Happy Holidays! May this time be spent with friends and family and plenty of good times.

My family is and has been a "working class" family. As working class as you can get. Depending on what career path I follow, I would be the first academic. I remember going to a "first year grad student" workshop for students who come from working class families. It was interesting how it can be difficult for the family to understand how the academic world works and what it means. For example, how because you went to college, you should know how to solve problems that involve paperwork.

Anyways, point is that we didn't grow up with many material possessions and now it's interesting to see how my brothers, now being able make some money, went through a bit of a gorging with things we simply could never have. We saved for a used Nintendo from the flea market. Now they go out and get a PlayStation with much more ease.

Not that times are that easy and we don't have financial problems. We most certainly do. But I like how my mom put it yesterday, "At least we have had food on the table"

So I think it's good to remember that. The stuff is not important. What is having food on the table and being with people you know and whose company you enjoy. Some stuff is okay, but it's much better when it has meaning. Having said that, I got something from a special someone that is totally awesome, with lots of meaning and much better than fancier versions.

Sigh…

I’m on the watch list again. Yes, the watch list for flying that’s keeping terrorists from hiding explosives in shoes, in baby formula, toothpaste larger than 3 ounces. Either one Jose Gonzalez has really screwed it up for several of us Jose’s (I’m looking at you Swedish singer) or the government has been snooping through my e-mail or library records and decided that one who reads too many comic books must be a threat to national security.

The first time I ended up on the list was back in early 2007 when I was teaching in middle school. I had been fine for years, flying in and out of the country and across it. Then one day our office secretary tries to print our boarding passes for Southwest. We were going to a conference and she calls me and asks “why can’t I print your boarding pass? Everyone else’s works”. Hmmm…I thought that maybe Southwest made a mistake and so at the ticket counter I ask the lady and she tells me “you’re on the suspected watch list”. I suddenly have this flash of being hounded by government agents every time I go through security at the airport. Would I always be picked out and searched? The ticket counter lady was so nice about it and gave me the form with the contact info for TSA. Thank goodness, at least I had someone to contact. I figured that I’d be out of luck among the many horror stories of not being told how you ended up on the list and what “evidence” they may have. I was afraid of being taken to a back room and not see for some time. Yes, my mind was getting carried away, but this has actually happened to innocent people. Luckily I thought that there was no country they could extradite me to, unless I was confused for being Syrian, and then I knew I’d be screwed (literally and figuratively).
Anyways, the procedure for addressing you being on the watch list (not to confused it with the actual no-fly list) is pretty simple and can be done all through e-mail. You submit your issue through the TSA website and then follow up with some identity documents. I was supposed to receive a written response telling me what they concluded. The thing is that they tell you that they can’t tell you why you are on the list, and whatever they decide is final in some ways (WTF?!) and then it’s up to the airlines to make changes on their end (again, WTF?!). This whole ordeal happened just as I was moving from one place to another and I never got that written notice…a mistake on my part maybe, but I figured that it would make its way to me…nothing. But soon I was able to start checking in with Southwest again, so I figured it worked out. Simple, I thought.

Well, about three months later I had to fly with Northwest. Sure enough, I’m flying with a group and they can all check in as a group…except for me. My advisor looks at me asking, “Did you already check in?” I instantly thought, oh boy, I’m on the list again. I politely ask the ticket county lady and she will not give me a straight answer. I tell her that it’s okay; I just want to know if she can tell me so I can try to sort it out again. Nothing, she’s pretty cold about it telling it’s just another security measure. Grrrrr….I am not happy with Northwest. On the way back we all have issues checking in and I’m thinking “Uh oh, am I contagious?!” This very nice Spanish speaking ticket counter lady helps me with my boarding pass and I ask her very cordially if I’m on the list. She tells me that nothing is showing up and it would show up if I were. Ah! I figured the other lady just didn’t want to tell me, but maybe I really wasn’t on the list and Northwest screwed up. If only.
I have another flight with Delta. Same issues. Now I figure for sure I’m on the list again, but I want the ticket counter lady to tell me. She won’t tell me. I have a flight with Southwest. The ticket counter lady is not as friendly as previous Southwest ticket counter ladies, but she politely tells me that yes, I’m on the list. Thank you! Southwest, for all the issues I sometimes have with you, I appreciate the fact that you can tell me so I can address the issue with TSA and not be frustrated at you. Now I will try to submit my complaint online again. Hopefully I don’t screw up and they tell me “too bad”. I figure I need to complain now before I end up in a worse situation. Right now I am inconvenienced, but I don’t want it to get worse.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind being inconvenienced if people are doing their job to protect other people. What I don’t like is if there is no reasonable way for me to prove that I have not done anything that warrants me being on the list. According to the LA Times, last year over 1 million people ended up on the list. Could they all be threats to the nation? I hope not; we’d really be in trouble if that were the case. I want the list to work and I would like to know why I was put on there. That’s not going to happen, but at least I can complain to TSA every time I end up on the list. Maybe that will get me into further trouble or maybe I will finally be free. I’ve seen some people comment that “hey, if you do nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry about”. If only that were true. It’s not just about whether if I do something wrong, but if someone else does something wrong, be it the actual threat-to-to-national-security Jose or the TSA bureaucracy that has no good way to determining the difference. Otherwise what’s the point? Just put us all on the list.
So what could have put me back on the list? I don’t know. Possibilities may be that I changed my address and that triggered it. Maybe the other Jose screwed up again. Maybe I was supposed to reply back to DHS but I never got the form. Maybe I could blame Northwest since it seemed to start with them. Maybe what I do is truly considered radical, in which case might as well round up a third of the US population. Am I terrorist? No. Do I want to be one? Certainly not. Have I criticized the government? Several times. But like Ben Franklin once said “Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither”. (okay, I’m no Ben Franklin, and many quote Founding Fathers to seem more credible, but I consider myself a good citizen with the right to enjoy the freedoms I am told I’m supposed to have…and YES, I am willing to make some of those sacrifices when the cause is just, the leaders lead, and we all pull our share)

Here’s to hoping the government bots don’t find this blog and consider it suspicious…in which case, I never meant to check out that book on XXXXXXXX.

Dedicated to the one I love
She knows who she is :)

Gingerbread Houses

We had our annual gingerbread house making contest at SNRE. It was organized by our Landscape Architecture program and this year, being a track leader, I got the ball rolling on a BEC (Behavior, Education, Communication...my field of study) team. I actually have never participated in the building of a gingerbread house. This was my first time, along with a fellow peer who did not know what they were. We didn't plan, we just dove into it. We ended up winning the "most sustainable design" award! Our field of study advisor was excited :)


Then I see my good friend from Yale and their gingerbread house competition. This is where my creativity is lacking...but I see what they came up with and go "grrr....damn Yalies trying to upstage again!"

But seriously, that is one cool Gingerbread Zen Temple they made.

I wonder, did they have a gingerbread contest at Duke as well? That is where my other friend is for his Master's.

MORE Books!

MORE Books!
Originally uploaded by purplejoes

I remember running into this book in High School I think...maybe even earlier but it was the local Public Library. I was fascinated by the art Leo and Diane produced. I went through a period trying to capture the style. I turned in an English class assignment doing that. Now I find it at the Friends of AA Library sale...score! Considering Amazon sellers are selling it for like $80!

MORE Books!

MORE Books!, originally uploaded by purplejoes.

Another series of books I read growing up. I could not get enough of Encyclopedia Brown. I felt so smart when I figured out the mystery before looking at the solution in the back. Other times I had no clue...but I remember the solutions for years to come. It was because of Encyclopedia Brown that I knew that int he Civil War the South and North gave the battlefields different names (nearest town vs nearest geographic landmark) before I was told that in history class.

MORE Books!

MORE Books!, originally uploaded by purplejoes.

:)

I remember these were the books I read growing up in the US. One day I told myself I would love to have most of them. Now I slowly look for ones in good condition. These books just amazed me at the time (they still do...fish, birds, and insects DO do the strangest things)

I am a bibliophile. According to Wikipedia, it's not bibliomania...but the point is that I like to read books and collect books that are children's story collections or have great illustrations, usually from the 40's-60's. But I also love the classic collections from the 20's and 30's. I love the fact that the books look fun, well put together and the artists and illustrators were so talented. Not that there aren't talented illustrators out there now (Leo and Diane Dillor are still producing fabulous work)...I just think that older books look cooler in general.

Bless my fiancee for putting up with me and my book collecting. I jus think that if we ever have kids we'll have an awesome collection of bedtime stories. Plus the books I have now serve as great reference for some work I want to do: Chicano Fairy Tales...which unfortunately is on the back burner with grad school. But the ideas are still ruminating. Can't wait too long though, because I'm sure it's only a matter of time before someone else puts out a killer version.

One sad thing...with the moving about I don't get to enjoy my collection and share it with others (because that is a special joy, otherwise why have them all to yourself?). But one day, one day, I hope to have a sweet little library space.

One of the neat things about Ann Arbor is that they have a nice selection of places to shop for these treasures. There is the Reuse Center, the PTO Thrift Shop, The Salvation Army, Friends of Public Library, Kiwanis and then several actual book shops and other antique shops.

Something I have been concerned about has been the drug war in Mexico. I have been following it for the past year or two now and it scares me. More and more comparisons are being made between it and Iraq or Afghanistan. If the government fails, and some indicators show it going that way, I do not know what that would mean...The US does need to pay attention. They talk about terrorism "over there", not realizing that terrorism is occurring right across the border. President Calderon took a bold step in confronting the drug cartels and he might have bitten off more than he could chew. Parts of the problem is the infiltration of agencies by cartels, underfunded police, and the US being too good a supply of firearms. Mexico on its own can only do so much and if the US seriously considers it a drug war problem, the need to step it up. The concern is "but they've been infiltrated, how can we share info?"...and I think it's a valid concern, but not working on it together will have worse consequences. A problem is not always meant to be easy to solve, otherwise it would just be a puzzle, not a problem. Tacking the difficulties is part of it and I fear that more and more opportunities are lost as Mexican citizens see the credibility of the state erode when federal police struggle against the cartels. The further fragmenting of Mexico cannot be good. Mexico is the second largest US trading partner and I know there are good people in Mexico that genuinely want to make the country better...but when they end up shot in public...it's hard to step up when the support is shaky.

Updates. More prints to come next year!

Still at work...