They will ask you
Whether your project can inflict ‘harm’
And you will respond: “minor discomfort” to expedite the review process

Her name is Cym,
And the arc of her smile mirrors her painted eyebrows,
On Mondays she asks you what you did over the weekend.
You do not tell her.
You are guilty of the conversion rate, how you can afford a club, a skin, a language that she never will.
She wants to know what it feels like to live in America
If you have a handsome boyfriend there who will buy you dinner sometimes

In your field research class they will teach you about the importance of obtaining consent.

Cym cannot sign your form
So she communicates with the earnesty of hazel eyes
Smiles, tells you how she used to let heroin and men
Inside of her and sometimes couldn’t tell the difference,
Laughs
Tells you how the cops would beat her in men’s prisons

In the international research workshop they will tell you not to get involved in your subjects’ personal life.

Your palms are sweaty, do not let them smear the ink.
Keep writing as she laughs and encourages you to ask more questions

An aneurysm is a blood-filled bulge in the wall of a blood vessel.
When the size of an aneurysm increases, there is a significant risk of rupture, often resulting in death.
A researcher is an ambitious distraction at the back of the room.
When the amount of information increases, there is a significant risk of an epiphany, often resulting in a published paper.

She will die suddenly nine months after your interview.
You can still remember the scent her smile

One.
Dear Cym: In America I am learning how to think that I am better than you.
In fact, I am majoring in you. Don’t worry, they don’t use your name, keep it confidential

Two.
I am turning your body into a new theory
Academics work like Johns sometimes don’t worry,
Don’t worry they will pay me to use you,
I will cut you some of the profit in my acknowledgements.

Three.
My thesis will be in English,
In the accent you heard on re-runs of Friends,
Cym I’m sorry we weren’t friends, but I wanted to keep it pro-pro, pro, professional
I promise I will print it on the whitest paper I can find,
So they can see the black in your words

Four.
I will bury you in a library,
I hope you will find home there
In this haunted house of quotations
Hanging on the shelves like skeletons

Listen to the recorded transcript on repeat,
Feel her laughter crawl into you,
Watch it spark the timberwood of your bones,
And Burn your paper in the flames
And cry because we refuse to let people inside of us in fear of imploding
And cry because you have the story of a woman nested in the back of your throat and you do not deserve it.

What I really meant to ask is:
What theory did you use to stay warm at night?
Is, Can you teach me?

alok vaid-menon is an activist who
creates art that envisions what ifs and
other alternatives. you can read some more
of their work at: subalternrage.posterous.com

Alok is currently sharing his poetry across the East Coast of the United States. His next event is tonight at Yale University:

A blogsite about fields: academic fields, fields of endeavor, magnetic fields, agricultural fields, battlefields, baseball fields, and among others and easily the most important of history– the field purchased by Avraham my forefather.

וְכָל-עֲצֵי הַשָּׂדֶה, יִמְחֲאוּ-כָף

יְשַׁעְיָהוּ

From the creator and transformer of and within several fields of study and endeavor; Leader; Discoverer; Inventor; Student of The Field we have been placed in.

From a field of David (the King and my forefather) and Jonathan:

וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹֽונָתָן אֶל־דָּוִד לְכָה וְנֵצֵא הַשָּׂדֶה וַיֵּצְאוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם הַשָּׂדֶֽה

שְׁמוּאֵל א

]]> http://andysze2012.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/mckinseys-management-2/ Sun, 15 Jul 2012 06:42:09 +0000 Andy2012 http://andysze2012.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/mckinseys-management-2/

There is power in a social/political movement–if the factions within this monstrous collision of momentum and desire come together harmoniously in sync with the political climate and current events spinning out of their control. When these stars align and a working consensus between the unpredictable, differently-motivated (and often emotionally-charged) personalities involved, a movement has the power to capitalize upon the successes of cycles of protest past and the unique political opportunities that avail themselves to the movement, growing more complex and complicated as each additional operative/sect adds his/her/its support and demands to this thing–this movement, which is beginning to resemble a giant a giant, earth-moving snowball.

And if history and academic theory serve as any indicators, a properly harnessed, directed, and manicured movement will leave some sort of permanent mark upon the world. The only question is how great will the impact of this powerhouse be. However, only time and future generations can answer this query.

-RH

Word Count: 156

Consciousness is only possible through change; change is only possible through movement.      

— Aldous Huxley (The Art of Seeing)

]]> http://bigbluetechnews.wordpress.com/2010/06/03/tdi-introduction-technical-diving/ Thu, 03 Jun 2010 02:45:40 +0000 bigbluetech http://bigbluetechnews.wordpress.com/2010/06/03/tdi-introduction-technical-diving/ Recreational Divers Experience Technical Diving in Thailand

Koh Tao, Thailand

Big Blue Tech celebrates the graduation of Ian Goodfellow, Pierre Peigne and Trevor Hailstones from their TDI Intro to Tech course conducted by TDI Technical Instructor Andrew Cavell on Koh Tao Island off the coast of Thailand during 3 days of education through 4 dives and academic theory sessions.

The TDI Intro To Tech course is designed to teach control, buoyancy, equipment setup and safety drills for diving in technical diving gear. This course is also known as a twin-set course and is modeled after the GUE Foundations Course which focuses on trim and control.

The TDI Intro to Tech course provides the students with a certification to wear technical diving gear to their own and current certification limit providing them the chance to gain valuable experience through our center on Koh Tao by conducting recreational dives in technical gear.

Technical diving gear provides comfort, redundancy of air, twice the amount of air and it provides one of the most valuable resources sought in diving; it looks cool!

Koh Tao, Thailand

Big Blue Tech celebrates the graduation of Jennifer Cronin and Johan Arsborg from their TDI Advanced Nitrox course conducted by TDI Technical Instructor Andrew Cavell on Koh Tao Island off the coast of Thailand over 3 days with 4 dives and academic theory presentations.

This is the first (1st) stage of training in the series of TDI’s tech diver development program. The objective of this course is to train the divers in the benefits, hazards and proper procedures for utilizing Enriched air nitrox twenty one (21%) percent through to one hundred (100%) percent oxygen for dives not requiring staged decompression. To a depth of forty (40) msw, one hundred thirty (130) fsw.

The course enables the certified diver to use enriched air nitrox to extend their no decompression limits by swapping gas to higher blends as the dive continues and becomes shallower. This gives the diver no decompression obligation and longer deeper dives than experience before.

This course is also a pre-requisite to decompression diving which the students will start in a few days.

Koh Tao, Thailand

Big Blue Tech celebrates the graduation of Johan Arsborg, Charles Bernier, Edward Pearl and Calvin Beale from their TDI Intro to Tech course conducted by TDI Technical Instructor Andrew Cavell on Koh Tao Island off the coast of Thailand during 3 days of education through 4 dives and academic theory sessions.

The TDI Intro To Tech course is designed to teach control, buoyancy, equipment setup and safety drills for diving in technical diving gear. This course is also known as a twin-set course and is modeled after the GUE Foundations Course which focuses on trim and control.

The TDI Intro to Tech course provides the students with a certification to wear technical diving gear to their own and current certification limit providing them the chance to gain valuable experience through our center on Koh Tao by conducting recreational dives in technical gear.

Technical diving gear provides comfort, redundancy of air, twice the amount of air and it provides one of the most valuable resources sought in diving; it looks cool!

Koh Tao, Thailand – Big Blue Tech completed a BSAC Compressor Operator course today for Divemaster Intern Dylan Thornton by BSAC Instructor Ash Dunn.

The BSAC Compressor Operator course is about teaching the proper handling, procedures and functions of divers air quality compressors and banked air systems.

Divers air quality compressors are not the same as compressors you use for filling tires or using a nail gun. The quality of the air has to be high to prevent any respiratory problems for the divers breathing it under pressure. With the quality of the air so important Dylan was also taught how to change the filters which have special chemicals inside to help remove toxins and moisture before being put into the scuba divers cylinder.

The course consists with a  morning of academic theory lessons and afternoon of practical hands on filling and then concludes with a written exam. Dylan progresses tomorrow on to his Gas Blender course where he will use his skills again to fill nitrox cylinders.

In addition to this the rest of the team have been busy servicing regulators and equipment in preperation for the start of the next tech course which starts bright and early tomorrow for 4 eager future technical divers.