Xenophobagel

I'd like to point out to the SNU student body that there is a staunch racist in our midst.

The toaster oven.

How is ecru bread considered a medium toast?

The TO refuses to toast in anything other than slightly varied shades of white. This is completely unacceptable in the current day and age. Can we not finally put racial discrimination behind us?

Stop your "whites-only" policy, MiniVeyor. Brown English muffins are full members of carbohydrate society, and do not deserve your marginalization.

Adventures in Anthropology: Oklahoman American Society

I take this brief [read: highly extended] break from my paper writing [women and sexuality in the films of Catherine Breillat, holla!] to share observations of my current environment.

Aside from the tower of intellect sitting across from me, the surroundings are amusingly dismal.

Where do you go when you need free WiFi late into the night?

Beverly's Pancake House [24 hours!]. Shitty food, and fast. Full lard content whenever your heart desires. Half slab of pork product at 3:45 AM? Yours! Large stack of pancakes covered in "maple" syrup at 4? Yes ma'am!

Ordered hot tea. It comes with honey sauce.

What the hell is honey sauce?

Oh Oklahoma, I am adoring you and your shameless obesity, which you soundtrack with Rod Stewart without any discernible irony.

Have you seen my childhood?

Sitting in BES, waiting for the exam to start, listening to the X-Men theme with Josh.

Oh. Em. Eff. Gee. I am having a childhood flashback right now.

Ripping out of my bed on Saturday morning, tearing through my house [which was a maze], sliding on my knees to a halt in front of the TV set, right in between my brothers, Sean and Brandon, rubbing away the sting of carpet burn through the opening montage. Sweet memories.

I miss being a kid.



By the way: Gambit = hottest comic book character EVER.
Then again, I'm a sucker for a bad-ass Southern boy.

In the same vein . . .

Researching for my B[e]S paper. Interesting passage about consumer sovereignty:

"Then again, if consumer sovereignty were anything like a reality, certainly the government would be diligent in protecting consumers' interests. Sadly such is not the case. Instead, the government places strict limits on consumer sovereignty, especially where any substantive consumer sovereignty might collide with corporate interests. Consider, for example, how shabbily the government treats consumers in regulating the food industry. In deference to corporate interests, government officials routinely refuse consumer demands to label genetically modified food or to inform consumers which processed food contains irradiated ingredients. . . . Because of their need to sell a product that people do not want, 'industry leaders [in the biotechnology industry] view consumers . . . as hostile forces threatening their economic viability.' The government allows industry to process meat in unsanitary conditions. It proposes to allow industry to use radiation to disinfect feces. Consumers, of course, would prefer having the meat packers prepare their produce more carefully rather than irradiating feces. After all, poop, even if irradiated, is not a particularly appealing ingredient. Withholding such knowledge helps to ensure the consumer's loyalty."

Makes me want to be a farmer. Or just not eat ever again.

Vegefemitarianist.

Shit like this:


and this:


and this:


makes me seriously consider giving up vegetarianism.

I became a vegetarian for a host of reasons, one of them being animal rights.

Let me be clear - I don't think it is wrong to eat animals. Showing me pictures of cute calves isn't going to deter me from eating beef. I know meat is delicious. I remember. When I smell grilled chicken, I get just as hungry as the next person. [And yes, Marcus, Heaven probably does smell just like Fat Mac's.]

Hell, my family is mainly comprised of hunters. Season to season, my mother is usually the kill leader in our household. [We're all very proud.] My family's living room - heads on the wall, skins on the hearth and coffee table. The garage deep freeze regularly holds more venison than my family could consume in six months. I fully support this. [Venison is a good choice, by the way. It's a very, very lean meat.]

I am a huge proponent of knowing where your food comes from, and the processes it underwent to get to you [the thing I hate most about the 'Ho - it's all mystery food]. The fewer times it changes hands, the better. That's why my mom and pop grow their own veggies and shop at the farmer's market, and it's why they hunt.

I found, through trying to determine the source of my food, that I don't like the manner in which most meat is processed in the United States. It's cruel. It's dirty. The animals are given a great deal of drugs to keep them alive within the system, and these drugs are consumed when you eat said meat - which ravages your immune system. It's all around gross.

So I don't eat meat.

I did "go veg," [and I didn't need PETA to do it], I don't wear fur, I am more than likely striking dairy from my diet in the near future. And I wish there was an organization available to support me.

PETA, you say? "PETA loves animals! They are here for you!"

I can't work with crazy. [Throwing paint on people in furs? You call it protest. I call it assault. Tomayto, tomahto?]

PETA hates women. [Suck it, Ingrid Newkirk. There's no way you're an "adamant feminist."]

Ok. That may be pushing it a bit, but they do have a reputation for going much, much further than simply objectifying women, which, let's face it, we are more than used to seeing in advertising - not that inundation justifies continued presence.

I shouldn't feel obligated to choose either feminist or vegetarian values. And I don't, on a normal day. But then I see things like this, and I'm torn for a millisecond. I know the facts. I understand the goal. It's a [clinically-deranged third] cousin to my goal - I'm about informing interested persons and letting them decide for themselves, not militant conversion. But my feminism has me screaming, "FUCK YOU PETA!"

"So," you say, "Don't support PETA."

I don't. I don't give their website to anyone with questions. I don't recommend their "vegetarian starter packs." I don't own "Nugget" memorabilia.

But that doesn't do anything to deter their misogynistic campaigns. I could make posters of animals subjected to the same objectifications that women are regularly, or depicted in rape and domestic abuse situations to protest their advertisements, but that's not going to solve anything either - mostly because I don't think people would take a big-breasted chicken in a bikini, superimposed over a Maxim cover seriously.

PETA, isn't there some way that we can marry your goal of informing the public of the ills of the meat, dairy, and fur industries, with advertising and programs that don't abuse women?

You're losing valuable support from vast numbers of vegetarians who can't stomach your campaigns. And I don't know if you've noticed, but the meat-eating public doesn't give a rat's ass about what you have to say, either.

Think about it, get back to me.

So what you're basically saying is that we're just smart-ass fucking bees

I've been doing my best to quit procrastinating. I've only been the queen of procrastination since the third grade. With 15 years under my belt, I'm sure it'll be easy to stop cold turkey. [I say this as I sit not working on my papers and presentation.]

International film has been terrible for this endeavor. Because of this class I can justify spending an afternoon watching movies. No bueno.

At least these films count for something. Productive procrastination, right? I mean, it's not like I'm spending the afternoon cruising Etsy [please?] or YouTube, or blogging.

At any rate, I just finished watching Cidade dos Homens. Not nearly as good as Cidade de Deus, but follow-ups rarely are.

Article for magazine writing, STS reading and response, a bit of research, and then it's back to the movies.

Tonight: Finishing The Vertical Ray of the Sun. It started out promising enough.

Oh! Also: some recommendations for my lovely film-loving friends:

*Tsotsi [South Africa 2005]



*Cidade de Deus [Brazil 2002]



[Sorry For the Portuguese, but it was either that or a shitty American trailer.]

*Last Life in the Universe [Thailand 2003]



*XXY [Argentina 2007]


Off to read about Latin American cinema and misogyny in advertising. Good times are soon to be had.

Ce petit moineau a besoin de vous, renard.

Je pense qu'il m'a ruiné. Je suis les marchandises endommagées. Et ceci affecte toujours tout dans ma vie.

"Il y aurait d'autres nuits. Et comment pouvez-vous dire je t'aime à quelqu'un que vous aimez?"

Je souhaite que c'ait été facile.

Quand est-ce devenu si dur?
Je t'aime.
Tu me manque.

All roads lead to the same blocked intersection . . .

I need more of this in my life: