There's teryaki on Bryman

I am having a deja vu. It's as if this time of year comes around every year. No, not the singing santas and goodilicious gingerbread cookies, but the sweat, nerve and anxiety about exams. Last year I was desperately trying to get my head around anthropology and myself into a red dress. This year I know the dress fits, but I don't have a freaking clue about epistemology nor research methods - the terms which unfortunately constitute the subject I'm taking this semester.

So, now I am work, for the 12th hour running, using my desk as a study place as it's as far as I need to be from little big planets, sack-people and Lara Croft. I've had Chinese for dinner and the teryaki unfortunately spilt onto my beloved book. Nevertheless, I don't think it matters if I can't read whether it's qualitative or quantitative research I'm supposed to conduct.

Normally when you have a 700 page book with a glossary at the back, these few pages usually gives you some kind of wrap-up or summary of the mayhem you have tried to understand for the past hundred hours of lecturing. However, not Bryman, no, he gladly distorts the picture even further by giving you obscure definitions that just emphazises the fact that you are, sincerely lost.

Let me give you one example, as I have problems understanding ontology:

Ontology: a theory of the nature of social entities. See objectivism and constructionism.

Ok, let me see objectivism them as this didn't make it much clearer.

Objectivism: an ontological position that asserts that social phenomena and their meanings have an existence that is independent of social actors. Compare with constructionism.

What? You describe one un-understandable word with another? How about constructionism then? (watch this...)

Constructionism: an ontological (here we go again...) position that asserts that social phenomena and their meanings are continually being accomplished by social actors. It is anti-thetical to objectivism.

Hmmm...nope, nothing, nada, zilch, zero. Didn't get it. Don't effin' knows what it's supposed to mean.

I'm gleaning through the rest of the glossary, hereby re-named confussary, to look for any enlightening stuff, and what do I see:

Missing data: when you are feeling lost in the curriculum and don't see otherwise obvious connections between the different paradigms and theories. Can be influenced by alcohol intake or exhaustion. Not a general indicator of dumbness, however will undoubtly affect the exam result. So basically, you are screwed.

Maria is... hijacked

9:57am Maria
hey
whats up ?
9:57am Christian
hey
hoooola
how r you
9:58am Maria
well im stuck here in africa
9:58am Christian
africaaa? were?
9:59am Maria
west africa ..nigeria
well i had to visit a resort here in africa
9:59am Christian
how , didn't know u were there, having a good time?
9:59am Maria
and i got robbed in the hotel im staying
9:59am Christian
nooooooooooooo
but u are OK?
10:00am Maria
well im luky i still have my life and my passport
10:01am Christian
:-)
wow, so bad.....
so sorry
no cards, no money?
10:01am Maria
but i really need some help now
10:01am Christian
anything I can do?
10:03am Maria
well i got some money wire to me to catch a flight back home
but i still need 300 more for the ticket
and get out of here
can u loan me the 300 till im back home?

I thought it was only moving vehicles that could get hijacked, but appearntly Nigeria is on the front in computer hijacking as some unknown wanker actually managed to take over my Facebook account. I can happily live without the social network, however, don't like the feeling of someone else asking my friends for money because I am stuck in a hotel resort outside Lagos. For the record, if I'm ever in a beach resort in West Africa, let me stay!

While I found the situation slightly stressful, with someone portraying to be me, my friends found this quite amuzing. I sent out an email letting people know I hadn't gone haywire, nor crazy, and urged them to ignore any Facebook-contact from me in the near future, however, got some answers that completely disrespected the seriousness of the situation:

From Morten: Kræve så gæli å få tilbakebetalt kroner 15 som æ sporenstreks sendt nedover te Nigeria! Ellers e det bare fint med mæ, håpe det e det med dæ å kjære maria philippa!

Thanks, I'm good!

From Solfrid: Hahahaha, ikke i Nigeria--ennå ;-) Vittig, men dårlig gjort...

From Trude: La meg istemme i et rungende hahahahahahahahahahahaha. fantastisk! Jeg har dessverre ikke fått noen forespørsel fra deg, men vil forsikre deg om at en slik forespørsel ville blitt mottatt med en avdempet entusiasme med en påfølgende klage om hvorfor jeg ikke var invitert med. Og så lo jeg litt til... hahaha

Don't worry, I'll invite you if I ever go to West Africa!

After countless e-mails, and almost spamming Facebook central urging them to disable my account, I finally got a reply from Daisy, asking me about my mother's maiden name, to then grant me my rightfully own account back with a new, more complicated password. I logged on to do some damage control, only to find out the bastard hadn't been tagging unsolicited photos of me, nor written rude comments on my friend's walls. Most people had just ignored the begging requests and lived happily on in their virtual networks. Good for you! Only two people deleted me as friend as a result of the hijacking, one being my boyfriend. Not quite sure what I should read from that, but what tha', all is good now!

Thanks for nothing

On this day you kinda have to pay a little tribute to some of the leaders that have taken office in various countries during the years. Or you might not be paying tribute but you can acknowledge how you feel about them (about the same feeling as when taking out the trash).

You have a number of country leaders; the Marcos, Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin, Mao, Castro (debatable if you are a Communist), Mugabe, Pinochet, Hussein, Idi Amin, Omar al-Bashir who have caused absolutely nothing but mayhem for their countries. Yet, they have for a number of years, and sometimes decades had the chance to spend their country's money or foreign debt on questionable projects, shoes, concubines, unsolicited wars and arms. I will happily include George W. Bush on this list, and cannot wait til he is finally out of office and hopefully out of control with a democratic president on board in the White House.

Despite Obama currently being nearly 100 votes up I can at this moment not jump in joy just yet, as you never know what's going to happen in the weird country of US of A, but I sure hope the world and USA has taken to its senses and will elect him. I have to this moment not met one person under 30 who says she will vote for McCain, and just a quick warning, if YOU'D vote for the bastard I'd ask you to stop reading this blog. But have McCain no faith in youth (or the other way around)? How can such a large part of the population and in the rest of the world not have any faith in this guy who after all "could" become president? Is it because he is pre-historic? Because he support pre-historic, anti-women politics? Because he agrees to a war with no end? Hmm...I dunno.

Sarah Palin was just on CNN giving a little speach after casting her vote in Wazilla, Alaska. She rocked up casually in jeans and a fleece jumper, looking just like the soccermum she is. I'm slightly conflicted not supporting a woman more than I do in this situation, but after all, she's in with McCain, and somewhere one have to draw the line. She talked McCain up and above and said how much he was looking forward to go to work tomorrow as the new US president, and was lastly asked who she voted for. With a smile she said "Ohh, that's one of the great things about America, here everyone can vote freely and won't get punished for it," and she then declined to reveal who she voted for. My little faith in womankind kicked in here, and I'm convinced she deeply inside herself realized what would be the best for her children and the rest of us and voted for Obama.