Important information from Steph Peters:
AUhntress: Nick- would you like to hear some random trivia?
Nap98: sure.....
Nap98: lol
AUhntress: okay- how much do you know about kangaroos?
Nap98: not...much
AUhntress: okay- well it turns out the females have 2 vaginas and are perpetually pregnant
AUhntress: a joey is born and then they mate and a fertilized egg kind of just hangs out
Nap98: wow...thanks steph.
AUhntress: wait- it's not over yet
Nap98: that's. great.
Nap98: oh boy
AUhntress: lol
Nap98: lol
AUhntress: so, after the baby joey grows up a little bit
AUhntress: and stops nursing for a certain amount of hours
AUhntress: the other egg starts to mature
AUhntress: and then she has that joey
AUhntress: BUT
AUhntress: she has two breasts in her pouch
Nap98: wow. kangaroos are so much more amazing than i ever knew.
AUhntress: and they each make a different kind of milk
Nap98: different flavors?
Nap98: is one set chocoale?
Thursday, February 20, 2003
I don’t look Mexican and hardley anyone knows what a Portuguese person looks like. I think when people meet me, most are forced to mentally place me in the category of “other” when it comes to race or ethnicity. So it’s not rare for me to hear things that offend me simply because people do not realize who they are talking to.
In fact recently, there's a person that I worked with on a Mountain View related issue that did just that. The first time we met, we talked a lot about the neighborhood we both lived in. We started talking about some of the problems in the neighborhood, blight, crime, destruction of historic properties, redevelopment issues...etc.
But during the discussion....my neighbor started making comments that made me cringe. This neighbor started going on about "the Mexicans" and linking them with neighborhood problems and safety issues. I let them go on for a while, and then politely let this person know I was half Mexican. My neighbor blinked, and apologized immediately.
My neighbor's racist comments were based mainly in ignorance and crass generalizations, not hate. And while their comments offended me, I accepted their apology. Even though I had just met this person, I tried to give them the benefit of a doubt and not judge their character on some off key comments.
We then had a pretty good discussion about the Mexican-American side of my family, and our history in Mountain View. My neighbor asked questions, I answered. In the process I think I broke, or at the very least challenged, some of the stereotypes and misconceptions of Mexican-Americans this person may have had. My neighbor opened up to me and let me know that they didn’t know very many Mexican-American people, and that they had a lot to learn.
`````````````
So…. Two of my friends are going through something similar to what I went through with my neighbor. They don’t know each other very well. Someone said something that was offensive to another based on race.
I’ll be frank. It was disrespectful and it bothered me. When I heard it I bit my lip and turned to look at the other person in the car who would be most offended. I didn’t say anything at the time but maybe I should have. I was surprised to hear what I heard, and thought that perhaps the person would realize that what they said was offensive and would apologize on their own. I decided to not mention it…until I realized tonight that the issue was being discussed and was causing some hard feelings.
I do not think anything less of the person that said this thing, because I know what their true character is and I know that they are a great person full of compassion and kindness. I would never label this person as racist, but I would say that their comment was racist. No one is perfect, and I think we have all said some callous and racist things we have come to regret.
I also completely understand why the offended party feels the way they do, having experienced similar situations. I think people often underestimate how hurtful certain careless comments can be. Because when someone says one thing that is racist, it’s not just the one thing that's said, hearing something like that makes you remember all the racist things you’ve heard, and makes you for a moment, feel like crap. These things should not be taken lightly.
If a personal and direct apology has not been made yet, it should be. And even though you might not know each other well, I’d like to think I do. I can safely say that both of you are excellent people. This isn’t something that can be healed by typing your personal emotions in your respective blogs. Yes, it’s slightly contradictory that I chose to address you both in my own blog, but at least this way everyone who’s involved knows where I stand.
Talk to each other directly and not through others. I think that’s all you need to do to work this out. And I do think you should work it out.
In fact recently, there's a person that I worked with on a Mountain View related issue that did just that. The first time we met, we talked a lot about the neighborhood we both lived in. We started talking about some of the problems in the neighborhood, blight, crime, destruction of historic properties, redevelopment issues...etc.
But during the discussion....my neighbor started making comments that made me cringe. This neighbor started going on about "the Mexicans" and linking them with neighborhood problems and safety issues. I let them go on for a while, and then politely let this person know I was half Mexican. My neighbor blinked, and apologized immediately.
My neighbor's racist comments were based mainly in ignorance and crass generalizations, not hate. And while their comments offended me, I accepted their apology. Even though I had just met this person, I tried to give them the benefit of a doubt and not judge their character on some off key comments.
We then had a pretty good discussion about the Mexican-American side of my family, and our history in Mountain View. My neighbor asked questions, I answered. In the process I think I broke, or at the very least challenged, some of the stereotypes and misconceptions of Mexican-Americans this person may have had. My neighbor opened up to me and let me know that they didn’t know very many Mexican-American people, and that they had a lot to learn.
`````````````
So…. Two of my friends are going through something similar to what I went through with my neighbor. They don’t know each other very well. Someone said something that was offensive to another based on race.
I’ll be frank. It was disrespectful and it bothered me. When I heard it I bit my lip and turned to look at the other person in the car who would be most offended. I didn’t say anything at the time but maybe I should have. I was surprised to hear what I heard, and thought that perhaps the person would realize that what they said was offensive and would apologize on their own. I decided to not mention it…until I realized tonight that the issue was being discussed and was causing some hard feelings.
I do not think anything less of the person that said this thing, because I know what their true character is and I know that they are a great person full of compassion and kindness. I would never label this person as racist, but I would say that their comment was racist. No one is perfect, and I think we have all said some callous and racist things we have come to regret.
I also completely understand why the offended party feels the way they do, having experienced similar situations. I think people often underestimate how hurtful certain careless comments can be. Because when someone says one thing that is racist, it’s not just the one thing that's said, hearing something like that makes you remember all the racist things you’ve heard, and makes you for a moment, feel like crap. These things should not be taken lightly.
If a personal and direct apology has not been made yet, it should be. And even though you might not know each other well, I’d like to think I do. I can safely say that both of you are excellent people. This isn’t something that can be healed by typing your personal emotions in your respective blogs. Yes, it’s slightly contradictory that I chose to address you both in my own blog, but at least this way everyone who’s involved knows where I stand.
Talk to each other directly and not through others. I think that’s all you need to do to work this out. And I do think you should work it out.
Thursday, February 13, 2003
“From the towns of the nation, we’d like to do a song for you about the larger picture. There’s only one season lately. There used to be an agreement between the seasons that they would all come and stay for three months, and then go the way the seasons go when they’re not where we are.
Lately there has been no spring, no summer, and no fall.
Politically, and philosophically, and psychologically there has only been the season of ice.
It a season of frozen dreams and frozen nightmares,
A scene of frozen progress, and frozen ideas,
frozen aspirations and inspirations.
They call the season winter; we call the song Winter in America.”
From the Indians
Who welcomed the Pilgrims
And to the buffalos
Who once ruled the plain
Like the vultures
Circling beneath the Dark Clouds
Looking for the Rain
Looking for the Rain
Just like the cities that
Stagger on the coastline
In a nation
That just can’t stand much more
Like the forests
Buried beneath the highway
Never had a chance to grow
Never had a chance to grow
And now it’s Winter
Winter in America
Yes, and all of the healers
Have been killed
Or sent away
But the people know
The people know
It’s winter
Winter in America
And aint nobody fighting cause
Nobody knows what to save
Save your soul
Lord knows, from Winter in America
The Constitution
A nobel piece of a paper
With free society
They struggled but they died in vain
And now democracy
Is rag time on the corner
Hoping for some rain
It looks like its hoping for some rain
And I see the robins
Perched on distant tree tops
They’re watching last-ditch races
March across the floor
But just like the peace sign
That vanished in our dreams
Never had a chance to grow
Never had a chance to grow.
And now its winter
Winter in America
And all of the healers
Have been killed
Our betrayed
But the people know
The people know
It’s winter
Lord knows, its Winter in America
And aint’ nobody fighting, cause,
Nobody knows what to save
Save your soul,
From winter in America.
-Gil Scott Heron
A song written in 1974 seems just as relevant today as it must have back then. Couldn't have said that two years ago. Catching a glimpse of the evening news assualted me with threats of a missle strike on the Bay Area from Korea, terrorist attacks from Osama Bin Laden, a growing hatred of the US government amongst our allies, and the deployment of hundreds of troops to fight a war in Iraq. All in two or three minutes.
Sorta strange now to look back at New Years Eve 1999. On that night, it seemed the entire world was celebrating and hoping for peace. Images of celebrations around the globe, of doves being released in Jerusalem are still clear in my mind. The economy was booming. The problems and conflicts of the world seemed distant and irrelevant to our lives as upper middle class high schoolers in America.
Then we left for college...and that September our rosy view of the world came tumbling down with those two towers. Whether you call it innocence or ignorance, it was taken away from our generation and we entered a new era. The coming years may prove to be defining for our nation in this century. The world has changed and we are becoming adults as it changes further. I wonder how such a shift will utimately affect us and define us. How will our generation handle the mess that we are destined to inherit. Can we begin to turn a new leaf, or will we travel down the same path that got us to where we are today?
Lately there has been no spring, no summer, and no fall.
Politically, and philosophically, and psychologically there has only been the season of ice.
It a season of frozen dreams and frozen nightmares,
A scene of frozen progress, and frozen ideas,
frozen aspirations and inspirations.
They call the season winter; we call the song Winter in America.”
From the Indians
Who welcomed the Pilgrims
And to the buffalos
Who once ruled the plain
Like the vultures
Circling beneath the Dark Clouds
Looking for the Rain
Looking for the Rain
Just like the cities that
Stagger on the coastline
In a nation
That just can’t stand much more
Like the forests
Buried beneath the highway
Never had a chance to grow
Never had a chance to grow
And now it’s Winter
Winter in America
Yes, and all of the healers
Have been killed
Or sent away
But the people know
The people know
It’s winter
Winter in America
And aint nobody fighting cause
Nobody knows what to save
Save your soul
Lord knows, from Winter in America
The Constitution
A nobel piece of a paper
With free society
They struggled but they died in vain
And now democracy
Is rag time on the corner
Hoping for some rain
It looks like its hoping for some rain
And I see the robins
Perched on distant tree tops
They’re watching last-ditch races
March across the floor
But just like the peace sign
That vanished in our dreams
Never had a chance to grow
Never had a chance to grow.
And now its winter
Winter in America
And all of the healers
Have been killed
Our betrayed
But the people know
The people know
It’s winter
Lord knows, its Winter in America
And aint’ nobody fighting, cause,
Nobody knows what to save
Save your soul,
From winter in America.
-Gil Scott Heron
A song written in 1974 seems just as relevant today as it must have back then. Couldn't have said that two years ago. Catching a glimpse of the evening news assualted me with threats of a missle strike on the Bay Area from Korea, terrorist attacks from Osama Bin Laden, a growing hatred of the US government amongst our allies, and the deployment of hundreds of troops to fight a war in Iraq. All in two or three minutes.
Sorta strange now to look back at New Years Eve 1999. On that night, it seemed the entire world was celebrating and hoping for peace. Images of celebrations around the globe, of doves being released in Jerusalem are still clear in my mind. The economy was booming. The problems and conflicts of the world seemed distant and irrelevant to our lives as upper middle class high schoolers in America.
Then we left for college...and that September our rosy view of the world came tumbling down with those two towers. Whether you call it innocence or ignorance, it was taken away from our generation and we entered a new era. The coming years may prove to be defining for our nation in this century. The world has changed and we are becoming adults as it changes further. I wonder how such a shift will utimately affect us and define us. How will our generation handle the mess that we are destined to inherit. Can we begin to turn a new leaf, or will we travel down the same path that got us to where we are today?
Thursday, February 06, 2003
Monday, February 03, 2003
The weekend was saved.
My parents, wonderful people that they are, whisked me away from Berkeley..sorta almost kidnapped me. They said we'd just go to dinner, but after dinner we went home. Fine with me!
Home was good. Dad got popcorn from Century, and I sat down with my grandparents and parents to watch Salt of the Earth (the movie my great-grandma's are in.) My grandparent's constantly pointed out people they knew...
Grandma Emma: "oh I went to high school with him..."
Grandpa Simon: "hey hun...didn't you go to school with him?"
Emma: "what?"
Simon: "I said, didn't you go to high school with him?"
Emma: "who?"
Simon: "Aye, him!"
Emma: "Oh....yes, I went to high school with him."
Simon: "That's what I said."
Well, maybe not that funny...but that's the general idea. There was also an argument as to whose mother was in a close up. "That's my mother!"...."No, that's MY mother!".....My grandma won. The movie was good, the DVD extras were really cool too. Lot's of photos from that part of New Mexico. Some things in that area haven't changed at all. Some have change completely.
Sunday was nice. I decided to go to mass with my dad and grandma. Not something I normally do...but it was nice, I prayed for all the things that were worth praying for (a lot lately) and the homily was about the importance of grandparent's...go fig. It was nice, the church looks great...just got restored.
My dad made a chorizo and eggs breakfast, we got pan dulce from the California Street Market, or the Little Store around the corner as we like to call it. I decided to randomly put on a CD my grandma had on her dresser, Glenn Miller's Orchestra.....big band from the 40s while breakfast was being made. My grandparent's started dancing in the dining room. Good to see them smile and have fun.
My godparent's came over to visit. Good to see them. Got to see my neighbor and life-long friend Joella too. We went on a lil' scanvenger hunt around the hood looking for a car seat. Her friend had her babysitting, but didn't leave a car seat or a stroller. Good thing I've met so many neighbors through the Mountain View Preservation Alliance, got her a stroller after trying three houses. That was, totally random, but fun.
Grandpa decided to come take me back to Berkeley with my dad. Grandpa's always fun to take to SF, he worked there during the 50s-70s, he's like taking a talking trivia book with you. We made a stop at Ghiradelli Square in SF and had a nice relaxing dinner. Clam Chowder in a Bread Bowl, overlooking the Bay at sunset. The city looked really beautiful this evening.
And to top it all off, got some great news from Matt. No Cancer.
Relief.
My parents, wonderful people that they are, whisked me away from Berkeley..sorta almost kidnapped me. They said we'd just go to dinner, but after dinner we went home. Fine with me!
Home was good. Dad got popcorn from Century, and I sat down with my grandparents and parents to watch Salt of the Earth (the movie my great-grandma's are in.) My grandparent's constantly pointed out people they knew...
Grandma Emma: "oh I went to high school with him..."
Grandpa Simon: "hey hun...didn't you go to school with him?"
Emma: "what?"
Simon: "I said, didn't you go to high school with him?"
Emma: "who?"
Simon: "Aye, him!"
Emma: "Oh....yes, I went to high school with him."
Simon: "That's what I said."
Well, maybe not that funny...but that's the general idea. There was also an argument as to whose mother was in a close up. "That's my mother!"...."No, that's MY mother!".....My grandma won. The movie was good, the DVD extras were really cool too. Lot's of photos from that part of New Mexico. Some things in that area haven't changed at all. Some have change completely.
Sunday was nice. I decided to go to mass with my dad and grandma. Not something I normally do...but it was nice, I prayed for all the things that were worth praying for (a lot lately) and the homily was about the importance of grandparent's...go fig. It was nice, the church looks great...just got restored.
My dad made a chorizo and eggs breakfast, we got pan dulce from the California Street Market, or the Little Store around the corner as we like to call it. I decided to randomly put on a CD my grandma had on her dresser, Glenn Miller's Orchestra.....big band from the 40s while breakfast was being made. My grandparent's started dancing in the dining room. Good to see them smile and have fun.
My godparent's came over to visit. Good to see them. Got to see my neighbor and life-long friend Joella too. We went on a lil' scanvenger hunt around the hood looking for a car seat. Her friend had her babysitting, but didn't leave a car seat or a stroller. Good thing I've met so many neighbors through the Mountain View Preservation Alliance, got her a stroller after trying three houses. That was, totally random, but fun.
Grandpa decided to come take me back to Berkeley with my dad. Grandpa's always fun to take to SF, he worked there during the 50s-70s, he's like taking a talking trivia book with you. We made a stop at Ghiradelli Square in SF and had a nice relaxing dinner. Clam Chowder in a Bread Bowl, overlooking the Bay at sunset. The city looked really beautiful this evening.
And to top it all off, got some great news from Matt. No Cancer.
Relief.