Ramblings of a Hopeless Khowaga

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12 of 12: March 2008
2008-03-13 00:11:00
Well, I kind of got double-whammied this time around. This month, 12 of 12 not only falls on a weekday, but it’s spring break, which means there’s even more of nothing going on at work than there was on the 12th of last month. So, this time I decided to do 12 of 12 a ...SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "12 of 12: March 2008 ", url: "http://www.khowaga.us/feeder/?FeederActi on=clicked&feed=Articles+%28RSS2%29&# 38;seed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.khowaga.us%2Fblo g%2F2008%2F03%2F12%2F12-of-12-march-2008% 2F&seed_title=12+of+12%3A+March+2008" });
More About: Austin , March 2008

Sometimes, I don?t want to rise above it
2008-03-09 22:03:00
After I posted the gratuitous photo of Mocha yesterday, and she had successfully dragged us outside to walk her around the neighborhood, we were walking through the little park over in the back corner of the subdivision. There were a couple of teenagers hanging about on what I’ll term the “jungle gym,” although it ...SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Sometimes, I don’t want to rise above it", url: "http://www.khowaga.us/feeder/?FeederActi on=clicked&feed=Articles+%28RSS2%29&# 38;seed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.khowaga.us%2Fblo g%2F2008%2F03%2F09%2Fsometimes-i-dont-wan t-to-rise-above-it%2F&seed_title=Some times%2C+I+don%26%238217%3Bt+want+to+rise +above+it" });
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Links for 2008-03-08 [del.icio.us]
2008-03-09 07:00:00
Finding the Unexpected Beneath the Gaudy 36 Hours in Puebla, Mexico Puebla may be home to classic Mexican dishes like mole poblano, but there?s more to do in this wealthy city than just eat. Intriguing New Restaurants Outside of New York
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Today?s Gratuitous Dog Photo
2008-03-08 23:31:00
It’s a lazy Saturday — the first two day weekend that I’ve had in some time, and I’m not quite feeling up to being creative, inventive, or funny in a post. Since my dog has become a world-renown celebrity through the 12 of 12 posts, here’s a picture of her sitting on the stairs, ...SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Today ’s Gratuitous Dog Photo ", url: "http://www.khowaga.us/feeder/?FeederActi on=clicked&feed=Articles+%28RSS2%29&# 38;seed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.khowaga.us%2Fblo g%2F2008%2F03%2F08%2Ftodays-gratuitous-do g-photo%2F&seed_title=Today%26%238217 %3Bs+Gratuitous+Dog+Photo" });
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A ?what-if? moment ?
2008-03-06 15:08:00
It’s a particularly gray morning in Austin - overcast and 52, with spitting rain that’s supposed to give way to downpours and an eventual afternoon “high” of 43. I drove in this morning with Bev, both of us listening to NPR on the radio (neither of us are talkative in the morning - this is why ...SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "A “what-if” moment …", url: "http://www.khowaga.us/feeder/?FeederActi on=clicked&feed=Articles+%28RSS2%29&# 38;seed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.khowaga.us%2Fblo g%2F2008%2F03%2F06%2Fa-what-if-moment%2F& #38;seed_title=A+%26%238220%3Bwhat-if%26% 238221%3B+moment+%26%238230%3B" });
More About: Television , Moment

Links for 2008-03-05 [del.icio.us]
2008-03-06 07:00:00
Mapping Mannahatta Eric Sanderson, a landscape ecologist at the Wildlife Conservation Society, is trying to determine exactly how Manhattan looked before the arrival of Europeans.
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The Texas Two-Step
2008-03-05 15:05:00
Well, I’ve done gone and ‘et my words: I am a caucusian. If you live in These United States, you’ve probably heard about the weird ass system we have down here in Texas where we have both election and caucuses for the presidential primaries. The Texas primaries are always so freaking late in the year ...SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The Texas Two-Step ", url: "http://www.khowaga.us/feeder/?FeederActi on=clicked&feed=Articles+%28RSS2%29&# 38;seed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.khowaga.us%2Fblo g%2F2008%2F03%2F05%2Fthe-texas-two-step%2 F&seed_title=The+Texas+Two-Step" });

Please switch your phone to vibrate
2008-03-04 18:59:00
… so, what do you think? IS the Nokia stock ring tone the most commonly played “song” in the world now? SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Please switch your phone to vibrate", url: "http://www.khowaga.us/feeder/?FeederActi on=clicked&feed=Articles+%28RSS2%29&# 38;seed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.khowaga.us%2Fblo g%2F2008%2F03%2F04%2Fplease-switch-your-p hone-to-vibrate%2F&seed_title=Please+ switch+your+phone+to+vibrate" });
More About: Phone , Asides , Switch

Links for 2008-03-03 [del.icio.us]
2008-03-04 07:00:00
How to Infuse Vodka "Maceration" may sound like some crazy combat maneuver, but it's really what happens when a flavor is steeped into a fluid. If you're using the process to add flavor to your vodka, it's given the much cooler moniker of "infusion."
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24 hours left?
2008-03-03 21:53:00
If I have to hear Hillary Clinton tell that story about doing voter registration on the Texas border one more time … … Mexican food … yeesh … SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "24 hours left?", url: "http://www.khowaga.us/feeder/?FeederActi on=clicked&feed=Articles+%28RSS2%29&# 38;seed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.khowaga.us%2Fblo g%2F2008%2F03%2F03%2F24-hours-left%2F& ;seed_title=24+hours+left%3F" });
More About: Asides , Left , Hours

Saturday in the sun
2008-03-03 20:24:00
The first Saturday in March has, for several years now, been the university’s open house event (now called “Explore UT” — this is the third moniker they’ve used in my time here). I’ve grown over many years to loathe this event with a hatred that is normally reserved for people who can’t use apostrophes ...SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Saturday in the sun", url: "http://www.khowaga.us/feeder/?FeederActi on=clicked&feed=Articles+%28RSS2%29&# 38;seed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.khowaga.us%2Fblo g%2F2008%2F03%2F03%2Fsaturday-in-the-sun% 2F&seed_title=Saturday+in+the+sun" });
More About: Home

Links for 2008-03-02 [del.icio.us]
2008-03-03 07:00:00
Teaching Boys and Girls Separately The idea is gaining traction in American public schools, in response to the different education crises girls and boys have been reported to experience. Students of all ages get taste of college Exploit, er, Explore UT: Where we get to take everything we do and turn it into a craft project and spent hours in the heat watching screaming children fight with their parents. Brought to you by the President's Office. I Need a Virtual Break. No, Really. Thus began my ?secular Sabbath? ? a term I found floating around on blogs ? a day a week where I would be free of screens, bells and beeps. An old-fashioned day not only of rest but of relief. Gourmet Guide to Hawaii In the years since the sugar industry packed up shop and left Hawaii, the Aloha State has taken on a limited culinary identity: poi and pineapple, seafood and shave ice.
More About: Links , 2008

Links for 2008-02-29 [del.icio.us]
2008-03-01 07:00:00
Must Read: The Twenty Science Fiction Novels that Will Change Your Life Whether it's because they've altered the course of science fiction writing, or simply provide a genuinely alien perspective on ordinary life, these are novels that will rearrange how you think.
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Reality check
2008-03-01 01:12:00
It was the end of the second of the two days that I spent coordinating a workshop for a group of army officers preparing to deploy to Iraq that the realization finally hit me. I’d brought in a lecturer to talk about Islamic law, and she was rattling off about hadith this and family ...SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Reality check", url: "http://www.khowaga.us/feeder/?FeederActi on=clicked&feed=Articles+%28RSS2%29&# 38;seed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.khowaga.us%2Fblo g%2F2008%2F02%2F29%2F747%2F&seed_titl e=Reality+check" });
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Links for 2008-02-26 [del.icio.us]
2008-02-27 07:00:00
Turkey in radical revision of Islamic texts The country's powerful Department of Religious Affairs has commissioned a team of theologians at Ankara University to carry out a fundamental revision of the Hadith, the second most sacred text in Islam after the Koran.
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The Tree
2008-02-25 20:26:00
???? ?????? This one’s for Will . It’s in the 80s today in Austin, so I spent some of my lunch break sitting out under Mohammad’s tree. It’s kind of sad, because gone are the days when Mohammad would hold court beneath his tree — which I think he co-opted from the LGBTQ Students’ Association, since he ...SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The Tree ", url: "http://www.khowaga.us/feeder/?FeederActi on=clicked&feed=Articles+%28RSS2%29&# 38;seed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.khowaga.us%2Fblo g%2F2008%2F02%2F25%2Fthe-tree%2F&seed _title=The+Tree" });
More About: Photos , Home

Links for 2008-02-24 [del.icio.us]
2008-02-25 07:00:00
The Myth of the Surge : Rolling Stone Hoping to turn enemies into allies, U.S. forces are arming Iraqis who fought with the insurgents. But it's already starting to backfire. A report from the front lines of the new Iraq Echoes of Amado in the Dark and the Light For visitors keen to experience the tropical mysteries of Salvador da Bahia, the Brazilian writer Jorge Amado went so far as to suggest an itinerary in his novel, ?Tereza Batista: Home From the Wars.? Spongebob Rectal Thermometer
More About: Links , 2008

Trippin?
2008-02-22 20:08:00
Skyline Drive, in the Shenandoah National Park. I always love landing in DC: “There is an airport down there somewhere, right?” SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Trippin’", url: "http://www.khowaga.us/feeder/?FeederActi on=clicked&feed=Articles+%28RSS2%29&# 38;seed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.khowaga.us%2Fblo g%2F2008%2F02%2F22%2Ftrippin%2F&seed_ title=Trippin%26%238217%3B" });
More About: Travel , Photos

Links for 2008-02-21 [del.icio.us]
2008-02-22 07:00:00
20 Worst Foods in America
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Oh, I wish I were a Flash Gordon villain
2008-02-21 14:09:00
It’s raining this morning, which is perfect, cos I have to leave the house in a few minutes to go to the airport and fly to DC. I’m off to a conference that, as I told anyone who crossed my path yesterday by phone, e-mail, IM, or Psychic Friends Network, I just don’t have ...SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Oh, I wish I were a Flash Gordon villain", url: "http://www.khowaga.us/feeder/?FeederActi on=clicked&feed=Articles+%28RSS2%29&# 38;seed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.khowaga.us%2Fblo g%2F2008%2F02%2F21%2Foh-i-wish-i-were-a-f lash-gordon-villain%2F&seed_title=Oh% 2C+I+wish+I+were+a+Flash+Gordon+villain" });
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Signs of the Time
2008-02-19 15:15:00
Just in case anyone on campus has forgotten, here’s a helpful reminder that early voting in Texas starts today. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Signs of the Time ", url: "http://www.khowaga.us/feeder/?FeederActi on=clicked&feed=Articles+%28RSS2%29&# 38;seed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.khowaga.us%2Fblo g%2F2008%2F02%2F19%2Fsigns-of-the-time%2F &seed_title=Signs+of+the+Time" });
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Links for 2008-02-18 [del.icio.us]
2008-02-19 07:00:00
Gay Africans And Arabs Come Out Online There are blogs bridging the Arabic-speaking world from Morocco in the west to the United Arab Emirates in the east.
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A Day in the Life
2008-02-19 03:45:00
We’re sitting here watching Deal or No Deal, for reasons that I can’t quite figure out. In amongst pondering our preposterously bad taste in television. Fortunately, we have not stooped to the point of, say, My Dad is Better than Your Dog, or Who Wants to Marry a Quadriplegic?, and I can still make fun of America’s Next Top Model replete in the inner knowledge that I have never actually seen the show. (Who needs to, when you’ve got Shin? When the show’s not crazy enough on its own, he’ll write his own sketch.) Because I’m who I am, I’m also mulling over an incident at work today that I should let go, but there’s residual drama there (fortunately, I’m tangential at best), and I’m trying to decide if a) I’ve accidentally added to it, and b) whether saying anything to the party in question would accomplish anything. The answer isn’t at the bottom of the bottle of Texas Hills’ Cinque Vino Rosso that...
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Links for 2008-02-17 [del.icio.us]
2008-02-18 07:00:00
Marriage, religion and idleness at The Arabist The Arabist responds to the NYT: "The thing that struck most about the article, and which I recognized from everyday life in Egypt, is not so much the pervasiveness of religion but the central role idleness plays in young people’s lives." Minority Rules Nationalism used to hold Turkey together. Now, as the Kurdish crisis is showing, it’s tearing the country apart. Can homegrown multiculturalism be the new ideology that binds? One big-city mayor gives it a try. Of Crime and the River In this story of a bitter fight against a dam in western Belize, Bruce Barcott mashes up adventure, nature writing and biography in a steamy climate of corruption and intrigue.
More About: Links , 2008

On My Mind
2008-02-17 20:21:00
It’s been a few days since I’ve written a “real” post — ironic for me, since I’m usually heavy on the words and light on the photos. It’s like we’ve all shifted into that Parallelland that I wrote about a few days back. Ah, Paralelland. So, in no particular order, here’s what’s on my mind: I still don’t know who to vote for. Now that it’s become rather obvious that the Texas primary on March 4 will actually mean something, my deer-in-the-headlights approach to choosing a candidate seems like it’s a little less advisable, and yet … {stares at the pretty lights .. it’s so beautiful! … crash!} I decided, on the recommendation of a friend who is having problems making up her mind like I am, to visit Glass Booth, a site that features one of those Cosmo-type quizzes where you rank the relative importance of a number of issues, choose your stance on them, and then it splits out a list of c...
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Links for 2008-02-16 [del.icio.us]
2008-02-17 07:00:00
Dreams Stifled, Egypt's Young Turn to Islamic Fervor Across the Middle East, many people are forced to put off marriage, the gateway to independence. In their frustration they turn to religion for solace. Dumb and Dumber: Are Americans Hostile to Knowledge? Susan Jacoby's new book bemoans the state of American culture. Not only are citizens ignorant about essential knowledge, she says, but they also don’t think it matters. Battlestar Galactica: Battlestar Won't Self-Destruct Good news: BSG will get to finish season 4. Bad news: it might be 2009 before the unfinished half of the 4th season airs. Also, rumors of a writers strike ...
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Friday Night
2008-02-16 16:40:00
There’s a lot of gatherings going on this weekend, which started off last night with an after work visit to a wine bar that … well, pretty much turned in to a full night out. Cork and Co. Michael and Daniel. Drinks. Bev and Lisa. Your host for the evening. Natalie and Kelly. Moving next door to Manuel’s for food. Bev, Kim, and mood lighting. ShareThis
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Links for 2008-02-15 [del.icio.us]
2008-02-16 07:00:00
Chicken Samosas with Cilantro-Yogurt Dip by Jean-Georges Vongerichten yum.
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Links for 2008-02-13 [del.icio.us]
2008-02-14 07:00:00
Roasted Red Tomato Soup We do need some things to help us get through these days, and soup is one of those things. Are You a Taco or a Burrito Person? Think of Cosmo quizzes: Everyone makes fun of how stupid they are, but everyone takes them.
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Links for 2008-02-12 [del.icio.us]
2008-02-13 07:00:00
5200 B.C. Is New Date for Farms in Egypt American and Dutch archaeologists reported last week the discovery at a desert oasis of what they say is the earliest known farming settlement in ancient Egypt. How Sticky Is Membership on Facebook? Just Try Breaking Free Some users have discovered that it is nearly impossible to remove themselves entirely from Facebook, setting off a fresh round of concern over the popular social network?s use of personal data.
More About: Links , 2008