Waiting for the Barbarians
As you could probably tell, I have been devouring books lately. I just finished reading J.M. Coetzee's (author of Youth) Waiting for the Barbarians. Granted, I actually started reading this book while I was in South Africa, and read about half of it there. The first half of the book was really weird and bizarre, and I didn't really like it at all. But the second half is fantastic! The book is about a town on the outskirts of an Empire, which lives in relative peace and calm, until the Empire's insidious "Bureau" officials arrive to "defend" the town from the Barbarian hoards that live in the desert beyond the town. The parallels between the Empire and the Apartheid regime are obvious, and Coetzee is clearly voicing his dissent (the book was published in 1980 - 14 years before the end of Apartheid in South Africa). But more striking to me were the parallels between the Empire's campaign against the Barbarians and the US's current act of folly in Iraq. Some of the more salient similarities involve the one-sided, aggressive drive to war and the fabrication of a threat, when none truly exists, as well as the use of torture and rejection of legal processes. Coetzee may well be clairvoyant, because I think Colonel Joll is actually modeled on Donald Rumsfeld.

Here's one of my favorite quotes from the book; I think it encapsulates Coetzee's main point:

"Empire has created the time of history. Empire has located its existence not in the smooth recurrent spinning time of the cycle of seasons but in the jagged time of rise and fall, of beginning and end, of catastrophe. Empire dooms itself to live in history and plot against history. One thought alone preoccupies the submerges mind of Empire: how not to end, how not to die, how to prolong its era. By day it pursues its enemies. It is cunning and ruthless, it send its bloodhounds everywhere. By night it feeds on images of disaster: the sack of cities, the rape of populations, pyramids of bones, acres of desolation."
- posted by Nicole @ 8:46 PM

 
"Operating Quietly, Tatto Artists Make Their Mark in Iraq"
I read this really interesting article in the Washington Post about tattoo artists in Iraq. Apparently, they have to do their work clandestinely, because the climate of religious extremism dictates that body art cannot be practiced openly. Not only are tatoos considered to be prohibited by some Islamic scholars, it's also seen as a Western practice and an imitation of the occupying forces.

What I liked about the article is how it exemplifies the main point of Benjamin Barber (who's published a couple books on terrorism/Islamic extremism) that "We're much better at selling [our culture] unintentionally than selling democracy."

Because, as far as I can tell, they're not really buying the latter...
- posted by Nicole @ 9:14 PM

 
Identity
I just finished reading "Identity" by Milan Kundera. It's the second one of his that I've read, though it really can't compare to "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" (which has a place in my all time Top Five) in depth, complexity, or resonance. Like most of his works, it's about relationships, particularly what happens when you start to question whether or not you truly know the person you love, and the ramifications for the relationship. Kundera's brilliance is most powerfully rendered in the small, nuanced observations he almost casually makes about life, love, and people. I think Kundera understands people better than anyone else in the world, or at least, he is the most eloquent in conveying that understanding. Whenever I read his work, I'm always struck by how much truth it contains.

That being said, the ending of this particular work really frustrated me, because it seemed like a cop out. Nick (who lent me the book, after finishing it himself) pointed out that the ending is appropriate because it calls into question the identity of the book itself, thereby adding another layer of meaning. Which I think is a good point (one I hadn't thought of) but in my mind it moves the whole piece closer to intellectual futility.
- posted by Nicole @ 8:40 PM

 
Thoughts on Thinking, or Why I Refuse to Buy an iPod
I recently had a revelation that I don't think enough. Seriously. I rarely ever just sit and ponder my state of existence. I'm always doing or going or watching or talking or typing or listening or working or reading. Rarely thinking. And, after one such rare rumination session, I was amazed at how much clarity and enlightenment I achieved, just by thinking through things and sorting them out in my mind. I actually think I reached a higher plane of comprehension.

I feel that our society is losing the ability to think. It started with television (I particularly blame 24 hour news channels) and video games, then there was internet (and then the blackberry), and today the evisceration of the human brain continues with the iPod. It seems like nearly everyone you see on the street has thin white wires dangling from their ears. Constantly plugged in. Has life really become that intolerable that we feel the need to constantly distract ourselves? One might argue that this constant need for entertainment and stimulation is a sign of heightened mental activity, but I would aruge that the human race (and particularly its American incarnation) is getting dumber. Because there is no independent thinking going on. People have stopped drawing their own conclusions. CNN does it for them. We are reaching a state where people are increasingly oblivious to the world around them. This scenario is exacerbated by the premium we place on efficiency: there's simply no time to think. Rather, we strive to maximize the efficacy of each minute of our lives.

In the course of doing so, yes, we are thinking, but we seldom just set our minds free to wander, or to stray from the ruts that - like wheel tracks on a dirt road - become more defined and entrenched each day. The rains of a fantastic brainstorm are needed to erode the tracks and obscure the path of least resistence, so that we can forge new ones.

The hectic pace of modern life makes this difficult (I know: I'm one of the most egregious offenders). But if everyone would just unplug themselves for a few minutes a day, life could be made into sense. I think.
- posted by Nicole @ 6:45 PM

 
Bush Has Finally Done Something GOOD
This may be the first piece of praise I've ever had for the Bush Administration, but (despite what I KNOW some Republican-voting members of my family think about me) I'm not so bigoted that I won't give credit where credit is do. And, as in dealing with any petulant child, you must reinforce good behavior with praise. So, George: good job. You finally did the right thing.

Bush has finally decided to give Geneva Convention rights and protections to prisoners held at facilities like Guantanamo Bay. The Geneva Convention details proper treatment for prisoners of war, and prohibits their abuse by torture or other forms of inhumane treatment. The US had hitherto denied terrorist suspects these rights on the ground that they were not officially "prisoners of war", but rather "unlawful combatant" - a dubious term invented by the evil former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez. This argument is ridiculous at best and hypocritical at worst. One cannot claim to be fighting a "war on terror", and then deny that those you capture in the process are prisoners of war. The Bush administration has recently become cognizant of this contradiction, and - though denying there has been any change in policy - taken steps to correct it.

This is the best news I've heard in a long time. It is likely to be one of the most effective measures in the effort to combat terrorism. First, it will improve the view of the United States abroad, particularly among our allies; allied governments will now have less fear of popular retribution as a result of their alignment with the US. People may actually start to take us seriously when we say we're fighting for democracy, when we're not simultaneously undermining democratic values in the process. Second, we will stop provided terrorist groups with excellent propaganda, whereas they could formerly point to US abuses as justification for their activity.

Congratulations, George Bush. You did the right thing. This is the only way to fight the war on terror: within the bounds of the rule of law. For the first time in 6 years, I could say I was proud that you're president. Let's see how you do tomorrow.
- posted by Nicole @ 7:39 PM

 
Summer in DC, Part Deux
It was a pretty quick turn-around at home before heading out again for D.C., but - hey - that's the story of my life ;) It feels good to be back in D.C. (though it would feel even better if it would EVER STOP RAINING. Seriously, I thought God said he was never gonna do this again. And it's not just the rain that's the problem, or the ensuing chaos it causes in urban traffic patterns and public transportation systems: it's the 102% humidity. ACK!) But swampiness aside, I really like it here. My roommates are really nice girls - not the same as living with Caitlin and Al, but in a pinch, it works.

And it's not like there aren't dozens of other Yalies in DC. My God, the city is FULL of them. I had a delightful reunion last night with some Glee Club friends. One friend works for a think-tank here in the city and lives in an unasuming and surprisingly lovely apartment off the green line in Columbia Heights. He invited me and two other Glee Clubbers who were in town over for dinner. We dined on the rooftop of his apartment building, in a brief moment of fair weather; though, we were able to watch the next stormy front approach, laughing as in rained on the rich North Virginian suburbs and eating faster when we saw the lightening get suddenly closer. The sunset was absolutely gorgeous! And we could watch it all the way down without burning out our corneas, because it was just behind a thin layer of cloud (which also made it look like a big red ball, kind of like Mars). Then we went and listened to old Glee Club concert recordings and relived tour memories. It was a wonderful evening with old friends.

Tonight, I took a pilgrimmage back to my old Capitol Hill Neighborhood with my new friends - roommates Suzanne and Jamie. It was fun showing them around the area. We went to Meyhane for dinner - one of my favorite restaurants in the whole world, because of the great food, fond memories, and half-priced bottles of wine at happy hour (which, I might add, runs from noon to 7pm...). Caitlin and Al and I went to Meyhane all the time last summer. Another reason why I love this little Turkish restaurant is that it DOESN'T HAVE ANY AIR-CONDITIONING. (I'm so sick of all the buildings in DC keeping the thermostat at 40 degrees fahrenheit. Yes, it's hot, but that's ridiculous.) Oh, and then there's the baklava. And the cute Turkish waiters. And....
- posted by Nicole @ 12:32 AM