All those draft posts.

My spring break resolution was to finish up all those draft posts from the dark days of winter. Maybe even talk about all the great things that I saw at the old Festival of Maps back New Year's week.

But when this is the view out the window as I'm eating my turkey soup:



I am inspired only to spend as much time at home as possible. And as much time poking around in the dirt as possible. It positively reeks outside right now of cherry and magnolia. So tonight it's a little bit of cleaning up around the house, a little bit of studying Chinese, and a little reading. Spring break it is.

A break from our coverage of Tibet

I just watched the first 15 minutes of Barack Obama's Tuesday night speech. More than the snippets that played on the radio this morning, and more than was conveyed to me in class today, the full words of the man are perhaps the most accurate and moving testimony I have heard about what it must be like to to be black in America.

He admits to being incredibly privileged. And indeed, his experience is not typical. But Christ--he's running for president. That's only typical of a few dozen people in the whole country. But he embraces and explains for those of us who aren't black the contradictions and paradoxes and pitfalls of being an African-American.

Mr. Obama continues to grow on me. Starting in 2004 with his democratic convention speech where he spoke to the librarian in me by saying that we must "eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white," to his ALA conference speech in 2005 where Mayor Daley, unannounced, introduced Senator Obama's speech in which he stressed the importance of reading to his children, I have felt that Barack is somehow speaking directly to me and my values.

Do I wish he was more strongly against the war? Of course. But there's not a mainstream politician around who matches my objection to, not just this war, but all war.

So Eugene: get to Mac Court on Friday night and see Mr. Obama. And the rest of you: watch the speech. Hear someone develop a theme and make a point. It's better than any other sermon you will hear this Holy Week.

More from Xia He

The video starts out a few blocks from the monastery, well into the Muslim part of town. It then cuts to right outside the monastery, across from some of the prayer wheels. The second floor of the building that's in the background is, I think, the Nomad Cafe, where I had the yak.

There's a photo album here (it's labeled 'Ambro Labrang', which is the Tibetan name for the town) with a series of photos. Those that look like they are in a more open square are pretty far from the monastery, where the Han Chinese dance at night. So I would guess that people are at least being allowed to walk around in different parts of town. Also: while the video is pretty blurred (thanks for being safety conscious!), it looks like a fair number of these people are Han, so this is starting to look like a 'leave us the fuck alone' uprising more than a strictly an ethnic thing.

And go figure--there was someone from Eugene there last week. I have only one correction to make to his article: Xia He distinctly has 2 paved roads, not one.

More on Xiahe

Video from the Guardian UK shows my hotel, restaurants where I ate, and streets that I walked just a few months ago. It looks a little bit different with riot police and tear gas.

The monks, Tibetans and Han Chinese that I talked all seemed happy to be left alone. This place is so remote, and the culture so distinct (and not just the Tibetans, but others who live there as well), that it would probably be best just to allow it to develop as a heritage site. Cell phones and tourist hotels aside, there's more to be learned from the knowledge that the monks have developed over centuries than there is to be gained from suppressing an independence movement.

Vegas baby!

I've only been here once before, and left thoroughly unimpressed. This time it's a little different--I'm here on business, and I'm spending most of my downtime in my room working on term papers.

Still, the first night I wandered thru the Freemont Street Experience and last night the group banqueted at Carluccio's, which used to be Liberace's restaurant. No, really.