{"@attributes":{"version":"2.0"},"channel":{"title":"Absinthe Party At The Fly Honey Warehouse","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/","description":"Absinthe Party At The Fly Honey Warehouse - LiveJournal.com","lastBuildDate":"Fri, 08 Jun 2012 21:20:24 GMT","generator":"LiveJournal \/ LiveJournal.com","image":{"url":"https:\/\/l-userpic.livejournal.com\/38643244\/1491983","title":"Absinthe Party At The Fly Honey Warehouse","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/","width":"85","height":"97"},"item":[{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/569785.html","pubDate":"Fri, 08 Jun 2012 21:20:24 GMT","title":"The New Style","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/569785.html","description":"I'm moving. Not from Tuscaloosa - not yet, but from LiveJournal to Blogger. I could list a gadzillion reasons, but it's time. Past time. So friends, come see me at the NEW Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse<\/a>. I'll be looking for you.
","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/569785.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/569452.html","pubDate":"Fri, 18 May 2012 20:31:56 GMT","title":"Couches","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/569452.html","description":"I bought a couch today. It's a beautiful, gently used white leather couch from Rooms-to-Go. I paid next-to-nothing for it thanks to a Tuscaloosa tradition: departing students bequeath their belongings to continuing students. We do our best to make living here as comfortable as possible. One problem: I can't get it through the door.

Some friends and I tried every couch-moving trick we could think of. We took the feet off the couch and the door off the hinge. We twisted and turned. We corkscrewed. We slid and stood. Nothing worked. The couch was too big, or the door too short. Professional movers are coming by to consult later. Meanwhile, I have a couch in the hallway.

If they can't move it in, I'll consider rigging up a block and tackle and taking it through the kitchen window. Did I mention I live on the second floor? I have good friends. I'd love to offer them a place to sit someday.","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/569452.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/569216.html","pubDate":"Thu, 17 May 2012 00:14:37 GMT","title":"Faulkner Conference","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/569216.html","description":"\"\"

I've been invited to speak at The 39th Annual Faulkner & Yoknapatawpha Conference<\/a>. Anyone in the Oxford, MS or Memphis area should come see me on Friday, July 14, 6:30 pm, at Off-Square Books<\/a> on Oxford Square. This conference is something of a big deal. I may even wear a tie. I'll read from the short story collection that's coming out after my novel is done - a collection of strange, mystical stories set in a fictional Southern town. At least one of those premiered on this blog, so long time readers - you saw it first. 


","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/569216.html?view=comments#comments","category":"writing"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/568839.html","pubDate":"Sun, 06 May 2012 15:28:45 GMT","title":"Nut, the Goddess of the Sky","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/568839.html","description":"I used to post here all the time. Then I got busy, and I got out of the habit, and I moved, and I moved overseas, and, and, and...

I suppose it's too much to ask everyone to tell me what they've done for the past several years. 

Why am I posting here again? That's a good question. I ask my students this questions all the time. Why did Faulkner write As I Lay Dying<\/i> the way he did, in that particular moment? Why did Morrison dig into the past when she wrote Beloved<\/i>? Why will <\/a>ulitave<\/b><\/a><\/span> change his name? What does<\/a>ulitave<\/b><\/a><\/span> mean anyway, and how is it pronounced? I don't ask my students the last two questions. I'm not explaining myself well. I'm not sure I can answer the question why now<\/i> except in allegory.

\"\"<\/a>

Nut, the Egyptian Goddess of the Sky, symbolically swallowed the sun at night and gave birth to it again each morning. She also symbolized the mythic  journey through the underworld. The mythic hero traveled into the underworld on a journey of discovery but like the sun, eventually returned to the waking world with his newly found knowledge. 

Now.




","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/568839.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/568663.html","pubDate":"Wed, 07 Mar 2012 23:42:06 GMT","title":"Google Yourself","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/568663.html","description":"You know how they say you should never Google yourself? They're wrong. While double-checking my CV, I discovered someone may have misappropriated something of mine. This is concerning, even annoying. I hope this doesn't turn into a deal, with lawyers and all, but it almost has to. 

And yes, I'm blogging again. Now seemed like a good time. What have I been doing since I last posted? I was cursed by an African witch doctor and cured by a elderly priestess in a little beach town. I shook hands with war criminals and swam with the barracuda. I found an orphanage for exceptional children that had neither orphans nor children, but several exceptions. I learned to use metaphors, but I'm not using them now. I passed the 200 sit-up challenge and kept on going. I waited for an answer (and I'm still waiting). I made diabolical plans which should bear fell fruits. 

I feel better than I have in years. Smarter. Faster. Energized. Awake.","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/568663.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/568128.html","pubDate":"Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:13:02 GMT","title":"Interview","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/568128.html","description":"I got interviewed<\/a> the other day. That was cool.

My interviewer turned out to be kinda famous<\/a>. That was even cooler.

Ok, back to writing.","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/568128.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/568013.html","pubDate":"Wed, 16 Jun 2010 01:14:36 GMT","title":"Sh*t My Dad Says","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/568013.html","description":"[from a few months ago, while I was still in Liberia.]<\/em>

ulitave: I caught some local bug.
dad: what's it's called?
ulitave: Puffy leg or puffy foot. The foot and lower leg tend to swell up, the skin turns colors and falls off, it's pretty gruesome.
dad: How do you get it?
ulitave: According to the traditional healer, someone put roots on my doorstep. I stepped across them and got puffy leg.
dad: Who would do that?
ulitave: Someone who doesn't like me.
dad: That's funny. Everyone who doesn't like you is in the States.","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/568013.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/566582.html","pubDate":"Sat, 05 Jun 2010 23:04:32 GMT","title":"Contending with Du","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/566582.html","description":"Du<\/em> is a concept by the Dan (Gio) people, but most of the 16 tribes of Liberia have a similar concept. Du<\/em> (similar to chi) is the spirit behind everything - every person, every animal, every song, everything. Du<\/em> belongs to the spiritual realm. Du<\/em> is inherently original and authentic; whatever we see in the physical world is only a manifestation of du,<\/em> inherently unauthentic. This is a wonderful concept (developed quite independently of Plato) except when it comes to plagiarism. Sorry kids, "the du<\/em> made me do it" still gets you an F.

I heard from a friend that the audio posts are unintelligible. That's par for the course in Liberia - nothing works as expected. I've just found that some of the audio posts never actually posted. Whether that was user error or the cell phone network, I don't know. So in brief, this is what I've been up to for the past 7 months: Teaching, writing, grading. Teacher training. Making plans for next year. Getting cured from some mystery disease by a local herbalist. Rescuing an abandoned child. Starting academic support services at Cuttington. Jogging. Sweating. Sleeping. Fresh orange juice from the tree in the backyard. Bitterballs, giant snails, goat, and palava sauce for dinner. Okay, I really don't eat snails. Often. Buyin art and artifacts. Filing reports. Coming home. 

I'll be back in the States from next week until mid-August. Plenty to do - mostly writing and fundraising. I may also hit the gym. I'd love to see all my Austin peeps while I'm there.

","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/566582.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/566327.html","pubDate":"Wed, 12 May 2010 07:08:46 GMT","title":"Voice Post","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/566327.html","description":"","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/566327.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/566112.html","pubDate":"Sat, 17 Apr 2010 20:25:59 GMT","title":"Voice Post","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/566112.html","description":"","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/566112.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/565777.html","pubDate":"Mon, 05 Apr 2010 08:40:28 GMT","title":"Grace is for Phebe","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/565777.html","description":"

I imagine a couple I’ve never met. The father left 5th<\/sup> grade when the principal ordered him to fight for the local warlord or leave. He grows vegetables on a muddy, rented plot.  <\/span>He abandoned his baby. The mother survived relocation camps and returned home to Bong County. She voted for the first female President in Africa. She looks like Oprah Winfrey. She abandoned her baby. They have both lost family to malaria and childbirth. They respect traditional religion but attend Christian services. They have children, parents, aunts, uncles, and friends. They abandoned their baby.<\/p>

 <\/o:p><\/p>

The baby – Grace Phebe – has hydrocephalus<\/a>, a.k.a. water on the brain. Cerebrospinal fluid floods the soft newborn skull, distorting her features and causing brain damage, seizures, and death if left untreated. In the United States, a neurosurgeon would drain the excess fluid with a brain shunt. Liberia cannot afford shunts, neurosurgeons, or the life-long management of this disease.<\/p>

 <\/o:p><\/p>

<\/o:p><\/p>

The parent in me believes the parents tried. They called wealthy relatives, they prayed for guidance, they cried, they sought help from Catholic Relief Services, Medicins Sans Frontiers, or the Liberian Red Cross. Family pressure. He slapped her, made her choose. It was difficult, heart-rending. I have to believe that, even if none of it’s true. One look at Grace’s misshapen head and her mother declared that Grace was a gena.<\/i> “She told us to take the baby into the forest and leave her,” said the Practicing Midwife who delivered and named the baby. As soon as the mother could walk, she and her husband left.<\/p>

 <\/o:p><\/p>

According to Liberian tradition, the spiritual realm controls every aspect of life. Spiritual illness causes physical illness; healing the body requires healing the soul. A child like Grace, with her enlarged head and delicate hands, represents brokenness, hatred, and vengeance. The birth of a gena<\/i>  <\/span>- a curse - signifies that the parents committed some serious crime against nature and refused to repent.<\/p>

 <\/o:p><\/p>

In my imagination, her parents do<\/em> repent. They drop to their knees and beg forgiveness for the war, for stealing, looting, and arson, for torture and internment camps, for living when so many others died. They ask on behalf of the former child soldiers, too ashamed of their childhoods to grow up, and on behalf of their former warlords, too ashamed of their past to lead. They ask on behalf of those who wake at night, remembering horror. They beg the spiritual realm to lift shame from Liberia before each and every survivor chokes.<\/p>

 <\/o:p><\/p>

They should beg Grace. They should see her tiny hands and translucent skin. They should see her thin feet. They should listen to her cry, and laugh, and her heartbeat. They should feel her grip.<\/p>

 <\/o:p><\/p>

Her options have all but run out. After six weeks without treatment, permanent brain damage has set in. Even if medical evacuation funds could be located, the weight of her head might snap her tiny neck during transit. The child is in legal limbo – the parents simply left, without making any arrangements. Liberia placed a moratorium on adoptions last year in an effort to halt human trafficking.<\/p>

 <\/o:p><\/p>

When I visited her room at Phebe Hospital, I expected the African disaster cliché. Phebe is a poor, country hospital. Nurses reuse gloves and syringes. Cheerless posters wall the waiting rooms. Exhausted family members sleep on hard benches. Locals sell food, drinks, and fresh clothing, since the hospital can provide none of these services. The halls reek of antiseptic and vomit. But in the midst of the typical disaster story, the staff clothes and feeds Baby Grace. They hold her, sing to her, dress her. They break the gena<\/i> curse every day, not by denial or abandonment, nor even prayer, but through sheer love. They understand. Liberia forgot how to love. Grace came to teach them.<\/p>

 <\/o:p><\/p>

“Grace is for Phebe,” the midwife told me. Grace is for Phebe. Grace is for Phebe. Grace is for Phebe. A gena<\/i> child, sent from the other side. She’s exactly who we need. <\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/p><\/a>

 <\/p> ","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/565777.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/565600.html","pubDate":"Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:51:05 GMT","title":"Mefloquine Dream #2","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/565600.html","description":"

I was playing baseball with a bunch of kids in a typical Liberian playing field, i.e. burned-out buildings, rubble, trash everywhere. We’re always standing in trash.

I didn’t start out playing baseball. I was a security guard. I stood just outide of a courtyard. Whoever I worked for had organized a race. Everyone was supposed to stay inside the courtyard until the gun or bell or whatever went off. About half of them cheated and were disqualified. I herded the rest back into line. They were issued new tickets so the race could start again. One of the kids hit a ball over by me. I threw it back and that’s how I got into the baseball game.<\/p>

 <\/o:p><\/p>

The other team was a bunch of expats, mostly white, male, and chubby. Brian Dennehy was on that team. He did something to one of my teammates, something nasty. I can’t quite remember what. But it pissed me off. I hunted for him in the opposing team’s dugout\/clubhouse (a large, unfinished building). I never caught up with Dennehy.<\/p>

 <\/o:p><\/p>

Someone hit a foul ball. I chased it. A stray dog – mangy – started playing with the ball. He picked it up. All the kids and expats thought this was funny. I said play catch with the dog<\/em>, but they just kept laughing. Then the dog swallowed the ball. I was annoyed, but the kids just pointed to the dog’s butt. A few seconds later, the dog pooped out the ball. They said pick it up<\/i>. I said you pick it up I don’t have any rubber gloves.<\/o:p><\/i><\/p> ","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/565600.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/565332.html","pubDate":"Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:10:55 GMT","title":"Mefloquine Dream #1","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/565332.html","description":"Mefloquine<\/b><\/em><\/a> is an orally administered antimalarial drug used prophylactically against and as a treatment for malaria. It also goes by the trade name Lariam or Mefaquin and by the chemical name mefloquine hydrochloride (formulated with HCl). Mefloquine was developed in the 1970s at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in the U.S. as a synthetic analogue of quinine.

Mefloquine may have severe and permanent adverse side effects. It is known to cause severe depression, anxiety, paranoia, aggression, nightmares, insomnia, seizures, birth defects, peripheral motor-sensory neuropathy,<\/span> vestibular (balance) damage and central nervous system problems. Central nervous system events occur in up to 25% of people taking Lariam, such as dizziness, headache, insomnia, and vivid dreams...<\/em>


Mefloquine Dream #1

I bit my tongue again.","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/565332.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/565021.html","pubDate":"Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:57:03 GMT","title":"Voice Post","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/565021.html","description":"","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/565021.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/564491.html","pubDate":"Sat, 20 Feb 2010 08:34:14 GMT","title":"Voice Post","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/564491.html","description":"","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/564491.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/564359.html","pubDate":"Sat, 13 Feb 2010 19:24:50 GMT","title":"Voice Post","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/564359.html","description":"","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/564359.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/563967.html","pubDate":"Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:52:50 GMT","title":"Voice Post","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/563967.html","description":"","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/563967.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/563585.html","pubDate":"Sat, 30 Jan 2010 22:07:24 GMT","title":"Ulitave\u2019s Index","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/563585.html","description":"Liberia Edition

Number of boxes shipped by Books for Africa: 593
Number of boxes received by IFESH Liberia: 585
Estimated number of learners who will go without a textbook due to theft: 800*
Load limit of the Cuttington University farm truck, in tons: 4
Total textbook distribution to Cuttington University, in tons: 5
Exchange rate: 1 USD=71.5LD
Longest number of days Ulitave has gone without running water: 17
Price of eggs: 350LD\/30 eggs
Price of a loaf of bread: 30LD
Price of Corn Flakes: $10.95 USD
Price of Hagen Daas ice cream, per pint: $16 USD
Average monthly wage: $80 USD
Number of ATM machines now in Liberia: 10
Number of ATM machines now operational in Liberia: 7
Number of operational ATM machines located in Monrovia: 7
Number of paved roads in Lofa County: 0
Amount of oil produced by palm tree if left untended, in tons: 2
Amount produced if tended, in tons: 4
Acres of palm left unharvested by CU: 1000
Hours spent online by Ulitave in the States, per day: 6
Hours spent online by Ulitave in Liberia, per day: 0.25

*Most of the stolen books were educational theory textbooks. It's hard to calculate the number of children who would have benefited from 800 trained teachers. The math isn't hard, but thinking about it is. Stay positive, right?","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/563585.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/563309.html","pubDate":"Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:00:34 GMT","title":"Voice Post","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/563309.html","description":"","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/563309.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/563054.html","pubDate":"Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:12:43 GMT","title":"Voice Post","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/563054.html","description":"","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/563054.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/562816.html","pubDate":"Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:54:44 GMT","title":"Voice Post","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/562816.html","description":"","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/562816.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/561966.html","pubDate":"Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:50:54 GMT","title":"Voinjama","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/561966.html","description":"First of all, a big Happy Birthday to my sister.

It's been ages since I've had time and internet access. Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

yesterday, I rode northwest from Gbarnga to Voinjama in a large Nissan Hilux pickup. If I ever buy a vehicle for African travel, I'd get a Hilux (congogirl, I'm thinking of you). From Gbarnga to Zorzor (2 hrs), the road is rough but usable. Past Zorzor, it's really just a dry creekbed. That's an additional three hours or so, travelling at about 25 mph. Surprisingly, I'm not that sore, except for my neck.

I'm here for a teacher training conference sponsored by CECLY, an arm of USAID. Since we're also with USAID, we're helping. I'm here to troubleshoot and make recommendations for future conferences. I think. I've spoken to other volunteers, and they are doing different things. I'll be here for about 2 weeks.

That gig I hinted at has become two gigs. Work is like that here - do one thing and five others spring up. Everyone works - I've seen small children minding shops and selling food in the streets. Speaking of work, if anyone is looking for a job in higher ed, holler. Experience in Africa, and a PhD (any subject)or a Master's in Library Science required.","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/561966.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/561810.html","pubDate":"Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:52:40 GMT","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/561810.html","description":"Got assigned to a new project today. Am less than happy, as I'm already booked for that time frame. But this is development work, yes? We all work all the time. Yet, things are looking up rapidly. Many of the things we couldn't get even three months ago have arrived. They are insanely expensive (ink) or extremely rare (ATM machines) or demand a small bribe (packages via the postal service) but they're here, and that's something.

I'm looking into a new (paid!) writing gig in January. Wish me luck.","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/561810.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/560241.html","pubDate":"Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:12:56 GMT","title":"Questions about PTSD","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/560241.html","description":"As usual, I'm in over my head. Does anyone know of a good internet resource on PTSD? Target population: former child soldiers.","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/560241.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/559631.html","pubDate":"Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:33:26 GMT","title":"Monrovia Weekend","author":"ulitave","link":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/559631.html","description":"Last night, <\/a>worldgroove<\/b><\/a><\/span> and I ate at Be First, an Indian-Pakistani-Bangladeshi joint over in Sinkor. The food was wonderful, if rather unexpected. We had expected to go there. We expected the good food. We just had no way of knowing what we would eat. Liberia is 80% illiterate now, which makes drink and food ordering chancy. I ordered Chana Masala and garlic naan. When I asked what chana meant, the waiter told me lentils. Chana does not mean lentils. Chana means chickpeas. But the chickpeas were wonderful, and the chipati was wonderful.

Today, shopping. We picked up a zillion things for the house, plus a radio, a fan, and some kwee (Western) food. We got mobbed by homeless former child soldiers. I bought a bootleg DVD that doesn't work (very odd here- most of the bootlegs work fine), a pair of Birkenstocks for $20 out of a wheelbarrrel, and enough liquid provisions (rum) to last the rest of the month. And we made the most amazing discovery - a functioning public library in Monrovia. More on that later.

Tomorrow, worldgroover and a fellow IFESH-er will work on my dreads. We might have the fancy breakfast at the hotel, since I've quit trying to eat at the convent. Apparently, the good cooks have quit. We'll chat and visit friends, as every business in Liberia is shut down on Sundays. Maybe I'll pop popcorn.","comments":"https:\/\/ulitave.livejournal.com\/559631.html?view=comments#comments"}]}}