November 29, 2002
Thanksgiving...
 |
| Tariq, myself, and Zeeshan (from left to right) |
Zeeshan, Tariq and I had a little Pakistani dinner, sharing stories about living in different parts of the world (they are both from Pakistan). Zeeshan just got here last week, so has some catching up to do in classes. Tariq I met when I first got here but hadn't talked with very much.
It is sometimes hard to ask the probing questions; like how they feel about their religions restricting freedom in their country while the rest of the world runs around naked fornicating. They both seem to accept that the world is like that, but they don't seem to buy into it too heavily themselves.
We prepared dinner, talked some politics, watched television for a few minutes (first time I have watched a TV since August).
I explained the concept of Thanksgiving thusly: "We are supposed to celebrate Thanksgiving to thank the Native Americans for teaching our ancestors how to eat when they first got here. Of course, we really thanked them another way; we killed most of them, and raped the rest. Now they get to sell us dreamcatchers, necklaces, and leather wallets at highway rest stops, hoping to get enough money for their next opium fix."
I'm not sure if my point got entirely across, but they understood. So happy Thanksgiving, and remember your gluttony is a sign of being on the right side of imperialism.
| TrackBackPost a comment
Further back...
ArchivesFriends and Family
Search
Previous Trips...
-
Hiking Mount Whitney, 2007 
Spring Break in West Virginia, 2005
New Year's in Paris, 2003-2004
Coming to America, 2003
Protesting in Berlin, 2003
Prague Bier-Tour, 2002
Dresden, 2002
Recent Reading
![]()
Close to the Machine
Ellen Ullman is one of those authors that somehow avoided my radar. Until now...
Close to the Machine is less a book than a collection of loosely related personal anecdotes from Ellen's time as a very rare thing -- a successful female bisexual independent computer programming consultant.
In the course of her work and relationship life, she learns hard lessons about programming, running a business, being lonely, and loving the wrong people. I found it particularly poignant being a crypto-nerd with difficult times in relationships and a more-or-less NDA'd, secret work life.
This book is a must-read for anyone into running their own business, programming, or anyone dating a person that is a business-a-holic or programmer.
Rated 
by reid
on November 23, 2009
by reid
on November 23, 2009
![]()
The Long Trip Home
I had the joy of dining with the author in Florida. We went to a little Brazilian BBQ where he spoke with our waitstaff in (what I can only assume was) flawless Portugese.
Brian Wyllie spent 1969-1971 living in Brazil working for the Peace Corps. His recent book outlines his trip back to the United States via Bolivia, Peru, and the Carribean chain, by way of bus, train, and sailboat. The format comes spattered with observations from the modern day, and makes me think, "this must be what John McPhee's journal looks like."
The trip sounded like a fantastic one, but I was left wanting more detail...where did the gun (being snuck through customs in a variety of places, no doubt) come from? And how did Geneve's hair smell? Alas, we'll have to wait for another book to find the answers.
Rated 
by reid
on April 16, 2009
by reid
on April 16, 2009
![]()
The Curve of Binding Energy
John McPhee follows famous physicist Ted Taylor in this piece that was -- and probably still -- ahead of its time.
Originally published in 1973, McPhee outlined the coming security and environmental issues surrounding the plutonium enrichment processes. For the most part, though, McPhee invites the reader to draw his or her own conclusions, although he does point out the ease with which any number of people could obtain the material (though not necessarily the manufacturing prowess) to make an atomic weapon.
The question still sits in my mind after reading -- are we being too paranoid, or not paranoid enough?
Rated by reid
on October 01, 2007
by reid
on October 01, 2007