Thursday, September 22, 2005

Studies of the Self

Our own image looking back at us in a mirror carries a very different attraction and energy than the image of someone else. We are drawn to it in a half-embarrassed way, excited and intensely involved. Do you remember the last time someone showed you a picture of yourself, or you watched yourself on video? Wasn’t there a surge of feeling and a deep curiosity about how you appear to others?

-Seymour Fisher,
Body Conscious: You Are What You Feel

Self-awareness has warranted brief mention in only two of my graduate-level courses and not much in excess of that. In Clinical Interviewing, we discovered that self-awareness could aid us, as clinicians, in knowing how our personal biases and emotional states influence and potentially distort our understanding of clients. In our text, we read that there were multiple forms of self-awareness: physical self-awareness, psychosocial self-awareness, developmental self-awareness, cultural self-awareness, and awareness of interviewing expectations and misconceptions. No one form was more important than any other and a familiarity with each form provided valuable information for aspiring clinicians. A similar message was conveyed in Cultural Bases of Behavior, of course, with an added emphasis on understanding how our culture aids and inhibits us from understanding our clients.

The exploration of self has always intrigued me and I feel it merits more consideration in the Clinical Psychology curriculum than I have experienced thus far. As Seymour Fisher points out, a fascination with self is normal, and I believe that in order to be at our best, as clinicians, we must fully understand who we are as individuals. Furthermore, I believe that a full understanding of self can only be accomplished through rigorous discussion with others. (Any apprehension regarding the aforementioned contention should be dispelled easily enough, by countering with the assertion that a full understanding of self is then most readily accessed through discussion with others.)

The rigorous discussion of self that I described with such fervor is not happening here at USM. Again, while we have learned that we must have self-awareness, we have never explored the matter in earnest inside the classroom. In closing, I will conjecture that if “normal” individuals have a half-embarrassed fascination with self, then many aspiring clinicians likely have a fascination with self, bordering on perverse. It is in the clinician’s nature to be curious about human kind, and what better case study than oneself?

Friday, September 16, 2005

Lunchin'

It has been three weeks since we last addressed food on our blog. In that time, Michelle and I have eaten out twice, both times in a novel setting. During our brief Hurricane Vacation, we played tournament-style poker with my major professor, Dr. A., and a few friends at his humble abode. After delivering warm cookies, fresh from our oven, and cold Michelob Amber Bach, straight from the liquor store, but before I took everyone's money, Dr. A. treated us to a large pepperoni & onion Mazzoli's pizza. Somewhere in the middle of that mess, Dr. A. broke open his liquor cabinet and flashed his bartending skills. We sampled vanilla & hazelnut martinis, peach margaritas, and snifters of scotch. This was in addition to the Sapporos a classmate of mine brought. We were told it's a Japanese beer and I guess he should know...being Japanese and all. (Michelle wants to add that I'm a better poker player under the influence.)

The second eatery we ventured into was a place that had intrigued me for months. Ward's is a fast food chain, found only in Southern Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. Something about it reminded me of the A&Ws of old. Sure enough, they did serve a tasty & effervescent root beer homebrew, but the food left much to be desired. Michelle ordered the Lil' One and I ordered the Big One combo, complete with fries and a drink. We were relieved to find the burgers weren't McDonald's or Wendy's rip-offs, but chili cheeseburgers just aren't our thing. Furthermore, the chili had some kind of mystery mustard/mayonnaise sauce drizzled over it. (Michelle has just asked me whether that might have been the cheese and I'm not entirely sure what to tell her...that should raise some flags.)

This brings the grand total of *Restaurants visited* to 15. It turns out we forgot to mention earlier that we had eaten at Wu's Restaurant just before school began the first time. (Michelle reports that the buffet was just ok, but the egg rolls were great.)

Mazzoli's - 1 large pepperoni & onion pizza $16.00 (*free to us)
Ward's - 1 Big One combo & 1 Lil' One $6.80
Wu's Restaurant - 2 buffets & 1 drink $15.00

Moving off in a different direction, allow me to share with you a delectible bread recipe Michelle & I recently stumbled upon. In an effort to be upfront, we must admitt that this is only our second attempt in Hattiesburg and while the first loaves were better suited to be door stops, this recipe turned out wonderfully.

1 pkg. yeast
2 cups warm water
1/4 cup Cane syrup
1/4 flax seed
1 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. wheat bran
2 cups white flour
3 cups whole wheat flour

If anyone is serious about trying this recipe, Michelle says not to call us, instead, "You can comment on the damn blog." Seriously though, if you have any questions, feel free to ask away.

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Rube Nation

Michelle wanted to discuss the Minnesota sports scene and who am I to disagree. We had lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings over the noon hour and took in the Vikings-Tampa Bay game. For those of you who missed the opener, they lost...no big surprise there. Let's begin by reviewing the upside:

Our defense no longer sucks! Darren Sharper was a tremendous pick-up in the off season, as well as the garrulous Fred Smoot.

Daunte Culpepper couldn't possibly repeat the preformance he had today...could he?

Our defense no longer sucks!

Now let's examine the downside:

Our offensive line is terrible. We understand that Michael Bennett and Moe Williams aren't exactly premier running backs in the NFL, but even LaDanian Tomlinson would average less than 3 yards per carry behind this line.

In conclusion we find that there is reason for optimism as our defense no longer sucks.

Moving on to that "other" Fall sport. The Macalester harriers competed this weekend at the Luther All-American Invite. The women placed 2nd (out of 8 teams) and the men placed 5th (out of 12 teams). The Mac women are a force, lets just hope they don't round into peak shape in week three. The Mac men, however, have left themselves room for improvement. Fortunately, recent history dictates that the work will get done and they should impress come early November. The silver lining this time appears to be our Junior Varsity squad...this is a squad, which is more varsity then junior. When you combine the JV and V preformances, we end up in 4th place...4 points ahead of Bethel. (Yes we understand its hard to believe that any silver lining could exist when you are besting Bethel College by a mere 4 points.) On another note, Mr. Dylan Keith might just be the next B-Lodge. We look forward to the races to come.

Saturday, September 10, 2005

A racist government???

Michelle and I have fielded a pleathora of questions regarding race over the past two weeks. It is our impression that much of liberal America has painted a picture of racist congressmen/women (the federal goverment at large) depriving black and hispanic New Orleanians the right to an efficient and timely reaction. For that matter, we've been inundated with this same message as it applies to our government with most matters affected by race. As far as we are concerned, however, we believe that our government doesn't discriminate on the basis of race alone in the VAST majority of instances. It is our belief that the true moderating variable in this equation is an individual's/community's socio-economic status (SES). Granted, the two variables are highly correlated and often so intertwined that it is difficult to determine which is responsible for an outcome. This, however, is not impossible and to make such bold statements when it is still unclear which variable is most influential, we find this ludacris.

As for race, SES, and Hurricane Katrina, Michelle and I are not dismissing race entirely, but we believe that the poor response is most attributable to a lack of funds. We imagine this had its most profund impact in the years and months prior to Katrina when the state and federal governments should/could have been taking preventative measures. With regard to the federal government's reaction to this disaster, we've attached the most comprehensive article to date. Give it a look-see and let us know what your thoughts are on the matter.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Katrina, Katrina

We’ll begin by thanking Amy for letting those few who haven’t been in contact with us know that we’re ok. Having said as much, we also must admit to feeling some pressure to produce novel “neat” stories for those who are familiar with our predicament.

Yes indeed, Michelle and I did come through Katrina without serious damage to either our persons or possessions. There was, however, serious concern for our safety early Monday afternoon when the large pines on the north side of our apartment began slapping against the outer wall and roof. Of course, the manner in which each of us dealt with that concern was quite different. At the height of the storm, I took a two hour nap and Michelle began pulling the pictures off the north wall, moving her new sewing table away from said wall, and placing buckets beneath the three or four isolated leaks that had formed.

Before I had fallen asleep, Michelle and I had been watching Katrina methodically shuck the many layers of Club Memories II behind our place. First came the lattice fencing surrounding the outdoor patio, then the Bud Light banners, then the metal flashing…it was at this point that I commenced with the napping. When I awoke, Club Memories II was without half of its flashing and the entire patio had collapsed. In all, Hurricane Katrina dealt Hattiesburg, which lies approximately 100 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, 5.18 inches of rainfall and 100mph winds.

In the days that followed, Michelle and I began making our way around town to survey the damage. In certain areas, stop signs laid flat on their backs, towering pines were snapped like toothpicks, roofs had been torn off, windows blasted through, cars crushed, and stop lights tossed 200 feet into adjacent ditches. Ah yes, and the lines...we mustn't forget the lines. Lines for gas, lines for food, lines of traffic, lines for ice, lines for water...and then the real necessities: lines for beer and cigarettes.

If anyone is interested, the Hattiesburg-American has a photo gallery, which has detailed much of the aftermath and reaction to Hurricane Katrina here in town.

Of course, none of this was as catastrophic as what those on the coast experienced and we aim to expound more upon that in a day or two. For now, we're headed home where the food is. Always food, isn't it? We both love and miss you all...our last confession will be that it was awfully nice knowing so many folks were concerned for our safety. Thanks for all the positive thoughts.

Saturday, September 03, 2005

Jude and Michelle are OKAY!

Jude and Michelle, luckily survived Huricane Katrina without any damage to their persons or possessions. Although looting may be a bit of concern, they DO have electricity and water and on the road to getting past the disaster. Soon, they will post to share some of their neat stories.

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