Alex... could you rephrase the question? I am slightly confused as to what you mean by race. Is race skin pigmentation...? Or in a far more general sense, the cultural heritage that they have...?

posted by Bryan Lee   [8:43 PM]

1337 = L33T = elite

posted by Bryan Lee   [10:26 PM]

I leave and everyone writes... some issue huh.
What does "1337" mean?
Most Extreme Elimination Challenge was the game show, Adam. You're right that the show capitalizes on American’s underlying anti-Asian exclusionary sympathies, and plays up every conceivable stereotype, but the show is not alone. Think about all of the major American television shows; at some point each one bad-mouths someone. Those accepted by the American majority culture are all comedies, and thus non-threatening. The non-threatening-comedian figure has led to a feedback loop that for decades has been significantly altering the nature of African American culture. What makes shows like the Chapell show, or networks like UPN insidious is that they allow blacks to be the agents of our own mockery. Don't get me wrong, I laugh... moreover, I can get away with quoting what's said... but I still am uneasy with the overall cultural trend, especially how broadly it reaches.
I agree that the most socially acceptable stereotype is of the intelligent Asian; if David Koh got the only 100% on some trig test (last year this was often the case) no one was alarmed by remarks such as "It's because he's the Asian," while I certainly would have been offended if my (relatively low, say) 76% was justified as "It's because he's the black." The remarks do carry different cultural weight, but such weights have different effects on how you are able to interact with peers of any and all social or racial groups, and how you treat yourself. Aside from one type of stereotype being negative and the other positive, my lot lies with the "model minority" theory because when you hear "Minority" do you even think of Asian Americans? I bet it takes a good moment.
I agree entirely with what has been said about differentiating between racism and socio-economic background, but would also like to add a term that I picked up from (maybe an essay by) Shelby Steel; Passive Nondiscrimination. This kinda fits into what Brian said about becoming separate not through identification, but by non-identification. Each group does not have to necessarily exclude other types, merely fail to include others into the same situation.

Chicago is a persistently segregated city. Oak Park (prides itself on accepting everyone, and having a large homosexual population) has fought "white flight" and housing discrimination for three-quarters of a century. Consequently, when a child goes to an Oak Park public elementary school, there are persistent rumors of inequity in public schools, but one never sees it. Suddenly at Jr. High (O Magnum Mysterium) the children Autosegregate. friends. lunch tables. work ethics. At the time of puberty, students in a highly integrated school system separate like chlorophyll in a pigment chromatogram, or sand and iron filings in an asymmetrically magnetized centrifuge (ha). As I've come to understand, children are fairly egalitarian in youth, but as they become semi-autonomous, they begin to try and establish a self. American culture puts an emphasis on color, and thus children pick people who look like their parents as friends, and base their cultural (and cultural includes everything from shoes to homework ethic) orientations around what their friends are doing.
For Jared, I say there are a lot of Jews in this area. We have a lot of everything I think, everything accept for conservatives, who were mostly scared away by the Nutbush, local gay-bar. There are a lot of "you're so jewish/polish/white/blonde/greek" and so on jokes, but then again there are proportionately as many "what can you expect, I'm so mexican/so irish/ or I'm black" jokes. I want you to note the slight differences in phrasing, because they make a huge difference in how one internalizes the remarks in life.
I probably wrote this poorly, but I am of the opinion that American society, in its efforts to make everything look equal in the media, serves to highlight how unequal things are in reality. Your typical token persons--a sprinkling of the planeteers--creates a hypersensitivity among us, forcing us to evaluate where we are. The obvious solution, and I am not kidding is hybridization. On that note, I just got back from my cousin's wedding in Seattle, and I was hitting on my redheaded cousin. How's that for funny.
Aside from sleeping through a transfer flight and ending up in Las Vegas instead of Seattle on Saturday, I went to Washington University in St. Louis for this John B. Ervin Scholarship Weekend. I bring this up because I think the criterion are pertinent to our conversation. The student must be "a Black American."
I applied to like four scholarships there, and because (out of those) I was highest ranking among the Ervin applicant pool I became ineligible for the leadership, science, and art scholarships. While you can think of the results of this sort of selection among scholarship applicants, I want to return to what "a Black American" or for that matter a "White" or Hispanic or Asian or any other demographic identification really means.
My mother has freckles and all of my father's side has hair that hangs. Neither side of my bloodline is all African, and I certainly do not absorb enough light to be deemed the color black, but I am melinated, colored. Negro sum. While the terms that we've been tossing around may be useful in conversation, biologically the only true dimorphism among humans is sexual: all other characteristics are merely degrees of variation. It is hard to pick out an Anglo-Saxon Englishman in Oak Park, or a German, or a Dutchman, or an Irishman, or a Frenchman (need I go on). These groups are so thoroughly mingled that a student says "I'm part Polish and Russian Jew, and some other stuff" and stops there. White Means loosely "Of European Descent" and I say loosely because a little contamination from an Arab or a Korean doesn't bar people I know from that category. My friend Kate has an Arab father and a blonde mother, but by her dark hair and huge eyes, people guess she's French. This dude, David, on Track, based on his behavior and social identification is esteemed to be "Black," though his mother is irish, and his hair is brown/red. Today Anthropologists race to same "seed population gene" samples by taking blood from people in isolated regions of the world. In a few generations we will all be hybrids, and if everything was random, it would only take 213 generations to recombine the peoples of earth. Since I am on the verge of sleep (but really at my mom's office about to do an essay) I think I'll put my head down.

Yay for the Onion. Yay for panties.


Hey, what has everyone heard from schools?

posted by Adrian   [12:59 AM]

Just for that Alex... I have become inspired to be absolutely apathetic... thank god... now i have an excuse to fail...

posted by Bryan Lee   [10:26 PM]

okay, white girl here rolls up her sleeves and dives into the conversation...
let me contribute yet another entirely different perspective...i live in a city that is 30% asian american, and i've always gone to schools that are at least 20% asian. so i kind of feel the same way you do, bryan...i have a hard time thinking "asian" when i think minority.

i don't think this is really a productive or relevant argument, but i think you'd be hard pressed to find a minority group today that is more subject to socially acceptable ridicule than arab-americans. just wanted to get my vote out of the way on that part of the discussion.

i was going to make the same point john did about history...asians are hardly a new immigrant group to america, especially here on the west coast. i think the "model minority" theory holds a little more water. however, it seems to me that jokes and stereotypes against asian-americans are qualitatively different than those against other minority groups. i don't think the "chink" or "other white meat" jokes that adam mentions are actually socially acceptable. (nearly everyone here knows about the shaq comments, and was considerably outraged...then again, we do have a large and active asian-american community in san francisco, and everyone hates the lakers anyway.) instead, the most widespread asian stereotypes, especially in movies and on tv, are either the "martial arts expert" or academic superstar (read nerd) type. these are pretty insidious and should be railed against, but in my mind they're considerably different than your skin tone being identified as a marker of low intelligence or violent tendencies. these kinds of stereotypes are not going to keep someone from being offered a job or (as in john's example) buying a house. then again, my conception of anti-asian discrimination is, i'm sure, skewed because of where i live.

along those lines, though, bay area colleges are facing a growing problem of violence between asian-american fraternities. there's been a lot of speculation that these frats have been adopting gangsta ways (to quote nate dogg) in an attempt to reject stereotypes of the emasculated asian-american male. (the contrast between the asexual male and hypersexual female asian stereotypes is pretty interesting...especially since sexual promiscuity is often associated with low intelligence and racial inferiority. i'm sure someone could expound on this more coherently than i...) i have a couple of friends who have been doing some really interesting stuff around traditional asian stereotypes...a guy i know who has advertised prominently his status as a "metrosexual," and drawn out the costuming/grooming to exaggerated degrees, kind of playing off the intersection of sexuality and race...a couple of friends who, on chinese new year, constructed a lion puppet out of cafeteria trash and improvised a parade around the school...the kind of things that make people just uncomfortable enough to classify them as performance art. anyway, that's the news from the lick-wilmerding asia club, over here.

i think anti-semitism is somewhat different...i hear (and make, honestly) about as many jewish jokes as, say, irish jokes. jews have been assimilated, just like poles and germans and russians, into a majority that once only included a small fraction of what we now consider "white." anti-semitism also has the added layer of religious tension, which changes things substantially. for context, damn near everyone at my school is half-jewish (including most of the asians (seriously.)) also, i live in an incredibly tolerant, enlightened place (not to, you know, be obnoxious or anything.) although i have seen a lot lately of that disturbing breed of white boy who uses the n-word casually...where do they hide these people? where did they grow up? what the hell?

posted by Kelsey   [4:09 PM]

John, although I understand where you are coming from, my perspective is entirely different, but such a perspective may come from the environment in which I was raised. My school population is approximately half hispanic and although such numbers may not be a lot compared to other schools further south than Colorado, it has created this illusion of a majority within my eyes (the minority majority (?)). If anything, politics in Colorado, as well as the mass culture, cater to this minority - more so than any other minority (particularly because some 30-odd percent of Denver's population is hispanic). I am sure that such environments exist in other states as well. Because there is 'yielding' to this minority, it has become socially acceptable to be hispanic, or if I may say, even cool to be hispanic.
Yet, I would agree that it would be inappropriate to state that such acceptance into society has solved the social problems we so face. If we were to examine the socio-economic strata of society, then a disproportionate representation of asians exist in the middle class as well as the higher stratas - and an overwhelming representation of hispanics exist in the lower stratas. I would hesitate to state that this imbalance arises from the racial profiling of minorities itself by whites - but rather the cultural profiling of minorities by minorities. If we are to speak of inequality because of racism, we must, as John pointed out, speak of the socio-economic opportunities available. Conversely, we must not confused the distinction between racism and socio-economic opportunities - however closely tied they may be.

posted by Bryan Lee   [9:22 AM]

Susan, Adam, cyber-punch me if I step on toes: But I kinda disagree. I don't think Asians are the most acceptable to joke about (besides possibly Native Americans, or definitely 'white trash') because they are the newest immigrant race for a few reasons. 1st is because most Asians in America are more than 4 generations in, and live on the left coast; often with genealogy dating them back to the great Asian migrations of the 1800s. Secondly, they are the butt of jokes because they are the most "successful" of the minorities. thus, they are attacked for it. I would postulate that Asians are 'attacked' because others are both defensive against the "model minority" and because they can justify it to themselves and others by saying, "I'm not keeping anyone down because they're already so sucsessful."

I think it is socially unacceptable to joke about African-Americans because the civil right movement, more than anything, made whites feel ashamed. But if I had to pick one race that was being treated the worst in America, it would be any Spanish-Speaking person. In rightwing politics these days it is a staple to presume that 'spics's are threatening 'our' culture. And in terms of studies and whatnot, it is virtually impossible for Hispanics to rent or buy houses in 'white' areas and only 'very hard' for blacks. Asians have trouble too, but not nearly the way other races seem to.

I know there are things I just said that are wrong at least a little bit, or disputable at least. So please comment. Besides maybe the GLBT movement, race and social class seem to me to be the most important social issues of our day. The civil rights movement to me does not seem to have ever been truly fulfilled. At least, not in Omaha.

posted by john owens-ream   [11:54 PM]

adam... i disagree... but whatever proof i have is so controversal that i won't say it. so maybe you're right - i don't have a problem with it because aZn FoR lIfE 1337

posted by Bryan Lee   [11:12 PM]

ack I posting twice for the first time. But hey I like to talk about this stuff. This is gonna be really lo ng and boring so read at your own risk. Anyway John, may i try to explain segregation from a sociological standpoint. Well let me say in general, vietnamese children play together because they l ive near eachother. When new immigrants come to america they tend to go near people who they can talk too-other vietnamese. If they live together, the children will play together. I met my best friend of 10 years because his family became my neighbors. Hmm I've never been to your school but from my experiences I would disagree with they way you blame the white majority. you make it seem like everyone's trying to be their friend and they're just turning up their noses. Perhaps they don't share similar hobbies, or classes, or neighborhoods. Then again I could be very wrong.
Also can I introduce another topic of discussion. Would anyone here agree with me if I said that anti-asian racism is the most socially accepted? I don't mean necessarily people going out and killing asians or something, but I mean the little things. When Shaq, an african american basketball player, was asked what he would say when he met Yao ming, he responded "ching chong wang wong" or something along those lines. Now how much press attention did that get (How many people even heard of that?). Ok now hypothetically, if Yao ming had made some anti-black statement, how much trouble would he be in? Also, if you can find me any asian living in america for at least a few years who hasn't been mocked for it at least once, and I will be damn surprised. I had a seven year old cousin ask me what a "chink" was. Do you know of any other slurs that would be thrown around at such a young age(my first experience was at age 6.)
Let's look at the media: who can name a movie star or singer or even celebrity in American pop culture who is asian, and not a martial art expert (uh yao ming, lucy liu...and let's not for get about william hung, who is now a national laughing stock). I think that there definitely is a double standard. I don't remember the name of the show, but it was a japanese game show dubbed in English. Essentially they were just mocking the people, making up their own captions(one was "so you're eating rats now"-"yes the other white meat") I thought to myself, if they were making fun of black people, this show would never fly. Now don't get me wrong, I know racism exists for all groups, but it just seems to me that some are more aocially acceptable to others. I don't claim to be 100% correct so please disagree with me.

posted by Adam   [5:55 PM]

Susan: I definitely see what you're coming from. Growing up I tried my best to "blend in." I actually have an affinity for non-asians, cause hey, I didn't want to seem like- I don't know- "too different?" A little older, I started to kinda like it, like middle school maybe. Around chinese new year or anything Like that I'd be like hey; I'm chinese damnit. I'm asian-but I am just like one of you. I'd have this weird sense when I met someone that I had to prove I could speak english without any accent. Also, my wit was not as far developed, and an asian friend an I would through racial slurs at each other to be funny-it worked of course. And I guess after that is about where I am now. 3 of my best friends are asian-John if this answers your question- I think that I am friends with them because of life's circumstances; I didn't seek them out for their black hair or avoid them for their tan skin. They happen to be my friends, and they happen to be asian. However, I guess I am kind of defensive...if someone says something I don't like I'll say something (unless they're bigger than me of course) but on the whole I guess I'm alot less defensive. I definitely don't like it when people I'm not friends with say something racial. One of my friends is have white and half korean (the caucasian specifics I know not), and I think his is an interesting case. I think that because he's not 100 % he is the most open. He makes the most racial jokes and it kinda makes me uncomfortable. He has people call him the nickname "chong" when his real name is andrew. SOmeone asked him how he got the nickname- but I can put 2 and 2 together. I said "drew, someone couldn't think of your name, so they called you chong." I hate this nickname and I find the most asians wouldn't, but for some reason he embraces it. Well sorry guys I don't know if that made any sense. In conclusion, it's OK to be asian haha. It's OK to ask "Who forgot their backpack" and answer "the asian kid." The only time I get angry when I honestly believe someone is looking down on me-then we'll have a problem. Well I went off in 3,000 tangents but whatever...I hope this was, uh, insightful?(oh and kelsie interestingly enough my brother had to read that book when he became a resident advisor.

posted by Adam   [5:37 PM]

There aren't enough azns in my school to segregate... For me, the question becomes much more vague, because it's rather difficult to identify myself as an asian-american, when there are very few asian-americans that I know. How can I identify with a mass racial/culture without ever knowing it? So I simply become not white, not hispanic, not black (there aren't that many blacks either...). Rather, I become attached to family rather than racial identity... and associate with kids who also relate more closely with such an identity (which also tends to have a few asian-americans in my situation, but I find more whites in that category...) I stand at the other end of the spectrum from Susan.
btw... sorry if my categorizing is offending anyone.

posted by Bryan Lee   [5:02 PM]

In both my TASP and Deep Springs Essays I talked in-depth about the second largest problem at my school (1st being no money) which was definitely segregation. I noted that all the African Americans did sit together, there was also a Hispanic lunchroom, as well as an Asian lunchroom. I blamed the problem mostly on the White semi-majority (49%) for being deliberately un-inclusive, which they certainly are, and said it seemed the self-segregation was mostly a coping mechanism for dealing with the inherent discrimination of the social system.
So my question to Susan, or Bryan, or anyone else is, do you think that you self-segregate because you are somehow even slightly pushed away from others, or because you are pushing others away? Or am I way over simplifying?

posted by john owens-ream   [5:15 AM]

recommended reading for susan, bryan, and anyone else interested: "why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?" and other conversations about race, by beverly daniel tatum

posted by Kelsey   [10:30 PM]

Susan... You strike a sensitive chord, not simply because it deals with a racial issue, but because your words force me to reflect critically upon myself. Although I cannot reflect upon your stance without first reflecting upon mine, all I can say is that every person must create a sense of identity growing up. Whether or not that identity deals with your nationality and your racial background is your choice - but you should never feel guilty or socially-pressured to act in such a way who you are not - even if that means that you hang out with people who you want to hang out with. You are yourself, no doubt about that. Our heritage in a land that may be different from ourselves or may look upon us differently defines us. Don't shy away from it.

posted by Bryan Lee   [10:13 PM]

AIME = American Invitational Mathematics Exam (3 hours, 15 depressing problems.) Speaking of which, what magician is stupid enough to tether the unicorn to his magic tower?

posted by Eunice   [1:42 PM]

MY COMPUTER DIED!
I am in a state of mourning for I have lost my greatest work partner and lover. I just finished (7:08 am in my mother's office) writing my biology quarter paper for the second time. I had to write my anthropology paper at another dude's house, and I lost all of the work I had done towards my English and Asian Studies quarter projects. Where's a ressurection when you need one.

None of the Oak Parkers that I know of were invited back for interviews, which is too bad, but Good Luck to Robin. I think the critique of Sterile is accurate if you mean that nothing dirty occurred, really. As far as I heard, the most un-sterile think that happened in Austin was the boob-roz or Xe-boob ... well I suppose the words don't combine as well, but you understand what I get at, right?

Has anyone heard of a book called Making Out in Japanese?

posted by Adrian   [5:11 AM]

gaaaaaaaaaaaah just finished...i feel you on the math hangover part, eunice. i could most definitely use a nice primal scream (i miss you!) especially seeing as how my statistics teacher refuses to let me take the chapter test tomorrow, so i have to go study now for another math test. today will have been composed of five hours of math tests and physics.

!!!! i am also very curious to know about our reputation! was this a factota or a tasper you spoke with? what evil rumors are being spread?
did you apply to the michigan telluride house, alex? (i know i already asked but i canna remember)

posted by Kelsey   [12:10 PM]

I'm taking the AIME too--and I don't think having the questions a few hours early would help me at all...from the past two years, I know I wouldn't be able to do the problems I didn't know how to do given more than three hours. In fact, I usually spend the last half-hour coping with a severe math hangover. As far as visiting Taiwan goes, I'm afraid I won't be there to see the political upheaval with you. What a mess...
The "bad TASP?" What was TASP supposed to be? Could they have found out about the robot striptease, the midnight hokey pokey dance parties, the war conferences...? A confrontation with our factota is in order.

posted by Eunice   [6:43 PM]

Seeing that no one's said anything about the Stoppard yet, I feel too intimidated to attempt a discussion question. On an irrelevant tangent, however, I found a freakishly large bulk of the play strikingly similar to the only other absurdist play I've read, Waiting for Godot, summarized in this little flash clip by little guinea pigs.

Eunice - you won't believe this (okay you will) but it's most likely that I'll be in Taiwan over spring break in the second week of April. Are you absolutely sure you're not stopping by?

Thanks to time zone differences, I get to take the AIME before anyone else, which really isn't anything to be happy about. It makes me wonder, though, what would happen if I post the questions on the blog as soon as those three hours of hellish math are done? Do not understand standardized testing.

posted by Tae-Yeoun Keum   [8:31 AM]

my god, eunice, is there a school in the country (world?) you haven't been accepted to? good job. i'm going to be there the 3rd-5th of april, so it looks like we're all going to miss each other (sad face).

anyone else taking the aime on tuesday?

posted by Kelsey   [12:44 PM]

Congratulations extended to all WashU-ers. Will any of you be visiting Wash U on the 28th?

posted by Eunice   [11:17 AM]

Assuming "D" is for Drive, and "R" is for Reverse, as long as you haven't hit anybody everything is still fine.

Kelsey, I wasn't calling you ugly, I was merely venting my sexual frustration at Angela's loveliness being wasted on such a prude (then again, if she wasn't a prude, I'd be hatefully envious of whoever she was with). When will you be there? I'll be at wash-U on the 24th and the 25th for the interview for the Ervin scholarship, but then I have to leave really early on the 26th to go my cousin's wedding in Seattle.
...

Today there was this Multi-cultural thing after school; the highlight was the Japanese fest, since we had imported authentic exchange students. My friend Megan has this book called Making out in Japanese, and she got me to go read a coupe of phrases to the girls I sat with at lunch (yeah, I'm the kind of odd bird who sits at a lonely table with three chicks who he absolutely positively can't communicate with, and rambles at conversational speed in his native tongue).
"So, what interested you in coming to the States?"
Confused looks
"Why visit here?"
"somethingsomething something"
"something "
"something somethingsomething America funsomething something"

"Yeah..."

Well I figured you all'd enjoy the two best phrases gleaned from the book;
"What color is your underwear?"
"Show me your erogenous zones."
The girls kinda turned their thumbs down and said "no. no." while smiling and giggling. I think we all learned valuable lessons... well, maybe not, but it was fun.

posted by Adrian   [6:59 PM]

congratulations adrian, it seems like everyone got waitlisted (except for...um...us ugly girls? to corroborate your anecdotal evidence, an attractive girl in my math class also got waitlisted.)

i don't know if that's where i want to go. i need to find out how much money they want to give me, and i still like ut and st. john's a lot (a lot a lot). the dorms are indeed ugly architecture but they are positively posh on the inside, believe me. also the food is very good. i think one of my favorite things about the school (besides the nice lodging) is their encouragement of double majors and their flexibility between colleges and the such. also: national league baseball! what are your feelings on the place? have you visited? i'm going to visit over spring break i think. (you should get aim so we can discuss this further, and trade recipes for st. louis's famed culinary delicacy - mmm, deep fried ravioli.)

i think that's an interesting definition of literature, and i'm not sure i agree. if that's true, what's the separating line between literature and philosophy? or literature and good journalism? to me, anyway, the appeal of a work of literature lies more in the aesthetic: i like a book that changes my interpretation of my reality, which includes my beliefs...i think this can be done by writing about controversial subjects, but truly skilled writing - a command of the craft - does the same thing for me. i don't know, i think interpreting a work of art in purely political terms is as reductionist and misguided as refusing to look beyond its form.

susan, you beat me to driving! we were supposed to be the bus-riding taspers together...and if you've got time for reading, why in the name of perry-castaneda are you reading the book of merlyn?!??!

posted by Kelsey   [9:18 PM]

Kelsey, is WashU where you want to go? I just got the packet from the Arts school and the Arts & Sciences right, and my friend Angela calls (seriously as I am leafing through the material) to weep over being wait-listed. I kept my mouth shut indeed indeed. I figure that's what she gets for being pretty and living in River Forest in a big house and all; it's only fair. For four classes each day, I battle the demon of lust, and sitting next to her leads me lose. But I digress. Wash U's nice, but the walls are so red , and all the dorms are ugly modern brick. They have a good medical school though; 2nd in the nation I hear.

posted by Adrian   [5:03 PM]

I think I was just really tired for the end, and it did fall apart. What I meant was; For all the novels that we (any of us) really dig, someone out there can't stand for some reason. The quality that makes a work of literature appealing to one party is its ability to either augment or change their beliefs. Much of contemporary writing will do neither, it is "Nice Writing" in that it doesn't challenge the average reader's moral footing, it merely puts a really tragic story forwards and leaves it to rot.
It was Sweet and Low: The Poisonwood Bible, (Review) by Lee Siegel.

posted by Adrian   [4:55 PM]

i got into washu in st louis!!!!! school of architecture AND college of arts & sciences - i'm so nice they wanted me twice.

adrian i understand all of it except the last sentence.

all you harvard people need to watch how high, like now.

posting twice in one day woot!

posted by Kelsey   [7:02 PM]

That last post may be unintelligible, so I'm sorry, but really it's an interesting concept.

posted by Adrian   [6:28 PM]

1) Congratulations John. I hope you can enlighten the folks of your state

2) Yablon, I know what you mean. It snowed on me twice today on me bike, this after laying out the mulch over the weekend so the newly freed flowers can freeze.

3) Olga, I wasn't saying "no" to your birthday, but to you friend, and that was a total joke. I am all for anything that includes a girl. The younger the better (ha).

Brian, to what ideas and philosophies are you alluding to? I haven't read the book, but since you whet our whistles, provide us with clues.

Hey, I just finished reading this literary criticism for The Poisonwood Bible by some dude who says that a lot of contemporary writing centers around Calamities, and that because modern (Western) readers don’t have to actually deal with these sort of problems, the reader's ignorance places the piece above criticism. Many modern political writers manage to not step on anyone's toes because they write about starving children in the 1950's and abusive fathers. No one can criticize these writers because they write about things that everyone agrees upon, and it sucks the substance out the stories. Think about it, all the novels you love are hated by someone, but a lot of these new novels are good for nothing by airplane reading.

posted by Adrian   [6:27 PM]

top-'o-the-morning to y'all..

i do believe, in fact, that we were a funk-ska ensemble with a full gospel choir. the be-fro'ed guy at the co-op was very interested to know where he could procure our latest album.

just to let you all know: it's 80 degrees here, and has been for two weeks or so. it hasn't rained for three weeks. i believe i speak for all of northern california when i say ha on you silly east coast/midwest taspers...we win.

so, now that we've seen all twelve of the finalists, any early predictions for american idol? latoya (bay area pride, oaktown what what) and fantasia are both, clearly, freakin fantastic, but you think middle america would really vote for not one but two black ladies? (don't get me started about racism and american idol...i'm saving that for my master's thesis.) i got my money on mr. pocket mormon, if he can tone down the dancing stuff. oh and that jasmine girl is also really good.

i'm well aware that none of you watch tv, you pretentious bastids, so this goes out entirely to natashia and susan, my sistas in network television. be proud be loud girls.

so, ignoring yablon and eunice (not bitter...not bitter), is it time to start planning our all-tasp reunion? this summer, perhaps? mexico, perchance?

posted by Kelsey   [8:15 AM]

The weird thing is, Jared, while you guys were rehearsing Antigone in the dining room that once and future Friday afternoon, a couple of us went shopping down Guadalupe in our *flow shirts, and Matt - I believe - arbitrarily decided: "Okay, if anyone asks, TASP is a band and flow is our latest album." We tried it on the lady in the toy store with the massive black cat.

I'm all for discussing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

posted by Tae-Yeoun Keum   [12:54 AM]

We began reading Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead today in English. Though I've only read the first couple of pages, I love it. Tae-Yeoun, I remember when we first started posting, you mentioned this play. Are you still interested in discussing it? (This question applies to all others who are interested too.)
Alex Y--are you planning on visiting the Cornell Telluride House on April 8-12/whatever time slot Simon gave you? Because it would be very very cool to synchronize our visits--though these dates supposedly encompass all the ex-tasper acceptees.
Congratulations John! Happy belated birthday, Olga!
Oh, and I have my first concert of the season on March 27th. I will be performing, among other things, Schubert's Wanderer Fantasie--the piece I was working on at tasp. Like Aimee and all other performers before me, I expect 100% tasper attendance.

posted by Eunice   [7:52 PM]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to L.L. NUNN!

(congratulations John!
To answer your question: because.)

posted by Tae-Yeoun Keum   [6:32 AM]

I think I speak for everyone but Adrian when I say, "Yes, Happy Birthday Olga," and I hope it was a good one too.

I just wanted to anounce to everyone that I'm really happy because I won the Channel Six "Profile In Exelence Award." It's this NBC award given to one Omaha kid per year who displays outstanding yada yadas and defeats all blah blah blah in the face of whatever, but the great part is where they put me on tv every night for a few weeks with 60 second spots and give me $1000!

And to end with a question: "Why?"

posted by john owens-ream   [10:31 PM]

I always feel lost when i skim over these posts... because what everyone says requires actually reading it... WHAT"S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? DO YOU KNOW HOW TO SPEAK LIKE THIS? FOH SHA?

posted by Bryan Lee   [9:57 PM]

Eros, eyesore
Koala Lamp Ore

The first time I met my brother's current girlfriend, she was introduced to me from across the room as "La-tosha," but I misheard. I repeated puzzled and half joking back to my mother "Koala" and the girl in the chair to my left began to cry for some odd reason. I still think it was funny, and have no idea about why that upset her so.

Sorry about the last post, Olga. All in good humor.
Actually I don't see why not. Tell Kasia she probably should pass around a xerox of a breast or two, but that is merely a suggestion and in now way required. I'm kinda angry at my brother who let me fall asleep while helping him with a lab a few hours ago, and now part of the evening has been shot. ave.

(Begin humming the tune here: )
And then there came a second voice
As sweet as honey dew,
It said "this man hath penance done,
And penance more will do."

posted by Adrian   [9:47 PM]

I believe that I speak for everyone when I say no.

posted by Adrian   [9:36 PM]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLGA!

posted by Tae-Yeoun Keum   [2:47 AM]

I agree with Bryan; if the media begins covering all this terrorist stuff (though it has been happening for decades without great attention), how can we pretend it doesn't happen?

posted by Adrian   [6:44 PM]

For all you Fans of Emily D. (yo) did you know you can say most of her poems to the theme of Gilligan's island? It turns agoraphobia into fun fun fun:
* Read this out loud to the theme music for Gilligan's Island.

Emily Dickinson - Because I Could Not Stop for Death

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

We passed the school where children played
At wrestling in a ring;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling in the ground;
The roof was scarcely visibly,
The cornice but a mound.
(the minnow would be lost)

Since then 'tis centuries; but each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.
(the ending from a second site goes thusly, and so fits the song)
Since then--'tis Centuries--and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity--

Someone mentioned this in English yesterday, and we honestly could not keep the class going (inpart because whenever anyone began to speak I would hum along with them) but our class was paralyzed so we had to switch to William C. Williams, for who's red wheelbarrow, naked flanks, and sweet plums we could to no tune set.

O, and (the Rhyme of )the Anciente Mariner fits in with Gillian
I'll sing the song
So all day long
And maketh merry din
And maketh merry din

posted by Adrian   [6:42 PM]

This continuing trend of terrorism is beginning to concern me. Is it your opinions that such terrorism will affect US foreign relations?

posted by Bryan Lee   [6:30 PM]

...As I scan today's newspaper headlines, I become increasingly aware of modern man's despereate search for certainty. Whether in politics, science, morality, economics, religion, or even education, the human species appears to find some comfort in the illusion of certainty. Political leaders are absolutely certain iof the correctness of their decisions until, of course, future events prove absolutely wrong. Advertisements are absolutely certain that if we purchase such and such a product, we will become rich, or popular or beautiful or happy of we will find fulfillment of one kind or another. Those with religious certainty find it increasingly easy to condemn those who do not share their beliefs.

However, seductively comforting the illusion of certainty may be, I would remind you that human history records clearly that when we are most certain, we are also most likely to commit our most shameful and heinously evil acts.

...Art, I believe, is a way of embracing the complex uncertainties of our lives in a way that provides meaning. Art is a way through which we recognize that our questions may be more important thatn our answers. Art allows us to perceive tentativeness as more enduring than permanence.

Picasso once wrote: "We know that art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth." I ask you to bring to mind of his painting of Guernica - inspired by the first ever aerial bombing of a civilian target, or Goya's Third of May 1808 in which the artist captures the terror on the face a Spanish rebel facing a French firing squad. These images are not truths, but they are the lies that make us realize truth.

The importance of this exhibition is that we are witnessing young artists selecting and creating their images - their lies if you will. And, in doing so, we see them coming to glimpse a richer, more complex and more paradoxical understanding of themselves and, indeed, the uncertain world in which we live.


- William Powell,
headmaster of the International School of Kuala Lumpur,
at the opening of the IASAS Cultural Convention 2004 Art exhibition

posted by Tae-Yeoun Keum   [4:39 PM]

Adrian, it's the boys from KUALA LUMPUR not Sing A Pore. We stopped at Singapore for like thirty minutes before we had to move on. So, greeting from KL - I just finished my solo (a fluffy Conzert-Waltzeriarrangement of themes from (Eunice?) La Traviata) two hours ago, and have listened to way too many sa/exophone jokes probably because none of them even come close to being as good as yours.

"Tae-Yeoun, no porn!" screams my accompanist, BYUNG UN BAE (his name in print).

Alex's mention of his Turkish shadow puppet project reminded me that he has not posted the pictures of his artwork he said he'd share. (you did.) Adrian also needs to send a photo of his once and future project and selections from his amazing portfolio ("no porn!" - just kidding). Tara, too, and all of you artists out there - can we start an online gallery?
Send them to avellyne@yahoo.com, or upload them on our geocities site.

Stupid thing Tae-Yeoun tried to do today:
pay $90 for a coffee. Story? Saleslady said "one eighty" when I asked the price - she meant 1.80 Ringgits but I thought 180.

Much love from Malaysia,

posted by Tae-Yeoun Keum   [10:38 PM]

john... maybe just me... but isn't there something slightly morally reprehensible with such an action... not to mention lacking of responsiblity...? Besides... if we are really going to make a statement, wouldn't we want to just do it at the biggest library period...? i mean... not to put ideas into anyone's head, of course...

posted by Bryan Lee   [9:00 PM]

guess who's in my shower right now?

AIMEE!!!!!

(even better, naked-aimee)

to conclude this post, neener-neener

posted by Kelsey   [8:55 AM]

Hey, what if we all wrote letters to Gioia saying nothing more or less than:

Mr. Gioia,

Resolve yourself to drown in your own literary vomit.
You are not worth of language.

sincerely
(name?)

--------
Any thoughts??
Perhaps screeners would eliminate our letters, but perhaps naught.
O, on the van with guns and a bonfire thing, how would we ventilate a fire in a library with carpet on the upper floors?

ha
-------

Good Luck Tae-Yeoun!

(room with the boys in Sing A Pore)
-------


Hey everyone;

s + laughter = slaughter
though + t = thought
tomb tome some comb come home me somber ha ha ha
Isn't this an odd language?

posted by Adrian   [3:22 PM]

One addendum, John...that we write letters to Dana Gioia telling him to go pout in his pool of literary vomit.

posted by Eunice   [1:53 PM]

i'm so ready, john....viva la taspolucion!

posted by Kelsey   [11:47 AM]

This is a transcript of an IM I tried to have with Kelcey. I thought you should see it.

RickamoJ: so here's what i'm thinking
RickamoJ: and i know you're the person to propose this to
RickamoJ: we hijak a van this summer
RickamoJ: with a gun we get goodness knows where
RickamoJ: drive it all over the country
RickamoJ: picking up taspers as we go
RickamoJ: drive it to the largest public university library in the country
RickamoJ: (in austin)
RickamoJ: and using their infinate number of books
RickamoJ: barackade all the 18 taspers into the library for a few weeks all the while reading like crazy
RickamoJ: at night we cook food over a bonfire made from burning copies of books we have decided are not worthy, such as all the numours phallocentric books we're sure to find
RickamoJ: what do you think?

that last line goes out to everyone

posted by john owens-ream   [11:38 AM]

you know.... colorado is... like somewhat halfway between the east and the west... so in the midst of all these reunions...if you just, you know, happen to have a layover at DIA - i mean, nothing big, we wouldn't want you to get beaten to death with clubs if you stayed for longer than four hours - but just maybe... i could come out and say "hi..." and then leave... or watch you leave... or something of the sort....

posted by Bryan Lee   [9:41 PM]

okay i know it's been less than twelve hours but i want to post the rest so i'll be done telling this before the next reunion.

on saturday the clock radio went off set to the new britney spears song, for which i will not forgive olga as it's still stuck in my head. we had a wonderful breakfast (more tea, naturally) and met olga's friend and walked around. it was a nice day for the time of year and everyone was out. we went to the castle in central park and it was full of young children and couples making out. over lunch we discussed penises and school plays and then we had to dash for the train to new jersey, on which both of us nearly fell asleep. on the other end of the train in new jersey was the ever delightful mr. alex yablon and a full demonstration of his school's musical talents. there was a step team (!) and lots of bands to make fun of. although we had to work up to it after so long apart full snarkage definitely occurred a few hours into it. we also made a brief visit to the yablon residence and met both the infamous fartgirl and yablon's extra-southern grandmother. and the girl who crushed many a tasper dream (*ahem* jared and adam), yablon's girlfriend. they were all three very lovely ladies. definitely the best event hosted on a church's premises i have ever been to.

hmm, that was extra crappy. oh well i never pretended to be a writer (oh wait, yes i did!) eunice baby you know where it doesn't snow? san francisco. i'm sure you got into some fantastic college over here, too...come visit me! my mom will make you pancakes! (true story ask tara)

posted by Kelsey   [7:56 AM]

wha? so confused... i see words like reunion and korea and the martian chronicles... this seemingly haze of information seems so familiar... like morning pages or something...

posted by Bryan Lee   [11:01 PM]

Kelsey, I'm gushing in jealousy here in Minnesota--you've just had yet another enviable tasp-reunion, and here, we got ten more inches of snow today. To make up for it, I'm going to beg my mom to let me stay in asia long enough to hold a mini-reunion on the other side of the world. I'd like to say more, but sleep calls.

posted by Eunice   [10:30 PM]

Today I received my very own copy of, *drumroll* the SUMMER 2003 ISSUE OF THE TELLURIDE NEWSLETTER in the mail that the rest of you got in September. Outdated as it was, it made me want to cry.

I also received your card, Eunice - thank you! In envious retaliation, and possible challenge, to Kelsey's most-post-tasp-tasper-reunions record, we proudly announce the first potential post-tasp-tasper-reunion in Asia. Eunice, if you come before June, see me in Manila, BUT, if you come between midJune and lateAugustish, you get to see BRYAN, SUSAN, AND ME in Seoul, Korea! (I'm convinced there's an underwater tunnel connecting all the east Asian countries)

In defense(?) of Finding Nemo, Alex, it's a movie that holds a very special place in my heart right next to the space reserved for all things TASP-related. I was watching it on the plane coming back from Texas as I ate - the irony - my [fake] sashimi and thought of all of you. Then I cried at the end even though I didn't even get the plot.

Biology. This is a lovely picture of a cow's eye dissected in the IBH Bio class that a friend forced me to see. [if it requires login info, the login id is 'keumt'; password 'ishillotte'; and the domain 'ismanila' - now you have access to all my school files!]

Lastly, SusanorKelsey, did you watch an ENTIRE Korean soap opera in one sitting??? How long did THAT take? Coincidentally, my mother was watching a Kwon Sang Woo flick as I was rushing my World Lit paper (woe) - it was either haet bit sok eu ro or chun guk eu kae dan, I'm not sure which - and even my mother, even my mother, could not stand more than two episodes of the thing. (sorry) And congratulations, Kelsey!

I lied. LASTLY, Susan, you can easily convert CD tracks to .mp3 format - once your a capella group releases it, could you share it with the rest of us? Jacob, you still need to post your play.

posted by Tae-Yeoun Keum   [7:32 PM]

well, susan, perhaps we can all have a catfight for him. and then cry, dramatically.
i stood you up not at all, blame alex (you already did, yay!)
i've got six words for you all regarding the oscars: from justin to kelly got robbed.
adrian, i'm not even going to pretend to follow your star trek prattle, but on the science fiction front, can we all just sit back and reminisce about how freaking great the martian chronicles was? like, hello, sixth grade, read that book about three thousand times. and it's still good. holds up much better than, say, anne of green gables.
i'm influencing voters! next thing you know i'll be a pundit!

onwards and upwards (geographically, of course): friday i took the train to nyc and was met by the still dashingly evil olga kamensky at penn station. we reunited gushingly in front of (no joke) a performing gospel choir in full robes. we walked in circles avoiding times square and got tea (of course!), then we met jacob at a korean restaurant, thus proving that everything involving tasp does indeed relate to korean pride in some way or another, sigh. olga convinced me to eat raw meat (a sort of korean steak tartare) which actually was surprisingly good, and neither one of us vomited uncontrollably at all afterwards. we got to read olga's dirty poems and we heard all about deep springs and jacob and olga gossiped about their mutual acquaintances. after that we went to this very weird deserted bakery run by a german man wearing a fancy chef's hat and an incredible beard-mustache combination that made his upper lip look like it was about to take flight on two slightly dirty cotton candy wings. dessert was good but not as good as the facial hair would have led us to believe. then we went to go try to go to a hookah bar but we couldn't find it and me and jacob were too hopelessly unhip for the neighborhood anyway so we went to a crappy bookstore and then got bubble tea at an unbearably hot place with lava lamps. there was a vietnamese drag queen there with really nice pants. we parted ways soon after that and i got to meet olga's very nice parents and sleep on her very nice floor.

hmm. that was a poor recounting of a very lovely night. jacob or olga, care to help me out?
kelsey college watch: i found out this morning (through a very odd and roundabout way, and over the telephone, and i'm not really supposed to know officially) that i got into plan ii. the booty dancing was not quite as vigorous this time around, not because i'm any less excited but rather because i am a seasoned veteran of the college admissions process now (what a week.) it's crazy how things shake out - here i am, it's the beginning of march, and i've already been accepted into two colleges that i'm absolutely in love with. (okay, maybe not crazy for you uber-geniuses, but i'm pretty surprised.) anyway, so yeah, that's it. now i just have to decide (yikes.)

happy purim-eve! (best holiday ever)

posted by Kelsey   [7:28 PM]

Ender137> robin?
Ender137> ...
Ender137> <==== thoroughly confused
(Ender137 and CitiXen137 are my gaming sns, but who is robin? Did I miss something?)

posted by Bryan Lee   [4:03 PM]

O.C. won't be 9/8 central next Wednesday.

Instead we get to find out what the Zindi are going to do to Archer. The ship is on the verge of being destroyed; Aft propulsion is down, hull plating depolarized and decks C thru E losing atmosphere. The captain is in the custody of the enemy, and even the stoic Vulcan T'pal sheds a tear! How can the ship make it out of this impossible situation?!

I'm betting on time travel because they always use time travel when the officers begin to die. That or it's really some sort of illusion.

They're moving Enterpirse to 9/8 central, so they are probably switching the two shows. I don't watch O.C. but I can say that for a Star Trek, the new Enterpirse is way below par. The whole Zindi thing is too Amerocentric (is that a word yet), plus the first war the humans had was with the Romulans, and the second with the Klingons, there were not Zindi a hundred years before Kirk. The bending of historical events in this new series is distancing true Trekies from the show, and by moving it to a later time, it is clear that the explorers are on their last legs.

I grow sad; this may be the last Star Trek. Gone are the noble days of Sisco and Picard, gone the Borg and Hirogens. Ah, and along with them my childhood. You all can argue about jesus, but have you ever had a heated debate about species 8475? hun? yeah, thought not.

In Bio today, this dude dropped the liver (well, one lobe) of a fetal pig into the top of his shoe. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen. He just fell over and tried to kick the shoe off without touching it or any of the foul-smelling juices. When he reached down to pry his shoe off, he ended up grinding the organ into his sock, leaving a yellowish impression for all to see.

goodtimes.


Yeah, that looks like a virus.
You reunion people sound like you had a blast. Sounds like fun (I don't have any jokes to append to that, so I'm done now)

posted by Adrian   [11:28 PM]

it is now officially after texas midnight, so i can avoid posting three times in one day (a bit much even for me.)

when we last left our heroine she was thoroughly confused by the apparent lack of street signs in baltimore, but thankfully i was rescued by susan and her uncle about 10 feet away from where alex directed me to go. i got a quick driveby glimpse of susan's school and then we were off to charming old ellicott city, which is very cobblestoned and ye olde shopped. we went to a fancy french restaurant, where we had a very romantic dinner even though susan was scared that the maitre'd was in the mafia. topics of discussion over fancy cheese and filet mignon included jesus (again), similarities between jewish and korean culture, and the classification of the unidentified vegetable next to my potato torte (was it possibly a shallot, susan?) we stopped for dessert (red velvet cake, yum) and susan revealed to me her plans to take over the world (classified maxipad suite information, sorry.) then i got to see susan's dad's church (well, hers too) and a totally freaking fantastic korean soap opera. o man o man so great. i'd like to introduce you all to my new husband (susan you can have him after i die tragically of some wasting disease, or my evil stepmom kills me, or something.)

after a tearful goodbye (sort of) i spent the night in my dad's hotel room in annapolis, my head buzzing with the headiness of y'all. it is so easy to forget how wonderful you all were and are, and how much i enjoy your company, and how wonderful it is to be around interesting people. goddamn y'all rock. and i wasn't even halfway through the east coast taspers. that comes tomorrow.

i did a little research and looks like the w32.beagle.h@mm is making the rounds of our blogworld. it doesn't appear to be damaging or anything, just annoying. don't download attachments unless you know what they are.

to close this post, can i sing the praises of the best drama currently on television, the o.c.? (susan and natashia, tv watching pride, what what.) it's beyond h.q., guys. i think my favorite part of it is the vivid and incredibly accurate portrayal of the high school experience of the average californian. fox wednesdays 9/8 central. hit it love it.

posted by Kelsey   [10:34 PM]

looks like someone's got a virus. it may not be you or dr. chapelle or olga (sometimes these things use people's address books to spread) but definitely worth running a scan.

because, if you download something nasty, as someone in my household did at some point in the past, your computer will crash unexpectedly and without warning, eating an hour's worth of work on your three-weeks-late history paper. save early save often folks!

speaking of which who voted yesterday?

posted by Kelsey   [5:58 AM]

geez, tae-yeoun, the pressure...it's not like i was the only one at those reunions, man...

they were fabulous, of course. i wrote an unbearably long post about all four parts of it, but i decided that it might be more prudent to break it down into digestible chunks. so you will get the whole story over the next four days. other participants please feel free to embellish, correct, or plausibly deny my accounts.

part 1: my whirlwind tasp weekend began on thursday in baltimore, where i met alex b. despite the best attempts of san francisco weather (a thunderstorm?!??! wtf?! interroBANG!) and beltway commuters to keep us from making our rendezvous. after a hearty pancake breakfast (we discussed jesus and john edwards), alex took me on a lovely walking tour of baltimore, during which i drove him absolutely nuts with my constant architectural observations ("did you how they got that texture on that there harbor wall? here, let me tell you even though you're clearly not interested...") he showed me a fabulous book/record store and a very cool folk art museum. i think my next artistic endeavor will involve 50 foot tall windmills, somehow. or matchsticks. (next? first, more like it.) we had a hurried farewell at alex's school which is a castle, for real. gargoyles and everything. i was sad to go and even sadder when i got lost on the baltimore bus system.

tomorrow: susan, french food, korean soap operas. don't miss it.

in other, reunion-related news...although i don't think anyone was seriously challenging me, i will further extend my record of most post-tasp tasper encounters next tuesday, when aimee will arrive in san francisco for a whole week! for the record, that is one-sixth of tasp but there will be six times the hot roommate-on-roommate action...and by hot roommate-on-roommate action, i mean dirty laundry, unwashed dishes, and complete fucking squalor. hellz yeah. once again, i extend an invitation to anyone remotely in the area (jared? mónica? uhhhh...bryan?) to come join us.

in other, non-reunion-related news...after submitting my application last thursday, one day before the deadline, and completely convincing myself that i was not going to get into any college anywhere, i got a call from st. john's (santa fe) last night telling me they love me and they will offer me a sexual favor from a faculty member of my choice if i agree to enroll there (or, you know, something along those lines.) needless to say, i'm fairly excited (i hear that eva brann is pretty hot.) i'm not sure if i'm going or not - i'm waiting to hear from plan ii at ut - but odds are pretty good. i mock all of you waiting for april 1st notification dates with my rolling admissions acceptance. take that, you future ivy leaguers!

anyway, so life here is pretty good, what with aimee and st. john's and all. these things are supposed to come in threes, so i'm waiting to hear about that freak marshmallow-and-caramel hailstorm (who remembers cloudy with a chance of meatballs?)

posted by Kelsey   [11:07 PM]

olga... are you sending me an e-mail?
i recieved something with an attachment... but the hell if im dling it without knowing what it is...

posted by Bryan Lee   [8:58 PM]

Yes, Kelsey, we are waiting to hear about the reunions.

posted by Tae-Yeoun Keum   [7:39 AM]

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