grappling with the subject

This Easter i was harassed by supernatural forces, i swear!! I had drawn up such a nice plan for work, that i would read and write this and that. Already feeling really good about myself. Now it is the last day and nuthing happened.

Why?

The old bogeyman of 'the subject' came to visit me.

For any writer this can be a killer. You sit behind wherever you are writing on and then what? Worse, for an academic thesis i can't just turn out anything i like, it's going to be judged on things like coherence and method. It's kind of tortured writing, for myself i like something like what in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica was known as 'flowery speech', where style and message where linked to create a powerful resonance with the audience.

But i digress.

The subject. Mine is comparing societies. Fascinating, but a bit vague. You can compare anything, how are you going to limit yourself?? Time to bring out the weed cutter. First thing that needs to be cut is 'theories'. There's 1,000s of them about societies, from Marx to Adam Smith to Badiou, Zizek, whoever happens to have a good old or new and hip idea. You never get out of the library in your lifetime if you take this too seriously, and i don't like sitting in libraries for more than a few hours. Better to focus on the data itself and work from there back to general ideas.

Problem is that the data of archaeology are so %^&%^&I^ incomplete. For example only 2% of Teotihuacan has been excavated (even that is huge). This is nothing new for archaeologists, we live with it. But for comparing regions it's a killer i've found. You can see, what does it mean when you compare 2% of one society with 2% of another??? Even worse you might just have in those 2% samples things that can't really compare. I've spent over a year going over the literature of different regions in Greece and Mesoamerica, including spending 4 months or so in Mexico and around looking at ruins.

That was fun, but now i have to write!!

I thought i had a winner, then another horse passed and got in front. We're at the finishing line almost, i have to present my ideas and approach this Thursday.

Am i betting on the right horse? I think so, my present idea is both elegant and workable. Elegant means that it is original and addresses a question other people find interesting too, workable means that it can fit within my as yet ill-defined wider plans. But yea, the horses are still racing and alternatives kept hitting me the last few days. I decided yesterday to drink a few beers to get 'some oversight'.

All that did was that for some reason my rather intoxicated brain had me registering myself on facebook!! Buh, i know i should not get behind a computer when i am drunk. Maybe that's why this blog is such a good idea, that i just can write something silly here instead of sending crazy emails, don't you think mr house on the mountain, ms hut on the beach. ;)

No, my friends, of course that is not the subject for the blog. It's just that like my travelling blog i will use it to put down news and my thoughts. Don't worry it won't be all about research either!!

So, happy Easter all, will try to update regularly, once a week i think.