Paparazzi Ethnography

• Heading to Aleksanteri Conference: Fueling the Future

10/26: Wow. I forgot how tasty Northern European breakfasts can be, esp. when it is so nippy outside. Helsinki is definitely well-known to itself. There are maps everywhere, making me wonder–when does a city become aware of itself as a map? Does size or history matter? How about density. Here, walk a few steps and sure enough you will bump into city maps of all kinds, wall maps in train stations, or map hand-outs for tourists along the boulevards. There are the crazy yokel maps and city maps with light bulbs to locate yourself.

The town appears a lot like other Baltic cities (Tallinn, Oslo, St. Petersburg), but also it is a city of interiors, bookstores, tea shops, but mostly interiors. Winter’s long here, and everyone wants a cozy spot to spend their time indoors, and there is ample evidence of the cozy on display.

Helsinki City Scapes




10/25: Personality Footprint Calculator — Reading Dan Farber’s Case for Climate Change Compensation at breakfast over the North Sea. He mentions facetiously the possibility of capturing histories of high per capita energy consumption, like an on-going carbon footprint made up of “elaborate questionnaires” about past connections with energy companies, home insulation, and the like— and I am wondering if there exists a Personality Footprint Calculator – or better yet, the Personality Bootprint Calculator, where anyone could input all their plausibly questionable interactions (how much of a tip have we failed to leave the barista, and how often, when do we neglect to use our turn signal on the freeway, etc.).

And of course, there needs to be some kind of measuring gauge to judge which actions create more of a foot print over others and a way to measure actions off the chart, leaving nothing less than a crater-print. A foot-to-crater print gauge. At the end, there could be some kind of penance, pennies in a jar or yoga on a mat.

On to travel: we know the trans-Atlantic routine well, and there are no hard feelings over travel more than the replacement of Bay Area nature with steel, glass, advertisement banners, and viewing screens. It rained throughout the evening and during the day before departure. SF has disappeared into the fog. Berkeley, Mill Valley, Tiburon –inside SFO airport, check-in, security, stepping spritely to the gate, a few German newspapers, in-flight preparation and take-off– Munich airport, much the same.

Travel.








10/24: From Berkeley to Mill Valley is a 30 minute drive. The Bus Depot Cafe and the Mill Valley Library are two workstations to keep in check toward SFO airport.

Bus Depot

Mill Valley Library

10/23: Heading tomorrow from SFO to Helsinki via Munich. This is a first for me, posting ethnography en route. Preparing final edits to my conference paper in the office at Energy and Resources Group.

my office desk

Wincing occasionally at the essentials of my trip (passport, wallet, flash drive) now threatening to disappear among the debris of expectation –outlines for articles, summer fieldnotes, sharpened pencils, latte cups– that have already gathered on the table near my computer (silently cheering me on). But where else should such things gather and it does feel good seeing them together again, finally, knowing they will remain inert with potentials. Until my return.

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