Iberian Antedotes

Alain, proof I live and breath...

2009-09-08T03:26:00.003+01:00

There. Be happy. Proof I am living and breathing. I haven't answered my phone in nearly a month and I feel fine.

You can come by the MNA next week and I will be there. Otherwise, stop calling me, you French fool.

Je ne pourrai te dire, ce que je ne sais pas et je ne pourrai te donner, ce que je n'ai pas...

Now, no more French. It chafes my English palette.

Meet Uni, a university cat

2008-11-08T13:34:00.005Z

Our new addition to the family: Uni the homeless tabby cat. Found her stuck in an abandoned car at the Universidade de Lisboa. The boys are fantastically happy - Rui threatened divorce.

We'll see.

Digging up the past...

2008-08-30T02:25:00.004+01:00

To an archaeologist, this is not so uncommon. But, lately, it isn't someone else's past I have been digging up but my own.

I never thought that digging up my own past would be so wonderful.

Song of the day: Coldplay, A Message
Osteological material of the day: Sacrum
Thought for the day: Time is ever moving and there is little control over how it passes. Enjoy what you have - not what you think you should have.

A rose by any other name would be...

2008-07-04T20:45:00.002+01:00

Mein Führer, Jesse Helms, died today on our Independence Day, July 4th. The irony. Now we have two reasons to celebrate our independence!

Can you believe that evil can live well into its 80's?

Usually, I am not so venemous but this guy was pure hatred, pure evil, pure mean and nasty. Anyone who thinks otherwise must be one of his grand children who really didn't know him outside of calling him Gramps.

Yes, the art work is mine and yes, I truly have been afraid of this man for most of my life.

Womb of Fire. Ouch.

2008-06-09T17:01:00.005+01:00

Do not ask...just go. See for yourself. Personally, it just reminds me of something horrid that every woman experiences from time to time.

Womb of Fire

Song for the day: INXS, The Original Sin (for no apparent reason?)
Gabriel's favorite food this week: Turtle Back Crepes a la Nutella
Jacy's favorite food as of last night: Homemade Humus
Work for today: Schleping 20 containers of fauna and ceramics up the apparently medieval steps of the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia

My life in a nutshell - except for the womb on fire. That seems to be ok.

Closing of the Library of Archaeology, Lisbon

2008-06-08T17:50:00.002+01:00

SIGN THE PETITION TO KEEP THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL ARCHIVES OPEN IN PORTUGAL

Please sign this and support us putting pressure on the Portuguese government to move the collection to an accessible space instead of putting it in storage.

Once in storage, all of the archives, archaeological reports and major publications will be hidden away for some time.

Thanks to everyone who already has! Foreigners welcome.

Song of the day: Beloise Ones, "Some People"
Excursion of the day: 4 mile hike with the boys in Monsanto

Sniff me out like I was Tanqueray...

2008-05-28T19:56:00.002+01:00

WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS MEAN? Is it appreciation? Deeply sniffing? Just a hint of something? I am getting sooo out of the loop. I was talking to a colleague of mine here in Portugal and he said he just gave a paper on Hayes 91. I responded, "Oh, yeah, I have some lips to show you. Very odd fabrics and some flanges that are unfamiliar to me."

We both got excited.

WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE? Does anyone else get this? I hope so.

Song of the day: Amy Winehouse, You Know I'm No Good

Song I wanted to hear today: Ricky Martin, She Bangs, She Bangs

Clearly, the form for the day goes to Hayes 91, D1

Bad field notes and 1 Super Bock later...

2008-04-21T14:08:00.003+01:00

Super Bock, the king of Portuguese beers. Always makes reading someone else's excavation notes a lot easier.

This poor, sick baby was deposited in the Medieval chapel at Torre de Palma, Capela de São Domingo. Unfortunately, we can say little about it because of the shoddy excavation notes.

I hope no one says this about me 50 years from now. Maybe I should lay off the Super Bock.

Song for the day: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Police Helicopter

Wardrobe choice: thick wool poncho (windows are open because of the beautiful spring weather)

Literary selection: 1954 field notes of João Lino de Silva

Feeling past frustrations again

2008-04-17T11:03:00.003+01:00

History has a repetitive, sometimes predictable, cycle. If we can grow enough as individuals to see when that own cycle is repeating itself in our lifetime, we are made wiser for it.

I'm feeling like this pussycat to the left. Just a bit pissed off, a bit overwhelmed and looking for better days to come because, unlike important figures in history, I am powerless in my present situation.

Finishing the dissertation, stiff upper lip and don't let the bastards (that is not gender specific) wear you down. Be thankful for what I have; children, husband, house, rewarding career, Reese's Pieces in the refrigerator, and an interchangeable parts Voodoo doll. Always a necessity in this world...and the other.

And, of course, beijinhos to all of you backstabbers, liars and plagiarizers out there. Judas sends his best, too.

Song of the day: The Stranglers', Golden Brown

Form of the day: it is a formless day, anything unidentifiable

Quote of the day: "Who spits against the wind, spits in his own face."

Appian of Alexandria, you're such a drama queen

2008-04-10T12:44:00.002+01:00

What a bunch of jerks...no wonder the global world hated the Americans, er, Romans.

§56-60, Appian's, The Spanish Wars: The Lusitanian Wars

"Then he invaded Lusitania and gradually depopulated it. Galba did the same on the other side. When some of their ambassadors came to him desiring to renew the treaty made with Atilius, his predecessor in the command, though they had transgressed this treaty, he received them favorably, and made a truce and pretended to sympathize with them because they had been compelled by poverty to rob, make war, and break their engagements. "For, of course," said he, "poorness of soil and penury forced you to do these things. If you wish to be friendly, I will give you good land for your poor people and settle them in three divisions, in a fertile country."

[§60] Beguiled by these promises they left their own habitations and came together at the place where Galba directed. He divided them into three parts, and showing to each division a certain plain, he commanded them to remain in this open country until he should assign them their places.

Then he came to the first division and told them as friends to lay down their arms. When they had done so he surrounded them with a ditch and sent in soldiers with swords who slew them all, they, meanwhile, crying aloud and invoking the names and faith of the gods. In like manner he hastened to the second and third divisions and destroyed them while they were still ignorant of the fate of the first. Thus he avenged treachery with treachery in a manner unworthy of a Roman, but imitating barbarians.

A few escaped, among them Viriathus, who not long afterward became the leader of the Lusitanians and killed many Romans and performed the greatest exploits, which I shall relate hereafter."

Death by Oreo cookies

2008-04-08T15:12:00.004+01:00

No, he isn't really dead but he is really sick. My kids are on a virus marathon this year. Every single micro-organism that is air borne within a 100 kms, it has a destiny with one of my kids.

Jacy Rodrigo was being indulged by his Mama as I let him eat Oreo cookies in my bed. Yes, that is my heinous pillow case. It was inherited from Rui's grandparents, free and don't forget, I am an archaeologist. We have virtually no ability to distinguish between what is appropriate for the 21st century and what is not yet an antiquity. Thus, 1970's linens. Hey, they were from before the revolution so you could even refer to them as antebellum linens.

We had a squall line last night that almost gave Lisbon its first hurricane in a long time. It never got a name but it scared the hell out of all of us. Gabriel climbed in bed with Jacy and tried to steal the Oreos. Jacy rummaged enough força to defend both himself and his precious. You can imagine the carnage.

Well, back to writing and back to moving forward with the dissertation.

Form for the day: None, I am writing the archival history of the site

Song of the day: Eric Clapton, Promises (Woman Calling Love Hate)

Wardrobe choice for the day: Head to toe blue robe from Land's End.

Although I smell fine, I never took my jam-jams off today.

Night time in Lisbon, 22:58

2008-04-05T22:56:00.005+01:00

Well, it is a big boa noite for me. Took the kids outside to draw with chalk on the sidewalk. It was a nice time. It was nearly 80 degrees today so I can not complain. No rain -all sunshine. For some crazy reason, there are so many stars visible tonight and I was hanging my head out the window noticing that tonight seemed closer to to heaven. Maybe I am feeling a bit less stressed as Rui just finished on of his bigger chapters so he is a step closer to finishing. Then the big push is on for me once Rui can take over with the kids. The kids. I feel so much guilt sometimes...they are growing up so fast. Writing their names, dressing themselves, feeding giraffes...

It was great being in Rome again. I remember walking up the main (wedding cake) steps towards the forum and having a flashback of laying the roof of the cabin with my father when I was 12 years old. He kept worrying I was going to fall off of the rafters and so was I but I wouldn't let him see the fear in my eyes. I just kept looking at the rafters and popping those nails in. There was that same teetering sense of falling backwards down these steps before I made it back to see the forum again. Same kind of anxiousness mixed with excitement. Maybe a bit of acrophobia, too.

I have been summoned. Gabriel and Jacy have started their own restaurant and they have just placed their final orders for the night. I am the chef. They are waiting on their stuffed animals: Panda, Teddy, Polar Bear, Rabbit, Giraffe and Stitch. I keep waiting for Polar Bear to turn on them all.

Form for the day: Conspectus 22.1

(Jacy's) Song of the day: Interpol, Munich

Thought of the day: Enjoy the hours we are here - nothing is certain

Rome, always a good idea

2008-04-01T22:04:00.005+01:00

Just returned from 6 days in Rome. Gave a paper at a conference Building Rome Aeternae. It was wonderful. Many, many people just like me, passionate about their studies and their fields of expertise: mortars and mortar inclusions (obviously not my expertise but the two are closely related). It was wonderful. Met some of the nicest people ever and got some great ideas.

Oh, and it was in Rome for St. Peter's sake! Who can complain? I walked around Rome on Sunday for 14 hours. Even lost 20 euros (or was pick pocketed?). Did I mind? I just assumed one of the many homeless people had picked it up and was getting a good meal (or buzz on). Whichever.

As I walked along the roads with their large meticulously placed stones, I thought to myself, someone else has walked here...our beheaded and handless friend Cicero or possibly any of the number of military soldiers, citizens, visitors and politicians who frequented the Imperial forum.

I was humbled and reminded why I love what I do. We do love what we do, n'est pas?

Will post pictures soon. The Crypta Balbi was so lovely with all of its piled naked ceramics, spooning one anothers forms like lovers who still beg for...sorry.

No questions about it - archaeology is always one of the following: food, sex or alcohol. Somewhere, in between, we find time to publish.

Portugal is not Hispanic culture

2008-03-21T13:11:00.003Z

Just in case anyone had a question about that, we don't refer to the Portuguese as Hispanic.

Mortar and ceramics dates just don't splice

2008-03-18T13:34:00.000Z

This is for you, Joey. Look over this chart and tell me how many people I am going to piss off at the BSR conference.

They just don't match. Do you think that I should tally the reliability rate of the mortar sigma dates?

Ok, I did.

Less than 7%.

Oh, the image looks better than this as the ARS wares are in dark ox blood red.

The word, COINS, shows up better, too. Those are the small dots. They don't help the mortar dates either.

Oiye.

Another sexy Christ

2008-03-14T14:32:00.010Z

A few years ago, in the Estremoz outdoor market, I found this carved figure of Christ and if I were a rich woman, I would have purchased it for the 2000€ asking price. Rui told me that it would never be allowed in our house. My gut reaction, maybe we need two houses.

Hmmm. The idea of it.

If you turn this sculpture sideways, Christ is like a Pardo Madonna. Fecund with life. Life exists inside of Christ. Amazing.

I was struck by the detailing of the nipples and navel. Eyes. A trinity of Eyes. Although I am not religious, I find this sculpture both spiritual and sensual. In a perverse way, albeit less serious or psychotic than Teresa da Avila, all I want to do is tweak Christ's nipples or apply mascara.

Have a lovely weekend with the ones you love. I should probably go to mass or reflect on my life. Until then, I toast you all with a Makers on the rocks.

Songs for the day:

Pogues, If I Should Fall from Grace with God

Muse, Supermassive Black Hole

Cockney Rebel, Come up and See Me (Make me Smile)

Ceramic for for the day: Dragendorff 29

Why? it is a refined, elegant, pregnant form

EX OF ZOILVS

2008-03-13T12:20:00.005Z

Kelly Wacker. I am writing this post for you. Can you see who is sitting to the left (my left in the picture) of me here? Margarida Peixe! The one who used to call me Pileca (an endearing term for little pecker or something like that!) It is clear now that I may have been the only woman in Portugal ever called little pecker. I actually think that the term is exclusively for boys. This won't surprise my father.

It seems like such a long time ago but it isn't. This was my summer without you when I had to face J's and K's affair right under my nose, finish up the South Field West, dig out a dolia pit that contained over 9 vessels and was 3 feet over my head and woke up at 5:00 a.m. and decided that I wasn't going to be getting on that plane after all to go back home.

I miss you guys. I miss drinking too many vodka martinis and grading papers with you. I miss re-arranging Gail's office and putting the taxidermed Rocky Raccoon to work at her desk. I miss our Thursday morning breakfasts at the Blue Dog Café. I miss the smell of Kentucky grass and walking around outside with no shoes on. I think I am coming home soon.

At least the home where my friends are near.

Songs of the day: John Prine, Muhlenberg County

Aerosmith, Dulcimer Stomp/The Other Side

Ceramic form for the day: ZOILVS stamp from a Goudineau 40

(slave attached to the workshop of Ateius)

Order in chaos

2008-03-12T17:31:00.009Z

I am sending this out to Joey and Sarah who will be going through this soon enough (please inject witchy laugh at the end of this sentence).

Make note of Mr. Munsell's guide that Joey so kindly brought to me from the United States some years ago. Of note as well is the knifey looking object to the right of my keyboard (letter opener not deadly weapon). Although, I can always stab myself in the leg with it as my eyes begin to glaze over from monotonous designations of sigillatas and ARS. To the upper right hand side of my mouse is a bolacha da Maria that Jacy brought me this morning as he came into the study after I pulled an all nighter. A bolacha da Maria is a vanilla wafer of sorts that always reminds me sticky children and being in post-op after having both kids. They feed you poached apples, vanilla cookies and herbal tea after starving you for 3 days. It isn't as appetizing as it seems.

Above Mr. Munsell's handy book is a bottle of alcohol for REMOVING the erroneous accession numbers from the American excavation crew who were probably drunk while labeling the ceramic pieces. How would I know? (please inject witchy laugh at the end of this sentence).

(please inject witchy laugh at the end of this sentence)....just because.

Songs of the day: Texas, Polo Mint City and Postcard

Moody Blues, The Voice

Ceramic form for the day: broken, indeterminada

A Spanish quicky...

2008-03-11T16:34:00.009Z

Ahhhh, Mérida. Once known as Augusta Emerita (not Emerita Augusta for those who want to be in-the-know), the provincial capital of Lusitania. Always a welcome 3.5 hour trip from Lisbon.

What did I do in Mérida you ask? Well, I will tell you. I discussed, with one of the leading experts of Mérida importations Dr. José Jerez Linde, fabrics and forms of Hispanica tardia wares.

It was wonderful. Captivating. Intense eye contact, touching the fabrics, rejoicing in the lustrous engobes and intrigued by the watery slips. Pure fabrics versus course, rugid inclusions. Me talking in my vulgar Portuguese, him speaking his beautiful and patient Spanish.

Oiye. Aiye, aiye, aiye.

And, I am spent.

Song for the day: Lisa Gerrard's, Now We Are Free

Ceramic form for the day: Hispanica tardia 37t

My wellspring

2008-03-09T11:38:00.010Z

My boys. They have fresh ideas, new opinions everyday and bless me endlessly with kisses, hugs and "Mama, I love you and I like you, too." Gabriel finished 25 drawings last night and asked me to discuss and entitle them while he dictated their content and meaning. Jacy Rodrigo is a little ball of light and energy. A bit of Luke and Darth in a 3 year olds linguini build.

We will have to keep an eye on that.

So think of my bi-lingual, bi-national children (if you have no children of your own) when you go to vote in your primaries! You all are voting, right? I am voting from Lisbon so if I can do it from here, you all can do it from there!

Song for today: David Fonseca's, Kiss me, Kiss me

Ceramic form for the day: Hayes 91,African Red Slip, D2 fabric

Birthing shards

2008-03-08T21:03:00.004Z

16, 523. The number of shards that have to be discussed, even if merely listed in an appendix, in my dissertation. This is a Hispanica 37 bowl from the olive press area at Torre de Palma. Some authors argue that this piece could have circulated from 70-200 while another group say that 300 was still possible. It is from the officina of Valerius Paternius, Tritium Magellum, Hispania.

Joey, we must start working on the Roman ceramics blog. This could be our first contribution...terra sigillata hispanica, died early or stayed on partying into the antiguidade tardia.

I feel like one of those creatures on the island of misfit toys. The Charlie in the Box with a spotty face.

I need this hoop-jumping hell to end...

Is anyone still sacrificing to IOM for me?

Back to blogging...

2008-03-08T13:00:00.006Z

Okay. So, I finally got my feet back on the ground between lost reports, crashed computers (x2), Gabriel with chicken pox, a paper to give at the British School in Rome on mortar dating and ceramics and working on ARCGis maps...

Will post something of substance soon. Maybe this is the therapy I need for dissertation melt down.

For now, has anyone checked out the music of Basia Bulat? In the night is a beautiful song...

Will be in Chicago...

2007-12-30T04:26:00.001Z

Frontier Iberia: Continuity and Culture at the Lusitanian Site of Torre de Palma

Sunday, January 6
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
5E: Frontier Iberia: Continuity and Culture at the Lusitanian Site of Torre de Palma
Regency Ballroom B, Gold Level, West Tower
Session Organizer: Maia M. Langley

see you there...

megaliths

2007-04-23T22:14:00.000+01:00

So, I have missed my blogging days. Anyone still reading? Just casting a net to start.

Here are my kids claiming a Megalithic burial tomb as their own. Francisco (stepson), Gabriel and Rodrigo.

Life is complicated in Portugal but worth it...

beijinhos!

keep a stiff upper...spear

2006-11-10T22:56:00.000Z

Getting kind of sick of the academic backstabbing! It seems that most people just want to see you fall on your face instead of hoping that you will succeed.

Difficult day.

Tried to help people out only to find out that people generally have less respect for you when you are nice. Actually, you sometimes end up being demonized.

Porque? Any ideas...please post.

Confused, discouraged and dismayed.

There are still Fascists alive and well...not just in Portugal.

Tomorrow will be better.

ah, vida...

2006-09-20T10:16:00.000+01:00

All is well. Sorry for the long pause. I am crazy writing my next chapter for my dissertation and trying to stay completely focused on this. For many of my friends, this is an experience they have already endured. For the other part of my friends, send me positive and encouraging words of support and I will do the same for you. Fortunately, I have some great readers who have volunteered their time and energies...I just have to get the guts to send this first mess of words out to them.

Rui is being supportive although he is in the middle of writing his too. Okay. Well. Actually, I am ahead of him. He will pull the typical Portuguese scenario...seat of the pants.

kisses to all. here are the kids. They are growing, growing, learning, changing, mimicking, exploring. They are wonderful! (all mother's priveledge to say...)

thanks for all the positive energy...really

2006-08-10T11:06:00.000+01:00

So, I didn't get the job (or so I suspect) but it appears that nobody got the job. I appreciate the bull being sacrificed and I assure you that all of that positive energy came in handy when we discovered a FUCKING ROMAN ROAD!!! Excuse me, not one road but several fragments of it and a FUCKING INTERSECTION!!!!

I must get back to work on the dissertation but will be posting more frequently.

Did I mention that there may be a town involved? Sorry. We may have discovered a FUCKING ROMAN TOWN.

Thanks IOM. Thanks bull.

energia positiva

2006-05-14T14:36:00.000+01:00

Send now...alot...over the next 4 days.

Muito importante.

Will "Do tell" later...

carnival ex-gruffalo now afraid of gruffalos

2006-04-25T01:21:00.000+01:00

It took nearly 3 hours to reach this state of sleeping bliss. The little boy who was a Gruffalo for Carnival is now officially sooooooo afraid of a Gruffalo that we can not growl like a Gruffalo, joke about a Gruffalo, leave any books about Gruffalos (or any books with references to them) in his room while he is sleeping.

After 6 exoduses from his bed, and a world of threats made by his father, and myself, and only after promising to keep the hall light on, his door open and the door to the living room open, did he finally pass out and go to sleep. And, he kissed me 42 times. The last 11 or so dont count because he was acting like a fish. The first 42 counted.

That's Gabriel at age 3.

what´s all the ruckus?

2006-04-19T00:20:00.000+01:00

What has upset Jacy Rodrigo so much?

a. Gabriel is blocking his view of "Dora the Explorer";

b. Ms Kahli is standing on the dinner table and we all know that this is against house rules;

c. Jacy is offended by the site of George Bush on CNN and is dictating instructions regarding where he should stick his head after he removes it from the hole it has been in for the last 6 years;

d. He is telling his mama to get his pijamas ready because it is freaking cold and there is nothing worse that a cold, wet Jacy Rodrigo (except for the fact that George Bush is still President and that Rumsfeld is still evil and still in office);

e. His father is threatening to cut off his curls;

f. none of the above...but you have a better guess:

you're a donkey, mr danger

2006-03-20T22:48:00.000Z

Oh Lordy! President Hugo Chavez, although completely cu-cu in his own right, has really gone all out this time.

Translated fresh from Venezula, The Letter From Venezuela, and a great blogsite to boot:

"George W Bush, you are a donkey and a coward. Come here, Mr Danger, you are a coward, murderer, genocidal, alcoholic, drunk, immoral -- you are the worst, Mr Danger, you are sick, and I know so personally."

http://theletterisback.blogspot.com/2006/03/chvez-george-w-bush-you-are-donkey.html

I think the owner of the blog is not particularly Pro-Chavez or Pro-Bush but the fact that he posted it, when no other American newspaper has yet, is very, very telling.

I personally would not marry Chavez but hey, the man has some big ol' boobies!!! Or, he is a horse's ass.

words of wisdom from gabriel...

2006-03-14T00:27:00.000Z

Every night, I check in on Gabriel to make sure he is covered, warm, with gigi (drink in sipper cup) and to give him a kiss. Tonight, he shared with Rui some amazing words of wisdom. He was completely asleep. I truly feel that if we could all live our lives, following these words of guidance and inspiration, so many of the world's problems could be solved.

His advice:
“Não faz mal os patinhos.”

Translation:
"Don't hurt the little ducks."

Everyone should be so lucky to have a Gabriel in their life.

for he is a gruffalo

2006-03-09T23:34:00.000Z

Gabriel was a Gruffalo for Carnival...by request. He wore it to the playground even and all of the kids petted him...

please send positive energy now

2006-02-25T00:02:00.000Z

To all of my friends who have noticed that I havent posted recently, should you see this, please send lots of positive energy my way as soon as possible. I think evenly distributed positive energy flows over a duration of the next 2 weeks or so will benefit me greatly.

Just consider it. Should you participate in this pooling of positive energy, please let me know and I will happily reimburse you at any time in the future.

Positive energy from Portugal is actually rarer than that from the U.S., Canada or England as the people here are so desperate for help and beaten down that it is very hard to come by. So, consider this, and the exchange rate, when sending me the energy.

Any amount is much appreciated. Negative energy should be sent to the attention of these following people (should you have any you need to get rid of although I am not suggesting that you create any as this is not healthy for you.):

-George Bush
-Assface
-Arnold Schwarzenegger
-Austrian olympic athletes who were doping
-Dick Cheney et al
-my 9th grade English teacher who scarred me for life, Mrs. Waits
-my 2nd grade teacher who scarred me for that year, Mrs. Whittenberg
-the asshole who cut me off during my grandmother´s funeral procession (God knows who it is...just put the energy out there and it will get directed to the appropriate recipient.)
-anyone on the Portuguese Fulbright Commission who tells me NO for the 3rd time after my country has said YES for the 3rd time!!!
-all serial killers and serial rapists (sorry, that was dark)

Okay. Good night. Sleep tight. Don´t let the Gruffalo´s bite.

Ask Gabriel.

muppet happiness

2006-01-22T22:33:00.000Z

This kid is Muppet happy.

Seriously. I mean it.

Muppet happy.

Cy the kitty

2006-01-14T21:40:00.000Z

One-Eyed Cat Had Medical Condition
By TERRENCE PETTY, Associated Press Writer
Wed Jan 11, 4:58 AM

PORTLAND, Ore. - A photo of a one-eyed kitten named Cy drew more than a little skepticism when it turned up on various Web sites, but medical authorities have a name for the bizarre condition.

"Holoprosencephaly" causes facial deformities, according to the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health. In the worst cases, a single eye is located where the nose should be, according to the institute's Web site.

Traci Allen says the kitten she named Cy, short for Cyclops, was born the night of Dec. 28 with the single eye and no nose.

"You don't expect to see something like that," the 35-year-old Allen said by telephone from her home in Redmond in central Oregon.

Allen said she stayed up all night with the deformed kitten on her recliner, feeding Cy a liquid formula through a syringe. She says she cared for the kitten the next day as well, until it died that evening.

Allen had taken digital pictures that she provided to The Associated Press. Some bloggers have questioned the authenticity of the photo distributed on Jan. 6.

AP regional photo editor Tom Stathis said he took extensive steps to confirm the one-eyed cat was not a hoax. Stathis had Allen ship him the memory card that was in her camera. On the card were a number of pictures _ including holiday snapshots, and four pictures of a one-eyed kitten. The kitten pictures showed the animal from different perspectives.

Fabricating those images in sequence and in the camera's original picture format, from the varying perspectives, would have been virtually impossible, Stathis said.

Meanwhile, Cy the one-eyed cat may be dead, but it has not left the building.

Allen said she's keeping the cat's corpse in her freezer for now, in case scientists would like it for research.

She said one thing's for certain: "I'm not going to put it on eBay."

map making...making maps...map making...taking naps

2006-01-14T00:10:00.000Z

I am crazy from ArcGIS tonight! Woke up with the flu...working on the computer for 12 hours on cold medicine...all for the "glory that is Rome."

Anyway, this is what my head feels like.

definition of an assface

2006-01-06T22:35:00.000Z

According to the Urban Dictionary, an assface is: One whom (sic) is rude to you in person or behind your back and they are so ugly that their face looks like a big pimply ass; stupid, silly or foolish person. I would like to add this as well: dishonest, immoral, irresponsible, egocentric, debased and lacking in character.

Take your pick. Which is it.

In Montreal, Dr. Assface was introduced as being from the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia, Director of the Troia Project who is a guest lecturer for the AIA. He isn´t in the audience. He didnt email the chair of the session. He was referred to as missing in action. MIA.

That wins an assface award. If anyone else was there, please let me know.

what a twit.

FYI - don´t drink the water in Nebraska

2005-12-29T22:39:00.000Z

DOUBLE MOUTHED TROUT...I AIN´T A LYIN'

This fish didn't have a chance. A rainbow trout pulled out of Holmes Lake last weekend had double the chance to get hooked: It had two mouths.

Clarence Olberding, 57, wasn't just telling a fisherman's fib when he called over another angler to look at the two-mouthed trout. It weighed in at about a pound.

"I reached down and grabbed it to take the hook out, and that's when I noticed that the hook was in the upper mouth and there was another jaw protruding out below," said Olberding.

He said in his 40 years of fishing, he's never seen anything like it.

Don Gabelhouse, head of the fisheries division of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, said a two-mouthed fish was new to him, too.

"It's probably a genetic deformity," he said. "I don't think there's anything wrong with it."

The second mouth didn't appear to be functional, Olberding said. He has plans for the fish, which don't included mounting.

"I'm going to smoke it up and eat it," he said.

Source: China Daily/AP

art is the lie that tells the truth

2005-12-28T13:11:00.000Z

Today I am working on my dissertation and listening to NPR. I feel that, more and more, I want to go back to the States but I feel so dismayed by our politics. This war we are in is so wrong. Vietnam was sold and bought by the Americans and all of our other administrative endeavors to sell democracy. I understand why people hate the US but I think it is unfortunate that most Americans don't.

I felt that this quote and Guernica were appropriate. The quote is by Picasso as well. What does this have to do with Iberia? Guernica, Iberian. Picasso, Iberian. Me, in Iberia.

Art or art-ernative

2005-12-18T22:45:00.000Z

Art or not?

Redemption for Wealthy Crackers..but not for Tookie

2005-12-13T11:20:00.000Z

I had insomnia last night! It was horrible. Didnt go to sleep until like 5:00 a.m. Crawled in bed with Gabriel...he was ALL TOASTY WARM! I stole his body heat like any good mother would.

Okay. This post is pretty dark and pretty hostile so be prepared!

I was so upset this morning to read that Schwarzenegger, a man that should never even be in politics, did not stop the execution of Tookie Williams. I know that man made some horrible mistakes and did some horrible things. He wasnt born in the best place in the world, either. I really feel like he tried to reform himself, really contributed to society and isn't that what the prision system is supposed to be for? Why couldn't they just keep him in prision for life and let him keep doing his work? The man was nominated 5 times for the Noble Peace Prize. I think many, many people can testify to the number of people he saved from a gangster life.

I just dont get it anymore and I feel like I am losing my sense of humanity. The US is in Iraq, murdering innocent people - both our own citizens by virtue of a stupid war and Iraqi citizens. Murder is murder. I am not saying that soldiers should be accused of murder but there seems to be a strange code here for the way some people decide what is a real murder, acceptable loss, and what is an acceptable murder. I feel so torn inside right now. Really sad.

Isn't Charles Manson in prision for life...in California? The message here: He murdered more people but he just murdered them at the right time when CA didnt have a death penalty sentence?

I wonder if any of this is a race issue, making a hard stand by the Conservative Right? Schwarzenegger was supporting Kurt Waldheim, the presidential nominee for Austria who was AT/PRESENT FOR/ENGAGED IN the mass murder in the Kozara region of western Bosnia during World War II. He was even put on the Wehrmacht's "honor list" for being wounded here. So, hold up. This man only escaped the Nuremburg trials because nobody knew he was an ex-Nazi. He served in the UN, deceived the world for as long as he could until he was found out. Nobody seems to be holding him accountable for his murders. Schwarzenegger, as far as I know, has never spoken out against him. Puke, puke, puke.

I hate to be so dark but the lines here seem very blurred to me. Grotesquely blurred.

PLEASE FRIENDS, TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK. I would really like to know.

ms. misogynist, we don't need your negativity!

2005-12-13T00:09:00.000Z

I was just told the most horrible story ever to whisper across my delicate ears. Believe me, I have heard a lot. A LOT. This one gets an award for the worst misogyny I have ever witnessed. Well, second hand really but I suspect it was all true!

An advisor told her pregnant student that, because her dissertation was due in a few months, that is, before her baby was due, that she should just give it up because she wouldn't have a future in academia! Now, granted, the dissertation should have been done a few years ago and granted, there was a lot of procrastination going on. And granted, I dont really have any reason to sympathize with a great procrastinator. But, to tell a woman, who is pregnant and due in 3 months, that she should just resign to teach "junior or high school" because she will never have a future in academia because she is a mother is so fucking old school!

What is wrong with people? Is she nuts or just a misogynist? Is that redundant?

Ludicrous. A university professor giving advice like this. IS SHE BENT?

Please post your comments ONLY if you promote ANTI-MISOGYNISTIC ideas. I don't want to hear the truth. Just blind optimism. Surely American academia is not so stupid?

What shall we call the award? The "I REALLY THINK WOMEN WHO HAVE CHILDREN ARE LESSER INDIVIDUALS AND SHOULD PROBABLY JUST STAY OUT OF PLACES WHERE PEOPLE ARE THINKING" award?

Do share.

glass breaker

2005-12-08T21:29:00.000Z

My little baby boy. While making ornaments tonight, fell off the chair and into a glass cabinet. Notice the cabinet in the back sans one door?

His face is shiney because he had Neosporin all over it to heal the cuts. He also has a nice knot on his right parietal lobe.

Merry Christmas.

pissing on cultural heritage

2005-12-02T15:50:00.000Z

One more faceless young archaeologist...marking their spot.

No names...we know who you are though.

Jacy Rodrigo gets his cake...

2005-11-25T23:29:00.000Z

As you can see...you can have your cake. No matter what. This little Antoinette did not want to eat his though as he spent his 1st birthday barfing all night and all day long!

He did get great toys though and his brother Gabriel has already played with them all.

He had to feel his cake first. Tactile Beefeater.

digging up the past

2005-11-22T10:50:00.000Z

Torre de Palma, 2000. Hey, TiaMaria...this picture is for you! I don't see any bottle blonde, bad orange hair colour here! Hmmm. Okay. As you can tell, I am grumpy. Lack of sleep. Must go back to bed. Check out my updated website: www.portanta.com

Morpheus calls. Not the Matrix guy. I would totally freak out if Lawrence Fishbourne showed up at my door step. I would make him clean the kitchen while I took a nap.

2005-11-06T21:35:00.000Z

me...at 8.
imagine.

a plea for sanity

2005-10-31T23:27:00.000Z

This is Jacy Rodrigo.

He is the official poster child for STHI - Stop This Halloween Insanity.

He says dressing him up a pumpkin is insane. Mindless behavior. He is not a pumpkin.

He says he is only 11 months old and he can not even form a single word. Yet, he knows it is insane.

His brother was a ghost...with Dalmatian spots. This was specifically requested.

His Portuguese grandmother gave him 3 candybars at 9:30 at night.

His mother is not happy. Not happy at all. Look at this face. Do you think he is joking?

Happy Halloween...sacana.

alchemy and pancakes

2005-10-30T22:07:00.000Z

Once again I have attracted another eccentric (freak) academic and I have been invited to give a paper at the next Alchemy conference...oh, excuse me, International Alchemy conference. I declined. Too much chance involved in meeting other freaks that may wish to do me harm. I do, however, like the logo.

At home, we will be the only 3 children in Lisbon celebrating Halloween most likely. We are 2 ghosts and one small pumpkin. Carnival is the dress up holiday here although there is not so much candy involved. We will hit the grandparents houses. We are already short two bed sheets for the festivities.

I am trying to finish an article this week and have too much information. It is, really, killing me. Worse than my thesis really. Keep thinking about it...in the shower, before I go to bed, eating, reading books to the kids, driving. Sometimes I wake up and for the first 10 seconds I am all kitty cat like, purring and pawing the sheets. Then, I realize that I have to wittle down the information in the article.

I made the most delicious pancakes today from scratch. Just wanted to let everybody know that I made beautiful pancakes for all my family. It was wholesome.

Sarah, when in the hell are you going to update your blog? Joey, notice I have less spam. How is Arizona?

mexican coffee and baby hedgehogs

2005-10-26T10:24:00.000+01:00

Lisbon, rainy morning. I am drinking the most beautiful coffee in the world. Mexican coffee sent to me by a Mexican Princess. I have tequilla from a Mexian archaeologist but I will not be hitting that today! This coffee makes me feel so perfect...like Mayan royalty. On top of the coffee, this is the first day this year that I have really needed to bundle up, socks, sweater and house pants. Finally, the heat is gone.

As if things could not get any better, I am listening to NPR in a very quiet house. And if it appears as if it could not get any better, I am going to an opening tonight, at the archaeological museum, for Roman mosaics here in Portugal. I will post pictures later. Much of Palma´s mosaics will be there! So exciting. Very exciting. I have never seen all of them because they are usually in storage. Truly exciting.

Plus, these hedgehogs are too much. Life is so precious and fragile. Okay, I am waxing poetic now. It's the Mexican coffee..

baby foot...literally

2005-10-20T02:16:00.000+01:00

Jacy´s foot on the beach...Zen.

ming the merciless and other important emperors...

2005-10-20T01:22:00.000+01:00

Ming, Ming, Ming. Max Von Sydow...what were you thinking? Strangely enough, Ming was probably sexually much more potent that Flash. Ming probably would have been an all nighter and Flash (note the nickname) I suspect was a 60 second man. I am, ofcourse, just guessing. I certainly would never suggest that I had sex with Max Von Sydow. I don't kiss and tell. I am not drinking bourbon either. Look at how much bigger Ming's head is than Flash's? It seems obvious to me. Although the James Bond guy in that movie made for a good Peter Pan. Was Ming having a thing with his daughter in that movie?

So, to update my life. Recent news is that everything is going, going, going. I am working hard on getting two articles done but I am sick of academia, archaeology, people who pretend to be your friends but are not, jealous people, gay people who use being gay as an excuse to say they are being discriminated against although they are leacherous deviants who probably hate other gay people for being gay. I for the record have nothing against anybodies sexuality. I do have a problem with people's lack of integrity, drug habits, greediness, laziness, stupidity and self worship. Anyone for more Assface?

In the other news, I saw a picture of Saddam Hussein on the internet today. He was caught in a moment when he was preaching at the judge that he was the president, above the law, did not recognize the authority of the court (pretending to be crazy) and he looked just like my father when he used to get mad after drinking too much beer. Fortunately, I laughed and did not assume the fetal position.

By the way, there are things about Iberian archaeology in this post...it is encoded.

bourbon on an empty stomach

2005-09-21T21:34:00.000+01:00

Well, I ate 3 Sultanas for lunch and smoked a cigarette (I am a non smoker) and had an entire day at the museum sorting out Assfaces´s mess while my students from ceramics were there!

Arrrrgh. Needless to say, I was craving a bourbon and coke the ENTIRE TIME...all I could think of was Bourbon and Coke. Then, and this is strange as hell, the subdirector of the museum asked me, "What is the difference between Bourbon and Whiskey?" And I nearly peed my pants because I had said nothing out loud about my craving.

I explained that Bourbon had to be made from the beautiful and ever revitalizing waters from Bourbon, Kentucky and that nobody can put Bourbon on their bottle if it is not from Kentucky. THIS IS A FACT. It is like making Champagne in California...you have to call it sparkling wine. The grain used has to be over 51% corn and aged in charred barrels, etc., etc. Bourbon can be a whiskey BUT neither Jack nor Southern can call themselves a bourbon. Processes are different too. Charcoal filtered not aged in charred caskets.

ANYWAY. As soon as I came home, after not eating breakfast or lunch, I drank a glass of B and C and got wasted. I was the mother who came to daycare smelling of alcohol. Rui was driving ofcourse. But, we went shopping...I was completely overwhelmed in the cheese section. Which brie to buy?

Then, I got sleepy and was as grumpy as Gabriel. Speaking of sleepy, good night.

guacamole on my toes and the wall

2005-09-08T22:38:00.000+01:00

...ah, kids. Lovem, lovem, lovem..especially when they hurl gaucamole all over the living room. The color is quite nice fortunately. It´s okay...I can wait for Gabriel to turn 5 or 6 until we clean it off. He has to learn to clean up his messes. By this time, he can scrape it off the wall.

You know, I just noticed. Love them, when shortened to lovem, looks like some sort of 3rd person plural declension in Latin or Portuguese meaning, literally, "I love them". Am I having a moment or is this strangely ironic?

Strangely ironic? Meaningful? Dative case? Or is it ablative?

Fart.

terra sigillata, arcview maps, nemo and ironing

2005-09-04T11:48:00.000+01:00

I am multitasking today...Rui is sleeping with the baby and I am ironing, watching Nemo with Gabriel and working on an article about late Hispanic terra sigillata production. And ofcourse, trying to stave of any new freaks who come knocking at my door.

I have recently considered not moving back to the States but maybe moving somewhere COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED. Iraq for instance. They like Americans there or so CNN tells me. I will not be moving to Louisiana obviously as the people there just seem to hostile. I never realized that New Orleans looked so much like Venice. How nice for them. New Orleans, the little Venice of the USA.

I have no idea why I am being so dark today. Could it be that it is a raging inferno outside and that my mother in law is a nagging Mediterranean hag? I am sure not.

By the way, just to let you all know, Assface does not have his PhD in hand and to quote an acquaintance, he stated just 2 weeks ago that he "had barely started (hee,hee,hee...)."

Just the facts, mademoiselle...just the facts.

kisses

Day 1 of Blog

2005-08-01T16:38:00.000+01:00

Well, I think I am going to get quite addicted to this...not sure why I am starting it but I think it will be a good way to keep in touch with my family, friends...and ofcourse, invite more freaks into my life.

Before I get into details, do people get sued for slander because of blog posts?