creation museum. really.

i just read this article in the new york times about a creation museum that's about to open in petersburg, ky. i'm still in disbelief that it exists. that $27 million was spent on presenting ideas as facts even though there's no evidence to support them, ideas that are based merely on a text that commands blind faith. i don't hold scientific theories as truth. they're still just theories. i do try to keep an open mind that scientists have been wrong. i accept changes to these theories. but i need evidence, not blind faith, as the basis of believe about the past.

in a strange way, though, i am intrigued. they have worked dinosaurs onto noah's ark. you have to admit there's a lot of creative thinking going on to make everything seem to fit. but i don't think it's right to charge $19.95 admission price for an adult; it's an admission price, not a suggested admission price. for a christian-based institution, you'd think they'd be more charitable to the public. even the met is based on a suggested admission. what would jesus think about that?

new orleans

this weekend in new orleans was a great experience. it's such a distinctive and colorful city. i love the french colonial architecture with the intricate wrought iron works and the balconies that mask the fronts of buildings. it was unfortunate that i was only able to spend 24 hours there, minus the 10 hours of sleep and waiting on the rest of the party i was meeting.

we stayed at a hotel in the french quarters, which i would never do again. the french quarters is definitely a great part of town to visit. there are a lot of tourist amenities such as walking tours, horse carriages, and t-shirt stores. in a way, it's definitely set up as a tourist trap. the street artists, performers, and fortune tellers give the area more distinction, however. the part i didn't like about the area was the oversaturation of bars. at night, bourbon street is closed off as a pedestrian-only street. it's a party, which is what the city is known for. i'm not much of a partier, though, so walking around for about 1/2 hour was enough for me. i would rather stay in an area where enough foot traffic still occur but not drunken foot vomit-propelling traffic.

the group i met with were avoiding cajun and creole food for dinner, much to my disappointment. we ended up making reservations at an italian restaurant, ristorante carmelo. when we arrived, we were directed to wait at the bar while our table was being set up. the bartender was a grumpy old man who insisted that a mojito did not include lime. the girl who ordered it wanted to try the drink for the first time. i had to assure her that it tastes much better when it's made properly. already irritated, we were led to our table. we asked for balcony/outdoors seating, which we got. it was just in a dark corner of the balcony where we couldn't read the menu and could barely make out each others' faces around the table. we would've gladly waited for a table where we could see. also, we were so packed into the corner that we had to pass the drinks down the table because the waiter couldn't reach those at the far end. thankfully, the wait staff was much friendlier and more helpful than the bartender. also, the food was decent. it wasn't great italian, but it was fine. the bruschetta was definitely odd though. normally, the tomatoes and basil are chopped to make eating the dish easy. at this restaurant, the cherry tomatoes are cut in half and placed flat-side down on the garlic bread with a sprig of basil on top. yes, a sprig. like a garnish when it's supposed to be integral to the dish. also, one of the girls who ordered pizza had sprigs of rosemary tossed on with the rest of the toppings. when you can easily spend $70 per person, i expect the herbs to have gone through some sort of care and preparation. the rest of the entrees were fine. i just ordered the fettecine bolognese because i didn't want to spend much at a place that didn't seem to want to please our party. is this what restaurants do when you order mixed drinks instead of wine? i'd consider recommending the restaurant for take out but definitely not dine in.

sunday morning involved waiting for the girls to pack and check out. the plan was to stuff all their luggages in my car, park it somewhere, and drop them off at another hotel where they had booked reservations for a conference. after finally checking out and reparking the car, we search for breakfast. when we saw the line at cafe du monde, we crossed the street and grabbed real breakfast instead. afterwards, we looked for the trolley cars that run into the garden district. the cars, however, were not running their full course post-katrina. we headed back into the french quarters and grabbed some beignets, something my sister made me promise to have during this visit. it's basically a funnel cake shaped like a square donut. funnel cakes are something i always look forward to so the beignet was still satisfying.

after dropping off the party at their second hotel, i headed for the garden district. i didn't see much however. i don't think i went far enough into it. i stumbled upon the contemporary art center though and spent a very quiet 40 minutes there, admiring the black and white prints and other pieces on display by local high schoolers. there was also an exhibit by carlos estevez and another cuba artist whose name i can't recall. i loved estevez's drawings of these mechanical puppets that have dots where their joints would be, and the dots are connected in an intricate manner that eventually lead up to the unknown puppeteer off the canvas. each puppet has a red dot on their heads with a line that leads directly up to the puppeteer. he's also working on a project of casting bottles with a rolled up piece of drawing and writing into the ocean. i hope the next time i go to the beach, i'd find one of them.

overall, it was a good trip. i wish i had more time in the city and definitely more time with the one friend i drove 5 hours each way to see. she accompanied me on saturday afternoon to walk around the french quarters while the rest of the group took naps at the hotel. we were both determined to enjoy the city, not the hotel, while we were there. the best part of the walk was sneaking into the omni hotel, up to the 7th floor where they have a rooftop pool, a small bar, and a tiny observation deck. not that we cared for the pool or the bar but we loved the view. it was breathtaking to see the rooftops of all the buildings, new and old, in the quarters. i took the most pictures on this trip that afternoon. probably because i was happiest.

mother's day

i love my mom's philosophy that every day is your birthday, every day is mother's day. it's her way of letting herself and us off the hook in looking for a present in time, but it's also to say that being kind and thoughtful on one specific day is meaningless if you're unkind and unthoughtful the rest of the year.

so i phoned her today, just like on any other weekend. i wished her a happy mother's day, but we didn't dwell on it. the conversation steered right into the usual territories of what's happening with her job, house, things that she's read, basically her life. that's my mom. she keeps it real.

i've still got it

while still living in california, i used to go to "keeping time", a clock and watch store at the glendale galleria. the gentleman who fixes clocks and watches took a liking to me because i speak cantonese. he always gave me a discount for the service. it's like a reward for keeping my first language. mom was right for making us speak cantonese at home with her.

now that i've moved, i have to find a new place to change the battery. i figured a nice jewelry store at the mall should suffice. it's a nice watch so places like wal-mart and target won't touch it, probably because of liability. i expected to spend about $12-$15, which is pretty normal at fancy jewelry stores.

upon entering the mall, i walked up to the first one i saw. all the sales attendants were helping other people. after waiting about 3 minutes, i looked around the mall and spotted another jewelry store. i walked over and asked if they change watch batteries. the guy who helped me kindly took my watch and set to work. i waited patiently, looking at their stock. they carried nice pieces, but thankfully, nothing appealed to me. after about 10 minutes, the guy came back with my watch and said, "normally, i'm supposed to charge you for this, but don't worry about it." i gave him a confused look to which he responded, "get outta here," with a grin. i thanked him and left the mall. i love my watch.

abortions in china

there's an article in the new york times regarding the high abortion rate in china. the trend is fevered by the chinese one-child policy, a drift away from traditions as china has opened itself to the rest of the world, economically and culturally, and a general lack of sex education.

what's frightening is that while i believe a lot of american pro-choice advocates do not see abortion as a form of contraception (more of an issue of rights), in china, abortions are seen as just that. it's apparently not uncommon for women to have had more than one abortion; some have had as many as six. i wonder if these women realize that every time you go through an abortion, you decrease your chances of being able to conceive and maintain a pregnancy. it is not a naturally occurring procedure; therefore, it can prove detrimental to your health. obviously, if you don't want to have children ever, then knowing this will not deter you from future abortions. it could prove devastating, however, if you do want to bear children some where down the line.

i guess i've been taking it for granted that choosing abortion is a heavy decision for a woman. the idea of destroying what has potential to be your child is frightening. but i still believe that with the proper education, women should have the right to choose. and i think this is what is needed in china to stop these women from harming their bodies any further.

also, it's not just education for the women. men need to be educated just as much. some of these women claim that it's their lovers who do not want to use other forms of contraceptive. this attitude also contributes to the rise of AIDS infections and very likely other forms of STDs in china. if the chinese government has the power to impose such restrictions as a one-child policy, in addition to multiple forms of brutality upon its people, it certainly has the power to educate them. what are you going to reign over if your people destroy each other?

wrist watch

i think the battery in my watch is dying. the second hand ticks a little slow. it's actually a little past eleven o'clock, but the hands on the watch shows eighteen minutes till eleven. i know that all it needs is a new battery, but the idea of this watch dying is upsetting. i bought this watch over a decade ago with the money i saved from working at my uncle's restaurant. the sun and moon style was popular at the time, and i wanted one. i was in the eight grade at the time so it was a sensitive time in one's life, especially the need to feel normal and accepted. but i would look at this watch every day and knew i had to really like it for itself as well.

i looked at the watches at roses and wal-mart and didn't like any of them. then, i moved my way up to sears and jcpenny, but still, none of them appealed to me. there was just something about those sun and moon watches that didn't hit me right. maybe the way the sun and moon looked. the way the whole face of the watch looked. the font of the numbers. the hands being too plain or too decorative. it was my hard earned money, not money my mommy or daddy gave me. sure, it was just a watch, but this was going to be a gift to myself, my first nice gift to myself. i think i would've waited forever until i found one that felt right.

then, at belk, i saw it. i loved that it has a little hole that showed the date. the cutout for the sun and the moon was just the right size. the needles were simple but not flimsy looking. the numbers were in roman numerals, something i didn't even consider i would like. there is a slight sense of depth to it, with a large cutout just inside of the ring of numbers to reveal a different textured material that, then, had a cutout for the sun and the moon to pass through. i've always prefered analog watches over digital watches. analog watches translate time into space. the hands have that much more space to pass before a certain time. and the sun and moon remind me that the day is passing, not just the hours, minutes, seconds. there was just something so pleasant and right about it. it cost $55 plus tax at the time. back then, especially for an eighth grader, that's quite a bit of money. but i was fortunate enough to have the money at the time. everything about it, the watch itself, the circumstance, was just right. so i bought it.

i look at watches every now and then when i shop, but i can't imagine not wearing this watch while it still works. i've changed the straps a handful of times. the glass is scratched. the frame has lost much of its color. yet i wear it every day, for every occasion. it might not match anything else i'm wearing, but it matches me and reminds me of who i am.

roomba

i bought a roomba recently, the robotic vacuum cleaner. i've been thinking about getting one for my mom because she's getting old. the apartment i'm staying in shreveport is carpeted, to my dismay, although i had little room for options since i was confined to finding a place that offered a 3-month lease. i was going back and forth about buying a vacuum cleaner. it's just so wasteful since i only need it for a short period. i could ask around the office to see if i could borrow from someone, but it's a difficult task if you're kind of antisocial. (while waiting for people to see a comedy show, i saw a couple of coworkers. instead of saying hi, i immediately pulled my cell phone up to my face and thanked my friend for picking up the phone. my dear, dear friend stayed on the phone with me until the people i was meeting showed up.)

i began a small hunt for a cheap, small vacuum cleaner, and while wandering around best buy, i saw a roomba. a friend of mine, who's into the latest gadgets, raved about her roomba. it had already occurred to me that it's a perfect for my mom, if it's not difficult to use. so i checked out the irobot website and ordered the simplest version with only one button that says "clean". i figured my mom can handle that. if its performance is satisfactory during my stay in this carpeted place, then my mom can have it when i leave.

i've used it twice, and i now understand why my friend was so crazy about it. it's so cute, like some little creature who does a chore for you instead of tearing into your food supply and shitting all over the place. when you start it up, it does a little tune, "do do do do". it then proceeds to roam around the room, bumping into walls and furniture as it sucks up dirt and whatever else carpet hides. (i hate carpet because i feel like it hides the dirt and whatever gross stuff settles on the floor.) i became engrossed, watching it as it moves around seemingly randomly. it's like watching a baby stumble about, learning its way in the world. but its bumping around is how it learns the shape of the room and will know to go over the entire space at least once, doing a thorough cleaning. amazing what good technology can do. i still hate carpet though. (the roomba apparently also works on hard floors too...)

kung fu hustle

i rewatched kung fu hustle recently and was reminded of how great it is. it doesn't try to be sentimental. it manages to make physical comedy smart, something that has been lacking in hollywood comedies. all the characters are to some degrees caricatures. it's intriguing that the two female characters have opposite traits that has to do with their voices: the landlady's superpower is the volume of her voice; the lollipop girl is mute. i'm no longer smart enough to pinpoint the significance of this juxtaposition, but i know it adds to the story. somehow. if i were still in college, i could totally whip out a 20-page analysis of this movie.

besides the immense subtext that you can draw from this movie, what allows me to enjoy it so much is the element of surprise. with most movies nowadays, i can see the joke before it happens. but kung fu hustle is so unpredictable. who would've thought sing would use the knives in his shoulders as side rear view mirrors until he actually used them as such? the movie managed to be all over the place (a dance sequence, a live-action road runner sequence, martial arts, physical comedy, play on words, sexuality but not sex) but never lost its center, which very much adheres to the idea of kung fu and chi.

i've watched stephen chow since i was a kid, when he hosted a hong kong children's program, "430 space shuttle" (along with tony leung, another favorite actor; stephen and tony were in a sketch of good guy vs. bad guy - tony played the good guy and stephen played the bad guy). stephen went through a phase of crass comedy which had turned me off from his work for a while. now with kung fu hustle, he's definitely redefined himself as a comic genius.

roaches

i've been having roach problems at my shreveport apartment. instead of asking management to come for the third time to spray the place, i've broken down and bought roach motels. their previous efforts did not prove themselves to be effective. with the roach motels, i now come home to find not live roaches that i have to chase hesitantly with one flip-flop in hand and risk getting roach juice on the kitchen counter but dead roaches i just have to sweep up and dump in the trash. is it hypocritical to kill roaches but be anti-guns? i feel like the roach motels are kind of like guns in that they make killing much more convenient and cleaner. to kill someone without a gun, you probably have to bludgeon or stab them. without the roach motel, i have to kill the nasty roaches by the same method - squish them with a flip-flop or a wad of paper towels. roaches are just so gross though. if i am being hypocritical, just keep in mind that i am only human.

p.s. in a previous entry, i made the point that it's the people, not the guns, who are the problem. i am, however, anti-guns, someone who will never own one even for self-protection. seriously, i'd end up hurting myself before the attacker.

dallas revisited

this dallas trip was devoted to the museum of art in the downtown area. i must say, i was quite impressed with the matisse exhibit that the museum of art held in conjunction with the nasher sculpture museum/garden. i arrived just before noon and didn't leave the premises until 3:30p. starting from the portion at the museum of art, you were able to get a sense of matisse's mental and creative process as you were kind of guided through the exhibit, and it was really eye-opening to see his how he related painting to sculpting and vice versa. to him, the two mediums express his ideas in different ways; the limits of one method can be overcome by the other, obviously because one is 2-dimensional and the other is 3-dimensional. they are still intertwined, however. the way this exhibit is set up, you are able to see how matisse was able to take the creativity that came forth while sculpting and bring it into his paintings, qualities which take his paintings to another level.

after seeing the portion at the art museum, i crossed the street to the sculpture garden. there continued presentations of matisse's serial works such as "the backs", "madeleine", and busts of "jeanette". these series show matisse exploring abstraction as the figures progress becoming more abstract and more streamline in form. there was also a large display of "jazz", his book of paper cut outs. the method is so simple, something that kids do in elementary art classes. yet, his paper cut outs are vibrant in color and contain stimulating shapes and configurations. i'd have to say they're my favorite, combining a sense of innocence with exuberant creativity.

other works that interested me in the sculpture garden included jonathan borofsky's "walking to the sky", george segal's "rush hour", and naum gabo's "constructed head #2".

afterwards, as i was leaving the museum, i saw signs for the farmers market. it is a place i must revisit - i didn't arrive until the afternoon, and it seemed that most of the farmers had already left. there were a few stalls still in operation, and i managed to snag some snap peas, sweet cherry tomatoes, and limes. on one hand, it's so difficult to buy produce by the bucketful when you live by yourself. on the other hand, it prevented me from buying everything.

other destinations failed (a cd store i found online had actually closed forever, and a reebok listing turned out not to be a storefront but their business office), but it was still a good day. the thing that bugs me the most about dallas is the same thing that i don't like about la or probably any new big city: it takes at least 1/2 hour to drive to anywhere. i have to plan my trip before heading out the door or else i'll just spend the whole day driving. i was so exhausted by the time i returned to shreveport. thank goodness sundays are for sleeping in.

"curb" on abortion

warning that this blog contains kind of graphic descriptions of a medical procedure.

yesterday, the supreme court upheld the ban on late-term abortion. according to the washington post, the justices "approved an abortion restriction that did not contain an exception for the health of the woman. it does, however, provide an exception to save the woman's life." so the procedure will only be legal if a late-term abortion will save her life, not her health. it's fine that she is forced to live in poorer health post-partum, probably making motherhood much harder, and in effect, probably affecting the child, i would bet, not positively.

i agree that the procedure they're banning is horrific. intact dilation and evacuation (IDX) involves delivering the fetus in one piece and crushing the skull of the fetus to make the removal of it easier. yeah, if any decent woman knew the details of this procedure, i doubt she would agree to it. the reason that doctors would recommend this method of abortion is because it "carries a lower risk of bleeding, infections and permanent injury." the alternative is to remove the fetus in pieces (dilation and evacuation) which is still pretty frightening.

ginsburg said it right as to why i oppose this decision: "...the court deprives women of the right to make an autonomous choice...this way of thinking reflects ancient notions about women's place in the family and under the Constitution -- ideas that have long since been discredited." women should be educated in the matter, something that they deserve as a human being. this is why i don't understand bush's statement in response to the ruling: "the decision 'affirms that the Constitution does not stand in the way of the people's representatives enacting laws reflecting the compassion and humanity of america.'" what kind of compassion and humanity is involved in assuming that the woman and doctor, a medically trained professional whose job it is to save/improve lives, have no respect for the life of the fetus?

besides, exactly how many IDX are performed, say, each year? what is the rate of this procedure? is it that common that a LAW needs to be implemented? it sounds like something saved as a last resort. someone please educate me on the statistics of this procedure. if it really is a procedure that occurs all the time, then maybe i can see a validity to the law, as much as i may disagree with it. however, if it is a rarely performed procedure, then basically, yesterday's decision is a political move. it's the beginning of the conservatives making way to overturn roe v. wade.

in 2000, the supreme court overturned a nebraska law banning partial-birth abortions. the 5 justices who consisted of the majority were the same justices who dissented yesterday's decision, minus o'connor, which made them the minority with the more recent decision. i hope that i'm wrong to feel like we're the only first world country moving backwards in terms of human rights. it would turn my parents' efforts to immigrate to this country for the sake of my sister's and my lives futile.

virginia tech shooting

the shooting today at virginia tech sent chills to my core. what is happening in this world? it's not just about the guns; it's about the people. gun control can only do so much. there's something intrinsically festering in this culture/society that seems to push people beyond self-control, crossing a certain line of humanity.

my sister and i had a discussion about the incident. she told me about the posts on nytimes.com where people are focused on blaming the lack of gun control in this country. yes, i agree that it doesn't hurt to limit the types of guns available to the public - you don't need anything more than a simple handgun that holds 6 bullets at a time for defense (most people probably can't handle anything more complicated than a simple handgun) and/or a rifle for hunting. but this is such the typical american/western attitude to deal with a problem. as with medical care, the response is to cope with the symptoms instead of getting to the core of the problem and work on PREVENTION. yes, we have some of the most advanced medical care in the world in terms of surgery and treatments for illnesses, but the emphasis should placed on reevaluating our lifestyle that would enhance preventing these illnesses. to paraphrase my sister, the american/western way is "a bandaid to the rescue."

i wonder if we deal with symptoms instead of addressing the underlying issue because it's simply easier. it is what's apparent; half the work is already done. getting to the underlying issue involves finding it and then thinking of solutions to resolve it. i also wonder if capitalism has had a hand in encouraging/perpetuating this american/western attitude. it's more profitable to provide a solution to the symptoms of a problem and sustain the viability of problem than to solve the problem and gain no profit once the problem dissipates.

take u.s. health care again. american health care is one of the most expensive in the world, and the cost only keeps rising. technological advancement also keeps improving, justifying the rising cost. wouldn't it be cheaper, however, if we can focus on our diet and exercise that attribute to a lot of the diseases we develop in our lifetime? not that diet and exercise would solve all medical problems, but it would certainly help restrain the rising number of people who have cardiovascular disorders needing open-heart surgeries and children who develop type 2 diabetes before they hit puberty. i'm not even talking about special diets like atkins and south beach. just eat fresh food that involves as little chemical processing as possible. be more active and climb the stairs instead of relying on the elevator. simple, inexpensive acts that hit the core of the problem. and i'm not saying that we shouldn't continue progress on technology to treat illnesses; it just shouldn't be our main focus.

but maybe it's not such a bad thing to think in terms of profit. maybe it's thinking about profit in monetary terms that's the problem. what if we start thinking about profit in terms of our personal well-being? what good is money if it doesn't contribute to our physical and mental well-being?

going back to the shooting, instead of screaming at congress for more gun regulations, we should address the deeper issue at hand. this gunman is obviously trying to get attention, like the kids in columbine. alienation and desperation will push someone to cross the line to do something so inhumane.

my deepest sympathy to the families and loved ones affected by this tragedy.

sunday

the original plan was to venture to dallas again this weekend. since i couldn't make it to the arts district last week, this was supposed to be the chance. friday was a late day at work, however. we didn't leave the office until shortly after 1am, technically saturday. i also didn't want to drive back tired on sunday night only to have to wake up early to work the next morning. so this weekend has been devoted to nothingness in shreveport.

yesterday was pretty tame. i left the apartment to reclaim the strawberries i was going to take home from the office and to pick up some caffeine to wake up fully and some chicken to make congee for breakfast. i heated up leftovers for dinner and watched the maltese falcon. i didn’t like humphrey bogart’s character. not that he was set up to be any gentleman, but it’s still hard to like a movie/story when you don’t like the protagonist. i ended up the day by going to bed before 10pm, something i haven’t done since...i can’t remember when.

today was a little more interesting. i got my butt out of bed at around 10am and had breakfast at a little local restaurant nearby. they make breakfast the way breakfast should be made. the two kitchens are open; nothing is enclosed or hidden. you see the cartons of eggs piled on a shelf above the grill. that’s a sure sign for a good breakfast joint. the menu was simple, nothing fancy, just as breakfast should be. it’s a meal that jump starts your day. it’s too early of a meal to be anything more than simple and fulfilling. i ordered eggs with bacon, grits, and toast, having already missed the biscuits. of course, there was coffee. the tab was under $6. they apparently serve homemade chicken and dumplings on weekday evenings. i’ll be going back.

afterwards, i went back to the apartment, realizing that i had forgotten my camera. then, i headed for the r. w. norton art gallery, the one and only art museum in shreveport. tucked away in a neighborhood, the sight of the edifice laid upon a large piece of green land is quite impressive. it’s a beige brick structure that stretches out into two wings, with the main entrance dividing the building in half and brown windows lined with white patterned blocks almost giving the wings a joint at which to flap. the collection, however, was not as impressive. well, i guess it might be impressive if your interest lies in cowboy and indian art, but i don’t care much for it. it pains me to see the way native americans are depicted, knowing how much suffering their race had gone through. they are one of the most tortured, destroyed races in history. but i guess it’s in the spirit of the louisiana purchase and the idea of the exploring and conquering the frontier. i am in louisiana after all. there were a couple copies of rodin that held my interest. but the great fascination was the garden behind the museum itself.

i actually had arrived about 45 minutes before the museum opened. so i wondered the plot of land it’s on and found the garden in the back. along the way, i took some close-ups of tree trunks, wanting to capture the rough textures in the early afternoon light. at the garden, i took a couple of pictures of the pond. it was after checking out the art when i went back to the garden that i got really inspired. there were these girls, between the ages of 8 and 11, who were dressed in sequined cowgirl costumes. they seem to be part of a baton-twirling-dancing group. some were chubby and others were skinny. all little white girls with their matching white cowboy hats and boots, exuding a strong texan culture. later, i saw that they were gathering to have their photographs taken by a professional using the garden as a backdrop. when i reached at the garden again, families had shown up and were taking pictures of each other. without any hesitation and almost without thought, i took up my camera and started snapping pictures of people taking pictures of each other. that was the theme of this roll of film: taking family snapshots. not the snapshots themselves but the act of it. i’m anxious to see how the pictures turn out. it’s been a while since i’ve had a jolt of inspiration like that. yeah, today counts as a good day.

dallas

i made a day trip to dallas this past saturday. i expected to see tons of american flags on bumper stickers and rifles peeking from the back cab windows of pick-up trucks. luckily, i didn't see much of it.

dallas actually reminded me of los angeles. being a new city, sprawl rules the city. i saw some signs for some form of public transportation, "DART", deep in the city, but it doesn't seem like a realistic, viable option. freeways crisscross the landscape, lined by huge outdoors shopping centers housing typical semi-suburban businesses such as petco, gap, linens-n-things, super-target, etc. my agenda for the day was mainly shopping for things to make my empty apartment livable. ikea was the first destination, followed by a mall, and ending with whole foods (for cheap good sparkling water). mapquest took me through a residential area that looked like a neighborhood for dinks: small, cute, newly-renovated houses interspersed among older houses with about a 2-inch space separating them. lots of suvs and vws sat on the driveways and on the streets. it even occurred to me that i might like this neighborhood. it looked pretty hip, something i would've expected in austin but not dallas.

this coming weekend will be a real test. i'm planning on revisiting dallas but heading for the arts district. what the museum and galleries have in their collection will be a telling sign of where dallas stands politically and culturally.

hotels

it’s been a full week. and i think there’s another week ahead before i can leave the hotel. it’s not a bad place. it’s actually a little nicer than most places i’d be willing to pay myself. (the company is paying for my lodging.) but not having a kitchen is about to drive me nuts. also, i’ve begun to notice a faint odor of...well, the territorial markers of human beings. seriously, sitting on the small loveseat for a period longer than two seconds, my nose will detect a light whiff of something that reminds me human feces, like public restrooms that get used a lot. it sounds utterly disgusting, and i doubt that underneath the cushions lies a bed of feces. (just the idea of it has repelled me from confirming the possibility.) i have, however, stopped sitting on that couch. really, i think it’s just a matter of the room, having been exposed to so many different human beings. i’ve, at least, stopped being super-paranoid and started using the towels. but i can never feel comfortable here. maybe i’m just too territorial and know that this room will never become MY room.

since i’m going to be in shreveport for almost another three months, i’ve put down a deposit on an apartment. this apartment “community” was the only place i could find that offered a three-month lease. the unit they showed me was decent. i hate carpet, but it’s only three months. my co-workers all raised their eyebrows when i told them, “no, it’s unfurnished.” but see, furnished or not, it’s going to be MINE. i won’t have to worry about housekeepers coming in and touching my stuff. also, i’ll have access to a kitchen, and i’d much rather buy the kitchenware that i have chosen than put up with the crap that a furnished apartment might offer.

i haven’t decided on the bed situation yet. i can rent a bed, but i don’t like the idea of sleeping in beds strangers have slept in, even if the sheets are brand new. hotels are a little different in that i know that i won’t be staying there for a prolong period. the only reason that i haven’t run down the hall screaming like a nutcase is because i can see the end to my nights on this bed. besides, i’ve survived with a sleeping bag for 6-months before someone was kind enough to donate their futon. (i probably would’ve stuck with the sleeping bag if the futon hadn’t basically been handed to me.) i can certainly do 3 months of whatever i decide on, whether it’s a sleeping bag or a thin futon mattress type thing.

another thing that my co-workers raised their eyebrows about is the lack of cable. okay, i admit that i must have internet access, but cable? like a tv? i’m too much of an npr junkie at this point to care for tv. (i love you, ira glass!) i watch tv when it’s there, like at the hotel and living with my sister, who had insisted we get cable. but for myself, i can do without it. i have netflix. i can get tv shows on dvd. yeah, i will only see the shows after everyone else, but i like not having to revolve my life around a show’s schedule and remembering to record it. the other nice thing about seeing a show on dvd is that i can watch the season continuously; i don’t have to be at the whim of the networks, when they decide when to air the next episode.

less things means a simpler life. at least supposedly. i’m looking forward to it.

shreveport, louisiana

this past week has been a whirlwind. i was visiting friends in boston when i got a call for a job in shreveport, louisiana. the next day, which was this past thursday, i left boston; on friday, ran a whole bunch of errands that included an optometrist appointment for new contact lenses and involved walking over 40 blocks in manhattan (there was no form of transportation that's worth waiting for when walking from point A to point B takes only 15 minutes...i just had a lot of destinations to hit...); flew out to shreveport today, saturday. all happened in 3 days. i don't know ANYONE on this crew. the person who called is a friend of a friend. but i have a good feeling about this and think i'll get along with everyone. after all, my department consists of all guys, except for one person who does her own thing and doesn't sound like someone i'd interact with as much as the guys.

oh yeah, not to mention the unc-usc game last night. how awesome for unc to come back from a 16-point deficit and be classy about it, holding the ball during the last 7 seconds instead of scoring and hugging the other team as the clock ticked down to the final buzzer. for a moment there, i hid my face in my hands in disbelief that we were down by double digits in the second half: "why is this happening?!" my sister and i screamed so much that i wouldn't have been surprised if our neighbors had called the cops. after half time, the intensity was so high with the deficit that we were on our feet for the rest of the game. as the game played on, my sister noticed we were inching towards the television: "as if us moving closer to the television is going to help," to quote my sister. well, maybe it did. but more likely, thanks to roy williams playing the deep bench, we had the energy to take over as usc's endurance dwindled. our zeal came back, and two minutes into the second half, we dictated the game. this is why unc is #1.

need an iron...

but don't have one? try a tea kettle. i also recommend lining your kitchen countertop with a dish towel for an ironing board-like surface.

acc

so there was some talk about north carolina losing its dominance at the acc as a state. yeah, unc did get beat by virginia tech twice and also by georgia tech once out of two games. duke had no chance at the acc this year. wake forest...well, they're only a north carolina team by geographical default. but who made it to the finals? unc and north carolina state. those of you who had doubts about north carolina as the reigning state of the acc can shove it!

even though the tarheels won today, the wolfpacks put up a great fight. we had only played 2 games in the past 2 days whereas nc state had played 4 games within the past week, 3 of which were back to back. i wouldn't have been surprised had they been a little exhausted and sluggish as boston college had been, but they weren't. their energy and focus were on the game every moment and pushed the tarheels as a formidable and respectable opponent. (boston college, on the other hand, started yesterday's game by shoving unc around. within the first 3 minutes of the game, a bc player pushed the ball in hansbrough's face mask, probably unintentionally, like henderson from duke unintentionally gave tyler the broken nose at the match up on 3/4/2007. but i'm sure it still hurts like a mofo.) had unc not been playing as well as we did today, nc state definitely would've had a good chance of beating us. we wanted the championship as much as they did, however. it's only a shame that nc state, after taking out both #2 virginia and #3 virginia tech, won't be in the ncaa. both unc and nc state gave a phenomenal performance. but there can only be one winner, and that's the tarheels.

and now onward to the ncaa!

ann coulter

i'm a few days late on this subject, having been distracted with the need for sleep and cleaning my desk (those of you who's worked with me know what a chore that is for me), but i want to recap my initial reaction upon seeing the youtube clip of ann coulter's revolting remark on john edwards.

what a f-ing c---. rarely does the word "c---" come to my mind to apply to someone, but there is no word more apt for coulter considering her behavior. what's more disgusting is the applause and cheers she received from her proven ignorant, hateful audience. i can only hope that she and the rest of her fans believe in god as christians because, to quote my sister, "when [they] reach the gates of heaven, they will be denied entry because she's a c---" and her followers are hateful. they make christianity out to be such an intolerant religion that brings out the worst of human beings. i don't believe that it's the religion that's the problem. it's these people who have twisted the religion to support their own insecurities and narrow-mindedness. if christianity is a religion that touts this kind of behavior, then its beliefs are not going to survive as human beings progress.

please note that i grew up in north carolina in a low-moderate income household and thus bear partiality towards edwards. also, i am not religious but believe in human progress.

art

two of my friends from los angeles are in town for a few days, and i was able to make it in their schedule today. we went to the moma. it feels like forever since i've been to an art museum even though i visited the brooklyn museum only a month ago. not that i know much about art despite my 4 years of working at the campus art libary during college but i love it. i'm not big on the old religious art, but pretty much everything else appeals to me. from the rush of colors to the minimal brushstrokes that barely create an image, from documentary photography to optical illusions, it all adds substance to life.

maybe that's why i wasn't enthralled by the oscars this year. pan's labyrinth has won all awards in my book. there was really no point to see what had won in its stead with the oscars. i am glad that it got some recognition, but like all great art, it can never receive enough.

by the way, how can you accidentally/almost invade a country? according to new york times, the swiss apparently did. it's ironic since it has a reputation for being a pacifist and neutral country. go figure.