And calling them brown is a
hate crime!
I don't know what's worst: the fact that the principal of an elementary school told a student that it was okay to be racist, the fact that a boy was suspended for calling brown people brown, or the fact that the statement was apparently elicited by a parent doing questioning.
The most disturbing thing about this story is the way it trivializes and marginalizes actual hate crimes. Think about it: if you were a child in this elementary school and heard about this incident, would you consider a hate crime to be a serious thing?
As a woman of color and graduate of one of the worst school districts in my state, I would like to point out that this is one of the most shocking displays of dumbassery I have ever seen from a school administration - and that's saying something.
(Hi, LHC!! :D)
Edited to add: I'd like to encourage anyone with thoughts on any of these posts to leave us a comment. I'd like to see some discussion here!
Friday, November 30, 2007
Odd Traffic
Apparently we've had a number of unique visits from The Long Hair Community. lol I can't find the thread that has the referral to us, (anybody link in their forum or something?) but hey, more traffic isn't a bad thing =]
- D
- D
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Scenes of Temporary Intimacy
Here is a list of various social settings where one may feel (uncomfortably) intimate with complete strangers, but only in passing. Here we gain a close insight to each other's lives, but only through the peephole of a limited time.
Elevators
Subway (and other) Trains
Bus Rides
Plane Rides
In Checkout Waiting Lines
In a Crowded Movie Theater (or other performance)
In Line to Vote
Traffic Jams
Traffic Accidents (observant or participant)
Waiting to Cross the Street
Baggage Claim at Airports
Passing on a Sidewalk
That odd phenomena of first choosing the same side to pass on, then switching and being in the same situation again
Roller Coaster Rides (seatmates or car-mates who knows) + waiting lines
Drive Through Windows (banks, fast foods, etc.)
Holding Doors or,
Having to Walk Through Held Open Doors
Falling and being Helped Up
Picking up Dropped Items for Others
Escalators
Gyms
(will add more or comment some)
It is interesting that most come in the form of transportation. We get a fixed snapshot of the lives of others in a place where change is the cause of meeting.
just musing away - D
Elevators
Subway (and other) Trains
Bus Rides
Plane Rides
In Checkout Waiting Lines
In a Crowded Movie Theater (or other performance)
In Line to Vote
Traffic Jams
Traffic Accidents (observant or participant)
Waiting to Cross the Street
Baggage Claim at Airports
Passing on a Sidewalk
That odd phenomena of first choosing the same side to pass on, then switching and being in the same situation again
Roller Coaster Rides (seatmates or car-mates who knows) + waiting lines
Drive Through Windows (banks, fast foods, etc.)
Holding Doors or,
Having to Walk Through Held Open Doors
Falling and being Helped Up
Picking up Dropped Items for Others
Escalators
Gyms
(will add more or comment some)
It is interesting that most come in the form of transportation. We get a fixed snapshot of the lives of others in a place where change is the cause of meeting.
just musing away - D
RE: Meaning of Life
The meaning of life in general isn't important. There isn't a specific meaning set out for life, that doesn't apply to non-life or the deceased.
Meaning is personal.
Economics
My economics book holds great value to me. The knowledge it contains means passing the course. In your current situation, the knowledge it contains may mean nothing to you. Should your personal situation change, perhaps you are stranded in a prison cell, it might provide entertainment, and further meaning. It's the same book for both of us.
Ants
The life of the ants inhabiting my dorm have value to me. They have taught me lessons about co-existence and cleanliness. To others, they are scavengers, pests, food-stealers, and icky buggies that should be squashed just for existing. Ants are noble. They risk their lives everyday to provide for their families. Ants are thieves. They steal bits of food that I set on my desk.
The personal and relative nature of meaning makes defining life impossible. Qualifying the meaning of a life to you can result in personal growth and better understanding of the world around you.
Meaning is personal.
Economics
My economics book holds great value to me. The knowledge it contains means passing the course. In your current situation, the knowledge it contains may mean nothing to you. Should your personal situation change, perhaps you are stranded in a prison cell, it might provide entertainment, and further meaning. It's the same book for both of us.
Ants
The life of the ants inhabiting my dorm have value to me. They have taught me lessons about co-existence and cleanliness. To others, they are scavengers, pests, food-stealers, and icky buggies that should be squashed just for existing. Ants are noble. They risk their lives everyday to provide for their families. Ants are thieves. They steal bits of food that I set on my desk.
The personal and relative nature of meaning makes defining life impossible. Qualifying the meaning of a life to you can result in personal growth and better understanding of the world around you.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
A Meaning to Life?
Sometimes I ponder the meaning of life and the only thing I ever come up with is death. Cynical as it sounds death is really the only thing that gives life meaning, perhaps saying that death is the meaning of life is redundant. Because there is no life without death, "something that can die" would seem to be a logical definition of life. Of course the quite obvious meaning of life would be 42, but, thats too simple and an irrelevant answer.
So if death is not the meaning of life, then what is the meaning of life?
Many would point to god or another divine force and say look no further for a meaning to life. Which would seem self-defeating saying that life only has meaning due to a higher power who's existence we can never be sure of. Granted we can never be sure of our own existence, yet it seems to me that at the very least we think and we are aware that we think. So having ruled out, death, 42 and any sort of high power, the choices for a meaning to life are narrowed not at all. Thus making that sentence and this one entirely useless.
Back to the meaning of life, happiness would seem to be another idealistic suggestion, but, happiness is defined by sadness. Without sadness we wouldn't know what happiness is, because if you only experience one emotion you would never know the difference. Which having said that it appears that besides 42, every meaning of life will have a perfectly reasonable rationale against it. Perhaps there is no meaning to life and thousands of lifetimes been wasted for something that never really existed in the first place. Which from an empirical standpoint would appear to be correct. What is life, but atoms. Fundamentally the keyboard I am typing on and my flesh and blood are made of the same materials, electrons, protons, neutrons and all those other things making up the atom. Yet the keyboard doesn't move of its own volition, it doesn't think and neither does it live (by a biological definition). So there is inevitably a difference between the keyboard and me, so comparing one's self to inanimate objects is also pointless. When the meaning of life comes to consciousness is until recently the enigma of scientists and the godsend for religious fundamentalists. Thought we have always assumed set us apart from animals, yet recently it has been shown that animals do quite probably think and why not, we're animals too.
So perhaps there isn't any deep meaning philosophical meaning to life, perhaps life is just meant to be lived. Regardless of whether or not there is a meaning to life, any life on this Earth can be quite easily taken as insignificant. Regardless of how much an impact any person has on the Earth, even if they could destroy all life on the Earth what would it really, truly affect. The universe is infinitely vast and still growing, not only this, but several billion years old. Perhaps there is some mysterious meaning to life that we have yet to uncover. As romantic as a viewpoint that sounds it is something far to tenuous to grasp onto. What everything comes down to is life, as we know it and as it is lived. Life is quite simply life. Meaning can be anything, but looking for one all encompassing meaning to life is foolish and time consuming. Instead simply live life as it comes one day at a time, making what can be made of an infinitely small amount of time.
So if death is not the meaning of life, then what is the meaning of life?
Many would point to god or another divine force and say look no further for a meaning to life. Which would seem self-defeating saying that life only has meaning due to a higher power who's existence we can never be sure of. Granted we can never be sure of our own existence, yet it seems to me that at the very least we think and we are aware that we think. So having ruled out, death, 42 and any sort of high power, the choices for a meaning to life are narrowed not at all. Thus making that sentence and this one entirely useless.
Back to the meaning of life, happiness would seem to be another idealistic suggestion, but, happiness is defined by sadness. Without sadness we wouldn't know what happiness is, because if you only experience one emotion you would never know the difference. Which having said that it appears that besides 42, every meaning of life will have a perfectly reasonable rationale against it. Perhaps there is no meaning to life and thousands of lifetimes been wasted for something that never really existed in the first place. Which from an empirical standpoint would appear to be correct. What is life, but atoms. Fundamentally the keyboard I am typing on and my flesh and blood are made of the same materials, electrons, protons, neutrons and all those other things making up the atom. Yet the keyboard doesn't move of its own volition, it doesn't think and neither does it live (by a biological definition). So there is inevitably a difference between the keyboard and me, so comparing one's self to inanimate objects is also pointless. When the meaning of life comes to consciousness is until recently the enigma of scientists and the godsend for religious fundamentalists. Thought we have always assumed set us apart from animals, yet recently it has been shown that animals do quite probably think and why not, we're animals too.
So perhaps there isn't any deep meaning philosophical meaning to life, perhaps life is just meant to be lived. Regardless of whether or not there is a meaning to life, any life on this Earth can be quite easily taken as insignificant. Regardless of how much an impact any person has on the Earth, even if they could destroy all life on the Earth what would it really, truly affect. The universe is infinitely vast and still growing, not only this, but several billion years old. Perhaps there is some mysterious meaning to life that we have yet to uncover. As romantic as a viewpoint that sounds it is something far to tenuous to grasp onto. What everything comes down to is life, as we know it and as it is lived. Life is quite simply life. Meaning can be anything, but looking for one all encompassing meaning to life is foolish and time consuming. Instead simply live life as it comes one day at a time, making what can be made of an infinitely small amount of time.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
The beginnings of genius? or just boredom....
This blog was created by myself and my long time friend Dazai (homage to author of The Setting Sun) to get our thoughts onto a medium where people (the authors) might (redundantly) see them. We also invited our friend Monica & Others. What we will achieve with this blog, or even what we will post on this blog is another story entirely.
Essentially our conversation began like this:
Me: Legislation just got passed in the house of representatives that resembles fascist legislation.
Dazai: wtf we have to do something (i did not say that)
Me: Norway
Dazai: Seriously ( i don't capitalize in chats)
Me: Norway its a great country
Dazai: We should do something (huh?)
Me: Remember that book we were gonna write?
Dazai: Oh yea If (yeah, what about it)
Me: Too bad we never wrote it
Dazai: Yea (this is the book man, if was just a conversation we had thinking about of cause and effect the power of choice, and the potential paths that lay before us at the time, which are also subject to the whim of chance)
Me: Hey we could make a blog and put all of our thoughts on it....
Which is when we came to the consensus that we should do something. So this we've started a blog, yes a blog, a blog among millions upon millions of other blogs. What makes our blog special? Well.... its um... well.. yea.. anyway..
Hopefully in the coming weeks after both of us finish finals, we'll start making some posts, that our very dedicated readers can fawn over (because our posts will of course be brilliant).
This is our effort to get our ideas somewhere besides gmail and random conversations.
(admin privs are fun - D)
Essentially our conversation began like this:
Me: Legislation just got passed in the house of representatives that resembles fascist legislation.
Dazai: wtf we have to do something (i did not say that)
Me: Norway
Dazai: Seriously ( i don't capitalize in chats)
Me: Norway its a great country
Dazai: We should do something (huh?)
Me: Remember that book we were gonna write?
Dazai: Oh yea If (yeah, what about it)
Me: Too bad we never wrote it
Dazai: Yea (this is the book man, if was just a conversation we had thinking about of cause and effect the power of choice, and the potential paths that lay before us at the time, which are also subject to the whim of chance)
Me: Hey we could make a blog and put all of our thoughts on it....
Which is when we came to the consensus that we should do something. So this we've started a blog, yes a blog, a blog among millions upon millions of other blogs. What makes our blog special? Well.... its um... well.. yea.. anyway..
Hopefully in the coming weeks after both of us finish finals, we'll start making some posts, that our very dedicated readers can fawn over (because our posts will of course be brilliant).
This is our effort to get our ideas somewhere besides gmail and random conversations.
(admin privs are fun - D)
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