Immigration Debate

Ok, so I know I haven’t logged in for a while, maybe because I’ve been a bit overwhelmed with my work lately, but I just watched this youtube video and laughed really hard. I know, I know, you’re probably thinking: What are you doing posting a random blog at 2am on Saturday night instead of out dancing salsa? But, hey, aren’t you glad I finally did something to entertain you and let you know that I’m still alive? Anyway, enjoy the video!

Back to School

Well, here I am, back in a much-improved apartment! Thanks to amigo Miguel moving to a new, furnished apartment, we now have his futon, a coffee table, a dining room table with four chairs and a real t.v. stand! (Although the small empty fridge did have a nice effect…) It’s kind of weird having an apartment that actually looks lived in! If you went into my room, it’d look like a bomb went off, but everywhere else sure looks nice.

Over the Christmas break I had a great time hanging out with my family as well as filming for my final documentary project, which I wrote about a while back. Even though our celebration was a little quiet this year without the whole family together, it was good, and I enjoyed playing on the Neopet website with my cousins. It’s always fun spending time with them, and I miss it when I’m so far away!

Highlights of the vacation:

Grandma and Grandpa’s enormous Christmas tree!
Making rice crispy sushi with Joseph’s class, and delivering Christmas singing telegrams & gifts with Jordyn’s class
Snow, snow, snow
Decorating the Christmas tree with Dad, using A LOT of tinsel and wondering if the bubble lights were going to burn it down after all…
Trekking around the fields and hills of Gem County with the guys, filming, making new friends and getting my exercise!
Driving with Katelyn to the airport and admiring her new tongue piercing
Making iTunes playlists with Mom
Watching Korean telenovela episodes with Javier
Overall, just having a good time and forgetting about school for a while!

Here are a couple pictures I took while I was home. I was busy filming, so I didn’t take many!

First Day of Filming

On Thursday I went over to the Peterson’s place and met with a couple of the guys who work there, Gregorio and Maximo, and we talked about my project idea. They were both enthusiastic about it, and we started filming today! We went out to Montour, Hannah and the bench, and I filmed the guys moving sheep from field to field, taking down and putting up fences, loading up water and trailers, drinking coffee, catching sick sheep and goofing off. I think my favorite moment was when Jenaro caught a ewe and started making its legs wave and say hello to me! (Yes, in English). It was hilarious! Too bad I wasn’t closer to him! It would’ve been even better. Either way, I hope it ends up in the final cut.

I’m really happy with the new camcorder. The picture is really clear, and I’m figuring out how to set it so that the color comes out natural as well. The scenery today was gorgeous, so it was the perfect opportunity to test it out! I need to work on getting more variety in terms of angles into my shots, but so far, so good!

I hope everyone’s holiday is going well! Only a few more days till Christmas!

Master’s Project

Ok, before I say anything about my master’s project, I just have to say that I really like WordPress’ new style! I just logged in and was blown away! It’s so much more convenient and user-friendly! Way to go, WordPress dudes!

I’m procrastinating on my essays right now by writing a blog update. I know, I know…If I could just finish ONE of the four essays due this week, I might feel a little more motivated, but I keep hopping from one assignment to another in hopes that I’ll suddenly have all of them done. Not likely!

In the meantime, I’ve been putting together a really cool final master’s degree project! Ever since last spring when we did short documentaries in the learning community, I’ve been wanting to do another one. (My team had creative differences…I wanted more action in the story. They were ok with talking head interviews and still pictures. The video turned out great, but I want to do one my way!) So, like I’ve told a couple of you, I sat down with my advisers and asked if I could do a documentary for my final project. They said yes, as long as I incorporate my academic work into the project, so now I’m on a roll to make it happen!

I had two ideas to start with. One idea was to focus on the way Spanish in the U.S. has been taken by immigrants’ children and grandchildren and mixed with English as sort of a “linguistic subculture.” I might’ve lost half my audience there, but hey, I promise I can make it a lot more interesting in real life. My other idea was to focus on immigration and agriculture and film back home. Obviously this is way closer to my heart than the language stuff since, as much as I love language, it just can’t compare to hearing people’s stories.

I talked with the Petersons about interviewing them and their employees and show them working with the sheep, and they said they would definitely be interested! So, it sounds like I’ve got a project started! Tomorrow I’ll be meeting with a professor in our New Media Communications department who specializes in documentaries about the legal steps I need to take, setting up a timeline, and other “nuts and bolts” information. I figure I’ll probably be really overwhelmed afterwards, but hey, I’m excited right now, so I won’t complain.

Alright, enough procrastination. I’m getting back to work!

Fire & Brimstone…and entertainment

A friend of mine called me and told me that I had to leave my office and check out what was going on just out front.  I walked outside and in front of the library was a HUGE crowd listening to a preacher, but not just ANY preacher.  He was out there, ready for a fight.  He had huge signs that read “Evolution is a lie,” “The truth will set you free,” and another one related to being saved and avoiding the wrath of God.  It was the kind of situation Cassa could only dream of getting to observe.   This preacher dude was apparently in the student union first and got kicked out, and that’s how he ended up in front of the library.  I stayed out there for about an hour and listened to people bringing up all kinds of arguments, philosophy, quantam physics, homosexuality, etc.  It was so fascinating.  At one point, a Arab-American guy with a long beard and dressed in a long tunic walked through the crowd, and the preacher was like, “Hey, you’re muslim, right?” and they got into a debate about judging people.  A woman stepped up later who had grown up in the church and later rejected the majority of its teachings, and every time he made a statement, she “translated” it into what it would mean in real life.  Her big argument was against raising children constantly telling them that they are inherently bad and also telling women that they should “obey” or “submit” to their husbands.  When she left, a lot of people applauded her.  It was just crazy, and it was a nice change from sitting in my office all day.  His timing was definitely good since students are hitting a point in the term where they’re tired and crabby, so they’re perfectly ok with jumping into a fight.  I bet he’ll be exhausted by the end of the day!

Funny Elf Dance

Ok, so I totally stole this from Bethany’s blog.  You’ve GOT to see this!

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/upaLiPELNgldzzUGUnE3

Must See

Watch this video.  You won’t regret it!

http://freedocumentaries.net/media/175/A_Class_Divided/

I’m baaaaack…

Sort of.

So, I realized that in the midst of papers, lesson plans, exams, visiting friends and family in Portland and Moscow, and completing a very large community-based research project, I forgot to update my blog.  I know that you’re all shocked.  I mean, after all, I’m SO consistent as a blogger…

Here, just to keep things interesting, I’ll put up a funny little story for your enjoyment.

As of a week ago, a dense morning and evening fog has settled into the valley.  When the train wakes me up in the morning by rocking the entire building, I groan and turn over about six times before getting up because it feels like no time has passed since I fell asleep.  I stumble to work, but by the time I get out of my little cave, it’s foggy again, so it feels like I’m stuck in a dreamworld where everyone looks like a mysterious shadow in the mist.  A few days ago, I left my office and started walking back to my apartment in a daze, and I’m only partially aware of this squeaking sound.  I take a few steps, and now it’s interrupting my train of thought, and I think, oh, it’s just the plastic from the clip on my laptop bag rubbing against the place where it attaches.  Moving forward, it gets louder.  I stop again, and it stops, too.  I’m starting to get a little weirded out.  No one else is in sight, odd for a university campus.  I move forward, and by now, I’m parallel with towering pine tree, and the squeaking sound is even louder, like a rusty swing, and it’s coming from my left.  I glance over, and this black shape scurries behind a low-hung branch.  I nearly jump out of my skin it surprises me so much!  But when I sort of lean over to get a better look, I realize that I’ve come across a pair of raccoons, and they’re just as scared of me as I am of them!  I stayed there for a couple of minutes, admiring them and being thankful that they startled me back into the land of the living.  A few other students had come out of the library now, and I bet they were wondering what I was doing peaking under the branches of the pine tree!

Taking a Poetry Break

I needed some time to relax, and I found a good poetry book at Borders today called Word Warriors, edited by Alix Olson.  I particularly like a poem by Michelle Tea called “Pidgeon Manifesto.”  Just to give you a sense of what it contains, here is an excerpt:

Pidgeons are doves. They are rock doves, and I wonder if we began to call them that again if people would hesitate to hate them, as doves have that history as being messengers of peace.  It is true that in my neighborhood nobody hates the mourning doves, dusky and elegant with wings that squeak like they flap on rusty hinges. They roost on the wires like little Audrey Hepburns, while the pidgeons troll on the ground, tough and fat, they look like they should be smoking cigarettes, some of them.  They look poor and banged up, they look like they could kick the mourning doves asses…

In the same poem, Tea talks about loving the pidgeons is the start of a revolution at home and that if you hate the pidgeons, then who else do you hate?  I love the choice of subject.  If you’re wondering why it’s not in a traditional poetry form, it’s because the anthology is of spoken poetry.  It’s not meant to be read silently.  To really appreciate it, you often have to say it out loud and put some feeling into it.

Obama-rama makes it to the end of the road…or the beginning?

As of right now, Obama has been declared the winner in the presidential election.

Wow.  Although the result of the election does not surprise me, my feelings do.  I feel like I’ve been part of something big.  I never threw myself passionately into this election.  I was interested in it, but I didn’t lobby for any particular candidate.  In fact, I made my final decision about who to vote for only a few weeks ago.  It was a decision that I put a lot of thought into, and that makes me feel even more ownership over the results of this election.  I’m glad that I chose the man I thought could unite people and motivate people, and in spite of the huge hurdle that he’s got ahead of him – the economic situation of our country – I’m hoping that some of this momentum will continue.  I don’t believe that he is capable of completing all of his promises, nor do I expect him to.  That’s not how politics works.  But I think he can make progress.  That’s what I’m putting my hope in.  Some progress, and involvement by people from all different Americans in our country’s future.

This is an exciting moment in U.S. history.  The last time I felt this way was the day of the terrorist attacks.  That sounds bad, and I don’t mean it to.  The difference, of course, is that this is a positive moment.  Let’s hope it has as much impact as that day did.  I’m naturally a cynicist about politics.  I’m having to fight that voice inside me that says that nothing’s going to change.  I know Obama is starting with a huge disadvantage.  What he does with this position will be a test of his character.

It’s been an interesting two years. Where’s this going to end?  I guess we’ll see!

And I have to admit, I loved seeing that family walk up on stage together, each one of them holding one of their daughters’ hands.  I thought McCain’s speech was very well done, and the BBC was the best channel by far to watch the results come in on.  There they are! My humble opinions.