Merry Christmas One and All

It's Christmas Eve (as of forty-five minutes ago) and I just wanted to say Merry Christmas everyone! I hope it is filled with love and laughter as you keep in mind the reason why we celebrate this time of year. And just because the spirit of Christmas seems to be best translated through song, here are the lyrics to one of my favorites:

Life is full of sweet surprises, every day's a gift
The sun comes up and I can feel it lift my spirit
It fills me up with laughter, fills me up with song
I look into the eyes of love and know that I belong

Bless us all who gather here
The loving family I hold dear
No place on Earth compares with home
And every path will bring me back from where I roam

Bless us all that as we live
We always comfort and forgive
We have so much that we can share
With those in need we see around us everywhere

Let us always love each other
Lead us to the light
Let us hear the voice of reason
Singing in the night
Let us run from anger
And catch us when we fall
Teach us in our dreams and please, yes, please
Bless us one and all

Bless us all with playful years
With noisy games and joyful tears
We reach for you, and we stand tall
And in our prayers and dreams we ask you bless us all

We reach for you, and we stand tall
And in our prayers and dreams we ask you bless us all

If Bella and Edward had been Mormon...

...then Twilight might have gone something like this...

Archaeological Adventures

My friend Kristin sent me this e-mail and I thought it was too funny not to share:

After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, New York scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the New Yorkers, in the weeks that followed, a California archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet and shortly after, a story in the LA Times read: 'California archaeologists, finding traces of 200 year-old copper wire, have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the New Yorkers.'

One week later, The Louisville Courier Journal, a local newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky, reported the following: After digging as deep as 30 feet in his pasture near Lexington, Kentucky, Bubba Schultz, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Bubba has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Kentuckyhad already gone wireless.

Archaeologists everywhere are proud.

"my momma learned me to spoke real good"

Every now and again I'll go back and re-read some of my previous school work, and I admit that I'm slightly impressed by my writing skills most of the time. Other times, however, not so much. Here is a particularly humbling story:

Sitting in my Prehistoric European Archaeology class, waiting as my teacher passes back our most recent site analyses.

Prof Bartlett: "You all did pretty well on your papers, but you need to make sure you proof read before you turn them in. There was one paper that really made me laugh. I don't remember who wrote it, but they meant to say that this particular site yielded many historically significant artifacts, but wrote that it wielded many artifacts instead. I just got this image of arms sticking out of the ground, swinging ceramics around in the air."

Yeah, guess who wrote that paper. Not my finest hour.


Horrible illustration aside, I think you get my point.

How college students make decisions

I tend to go through phases of obsessions. One week I'll be all about politics, the next I'll be all about Xena (all six season are available on Netfix!! How could anyone resist?). My current obsession seems to be for finding the perfect graduate school. Every other night I'll spend hours researching different programs at various institutions, but never seem to make any progress to speak of. Tonight, however, I think I finally hit a milestone.

My friend Kristin and I met through the anthropology program. While both of us are graduating in April with an emphasis in archaeology, neither of us want to continue in that particular field. Kristin hopes to pursue a master's in psychological anthropology while I am interested in biological/physical anthropology. While musing over life post graduation, we decided that it would amazing if we went to the same graduate school, that way we could be roommates.

Reality constantly seems to get in the way, however. The first six or so schools we looked at didn't have the necessary programs to accommodate both of us. But then, the heavens smiled upon us and we found the holy grail of Anthropology schools. UC San Diego. Here is the gist of our subsequent conversation:

Kristin: "San Diego! We'd be by the beach."
Karma: "And it would be warm. You mentioned before how you hate the cold"
Kristin: "And it's only a couple hours away from my family."
Karma: "And isn't Comic-Con held in San Diego?"
*long pause*
Both: "!!!COMIC-CON!!!"

I should never be allowed to be a mother...

If my blog were a child, I'm pretty sure the CPA would've been called by now and my butt would be hauled away to jail. Nearly half a year has come and past, and all I have to show for it is one measly blog post. I'm sure that represents neglect to the n-th degree. Anyways, the time has come for a rededication. Out with the old, in with the new. It's time for some fresh, new, and hip blog posts. Who's with me?!