Saturday, April 28th, 2012
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3:43 am - Indian traffic lives up to its reputation
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So, once again, I'm back! This time after a much briefer LJ break. I temporarily returned to the small village of my archaeological site to do some work, but while I had expected to be there for only one, maybe two, nights, it turned into a week-long trip.
The site I worked on this year is quite large- the largest site for its time period in the country- so the work we were doing was less actual excavation and more preparation for a long-term, multi-year project. One of the things we wanted to do was have geologists come to gather data and do some analyses of the area; that's all well and good, but the team of geologists we arranged this with had trouble with the dates when we were available, we had trouble with their dates, and the whole thing kept getting pushed back later and later until everyone else had finished work on the site for the year. Finally last week, the geologists were able to arrive, and so I and a few other of the archaeologists headed back to the site with them; we planned to only point out a few things we wanted done, and had assumed we could then head straight back to Delhi. This turned out not to be the case. The geologists had never worked on an archaeological site before, and didn't quite understand the sort of things we were looking for; also, despite being Indian, they apparently had never spent much time in a small village before, and were disgruntled with every aspect of it: there are too many flies! electricity is not available 24/7! the only way to get hot water is to light a fire and boil it! the tap water is salty and tastes weird*! Etc.
Additionally, the team of geologists- which was only four people large!- had a serious 'too many cooks in the kitchen' problem. They could bicker over anything. They once spent half an hour arguing over whether a direction was North-North East or merely North East, a debate that brought in the location of the sun and two different compasses, one of which was broken and the other of which was a digital compass that no one seemed to know how to work. All this despite that the fact that it didn't really matter what the direction was, since the only reason they wanted to know was to help remember which location was which. Another debate spent nearly as long on whether or not my handheld GPS (which I was using to mark where their work was, so we could add it to our map of the site later- another reason why it didn't matter if it was NNE or NE) could tell temperature. It does not, but apparently I am not an authority on my own GPS, and this debate would not be settled until they themselves had each taking a turn poking at it and trying out all the various functions.
So, it was irritating and hot and mosquito-filled, but it was nice to be back in the village, nonetheless. The end of April is wheat-harvesting time in rural Haryana, it seems, and I got to see various methods, from hand-held sickles to large tractor-combines.
Do you know the scene at the end of 'Charlotte's Web', where she has babies and then they all fly away on little strings of cobweb? Apparently this also occurs in Haryana in late April. The air was full of flying baby spiders: it was not unusual to get one in your face; to look down and notice three or four of them on you at once; to take off your hat and notice one making a web between the brim and the top. Luckily, they were incredibly tiny, and so my normal screaming terror at spiders did not engage.
We finally left to come back to Delhi on Thursday. Normally, I and the other archaeologists leave early in the morning and take the bus, as it's an annoying trip involving two or three bus changes and about five hours, though the worst part is getting through the Delhi traffic, an ordeal that gets considerably worse the closer one gets to rush hour. This involved a lot of debate, of course. Why not hire a car instead? Why not leave later? Why not wait a couple more hours? Why not leave after lunch, in fact?
We managed to compromise by leaving around noon, and- after a random stop in a random small town to buy souvenir jalebis, because I guess Delhi doesn't have sweets- we were finally on the way, and even making good time. Until the combination of a rainstorm, a driver going too fast, another driver going the wrong way on the highway, and brakes that hydroplaned created a car accident. I've never been in a real accident before, but this wasn't bad, as they go: the car didn't flip or spin or anything, and it was still drivable afterwards, if missing its headlights. Unfortunately, one of the other archaeologists got thrown into a metal bar running across the back of the seats, striking his arm. Despite the fact that the geologists were more interested in arguing with the driver and the other car over whose fault the accident was, I eventually managed to convince them to leave for a hospital now, as the injured party had gone into shock (thankfully, he got over it pretty quickly) and had a potentially broken arm. Of course, we were in the middle of nowhere, and no one was local, meaning no one knew where a nearby hospital was. We decided to head for a specific hospital in Delhi that the injured party had insurance at. This seemed like a good plan, until our driver refused to enter the city limits (Delhi is a 'National Capital Territory' and thus entering it was the equivalent of crossing state lines from where the accident had happened), requiring us to find a new driver and car on the road, and transfer the now not-in-shock man from one to the other. All in all, it took about three hours from the time of the accident until we reached the hospital. I herded away the geologists to where they were staying, and somehow managed to not yell at anyone, despite the many arguments about how to get around Delhi (note: none of them was from Delhi or had spent any significant time there), and how one guy's foot hurt (though considering he didn't want my Tylenol, I'm thinking he could have waited on the complaining until no one was in the hospital).
It all worked out in the end, as the arm turned out, luckily, to be not broken, though my friend is now on pain-killers and anti-inflammatories for a few days more, and there may be some tendon damage. Now I am enjoying the decadence of internet, hot water showers, and AC once again.
As an extra note, it turns out that X-rays in India cost the equivalent of $8, making the American medical establishment look even more corrupt and money-hungry than they already did.
* My compliant about the tap water would be that it contains hepatitis, among other things, but whenever I say that they assume I'm being a delicate flower of a foreigner, even though I know people who have gotten hepatitis from this exact tap water, I am not counting on random beliefs about 'Delhi belly', but whatever.
current mood:  cheerful
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| Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
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7:29 am - Yo!
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So, I'm not dead! Nor have I abandoned LJ. I just, uh, went to rural India for three months and forgot to mention to LJ that I was doing so.
As a side note, I don't want to give the impression that India doesn't have internet access. I am still in India at the moment, in fact, and the internet is here and easily accessible. More so than in the US, perhaps, since India has these amazing things called 3G tabs, which appear indistinguishable from a regular thumb drive. But 3G tabs allow you to plug them into a laptop and thus connect to broadband internet anywhere, anytime (well, okay, not anywhere. You've got to be in a large enough city that it has a good 3G network). Why do we not have this technology in the West? Between this and the invention of cold coffee with ice cream, India is the new superpower of my heart.
But archaeology tends to happen in extremely remote areas, and rural India is much like rural anywhere: not known for its wifi hotspots.
As for how I managed to forget to post about something like that, let's just say that it turns out that Seasonal Affective Disorder is not just a one-time thing. Who knew! I am now morally obligated to start acquiring drugs as soon as October starts. (Still, another thing India has: sunlight!)
But I've missed you, LJ! How are you all? What's been happening? I hear American politics and the media has gone a little crazy, re: birth control/Santorum/Republican nomination/basically everything. Here the major scandals involve a General's birthday (don't even google it; it is the most boring news story ever and yet somehow people have been writing thousand-word articles about it every week for months) and cellphone networks (also boring).
Also, I've succumbed and finally signed up for twitter. I'm not going to be doing the thing where I post my tweets to LJ, so if you're interested, you can follow me at @brigdhs or click this link. I think? I'm not sure how this works yet. And let me know if you have a twitter, so I can follow you!
current mood: cheerful
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| Sunday, December 25th, 2011
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12:03 pm - Yuletide!
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I got four Yuletide stories! (There are advantages to going out on the pinch-hit list, especially if it's early.) And they are all wonderful, and you should read every one.
Matsyanyaya. Mahabharata. This is a view on Satyavati, the fisherman's daughter who becomes queen of Hastinapura. I really love the parallels this story sets up with Bheeshma, and the take on court intrigues, and the personality and voice of Satyavati. Really, really well-written.
Getting Cocky. Slender Man mythos. This is super-fun and slashy! Which I did not expect for Slender Man fandom. You can read this without knowing the fandom, and you should.
Ton Egoisme M'Inquiete. Swordspoint, Richard/Jessamyn. I HAVE BEEN ASKING FOR A RICHARD-AS-HIGHWAYMAN STORY FOR YEARS, AND SOMEONE FINALLY WROTE ME ONE. And it is so good! I love this view of Richard and Jessamyn's relationship, and Richard as a younger man. Also: highway robbery. Yes.
Maleficent. Swordspoint, Richard/Alec. Yes! Two Swordspoint stories for me this year! And another story I've been dying to read for years: Richard and Alec go to a noble party and make a mess of everything. I love this story so much. The dialogue is so perfectly in-character, the title is genius, it is all just sharp and funny and wicked and fantastic.
Go! Read!
ETA: WAIT I GOT FIVE STORIES! One didn't show up in my gift list, for some reason, but luckily I found it by looking through the Yuletide fandoms.
Amongst the Black-Haired People. Sumerian RPF. THIS STORY IS SO GOOD. Pu-abi is my favorite historical personage ever (I dressed up as her for Halloween two years ago), and this story is such a perfect recreation of her world. I love all the details of Mesopotamian life and politics and religion, I love the court intrigue, and I love the absolutely perfect solution to the problem. There is even a sort of fem-slashy relationship between Pu-abi and her servant. HOW CAN THERE BE SO MUCH WONDER IN ONE STORY.
current mood: happy
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| Sunday, November 20th, 2011
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5:19 pm - Dear Yuletide Santa
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Thank you so much for offering one of my fandoms! You clearly have excellent taste. I am a firm believer of "optional details are optional", so feel free to use these comments as inspiration, or write something entirely else.
In general, I really admire any story that can do plot, action, and/or humor well, because I personally am bad at those things. On the other hand, I also like character studies, poetic language, angst, or introspection, which is why I write them. I like dark themes and happy endings (though probably not in the same story). I like fun stories, the sort that make you smile to read them, but am not so fond of fluff. I like nuances (hmm, that is probably the worst request ever. I like it when authors complicate things?). I really love stories that dig deep, exploring a world or a character's interior. Most of the characters I love are pretty fucked up on the inside, but are also capable of great strength. I like that balance, not a woobie but no a standard hero either. I tend to like a lot of dysfunction in my fictional relationships. They can be happy, but I'm not terribly fond of lots of sap or schmoop, or really any sort of overt romance. I much prefer the unspoken to the outright-stated. Do not feel obligated to include Christmas (or whatever fantasy-equivalent winter holiday is appropriate to the fandom), but if you want to, feel free. I love AUs, whether crazy ones like High School AUs (OMG! give all the characters daemons! That would be awesome!), or the sort of "what if this character had made a different choice?". Porn is always welcome, of any variety (m/m, f/m, f/f, poly, kinky, vanilla), but don't feel obligated if you don't like to write it. I don't have any squicks or triggers, so write whatever appeals to you.
My dislikes include OOC, even for the sake of humor. I don't like songfic? Man, dislikes are hard. In short, I will be pleased with any story you write. Thank you in advance!
I've written several meta posts about the sort of things that I love in stories. Feel free to use them if you want more information:
My Top 10 Story Kinks
My favorite 'cool bits'
What I look for in OTPs
If you're interested, my own stories are collected here.
( My Requests: Swordspoint Series - Ellen Kushner; Mahabharata - Vyasa; Slenderman mythos; Akkadian Empire RPF )
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| Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011
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1:44 pm - A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 5
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| Thursday, October 27th, 2011
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9:50 am - Halloween 2011: Looking for Evil
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| Wednesday, September 21st, 2011
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8:41 am - A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 5
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| Tuesday, September 20th, 2011
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10:03 am - A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 5
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| Wednesday, September 14th, 2011
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8:24 am - A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 5
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| Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
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1:07 pm - A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 5
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| Monday, August 29th, 2011
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12:04 pm - A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 5
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| Friday, August 26th, 2011
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7:36 pm - A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 5
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| Thursday, August 25th, 2011
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10:44 am - A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 5
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The library has finally provided me with a copy of 'A Dance with Dragons'! Here are my thoughts as I'm reading along; nothing too deep, just my random reactions and predictions.
( Spoilers for the Prologue through Chapter Ten )
I have not read any further yet, so please no spoilers beyond this in the comments.
current mood: cheerful
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| Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011
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2:02 pm
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There was just an earthquake in NYC! Fairly small- I guess- but I could definitely feel it. Nothing is showing up in the news yet, so I don't know the details, but did anyone else feel that?
ETA: Apparently there may be aftershocks, so watch out, East Coast people.
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| Thursday, August 18th, 2011
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12:34 pm - Song of Ice and Fire reread: Book 4
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| Monday, August 15th, 2011
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11:25 am - Song of Ice and Fire reread: Book 3
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| Friday, August 12th, 2011
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5:26 pm - Drabble Meme
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My class is finished! Whew.
So, as I mentioned, I was teaching an 'Introduction to Archaeology' class this summer. Due to losing my syllabus and other work when my laptop was stolen, I have basically spent every minute for the last six weeks writing lectures, or, when not doing that, grading quizzes. Any free time left over was spent moving. I really loved the class, and had a great time teaching (and I think the students really enjoyed it too, yay!), but it is so good to be able to think about anything else.
Specifically, I want to write something. I know I am always terrible about actually accomplishing this meme, but nonetheless: it's drabble meme time! Make a request, get a drabble: just give me a fandom, characters, pairings, prompts, words, photos, whatever. And then I will write you a drabble. We hope.
ETA: Here's my fanfiction, for the fandoms and pairings I write. Though if you know of another fandom I'm familiar with, you can ask for new stuff too.
current mood: cheerful
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| Thursday, August 11th, 2011
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11:04 am - NPR Top 100 SF/F Books Meme
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Taken from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1) : Bold the ones you've read, italicize the ones you fully intend to read someday. :) If it's a series and you've read one or more, but not all of the books, underline it.
( NPR Top 100 SF/F Books Meme )
Mostly a pretty good list. I don't agree with every one on it, but there's nothing I'm too surprised by. I didn't expect The Kingkiller Chronicles to be so high up, though! It's such a new series, and the trilogy isn't even entirely written yet. But I guess it has been quite popular. I'm happy to see 'Small Gods' on here, since that's my favorite Terry Pratchett. There's a lot of Neil Gaiman on here, and Neal Stephenson as well. I guess Neil/Neal is a lucky name for sci-fi writers.
current mood: busy
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| Tuesday, August 9th, 2011
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3:58 pm - Song of Ice and Fire reread
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I am way behind in posting these comments, since I'm almost down with Storm of Swords now. But anyway, here are my thoughts on the second book! Also, god, these titles are all so generic. I can't remember what happens in what book.
( A Clash of Kings )
current mood: cheerful
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| Thursday, August 4th, 2011
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10:34 pm - Project Runway Episode 2
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| Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011
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2:10 pm - Kiva
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Kiva.org, which most of you have probably heard of, is a very cool organization, which allows you to lend microloans to people over the world, who are starting businesses, farming, making crafts, etc. As the person uses that money to improve their circumstances, they repay the loan, allowing you to lend money to someone else.
Right now, however, Kiva is having a sale where you can lend $25 to anyone on the site - for free! And if 5 of you do it through my invitation, then I get a t-shirt. But more importantly: helping people! Just by signing up! If you're interested, here's the link.
current mood: cheerful
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| Tuesday, July 26th, 2011
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2:44 pm - Song of Ice and Fire reread
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So, I've been reading the Song of Ice and Fire books in preparation for new one (which, yes, I am way behind everyone else in reading, but I decided to get it from the library, which means it will probably be another month before a copy winds its way to me, because only this library system would think it's a good idea to buy a mere 10 copies of a book that had a waitlist of over 200 before it even came out). I've read them before, once, but this is a good series to read, since I'm noticing foreshadowing and connections that I didn't before. Thoughts on the first below! Spoilers, but just for GoT.
( A Game of Thrones )
I finished it about a week ago, so I've forgotten everything else I meant to say. But has anyone else read it recently? Thoughts?
current mood: cheerful
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| Thursday, July 21st, 2011
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2:49 pm - Updates
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So, to follow up on the we're-looking-for-an-apartment post, we have found one! It's in Greenwood Heights, which seems like a nice neighborhood, though I don't know much about it. I'm excited to move to Brooklyn, since I haven't lived there before, and a lot of my friends do.
Hopefully now I will finally, finally, finally catch up with LJ, since I am no longer dealing with looking at apartments/finding brokers/parents in town/teaching all at the same time. It is SO EXCITING to have a weekend where I have enough time to write my lectures for the week ahead, instead of doing them all the night before, I CANNOT EVEN TELL YOU. Which is kind of pathetic? But happy-making!
Anyway, Brooklyn! Does any have any recommendations for restaurants/stores/coffee-shops in the area, or other feelings about it?
current mood: cheerful
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| Monday, July 11th, 2011
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9:54 pm - Moving
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So, as a result of the whole robbery thing, plus the building owners being even more unbelievably shitty than I had previously realized (among other things, they have still not fixed the window the burglars came through, meaning we have had plywood covering it for a week and a half now), we're looking to move. Today we went to see our first apartments. There was one that was very nice- huge, lots of light, nice building- but I'm sort of uncertain on if we should wait to see more. This apartment is in Washington Heights at 170 and Broadway. Has anyone lived there? Have feelings on the neighborhood?
current mood: busy
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2:19 pm
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I know I haven't posted in about two weeks, but that is because my life has been crazy.
My grandfather died, my apartment was robbed (of, among other things, my laptop with the un-backed-up syllabus and information for the class I was teaching in a week), I went to Ohio for the funeral, two (of three) guys were arrested for the robbery so I had to go testify in court, I got a new laptop, my class started and I had no time to do anything other than furiously rewrite my lectures and find new scans of the readings, I went to Boston for four days. Whew.
And so in all that, I have not been entirely keeping up with LJ. But now, finally, I'm back! So, what all's been happening with you?
current mood: busy
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when the doors of heaven closed
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Quote from An Angry Blade, by Iron & Wine.
Image from Sayuki Gaiden, copyright Kazuya Minekura, Zero Sum and other corporations.
Image edited by Brigdh with Photoshop. Layout designed by Brigdh.
Email brigdh.
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hungry
