Now, so you don't go away empty-handed, here's an adorable cat video:
Fare thee well,
Colin
Saturday, April 28, 2012
In Place of Usual Post
Due to my time being consumed by some bettas that were sent to us by a marine management organization, we will be unable to provide a full post this weekend. To summarize the most important point of the past week: I passed my master's defense.
Now, so you don't go away empty-handed, here's an adorable cat video:
Fare thee well,
Colin
Now, so you don't go away empty-handed, here's an adorable cat video:
Fare thee well,
Colin
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Brace Yourselves...
My thesis defense date has been set for the 26th of April, and I couldn't be happier to finally be at the endgame. Well, I suppose I could be happier, but I'm happy enough. Extreme emotions can only be sustained for short periods of time, else one develops an electro-chemical imbalance that can lead to severe complications. So, yeah, I'm content.
I don't really have much to add right now, mostly because I just don't feel like writing about anything else. We've been here for so long and we've missed out on so much at home, but it's finally about to pay off big time. Once I have my master's degree and my thesis finalized, I can finally stake some more permanent claim in my field; I'll have an artifact. That artifact tells a story, an important story for me now and, just maybe, an important story for others some day in the future. It also gives me a resource from which to pull when I do further work, possibly even article and book publications, but most importantly it's a token, a trinket I leave behind.
Now, I don't know what story is going to be told, or if anyone is even going to pick it up. Truth be told, if my work is remembered at all, I'll probably be written-off as a mere dissenter who contributed little of substance to his area, let alone the field or world at large. That's okay. What's important is that I know it's out there and that it's out there at all. As much as I seek an audience with other minds for the sake of debate and collaboration, at the end of the day I really have to fall back on my own sense of judgement and self-satisfaction. I have to examine whether I lived up to my own standards and, if I did, then I need to be content with that. After all, you can't please everybody, and you'll likely never please those with whom you disagree.
That all being said, I'm going to wrap this up now. I was up late last night helping a friend with an important project. Yeah, being close to completion means I have time to do that now, and I like to help people. That's why I got into this lifestyle to begin with, and it's important to think about that every so often. That's my challenge for all of my readers today: Think about why you do what you do, what your reasons for going into your profession were and what they are now. Just have a nice long think and see where it takes you.
Me? I'm gonna' catch some elusive Z's.
Passing out now,
Colin
I don't really have much to add right now, mostly because I just don't feel like writing about anything else. We've been here for so long and we've missed out on so much at home, but it's finally about to pay off big time. Once I have my master's degree and my thesis finalized, I can finally stake some more permanent claim in my field; I'll have an artifact. That artifact tells a story, an important story for me now and, just maybe, an important story for others some day in the future. It also gives me a resource from which to pull when I do further work, possibly even article and book publications, but most importantly it's a token, a trinket I leave behind.
Now, I don't know what story is going to be told, or if anyone is even going to pick it up. Truth be told, if my work is remembered at all, I'll probably be written-off as a mere dissenter who contributed little of substance to his area, let alone the field or world at large. That's okay. What's important is that I know it's out there and that it's out there at all. As much as I seek an audience with other minds for the sake of debate and collaboration, at the end of the day I really have to fall back on my own sense of judgement and self-satisfaction. I have to examine whether I lived up to my own standards and, if I did, then I need to be content with that. After all, you can't please everybody, and you'll likely never please those with whom you disagree.
That all being said, I'm going to wrap this up now. I was up late last night helping a friend with an important project. Yeah, being close to completion means I have time to do that now, and I like to help people. That's why I got into this lifestyle to begin with, and it's important to think about that every so often. That's my challenge for all of my readers today: Think about why you do what you do, what your reasons for going into your profession were and what they are now. Just have a nice long think and see where it takes you.
Me? I'm gonna' catch some elusive Z's.
Passing out now,
Colin
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Winding Down
We have thirty-three days left before we leave. Thirty. Three. Days. That still feels like a lot but, heck, it's a lot less than what we were looking at when we left back in January. I have to say I'm really happy to see that number and to think that we're only about a month away from coming home. Although not everything about Hong Kong is horrible, the homeland is infinitely preferable, and I can't wait to be back at the table and drinking wine and eating food with our friends and family.
Of course, that'll only last about three months, after which time we'll be packing up and leaving again, this time for Utah. For those of you living in a cave or who just have no other way of following us, I accepted Utah's offer the other day and I'll start working toward my PhD there Fall 2012 (that means the first of September which, frankly, isn't really in the fall but, hey, that's what they call it). I'm looking forward to being back in a US program, although I can only hope that the level of rigor and depth of discussion is what I remember it to be. So far I've only done work at Duke and UNC prior to my stint in Hong Kong and, let's be honest, those are two of the best universities in the nation for the work I do. That sets the bar pretty high, but I'll remain hopeful.
I'm also hopeful that we can figure out something for Carina to do.Utah's department of education looks, to be honest, kinda' like crap on a cracker. I'm tempted to beg her to stay in Durham and finish her MAT, but I know she won't have any of that. I also know that she'll probably end up working remotely for her boss here in Hong Kong, but that shouldn't stop her from finishing that degree. I really think she could fulfill her dream of opening that school and revamping our crap education system if she'd just let herself. I'll keep encouraging her.
What else is there to talk about? Well, apparently HKU is finally starting to move on my thesis defense, having dragged their feet through the mud for as long as possible. Chris was nice enough to light a fire under someone's ass and explain that the candidate will be leaving mid-May! Apparently they had the examiners' reports when he asked (heaven knows for how long they'd had them), and the committee is going to try to squeeze in my defense ASAP. I'm not sure what that's going to entail in my case. Most students are done in around forty-five minutes tops, but I get the feeling it's not going to be so brief for me, not if some of the powers that be have anything to say about it. Then again, maybe it will go perfectly smoothly and quickly, in which case that would be awesome. I just want to finish my work here and then move on to my next projects which, frankly, are a lot cooler.
Other than that, I can't think of much else to say. Good on Florida for finally charging Zimmerman? I figured I should follow up my last post, at least.
Night-y night,
Colin
Of course, that'll only last about three months, after which time we'll be packing up and leaving again, this time for Utah. For those of you living in a cave or who just have no other way of following us, I accepted Utah's offer the other day and I'll start working toward my PhD there Fall 2012 (that means the first of September which, frankly, isn't really in the fall but, hey, that's what they call it). I'm looking forward to being back in a US program, although I can only hope that the level of rigor and depth of discussion is what I remember it to be. So far I've only done work at Duke and UNC prior to my stint in Hong Kong and, let's be honest, those are two of the best universities in the nation for the work I do. That sets the bar pretty high, but I'll remain hopeful.
I'm also hopeful that we can figure out something for Carina to do.Utah's department of education looks, to be honest, kinda' like crap on a cracker. I'm tempted to beg her to stay in Durham and finish her MAT, but I know she won't have any of that. I also know that she'll probably end up working remotely for her boss here in Hong Kong, but that shouldn't stop her from finishing that degree. I really think she could fulfill her dream of opening that school and revamping our crap education system if she'd just let herself. I'll keep encouraging her.
What else is there to talk about? Well, apparently HKU is finally starting to move on my thesis defense, having dragged their feet through the mud for as long as possible. Chris was nice enough to light a fire under someone's ass and explain that the candidate will be leaving mid-May! Apparently they had the examiners' reports when he asked (heaven knows for how long they'd had them), and the committee is going to try to squeeze in my defense ASAP. I'm not sure what that's going to entail in my case. Most students are done in around forty-five minutes tops, but I get the feeling it's not going to be so brief for me, not if some of the powers that be have anything to say about it. Then again, maybe it will go perfectly smoothly and quickly, in which case that would be awesome. I just want to finish my work here and then move on to my next projects which, frankly, are a lot cooler.
Other than that, I can't think of much else to say. Good on Florida for finally charging Zimmerman? I figured I should follow up my last post, at least.
Night-y night,
Colin
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Felices Pascuas
Yeah, happy Easter. Go eat a chocolate rabbit, I hear the ears and tails are the best parts.
There's been a lot of big stuff in the news recently: North Korea is about to launch a rocket, the Syrian peace deal is falling apart, utter madness in the Philippines as a girl tried to surf on a whale shark. Yeah, this is weird, wild stuff.
If you're in the US, as most of our readers are, then the story you've probably heard the most about is the tragic tale of Trayvon Martin. Why is it a tragedy? Well, first of all, the kid's dead, that's pretty tragic. What's really upsetting for most people, though, is the fact that the justice system seems to be dragging its feet on bringing the case to any real conclusion.
As it currently stands, George Zimmerman of Sanford, Florida , the man who has admitted to shooting and killing Trayvon Martin (17; also of Sanford, Florida), has yet to be charged for his actions. The public outcry is palpable and Zimmerman is already building a defense, claiming that he discharged his concealed firearm in a residential area in self-defense, a claim that homicide investigators on the scene were "unconvinced" about. Nevertheless, the State Attorney almost immediately claimed that there was insufficient evidence to formally arrest and charge Zimmerman. It has been pandemonium ever since.
Now, here's the real tragedy over this event: there are a lot, a lot of people out there who want to talk about the possibility that the shooting was motivated by racial profiling, that the killing occurred as a product of inherent prejudice. It gets better: the majority of the people who seem to be bringing up race are the ones who are telling everyone else to shut up about it, and it's distracting from the fact that a young man was shot to death by a man acting as a vigilante who was also potentially endangering others.
What's that? You mean the "Got durn pot-bangin' m'norities" aren't the ones hogging the bullhorn on this one? Sorry, Boss Hogg, but if you'll take a look at your hand, yeah, right there, you'll see that the megaphone is firmly in your grasp this time. Please hush for a second so I can point out a few things.
The big issue here isn't whether Zimmerman shot Martin because he was black. The big issue is that the state of Florida is dragging its knuckles on bringing closure to this horrible event that occurred two months ago. Seriously, two months and you can't even bring the charge? Of course, that comes as no surprise to those who remember the presidential election of 2000 (really, you can't count?), but we should be serious here, because this is a grave issue. We need to ask: Florida, what the Hell? The fact of the matter is that regardless of whether Zimmerman's self-defense claim is true, a claim that should be decided in a court of law after critical consideration of the evidence and the principle of excessive force, he shot and killed someone. You don't just get away with that!
Could there be undertones of racism involved? Sure, along with class-ism for that matter. I believe Zimmerman has gone on record to state that he was following Martin because he "looked suspicious", and according to statements from witnesses Zimmerman accosted Martin and demanded to know what he was doing in that neighborhood (apparently visiting the home of his father's fiancee, not that Zimmerman bought that story). Looking suspicious doesn't necessarily entail racism, but it does entail a prejudical assumption that one of these things is not like the other. Trayvon Martin was an unfamiliar entity to George Zimmerman, and one that did not fit with his expectations of who was (or perhaps should be) in that neighborhood. So, yeah, there's obviously a bit of xenophobic paranoia going on here, but it's not necessarily racially motivated.
The problem is that we are dealing with a locale that does have a history of racist tensions. Even if Zimmerman didn't personally inherit those tensions, other people that make up the community have; the historicity cannot be ignored. A little suspicion is warranted, but we should always be cautious before we fly off the handle and start making wild accusations. It goes both ways, though: people who are jumping to Zimmerman's defense have tried to build him up as an upright citizen and immediately taken pot-shots at Trayvon Martin, noting some of his past misdemeanors and current affairs. They try to vilify him, dehumanize him, rather than acknowledge that he was a human being who has died by violence against his person. Not his race. Not his class. His person. Trayvon Martin is (or was, depending on your point of view) a person, and he deserves to be remembered for who rather than what he was.
It's easy for us to forget in the bustle of our daily lives that every jerk, moron, dimwit, and rube that we bump into is still human and not an inanimate, non-sentient piece of sidewalk decor. Sure, we can't think about everyone in the world all the time, but every so often something happens and we get a chance to remember how many of us there are, and what it means to be human and be someone. What transpired that night that led to Martin's being shot is immaterial to the fact that his unfortunate demise can serve as that kind of reminder. I, for one, think we should at least give this case that level of respect.
Sorry, I know it was just Easter and everyone is feeling festive, but this has weighed heavily on my mind as of late. I'm sure I'm just young and naive, and I'm probably missing out on some serious legal facts that would explain to any idiot what's going on here, but I find this upsetting. Blame Facebook and the media. I really do hope you all have a good holiday and a wonderful week, though.
Happy Easter,
Colin
There's been a lot of big stuff in the news recently: North Korea is about to launch a rocket, the Syrian peace deal is falling apart, utter madness in the Philippines as a girl tried to surf on a whale shark. Yeah, this is weird, wild stuff.
If you're in the US, as most of our readers are, then the story you've probably heard the most about is the tragic tale of Trayvon Martin. Why is it a tragedy? Well, first of all, the kid's dead, that's pretty tragic. What's really upsetting for most people, though, is the fact that the justice system seems to be dragging its feet on bringing the case to any real conclusion.
As it currently stands, George Zimmerman of Sanford, Florida , the man who has admitted to shooting and killing Trayvon Martin (17; also of Sanford, Florida), has yet to be charged for his actions. The public outcry is palpable and Zimmerman is already building a defense, claiming that he discharged his concealed firearm in a residential area in self-defense, a claim that homicide investigators on the scene were "unconvinced" about. Nevertheless, the State Attorney almost immediately claimed that there was insufficient evidence to formally arrest and charge Zimmerman. It has been pandemonium ever since.
Now, here's the real tragedy over this event: there are a lot, a lot of people out there who want to talk about the possibility that the shooting was motivated by racial profiling, that the killing occurred as a product of inherent prejudice. It gets better: the majority of the people who seem to be bringing up race are the ones who are telling everyone else to shut up about it, and it's distracting from the fact that a young man was shot to death by a man acting as a vigilante who was also potentially endangering others.
What's that? You mean the "Got durn pot-bangin' m'norities" aren't the ones hogging the bullhorn on this one? Sorry, Boss Hogg, but if you'll take a look at your hand, yeah, right there, you'll see that the megaphone is firmly in your grasp this time. Please hush for a second so I can point out a few things.
The big issue here isn't whether Zimmerman shot Martin because he was black. The big issue is that the state of Florida is dragging its knuckles on bringing closure to this horrible event that occurred two months ago. Seriously, two months and you can't even bring the charge? Of course, that comes as no surprise to those who remember the presidential election of 2000 (really, you can't count?), but we should be serious here, because this is a grave issue. We need to ask: Florida, what the Hell? The fact of the matter is that regardless of whether Zimmerman's self-defense claim is true, a claim that should be decided in a court of law after critical consideration of the evidence and the principle of excessive force, he shot and killed someone. You don't just get away with that!
Could there be undertones of racism involved? Sure, along with class-ism for that matter. I believe Zimmerman has gone on record to state that he was following Martin because he "looked suspicious", and according to statements from witnesses Zimmerman accosted Martin and demanded to know what he was doing in that neighborhood (apparently visiting the home of his father's fiancee, not that Zimmerman bought that story). Looking suspicious doesn't necessarily entail racism, but it does entail a prejudical assumption that one of these things is not like the other. Trayvon Martin was an unfamiliar entity to George Zimmerman, and one that did not fit with his expectations of who was (or perhaps should be) in that neighborhood. So, yeah, there's obviously a bit of xenophobic paranoia going on here, but it's not necessarily racially motivated.
The problem is that we are dealing with a locale that does have a history of racist tensions. Even if Zimmerman didn't personally inherit those tensions, other people that make up the community have; the historicity cannot be ignored. A little suspicion is warranted, but we should always be cautious before we fly off the handle and start making wild accusations. It goes both ways, though: people who are jumping to Zimmerman's defense have tried to build him up as an upright citizen and immediately taken pot-shots at Trayvon Martin, noting some of his past misdemeanors and current affairs. They try to vilify him, dehumanize him, rather than acknowledge that he was a human being who has died by violence against his person. Not his race. Not his class. His person. Trayvon Martin is (or was, depending on your point of view) a person, and he deserves to be remembered for who rather than what he was.
It's easy for us to forget in the bustle of our daily lives that every jerk, moron, dimwit, and rube that we bump into is still human and not an inanimate, non-sentient piece of sidewalk decor. Sure, we can't think about everyone in the world all the time, but every so often something happens and we get a chance to remember how many of us there are, and what it means to be human and be someone. What transpired that night that led to Martin's being shot is immaterial to the fact that his unfortunate demise can serve as that kind of reminder. I, for one, think we should at least give this case that level of respect.
Sorry, I know it was just Easter and everyone is feeling festive, but this has weighed heavily on my mind as of late. I'm sure I'm just young and naive, and I'm probably missing out on some serious legal facts that would explain to any idiot what's going on here, but I find this upsetting. Blame Facebook and the media. I really do hope you all have a good holiday and a wonderful week, though.
Happy Easter,
Colin
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