omg, I’m addicted to the song from this movie. Does anyone know who it’s by? I know the title, but can’t seem to find it anywhere! ARGH!

Hmm, everyone seems to be providing a recap of the year, and while I know I should do that, I’m too lazy to do so at the moment considering my inebriated state. That said, I thought I’d leave you all with a few of my favorite videos that always seemed to brighten my day, and hopefully your’s too! Here’s to a wonderful new year filled with love, luck, and of course, laughter!

stars in the making!

peach plum pear! nananananana

and last, but certainly not least…

MONEY! MONEY!

HAPPY 2007 EVERYONE!

Rosie’s words have sparked some debate between myself and David, a fellow Xangan. If you have a moment, I encourage you to read through it, despite its length. Race is a highly volatile issue in our society and we must engage one another in such dialogues.

David:
hahah. i’m not saying communities DON’T exist. I’m saying that they
should not. I’m saying there is no NEED for a community. I’m saying
that individuals make up communities. Thus, if you respect the rights
of the individual, then you inherently respect the rights of the
community. There is no need to protect the collective, the “public
good”, or the “community” if you protect individual rights. That is a
fact.

Do you actually believe that all the shouting and fuss
that african americans have been making about every single “n-word”
comment and racist remark made by a public figure has done ANYTHING for
their “community”? What has it gained them? They are no longer fighting
for equal rights. They are legally equal and have the same
opportunities, yet they continue to demand special treatment. That they
somehow are too weak-minded to sustain VERBAL blows to their psyche and
self-esteem? Is this the state and model that you want to follow?

eliminate
the ignorance through example. THROUGH ACTION. Not by whining and
saying you’re easily offended by every racist comment that is made.
That saying “CHING CHONG” is somehow really offensive and hurts the
very fabric of how we define ourselves. That is ridiculous. Are you
afraid to live as an individual and show that no matter what words are
thrown at us, we will still prevail? Are you too afraid to rely on your
own individual effort to show your true character? Must you make a huge
collective advertising effort to shout to the masses, “WE ARE
INDIVIDUALS!”, when every way you behave is like a collective….saying
“WE ARE THE SAME!”. If you want to be treated as an individual, then
act like one. Do not define yourself by your race or be offended by any
comments towards your race. Prove to them that none of it matters.
Passive? Meek? Pshhh. I rather seem passive and successful, than a
sensitive whiner that depends on others for my own happiness and
success. If to be a “whining minority” is what you seek, and believe
this is the source of respect…than you are severly mistaken.

Respect
must be earned on an individual basis, by the actions and merit of your
character. Not by how much your race bonds together and demands it by
the volume of their shouting.

my response:
I think you’re the shining example of everything that the hegemonic majority wants: you are the perfect model minority. You’ve bought into America’s ideal of pulling oneself up by one’s bootstraps and not looking at the context of one’s circumstances. Here’s a newsflash, people start off at differing educational and socio-economic levels. Were you born here? Were your parents born here? Was English your first language? Are you the first in your family to go to college? What socio-economic level do you come from? What educational background do your parents possess? These are the questions that you need to take into consideration before making broad sweeping statements that discount the contributions and significance of communities because for a large part of the immigrant community, many parents don’t speak English whatsoever, kids have to deal with a generational gap in addition to dealing with the language barrier, and so on. While these are not excuses as to why an individual can’t succeed on his or her own, they are valid justifications for the existence of communities. I won’t presume your background, but I do think you speak from a very priviledged position that many do not have the luxury of speaking from, and while that may be a testament to your work ethic, it could also be that you had more resources available to you than others. Regardless, communities serve a very important role, and an individual’s support of them does not mean that they have thrown away their own individual identity in exchange for the collective one; that’s such a binary way of looking at things. I, personally, support my communities because most of their issues resonate with me, and doing so does not mean that I lose my on individual worth.

As for the African American community, I’m not sure how they got involved in the conversation, but do you honestly believe that they’re treated equally now? Yes, the law is SUPPOSED to be color blind, but do you really believe that it is? Do you really expect me to believe that after their more than 200+ years of slavery and more than 300+ years of racialized conditioning that they are inferior to the dominant hegemonic group, that now, they’re equal?! That with the rewording and/or abolishment of a couple of amendments in a highly racialized Constitution that we can forget and forgive the kind of social conditioning that we as a society have undergone?! That’s the biggest bunch of bull I’ve ever heard. The fact of the matter is that they, along with other communities of color, are STILL trying to achieve racial parity where we’re not racially profiled, detained without just cause, or are the butt of racially demeaning jokes by people who feign ignorance of the racial repercussions of their actions.

Lastly, I find it rather hypocritical that you stress the need for action, yet you denounce my and other API’s current actions to stand up for ourselves in favor of your approach to turning the other cheek. I chose to voice my discontent as opposed to your passive strategy of brushing it off, and yet, my and others’ actions aren’t seen as actions, but as whining? How do you figure? When do you finally cross that boundary where you stand up and say enough is enough? When do you open your eyes to see that this world is incredibly racialized and it will take sensitivity to rectify the past wrongs that have been made? In my eyes, the fact that I voiced my displeasure and sought to correct what I saw as a mistake was an assertion of my agency, not whining. Moreover, I completely agree that respect must be earned, but bear in mind that negligence of the issues and being a passive model minority will only reinforce and perpetuate the existing stereotypes.

In an ideal world, we would all be judged by our merits and actions, but sadly, America and our society are not meritocracies. The rights you have today, as an individual, as a person of color, came from communities coming together to “whine” for true parity and equality. Yes, your parents gave you life, but the very same people and actions you’re currently admonishing are the ones who’ve carried on the legacy of fighting for the very same equality that you’re enjoying, so pardon our “shouting”.

I was in a good mood today, up until I saw this…

This is the problem with our society. People think that it’s ok to mask their ignorance and racism through their warped notion of humor and comedy. As an oriental, I probably would find that funny. Fortunately for me, orientals only exist in the world in which racists and ignorami live. I am not oriental. I AM ASIAN and I FIND IT FUCKING OFFENSIVE! Don’t get me wrong, I have a sense of humor, just not when it comes to my race. When your people have been carpet-bombed and used as pawns in a game of geo-political chess by a bunch of war-mongers and ideological nazis, or have been interned because of the government’s paranoia, or even more recently, been detained indefinitely based on your religion and a turban without just cause, THEN, AND ONLY THEN can you even begin to think about joking about these racial incidents. Moreover, what’s more offensive is hearing the comments that are generally elicited from these cries for an end to these racially demeaning remarks:

idiot #1: it was just a joke. can’t you take a joke?

me: of course I can take a joke, as long as you give me one.

idiot #2: whiney asians

me: over-privileged imbecile. If we do not speak up, how do we begin to eliminate the ignorance that is prevalent around us? What is accomplished by turning the other cheek and taking the low blows other than to perpetuate and silently affirm the stereotype that we, as Asians, are passive, meek, and won’t stand up for ourselves?




DO NOT MISTAKE THE PRIVILEDGE THAT COMES WITH YOUR SKIN COLOR AND/OR YOUR SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS AS A RIGHT TO DEMEAN OR DENIGRATE THE EXISTENCE OR CULTURE OF ANOTHER!

I know that race has been woven very deeply into our social fabric, but I always thought the reason was so that we could see the beautiful tapestry that is our diversity. Yet, instead of appreciating where each strand comes from and acknowledging how each has contributed to the final product, incidents and remarks such as the ones mentioned in this entry are threatening to unravel everything we’ve worked for. It’s sad actually. It’s sad that a person such as Rosie, a champion of equality for LGBT rights and a lesbian herself, is a bigot.

As a male, I must say that I found this video to be quite difficult to watch, but it was hilarious nonetheless so I’m sharing it with you all. Enjoy!

I got this from YoYo

HOW FOB ARE YOU?

I’m 84% FOB

[x] Do you speak an Asian language?
[x] Have you ever dyed your hair?
[] Do you have long hair?
[x] Are you Asian?
[] Do you watch anime?
total: 3

[x] Parents have a Japanese import car?
[] Is it a racer/ sports car?
[x] Do you take off your shoes when you go into anyones house?
[x] Do you use chopsticks?
[] Do you wear / own jade jewelry?
total: 3

[x] Do you eat rice everyday?
[x] Do you pose with a peace sign when you take pics?
[x] Do you drink tea everyday?
[] If you’re a guy, did you ever have a bowl cut hair style?
total: 3

[] Did you ever want a tiger or dragon tattoo?
[x] Do you have any Asian posters in your room?
[x] You are good in math or science.
[x] You are good in school in general
[x] You listen to your parents.
total: 4

[x] You taken/want to take some kind of martial arts.
[x] You watch/watched Kung-Fu movies.
[x] You worked/work in a restaurant.
[x] You have/had/wanted to have blond hair
[] You are totally into your car.
[] If you hate people, you don’t show it.
total: 4

[x] Spend a lot of time working or on the computer.
[x] Love Asian movies.
[x] Have Asian cable.
[x] Listen to J-pop/ HK-pop/ K-pop/ or any other Asian music.
[x] Hang out with Asian people a lot.
total: 5

[x] You speak some Asian language in public so no one would understand what you’re talking about
[x] You stereotype yourself just for fun.
[x] You make fun of FOBS.
total: 3

[x] Do you have a Asian name?
[x] Do you love sushi?
[] Do you know who kobiyashi is?
[x] The most important question… do you/have you ever sang karaoke?
total: 3

Sum it up.
Multiply by 3 to get your total score.

love…

is raceless.

neither bound to any species nor any sexual orientation.

it is…

life.

when you love, you live.

more importantly, you give…

life.

inspired by Paul and jovanbj1980.

Lunch today was a bit more interesting than usual. Today, we had oysters, dungeoness crab, unagi, veal, and we got to meet…

MUHAMMED ALI!!

argh, Cecelia has been feeling sick, and I think it’s spread to me, boo!

LOL, I found this to be amusing, courtesy of David!