Journal

Wednesday, November 1, 2000

Hope everyone had a sufficiently disturbing, unsettling and unnerving Halloween.Or whatever. 

It's actually rather disturbing just to see Halloween stuff in the stores here in Switzerland -- part of the creeping Americanization of everything. Not that I don't like American stuff, I do, actually Halloween is one of my favorite holidays... but the creeping Anyplace-ization of Everywhere would be disturbing, if only because it's a homogenization. It's nice for places to be different. But here at the start of what so far is the second American Century, Americanization is hard to avoid: this year in Basel, it's the jack-o-lanterns and pumpkins in every shop. And I figure Thanksgiving is coming here next.

In keeping with my last entry's theme of my loudly proclaiming I'm not interested in something and then immediately getting interested in it, I have been really wanting to do research. I have been thinking a lot (ok, surfing a lot) about the Emperor Ashoka and Razziya, two figures from Indian history. Maybe I should do a historical novel? (Or am I nuts?)

Critiques have begun trickling back in on "Corporate Anthropology." So far they're very helpful; I'm impressed with the level of critiquing of the RMCrit group. More on the specifics of revising "Corporate Anthropology" later.