New World vs. New Europe

In his blog, Eric posted a set of links about ‘New World vs. New Europe’ that made me scratch my non-existent goatee. In recent days, i’ve been having increasingly more conversations about gendered behavior concerning power management, or more precisely, about how marginalized individuals have different schemes for acquiring and maintaining power through subtle and subversive ways. The articles on Europe made me think about a previous article that i posted and about the differences in power between Europe and the US. But more fundamentally, in combination, they made think about how my thoughts on power management don’t just apply to individuals, but to systems. Europe, having been dwarfted in power by the US in recent years has to be much more subversive, subtle and organized in how it acquires power; brute force no longer works. Conversely, the US continues to just simply carry a big stick in world politics. Of course, this beckons the question: are such alternate forms of negotiation destined to be far more successful or will they always be marginalized by brute force?

marginalization and power

I had multiple conversations today concerning power management. In all of these, we acknowledged that women tend to use more subtle mechanisms to derive and maintain power, while men tend to just bulldoze. Backing up from this, i believe that what is relevant is not simply sex, but privilege. The more privileged an individual is, the more that power can be taken for granted and the less creative one needs to be to acquire it. Subtlety is an art, a subversive mechanism for overthrowing the norm. Thus, the more intelligent marginalized individuals consistently use subtle means to reach the top. Of course, this plays directly into my thoughts on context. Context is necessary for engaging subtlety, but not for brute force.

A Friendlier Way to Date Online

Jun. 2, 2003
Time Magazine: A Friendlier Way to Date Online

If you’re an SBF or a DWM looking for love but think online dating is rather creepy, Friendster.com might allay your fears. The site enables you to meet prospective dates exclusively through your friends. It works on the six-degrees-of-separation principle: Jon invites you into his network, you invite your friends, they invite theirs, and so on. (Note: Friendster stops at four degrees.) The whole group can then peruse one another’s profiles; no strangers allowed. With 268,000 members from San Francisco to South Korea and a weekly growth rate of 20%, Friendster has to work hard to keep up with…

sex and social networks

I met with my new advisor today, which is sooo exciting. The best part about conversations with him is that he is truely interested in issues of sex, race, class, gender and sexuality. And he doesn’t think it odd to randomly go to a cafe and chat about ideas.

In talking, i started to wonder about the maintenance of social networks. I wonder if women are more likely to operate as bridges between diverse clusters. I wonder if this is true even online.

Koyaanisqatsi

Twice i’ve flown into Chicago this week and twice i’ve flown out, having paid less attention to Chicago itself than its rich suburbs. To my surprise, i even recognized the gas station upon the second entrance and knew where we were in the flight landing pattern. I am in a complete state of awe concerning America. To see suburbia through a aerial perspective is just mindblowing – the thought and consideration that went into rows and rows of identical homes in the idyllically planned suburban community. It’s just a desire that i cannot truly comprehend – i am in awe.

This morning, i encountered Koyaanisqatsi. This movie realizes all of the awe that i felt on that plane, showing the emotional struggle between the beauty and absurdity of American life. Life out of balance.

intense week

Wow – it has been an intense week warped with an east coast visitation, family adventures and a very odd encounter with Jane Fonda. Also, i surprised myself at my lack of digital participation – i actually used a pen and paper to write down journal entries (that will turn digital shortly). Limited email, no phone… it’s been nice. Plus, i came back to adventures in trance dance land – Infected Mushroom style. Where we first began, we must rest upon return. In the meantime, i am filled with joy to be back in San Francisco, ever consistently more reminded of how much i adore this city.

finding nemo

There’s nothing more charming that sitting in a rural moviehouse watching the brand new Pixar movie, Finding Nemo amidst crowds of kids, families, dates and other Americana. Of course, this quaint environment did not restrain my desire to sit and shout for my friends during the credits. As for Nemo itself… wow. I realized that i paid no attention to any of the CG, which is a good indication of how cleanly the film was done… one could simply get wrapped up in the wonderful story of familial love. I will always remember meeting Ed Catmull when i was 18 and him telling me that CG does not a movie make; the story is everything. He’s definitely proven his point.

a social network caught in the web

A social network caught in the web is a new paper out of HP Labs looking at social networks online.

mass moca

As the world always seems to work, i end up at Mass MoCA annually. This year, i was stunned with a beautiful exhibit called fantastic!.

In particular, i was stunned speechless by Gregory Crewdson’s work and this Opelia picture in particular. This image creates a surge of conflicting emotions – awe at the beauty of the image, shame at the love of the horror, confusion over her intentions and the calculatedness in which she participated in the scene. The notion of the fantastic makes complete sense in a room full of these images. Visual raptitude.

people can still surprise me

A friend of mine talks about a genre of people in his life who share a familiar set of traits such that they live their lives exclusively their own way. They operate successfully on an alternate form of reason and logic that makes no sense to me, but is highly effective. They are non-rational. Through their passion and their ambition, they make things work, but life will always be led their way. I met my canonical representation. She wore high heels camping and threw the bowling ball over her head into someone else’s lane. But she can walk into the UN and get whatever she wants. I’m in awe.

[Note from 6/3: Every example of this type of person that i can think of is a woman. Are there examples of non-rational, powerful, effective men?]

danah boyd | apophenia

making connections where none previously existed