into the stampede.

the tale of three blogs. and since course requirements ask for a new entry every week relating to culture, it seems best to start a fresh one. to do only that. which means i'll multi-task, blog-style.

so on this strange night when i'm elated and exhausted - fueled by the sounds of a downloaded "daria" episode and a rerun of "the simpsons" downstairs - i'm searching for an opener on culture. or a quote or an icon. a marker (or a maker) of my culture. of who i am. of what i belong to. what's my culture(s)?

"If you can see in any given situation only what everybody else can see, you can be said to be so much a representative of your culture that you are a victim of it."

S. I. Hayakawa (1906 - 1992)

it reminds of what katherine w. said one night. tell them what they don't already know. find a new insight. learn. ask questions. find the heart. the words, the language, the symbols, the ties. tell the story of the people you meet and, as they taught me in syracuse, weave it with respect.

i guess that minor in cultural anthropology might come in handy now. we'll see.