Today

Yesterday in the States was election day. Eventhough it's an off-year for most states and there were no federal elections, it's still exciting. So much is dependant on the outcomes of the elections (ideally) and they always seem important. Today though I finally handed in my urban anthropology midterm. It was a lot of work but I'm really interested in the subject so it wasn't so bad doing it. Part of the paper was about the flaneur, who is described as a stroller of the city. the way I see him is as someone who was born out of cafe culture; just sitting and watching as the city life unfolds in front of him. I love that idea. I like to do it when I'm New York. I'll go to Washington Square Park with a book and watch as everything happens all around me, all of the intersections of lives clashing and running into eachother and knocking school books out of someones hands and people smiling at each other; it's all really intricate and beautiful. the idea of cosmopolitanism is apparent when you just sit and watch. everyone passes by doing their own thing, everyones an individual, in all aspects of the word.

Also, I did a presentation for urban anthro. which was about NGO's and grassroots democracy internationally. lately I've been starting to get reinterested in politics. all summer it was such an afterthought, thinking about all the bullshit when the sun is shining is a little bit too much, but now that it's november, the weather matches the political climate. and the stories are interesting. the things in the news effect my life in one way or another but what I really find interesting is all the microcosm politics that happen all over the world. first revolt in Burma and now Gen. Musharaff in Pakistan declared emeergency rule but its basically martial law. it makes me realize how easy it would be for the United States government to do the same thing. now that any American citizen can be declared an enemy combatant on suspicion (thanks military commission act) it seems entirely possible that if the ruling party (Republican in this case but I wouldn't put it pas Democrats) felt threatened enough, they could make the state theirs and steal it from the people.


tonight started with me and ruth and eric and rachel making dinner (pasta with homemmade meat sauce, spinach salad, bread and brie cheese, and red wine). it was good. then owen and scott came over and finished off the leftovers. it was good dinner and it was nice to sit with everyone and eat. and tonight ended up with some folks and myself smoking my hookah. the apple tobacco is pretty delicious, although natalie has peach and it's so nice too. I'm glad that we all have the means to smoke the hookah, and most of us, our own. it's definitely some sort of camaraderie. kinda of a constant and ornate memento of the great time we had in Istanbul. it was great traveling with some of my best friends. it all worked out pretty well. amsterdam in general is working out pretty well.