TASP 2003 at UT Austin:
The Mystery of Creativity |
Friday, April 30, 2004
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JARED!Wednesday, April 28, 2004
(sorry, I was home for like one and a half hours yesterday when it was really your birthday in my time zone and couldn't get around to posting)
Happy Birthday Aimee!
I can't exactly see you smoking or buying (ahem) porn for that matter but I hope you have a great day. On this special day, I have to come clean --I invented all that stuff about environmental disaster in Holland, hoping the environmental argument would go far with the former Deaniacs among us. More seriously, since I've never smoked pot I can't speak omnisciently on it but I avoid all drugs (caffeine excluded) largely out of a sense of christian morality that stresses the importance of rationality over lust, emotion, and anything that inhibits one's self-control. Anyone who found that previous sentence lacking should read Augustine's Confessions (Sheed translation), where the idea of a rational, self-denying moral system is laid out in majestic rhetoric. As for the ultimate question, whether or not marijuanabition is in the common good or not is beyond me.
I have started the Bros. Karamazov and hope others have already read it or will, so it can be seminarized.
The Unbearable Whiteness of Skiing. Thank you Brian. Bennington is a great school, with a great Drama program as well. And I think I speak for everyone when I say that is possiably the least funny, and yet most brilliantly crafted pun we have ever heard. Or maybe I just speak for me. Eitherway, thanks, and congrats.Tuesday, April 27, 2004
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AIMEE!Saturday, April 24, 2004
Holt County by MatthewFriday, April 23, 2004
Thank you, Kelsey.Thursday, April 22, 2004
Heyyy someone updated the calendars! Thank you!!!
Matthew, your post leaves the aftertaste of sarcasm. Or maybe just b.s. My first impulse was a "w. the f. is matthew making up?" but them I remembered that the last time I felt that way about a story-(when kelsey told me about how her teacher had gone to cambodia to visit his boyfriend and gotten stuck in jail after being accused of involvedment in a cambodian child pornography ring) the story turned out to be true. So I have decided to suspend my disbelief.
that aside,
My stand on marijuana is much like my view of abortion- I don't like it, but nor do I assume the position to deny anyone their own decision. Speaking for the drug, its legalization has its pluses.
first, though physically marijuana is not addictive, it still poses as a gateway drug in many senses because marijuana acquisition is often cause for a person's first interactions with drug dealers. With such shady acquaintances, other harsher drugs are more easily acquired, and kind of more familiar. And breaking the law to acquire the drugs is no longer a large event- it's already been done to acquire the marijuana. Its not unlike the disregard for the law that stemmed from Prohibition.
second, the U.S. govt. itself would gain much from legalizing marijuana- millions of dollars in tax revenue- The taxes could be obscene and still render marijuana at a cheaper price. And money wouldn't be spent on catching growers.
third, the hemp plant has incredible practical uses. I'm sure you've all heard about how the Dec. of Ind. was written on hemp paper. Well, hemp makes stronger material than cotton, better paper than paper, and about a million other things that i've all forgotten but aren't taken advantage of because of the incredibly high tax on growing hemp (marijuana plants with ultra low levels of THC). The tax, I think, is in part because of the expensive and tedious examinations to check and make sure that the hemp plants are indeed hemp, and not their more potent relatives.
I did hear this last part from a less than reliable website, though- perhaps it is true, perhaps not.
Anyhow, these are just a few of the many arguments for marijuana legalization.
So far as my personal stance on it- no, i do not think it is wrong, whatever "wrong" means anyways. Nonetheless, something about the whole business stinks. Here, there exists a distinct stoner personality- bland, bored, boring. Marijuana kills motivation- it seems to me that this is what reduces people who smoke to the 'stoner' type. My stoner friends argue that if marijuana quenches motivation, it is only because it great enough to leave one satisfied and unwanting. Still, something reeks of the whole business. What is higher virtue than motivation?
Teehee, my dad and I were listening to Peter Paul and Mary today and my dad told me that Puff's "land called Honalee" is none other than Hanalei, Maui. makes sense.
As for Marijuana, I'd just like to say that Zoroaster (the guy who started Zoroastrianism, a major Asian religion once boasting a hundred million followers) had a list of medicinal herbs. Of the 1000 or so on the list, MJ was number one. Also, the first 10 presidents of the US all are documented as having smoked/grown it, and it was a staple in the whitehouse garden up until after the civil war. George Washington even contributed articles to farmers magazines about how to grow it better, and how to cross-breed it with an Australian strain. Not to say I've ever partaken, I haven't. But it should be legal nonetheless.Wednesday, April 21, 2004
But I'm really posting about Zionism. I wrote this long, detailed, and annotated post about Zionism when it first came up for discussion. My computer ate it, and I haven't had a chance to devote that much time to it again. I'll try to make this post as good.
First, Zionism was first coined as a term by a evangelical Christian preacher in the 1830s. He, claiming divine interpretation of the books of Mark and John, had seen the light about how to bring forth the coming Rapture. Seeing the imminent Civil War as a major sign from Revelations, the one thing that he knew needed to happen before the Apocalypse was that the Temple in Israel needed to be rebuilt. He coined the term Zionism (returning to Zion, Israel) to describe his idea that America should, as a Christian nation, move Jews, preferably all Jews, to Israel, so they can rebuild the temple. Then jesus can come again. His movement caught some force, especially as the Ottoman empire was in the midst of collapse, and Jews were flooding to America from the anti-Jewish tsarist Russia. By the time he died in the 1870s he had created a strong following that believed it was their job to "help Jesus return" by facilitating the rebirth of the Temple. There was already a movement in Europe at the time, among Jews, to have a mass migration and create a new Jewish state. The main two places considered were Argentina and the United States. Large numbers did move to both places, and of course some talked about creating a state in Palestine, old Israel, as they had for centuries and centuries.
The first time Zionism hit the world stage it was with the ultra-racist Woodrow Wilson (for an interesting look at Christian Racist Zionism look up Pat Robertson's view of it. He subscribes to the rebuilding the Temple view, scarily, so does G.W.). He bought into the whole rebuilding the temple thing, and after World War I, the creation of a new Israel was one of his goals in the peace deals. At that point the Jewish population in Palestine was about 10% (http://www.wrmea.com/html/focus.htm). It had been about 5% for the last several hundred years, but the Zionist movement was beginning in earnest. The 5% Jews had not been persecuted by the Palestinians because the Ottoman empire, a Islamic Empire, was one of the most Religiously tolerant Empires ever. Jews and Arabs had been living side by side for centuries, with Zoroastrians and even a few African Christians.
Of course, World War II changed everything, and a hundred thousand Jews were relocated to Israel after the war. This changed things drastically; the tentative balance of power between he British, the Zionists, and the Palestinians that were more and more becoming a subjugated class, was overturned. The Israeli government did not recognize the legal rights of non Jews in Israel (reason #1 why Zionism is racist). Israel also took the initiative to cut off Palestinian access to all fresh water lakes, rivers and streams, tantamount to putting the Palestinian state into a desert with no water. When Palestinian Natives tried to fight for their rights as land owners, they were placed into concentration camps outside the cities, many of which grew into the slums that sponsor terrorism to this day. Israel claimed to the UN that it was only following the precedent of the US and it's treatment of Blacks / Japanese. Israel was later held in violation of something like 80 UN resolutions, or about 5 times as many as Iraq ever violated.
The main reason that Zionism is inherently racist is because it presupposes Jewish rights to the land. Olga, you claimed that Zionism cannot be racist against Palestinians because they are not a race, this is a misconception about what racism is. Racism is generally a belief that one race is Superior to another. Zionism holds that, for whatever reason, Jews have more right to a strip of land than other groups. This belief to me cannot be anything but racist. If a White European claimed that he had an Inherent right to America because of Columbus, that would be racist. Land does not inherently belong to anyone.
This is all history, however. None of it matters too much in practice. Deep down Olga is about as pro-Palestine as I am. We both want the fighting to stop, and we both agree that the PLO and the Israeli government are fighting in the wrong directions. Suicide bombings are atrocious, and the fact that Israel has killed literally Ten Times as many civilians as the suicide bombings, through missiles and mortars, is even worse. Deep down I most be a socialist, because I am positive that if everyone in Palestine/Israel was given equal access to food, housing, water, and work, there would be no more fighting. People with something to lose do not become revolutionaries.
While I'd love to jump into the discussion, I have to read everyone's input for the arguments first. So, before I say anything, try this: Put a bar of ivory soap--I don't know if it works with other kinds of soap, you can try it, but at your own risk--into the microwave and heat for around 45-55 seconds. Happy Physics!
There are several arguments for and against legalizing marijuana but few stop to examine the environmental impact of marijuana. Environmental problems often come from unexpected places. In Canada belching and flaggelation by the tens of thousands of Canadian cattle have been found to emitting dangerous levels of methane (620,000 tons) that is actually depleting the ozone layer (skeptics should consult this week's US News &WR).
In the same way smoking the weed has been found in the Netherlands to cause harmful emissions of a chemical called MTE, which is found in flame retardents. This chemical interferes with the abilities of plants to photosynthesize and was documented in having devestating effects on the ancient elms in Amsterdam, of which only a few remain. This actually led to a crisis in the tulip industry. At first few knew why tulips yields were declining until high amounts of MTE were found in them. Farmers used even more fertilizer to meet their quotas. These chemicals seeped into the high Dutch water table, leading to massive die offs of birds and fish in the coastal area. Luckily, MTE has not yet been shown to cause cancer in humans.
When one adds this to the fact that a legal marijuana trade would put even more acres of of fragile rainforest and unspoiled earth under the plow the environmental consequences become frighteningly apparent.
On Israel,
Sharon has been assassinating Hamas leaders for much the same reason he has been building a wall, he wants to handicap the terrorists in his nation. After several failed peace negotiations Sharon actually doesn't believe peace is possible (an opinion not surprising considering the conflict's history) instead he has stated he is striving for a manageable war wherein Israeli and Palestinian civilians will be protected (mostly the israeli ones of course).
And whatnot,
matthew
indeed it is - and in the spirit of the "holy day," might we have a small discussion on the topic of marijuana legalization? i'll take neither side, to start with, because i'm crap at beginning things. alex?Tuesday, April 20, 2004
No, Alex, for the record - as long as the record isn't my mother's - I didn't run into ANY trash cans EVER. I did run straight into the back of another car, even though I had to tell my mom it was a trash can. I took the exam last month without really knowing how to drive because it's the Philippines and I don't have to do a road test and still I failed it. It is a sad, sad story my friends will never stop teasing my about.Monday, April 19, 2004
But, just because I failed the written exam, I get to make fun of it. Some of my favorite [actual!] questions:
"Getting a driver's license is
(a) a right
(b) a privilege
(c) an honor"
"When caught driving under the influence of alcohol, the penalty is
(a) P2,500
(b) P25,000
(c) P25,000 and a one-year term in prison"
"When driving down a highway, you see produce being dried on the road. What should you do?
(a) drive slowly and go around the produce
(b) run over the produce
(c) stop and confront the sellers"
"When you feel drowsy while driving, you should
(a) pull over at the nearest stop and take a short nap
(b) panic and hit the brakes
(c) take marijuana" (<-- this one my friend told me about, I didn't actually see this question on the test I took)
What happens on 4/20?
I'm in the library trying to motivate myself to start studying for my IB exams. But as all my exams - except Art, which is next week - are ALL crammed into the FIRST week of May, I really don't see any point. Misery.
How was everyone’s break?Sunday, April 18, 2004
I went to Atlantis, got really tanned, and met a very nice English girl named Emma.
Olga, tell the dude who wanted a 'white' cultural club that he'd probably have better luck if he called it "European Heritage Club" or something more pc.
Everything has to be pc. It is the hub, remember that.
Matt and John, I kinda want to say "I'd love to see you two together," but I have, and I don't think you came to blows. It'd've been funny though.
(It'd've: It would have, and yes, I talk out loud as I type)
As I told Olga, I'm not the biggest fan of Zionism.
Though I don't have time to write it out in full, here's a great and partly relevant story... I was talking to this girl Le'or (that's how it sounded at least: Lee ORE ) from Seattle, while on vacation. We got in this huge argument about US foreign policy and imperialism and then religion and then foreign policy again. Y'see, she had only lived in Seattle for three years, the rest she'd spent in Israel.
What does everyone think of the assassination of the dude from Hamas? Im rather pissed that the US won't condemn this sort of thing. Israel doesn’t want peace, they want peace on their terms, and that's not what negotiation is about. If the US wasn't backing, the Israelis wouldn't be half as bold as they are. Stupid George, I can't stand that man.
On the note of the middle east, Spain has pulled out. I hope more of the Europeans follow suit. Our death count (Amerkans that is) is only like 700-something for the whole endeavor, so not all that many hearts have been broken, but, but, I say this shouldn't be happening at all. No one knows how many Iraqis have been killed?
...
Adam, your mom's' funny as hell. I think all parents do that "you are bad but try and be a good example" thing. Right now, mine are petitioning me to wear underwear. It's getting pretty rough. I get the opposite about mingling with the white folks though. We were in Nassau over break and one of the condo sales men hollered at some random girl from the street to talk to me (part of a complex effort to get my parents to listen to a time-share presentation) and I didn't talk to her all that long. Thereafter, every time I talked to anyone at the resort my mom was like "O, so you didn't talk to that pretty little Bahamian girl but you're all over the white girls." Among us darkies, I'm pretty sure there's a social stigma attached to assimilation and such, so yeah, it's the opposite motivation of you're mother's talk, but motion towards the same ends and through similar methods. ha.
As far as the dressing and acting right, its not just your mom.
John, I visited your website. It is brightly colored, and if anything I must commend your enthusiasm. Politically, I know I will always vote in favor of whichever politician is friendliest to the environment. That for me is the simplest and most accurate indicator. Good luck, and "make a difference in the South Dakota special election June 1." ...idunno, I read a little about the fire fighters too. noble stuff.
Well, if you'll all excuse me, I put off a research paper for six months (me so smart), and if I don't analyze the data statistically and write all tonight, I don't compete this summer.
Congratulations to all y'all about colleges. Alex - I can see you at Yale, strangely enough. And the Plan IIers, what fond memories Austin has... but if you end up at Alpha (delta?) Pi... I'm just gonna walk in one day and be like, don't worry, i used to live here...Friday, April 16, 2004
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMIE!Wednesday, April 14, 2004
(i hope it's his birthday)
there's a special kind of sore-throat-ache that you only get after watching your team win a baseball game: raw on the sides and buffeted by waves of stinging garlic-fry breath, compounded by a headache from your own cheering bouncing around the inside of your skull. went to my first giants game of the 2004 season last night. in the seventh inning barry bonds came up. the pitch was a song, the swing a painting, the flight a poem - the man is a maestro, and he's done it 661 times. y'all are philistines, i say.
lucky enough for me, i happen to have chosen a college that is not only home to an extremely decent division i baseball team but also a two hour drive away from a national league city. yes, folks, i will be joining tara and matthew this fall at ut. this means that a full 2% of the plan II class of 2008 will be taspers - austin better watch out. from texas, the professors send their love and their continued reluctance to blog...i think the prescription is more badgering. drs chapelle and randall, we want to hear from you! for real!
music, john: i didn't think anything could be better than my jefferson starship/corey hart mixtape (side one: we built this city, repeated 6 times; side two: sunglasses at night, repeated 8 times), but i found musical nirvana for $7.99 at a truck stop in oklahoma. blondie and pat benatar greatest hits - five tracks of debbie harry back to back with five pat benatar classics. freakin genius.
not really about music, but if you still got the hookups at blockbuster, i have a movie recommendation. quentin tarantino was on american idol tonight, which reminded me of a quote of his - "when i'm getting serious about a girl, i show her rio bravo and she better fucking like it." thinking of instituting the same policy. good stuff.
oxygen bars were hot in san francisco during the dotcom boom. i think they've all been replaced with beauty salon bars now, or something. santa clara is about as far from san francisco as santa rosa is, but in the other direction. come visit me natashia - you should see the city! don't bring your friend, though. i can't stand hippies. aimee, what was wrong with my school?
as you all know, i aspired to be the gossip queen of tasp, and me and my friends are like the reuters bureau of lick-wilmerding high school, and so it's killing me to not know where y'all are going to college. alex b., jared, brian, let's hear it! tell, or i'll...organize a reunion without you. or something.
in conclusion, hook 'em horns!
One more side note. I've been doing all this work for John Kerry Omaha, and one of the things I did was build us a website. Well, a blog to be exact. www.johnkerryomaha.blogspot.com is the adress. I "built" it, but you may find it has some similarities to other blogs we've all seen.Sunday, April 11, 2004
If I accepted your bet I'd be short $20, John, and I've gotta rent a tux for prom.Saturday, April 10, 2004
Keep believing,
Matthew
I think that you are right, Adam; but as far as the asian perspective of racism, I hardly believe that racism is the same of nationality. But then... I suppose... where is the line between racism and nationality? Is nationality being proud of one's background while racism is believing your background is better?
Did anyone catch "My life translated" on mtv? Suchin pak hosts it and I think it is relevant to our discussiong. It talked about how crazy asians are ^_^. Well basically it talked about the eye thing ( you know what I mean dammit) and how alot of asians get eye surgery to get like a fold on the eyelid thus making the opening bigger. Their excuses? "we just want to fit it," "we are just adapting to western culture," "I didn't want to be picked on." I was like ewww. I dragged my mom in to watch and she was like " you should get it done! I want to." She went on to say that "vietnamese people believe your soul is in your eyes. DOn't you watn your eyes to be beautiful?" haha after the girl on the show had surgery, my mom went on to say "See she looks better. Now she just needs to work on that baby fat..."
I thought it was kinda crazy I mean I rather like the eyes thing (i.e. ^_^ ). To all you koreans, my mom also said that chinese eyes are better that korean eyes haha even my mom is helping to spark racial tensions. Then again, she also said "Men don't need to be pretty, they need to be big strong and smart. Girls don't need to be smart, they just need to be pretty. (so I guess all of you female taspers are going overkilling it ^_^). To conclude, my mom suggested koreans should marry white folkso that their offspring will have nice eyes. (Susan tae-youn and bryan I assure you that my mom is not racist-she's just a little old fashioned your parents are like that right? I won't begin to talk about our discussion about gay marriage...)
Oh and another thing, I want to make an interesting example of my mom. She said "Sum jiy (me) we are in another people's country. They look down on us, and we must hold ou rselves up hey to be respectable. You must be polite, a good tipper, good dresser, etc. If you embarass yourself, you embarass all asians." It's kind of funny that everything children are against the parents endorse rather readily.It's not just my mom right?
olga-
yes, 'full-blooded' hawaiians exist, but they are rare.
The blood quantum thing is pretty poorly defined right now- The limit is 50% to be eligible for Hawaiian Homelands (free or greatly discounted land from the gov.) but I think the hawaiian delegate was arguing for 1/32 to be sufficient.
Selon surveys, something like 10 in 11 hawaiians disapprove of the idea of blood quantum in general- a drop is enough. But then again, when the surveys are broken down, the voting varies with the popuations poled, e.g. the full or nearly full hawaiians think there should be a higher blood quantum, those who are but 5% cry No NO! No blood quantum by ethical principle!
It is all very confusing and very silly. To me it's racist. (though i'd get beaten with a stick here for saying it)
As for your other post- i agree- we underestimate our differences. When I went to school with Kelsey i was shocked the moon to see all of the crraaaaazy san francisco-ans co-learning in a manner quite unlike ours here. Just somehting to keep in mind when postulating arguments- My "It's like when..." or "You know how.." statements aren't quite as relevant as I assume them to be.. :0)
and sooorry about never being there on aim- when my mom signs on to Microsoft outlook AIM automatically connects, i haven't yet figured out how to change the settings so that this doesnt occur...
mwah.
Hey Eunice I tried to reach you by phone but In case you get this...I'll be in boston at noon tomorrow the cell is 1-413-330-4291. Call me as soon as you arrive ^_^ bye
Matt, matt, matt, I can't let you get away with that one. Saying free-trade policies are good for immigration and "immigrants" is like saying that the first true people to encourage american immigrations where the ones who kidnapped slaves off the west african coast. There is a big difference between what is good for "immigration" (the influx of people and cultures) and "immigrants" (the equal opportunities to the american dream, ending racism and discrimintion, fighting stereotypes). Granted, I do usually overlook how amazingly racist a lot of Democratic constituents seem to be the so called "blue color worker." Btw, when did "anti-zionist" become become racism? Zionism, as I get pelted with D batteries by the many jews who read this blog, seems to me to be inherantly racist itself. Anyway, I would say the point I mostly disagree with you on is that you say neither major party is anti-immigrant, and ulitmatley I think both are. Though, in policy on the hill, I would bet 20 bucks that Democrats are better for immigrants by a long shot.
This post is comming out angry sounding, possiably because I just got back from 3 hours of canvassing for John Kerry. Everytime someone laughs at me when I ask them if they would like to register to vote, I lose a little more faith in democracy.
As for the funky red dictionary, I have two. The first has my name spelled wrong "Richard Oxens-Reams" the second is right, but I'm thinking about telling me they gor it wrong again, because they're nice dictionaries. And no, not UNL this next year, instead it's little sister, UNO. Even worse. But this is only until next fall when I reaply to deep springs.
And on an even lighter note, me and a few friends set out to drive to O'neal for St. Patty's day but our car sorta broke down 30 miles out of lincoln, and I ended up in Aurora the whole weekend! And stay tuned, I will be anouncing the route and dates for my cross country roadtrip soon, and I'm sure O'Nealwill be on it.
John,Thursday, April 08, 2004
I found your comment on hispanic demonization in right-wing politics to be provacative and partially correct. However, I think politically expressed racism could better be attributed to populist movements in both parties. Take for example, Tom Tancredo(R-CO) who spoke every day on the House floor against immigration even thought he's not from a border state, essentially Tancredo is the right-winger you identified and he expressing sentiments popular in his region, yet these sentiments are equally, if not more prevalent in blue-collar (read populist) Democrats represented by unions. The truth is neither major political party is anti-immigrant, though they both contain nativist populist elements. Business interests in the Republican party are highly favorable to immigration and to the free-trade policies that stand the best chance of remedying the North American problem of imimgration. Republican hispanic congressmen like Mario Diaz-Balart are gaining power and influence beyond their Cuban-American base.
Just as there are racist right-wingers there are racist left-wingers, notably the incredibly anti-semitic and anti-zionist Lyndon LaRouche.
Also, John, I saw UNL sent you one of those funky red dictionaries. Where are you headed to school (not UNL I hope).
in the spirit of "the Good Life",
Matthew
I heard once that a college student on a mission to get out to warmer weather did his senior thesis on racial mixing, and was accordingly shipped out to Hawaii to study the asian popul
ation.
But in all seriousness though, while the AA racial lines have melted, there are other problems- One thats been troubling me recently is the whole Native Hawaiian Sovereignty thing. For those unfamiliar with the general politics of the thing..
back in The Day when Hawaii was taken over by the U.S., it was taken unfairly and, following the sort of international policies we have now, illegally. The loving and passive hawaiian culture was not armed to deal with Western land ownership, trading, aggression, etc, and soon the majority of the islands' wealth was passed to the white people.
Now there is talk of a sort of state within the state thing- much like American Indian reservations.
The problem: what are they now trying to protect? Now 'hawaiian' is defined solely by race- blood percentage. It seems to me that in order to find the means to protect/stand up for their culture within the western system, the Hawaiians have neccessarily lost the very culture/way of life/ohana that needed safeguard.
Is this a pattern?
enjoy yourselves- and matthew, good to hear from you
p.s. alex B, Tae-yeoun, Tara, Brian, and all ye others that have not given definitive answers on colleges- where do you folks expect to end up geographically?
To the central idea:
In going back in the posts and looking at the discussion of Asian-American stereotypes, I have to things that will hopefully add, not echo. First, my only interaction with Asian-Americans before TASP was in washington dc. I think it is significant to point out that there are only two Asian-american senators, both from Hawaii. Beyond them, the highest ranking AA is Elaine Chao, secretary of labor. When one considers the documented success of AAs in universities and the marketplace it is clear that some sort of barriers continue to bar them from the political realm. It seems that many AAs are perceived as smart and ambitious, but not as successful, charismatic leaders and as such they have been restricted to doing valuable work for white people, there is a sad correlation here to antebellum house slaves.
From another angle, my small town (3500) has no Asian-Americans whatsoever. There are three kids from nigeria in our school and a handful of Latinos, hence race is not much of a factor in scholastic life. Despite this we have stereotypes. Most notable are the family stereotypes. McCabes are bad news, Segers are hard workers, Loutzenheisers must be musical. These stereotypes have persisted for generations and remain axiomatic and orthodox. In my community you can see a young child and from his features instantly know his family and instantly that person is judged. Additionally, Lutherans seen as more academic and industrious, catholics, less of both, yet often more powerful in my Irish town (O'Neill). Even when people find no other races to sterotype, prejudices persist.
Sincerely,
Matthew
Hey, hey, hey, hey,Wednesday, April 07, 2004
First I'd like to apologize for not being apostate in my communication. This is a real problem of mine, but I've taken the first step. First I'd like to Kelsey for throwing me a lifeline when she called me this weekend, now the scoop: I've been doing lots of high school stuff, went to state speech, got low marks in math, listened to a lot of country music, used the word "lot" a lot. I've also been wait listed by Princeton and Georgetown but accepted to Yale, well, what Yale is an expensive imitation of -yes, watch out Texas, Nebraska is coming. OK, I'll type no more; I'm eager to read your posts.
Sincerely,
Matthew
Hi from a Euniceless Taiwan. *sad* I'll have to ask my friend in Thailand for oxygen flavor recommendations, but as for music I've been indulging in Elliott Smith songs. (Between the Bars of course, Miss Misery, Ballad of Big Nothing are the first three that come to my mind.) And, Natashia, you're very welcome. ;) Also, I've finally gotten around to reading The Tin Drum (Gunter Grass) and it's absolutely beautiful. Something about it reminds me of Midnight's Children in a East European way.
Can anyone remember if Jamie's birthday was on the 16th or the 26th?
So apparently there are oxygen bars in colorado... denver and boulder, specifically - but there are some age legal issues involved or something ( % <== confused face). Of course, why should I be surprised...? Boulder is the goddamn hippie-ville (I don't like boulderites, sorry :P). Btw Adam, there will be several of us in Boston during the weekend of April 26 (25?)...
omg eunice you're coming to boston! that's too sick...gimme a call sometime and let me know like when you're arriving and stuff like that. I believe you have my number it's (413)732-9193. My friends and I have been meaning to go up but we were unsure about the date...maybe I can swing the 11th? And you'd better bring you're straw hat ^_^ On a side note I apologize if I was rude to you earlier, it's been one of those days, weeks, months years...
I'm visiting Harvard and MIT on April 11-12 (I have another recital on the 25th). If anyone would be willing to join me , I would be insanely happy.Tuesday, April 06, 2004
As for flavors of oxygen, I think that started somewhere in Asia a few years ago, but it hasn't hit the northern midwest quite yet. What flavors are there? Hippies too? Natashia, your life is so much more interesting than mine...
I have been looking for a copy of Silvio Roderiguez's "La Masa" for the longest time. If any of you have it, or find it, please tell me where it is/how to get it.
More later--as puerile as this claim is--I have to go do my homework.
Does Anyone have a phone number for Jamie? He hasn't answered any emails, or even my snail mail, and I still havn't found out what happend to my cds that he picked up when I left em behind. I'm convinced he loved my musical taste so much that he won't relinquish them on purpose.Monday, April 05, 2004
Which brings me to my question, just a little one really, what is the best piece of music that you've been listening to lately? I'm going to third the DJ Danger Mouse Grey Albumn suggestion that came up a bit ago.
I have been away from the machine for a week. I missed you all so much. I really (now) recognize how much I like this blog.Saturday, April 03, 2004
Brian, as I believe I've said to you before, you are linguistically accurate person that I know. I agree with the following:
"I think this highlights an important side of racism, which is that one of its primary fuels is that the different racial groups are in competition for a limited supply of the American dream." and admire how it was phrased. As for "I think if we could, as a nation, snuff out this mentality, the remnants of racism might die within the next few generations," I believe that our current brand would definitely be forced out of the mainstream, the general tendency for humans to judge based on superficial anatomical characteristics will probably never die (though it will probably be socially suppressed in the ideal future).
Tae Yeoun, while it is often the case that hybrid children will adopt the culture of the parent of a 'dominant' background, this is not always the case. I know of several people who A) select the non-dominant culture because there are empowering stereotypes associated with that identity and embracing those stereotypes allows the individual to compensate for, or ignore other identity issues, or B) select a 'neither' category. I believe the 'neither-choice' segment of the population must reach a critical mass (inclined individuals) before individuals who chose that route are able to socially aggregate and remain socially well adapted, but what do I know. Such is what I think.
On the issue of college, I don't know about the rest of you all, but I've had a dream shattered. So I got this community scholarship to U of Chicago for tuition, and while I was happy I was not thrilled. I really wanted to go to Yale, right? so I wait a few days, and hear from like seven schools, only being waitlisted for Stanford (I have a C in Trig and a few B's in math) but such is life. I had narrowed my decision down to either Wash U (40g renewable) and Chicago (offering tuition) when the bit fat envelope from Yale came. I was coming home at about 7:30 from Marine Mammals, where I'll be doing secondary animal husbandry for like 16 weeks, and my dad hands me the large parcel. Time began to slow. I was so excited to open this beautiful blue folder and read the letter therein. It was all so wonderful, it was like winning the lotto on christmas and getting laid. I was accepted, and was honestly happy for about 30 seconds -a rare thing for me.
then I looked at the financial envelope, and put my head down on the table.
...they expect my family to contribute $32,322 for the first year, and more and more over the next four and four.
My family can't do it, so I can't go.
I had about seven shots of rum and went to bed.
Alex, If you are in Chicago, you can stay in our house should you be inclined to visit. There is a bed on the third floor, and we can hang, yo. We can visit the aquarium and talk at the animals. I will probably be with you at U of C, it'll be nice.
April 2 2004: Adam Giang receives a letter from Harvard University. He opens it furiously and reads it, and smiles. "Alright!" he says. "I'm the first Tasper to get rejected from Harvard!"
As April fools day was the decision deadline for many ivy league schools, it was also the date of the Adam Giang reject-a-thon. Sadly I won't be joining you guys at harvard T_T However, I did get a rather generous offer from Boston University and I think I'll be going there. We can still check out boston together? Or will the jeenyuses of Harvard turn up their noses :p
Btw I'm planning a visit to boston on the 16th if anyone is interested....Oh and kelsie you get to see austin again! I miss the whole city and the house and the people like you woudn't believe. I took pictures of the empty house and it is SSSSOOOO depressing. Be sure to hit up key points, like me and alex's room, the ejaculatorium, and what not...Anyway I really hope to see you guys in the fall
What a week! To divert but not break the chain of celebratory talk, I'd like to announce that my IB Art CWB is completely done (no more IB internals!!!) and my exhibition is ready to go up the day I get back from spring break. TASPer attendance would be nice... *hint*
However - although I'm not directly affected by this - our very difficult-to-understand superintendent suddenly recommended that works one "wouldn't want a six-year old elementary school student to see" be excluded from the exhibition. Considering many IB students work - for two years - with themes that are controversial by nature, this announcement came as a surprise to us. We sort of rushed through the 'Creativity and Politics' week at TASP, but I thought the issue was relevant. What do you think? Given that our exhibitions will be on school property, and will be open in a space theoretically shared by the entire kindergarten-to-grade-12 school, can the superintendent validly censor the IB Year 2 exhibit?
I know I just raised a new question when there are so many questions hanging open. So, because I have no sense of direction, I'd just like to start by saying the insights shared over the past two weeks or so were very, very thought provoking. I suppose it's a bit late now to try and remember everything I did think about, but now that neuroscience has been brought up, I thought this study (Yale 2000; detecting racism using brain imaging techniques) mentioned in this article (scroll down to the 5th and 6th paragraphs - this was the best I could do, sorry) was worth looking at.
To pitch in my opinion to Alex's question on how much race contributes to identity, I think race (skin pigmentation) does set some basic parameters to the first impressions a person may give off, but the way those impressions are revised deal more with culture than race itself. As we grow older and develop more grounded philosophies, the culture that influences you through, say, your parents, really begins to come out - and that's how the race you share with your parents correlates to (doesn't directly influence) parts of the culture you begin to share with them as well.
Adrian brought up hybrid kids in his last post, and I think they're a particularly interesting case to consider in our race-identity question. What I noticed in our school was that, when someone is a hybrid of two races, the culture he identifies with is the one that correlates to the more 'dominant' of the two cultures. Dominant in the sense that the culture itself is more highly valued than the other - 'American' culture, for example, because, believe it or not, it's taken over the world when it's not even clear what American culture exactly is. To cite a weak example to illustrate what I'm trying to get at, a British-Filipino classmate of mine speaks with a bit of a British accent even though he's never actually lived in the UK, an Irish-Indonesian girl in my English class hangs out with the European kids, and, so on. And I don't think the value attributed to individual cultures has that much to do with politics, because if you look at the way the kids in our schools segregate themselves - the Chinese and the Taiwanese are one solid group, and if you mention Kashmir to the inseperable Pakistanis and Indians in the South Asian group they give you a cold look and tell you it's complicated.
Anyway. Obviously, I've been talking too much. Brian, I thought there was so much to each character (I personally could relate so strongly to Franz and Tereza) in Unbearable Lightness, so I was somewhat surprised you didn't like the characterization. But I have to go and burn the copies I've kept of my college apps, now that they're done losing my forms.
In a wicked twist of irony, I recieved my rejection letter from Deep Springs less than a half hour after posting. So, sad. Jacob, you are the last tasper chance at DeepSpringsdom, good luck if you havn't heard already. If anyone needs me I'll be in omaha, for a while.Friday, April 02, 2004
Yay for neuroscience!!! I'd love to study that in college. Since I'm on the topic, I'll say that I'm leaning towards Harvard right now...but Cornell (aimee!) and Stanford are up there too. Where is everyone else going?
Kelsey, I'd try to pass myself off as an adpi alumn( ?)(ae?)(a?). Enter, and when they ask you what you're doing there, glance at the portraits and give the first name you see...
I still don't know if I am into Deep Springs! And presumably nither does Jacob. WTFOMGBBQ! (Shout Out To Kelsey).
That's my frustration for the day. They don't have to tell us until April 15th, so it feels like I may never know.
To end with a question: But why would I even want to go to a school too stupid to admit all Austin Taspers that apply! (?)
I FORGOT TO CLOSE MY PARENTHESIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!!! (the one after 'me'-- i hate forgetting that...)
I'm reading guys! (i'm just not posting all too often)Thursday, April 01, 2004
anyhow, kels, say hi to texas for me (and get an extra Amy's (aimee's**) ice cream for me.
college-wise, not %100 sure, but thinking cornell. Anyone plan to join me?
wow, somehow our blog discussion has managed to segway exactly into the topic for this summer's tasp in austin...
to completely break the flow of conversation, i will be in austin next week. i'm going to get together with our loverly professors (or, as matthew would say, profesoras) and me and my mother may or may not be planning a stealth mission to the adpi house. does anyone have any special requests from deep in the heart of texas?
and where are all y'all going to college, huh? we can't start planning our tasp-wide reunion until we know where everyone will be in the fall...
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