other things to complain about

oh this job. oh how this job has taken its toll on me. first, glasses. and NOW i have this huge bruise on my pisiform, as well as a callus there, too. it hurts. i'm getting beat. and i'm getting beat bad. there is bleeding occurring under my skin. this sucks.

and let's not even get into how it affects me mentally! unfortunately i can't capture that on a photo...

what most non-natives know about tribal government

as i am both very interested in native issues as well as journalism, a few people have mentioned mark trahant's name to me, as he is a native journalist. then i was asked if i'd seen the video where president bush attempts to explain sovereign nations in the 21st century. 

if nothing else, this just goes to show HOW MUCH people — and not just your average, out-of-the-political-loop joe — actually don't know about tribal governments.

Watch the video here:

Bush explains it all

my class reflection

so, this quarter i've been taking probably the most influential class i've ever had the pleasure to take. it's really changed the way i thought i knew my society, my culture, myself. i finally get things i didn't quite fully understand before, specifically within the native community. but it's affected my thoughts and understandings of everything else as well. 

i used to think i was open minded because i was "educated." my education somehow made me open minded by default. yet when people spoke of creationism or republican politicians or people who chose not to go to college, i just shook my head, not being able to understand how wrong people could be and how right they thought they were.

i just don't understand how i never really understood before. how could i just eat up everything people said to me without pausing to even think to question it? or look at it from a different angle? 

it almost makes me sick to my stomach. just sick. sick to know i know nothing. i can't understand how i looked down on people who chose not to go to college, looked down on myself for only wanting to get my bachelor's degree, feeling like i would somehow be a failure or insignificant if i just became a mother and didn't do anything positive. these thoughts weren't born solely of my own accord, they had some help getting there. 

why does our culture put such importance on "education" rather than on experience? experience is as hands-on as education can get, in my opinion. but maybe that's just the way i best learn things. 

everything thus far in my life has been to prepare me for something else, so i don't end up a failure.

what measures success? 

can i be a failure if i'm happy?

why must we "set our sights high" and "reach for the stars" and "strive for success"? what's so wrong with just being. just living. just loving.

i refuse to let my profession define me. why should i let it define others?

how can one class uproot everything i thought i knew? maybe it wasn't rooted very strongly. or maybe it's taught by a very very strong wind.

along the lines of my last post.....

is homework hindering — rather than helping — education?

i would LOVE your thoughts on this topic.

thanks for the link, kim!

stop homework

the problem with evolution

so, i suppose this post is a result of various people talking to me today about paleontology, the missing link, darwin, string theory, etc. — probably because people don't understand the difference between paleontology and archaeology — and their assumption that i would be excited about such news. and their assumptions would be correct if i considered myself a scientific archaeologist or even an archaeologist at all.

but i'm not excited. i'm completely the opposite.

personally, i believe in the science behind evolution. and i know it to be true, to an extent. but that is really not my main issue here. people tell me about the missing link being found and ask me if i'm excited. why? why is our society and culture so concerned about finding out "the truth"? why do we NEED to know? how does it benefit us? and do those benefits outweigh the political consequences it creates in the native community? the argument "oh, we're all immigrants here after all!" comes to mind. (google: vine deloria)

yes, i think the theory of evolution should be taught to students. but i think something is seriously wrong with the amount of importance we place on the theory of evolution — and the lack of diversity in education — and on archaeology as well. i find myself becoming more and more frustrated with this almost ravenous curiosity surging through our society. and the praising of those who are "seeking the truth." the "academics." we putt their worth and their value above those who do "less impressive, more menial" tasks, such as working the land for sustenance, a skill many academics (even those who study these processes) could not even begin to demonstrate successfully. but hey, talking about how to farm food is just as necessary as me as eating food, isn't it?

our culture puts too much importance on seeking the "truth" scientifically. knowledge is power. power is corrupt. education is probably the most important tool people can wield. unfortunately, the way our education system is setup, we're all learning the same things. we're regurgitating information put into us that was put into our parents into their parents and their parents. even darwin would argue that this is a bad idea. we're eliminating the diversity of the education of our community. if we all know the same things and think the same way, what good will come of that? what bad will be able to change? 

education should be personal pursuit of information, perspectives and process of thought and analysis. 

i'm surprised i was able to keep that rant so short.

there is more than one truth. and if you don't think so, that is the truth, too. ... don't even get me started on that one. 

so yes, i think it's cool that "the missing link" may have been found, but only for those who care. more than anything, it makes me raise my heckles even more.

the problem with pants

getting dressed really should not be such a traumatic event as it seems to be for many women. in order to avoid feeling depressed and uncomfortable and frustrated, we all have our stash of safety pants. safety pants fit you all the time. they're practically magic. you put them on and you know that zipper will zip and that button will button and you won't entice the fatties with your lovely muffin top. you don't necessarily feel super hot, but you don't feel like a lardball. i oft choose not to feel like a lardball (too greasy) so most of my pants fall into the safety-pant category.

unfortunately, my thighs have decided to wage war against my well-being and peace of mind. 

i don't know why it happened, but starting in august, i have lost seven — SEVEN — pairs of safety pants. they have all suffered strikingly similar casualties — ripping in the inner thigh, just too high to make into shorts — so i know it's not the pants' fault. i don't so much mind that my thighs seem to be ballooning before my eyes, i only really mind about the fact that i am down to three — THREE — pairs of jeans. three pairs may be sufficient for people who, say, do laundry, but since i don't, three pairs is nowhere near enough. 

it's enough to make a girl want to start wearing skirts. let's see the thighs try to bust out of those, baby.

dear world,

today i didn't hear my alarm clock. this happens quite often. this makes me wish that my alarm clock was a very large man named bruce with hairy arms. every morning he would shout my name and i would wake up. and then i would get to hit him on the head.

alas, i only have my phone and my ikea analog clock.

normally this isn't too big of a deal. today wasn't normally. i get a call at 9:49 a.m. from nicole — editor at the daily as well as group member for publication class — asking where i am for our 9:30 a.m. class in which we had a presentation.

SHIT! (excuse the language)

i jumped out of bed, threw on the first thing i found, heard kate moving around and asked if she could drive me to school — she's awesome — as i was peeing on the toilet, putting my hair in an impromptu ponytail. we raced out the door and flew down 17th (safely) in the black ford focus. she pulls into the communications building parking lot and i open the door before the car comes to a complete stop. i race up the steps, taking them two at a time. i rush to the daily where we're having our presentations. i slide in — probably not as stealth as i thought i was being — and asked nicole if they got a chance to print out our project i had e-mailed to them last night. they hadn't. so i ran downstairs to meet up with bjorn — our other group member — in the print center. with some minor difficulties and $13.83 later, we had our project. we both ran back upstairs and i mounted our papers just in time for them to go up on the board. 

phew. 

we presented our redesign of the issaquah press to the class. the editor of the press was there as well. she liked our design and was really excited about it. which made me excited about it.

i love newspapers. i think i'm going to try and get a job designing newspapers in montana on my way to law school. 

today was an up day. almost too much of an up day. but i stank bad all day, so maybe that made up for it? that'll teach me to not shower in the morning because i can't hear alarm clocks apparently. 

looking forward to camping in hope this weekend. way excited. 

no longer pitting out,

colleen

i really do enjoy thunderstorms and lightning. something i miss about colorado. i was going to record a video about it and just as it happened, i got a phone call...