This Happened

On my way to work, I encountered a man who was standing in the middle of the yard outside of the Alumni Memorial Union at Marquette University.

Man: That's really nice.

Me: ....

Me: Thank you?

Man: What do you do for a living?

Me: I'm a student.

Man: You're pretty.

Me: Thank you.

Man: The lipstick.

Me: Th...thanks.

Man: Are you a man?

Me: (nervous laughter)

Me: I'm actually not offended by that, but no, I am not a man.

Man: Okay.

Man: Do you have money to take me out to eat?

Me: I think I already mentioned that I'm a college student, therefore, I am broke.

Man: Oh.

Me: I'm about the cross the street.

Man: Oh, ok.

Why Is It That

When someone says "no offense," they usually follow that with an offensive statement?

No offense, but I'd like to give it to your mother very rough.

Until Then...

I have two posts promising an exhaustive post on the topics I posted in those posts.

Anyway, I've concluded some things over the Halloween weekend:

1. Halloween is stupid.
2. Halloween is expensive.
3. Halloween is like any other excuse to party only it is socially acceptable for one to wear racially/religiously/sexually offensive costumes and children are about 500 times more likely to be assaulted.
4. The celebration of Halloween is all for material gain. Explained:

"Everyone else is celebrating Halloween tonight at "Insert Club Name Here." So, that should give you an excuse to pay a 20-dollar cover."

"I'm a woman wearing a costume that is both sexually-suggestive and weirdly infantile. If you buy me a drink, you have a better shot at sleeping with me."

"Trick or treat."

With that said, I can't wait until Thanksgiving.

Long Time

It's been a long time...

...shouldn't have left you...

Hmm...how do I make this blog more interesting?

Oh yeah, SEX SELLS.

Since It's 5am, I'm only making this post the starting post to a more exhaustive post on virginity and why it gets no respect post post post.

Sound interesting enough?

Hot Chip (Will Break Your Legs)

hotchip23, originally uploaded by Monica Joi.

I did this a while back. Once I get photoshop back on my computer, I'll be making more ridiculous "art."

Quote of the Week

"Everything in the world is open source material. Whenever someone says, "You stole that. That's not original," I say, "You're about as original as a mirror facing another."

-Anonymous

Discovery!

Oh baby you've got me goin' so insane and I just don't know what's goin' down.

I adore lyrics like these, coupled with infectious melodies and funky rhythms. Mmm.

I'm on a Discovery fix. Combining the forces of the amazing Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot, they have created a monster. ...a really, really awesome monster.

Favorite tracks:

1. So Insane

2. Osaka Loop Line

3. Can You Discover? (a semi-remake of Ra Ra Riot's Can You Tell )

Ones that need a few listens

1. Orange Shirt

2. Swing Tree

3. I Want You Back (In Discovery)

Dislike

1. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend

Haven't heard

1. Carby

2. Slang Tang

3. It's Not My Fault (It's My Fault)

I am eagerly anticipating more. MORE!

No One Gives a Shit About Your Stupid Blog

Narcissism
noun

An obsession with oneself that makes the sufferer believe people care about their mundane thoughts, so they start a blog expecting thousands of followers.

In other words, I plan on changing the course of this blog.

...and I do expect thousands of followers.

Hard Decisions

I remember being a kid. I always got myself into loads of trouble, and I counted on my mom to bail me out. She was the one who made the tough decisions to ban me from ever hanging out with that "boy who watches dirty movies" ever again, or to forgive those mean girls who called me fat. Those heifers...

Now, I'm an adult. I'm still adjusting to not having that watchful eye over me stopping me from making horrible decisions. I like the boy who watches the dirty movies, and I still want to exact my plan of revenge on those girls, only, these are just metaphors. There are times when I want things that don't belong to me, and I get caught up in just getting what I want. Human beings are just naturally greedy - we want more than we deserve.

You want that married woman, or that job promotion that Kevin got, or you want the riches and the fame those talented people slaved over for years, you want to be happy without having made anyone else happy...etc.

Well, I'm here to say that it's time to make some grown-up decisions. Are you going to be unfaithful? Are you going to blackmail Kevin to cost him the promotion? Are you going sell your soul for fame? Are you going to coast through life only thinking of yourself?

I'm not a child anymore. I need to understand that now, more than ever, my actions have consequences. Sure, pushing down that one kid in the sandbox isn't going to haunt me for the rest of my life, but making the wrong decisions on these more "adult" issues, will. It's time for me to take responsibility for myself, and not expect my mom or God to to always catch me when I fall.

However, if and/or when I do fall, it's important for me to realize these falls happen and the best thing I can do is learn from my mistakes. I take the steps toward not doing it again,get an understanding of why I did it, and why it was wrong. No more selfish sensibilities, or childish issues. Adulthood is nigh.

Wasabi

...Is not a condiment...it is a weapon.

I had a conversation with a friend of mine about the terms of courtship. She doesn't agree that someone should feign interest in something just to get to know the other person. I, on the other hand argued that while one shouldn't pretend to have a mutual interest in something in order to impress the other person (therefore building a false kinship), one should instead take it as an opening to explore the other person. For example, if someone invited you to a Flaming Lips concert, and you don't like the Flaming Lips, you shouldn't say, "I love the Flaming Lips." Instead, one should say, "I'd love to check them out." You're expressing interest in trying something new instead of expressing false interest in something you know nothing about.

However, does even approaching a situation like this with the sole intent of getting to know the other person still inherently deceptive? If you decide to go to the Flaming Lips concert, the other person will probably assume you like the Flaming Lips, even if you don't explicitly say so. It would be foolish to say, "I don't like the Flaming Lips, but I'll come anyway." That's just...weird, for lack of a better term. Nor, should someone say, "I'd love to come just to get to know you." Once again, weird.

So how does one go about accepting or rejecting an invitation to an activity from the object of their desire? I personally do not see the problem in at least approaching the situation as both a new experience and as an opportunity to get to know the other person. If that person assumes you have interest in the activity when you don't, you should be able to say, "Well, that wasn't really my taste, but would you like to go see Depeche Mode with me?" If the person accepts, great. If the person rejects, then try to find an activity you'll mutually enjoy. The great thing about it is you've at least already experienced something with one another, and you'll have something to talk about, something to relate on, and most importantly, you'll have a base for the relationship to grow from. Go for it.

The wasabi comment was completely random. I tried it for the first time today, and I almost had a brain aneurism.

Quote of the Week

Logic Professor: A friend of mine ran my foot over with her car. She was playing the whole, "When you get up to the car, I'm going to pretend I'm driving away, but keep stopping short" game, but I was too close to the car. The entire weight of the car caused five hairline fractures in my foot. I literally teared up from the excruciating pain.

Student: Did it hurt?

Cheers to Harry Connick Jr.

...Because he knows that if he didn't say anything, he'd have a lot of explaining to do once he was back among his "countrymen."

A skit on Australia's "Hey Hey It's Saturday" featured performers in blackface doing a routine mimicking the Jackson Five. The performer portraying Michael Jackson was in whiteface. Hilarious.

None of the other guests on the show seemed to have a problem with it, mainly because, according to them, blackface doesn't exactly resonate negatively in Australia. Right.

Harry expressed how offended he was, "...We've spent so much time trying not to make black people look like buffoons, that when we see something like that, we take it really to heart."

He assumed the performers just meant it out of humor, and I agree that the performers probably had no ill-will. I'm sure they weren't going on the show to insult Black people. However, it is silly to think that racism can only exist in certain parts of the world. It is everywhere. Racism takes on different forms, and one doesn't need to be in a white hood with a burning cross to be racist. Racism emerges from ignorance, and these performers were ignorant that this performance was, in essence, a minstrel show.

I disagree with this strange dichotomy created between Australia and the United States. So if there wasn't an American judging, that performance would've been okay?

Let's call it as it is: the performance was racially insensitive in any case. It doesn't matter that it was in Australia. Racism exists everywhere.

CNN

Huffington Post

Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Masks (Warning: I'm Pissed)

More on this later, but I'm publishing this to start the momentum of my next post on Fanon's Black Skin, White Masks (also to give me an incentive to finish the post(s)...it(they) will be quite exhaustive). This book deals with the Black identity in philosophical terms. Many of Fanon's explanations brought me to tears because even today (the book was published in 1952) these rules still apply.

As a precursor to my post on this book, I have to say the following things:

This book is not just meant for African-Americans. It's not just meant for Africans, Dominicans, etc. It is meant for everyone to read, and it is insulting for anyone to judge this book as "Black literature."

The master readers of this text will be non-whites, however, that should not deter anyone. If it does, then, again, this is insulting. It is not just a "perspective," it is reality. Judge it in that sense.

This book was assigned in my Africana Philosophy class. I am not a philosophy major, nor do I have an interest in philosophy. However, I am appalled by some of the responses I heard about this course at this University. It seems that anything race related gets pushed to the side as only pertaining to non-white individuals. This also breeds a question of "legitimacy," as anything pertaining to "race" is seen as the "other." Aristotle, Plato, Descartes...then, the "others." It's infuriating.

Final note- If you want to claim to be a non-racist, do something about it instead of sitting comfortably in your selfish complacency reaping the benefits of your privileges while millions suffer under the stronghold of racial prejudice. Don't show up to the rallies, use the MLK quotes, or claim your non-white friends otherwise. Don't build yourself up in your world then take a "vacation" to venture to mine only to return to your blessed reality.

Oh, look at that Negro go...

David Letterman: A Moral Issue?

So, David Letterman cheated on his wife. How awful. All of those pretty young interns running around grabbing his coffee...among other things...had to be pretty heavy temptations. But he failed, epically.

Do not take this post to mean that I am condoning Letterman's behavior. Cheating on your significant other is not cool, man. Relationships can recover if one or both partners are strong (or rich), but since this is in the public spectrum, it'll take more time for those wounds to heal.

So instead of getting on his show and, you know, continuing to be funny, he managed to make this a huge deal, spending time talking about it (where he almost made it seem like a joke) and then apologizing to his wife. This isn't the first time a celebrity has publicly acknowledged uncouth behavior and apologized (i.e: Hugh Grant), but this is the first time I've been really annoyed by it.

David Letterman is a late night talk show host, not a philanthropist, televangelist, or your dad. It is understandable that this stuff was going to be used as a means to smear his reputation and he was just trying to dull the fire, but now it's getting ridiculous. Celebrities, especially those with a career in some form of broadcasting, have to put on a "face" for their television audiences. Remember when psychiatrists were arguing that the kids on Jon and Kate Plus Eight were being screwed up because they were being raised in an environment with cameras constantly in their faces, and this was altering their behavior? Well, everyone has a "camera face." To me, apologizing to your scorned wife in front of millions with your "camera face" on is extremely disrespectful. If anything, it's just putting on another face: concerned husband.

Letterman isn't the only guy to blame. It is the media's "job" to practically sensationalize everything they get their grimy hands on, but this is being turned into a more of a moral issue. Really? Television, hollywood, celebrities, etc. are the last places to turn to in search for any examples of morality. In that world, the rules are flipped. You can be a home-wrecker ahemanjelinajolieahem and not catch flack for it, or exploit your children for money ahemkateandjongosselinahem and be celebrated for it. You can be famous for no apparent reason, be the most vacuous, selfish human being and still have millions of people adoring you. Letterman should shut up about it and keep it at home, where it needs to be. Everyone else, don't look at this as a moral issue. He's a talk show host smack-dab in the middle of Hollywood culture. What did you expect?

...

Internet Racism: The Scum of Society

Preface:

Do you remember that kid on the playground when you were younger who would bully other kids relentlessly and when they were confronted by concerned adults, they were the first to break down and cry? Or, do you remember that kid in high school who would talk trash about people behind their backs and when the person whom their verbal insults were directed towards confronted them, they would either deny ever saying anything or feign remorse?

These people are called cowards. Cowards act like complete jackasses in a safe environment where they cannot be punished for their behavior. In the playground example, the kid bullies when there are no adults around to chastize them. In the high school example, the person talks about their target without them knowing but would never say these things to them personally. Sometimes, these people grow up and realize their childish ways and become honest individuals. If they have something negative to say, they take time to figure out what they think is actually true and if it is, they keep it to themselves or let the person know (if it is necessary) so they can help them correct their behavior. Being a coward automatically makes you more vulnerable to being a pathetic loser.

In today's lesson, I'd like to talk about internet racism. Internet racism exists for this simple reason: Some people loathe their existence so much that they've found a forum to release their frustration due to their constant failures. You may ask, "Why racism? Why the internet?" I will answer both of these questions.

1. Most racist people are complete idiots, and this is not meant as an insult, this is a fact.

Think about it. What kind of logic does one need to live by to believe that someone of a certain skin color must have certain characteristics? How does one's skin color play into their behavior? Now, we could dive deeper and explore the social effects of skin color based on external reactions to these preconceived notions of race (i.e: racism) and how one reacts to these factors, but then we'd be back to the beginning: it is all based on racism.

Most racists will claim that they were raised in racist households. Their brain-dead mommies and daddies taught them that all Black people are lazy (untrue) and love chicken (true) all their lives. Because of their low IQ's, they are unable to fully process the notion that race does not factor into behavior: environment does. I know; it can be a pretty difficult concept to grasp.

When I was an itty-bitty girl, I used to watch movies about slavery and the civil rights movement (right after N.Y.P.D Blue). This made me develop the silly notion that all white people hated black people. I used to be nervous whenever I met a white person because I thought they wouldn't like me because I was black. The fact that I'm stereotyping myself as the victim doesn't make it any better than me stereotyping myself as the superior. Once I got older and smarter, I realized after my constant good experiences with other white people, they weren't so dog-on bad after all.

The reason why racists never reach this point is because they don't want to reach this point. What's a good reason why someone wouldn't change their mind about their hatred of another individual despite their good behavior. Jealousy is a good answer. How about self-doubt? How about sheer, unadulterated stupidity? These are all major flaws of the racist mentality. This is why they seem so childish.

2. The internet is/can be a completely anonymous forum where cowards can be the big bullies they want to be without facing serious bodily/mental harm

The most infuriating element of internet racism is the anonymity. That's why it's so widespread. It is nearly impossible to browse the internet without seeing some instance of internet racism, even on popular commercial websites like YouTube. Since YouTube doesn't really moderate user comments, one can find a plethora of asinine racial comments plastered all over different videos.

Nothing should be done about it. Absolutely nothing. I remember being a writer for my high school newspaper. I really wanted to write some controversial pieces that would shock my fellow students, only for the sake of shocking them. Personally, I would have been flattered if one of my pieces was deemed too controversial or too provocative because it would mean that what I was saying was intelligent enough to incite discomfort. This is opposed to it simply not being run because of the structure or because my facts were wrong. Also, this is opposed to it being safe enough to run and not thought to be a threat to anyone's thinking.

Racism thrives on attention. If you pay attention to it, you give it credence. I've made this mistake before. In fact, I did this recently in reply to a Craigslist posting my friend sent me. I won't go too much into the details of what happened, but at the end of the day, I regret responding to the post for the mere fact I gave that person a soapbox to stand on to shout his unfounded, idiotic racial rants at me. The biggest lesson to take from this is, do not respond to internet racism. The people who post this stuff are complete losers. They want you to pay attention to them because no one else does in their lives. They wanted to make a change in the world, but they've discovered they're not talented, smart, good, etc. enough to do anything significant for anyone anywhere. Remember that, and the words they type will be meaningless.

Zombie

There comes a time in everyone's life when they realize almost everything they ever believed about themselves and the world around them is completely wrong. Well, maybe something that catastrophic doesn't happen to most people, but a watered-down version of this impasse has happened to me. I wonder sometimes if I have a honest perception of myself, and not a false, wishful idea of who I truly am. Am I really confident, smart, and talented? What do other people really believe? My friend told me about this philosophical invention of "zombies." Zombies are individuals who think they are human but really are not. They are made to appear human to others, so other humans couldn't spot a zombie.

Now, I for one regard the more ridiculous philosophical notions as complete wasters of ALL TIME, however, it can allude to a more conventional framework such as college life. I attend a high-ish ranking school with other bright students. So, this makes me believe that I am at least competent enough to participate in a classroom with these other students. Hypothetically speaking, if I wasn't performing above the "C" level, I am not above average in this school, but I am at least above average in the nation because I attend a high performing school, right?

People see names and labels more than they see actual performance. I've known people who were able to accumulate academic accolades in the form of trophies and memberships in exclusive "societies" but have ended up either pregnant or out of school. School is the easy part. Living is hard. It is especially difficult if you've been told most of your life you're smart, or you're confident, or really talented when, in the end, you've had yourself and those around you fooled.

In the philosophical scenario, one cannot realize they are a zombie, but in reality, one can realize when they have a completely contrived perception of themselves. If you are not talented, and you believe you are talented, then you are not talented. It is all basic logic, and people force themselves to believe they have certain abilities when they actually don't. If I've told myself since high school I want to be a film maker, then I want to be a film maker. If I don't have the talent to be a film maker, then I can still be a film maker. So, I will be a film maker. This can be applied to all sorts of self-perceptions. If you believe it, then it is true to you, but it is not necessarily true. You could have all of your friends, family, and even professionals telling you that you are proficient at something when you're really not truthfully. When do we stop to realize that the world we've created for ourselves is a zombie world?

It could come about spontaneously. People around you may stop complimenting you, but this may not be sufficient enough if one is stuck in this ideal. It could come from intense self-reflection. In any case, a great deal of humility needs to be employed to not only discover this flaw, but to correct it. It could mean a long fall from the top, but some people need a fall to build themselves up stronger than they were before. Maybe this false self-perception is bringing more misery than strength, like it was for me. My false self-perception was in my talent. I've always been told that I was a talented writer, and while I still believe I have a keen ability to pick up on story-strings, I am not the most eloquent writer out there. I also am not a talented film maker. Now it is time for me to build myself up and get out of my zombie world.