I don't use blogger anymore. I like making posts on a blog because it is fun for me to go back and read my own posts. Seeing what mattered to me at a specific point in time. I like tumblr better.

coltend.tumblr.com

This was my fifth time down to Oklahoma for the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma's annual Pow Wow. The food was great, as usual. The only time I ever eat fry bread or Navajo tacos is when I am in Miami, so the sounds, smells, and tastes all made me feel like I was back in a familiar place.

Two women a few years older than me started the project in an effort to create a real and meaningful bond between the tribe and the university. Considering the history the university has with the tribe, this was the first real movement towards creating a truly positive relationship. We had about seven oral history interviews which is our yearly average.

We drove through Picher, OK and Treece, KS again. They are two towns which were completely stripped mined and are surrounded by enormous mountains of toxic mine waste, chat. Lead blood levels are twice the state average here. The EPA finally agreed to buyout Picher, providing citizens a pittance of their homes value. Treece has failed to receive a government offer.

Defining the weekend:

Dear Companion by Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore on their album "Dear Companion"

My Friend with the Ink by Shout Out Louds

The Spooklight

This has been on my work computer for over a year. I don't know who put it there, but I look at it almost every day.

I had a really great time with my friends last night.

Shout Out Louds - Spöken from Ted Malmros on Vimeo.

I really enjoy Band of Horses and the Shout Out Louds. So, this is pretty great.

Ashley, Austin and I went out for my birthday Tuesday night and Ashley said, "Urban Outfitters had tons of lesbian clothes at the sidewalk sale."

Frampton Comes Alive!

I feel real sick today. I'm just going to sit around listening to music and not doing things I am supposed to be doing.

I rented "A Single Man" last night. It was better to see in theaters, but still. That movie is amazing. Since the book is so short, chronicling only one day in Falconer's life, the movie is able to capture everything Isherwood creates in his novel. I love the book and I love the movie. Both equally good in their own way.

I started running everyday.

I am getting a head start on the semester by reading my Public Health text now, instead of later.

I'm moving into this two bedroom house for a year. One year. This means a lot. One more year of Ottawa. One more year at the Elizabeth Layton Center. One more year of a simple life. Oh, and one more year of really cheap rent.

I'm excited that there is a porch for me to read on.

"Tired and wired we ruin too easy."

So far this is fantastic. I have been tearing through books lately. Almost a book every two days. I'm going to take this one slow, two chapters a day.

I like the way he writes. It's casual.

I'm in love.

During the course of my ten hours of babysitting I sent my sister the following texts while she was at work.

6:50 am: It's really rainy.

7:43 am: She has the hiccups ha ha

8:37 am: Oh my god she pooped so much. It's up her back.

8:42 am: Yea she's happy again. I had to use like 10 wipes.

8:47 am: No. She just started getting fussy so I smelled her ass and it was sssssttttaaaaannnnn-kay.

10:44 am: Sleeping!!

10:45 am: Yep.

10:52 am: Yes she is sawing logs.

11:05 am: I have terrible B.O.

12:02 pm: Do you have fingernail clippers?

12:08 pm: Margs peed and threw up all in the same pile.

1:08 pm: As I was taking this she peed out of her diaper all over my shirt and leg. No Joke. (Picture message.)

1:09 pm: 6 is fine. I don't need anything.

1:22 pm: Sitting on the couch playing with her fake fruit. We are worried about margs. She has K9 depression.

3:18 pm: Tatum just threw up in her mouth and ate it.

4:00 pm: Margaret just threw up some kind of hard green jelly.

4:07 pm: Yea she was rubbing her eyes and getting cranky.

Spending most of today at my sisters watching my niece. She is so good, besides that enormous shit she took. Took ten baby wipes. Got to watch a lot of LOGO. This documentary was on and reminded me of my third grade teacher, Mrs. Cooper. She lived in Nepal for two years before she started teaching. Like the teachers in the documentary, she sat us down one day and talked about diversity. I probably won't ever forget it.

"The elevator in the hotel lobby has a lazy door."

I'm at my sisters watching my niece bounce up and down in her chair. She's so adorable and makes me want to never move away. My research was coming to a close but another agency agreed to participate, so my sample just quadrupled. Again. This is a good thing, but increases my workload like crazy. This may never be done. 16 months and counting.

I only finished half of this book. Ashley and I are going to read it together, like a mini book club. I am excited.

Magical Realism

Paradigm shift

Identity politics. Woah.

Obviously not my picture of North Ronaldsay since I don't know how to fly. I spent the night here and I hope I never forget what we talked about.

I wrote a narrative personifying St Magnus Cathedral and it was total trash.

Lately and soon

Washed every item of clothing I own. Realized that I don't own very many clothes and a large portion of them have holes.

Bought High Violet for the flight to Orkney.

Finished a Ritch Savin-Williams book yesterday then finished "Greenvoe" today. Cannot decide what I want to bring Friday. It's between "House Made of Dawn" and "Coming of age in Samoa."

Really struggled to finish paperwork on time. It must be a full moon because shit is going down at work. I have already billed 6 hours of crisis today.

Distributed 15 more surveys. Two more agencies in the Eastern part of KS approved my request to collect data from their providers.

Postcard from Hallie showed up in my mailbox from the New Belgium brewery. Makes me want to purchase a plane ticket immediately.

Went and saw Kyler in Shawnee. His entire family was there. I hadn't seen them in over 8 years. Everyone is close to five feet taller. Maybe not.

Dinner at Free State with the usual then the usual after (Ashley's apartment, Henry's, Taproom, Replay). Then bloody marys on a flight from KC to Newark so I don't vomit.

I have slept about 10 hours in the last two days. I am really tired and you can see it on my face. I look droopy. The excitement of having extra free time since school is out has worn off. Now I am just really bored. I can only read for about three hours at a time. I read in the morning and kind of sit around the rest of the day. THAT IS BAD. Maybe I should go home for a bit. I can help my grandma finish my quilt. yeah yea

Boom Boom Tss

I feel like I have been reading this book for weeks. This book scares me. I had a nightmare about it two nights ago.

This is real. (Click)

I have really positive feelings about grad school right now. Like I don't have anything to worry about.

Currently reading: "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" - Paulo Friere
Currently listening to: "Congratulations" - MGMT

I took my bike to the bike shop in town to get a new chain and my brakes fixed. Now I don't have to drive anymore! One time I went there to look for a new bike since my old one had been stolen. As I was walking towards the back of the store I saw my stolen bike for sale. It was awkward telling the store owner that he was peddling (pun) stolen goods.

I went to the Passion Pit concert and I ran into a friend from high school and Austin lost his wallet and everyone was really sweaty and Phil threw me up in the air and I was hammered and Hahna and I had a lot of fun and Toni almost fought somebody.

"Look at me, oh look at me."

Hello Colt.

I have reviewed the IRB application you recently submitted. Thank you for submitting a complete and well-written application. The only omission I see is the clearance from the professor who created the questionnaire you will be using. Please email this to me.

Please proceed with your study. I wish you well.

I like to think that Ann Coulter used to be smart but then she was in a terrible car wreck that left her mentally disabled. Now that she is fully mentally retarded her family and the media didn't have the heart to tell her about her disability, so they just let her continue with her life. Poor dear, look at those empty eyes.

From Towleroad:

Ann Coulter claims she is the victim of a hate crime after the University of Ottawa sent her a letter urging her to use "restraint, respect, and consideration" during an appearance there,reports the National Post:

"Speaking to students and academics at the University of Western Ontario Monday, Coulter said the e-mail sent to her Friday by Francois Houle, vice-president academic and provost of the University of Ottawa, targeted her as a member of an identifiable group and as such, she will be filing a complaint with the Human Rights Commission alleging hate speech. 'I’m sure the Human Rights Commission will get to the bottom of it,' Coulter said to loud cheers from the 800-strong audience. 'I think I’m the victim of a hate crime here. Either what (Mr. Houle) did was a hate crime, or the whole commission is BS.' In Houle’s e-mail, a copy of which was obtained by the National Post, the administrator urges Coulter to weigh her words with 'respect and civility in mind' when she speaks at the University of Ottawa campus Tuesday."

Said the letter, which an attorney who spoke before Coulter called a "veiled threat": "Our domestic laws, both provincial and federal, delineate freedom of expression (or ‘free speech’) in a manner that is somewhat different than the approach taken in the United States. I therefore encourage you to educate yourself, if need be, as to what is acceptable in Canada and to do so before your planned visit here. Promoting hatred against any identifiable group would not only be considered inappropriate, but could in fact lead to criminal charges."

So what did Coulter talk about?

"Her 45-minute speech was loosely focused on political correctness, which gave her full reign to attack liberals of all stripes. Liberals constantly complain their rights are being attacked in the same way blacks’ rights once were, she said. 'In America everybody wants to be black. The feminists want to be black, the illegal aliens want to be black, the gays want to be black,' she said. Yet none of the complainers have anything serious to complain about, Coulter said. 'There are only two things gay men can’t do. Number one, get married to each other. Number two, throw a baseball without looking like a girl.' But her jokes often had a serious point as well. 'Every Democrat in the past several election cycles that has run for president has sworn to attack gay marriage, but only Republicans get attacked for gay marriage.' Backed by the mainstream media, liberals have turned political correctness into a weapon that attempts to silence people with opposing views, Coulter said."

"The cinders. The cinders. They light the path."

"Jade? Alexander. Do you remember that day you fell out of my window? I sure do, you came jumping out after me."

I was driving from Ottawa to my parents house and was listening to a new album I bought on iTunes. I bought Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros self titled album because I like their song, "Home." I listened to the entire album on my hour drive and I had quite the internal dialogue.

"This isn't very good. They seemed like a really down to earth band and 'Home' is such a real song. The rest really aren't that good, kind of sound the same. That's dumb. Some artists really get off on making people feel good when they listen to their music. I don't think Edward Sharpe gets any enjoyment out of making people happy. That's really selfish. I wonder if he started this band to make money or be famous. I don't like Goldfrapp though. A lot of people like Goldfrapp. Maybe Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is just not my taste. Bands can make music for their own enjoyment and not be selfish, they just so happen to have become famous. That's hard to believe though. It's probably a lot of hard work to be famous. Facials and manicures and stuff like that. I bet you they are just fun people who like to play instruments. Yeah, they just sound really bad to me though. I like 'Home' but not the rest. I'll probably start liking it later, though. I always do that. Listen to something over and over even if it is shit and I can start liking it. I did it with Basement Jaxx. I thought they were shit now I am giving people copies of their CD. I probably just like things that are familiar. Suzette was talking about that. Familiarity."

The Cave

Marcus Mumford, the lead singer of Mumford and Sons, looks extremely similar to Tim Tebow. Tebow is a pro-life advocate and works with Focus on the Family. Tim Tebow is a fucking dumbass who uses his fame to reinforce harmful stereotypes. I like to entertain the thought that Mumford is concerned about social justice and writes letters for Amnesty and donates money to people who need it. We would probably talk about it on our first date.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KkUeRPjc-Y&feature=related

I have a paid apprenticeship with Growing Growers and the Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture. I am privileged to learn all about organic farming, developing a CSA, market, etc. Starts this month and I am shit my pants excited.

I fucked up at work this morning in front of the Executive Director. Awesome

My battery charger came in yesterday, so now I can take pictures again. I am a huge dumbass for losing it, but that is kind of my thing. Losing shit.

Yesterday I told Toni that she looked like a field enrollment advisor because she was wearing a yellow button up and an OU fleece. She responded, "Shutup, gaywad. Why don't you go have sex with a stranger." I just kept eating my barbecue sandwich, pretending that I was offended. I think I flipped her off as she walked away but then sent her a quick text, "loooove you."

Austin and I were getting in my car Saturday night and as he reached for the door handle someone inside opened it first. I was on the other side and heard Austin say, "Excuse me, who are you again?" The man, way drunk, had passed out at the steering wheel of my car while attempting to start it with some random keys. He said that he needed to go to The Hawk. "Oh, The Hawk is just down there. I can see it from here, not far at all!" Austin lied. The man got out of my car and walked down the street. We were at 11th and Tennessee. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, he probably died from exposure.

"Those sirens in the night, in the night, in the night. Let's light the Zombies outside, outside, outside."

I finished my sociology senior comprehensive today. That feels really good. The portfolio portion is almost 300 pages (including evidence of my academic work). I begin phase two next week with research in the field. I have all of my instruments ready, I only need to tweak my informed consent statement and fix a few things about my research packet. I am nervous, but a good nervous.

Anyways, if Yves Klein were still alive I would probably do stuff with him.

Skeleton (Acoustic Version)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

It's Blitz! (Deluxe Edition)

This is the only way I was able to write my ethics paper without saying something super rude to the loud people next to me in the library.

Through the sugar cane.

Maine, 2007. Minolta SRT-202

Cheese and Peanut Butter Crackers

Applesauce

Wasabe Almonds

Banana

Wheat Thins

Water

I filed my tax return yesterday. I didn't do any paperwork yesterday.

I went to class today. I didn't do any homework today.

I am going to Social Policy in a bit.

The Flaming Lips, Passion Pit and Flogging Molly are coming to KC in April.

With my refund, I won't have to worry about paying for summer school or Orkney. It pays all my bills.

Joel and Ryan are coming to Ottawa Saturday. I can't go to Lawrence because I am too broke.

I get to purchase a new lens for my camera, too. Leica.

Listen to this.

A Prairie Home Companion is coming to a theatre near YOU!

SWAAN is up and running.

My phone broke, so I am getting another one next FRIDAY!

Things are going well. I met someone new, and it is exciting. School feels right, and so does where I live. I am excited for the summer, and being free. Sometimes I wonder if a person can be too happy. Is it ok for me to be this happy all the time? I feel, at times, guilty because I know a lot of people aren't happy--so I tone it down.

I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO FUCKING BROKE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.

I saw KATIE GLAVIN and CHRISSY SPENCER on New Years Eve. I was hammered but remember giving lots of hugs.

This time next year I will be doing very different things. Like coke and having unprotected sex with strangers, in basements.

One of the best music videos of 2009.