Your FDA Recommended Daily Allowance of Iron(y)

Here's a gem from a reading I had from my Intro to Archives class:

"It is noteworthy that during debate in the House of Representatives, one of
Representative Moss’s colleagues, a young congressman from Illinois, spoke in
favor of the bill, saying it

will make it considerably more difficult for secrecy-minded bureaucrats to
decide arbitrarily that people should be denied access to information on the
conduct of Government or on how an individual Government official is handling
his job. . . . [P]ublic records, which are evidence of official government
action, are public property, and there . . . should be a positive obligation to
disclose this information upon request.

The name of that young congressman from Illinois was Donald Rumsfeld."

Timothy L. Ericson, "Building Our Own 'Iron Curtain': The Emergence of Secrecy in American Government," American Archivist, 68 (Spring/Summer 2005): 43.

This is what I think of as a case of historical irony, where perhaps whatever was said was not originally intended with irony (in the sarcastic sense), but has proven to be ironic over time and the course of further speech and action on the part of the speaker.

Update! RPG/Achievement-style

Instead of the usual long paragraph form or video dispatch, I figure I'd try something new.

Skill Stats:
Archivist: 4.5/36

In other words, I am halfway through one semester of 9 credit hours with 36 hours required to graduate. 9 credits to level up.)

Bicyclist: 5/20

I more or less try to practice bike safety, but have not quite yet mastered navigation of this city.

Knitter: 8/20

I am currently working on more complicated projects that require piecework and circular needles.

Attribute Stats:

Charisma: 5/20

I have a couple of social engagement this All Hallow's Eve weekend, so this may increase at some point. I have also developed a rapport with other classmates based on mutual kvetching. I have yet to develop the ability to talk to plants or communicate with the dead.

Intelligence: 10/20

While I am not as precocious as I used to be, I am developing mastery of bullshytt.

Health: -3/20

I do not bike as much as I ought to and have fallen back into bad eating habits. I have also not gotten my flu shot, either seasonal or H1N1) My sleep schedule is also peevish and erratic.

Strength: 5/20

My tactical bag carries a good deal of things at any given point in time. I either have to walk a mile to the T station and stand/sit (usually stand) for another 30 minutes to get to class or bike 5 miles with it on. I also still walk from the grocery store with the bag filled to the brim.

Appearance: 10/20

I've fallen back into my habit of wearing the same things every week and my hair is getting shaggy again. Other than that, I am still fabulous and my jeans still fit despite my scary turn of eating habits.

Sanity: -3/20

Tons of work to do, not a lot of time left in the semester. I will be spending a lot of time trying to make my 60 hour internship at MIT. Not to mention I have various research/group projects to consider. My crazy inconsistent sleep schedule probably isn't helping either. Saying "ffffffffffuuuuuuuu---" every morning is not the best of portents.

Dexterity: 10/20

Not bad, considering lack of sleep. I have enough presence of mind to dodge traffic with my bike or avoid falling over when the T lurches on the tracks.

Luck: 15/20

I'd have to say my luck has been pretty damn good considering I haven't been killed yet while bike commuting. There's also the fact that I've managed to trick my instructors into thinking I'm somewhat competent.

Maps Unlocked

Supersecret (ok, not really) bike route to work/school that won't get me hopelessly lost or killed. Hint: side streets and cut through MIT.

Location: Patsy's Pastry Shop Hell to the yes. Cannolis, macaroons, and my personal favorite: Greek Wedding Cookies. Setting foot through the glass doors and inhaling=this is what heaven must smell like.

Massachusetts Avenue between Central Square and Kendall Square/MIT: Another hint, a technological campus with a large Asian population will attract awesome restaurants. I found a place to get dosas along with a cute Asian food store where I got my new teacup (less than sparkling reviews on Yelp though).

Porter Square: The Honk Festival. I am so glad Arika invited me to this because it was everything I loved about band in high school without the insane band director or playing bullshit jock jams type music. Also, the Rude Mechanical Orchestra. Just listen. I don't think I can say anything else.

Location: Windsor Button: After getting off the T, I had such a hard time finding this place that I actually whipped out my new ASUS Eee to bootleg some wireless from somewhere around Boston Common and Google map it. It turns out that a bunch of construction scaffolding was obscuring its storefront. It is pretty much a craft person's heaven. I found yarn in colors I didn't even know existed and at a nice price for something like a wool/alpaca blend. They also have more buttons (naturally) than the mind can conceive without going mad.

Achievements

Bike4Dead Survival Mode: Managed to not become red asphalt under the tires of some asshole in an SUV or an absent-minded bus/cab driver.

Hermit Granny Award: Spent most of free time not studying/working knitting large projects.

Lardass Award: Ate two cannolis and three macaroons in one day. Mostly living off a diet of canned soup and quesadillas/grilled cheese sammiches.

Night Owl Award: Consistently stayed up until 2:00 a.m. or later FOR NO APPARENT REASON WHATSOEVER.

Procrasterbator: Playing Farmville/checking Facebook or knitting (or in this case, silly blogging) instead of doing research for my analytical paper or my Wikipedia assignment.

Cut a Fool/Shank a Bitch: Scaring the shit out of my roommates when I got pissed at the idea of someone attempting to steal my bike by breaking the banister on the first floor where it was locked to. Ok, granted, for all I know it was just accidental or repeated wear from my heavy lock and bike straining against it. Still, and I repeat, if I find out someone had tried to steal my bike, I will hunt them down and not only torture and murder them, but I will track down their family and make the thief watch as I disembowel their parents, steal their little sister's favorite dolly/teddy bear/light it on fire, and kick their dog/drown their cat. This is how attached I am to my bicycle.

So, that's pretty much it for now.

You can't take it with you... or can you?

I left my beloved Portland behind about a week ago for Boston. Temporarily? I hope so.

In packing to leave, I had to get rid of a bunch of things. I suppose this was appropriate preliminary training in becoming an archivist, trying to figure out what was worth keeping, what was not.

Some minor physical object things I couldn't take with me:

• Futon
• Toaster Oven/Other Gadgets
• Space Heater
• Pots and pans

Some objects I managed:

• my massive collection of books (thank you USPS Media Mail)
• more clothes than I should have taken
• my computer (which was delayed. screw you, UPS Ground)
• my bicycle (in theory as it is still in transit via Amtrak)

Other important things of varying levels of tangibility that I couldn't take with me:

• waking up next to Will, the smell of his hair, etc.
• my morning and afternoon bike rides on Water Street and the Esplanade
• lunch kvetch-fests with my co-workers
• the Food Carts (whether on 12th and Hawthorne or Downtown) that sustained me when I had $6 in my pocket and was too lazy to cook
• karaoke nights with my Portland friends and other crazy debauched activities taking place late at night
• soy milk automatically available in carafes at almost all coffee shops
• no sales tax
• my various "territories"

More on "territories:"

When I first came to Portland, I mostly stuck around the Hawthorne area. After living there awhile and getting a bicycle and friends all over town, I explored much of the close-in area. I liked playing a game on the map sort of like a military campaign. If I had ever driven, biked or walked there, I claimed it as a territory. If I frequented the area enough, I referred to it as a patrol.

Territories:

• The random places in NoPo where I went to various social gatherings (either escorted by Will or with Blue, Kev and everyone)
• Sandy Blvd to the airport (driving only), to 74th (or wherever the Roseway Theater is)
• Movie Theaters: Bagdad, Laurelhurst, Roseway, Hollywood, Living Room, Clinton Street, Cinemagic, various Regal Cinema locations
• Excalibur Comics to pick up the latest issue of Chew
• The Springwater Corridor
• Oaks Park
• Interstate bike lane all the way to the Kaiser Permanente facility on the bigass scary hill (*huffpuff*, *huffpuff* going up followed by "OMGIhopemybrakesstillwork!" going down).
• Alberta from 10th-ish to 30th for First Thursday
  

Patrols:

• SE Hawthorne from the bridge down to Mt. Tabor
• SE Belmont from 12th to 39th
• Anywhere between the two streets listed above as well as the streets surrounding the area.
  
• SE Stark from 12th to 39th (including Laurelhurst Park)
  
• The bike ride from my apartment to the NE where I would meet up with Blue, including Lloyd Center and 7th street.
• The bike ride on the way to work from 12th and Stark down Water Street (or Grand and then Burnside if I got up late) and around the Eastbank Esplanade to Steel Bridge
• The bike ride to Kev's place all the way the hell out in Woodstock.
  
• The patches of Downtown/SW Will and I wandered down, mostly the West Hills and Goose Hollow leading to W Burnside and then to NW 23rd.
• Old Town (Ground Kontrol, Voodoo Donut)
• Pearl District
• Powell's Bookstore (City of Books on 10th and the Hawthorne store)

Sadly, I think I may be forgetting some areas in the lists of territories and patrols. For example, I think I might be embarrassed by the bar list I'd make: too long for my parents, resulting in shame and too short for my friends who kept yelling at me to get out more often.

I like to think that I make the cities in which I live mine in a way, based on how I claim them in memory, hold stories that could only take place in these spaces.

I aim to do the same thing in Boston.

So far, I have claimed the following as territory:

Not sure if these count since I just took the T and didn't walk/bike this way:

• Orange Line from Sullivan Square to Haymarket
• Green Line from North Station to Museum of Fine Arts

On foot:

• My patch of East Somerville from Everett Avenue to Broadway down to Sullivan Square station. There are a lot of Brazilian/Mexican places here so I don't think I'm likely to starve soon.
• The 4 block walk to the Stop and Shop
• Washington Street past Union Square
• Cambridge Avenue in Cambridge from Harvard to the Lechmere Green Line station.
• Boylston to Chinatown and the edge of the Financial District (yay for Dim Sum and Asian Food stores where I can get a lot of rice noodles for a dollar and hair salons that will actually know what to do with my hair)
• Time traveling through Commonwealth Avenue by reading the historical statues along the greenway.
• Being a consumer whore on Newbury (not really, I just picked up a new set of headphones and an AC charger for my iPod). I have yet to go to the comic book shop though, but I think the new Chew is out so I ought to.
• a bit of Massachusetts Avenue near Berklee school of music. Found a pretty awesome army surplus-esque store where I got my awesome "tactical bag" (like this one, but in black)
  
• and of course, the Fenway area, where my school is. The Fens area is pretty too and has a bunch of garden areas, which I can't get into as they are sort of privately owned as part of a garden-share.
  

Once I get my bike (aka the Mark II... Mark's an awfully funny name for a girl) back, the claiming of territories may become easier.

Anyway, I hope this update is enough to tie you guys (all 4 of you) over for the next few months while I stress over class, papers, projects and internships (part time job=maybe at this point). I also realize that I more or less gave out information that would be useful for tracking me down and stalking me. Ew.