Deepayan/Uberhero/Confidence Man/Cleo/Eric/other personalities to be added later
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Stereotypes
The only remedies against race and prejudice are enlightenment and education. This is a slow and painstaking process
To be continued... ¶ 4:06 PM 1 Comments
- Albert Einstein
The recent rumblings of Superman possibly being gay led me to think about streotyping. Stereotyping is, ironically, a bonding point among people, since stereotypes tend to be uniform among people. Men are expected to be manly and muscular, women are expected to be petite and airheaded. Gay men are expected to prance around in tights and tutus whenever they're in public, and lesbian women are expected to be, well, petite and airheaded, with the added bonus of bursting into spontaneous makeout sessions in the presence of men. Black men are expected to be either meek and obedient, or criminally bent, and black women are expected to be the black version of white trash. People of other skin colors; well, they're sorta expected not to exist at all. Women who play sports are called butch; men who cook are called fruity. Non-white people who like country music are deemed white-washed; white people who enjoy hip-hop are labeled wiggers. I could go on and on; after all, there is no shortage of stereotypes, and I've just listed the popular ones. We could give it cute names, such as racial profiling, and pretend it doesn't exist or it has been eradicated, but it still stays, maybe in our subconscious, maybe even closer. The real question, I suppose, is that every generation rejects all or most of the ideas that came from the previous one. Music tastes, fashion, attitudes, even political opinions change. What is it in stereotypes that keeps them enduring through generations?
I think one big thing that keeps stereotypes going is that, for a lot of them, people don't realize they are stereotyping. I had a friend of mine recently tell me, quite flippantly, that white boys only go for white girls and vice versa. Knowing both mixed couples and mixed children, this statement naturally struck me as odd and, upon further questioning, I discovered that this idea was one that she had no proof of, in fact admitting to not even knowing any white boys. While there could not be a more textbook example of stereotyping, she really didn't think of this line of thought as being odd, even going as far as to defend it. Now how do you go about convincing a person that this train of thought is not that far removed from the idea that people should know their places in society and not move above it? After all, is it much of a stretch to go from "people do certain things" to "people should do certain things"?To be continued... ¶ 4:06 PM 1 Comments
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Good luck
one more time around, to me and everyone else doing summer school.
Slightly late, but better late than never. ¶ 7:11 PM 1 Comments
Slightly late, but better late than never. ¶ 7:11 PM 1 Comments
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Musings
One day our generation
Is gonna rule the population
So we keep on Waiting
Waiting on the World to change
Is gonna rule the population
So we keep on Waiting
Waiting on the World to change
- Waiting on the world to change, John Mayer
¶ 6:21 PM 4 Comments
The above lyrics are from the new single from John Mayer's next album, titled Continuum. Purely by fluke, I stumbled across this song. Just like Mayer's other stuff, this song is not Muchmusic or MTV-rated (due to it actually being a SONG, as opposed to...whatever it is Jessica Simpson and Chris Brown put out) so I'm not holding out hope of hearing this on TV or radio anytime soon. Long live the Internet.
Moving on, the shine has worn off of being 20. Although the benefit seems to be that an extra level of maturity doesn't seem to be expected from me as initial polls seemed to show. This could indicate that either people have given up on me ever possibly being mature, or people are wise enough to know that 20 is less of a milestone and more of a marker.
I have, however, taken the opportunity to look back at the boy I used to be. It stuns me, quite, the things I used to do and the ideas I used to believe in. I'm not entirely sure that, if I were to meet my old self, I'd recognize myself. Although I suppose that's a good thing; the real scare would be realizing that you're the exact same person you were 10 years ago. Change is good; and though I'm sure that one day, through the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia, those days will seem spectacular, for now I am happy that I'm moving forward instead of backward. At the end of the day, I suppose that's all that matters.
Moving on, the shine has worn off of being 20. Although the benefit seems to be that an extra level of maturity doesn't seem to be expected from me as initial polls seemed to show. This could indicate that either people have given up on me ever possibly being mature, or people are wise enough to know that 20 is less of a milestone and more of a marker.
I have, however, taken the opportunity to look back at the boy I used to be. It stuns me, quite, the things I used to do and the ideas I used to believe in. I'm not entirely sure that, if I were to meet my old self, I'd recognize myself. Although I suppose that's a good thing; the real scare would be realizing that you're the exact same person you were 10 years ago. Change is good; and though I'm sure that one day, through the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia, those days will seem spectacular, for now I am happy that I'm moving forward instead of backward. At the end of the day, I suppose that's all that matters.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Reflections on being a 20-year veteran of the ultimate game
You know you're old when you begin to anticipate your birthdays with a sense of dread rather than joy. While I haven't approached that stage yet, still feeling a sense of glee this morning at realizing I survived 20 years, I felt oddly content with the lack of celebration this year. After all, my birthday, while no doubt a momentous occasion that was so energetically demanding that a shuttle had to blow up in the atmosphere and a nuclear reactor had to melt to make way for me on this planet, my birthday has already come 19 times and thus can't really be that unique. This is not to say that I won't welcome any celebrations that come my way; just that, for now, I consider studying for my upcoming bio lab a perfectly fine way to spend my birthday. Sheesh, I AM getting old. The day I really dread is when the number of candles needed to signify my age conquer my windpower at said age. (I am aware that windpower is not a real word; dont' get all english-y on me :P ) If my birthday has taught me one thing, though, it is that people who haven't talked to me in ages or ever will have something nice to say. And that makes it all worthwhile.
¶ 5:34 PM 3 Comments
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Is it getting better, or do you feel the same?
Will it make it easier on you, now you got someone to blame?
You say one love, one life, when it's one need in the night.
One love, we get to share it
Leaves you baby if you don't care for it.
Did I disappoint you or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
You act like you never had love and you want me to go without.
Well, it's too late tonight to drag the past out into the light.
We're one, but we're not the same.
We get to carry each other, carry each other... one
Have you come here for forgiveness,
Have you come to raise the dead
Have you come here to play Jesus to the lepers in your head
Did I ask too much, more than a lot
You gave me nothing, now it's all I got.
We're one, but we're not the same.
Well, we hurt each other, then we do it again.
You say love is a temple, love a higher law
Love is a temple, love the higher law.
You ask me to enter, but then you make me crawl
And I can't be holding on to what you got, when all you got is hurt.
One love, one blood, one life, you got to do what you should.
One life with each other: sisters, brothers.
One life, but we're not the same.
We get to carry each other, carry each other.
One, one.
Will it make it easier on you, now you got someone to blame?
You say one love, one life, when it's one need in the night.
One love, we get to share it
Leaves you baby if you don't care for it.
Did I disappoint you or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
You act like you never had love and you want me to go without.
Well, it's too late tonight to drag the past out into the light.
We're one, but we're not the same.
We get to carry each other, carry each other... one
Have you come here for forgiveness,
Have you come to raise the dead
Have you come here to play Jesus to the lepers in your head
Did I ask too much, more than a lot
You gave me nothing, now it's all I got.
We're one, but we're not the same.
Well, we hurt each other, then we do it again.
You say love is a temple, love a higher law
Love is a temple, love the higher law.
You ask me to enter, but then you make me crawl
And I can't be holding on to what you got, when all you got is hurt.
One love, one blood, one life, you got to do what you should.
One life with each other: sisters, brothers.
One life, but we're not the same.
We get to carry each other, carry each other.
One, one.
- One, U2
¶ 7:47 PM 0 Comments
