Meme Post 6 for a Saturday . . .

Originally posted 19 Aug 2009, 15:45, still true . . . :)

Attitudinal Adjustment Time

. . . Somewhere somebody is getting ready for a gig, someplace else someone is drawing pictures, elsewhere they are flippin' pancakes, further still dancing, chasing butterflies, watering flowers, perusing stacks of used books, just making it in time to catch the bus/train/plane . . . go, team humanity, go!

(np: axolotl video with "eye of the leopard"(aavikko) & ten ugly fish video.)

Please note that the above photo was not taken by me--it is from the Banksy website--many thanks.

PhD Development Seminar: Crisps or Carrots?

I was in a training session last week in which we were asked to list things that would help us succeed or not in the PhD research degree process. We were as a group then asked to decide which of the things listed, were either in our control, partially in our control or completely out of our control. The point of the exercise was to show that there are very few challenges and advantages in relation to the PhD research degree process that are completely out of our control. What I found interesting, is how many of the things listed proved problematic for group consensus, that is, how many of the items listed--according to the majority of the group--were only partially 'in their control'.

Perhaps it is because I have lived in places and studied cultures in which the population were genuinely at the mercy of horrible poverty, despair and want--perhaps because of my own life experiences--I am currently very hesitant to accept that any of us at the PhD research development seminar last week, can honestly say that we are not in control of many of the dimensions of our daily life. I think that perhaps the weaving of the fabric of moment-to-moment decision-making process is being taken for granted. Take for example the topic of health--many researchers in the room said they were only in partial control over their health and well-being. In discussion it became clear that in consideration of health and well-being, that it was necessary to separate ‘catastrophic events’ from mundane experience.

Once we as a seminar separated ‘catastrophe’ such as getting cancer or having the sky fall on you, from average daily life experience, I would have personally thought everyone would say that yes, they have a choice about smoking or not smoking, eating a carrot or munching on a bag of crisps, exercising or not exercising etc. But no. Everyone kept saying “Oh, there just isn’t time. I have to balance so many demands!” I do not take issue with people making their own priorities but I think it important to realise that making a choice is what we are, all in fact, doing! We have options--even if we do not like them--and are choosing between those options. We are expressing 'control'.

As an example of making choices about the shape, form and content of one’s life, consider the convener of the seminar I was in. He talked about how realistically, when in his twenties he could have gone anywhere but that these days, as family man, he could not (go anywhere, do anything). I applaud that he is obviously a very responsible 'family man'. But it is within his power to walk away from his 'life' at any time. He CHOOSES not to, precisely because he IS a caring father and husband (and 'walking away' would not be in keeping with his definition of 'caring father and husband').

Yet, if the convener never consciously recognises all of the options he has and that he is proactively committing himself to being a good father and husband (in accordance with his own socialised values system), how is he to receive that gift of self-awareness--of who he is, what he loves and what his own values are? Without recognition of all of his options, even the ones repugnant to his (prescribed) values, would he not run the risk of missing out on the realisation of KNOWING what matters most to him and brings him joy? I think most of us undervalue our lives by not witnessing holistically the dimensions of our personal priorities. Why would anyone deny the accolades of understanding what you and others ‘are about’ and what truly matters (in your own opinion)? What is it that would inspire anyone to ignore, that the value of any choice is not just in what you gain from it but what you do not (gain)?

I do not have a resonant answer (as yet). Certainly there are things we do not have control over and many occasions which necessitate the cooperative sharing of authority with others. Why would anyone want to relinquish or deny whatever amount of ‘absolute’ authority they DO have? In the case, for example, of choosing crisps over carrots on a regular basis and saying that ‘it can’t be helped’ . . . I think that’s a bit rubbish. :) I think the reality there is that one is (possibly) ashamed to admit that they prefer crisps to carrots, because that priority is in conflict with some other goal, like, dropping a kilo or increasing sustained energy levels. Does this then suggest that a lack of interest in taking responsibility for what control one does have in this life, simply comes down to conflicting priorities or is it about something else as well? Is it about fear of having to ‘own’ the impact of the decisions we make--about how what we do in this life, changes the world? Because we certainly cannot avoid that--changing the world by our sheer presence. What we choose to do and what we choose to not do, alters everything . . . but you know . . . no pressure. :D

Weekly Research 'Pillow Book' Journal.

Today I posted the previous three weeks of diary listings for my studies. It is a terse recital, hereto much less interesting than Sei Shonagon's Pillow Book and is primarily written so that I will not forget the key activities that I have done each day. Time is already speeding by and is full of wonderful activities. The other, 'jog-the-memory' blog is located at: http://orovoco.blogspot.com/

Stray Thoughts on a Sunday Night.

I am always nervous when I ‘put something new out there’ or complete a project. I know that some people will hate the work that I have done, some will love the work and most will fall somewhere between the extremes (of loving and hating the new work). This is my current ‘test’ for how ‘good’ something I have done is—I ask myself “Am I proud of and happy with this?” If the answer is “Why, yes, yes I am!” then it does not matter what anyone else thinks. I have done what was necessary, I have created what needed to be created . . . mission accomplished, project done . . . NEXT! ^_^/♡

 

A Rift in My Cup!

I have just brewed my first cup of tea in a mug I have purchased only to discover that there is a crack in the side of my newly purchased mug. It is a very thin crack, just at the handle. A fracture in the platelets of clay and molten molecules of the glaze; a rift in the reality of my cup where the tea seeps through! Tea escaping its proper confines! This cup was not destined to be a prison for tea. It must have some other, perhaps better purpose . . .

Perhaps this?

.

.

.

. . . Welllll . . . no.

. . . Maybe . . .

.

.

.

. . . this?

:) Yes, maybe this.

Meme Post 5: Divorced from Reality?

Back on 23 Sep 2005 I wrote:

"I was recently told by a friend that my dreams are divorced from reality. I told them that I didn't think it was as serious as all that. At this point, as far as I knew, my dreams and reality were only separated. Unfortunately I do have reason to believe that my dreams have started seeing other realities, so you never know . . ."

 

Six years ago, I was convinced that my dreams and reality would never come to reconciliation. I am happy to report that I quite recently had a lovely long luncheon with my dreams and reality. Though their relationship continues to be tumultuous, they seem to have finally patched things up. They have renewed their vows and routinely schedule quality time together. My dreams and reality are working diligently on a daily basis to be more constructive in their communication and to be more attentive to each other's needs; so far, so good. :)

About Space: The Museum and the New Spatial Politics of the Frontiers by Dr. Viv Golding.

Chapter two from Dr. Golding’s book, Learning at the Museum Frontiers discusses long-term collaborative research with the Caribbean Women Writer’s Alliance (CWWA) at the frontiers of the Horniman Museum in London. They aim in cooperations with museums and the Black Body research network to ‘break the museum silence’. Deals with issues of ownership and cultural heritage. Deals with differing interpretations of African social history and with feminist-hermeneutic perspectives of literary and cultural heritage studies.

Things I most enjoyed about the article included its inspiring and cogent quotes, the blending of poetic language and traditional academic writing conventions (I was reminded that there are some truly impressive and wonderful writers in the world), the use of first-person for self-revelation, the observation of Gardner’s eight intelligences, the detailed examples of how the ‘history’ changed depending upon the docent . . . the repeated grounding of the project’s academic and social diversity into museum praxis.

Question . . . are any of us that have been raised within European educational scaffolding completely free from hierarchal and colonialist paradigms of thought and behaviour? Implicit in the article is an answer of ‘no’ to this question, with exciting opportunity and provision for change. I observe within myself and the expressions of the artists/scholars in the article that we are all in a sense at war with our own cultural identity and beliefs--or rather, what we believe to be ‘the truth’ about our own culture and identity! There is a profound internalisation of what is often termed the ‘Western’ perspective teamed with a tendency toward an exclusionary, bifurcated social mentality. Good vs. bad, right vs. wrong, true vs. false . . . there seems to be a strange and very powerful social dictum that there be ‘one’ good-right-truth, one way of being and/or perceiving . . . perhaps based in religious or competitive commercial socialisation patterns? Where is the mutual trust? Where is the mutual expression of respect?

The exciting thing about this project and the article, is that this kind of cross-disciplinary discussion fosters the recognition of this deeply entrenched, inadequate interpretation and proposes avenues for how to move on from it, while supporting the use of collections in an active and participatory way. In fact, activity is the the prescribed avenue. :) Simply observing the objects isn’t necessarily transformative. This of course presents challenges for the role of curator as conservationist/guardian . . . but perhaps invites the question, what is it exactly that we are guarding these objects against and preserving them for? It would seem that in order to fully research and understand the meaning of objects we need to actively use and employ objects in creative community.

Steve Jobs Passed Away Yesterday.

I've read nothing but good about Steve Jobs on the occasion of his passing. His work fostered such creative possiblity and meant so much to the world. At the Apple page they have the following:

If you would like to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences, please email rememberingsteve@apple.com

Meme Post 4: Jordan Rain.

I suppose it is natural to reflect on previous experiences when starting new ones. I found this journal entry from 2007 about my time in Bellingham. It seems a lifetime ago!

23 Feb 2007

Heading: Jordan Rain.

Current mood:sleepy

The band broke up, the bulldozers moved in and condos were scheduled to be built where the flop used to be. But I remember staring up at a bedroom ceiling. He'd painted it blue, with sponged on clouds and starry, glow-in-the-dark constellations—just like the real night sky, so that he could point them out to me in the small hours . . . Draconis and Orian, Big Bear and Little Bear . . . before I moved out into a place of my own he painted a star on the ceiling and gave it my name. "See now, I'll always know where to look for you."

There were five people, plus Tim-the-poet-in-residence, officially renting the flop/flat. In actuality, there were always more--even on the nights when the band wasn't shilling an impromtu, in-house gig, rousting for the rent. Some months the coffee can was more full than others but there was always soup on the stove, toast and tea.

There was an old pipe running the span of the doorway between the kitchen and living room which I habitually used to swing across the threshold for luck. Tim laughed at me and said, "You really don't care what anyone thinks of you, do you?" Jordan threw his drumsticks in the air trying to catch and toss them like hacky-sacks from his feet to his elbows, to his knees and back to his hands again, intoning in a strange sing-song voice,"Should she? Should she be like you? Should she be like me?" He missed his footing and fell.

Years later Jordan and I stood in the street together, waiting for the bus headed toward a new university, his hands stuffed in his pockets, his tousled hair hanging in his eyes. Jordan had been the first person I had met when I first arrived in town; we had been on the same bus together. In his case, he had been "travelling" in order to avoid some socio-political situation and was now returning after what was presumably an acceptable cooling-off period. As we walked up the hill he observed that the street clock had stopped. We had walked for hours through trees and past sculpture gardens in the soft grey northwestern stillness. He might have been a serial killer, but I trusted him and we ate wild blackberries and sang songs about spiders and waterspouts, churches and steeples, Jacks and Jills.

During the subsequent days, turned to months, turned to two years, I had variously been considered important and unimportant, sweet, cruel, witty, dull . . . I had played may parts in the ongoing community drama. I had seen so many others appear, deliver their lines and exit but had thought all along that I was different than all of those . . . guest appearances. I thought I belonged. I'd been wrong. I was not one of the constants. I was just another variable in the equation of Bellingham.

Jordan gave me my first place to stay and then later on, as I repeatedly found and lost my own way, we weren't always together. Yet now he was here again, as if we had never been apart. He stood waiting with me for the bus that would take me away. "When you go," he said, "--everyone else here will forget you, because that's what they do . . . but I won't. I remember everyone--I'll remember you." He turned and walked away; I was left to wait on my own. As the bus pulled out of town, I noticed that someone had finally fixed the clock.

Wednesday Brown Bag Seminar ONE: Reiji Takayasu

I was very grateful for the presentation by Reiji Takayasu of Japan's National Museum of Nature and Science today. I had a couple of questions but wasn't sure if they were appropriate. I was very interested in impact of the earthquake (and subsequent events) upon the people of Japan; if that event has changed the visitor demographics and expectations of the visitors to the museum? It seems like it must have done . . . and I'm wondering how this impact may have presented the museum with an opportunity to help the people of Japan deal with the terror that they went through. How are families in Japan handling the uncertainty of global climate change and what those changes might mean for the future? I wasn't sure however if it would have been a welcome topic. The earthquake was devastating and it must still be very difficult for Japan.

I also wasn't certain if I should ask about the arguments for and against the employment of abductive reasoning in experiential education because, well, it is a contentious debate, isn't it? It seems like much of what human beings do in the meaningful development of knowledge is based upon association and inference but some of the traditionalists will go running down the halls, shouting: "Oh no! It's a potential causal fallacy! Post hoc ergo propter hoc! Run away! Run away!"

And yet . . . to me, it's in those moments when we deeply and viscerally experience the environment and say to ourselves "Oh, I see the connection now," --then in turn share that awareness with others--it's in those moments that knowledge becomes life affirming. But if I understood the presentation it seemed to me that there was a wonderful balance of classical inductive and deductive reasoning to form a checks-and-balances relationship with the inclusion of the abductive approach.

Some of what I found most interesting about Japan's National Museum of Nature and Science is the social reciprocity of their 'Science Communicator' programme. The museum's educational facilitation is developmentally co-productive! Eventually, the participating visitors are leading the seminar sessions themselves.

I was grateful for the presentation as well as the gifting of a sample of the sort of family oriented merchandise that the museum has available. In other words, Reiji Takayasu brought us toys! They were miniature models representative of some exhibition regions of the museum itself. Some of us received dinosaurs, some contemporary wildlife or models of cultural artefacts . . . I received a fisherman/huntsman and his dog:

On the way between Leicester and Sheffield.

I don't think I'll ever quite get used to travelling past the stacks. 

When the going gets hectic, the hectic post 'Meme 3':

This line from an article in Scientific American from 2009 still makes me smile:

NASA wanting to establish a permanent research facility on the moon too farfetched?

"The attack on the Moon is not a declaration of war or act of wanton vandalism. Space scientists want to see if any water ice or vapour is revealed in the cloud of debris."

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=nasas-mission-to-bomb-the-mo...

From a Feline Perspective?

Well, today's note is less than informative, due to my spending most of the day on 'Photo Walk' with the People's Photography Gallery group! I had a wonderful time, replenished vitamin D and took tons of photos. I'll only visit one of them upon you at this time--a lovely cat door at De Montfort:

BBC Reel History Exhibition

BBC_Reel_History_-_Medium.m4v Watch on Posterous