And so it begins ...

Just finished tweaking my syllabus for both classes. It's been a major update and it's rather ambitious but I think it'll work. I just hope the students will enjoy it and find the materials compelling.

I'll find out tomorrow.

UPDATE: The Day After
Friday was a seriously busy day! Taught my two classes in the early morning, then J and I and a few of my colleagues went to see the Shimomura gallery opening, grabbed a quick dinner, and finally ended at the new faculty get-together at the Faculty House and socialized with a number of people for several hours late in the evening. I came home and tried to watch the latest Harold and Kumar movie but it was so stupid and I was so tired that I fell asleep. I went to bed at 11:45pm and woke up at 10am!!!

Both of my classes went well; it is after all the first day so there's really nothing to get worked up about anyways. So I'll see in about two weeks but I do think I have a great set of students who are genuine, supportive, and very engaging.

Signs of Life

About 4 more days until the semester officially begins and I'm sitting in my office working on my second syllabus. I already had two students visit to talk to me about my classes; another student emailed me later today and I still have registration on Wednesday as well.

Running out of time!!!

Shameless

Yep, shameless self-promotion. I submitted a photography of mine to be considered for submission for JPG Magazine. =D

One Week Left

One week left before the new semester starts and I'm already behind in everything. My trip to San Francisco was great. My younger brother's engagement party was a wonderful get-together and my parents looked extremely happy. There was a hitch with my other brother who threw a hissy fit about one thing or another. Whatever. That's his problem. But my trip, as short as it was, comes with a price and I'm feeling the pain in my head as I'm trying to get things in order.

Speaking of pain, I've never heard of Center for Asian Americans United for Self-Empowerment (CAUSE) but they came out with two public service announcements about voting. They both made my head turn and say "WTF?" is up with the ninjas, martial arts, and Asian Americans with pointed ears? It makes me wonder if we're elves or Vulcans. But seriously, can we actually have "normal" Asian Americans voting? I know this sci-fi/fantasy theme is a way to appeal to that age group but it seems very gimmicky and superficial.

Bah. Whatever.

My Head Hurts

New faculty orientation finished yesterday and I am still exhausted! There was a ton of information; lots of great stuff about resources, policies, guidelines, teaching, syllabi making, and most importantly of all, the students and their lives at the college. J remarked that this orientation was tons better and more detailed than the one she received at GMU. The difference clearly showed that Grinnell was extremely invested in seeing their faculty succeed.

I'm off to San Francisco for the next few days for my youngest brother's engagement party tomorrow night. I am excited to see the new couple. I'm also planning to take them on a photo shoot somewhere in The City. Maybe Palace of Fine Arts if the weather is right. I still have to figure out where. I'm not a pro but I'm hoping for a pretty good selection of candids that they can keep for themselves. There's also quite a few friends that J and I will be visiting and of course plenty of restaurants to hit up.

I am not, however, looking forward to seeing my parents. I think that's why my head hurts.

Whoa!

Only got a short minute to post an article from The Chronicle for Higher Education about an altercation between two professors at a debate competition. I've included the clip at the end.

A Professor Is in the Hot Seat After Mooning Debate Judges

By JEFFREY R. YOUNG

A debate coach for Fort Hays State University, in Kansas, is under review by the institution after he swore at officials and mooned judges at a tournament earlier this year, in an incident that was recorded and uploaded to YouTube.

The coach, William Shanahan III, a professor of communication, got into a shouting match with a judge—and at one point briefly dropped his pants—during the national tournament of the Cross Examination Debate Association, which was held in Kansas this spring. A video recording of the incident was posted to YouTube last week, drawing thousands of views, attention from the national news media, and calls to the university from alumni and others demanding that it fire the professor for his behavior.

Can It Get Any Worse?

This has been such a sad weekend despite all the Olympic excitement and achievements.

Isaac Hayes, the singer and songwriter whose luxurious, strutting funk arrangements in songs like “Theme From ‘Shaft’ ” defined the glories and excesses of soul music in the early 1970s, died on Sunday in East Memphis, Tenn. He was 65 (NY Times article).

This is so sad ...

Bernie Mac, a stand-up comic who played evil-tongued but lovable rogues in films like “Bad Santa” and “Mr. 3000” and combined menace and sentiment as a reluctant foster father on “The Bernie Mac Show” on Fox, died on Saturday in Evanston, Ill. He was 50 and lived near Chicago (NY Times article).

From What You Are ...

... to what you did. I'm diggin' this clip.

STOOPID!

OMFG ... (by way of Angry Asian Man ) ... OMFG ... WTF asshattery is this??? OMFG ...

2 + 2 = 5

I'm switching from DSL to cable internet. The DSL line that I have now is suffering from frequent bouts of lag and it's driving me nuts. I can't upload my photos, download documents, or play Warcraft because it'll drop the connection. And the tech folks can't seem to figure out what and where the problem is so I'm switching to cable internet to see how it fares. When I do get back to normalcy, I can start posting regularly and upload my photos of Grinnell.

On a side note, it just occurred to me that out of all the books and articles that I slated for my summer reading, I only finished two books.

OMG I suck. =(

I Learned Something Today ...

By way of Angry Asian Man, Congress passed a resolution honoring the contributions of Asian Pacific American soldiers who served in the US Civil War sponsored by Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA). Two soldiers were especially acknowledged for their historic participation: Edward Day Cohota and Joseph L. Pierce.

It is discoveries like these that makes history so alive.

I Missed Yesterday's Earthquake

If there's one thing I miss about California it would be earthquakes. Or if I had my choice of natural disasters from tornadoes to hurricanes, I think earthquakes would top the list. Why? Because even in a really bad earthquake, you can stand and watch other people run and scream in terror. You can't do that in a tornado or a hurricane because, well, you'll be blown away. And it's worse to be in a shelter because, well, remember Katrina? Earthquakes are extremely short events and its devastation can last beyond the mere seconds it occurred, but it is also a spectacle that I as a native San Franciscan endured and, to a certain extent, miss.

Yes, that's very sadistic and heartless of me, but I grew up with a series of tremors that ran for almost a decade in my youth. The City experienced a number of quakes and shocks ranging from 3.0 to 4.5 and some "experts" were predicting that these quakes were leading up to the "big one" sometime in the next thirty years. Incidentally, someone said the same thing on CNN today about yesterday's earthquake in Chino Hills, CA. Yesterday's earthquake could potentially unleash a devastating one in the region. Whatever. I grew up with daily earthquake and fire drills at my grammar school. I learned safety procedures and basic emergency first aid. Later in college, I experienced the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. A 6.9-7.1 earthquake that stopped the World Series, destroyed the Nimitz Freeway, collapsed a section of the Bay Bridge, heavily damaged and destroyed homes and apartments in the Marina district, and killed over 50 people and injured 3,000.

I was in the Student Union on the campus of San Francisco State University when the earthquake occurred. If anyone went to or is familiar with the Student Union it is a structure entirely made of concrete and steel. The design of the building is "unique" which means it sucks. A famous SF columnist, Herb Caen, once described the building looking like two ships sinking in the horizon. And it does. But it was supposedly the safest building on campus since it was built with improved earthquake codes. After the building was evacuated, I met up with my friends outside who saw the "two ships" of the Student Union bounce in the course of the earthquake. That's several thousand tons of concrete and steel bouncing up-and-down on top of several thousand more tons of concrete and steel with *me* inside watching the concrete columns swaying back-and-forth. Two of my best friends (both native San Franciscans) and I sat in our club's office when the quake hit. We paused for a moment to confirm that it was indeed an earthquake, and then casually walked over to the entrance of the door for safety. We knew this quake was SERIOUS. It was not your average tremor. We knew that the damage will be bad, but we didn't know how devastating it was until much later.

So when I saw the news reports and footage of yesterday's earthquake, and with all those people running around in a panicked state, I shook my head and laughed. I couldn't believe how many people cried over a 5.4 earthquake. The drama kings and queens were in full force, but of course, that's Los Angeles for you. Everyone and everything is a spectacle. For me, anything less than a 6.0 earthquake is still a walk in the park. Of course there will be damage but yesterday's quake was nothing compared to the 1989 Loma Prieta (6.9-7.1) or the disastrous 1994 Northridge quake (6.7). The running joke among my friends is that you can tell who the native San Franciscan was, or at the least a Californian, when they acted calmly or went about their business. We knew when an earthquake was serious, but whenever we saw anyone who panicked, we also knew that they were often more dangerous than the quake itself.

Not really "normal"

Still having trouble with my home internet connection. Too many thunderstorms left the lines in a tattered state. Grrrrrrr.

Back to Normal

This is one of the reasons why I love and miss San Francisco.

George W. Bush Sewage Plant Plan is on ballot

(07-17) 14:57 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco voters will be asked to decide whether to name a city sewage plant in honor of President Bush, after a satiric measure qualified for the November ballot Thursday.

Backers of the measure, who for several months circulated a petition to place the measure on the ballot, turned in more than 12,000 signatures on July 7, said organizer Brian McConnell. The Department of Elections on Thursday informed those supporters, the self-proclaimed Presidential Memorial Commission, that they had enough valid signatures - a minimum of 7,168 registered San Francisco voters - to qualify for the November ballot.

McConnell, who came up with the idea over beers with friends, often donned an Uncle Sam outfit to drum up support for the petition. The all-volunteer group of signature gatherers often carried around an American flag and blasted patriotic music from a boom box to attract attention. He said the campaign to pass the measure will be an equally grassroots effort.

The measure, if passed, would rename the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant the George W. Bush Sewage Plant. McConnell said the intent is to remember the Bush administration and what the group sees as the president's mistakes, including the war in Iraq.

Some people aren't laughing, including the San Francisco Republican Party, which sees the measure as an embarrassment, even to this famously liberal city. Chairman Howard Epstein has vowed to fight the measure with all means available to him.

A White House spokeswoman, when asked about the measure several weeks ago, refused to comment.

E-mail Marisa Lagos at mlagos@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page B - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle.

MADE IT!!!

After arriving last Monday evening, I'm finally back online and writing my first post from the comfort of my new home in Grinnell, Iowa. The packing, moving, and driving over 1000 miles will always test one's patience and it certainly did. I hate having my life upended. I also hate not being connected to my friends via the internet, but there's always an end and J and I are finally feeling like we're at home. I think this weekend we'll have our first real chance to check out the town and the surrounding cities like Des Moines and Iowa City. Here's a few quick highlights ...

• Grinnell is really a small town ... population of 9000 people and you can drive to the boundaries of the town in a few minutes.
• Wild rabbits scampering through our yard!!!
• Dragonflies and other bugs.
• The tomatoes grown here are absolutely delicious!!!
• Lots of thunder and lightning storms. Our power went out for a few hours once.
• We have a toilet and semi-repaired shower in our basement. It was really weird but my colleague informed me that is there in the event of a tornado in case we become trapped. It's more prevalent in older homes like the one we have when Grinnell was seriously damaged by a tornado. Obviously, my new home is one of the older ones in town.
• Our basement is hella' musty.
• We met our new neighbors within 10 minutes of arriving. Everyone is incredibly friendly. As a matter of fact, everywhere I went people talked to me and said hello. My colleague in sociology lives next door and I found out my other neighbor is a native San Franciscan. He's a classic '60s liberal who has a beautiful garden. Awesome!
• Lots of cornfields. Seriously. Corn is everywhere and is the state's main product along with soybean.
• Lots of farm equipment like tractors.
• We saw a truck load of pigs being transported through Grinnell.
• Walmart is the local store that is the only establishment open for 24 hours. I really hate that store but there were a number of things that I needed to fix my place up.
• Unpacking is about 90% done. I checked in with my department and will get settled in as soon as possible. I have an OFFICE with my name on it. J has a more beautiful office in the Center for the Humanities with a window.
• J and I scored on our first trip to Des Moines by finding a really good Asian market. We came home with over $200 of dumplings, noodles, tofu, meats, bean sprouts, bean curd, seasonings, snow pea shoots, BBQ pork buns, preserved mangos, pickled cucumbers, and daikon. To hell with junk food!

That's about it for now. Will check in again and post pictures as soon as I can. Thanks to everyone for sending me your emails of support!

And Mr. Smith Leaves Washington, DC

Today is my last day in Arlington, VA Washington, DC.

Movers came yesterday and picked up everything that we packed.

J and I had one great and last dinner with a very dear friend/colleague from her department -- Korean BBQ! We had one last toast together and to our friend.

We vacuumed, washed, scrubbed, and dusted (not necessarily in that order) our apartment.

We threw away tons of goodies and foods from Trader Joe's, the Korean market, etc.

We slept on the floor last night because the movers took our bed.

I hit my head on the side view mirror of the mover's truck leaving a 2-inch cut that bled for some time. Yeah, that was stupid of me.

I have no cable TV, but I still have internet access.

Our 80-year-old next door neighbor was sad to see us go, but insisted that J and I finally get married.

We have a few more things to do, final packing, and some more trash to throw away this morning.

We'll have our last lunch here, maybe at the local diner -- the same one that we went to the first night J arrived for her job at "that school" in Fairfax. It's seems fitting that we begin and end there.

After lunch, we'll hit the road driving for about 2-3 days to our first stop at Wichita, KS to see J's family. Her mom's cooking is to die for! And I'll get to shoot pool with her father who is pretty good opponent. After 2-3 days of resting and recuperating, we'll make our way for 6.5 hours to our final destination at Grinnell, IA.

That's it. =D

Follow Up

It's down to the wire as the last bits and pieces and random items need to be collected, cleaned, and either packed or thrown away. Here's a few more quick thoughts from these past few days:

• shrink wrap is a lifesaver!
• my girlfriend has skills in spatial reasoning!
• I found my kuffiyeh that my best friend gave to me twenty years ago.
• discarded some seriously old videotapes of The Last Starfighter, Robotech, and TRON.
• aching back muscles hurt a lot; in fact, everything hurts more when you're older.
• changing the addresses of your bank, cable TV, internet, telephone, wireless, and electric account is a pain in the ass.
• having no dishware is like camping; we're using plastic plates, cups, and utensils now.
• donating used books and CDs to the public library is better than throwing it into the trash ... except if it's a Milli Vanilli CD.
• if something doesn't fit in the box, go buy a bigger one.
• eating fast food all the time is a little gross ... except Arby's. =D
• found an old jury summons from ten years ago.
• found an audiotape of Beatles' songs that I made in 1986.
• also found a 24 cent stamp when postage was 24 cents.
• getting ready for the 2-3 day road trip by storing 2 gallons of water in the trunk.
• will have one last dinner with a great friend and colleague; it'll be sad.

That's it for now. I hope to post one last time before I leave on Tuesday.

Some Quick Thoughts ...

These past two weeks has been extraordinarily stressful. I've been cleaning, packing, and getting ready for my long awaited departure from Washington, DC to Grinnell, IA. We already packed fifty boxes that are just our books only! And we just started with everything else: clothes, dishes, CDs, DVDs, research files, and a bunch of knick knacks. Hiring movers can be a trying experience especially when arranging a schedule is complicated by tornadoes and floods in Iowa. Fortunately, Grinnell was founded on high ground and away from the river. Getting there is the big problem. But for now, if all goes well, the movers will arrive this Tuesday to pack everything up. By Wednesday, I'll be on the road first to stop by my girlfriend's family in Wichita, KS, for a few days and then off to Grinnell. All of which means that this may very well be my last post until I get set up in my new home.

In the meantime, I've got a few quick highlights and thoughts:

1) saw the amazing Body Worlds exhibition in Baltimore, MD.
2) eating Maryland blue crabs at Obricky's is yummy.
3) I give a grade of A+ for Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy in Wanted.
4) I give another A+ for Wall-E.
5) thunderstorms suck in the summer.
6) lightning strikes are cool ... when they're far away.
7) dust is dirty.
8) cleaning grime from the cooking fan is disgusting.
9) Visionary Arts Museum in Baltimore, MD, was cool.
10) finding old episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation on video tape from 1992 brings back memories.
11) I found a $100 Australian bill. I have no idea how I came to acquire that.
12) Being poor still sucks especially when a chunk of change is going to pay the movers.
13) Throwing out my old Milli Vanilli CD.
14) Keeping my memorabilia from my senior high school retreat. It's a Catholic thing. I can't figure out why I still have it but oh well.
15) Threw out over 50 video cassettes of old TV shows and movies.

And finally, I am happy to announce that one of my former students will be transferring to Northeastern University in Boston, MA, in the Fall, and another student will be studying abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Congratulations for their successes!

George Carlin (1937-2008)

It's such a sad day. I'm a big big fan of George Carlin as far as I could remember and it's a sad day to see him depart right before he was to be awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor (although, I can see that he might make a scathing critique out of that award as well). Carlin is what Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert wish they could be: entertainer, comedian, satirist, political agitator, and master of language whose work became the basis for the 1978 US Supreme Court case of FCC v. Pacifica Foundation where Carlin's "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" was aired at a radio station in New York City. In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled that limited civil sanctions can be levied against a radio broadcast of "patently offensive words."

I loved Carlin's political and cultural critique but unlike Stewart or Colbert, his work was not about innuendos or linguistic slights, that is, implied critiques. His comedy was open, in your face, dark, and punchy on topics that included Christianity, surveillance, politics, elections, excesses of American culture, materialism, and many other social issues and taboo subjects. It had a working-class roughness and his comedy was not for everyone. But that's what I liked about him and why I always thought of him as a political and cultural agitator of the best kind where his intents and motivations were clear cut and out in the open.

I last saw Carlin at a sold-out performance when I was vacationing in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. I can't believe that's the end of another wonderful man with a truly historic career.