular type of meat. Saves you the trip to the farm or the market, if they're a long haul.
  8. Not my field, but I really like the "tree of life" concept. A photo-realistic tree (see: Nikko Hurtado's work) would be amazing with this, I think! One of Ötzi's tattoos, possibly used for therapeutic purposes. He had over 50, mostly on the areas of his body that showed lots of stress. I love mummies that still have some of their tattoos visible.
  9. Yup! A past co-worker of mine was Wovoka's relative, through the latter's "adoption." His family has always been in that area, though, so it was amazing to have someone who knew the significance of every tree, canyon, river elbow, field, mountain face.. pretty amazing. Apparently people still go to Yerington to pay their respects to Wovoka; the people who own the farm where a Ghost Dance rock corral is located have woken up smiling a few times to the sound of drums, singing, flutes, etc. coming from the corral. The Ghost dance was more or less all good & dandy in the Basin & Plains, but the Navajo — who, at least now, have a relatively huge membership — had (have?) a lot of religious ghost taboos, so the idea of bringing the dead (who never really left unless they were excellent people) back wasn't too popular.
  10. "Yeah, I'm a Level 5 vegan. I don't eat anything with a shadow."
  11. BAH HUMBUG. I had a nice, long, thoughtful response all typed out.. & then my browser crashed. :| I'm not a rez kid, & I'm (to my knowledge, at least!) not at all Native. My work, my current program & school, my non-thesis research, & my personal interests (NAGPRA & repatriation, Indian Law, tribal status & sovereignty, preservation of cultural landscapes & resources, Native experiences + identities especially as they changed post-Euroamerican contact) have all been extensively intertwined with the good, the bad, & the rez-dog-level-of-ugly, though. Tribal councils & elders, academic peers, monitors, activists.. everyone has a different take. It really depends on the individual: their age, where they're from, their tribal affiliation, how they were brought up, all that. Obviously, nobody takes kindly to appropriation, but if you're seriously entrenched in the unpleasant side of rez life, taking an active stand against it is less of an immediate concern than, say, abject poverty or substance abuse. Regarding the Ghost Dance imagery etc., the big problem is that the power is in the image itself, which is the case with Ghost Dance shirts, among other things. Australian Aboriginal "dot" paintings & ochre body paint also come to mind; the dots hide stories that only some people can know, & although it may seem arbitrary to an outsider, ochre body painting is deeply emotionally expressive, especially when it's on the face. For the most part, I'd say taking these images out of their context is ill-advised; without the context, the power & meaning is lost. Ditto anything related to Wounded Knee or other extremely painful & tragic events, but that's my personal take; I could just as easily see, say, a Lakota person, especially someone around my age, feeling the total opposite way. If you're confused or unsure about something, it's always better to ask. I can't tell you how many times asking "what should I do for this meeting?" has saved my buns. Also, thinking of people who get "Native" tattoos while being totally oblivious to the meaning: even something as seemingly simple as ghosts is polarizing, to say the least. The Ghost Dance was not well received in areas of the SW where ghosts (really, the bad energy left behind by your final breath before death) & ghost sickness were not something you wanted to be involved with, & you definitely wouldn't want to make a point of bringing back your deceased kin. What I would see as a bone spoon or bird bone straw can be a sacred object for keeping the dead happy, or a component of a rite-of-passage toolkit that I'm not even supposed to be looking at, given my age & gender. If you don't know everything there is to know about what you're looking at, it's probably best to avoid getting it permanently inked, even if your friend who is "totally 1/64th Cherokee & her great-great-great-grandma was an Indian Princess!" (ick) says it's cool. There is no single "Native" experience or opinion or identity or culture, not even within the smallest rez; it's the same as any other group of people. Matika Wilbur's Project 562 does an amazing job of illustrating this - check it out, if you haven't already. I hope that makes sense! I'm going a bit loopy from late-night readings. &, again, I'm speaking as a non-Native person myself, & the majority of my Native friends & coworkers didn't grow up on the rez their whole lives, so I'm speaking about what I understand from a very limited, mostly secondhand viewpoint.
  12. Ohh, that's wonderful! That's great that they went out of their way to mention deferring your acceptance for a year; that definitely bodes well for how they treat their students & such. Doing a happy wiggle dance for you!~
  13. True, very true. Things above the collarbones & on the hands are a big to-do. Fortunately, archaeology is a really body mod-friendly field! &, of course, I'm not going to get something distastefully offensive stamped on my forehead. Ahh, I gotcha. Man, if you can stand the pain of traditional scarification & tattooing, power to ya. I guess the pain holds the meaning or the healing, but I would probably fail my initiation rights. You other tattoo idea sounds awesome! I dig it. Also, that "super cool Native tattoo, bro!" bit reminded me of how it's "cool" to get tattoos of dream catchers, Zuni fetishes, dancing kachina, skulls with warbonnets… all without having the slightest idea what the spiritual importance of any/all of them is. :| See also: the Kokopelli craze of the 90s & early 2000s. Makes me face palm so hard.
  14. We should do a TGC forum users field trip! "So, honey, who are these people we're traveling with exactly..?" "Oh, just some strangers I met on the internet 7 years ago."
  15. I had the same thought, actually. Depends on the tribe, & the person you're talking to. My consulting experiences have always been fine, but they've always been off-rez & with a non-Native crew, save for a few monitors; I've heard plenty of terrible stories from peers, too, though. The choice of what you'd get would matter; facial tattooing, for instance, is often a serious honor & sign of resilience or of a particular social status (horizontal or vertical) that loses its meaning when taken out of context. I guess something like dots/stippled tattoos to show strength on the body might be fine, but... eh, I dunno. Mixed feelings, I guess. I would love to have something related to the Ghost Dance & its offshoots (especially the Earth Lodge & Dreamer religions) tattooed on me, but even the patterns on Ghost Shirts are so important & so spiritually powerful that I don't think I could bring myself to do it. It's my passion, but it's not my history, as much as I'm interested in preserving it. Visual appeal is a subjective thing (mostly), & tattoos are just a means of embodying what you personally find important & visually appealing. & sometimes, it's just about aesthetics! My S.O. has a forearm full of fire-scarred trees, species that are local to where he grew up; everyone always asks if it's because he's in fire, but he just likes the way it looks – no meaning beyond that. Point is, I think if a tattoo has appeal or meaning for someone, as long as they're 100% happy with how it looks, they're probably aware that not everyone who sees it will find it as appealing as they do.. but someone else's opinion is rarely the reason behind getting a tattoo.
  16. I agree with you: although I think there is a US-wide epidemic of coddling students, FERPA is what it is. It certainly doesn't help in trying to combat the "special snowflake syndrome" problem, but, as students & teachers, we're still obligated to abide by its rules, even if we wish the wording were different. I don't think posting grades publicly like that would ever fly in my department, although I can't speak for the rest of the school. My department can't afford to be stripped of any more funding, & my university can't afford any more public embarrassment about terrible decision-making that snowballs into a public outcry of some sort. Can public shaming be effective? Absolutely. It works on me, although I would never employ it as a TA myself. TAs can use whatever teaching approach they like, I guess, as long as it's FERPA-abiding. I think it's better to work cautiously within those limitations than to utilize certain tactics of public shaming (or even public praise) etc. that raise the risk of ticking off HRH Prince Fluffybottom or HRH Princess Entitledpants, who will turn right around & call their parents. It happens all. The. Time. It happened at my Top 25 small undergrad college, it happens here at my mediocre state university, & it happens in all my friend's schools. The entitlement problem runs deep. Lord knows TAs & professors are already underpaid & overworked; the last thing you need is King Spoiledkids & Queen Telephonescreamer jumping down your throat threatening to sue. TL;DR: I wouldn't use public shaming, but other TAs can do what they like, as long as it's acceptable in terms of FERPA requirements - I play it on the safe side, because I don't have time for "we'll sue!"-type hyper-entitled legal nonsense (nor does anyone else, really).
  17. I would call the grad program director. If it was in error or correct, it's best to call & act on it as soon as possible so you have a clear idea of your admissions standing. If you can't get a hold of them, leave a voicemail, then email the grad program director, & maybe cc: the department chair.
  18. I love that archies get dig-related tattoos. I know a few folks with trowels, projectile points, glyphs, etc. (usually hidden). I've been slowly planning a full sleeve for my right arm, & I fully intend to have a skull (with modified dentition, of course) & cross-marshalltowns at the top. Coolest kid in town right here, I swear. Other terms I love: Moving dirt: trying to tackle an enormous project area in a short amount of time. Speedy excavation or shovel test pit-digging.. Pounding ground: same as above, but for pedestrian surveys. Related to long or short miles; some days you walk 2 long miles, & some days you walk 12 short ones. Native American sex stone: when a crew member, usually the new kid, pulls something non-cultural out of the ground. "Hey, crew chief, what's this?" "It's a Native American sex stone." "What?" "It's just a f**king rock."
  19. Thank you for sharing all of this! I'm leading a seminar discussion about biopolitics, the embodiment of inequality, etc. in a couple of weeks, & weight/obesity comes up in scholarly papers very frequently. It's amazing how complicated the web of nutrition, poverty, education, gender, etc. is. Although it's a touchy topic — & for good reason — I'm trying to educate myself about epigenetics & the debates surrounding it, too. (If you have any relevant papers, let me know!)
  20. Dr. [Zoidberg] (where "Zoidberg" is their surname as it's listed on the dept. site) until I know them pretty well & they recognize me immediately, & first-name basis after that. My department is pretty informal, though.
  21. I'm going to start going around calling people loambags & siltbags.
  22. When you're at school, schedule in your exercise. I fell of the gym wagon hardcore last semester because I didn't. This semester, I feel obligated & motivated to go, if only for half an hour, because I see it written on my schedule. If you can find something that works well with your academic classes, joining fitness classes that meet on a regular basis may also help. I find that using MyFitnessPal has really helped me track my eating. I used it in undergrad at the end of my senior year; one of my best friends & I were trying to get in better shape (namely, strength), so we kept each other honest by being friends on MFP. It's kind of difficult staying consistent with exercise this semester since everything has been really hectic, but I'm trying to shed some pounds, too, so shoot me a PM if you'd like a MFP buddy. (:
  23. I started branching out by living with a group of complete strangers (at least when I moved in). I didn't know a single person here when I moved, but only one of my housemates is also a student, & he's an undergrad in a different department. So, my housemates themselves have become my friends, but since they're all involved in different social circles, mostly through their work & past housemates, it's been a nice way to not let grad school totally eat up every aspect of my life. That said, my program/department is huge, so I never socially claustrophobic. I don't go out much anyway, but I almost prefer meeting up with my classmates; we can empathize about academic frustrations, talk through paper & thesis things, whine about tuition, & so on. It's basically a support group that has an early bedtime & a taste for local brews.
  24. Very well said, St Andrews Lynx, per usual! I actually had the opposite experience of those who've posted so far: I went from a highly selective "Top 25"-type Liberal Arts college in a big city to a medium-sized state university in a small city with a mediocre reputation. However, I also went from being a wild child underachiever — at least I grew as a person, right..? — to happily putting my nose to the grindstone, being completely immersed in my studies & research, & generally working my buns off 24/7. It's been... a very interesting experience, to say the least. The undergrad culture here couldn't be further from the undergrad culture at my alma mater, & the campus culture in general is very different, too, from how people study to how people party. However, as Lynx said, grad school anywhere is composed of the smart people to be there; I get the impression that grad school culture is more homogenous than undergrad cultures are between schools — but within disciplines, e.g., my archaeology program sounds similar to friends' archaeology programs at different schools. Most grad students, if not all, seem to experience imposter syndrome at some point for any number of reasons. I often feel as though my peers who went to state universities have had far more field training & practical experience than I ever did in college, & it always seems like everyone else in my department is way better at managing their time & never procrastinating. However, I know that my strong writing skills are without a doubt a major advantage that my undergrad experience gave me. Writing is probably 75% of what we do & where our grades come from here. I also have my alma mater to thank for my basic knowledge of how other fields relate to my own, my ability to communicate & dress in situationally appropriate ways, & my understanding of how to use my library resources to the fullest (hooray, mandatory workshops!). I just have to remind myself that I am where I am for a reason, & that the opportunities I've been given were given with the understanding that I'm capable of taking it all on & thriving (as opposed to just surviving). I have lots of advantages due to my undergrad & work experiences, but so does everyone else in my program; we're just coming from different backgrounds with different strengths & weaknesses. Fortunately, my cohort & peers are mostly cooperative, i.e., non-competitive, so I think it makes for a nice experience that helps all of us forget our academic insecurities.
  25. I'm giving a talk (45-60 min., plus discussion following) on Tuesday about a subject I'm familiar with. However, I'm giving this talk with a "partner," who has turned out to be the worst sort of nightmare. They have failed to (1) help me select readings for the class to hand in summaries & questions about to the professor [source of grades in lieu of quizzes], (2) send those readings & non-graded background pieces to read [i had to send the professor their readings for them for it to not be late], (3) thoroughly read all the above-mentioned readings, (4) add a single slide to the PowerPoint [i've done all of the introductory ones, & have left blank spaces for the parts they selected to discuss], &, worst of all, (5) not once have they apologized for contributing nothing & giving me attitude OR acknowledged my efforts, let alone show any gratitude. Ugh. At least the professor has clearly noticed from the get-go that I'm basically doing this alone; they know I'm a good student, too, so I'm not worried about my grade, as long as it's separate from Captain Slacker. I would rather have to talk for twice as long in greater depth by myself than put up with this hooey.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use