Ah yes, I've been slacking on my blog posting, yet again. Perhaps it's due to a general lack of interesting events in my life over the past month, but it's probably more likely I've been weathering a funk of the quarter-life crisis kind.
Ok, so crisis is a bit of an overstatement...maybe quarter-life wrestling match is more accurate. I wrestle with whether or not I should try and apply grad schools for next year; which jobs to apply to that will best leave my future plans open, while contributing to them at the same time; and then with myself for getting so caught up in the theoretical and failing to put any of it into practice. I think my friend Rebecca put it best when she said (or rather typed, on gmail chat), "if you're too worried about aligning the present with some unknown future, you risk losing appreciation for the here and now, i think". Fantastic insight. While that may seem obvious, it really helps to hear (or rather read) it. I know that it's important to keep future goals in mind, to have goals to work towards period. But, there's a fine line between living for some vague point in the future and living for what's here and now while keeping the future in mind. One involves actually living, while the other throws you into a dizzying circular rut.
It's kind of like when you're outside at night and you look up at the stars, and try and spin around while focusing on one point of light. It's fun, and can be kind of exhilarating holding onto that single star, but it always better when you fall to the ground. On your back you have the entire night sky stretched before you and you can take in as many stars as you'd like, from constellations to galaxies - including that single star. You're simultaneously more grounded and have a greater perspective, which ultimately (I suppose) makes for a richer, and more meaningful experience.
December 2, 2008
November 4, 2008
November 3, 2008
Get out and vote!
I don't care who you vote for (well...you know who I lean towards...), just get out and do it!
But just in case you're undecided, here's a video for some inspiration.
Happy Voting!
But just in case you're undecided, here's a video for some inspiration.
Happy Voting!
October 15, 2008
Buy a hat. Spread some love.
These people make my idealistic little heart feel warm and fuzzy. They've managed to creatively address a major global issue (poverty) and are doing their part towards making a difference. AND their solution involves crafting. AND Africa. And apparently lots of love. Rock on, Krochet Kids.
October 6, 2008
White Privilege
A friend passed this essay on to me. Sadly, I think there's a lot of truth in it. Read on to see if you agree, and let me know what you think!
White Privilege and the 2008 Election
By Tim Wise
For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.
White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.
White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck," as Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.
White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years as Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.
White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested."
White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.
White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you. White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she's being disrespectful.
White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you're being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you're somehow being mean, or even sexist.
White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a "second look."
White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.
White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good church-going Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America.
White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O'Reilly means you're dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.
White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it, a "light" burden.
And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren't sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it's just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain.
White privilege is, in short, the problem.
Tim Wise is the author of White Like Me (Soft Skull, 2005, revised 2008), and of Speaking Treason Fluently, publishing this month, also by Soft Skull.
White Privilege and the 2008 Election
By Tim Wise
For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.
White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.
White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck," as Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.
White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years as Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.
White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested."
White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.
White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you. White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she's being disrespectful.
White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you're being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you're somehow being mean, or even sexist.
White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a "second look."
White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.
White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good church-going Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America.
White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O'Reilly means you're dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.
White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it, a "light" burden.
And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren't sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it's just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain.
White privilege is, in short, the problem.
Tim Wise is the author of White Like Me (Soft Skull, 2005, revised 2008), and of Speaking Treason Fluently, publishing this month, also by Soft Skull.
September 22, 2008
Why I had a fantastic weekend...
- Enjoyed a pint and sweet potato fries over a rousing game of scrabble with two of my besties.
- Went to Fremont Oktoberfest (a little bit of Munich in the middle of Seattle!).
- Rocked out with Rockband - I've got the medium difficulty drum part on Dani California DOWN.
- Ate Ethiopian food for the first time - lots of lentils. no utensils. love it.
- Spent lots of time with some super duper friends.
In other news, I'm pretty pumped to be officially moving up to Seattle this week. I've got an internship and a place to live...now I just need a paying gig to round it out. Let's hope that last part falls into place quickly.
And finally, FALL is here! I love the crisp edge in the air. I love the reappearance of the pumpkin spice latte. I love breaking out the sweaters and the scarves. I love that Halloween and Thanksgiving are coming up.
Fall. Seattle. Fall in Seattle. Good times. :)
- Went to Fremont Oktoberfest (a little bit of Munich in the middle of Seattle!).
- Rocked out with Rockband - I've got the medium difficulty drum part on Dani California DOWN.
- Ate Ethiopian food for the first time - lots of lentils. no utensils. love it.
- Spent lots of time with some super duper friends.
In other news, I'm pretty pumped to be officially moving up to Seattle this week. I've got an internship and a place to live...now I just need a paying gig to round it out. Let's hope that last part falls into place quickly.
And finally, FALL is here! I love the crisp edge in the air. I love the reappearance of the pumpkin spice latte. I love breaking out the sweaters and the scarves. I love that Halloween and Thanksgiving are coming up.
Fall. Seattle. Fall in Seattle. Good times. :)
September 16, 2008
Love it.
"Someone needs to remind Sarah Palin that Jesus Christ was a community organizer and Pontius Pilate was a governor." goodnewsfortheinsane, a commenter on Mudflats, an Alaskan political blog, Sept. 4
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