My sister asked me to request a book on my library card and then left before she could read it. So I picked it up - Oracle Bones by Peter Hessler. It's an interesting look at China, jumping back and forth between various storylines including updates on young men and women the author taught when he first came over with the Peace Corps, the history of Oracle Bones, and some Chinese history. It would help to have a timeline though since I'm so ignorant of Chinese history.
A quote about history:
"In his dissertation Galambos notes that centuries of historians have been obsessed with the take of the book-burning, but they have ignored 'the quiet but continuous process of selecting works for copying.' His point is simple: censorship captures the imagination, but the process of creation might be even more destructive. In order to write a story, and create meaning out of events, you deny other possible interpretations. The history of China, like the history of any great culture, was written at the expense of other stories that have remained silent."
I think it makes a great point, which I'm sure is echoed by female and minority historians whose voices have typically not been recorded throughout history. It also makes me realize that even as I write this blog, talk to my mom, or write in my journal that the very process of telling a story excludes the other possibilities. Often I don't think about the fact that there are numerous interpretations of my own story.
Another quote that struck me for different reasons:
"Polat had been in the country for only three months, but already he had adopted the all-American habit of dropping your voice when you talk about blacks. He did this even though he spoke Chinese."
Now this is something I had never really noticed until I heard some of the people in my lab joking about it a while back by using hushed tones when they said referred to black people. The people doing the joking were black people. Where did this habit come from? Were people unsure of how to refer to black people and afraid to offend? Or is there a more intriguing answer?
Last week was a work and play week with my hubby out of town (annual camp with the kids from his clinic). I babysat, watched Opera in the Park, had Indonesian food with jazz, breakfast, coffee, and dinner with my sister. It was nice to catch up with a lot of women I hadn't seen in a while, including one from my UCLA days! I was getting pretty stressed out about this chapter I'm writing "with" (so far seems to be "with" in spirit only) my former advisor. The original deadline was September 1, but yay, it got moved back to October 1.
While things fell through with the chemistry.com project, I did just hear that I will be getting a "visiting scholar" appointment with the psychology department. This is just so that I will continue to have access to Columbia resources while I continue my consulting work with the Office for Diversity Initiatives. I'm still applying for full-time jobs as well.
Latest well-priced restaurant find:
26 Seats (http://www.26seats.com/)
168 Ave B
It's a very small (hence the name) French Bistro type place. The most expensive entree was $15 and its decorated rather shabby chic.
Happy Birthday to Joy!
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