Book #26 in 2008: Twilight, by Stephenie Myer
Um, let's be honest. Who doesn't love a teenage vampire novel with forbidden love driven by blood lust and unbridled passion?
I KNOW!!!! This book crushes. Part 1 in the "Twilight Saga" (and soon to be a movie), I absolutely devoured this YA book and cannot wait to move on to the next one in the series.
Edward, the 17 year old vampire with whom Bella, the protagonist/narrator, falls in love is HOT. Bella's a little annoying, but I can deal with it because Edward is HOT.
Easy, fun and quick to read. Just don't blame me when you, too, have an overwhelming urge to explore the Vampire Lifestyle. They're totally sexy though, so you won't be able to help yourself.
I have to say, one interesting thing about my job is the fact that any time anything goes on with anything remotely Asian, I get contacted.
Yesterday there was a shooting near campus, and this morning I was contacted by a reporter asking if we knew any details of Asian students from UCR being involved. As of yet, we have not heard anything. The problem of Asian gangs in the area has been rising over the years, and as a department that caters to the 43% of the campus that is Asian, my director has had to step up many times in order to handle ongoing situations. I can tell you with almost 100% certainty that none of the students that are employed by or have volunteered in our office would have been involved; our students are so non-confrontational. In fact, sometimes they’re too non-confrontational, if you ask me. Sometimes I just want to shout, “Come on, fight something… anything!” But they’re all really great, bright, wonderful individuals.
Everything has been more heightened for the Asian kids since the Virginia Tech situation. It wasn’t helped by the fact that last year an Asian kid, so afraid to tell his parents that he wasn’t graduating, set fire to things and planted bomb-like devices on campus to try to get the graduation ceremonies cancelled. This happening so soon after the VT shootings* made things even more uncomfortable for the students on campus. One Chinese girl actually emailed the Dean of Students, saying she was afraid to come onto campus, because she felt as if everyone hated her because she was Asian.
It is interesting being an outsider in the midst of this. The Asian race is often labeled as the “model race” because of its tendency homologize and not “cause any trouble.”** One famous proverb states: “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.” Keep your head down, and out of sight. Be like everyone else, be a productive member of society. And study, study, study. This is why most of the students that come through here are in the sciences or business. Only a slim percentage of students are in the more “creative” majors that focus on individual expression. There is a lot more focus on what’s best for the community, rather than individual happiness. I can't say either view point is "better" or "worse," just different.
Which is another complexity I’ve seen my students face, especially for those whose parents are immigrants. Here they are in American culture which focuses on individual happiness, while they are being raised by parents whose traditional values focus on family and community. At home, the traditions of the cultures from which their parents come focus on age old traditions and values, while at school they are surrounded by American values which are in constant flux. In a way America doesn’t have a set of values other than the value of the individual. So for these students it is a constant struggle between the home and the school. It is a struggle between community vs. the individual. Tradition vs. a continually changing set of values. Blending in vs. self expression. The constant inbetween is where these students live. It is no wonder that sometimes these students crack.
Being a white person, whose parents were born here, whose grandparents and great-grand parents, and great-great-grandparents were born here—I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like to be in this constant inbetween. Being exposed to it for well over a year has really opened my eyes to the situation. But I know I’ve only touched the surface. I can say that despite my complaints about my job, I have learned so much from these students, and I have to say, I’m very grateful for the experience. Not everything is so cut and dry. And with so much of our population facing these issues, I think it is important to understand these issues, to offer support and to reach out to these students before they turn to more destructive means of coping.
-K.
P.s. All of this is stuff I've observed on my campus in particular, so I'm not trying to say this is the same for every Asian student everywhere. I'm not that much of an arrogant ass :)
*The reported mental illness issue of this individual also must be taken into account, of course. Not all of this was culturally based, although you CAN argue that traditional values in regard to mental illness also played a role in this kid not getting the help he needed.
**The individual is seen as a product of the community, which is why the President of South Korea appologized for the VT shootings, even though Seung-Hui Cho was an American Citizen. The individual is a representitive of the community.
Jacksonville, Florida, that is. Ran along the beautiful St. John River yesterday morning.
Today, returned to my home in North Augusta, SC, and ran along the beautiful Savannah River.
Do I have a great life, or what??
Yeah, the mentorship with Photography Dude? Not going to work out. He emailed the mentees saying that we needed to go to the workshop he's holding tomorrow and next weekend (no problem) and that we had to do three weddings for him in August on the 8th, 9th, and 17th. The only one I could attend is the one on the 9th. He said that he "doesn't want to hear about anyone not being able to come because of a vacation or a friend's birthday, because he has stuff in his life, but he is dedicated to his job and we need to be, too."
I emailed him back saying thanks but no thanks. I mean, it'd be one thing if I had more than a week's notice on this stuff, but I have expensive tickets to a comedy show, and a friend coming from out of town on two of those dates. These aren't things that I can exactly skip. Right now I have a trip to Vegas planned as well as one to New York.
Plus, like I said earlier, I didn't really like the guy's style. Sheri actually was looking at his website with me and she wasn't impressed, either. Maybe my best bet is to work part time at a studio so that I can learn about lighting, and just get advice from my teachers in the photography program about the wedding I'm doing in October. One thing I need to do for DAMN SURE is get off my ass and start taking more pictures. I have a brand new camera that I've barely used. Time to practice, practice, practice!
-K.
I was 17, Todd was 19. (That's no excuse for my backwards baseball hat or Todd's white socks, but still.)
We were at his little sister's soccer game.
His mum took the photo.
We were falling in love.
13 years later I feel fortunate to be able to look at him and think, I got SO lucky.
Wouldn't it be great to have just unlimited fundage?
I'd use my unlimited fundage to travel down to Australia, so I could go to the Melbourne Independent Film Festival where the documentary about Tim Minchin's rise to almost-worldwide-fame (he'll get there, trust me!) is being shown for the first time (Rock 'n Roll Nerd). And then I'd go and live in London for a while and see his new show, Ready For This?, multiple times. I'd become one of his stalker-fans! MAS. Except I'd also use my unlimited money in whatever ways I could to make sure he gets all the notice and attention he deserves and desires. Cos he's brilliant and the world really needs to love him as much as I do.
And part of me is really scared of him making it big in a place like America. Because the U.S. is huge and scary and its "fame machine" might well indeed make him famous but I'm afraid of what it will do to Tim himself. It tends to mess people up inside, doesn't it? But maybe he'd be okay. It'd give him lots of good new material for his comedy act, at least.
And if you have no idea who I'm talking about, check out my Interested Person's Guide To Tim Minchin, which contains links to YouTube vids and his websites and all that jazz. Beware though - you WILL get hooked!
Love him, and spread the love to others. Cos he deserves every bit of it.
I have brilliant insights into life, love and the cosmos as I go about my daily chaos, but unless I scratch some cryptic, no not cryptic, very obvious message to myself I forget what it was that I was going to dazzle you all with and have a zilch memory for blogging time.
No death defying stunts this morning – thank you to all those people who expressed gratitude for my continuing survival. Very much appreciated. I have a small suspicion though that it all makes you feel better about your own lives when you read that my life is in fact the basis for the formation of the chaos theory and maybe even an argument for eugenics. Loved the fact that my demise could have been brought about by a Flamingo Flattener as so named by gcgal . I had this vision of little pink flamingo legs sticking out beneath the carnage of me. I laugh in the face of adversity…that’s a lie. I usually perform an adversity dance something akin to a Polish Polka for at least two days. My children can confirm. Mr FD can’t as he is usually 45 polka steps ahead of me and not looking behind only onwards to more global disaster…
Crazy season at work is drawing to a close, earlier than usual. I would like to think it is because my little department is such a well oiled machine, but I think it is really just God given luck. Either way, gratefully accepted. Next crazy season Feb next year…as regular as clock work. Lots of time to plot revenge and sabotage.
Today's Basement of Discontent issue however was that at 3pm MegaMegaBoss sent out a mass email to all permanent employees calling them to a meeting in the Boadroom on Tuesday morning....mass hysteria. MegaBoss was nowhere to be seen and Boss was off site, so I had people coming to me, as next inline, asking me if they were all getting the sack and should start stockpiling one minute noodles. I was not 100% in the loop about this meeting, but have gut feeling it is about the takeover of the related work section and an overhaul of it into a new format as was told to me last week, but I couldn't say anything. It may not be that either - I may need to ask you all to mail me one minute noodles shortly. I can't help but think it was so cruel to send out a short, noninformative email on a Friday afternoon and worry people all weekend. I know it was probably due to the fact that they wanted to ensure everyone was there, but MegaBossBitch the self-proclaimed HR expert should have looked at the wording and made sure it didn't send people into a spin. Stupid people.
Midnight epiphany last night was that I started to become worried that my mother’s old photograph album, which must be about 60 years old, might have book worm. Her housekeeping, never a major strength, has slipped a tad or two in the last 20 years. Daughter 2 thought she spied some tiny weeny creepy crawly. As we have a large home library and I had not cared over the past 5 nights I decided Thursday night was my night to be concerned. So at 3 am I went downstairs and found the album and sealed it in a zip lock bag until further examination. I walked back twice to make sure the zip lock was really zip locked…and am not 100 % sure now but have to accept for now. I was going to put it in two zip lock bags, but we only had one. I think I may have even “borrowed” it from work, as you do.
Daughter 1 off on a lunch date with her new elove friend Saturday . When they speak on the phone all I hear is lots of laughter from behind her closed door (yes you still have to speak to boys behind closed doors if you are 29 and live at home) I think the shared sense of humor is a big plus, something missing in her other relationships. One of his first questions was whether she wanted to have children, and she does, very much, so that cleared the air on that one too. So, for the very early stages, a couple of positives there. Mothers must just wait and see… I wont say what else we are capable of, but I hazard a guess you all know anyway! I have 3 children and I would like to play mother of the bride/groom at least once. I can be hysterical with the best of them.
Daughter 2 is very against my decision to return my hair to its grey beauty. Well, not that it has ever really been grey before, but it is now. She told me in no uncertain turns that I was not going to and if I had to dye it weekly I would. Her expression was akin, and speaking to Australians here, Aunty Jack promising to Rip Yur Bloody Arms Off! I am at the stage of letting it fade a little with a lovely grey stripe down the part area which I try to camouflage each day with some artistic fluffing of the hair and very specific application of hair spray. My BIL asked me the other day if I had been in a wind storm – I thought I was looking good! My sister said don’t speak to a woman like that and BIL replied That’s not a woman that’s FD. BIL’s give you no respect if they have known you since you were 13 and watched you grown up….he is 67 in October so I may have mentioned that he might need the wheel chair before dear old Mother. End of conversation. Sister, who though 8 years older, is not as grey as I, and having spent $160 on a dye job last week, which 1. she cannot afford, and 2. still looks like a bad home job, is considering following my lead. I can sense a ground swell of boomers forsaking the bottle. Come on ladies, and gentlemen too, let’s get off the bottle and face the rest of our life au natural. Hair, on head, only of course. Not the body au natural. That would lead to a major lobby group calling for euthanasia, I feel.
I am thinking now of a Springsteen song in which he described making love to a red haired woman. He made it very clear and went into some depth at the concert making sure we understood that it 1. was his wife he was singing about and 2. that it wasn’t the hair on her head he was referring too. We wont go there, shall we? I am going to sleep for 37 hours tomorrow and not rise until lunch time ... just in time to wave off Daughter 1 on her e-date. Then I may go back to bed again. Mr FD arrived home tonight - said hello and settled down to watch Friday night football. Isn't marriage grand? I know he is just waiting for me to fall alseep and then he will come up all full of chatter and wake me up with some crazy remark about tiger penis soup or something. It is how he gets HIS big jollies.
Another day, another $1.50.
Six bombs have gone off so far in major commercial areas and public transport hubs. One went off two roads away from my office. Heard it. Phone networks jammed. Transport halted. Safest place right now is where I am, at the office. Casualties unknown. More explosions expected. Update when I get home, which might be tomorrow.
Update at 3:27 PM--8 explosions
Update at 6:30PM--Safely at home
8 crude home-made bombs in total, set on a timer. They exploded 12 minutes apart from each other. They weren't meant to cause damage, just panic. And they succeeded (only slightly) at that. 2 dead, 6 injured from being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Bangalore is the wrong city to try to instill panic in. At even the most trying of times, we move to our own beat. From 1:30 to 3:30, people stayed where they were, contacting everyone they knew to find out if they were okay. By 4:30, we were all back to life as we know it. We give terrorists stress attacks, 'cause we just won't get affected.
and can help you lose weight! I've been recently learning about the health benefits that my mother has been praising.
I'm planning on getting some soon...
Oh yeah...sorry folks, it was late when I posted this...anyway, you eat it. I think my mom has been slathering it on her toast (it's tasteless so she puts it on with her jam or whatever) and stirring it in her tea.
And, it does wonderful things for the skin and hair because my sister-in-law Sara has been rubbing it on her body and the rest of us gals were in awww last Christmas by her face! We all kept staring and asking, what do you use on your skin?
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