The subject of anthropology of procrastination has been covered intensively by the world press over the past decade. There are many factors which influenced the development of anthropology of procrastination. Indispensable to homosapians today, anthropology of procrastination is not given the credit if deserves for inspiring many of the worlds famous painters. It is estimated that that anthropology of procrastination is thought about eight times every day by socialists, whom I can say no more about due to legal restrictions. With the primary aim of demonstrating my considerable intellect I will now demonstrate the complexity of the many faceted issue that is anthropology of procrastination.

Social Factors

While some scholars have claimed that there is no such thing as society, this is rubbish. When The Tygers of Pan Tang sang ‘It’s lonely at the top. Everybody’s trying to do you in’ [1] , they could have been making a reference to anthropology of procrastination, but probably not. More a melody to societies dysfunctions than a parody of the self, anthropology of procrastination is crunchy on the outside but soft in the middle.

Recent thought on anthropology of procrastination has been a real eye-opener for society from young to old. It breaks the mould, shattering man’s misunderstanding of man.

Economic Factors

We no longer live in a world which barters ‘I’ll give you three cows for that hat, it’s lovely.’ Our existance is a generation which cries ‘Hat - $20.’ We will study the Greek-Roman model using the median instead of the mean, where possible.

There are a number of reasons which may be attributed to this unquestionable correlation. Seemingly the cost of living has always depended upon anthropology of procrastination to a certain extent, but now more that ever. Supply Side Economic Tax Cuts Tax deductions could turn out to be a risky tactic.

Political Factors

Much of the writings of historians display the conquests of the most powerful nations over less powerful ones. Comparing the general view of politics held by the poor of the west with those of the east can be like comparing the two sides of anthropology of procrastination.

In the words of the famous political Noah Lionel Forbes Dickinson ‘I don’t believe in ghosts, but I do believe in democracy.’ [2] Primarily, he is referring to anthropology of procrastination. It is a well known ‘secret’ that what prompted many politicians to first strive for power was anthropology of procrastination.

I wait anxiously. What will the next few years bring for anthropology of procrastination?

Conclusion

To reiterate, anthropology of procrastination must not be allowed to get in the way of the bigger question: why are we here? Putting this aside its of great importance. It questions, puts out ‘fires’, and statistically it’s great.

I will leave you with the words of Hollywood’s Justin Pfeiffer: ‘I love anthropology of procrastination? Yes! Hurray for anthropology of procrastination!’ [3]

[1] Tygers of Pang Tang - The Cage - 1982 MCR Records

[2] Dickinson - I Am The Dickinster - 1999 Hughs Books

[3] Your guide to anthropology of procrastination - Issue 98 - T36 Publishing

(Note: This is a joke. You too can participate in procrastination here.)

This morning I listened to a classmate try to make the argument that by eliminating free parking we will solve most, if not all, of our social ills. I’m skeptical. But it did make me think about the parking culture.

A park is a green space used for public recreation.

To park can refer to a legal form of intimate engagement with a partner while in a car.

The word park was originally a legal term designating land held by royal grant for keeping game animals.

Parking means to bring (a vehicle that one is driving) to a halt and leave it temporarily.

In San Francisco they created PARK(ing) Day. “An exercise in creative thinking about the commons in which citizens transform parking spaces into parks… to draw attention to the fact that 70 percent of outdoor space in downtown San Francisco was for vehicles not people.”

A friend found a very cordial card with an image of a polar bear on it, on her windshield. It was from a homeowner asking her not to park directly in front of her house (on a public street) because the spot belonged to her.

A student commented that the parking around campus was like a black necklace.

When the weather is warmer, you can see students sleeping in their cars in the parking lots.

Some places have developed creative and inventive names so that you can remember where you parked.

A valet will park your car for you.

My professor would be happy to know that I can reference Foucault’s Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison and the panopticon to describe the towers in campus parking.

The University was involved in the beautification of a parking lot in the University District about 2.5miles from campus, for tailgating. It’s a $15 million dollar project known as Tiger Lane where you can claim a $150 parking spot through Ticketmaster. I’m not sure what I think about that yet.

I have to say that taking the time to sit in silence in an empty parking lot last night, after being on campus for 15 hours for work and writing papers, was poetic.

Fugazi. “Waiting Room.” 13 Songs.

I have to wonder what the decision making process was that resulted in the implementation of these signs around campus…

One of the most difficult times I’ve had with school is getting on and off campus. Some days I wish crossing the street was more inspiring. Something like this could be a simple starting point in changing the behavior of walking or biking to campus or exploring the surrounding neighborhoods rather than driving. If you’ve ever crossed Patterson, Walker, Zach Curlin or Central, you’d know the student’s walking patterns are similar to those described.

(At one point I heard a story that students illegally painted a crosswalk for easier access to the west side of Highland between Southern and Central.)

Yesterday morning I was reminded why I shouldn’t complain about getting such little sleep this past week as I try to complete everything by the end of the semester.

I was standing in line at Einstein’s when I let out a big yawn. Next thing I know I was in a conversation with a woman who works there. It went something like this:

Her: [Laughing at me] Why are you yawning? I’ve been awake since 4:30am. I get my kids ready for school, drop them off and then come to work.

Me: Wow. That is early. What time do you get to bed?

Her: 12:30.

Me: Uhm. In the afternoon?

Her: [Smiling] At night.

Me: Oh! Well… why so late?

Her: [Still smiling] That’s when I get home from my second job.

Adopt-A-Street, due to roll out at the beginning of the spring semester, is a collaborative effort between the University of Memphis, the University District Business Association, Clean Memphis, and Keep Tennessee Beautiful. Ultimately, the hope is that once capacity is built by this collaborative, Student Affairs will be willing to adopt the program into their repertoire after a few years.

The Adopt-A-Street project will divide the University District into sections and assign each section to a different student organization. Student organizations are then responsible for organizing clean-ups for their respective sections of the district for the rest of the semester. The program will be organized as a competition to help motivate the student participants.

Beyond simply serving as a clean-up, however, the Adopt-A-Street program will foster service-learning by teaching students how to recognize code violations, impediments to accessibility, and other factors that could be detrimental to the area. Several student organizations have already expressed interest in participating in a train-the-trainer session so that they can help teach other organizations to recognize these things.

The image above was taken at:

A) A food court at a shopping mall.

B) A food court at an airport.

C) A learner-centered metropolitan research university providing high quality educational experiences while pursuing new knowledge through research, artistic expression, and interdisciplinary and engaged scholarship.

(Click on image for answer.)

As I mentioned the other day, Brian and I went around looking for trash. This has to do with something larger called Adopt-A-Street. I’m not going to talk about the program, yet. Still gathering info.

Instead I’m trying to think more anthropologically, about trash. What does it mean to call something trash? How do we understand trash against an opposite, like treasure? Where are the lines drawn between the two? What are we willing to pick up? What do we refuse to touch and why? How is trash used as a verb?

Read a week-long journal of Robin Nagle, as an anthropologist-in-residence or garbologist at New York City’s Department of Sanitation here.

Brian and I went walking around the UD on Wednesday.

We walked down Mynders, Midland, Watauga and Norriswood, between Patterson and Highland looking for trash. (That’s another story). All of a sudden I hear Brian say, “Painting Dalmatians on a fire hydrant has to be one of the corniest things ever.” I thought to myself, that’s a rather odd statement to make. Was I suppose to respond to that? Had he been carrying on for the past 10 minutes and I had just tuned him out? Should I acknowledge the statement with a simple “yeah” and nod my head? Was he referring to an episode of Battlestar Galactica?

Doh!

My eyes were staring so intensely at the Patterson sidewalk, looking for trash, that I failed to look up. Most of the time when I’m in the UD, my gaze is one directional, getting to campus or leaving. Wednesday was nice in that we were more or less wandering aimlessly.

Will Shirley Raines ever be like a John Maeda?

Maeda, president of RISD, conceived of a blog about the RISD community.  The blog, Our (and Your) RISD, “offers a forum for him to share his thoughts and ideas about transition, community, life, work and anything else that comes to mind.” The man gets around.

Things seem to work differently here at U of M. Following in the bottom-up fashion, my office mate Brian created a blog. U(engage)Memphis is “a site dedicated to spreading the word about engaged scholarship and service-learning activities going on at The University of Memphis.” Chances are that this blog, SLP, will be merging with that one by next semester.