Middlesex+Book+2+journal+5

__**Middlesex: Tricknology**__ __Identity__ What makes you, you? What creates your identity? Your race? Gender? Nationality? Job? Friends? Your actions? Words? Favorite music? Other people? Have you ever changed reinvented yourself in real ways or does it result in trivial, Madonna-esque transformations? When do you think it is easiest to try to “reinvent yourself”? Who is hardest to convince?

I am a confident, determined, compassionate, mature, young lady. I am full of opposites: smart and sociable, athletic and artsy, funny and serious, responsible and carefree, ect. I am a dancer and horseback rider, both of which have greatly influenced who i am. Horseback riding has taught me responsibility and given me an appreciation for nature/creation. Dancing has let me become more expressive, i love music and the invigoration that comes with it's (and exercise's) energy. my friends are similar to me in that we are very focused on our school work, however i am not limit in this and have many friends from other aspects of my life. I am undergoing somewhat of an identity change now. I have kept the various aspects of my life separate, but recently, since my 16th birthday in fact, i have been letting my identities come together. I am also becoming more of a scientist in my thinking and outlook on life but i have also grown more accepting of my intuition and have become more spiritual as well. i also experienced a change from attending spsg. i used to be very shy and intimidated but an all girls school has allowed me to become more comfortable in my own skin and i am now a social butterfly (i like to think so at least). these changes came naturally as part of me growing. the other night i actually tried out a new style: a rocker chick, i wore leather tall boots and a leather jacket. i really liked the look and had a lot of fun all evening acting like a rocker chick, everyone noticed the change and commented. this was a "Madonna-esque" transformation but i didn't think going into it that i would change my personality. even when I change what i wear (from a formal dress to barn clothes and everything in between) or what i am doing (soccer vs dancing vs studying) my personality is the same. It is hard to convince others that i was shy, I've never had a hard time convincing myself but then again, i've never seriously tried to change my personality it has always occurred at a natural changing point in my life. I think its the easiest to change your identity when you experience a big change in your life, like changing schools, reaching a significant age, or moving to another country via ship where no one knows your real past.

__7. Term or Theory__
 * Greek vs. American and Past vs. Present and Circles/Identity
 * 149, D working at Temple No. 1 is like a return to her past, being ruled by others
 * 150, D brings in silk worm box, she gets to reconnect with her past/identity after she renounces it
 * (151 "So much happened in that 15 by 20 ft space:...my grandmother renounced her race)
 * 151, when cleaning out the outhouse, there are pinup magazines that reming me of when D and Lefty lived @ Bythanios and the lingerie catalogue
 * 159, Lefty is now taking pictures of women with cars
 * "It was my grandfather's ides. Remembering his father's old hidden treasure, "Sermin, Girl of the Pleasure Dome," he'd had a vision fro updating an old ideal. The days of the harem were over. Brink on the era of the back seat"
 * 162, when D leaves Temple No. 1, she reminds the girls of what her mother taught her about silk worms, that they can't spin well in bad times
 * 163, Zizmo is alive...not reference to a distant history but still demonstrates how you can't escape past

__Mahdi pg 162 and the Twelfth Imam of the Shiites pg 165__ Shiites are a branch of Islam. Sunni and shiite divided because of different beliefs as to who should succeed Muhammad. the Sunni believed that they should follow his 4 caliphs where as the shiites wanted only to follow the 4th, Ali who was Muhammad's heir. today the countries that are predominantly Shiite, follow a religious leader, the imam which is an annointed and chosen leader and prophet, more than a state government. the mahdi is similar to Jesus in that he is believed to come and restore islam as a nation as a spiritual savior. the Shiites believe he has come and is in hiding and will return again, whereas the Sunni believe that he hasn't come yet. the twelfth imam is believed to be the mahdi and is in hiding. Zizmo acted like he was the 12th imam/Mahdi come up in Detroit for a bit to revive islam. http://hnn.us/articles/934.html http://middleeast.about.com/od/religionsectarianism/a/me070907sunnis.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imam http://www.allaboutpopularissues.org/12th-imam.htm

__Tribe of Shabazz pg 160__ is an ancient black nation from the story of the nation of islam. it is believed that it was the only surviving tribe (of the 13 original) and from it all other nations were created. basically, what Zizmo was preaching and D heard through the vents is historically accurate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe_of_Shabazz

__Reference to Romanoves and Hemophelia pg 157__