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Portrait in Pink
It’s rare that anyone gets a picture of me that I really like. Shawn Ferry managed it.
In NYC for CommunityOne East, March, 2009.
Third-Culture Kids: Growing Up Everywhere, and Nowhere
You who are on the road must have a code that you can live by.
And so become yourself, because the past is just a goodbye.
Graham Nash – Teach Your Children
“A Third Culture Kid (TCK) is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents’ culture. The TCK builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture are assimilated into the TCK’s life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar background.”
David C. Pollock & Ruth E. Van Reken
Third Culture Kids – available from Amazon UK | US – If you are a TCK or have a TCK in your life, read this book!
Do I Qualify? (As a TCK, that is)
See the timeline. Yeah, I guess I qualify.
Stephen Alter, a Woodstock alumnus a few years older than myself, published a book in 1998 called All the Way to Heaven: An American Boyhood in the Himalayas. It’s not an entirely satisfying book; he leaves too many questions unanswered about how he did finally deal with the confusions of identity and culture caused by his unusual upbringing – confusions very familiar to many of us. But there are some beautiful and funny stories and plenty of description, which makes it a good introduction to the place for those who’ve never been to Woodstock (and a great nostalgia trip for those who have).
Resources for TCKs
very comprehensive Wikipedia article
At Home Abroad (regular section of the International Herald Tribune) – e.g., When Expat Runs in the Family
Expats Reunite
Interaction International
Global Nomads International
TCK World
Third Culture Kids: Returning to their Passport Country
US State Department links page
April, 2004: In Memoriam
Dave Pollock, tireless advisor, counselor, and advocate for third-culture kids, died on Easter. I had the privilege of attending his TCK workshop at a Woodstock reunion; these workshops were epiphanies of self-understanding and healing for many of us. TCKs worldwide will miss him, and are grateful for all that he has done for us.
Performance of the Hybrid Storage Pool
A conversation between Roch Bourbonnais and Nick Stephen. Roch says: “Hope to be able to keep your attention for 30 minutes of impromptu conversation about OpenStorage performance.
At the end of the piece, I show my geeky capture/replay technology.”
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My Upgraded Videoblogging Rig
Back in May of 2008, I wrote about the equipment I was using in my videoblogging for Sun. I’ve had a few upgrades since then:
Camera: Canon Vixia HV30 ($600) – I’ve only had this since early December and haven’t used it much yet. I didn’t feel I needed HD, but it’s hard to avoid buying it these days, and the camera can be set to shoot in plain old DV if I decide that’s better for my (web) purposes. I still insist on shooting to DV tape, for the same reasons I gave before: “Tape is a cheap form of permanent backup, and it stores the video in a high-quality, raw AVI format that I can edit with the software I have, and can output at DVD quality (or better) if I need to… Hard disk cameras, on the other hand, often compress while you’re shooting into a lossy video format – that’s why they can fit so many hours of video onto a small internal hard disk.”
- Handy camera feature: My old Panasonic camera could run from a battery or from wall current, but only one or the other could be attached. This meant that, if I was running off wall current, there was always the risk that someone would trip over the cord and dislodge it, bringing filming to an abrupt halt. The Canon allows both the battery and the wall plug to be attached at the same time, so this is no longer a risk.
Mics: I’m still using the Rode mic ($150) when I’m shooting a roomful of people, any of whom is likely to burst into song… er, questions… at any moment. But nowadays I also have a great set of Sennheiser Evolution G2 100 series wireless mics ($530). When I bought them, B&H Photo was offering a kit with two lapel mics with transmitters, two receivers, and one handheld mic with transmitter (plus a few goodies). I gave one set of lapel mic, transmitter, and receiver to Peter, who is also videoblogging now. We’ve been using the handheld in interviews (I need to get something made up for it like the news stations use, with an OpenSolaris logo), the lapel mics for one-person videos such as presentations.
BeachTek Audio Adapter: ($180) Had to get a new one to go with the new camera, but these new models should work with just about any videocamera. Still great for all the same reasons as before.
Tripod: Got a compact Bogen Manfrotto ($95) that folds up to 16″, so it fits in my carry-on bag.
Extras: For international travel, the camera’s power supply can handle 110 or 220 volts, but it’s got an American plug, so I need to carry plug adapters for all the countries I’m visiting. I’ve learned that these can be flaky and are easily lost, so it’s good to have extras. It’s also good to have an extension cord and a multi-plug power strip for conference situations, when it’s a fight to the death for outlets. If you have outlets to spare, people sitting near you will be heartily grateful.
