Saturday, August 10, 2013

Well I never did.


Summer is drawing to a close and I have been working steadily on things I need to complete to justify getting signed embossed paperage from a large Tier I research based state university. I am lucky enough to work beyond my home department and as a result come in contact with a seemingly limitless procession of people, from all walks of life. This is my second go-round in graduate school, having completely a History M.A. at Lamar University way back in 2012. This time and location is different from the last, not better or worse just different. And that is something people, especially those from the same walks of life, have a hard time seeing.





The great thing about university is, or should be, the meeting and mixing of ideas if not necessarily people. But time after weary time those super smart valedictorians come in all full of themselves only to realize they are in class with 30-40 (or 140) OTHER valedictorians, and they are not longer the smartest one in the class. They also can't fathom the notion that not everyone in the same room watches the same television show, listens to the same music, drives the same car, eats the same food, etc. They are suddenly forced to interact, nay survive and rely on people who aren't like them. It should lead to new awakenings, but it usually just ends in smaller friendship circles and long pouty tear-filled calls to your salutatorian friend who went to a different university.




This time of year always gets me to thinking about all the things I have never done compared to the plethora of people that share my same generational exposure. I have been trying to compile a list and I am still working on it, usually as something comes up in conversation that I am only tangentially a part of due to popular culture or standup comedians.

So, I shall lay bare some of my cultural shortcomings in hopes that it will at the very least start conversations about the possibility of other people being different even if you are absolutely sure that they are the same (or maybe they even paid the same amount to get into the same sorority or fraternity--but that is a different story altogether)

In no particular order I give you some of the things I have never done

I have never watched any of the Star Wars in any form of entirety. I remember seeing the R2-D2 and C-3PO arguing in the desert, the Ewoks, and freaking out at the swamp scene because Yoda sounded like Fozzie Bear. (traumatic, I know) Nor do I want to.

No, Really. Fozzie. Bear. I kept waiting for him to say,
"Wakka, wakka, wakka."

I have never read any of the Harry Potter books. I have only seen one movie that was a break from Field work in Utah, it was a middle one where a creepy short lady took over the school and some twins destroyed a testing day a la 1984 or something.

I do not worship at the altar of C.S. Lewis and find it odd that so many Christians do.

I have never seen Sesame Street, our TV didn't pick up Houston 8 Public TV. My first Henson exposure was The Muppet Movie. I will take Gonzo over Elmo any day.

Along those same lines, I was in 3rd or 4th grade before I ever saw Reading Rainbow and was stunned to see Geordi LaForge hosting without his visor. And on the track of Star Trek, I only saw it on Friday nights because it came on at 9 o'clock and during the week that was past my bedtime and I don't prefer one to the other. I do know my favorite character was Bones,(and I was pleased with his character in the new movie--the first new movie, I still haven't seen the second one) and Geordi was second.

I have never seen an episode of Mr. Rogers neighborhood or Captain Kangaroo, but I recognize the greatness of both.

Nope, still couldn't tell you what comes on this station
besides NOVA and Nature


I only saw Nickelodeon when I stayed at a friend's house, which wasn't very often. So I have never seen Doug, Hey! Arthur, Rocko's Modern Life, or any of the others.



I don't know who a single person is in this.
Okay, maybe a few from life context, but not their story,
other than the Airbender. I watched it when I lived with my cousin,
his daughters insisted.

I've never seen Animal House or all of the Blues Brothers.

I watched Beakman's World on saturday morning, and have never seen an episode of Bill Nye. I thoroughly appreciate the latter's continued work in public service and science service.

I don't watch that many movies, and I really cannot stand sitcoms or even series. I don't watch the Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, Big Bang Theory, or anything like that. I once saw an episode of Big Bang Theory while waiting with our dog at the vet's office and thought it was terrible.

I liked Frasier and the early seasons of That 70's Show, but didn't rearrange my life to see them. I have only ever been part of a "watch party" or something similar for one thing: BBC's Life series. We met every week at a friend's house to watch it. I later got the Canadian copy as it had Attenborough narration and not Oprah.

I was in college before I ever saw an episode of NOVA or PBS Nature. I was also in college before I knew you could get to Galveston, TX any other way than the Ferry. We only ever went to see someone in the hospital there and always took the Ferry.

I never watched Lost, either when it was on, or when my wife marathoned it over the summer on Netflix.

I knew the Shel Silverstein wrote songs for Dr. Hook and Bobby Bare before I knew he had (apparently REALLY popular books of poems)I never owned a Shel Silverstein book until I was grown. I checked them out of the school library later, but we didn't have those types of books at home. Not that we didn't have a ton of books at home which I read all the time.


Boby Bare and Shel Silverstein
The guy that wrote Marie Laveaux wrote
 "Where the Sidewalk Ends?' 


I like Doctor Who, but I am in no way a whovian.

The only movies I have ever seen twice in the theatres are The Watchmen and Sherlock Holmes Game of Shadows. Sherlock came about because we went to see it with one set of friends, and then happen to run into an older set of friends later that invited us back.

I was 15 before I ever had a cheeseburger, and that was because my cousin took me to McDonalds during the viewing for my Grandfather and ordered us food.  I don't particularly care for cheese either. I have a friend that thinks that is grounds for never trusting me.

I never did grow into liking milk. I cook with it, and I like ice cream, but milk is still a big nope.

I have never seen Goonies. I had Goonies II for Nintendo and never beat it either.

I have never beaten a video game--not even with a Game Genie.


My cousin had one, still never beat Mario. 


I hate the way J.R.R. Tolkien and Stephen King write.

I've never changed a baby. Into a frog, lizard, or anything else, (or a diaper) I am pretty sure I have only held one, and I think it was asleep so it wasn't even a bottle feeding hold. I have bottle fed nearly every farm and some wild animals you can think of, so there is a tradeoff maybe?

I don't really know what I ever did instead of any of this, but there are a few things that I have thought of. I might add more at a later date, but who knows.

There are some things I did do that some of my friends may or may not have done, we never talked about it.

I started reading Michael Crichton books in late elementary school, and Clive Cussler books in Jr. High. I have read half of the "People of the (Wolf)" series and most of Louis L'amours stuff (to be honest they got old) I remember seeing Willow, the Neverending Story, and The Last Unicorn. I remember watching Unico and the Island of Magic and being terrified of the evil puppet thing. I didn't find out until decades later that it was considered anime when I discovered what anime was.


This guy I know, never remembered his name, but "The Flying Dog" was close enough

It's not that I worked at not doing all these things, many of them just never came up. I don't feel the need to run through and catch back up on all the things I have missed either, as I look back over the list now, I wonder just how much of them impacted and shaped my life as much as the people who had their lives changed by first seeing Star Wars, etc.

If you have made it this far, please feel free to share something that you never did, it doesn't have to be Post Secret good or soul stirringly revealing, but if you think about it I bet there is something.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

A Regular Family Business Part Deux

I have touched more on family here than I think I intended. But, why that train is rolling, let's just ride for a while. There is something interesting when you start looking at your family tree. I have mentioned before how in just a few generations you are directly related to more people than populated England in the 16th century. The idea that from all those strains you take your name from one, and hang some sort of cultural, ancestral, and /or genealogical identity on that is rather odd. I am sure it happens to others, but my case is really interesting since the only side of my family that has not been in America since the opening of the 17th century is the side I get my surname from.




Granted, that side also connects be to crazy people like Alexander "Bokhara" Burnes and Robert Burn(e)s. Their grandfather is my Great^7 Grandfather. We were the lucky younger children who, instead of inheriting land and titles moved to the United States. Interesting side note, while on a trip to Vancouver, B.C in order to get engaged, my girlfriend and I had left the aquarium and was walking through stanley park, where a lovers of Robert's poetry society had erected a statue of the bard. Seemed rather fitting that I proposed to my girlfriend but the statue of my cousin and in a fell swoop soon remove all of her ancestry and replace it with my last name. This idea of who you are just gets more and more ridiculous, doesn't it?



While we are picking and choosing a new system arises when one goes to university. Especially when one goes to university and stays for as long as I have. You get an academic genealogy. Your faculty family tree can go directly through mentors/advisors and without giving you something like a name that people can hang your identity on for you, you get the benefits of all those academic ancestors who have studied before. Phd-comics has a neat little comic that highlights this phenomenon:


See how troubling something like this can be--and this from February 9, 2011. But I have talked to some people about having people that are their advisors serving on my committee and that making us academic cousins. So, there is something to this. After all I have been told that the Germans take this very seriously and refer to their advisors as "Doctor-Father." Not sure if that changes to Doctor Mother in some cases. Come to think of it I know several people who refer to their advisors as a Mother----ahem, that's not what we are here to discuss. 

Mine is something of an interesting case, again because I think so, because it's geography parallels by real ancestry. Without getting too technical or deep into the politics of how this works, I will run the circle for you. I am currently studying at the University of Oklahoma. I received a Master's at Lamar University where my mentor--Dr. Jim Westgate--my doctor father if you will-- still works. Jim studied at the University of Texas-Austin under Drs. Ernie Lundelius and the recently passed Wann Langston, Jr. (top right)  Wann studied at the University of Oklahoma under John Willis Stovall. (above left). Wann and John named Acrocanthosaurus atokensis in a 1950 publication. If you remember in an earlier post I talked about my family living in Atoka at this time and working their fields that were within walking distance of the Acrocanthosaur find. (If you don't remember it's the earlier post Dino Dynasties)

I am on the left, Dr. Jim Westgate on the right, and
 an academic sibling Jordan Mika. 
Something to think about. Your academic ancestry can be direct or even branch out if you so choose. But, be warned, if one of your academic Aunts's doctor-father was someone of imminent note, and you bring that up in casual conversation, it could do you harm--especially if your new forced family members like to use your extended advisor-in-law's books for their classes. 

Which is sillier? To mark who you are because of so many random decisions along the way, or mark how you think because of some random decisions along the way? Truth is, they are all interconnected in ways that are probably past the point of comprehension. Sure, there are no academic genetics that help structure your actual being, but if you stay in long enough, you will pick up on and adopt certain things which your advisor does. It is likely, that what they do is in some form a piece of what they inherited from their advisor and so on. So, while your non academic evolution as a person, as an individual with a surname might be considered standard under the Darwinian model, it sure looks like Educational Evolution still follows Lamarckian principles. 


Keep sticking your neck out. Remember, you are building on knowledge that your advisor built on before, and with each passing academic generation the bar is raised even higher. Driven by that inner "need" to know more, answer more questions, graduate, and eventually take on a young grasshopper of your own, who, if you've done your job right, will have a longer neck than you. 

This has been either the best analogy or the worst parable ever.
Welcome to how my brain works, 
Cheers.



Sunday, April 14, 2013

A Regular Family Business

Here is something that I have shared with close friends. It is so much fun that it should go out on the record. I have traced as much of my family tree back as I can find at this point. Writing and coursework have gotten in between me and finishing. Not to mention records locked away somewhere in Dublin. Every single line of my family has been in the United States since the early 17th century. All, that is, but one. That one happens to be the one that gives me my last name.

But that is not the fun part. My great-great-great grandfather was born in Ireland, and at some point made his way to America.

But that isn't the fun part either.

His son--my Great-great grandfather lived and worked in Oklahoma. I mentioned how close his place was to the locale where the Acrocanthosaurus fossil was discovered and so you have seen the below image before.

Now, here is the fun part. Living the in Indian Territory on either side of the turn of the 20th century creates characters not even found in books. Three brothers came with all kinds of stories. It was told that when James was a kid he would throw silver dollars in the air for Frank James to shoot. Absolutely no way to prove that, and given the storyteller capabilities that flow through the tree it's doubtful, but fun. 


The Burnes Brothers (L-R George Washington Burnes 2/22/1876-7/10/1965; James Benjamin Burnes 12/2/1872-2/21/1955; and Robert Eli Burnes 2/8/1870-12/24/1924
You can image how excited I was to get to see that photo. I have requests in with friends who are better at photo editing than I am to try and get this out to its finest. Now the first thing that went through my mind when I saw this was That's amazing and one of the coolest photos I have ever seen. 

Below is the second thing that went through my mind.                               



Something that makes this even funnier is that I have always said there were certain characteristics in Daniel Day-Lewis' Butcher Bill persona that sounded like my father. Further still, the University I studied geology when this movie came out was located quite near the locale of the Spindletop Gusher. (Lamar University-Beaumont, TX, where I subsequently graduated with a degree in History minoring in Geology, Anthropology and Earth Science and an eventual M.A. in History) Turns out the producers of There Will Be Blood rented some of the century old oil rig platform/setup for use in the movie. Of course it is only there at the blowout scene and is covered with oil, but it is still a claim to fame. 

Now,  have brought the bloodline back to Oklahoma for my PhD. I live a couple hours from our old homestead. So full circle, I suppose.