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Theories in action

Gradschool, Communication Theory class: we were grilled on the application of theories in everything at every turn. When trouble erupted in Thailand's Muslim south, we were required to analyze it using a communication theory. A major newspaper editor was fired and we set about combing pages for a theory that would best explain the circumstances around the sacking. Thank God Bangkok U has already released me or I will have been wondering which theory would explain the ongoing Red Shirt protests. I remember some of these theories (#3, 4, 7, 9, 11, 12), and as I'm drafting a theoretical framework this week I have to consult texts which makes it easy for me to come up with my T13 today. Which ones are relevant to your experiences? 1. Critical theories a group of theories that seek to produce change in oppressive and otherwise undesirable practices and structures in society 2. Critical race theory examines how laws and legal institutions construct race and uses race as a critical ...

There is Math in your future

Do written signs have an impact on you? They must have on me as they recur from time to time. The first twelve of these signs are some I remember from MVC, a boarding college my parents sent me to. Situated on a hill and nicknamed The Hilltop, it is puritan, replete with angels and demons . I loved and hated that place. But signs, here we go: 1. Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life ~ in the Music department. I did an entire summer job there pounding pianos for voice students 2. There is Math in your future ~ this has proven useful to me now 3. Reading maketh a full man ~ library obviously 4. Come out of here my people ~ looks like a line from the Bible. Occupants of the room where this sign was posted were male Theology majors. Boxer shorts hung on their ceiling during Open House, a once-a-term event when ladies and gents are allowed inside each other's residence rooms 5. Don't get mad. Get even ~ etched almost inconspicously on the wall of a tiny room...

Austenuating Jane Austen

Two weeks ago I wrote an essay in a bid for a PhD slot in a university in the southwestern pacific. Just when I was about to send it over, I realized that if I were offered a place, the very topic I built a case on would send me back to Thailand for data-gathering. I didn't fancy that and decided to work on something that will keep me afloat should I face drudgery at some point in the research. Since I have always been a fan of a rector's daughter who was a writing machine at a time when a king's son ruled England, I happily spent hours breezing through massive literature on her. Jane Austen, the name that could launch a thousand nights of delightful observations. Except for the titles in bold font, I listed them according to how they appear on Literary History . They should help me nail an idea on how to proceed with brainstorming later. If I ever change my mind about the unfinished essay yet again or even abandon PhD for some reason, I know I won't regret the pleasur...

Purple Pack Rat

Friday's Fave Five: Pack Rat Please scroll down for Friday Photo Flashback Time piece I woke up on Wednesday morning to find my alarm clock registering 8.10 a.m. "Since I'm already late," I acknowledged the verdict as I yawned my way to the shower, "I might as well prepare Cj's breakfast and eat with him before I go." When I arrived in the computer room at work, I got a happy surprise: the time was 7.55, not 8.55. Yes! I wasn't late after all. My clock has served me quite well for more than 7 years, and even in its old and malfunctioning age has done so to my advantage. This must be why sometimes I am a pack rat. Restaurants With Mommyhood, a full-time job and work on PhD applications going full-blast, whatever little time I have left for cooking is all wiped out and I raise my hands up in surrender. I am thankful that restaurants are readily available which means Cj and I do not go hungry. We've been having dinners out the entire week and I...