A fashion dilemma -- Taco style

Does AI returning to the 76ers make my No. 3 jersey retro or trendy?

New Moon

Today I saw "New Moon." It was campy, over melodramatic, and trite. In short, it was everything I expected. I loved it!

Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

"The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold is an enjoyable novel about an unenjoyable topic. The main character of the novel, Suzie Salmon, begins by telling us the reader she was murdered by her neighbor and is telling us her story from her personalized heaven. In her personal heaven this young teen girl she can skip school, play with dogs, and read fashion magazines all day but she chooses to spend a great amount of time watching her family, friends, and murder as they continue their lives after her death.

This was a really compelling story and a page turner. The characters are heartwarming and likable, yet not without flaws. Their actions are compelling. The only criticism I would have is the book seems not to have an ending. Well I should say it has an arbitrary ending. According to Suzie's spirt guide in heaven she can only reach the pure utopia in heaven when she accepts her death. I think it would have been nice to see Suzie accept her death at the end of the novel. As it stands the novel ends arbitrarily. Many of Suzie's friends and family achieve milestones and then the end.

However, that being said this is a light compelling read that I would recommend highly.

Mexican Enough by Stephanie Elizondo Griest

Just finished an excellent book "Mexican Enough: My Life Between the Borderlines" by Stephanie Elizondo Griest. Ms. Griest writes her book as an auto-biographical assertion of a year she spend traveling through Mexico. She decided to take this trip to discover her Mexican roots as a biracial woman in modern America. While this is the stated thesis of this book I find it isn't the most interesting or prevalent theme.

For me, a person with no Mexican blood, the book is fascinating for the stories it tells. Ms. Griest is clearly a progressive liberal and tells important Mexican stories from that prospective. She writes about the conditions facing Mexicans; poverty, joblessness, violence, workers' struggles, children's struggles, freedom of speech and press rights, the and the gay rights struggle just to name a few through the eyes of a progressive educated American.

I'm not sure that Ms Griest accomplishes her personal goal of taking possession of her Mexican roots but she does write a very interesting book about the modern struggles of the Mexican people. I would strongly recommend this book to any progressive striving to make sense of the immigration problems in this country.

Who killed Jenny Schecter

If you would have asked me yesterday what I thought about the "L Word," I would have told you, having seen every episode but the last two, that I thought it was one of the best shows on TV. The show is tells the story of a group of women, most of which are lesbians who live in Los Angeles. These women are smart, strong, vibrant, and diverse. Each character has her strengths that make us love her and her flaws that make us hate her. The writers tell us the characters' stories through honest plots. The actors portray these characters with integrity.

However, that being said, I think the creative staff of the show must be strongly reprimanded for the series finally. I think they wanted to be controversial, like "The Sopranos," when they chose to end the series with a murder mystery? However because the creative staff of the "L Word" made a systematic decision to show viewers that lesbians, just like those of us in the straight world, are people first and foremost; they had a responsibility to end the show with that message and not a water cooler controversy. The "L Word" showed us lesbians are people too. They hurt and are hurt by the people they love, just like us. They have many different hats, friend, co-worker, boss, subordinate, partner, partner, star... just to name a few, just like us.

I hated the ending of "The Sopranos" too. However, the creative staff of that show did not take the responsibility to defend gangsters, who have been unfairly stereotyped, like the creative staff of the "L Word" did with lesbians, therefore it is only their creative choices, not their responsibility that we can challenge.

As a child I was constantly and consistently told that people who had darker skin then me were less than me. They had less acute feelings, weaker work ethics, lower morals. I don't believe any of this today and one of the reasons I rejected this thinking was seeing the Cosby show. Every racist person I knew loved the Cosby show. I could never understand how black people could be all the bad things I heard about but I on the TV a was a strong black family, with a father and mother who loved their children and were professional people. They were the people I aspired to be when I grew up. I'm not saying the Cosby show taught me to love, but it is one of many ideas that I have been exposed to in my life that made me think and make my own decisions about the bullshit, racist statements I grew up hearing.

I would still recommend this series to others; but with this one major disappointment. Up until today when I watched the series finally I hoped that the L-Word may be for lesbians what the Cosby show was for me to black people. I fear that people who watch the show will remember "Who Killed Jenny Schecter" rather than the message of the show... Love.

Kenny wasn't like the other kids

RIP Ken Ober. I remember telling my parents that I needed my MTV to watch your show or I would be a social pariah. They didn't believe me. But they were wrong!

Anne Elliot

The first time I read Persuasion I thought Anne Elliot was a pretty week character. I didn't think Anne compared with Elizabeth Bennett or either of the Miss Dashwoods. However, upon reexamination I really have found a new respect for Anne. I mean here is a woman who becomes an adult by herself. She doesn't have family or friends to help her achieve a higher actualization. It may take here some time but she does it. You gotta respect that.

World Series broadcasts

As a Mets fan, a Yankees/Phillies World Series is not allot of fun. It is very unlikely both teams are going to lose the fall classic so I feel like I am just watching the games for the love of baseball. That being said I have to wonder who Joe Buck and Tim McCarver think are watching the game with me? These two guys broadcast a game for people who have never seen baseball before. Granted it is the World Series and I'm sure there are some people watching that don't watch as much base ball as I do. However, I am sure there are many more of us who watch some baseball and don't need the game explained to us.

One big question

Once again the recommended reading table of the Strand does me proud! I just finished Walter Mosley's "Fortunate Son" and cannot stop thinking about the underlying messages of the story. "Fortunate Son" is the story of two boys who were raised as brothers while young children, were separated, and then reunited. Eric is described as a handsome, nordic male who is very intelligent and athletic and seems to be able to accomplish anything he wishes. Thomas is a sickly uncoordinated black male who suffers many personal misfortunes but has an internal optimism that allows him to see the beauty of the world. On its most basic level the story is a bit predictable but on a deeper level it brings up and argues through the novel form many interesting social questions about race, privilege, success, and culture in modern America.

Without deeper thought I would be disappointed by Mr. Mosley stereotyping of many of the black characters, the absentee black father, the black grandmother who doesn't work and lives off the system, the young black woman who is very promiscuous and drug addicted. However, if we look deeper at these characters we see very wounded souls who have done the best with what they are given. They want to do and be better. We see, not only their limitations and failures that are most obvious through the telling of this story, but also their brave wishes and hopes and their attempts to be better through the ever optimistic eyes of Thomas. These characters are dragged down to their basest meanest selves by the environment they are forced to live with and the failures they are forced to endure. Thomas and his mother despite living among the same poverty and failure choose to look for the silver lining and are therefore happier people.

However, this story is compared and contrasted with the story of the economically privileged white characters. Once again, Mr. Mosley initially presents these characters as stereotypical, however, a deeper reading shows this privilege and supposed contentment is only skin deep. The white successful privileged characters do not know how to love and therefore cannot be truly happy despite their wealth and success. Only Thomas, the boy that the world tried to digest but couldn't so vomited out as a vagrant can help these privileged characters find real happiness. It is his optimism that the author argues, not money or success or skin color that allows people to be happy.

So the question that keeps blowing my mind is not the race question, and not the economic question, not the social question, but rather how, in a shitty world, does one stay optimistic. This seems to be the trueism of the story, and I think life. Those people who, despite their disappointments or success, failures or victories, injuries or joys, remain optimistic will be happier living this life. They can bring joy to themselves and the people they love. Once I find the answer to that question maybe I could be more like Thomas, the fortunate son.

21-20 I'll miss you

I woke up totally sad. I'm moving Sunday and don't want to. The new place isn't bad but this apartment, after 8 years, feels like my home. I don't want to leave my home!

Go back to Applebee's if you don't like it

Yesterday I went to dinner at one of my favorite places, the Kabab Cafe on Steinway in Astoria. As always the food was excellent. Kabab is owned and operated by one man. He does the shopping daily and cooks fresh food based on what he finds to be good. If you give him an idea of what you want he will make you something delicious. He is a self actualized individual who clearly loves food and sharing food with others. He talks with all of his guests and is part of the entire dining experience. When I got home I was in a happy food coma and decided to try to find the "No Reservations" segment featuring the Kabab Cafe. In my search I came across some reviews.

Many reviews mirrored my opinion of the place giving it the highest personal rating. But others bombed the place criticizing it for (1) not having a menu (2) being over-priced (3) being slow (4) and being cramped. I will admit the place is tiny but I have really had trouble trying to understand how people could not love this place. The conclusion... these posters are people who don't know how to enjoy a foreign dining experience. They want a chicken cutlet with rice and nothing more or less. They want a perky 18 year old waiter with flair and a smile. Trying something new and taking time to savor life is beyond them. In general, I feel a great pity for these people. I wish they wouldn't criticize what they don't care to understand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBFDvyi6p64

Great Idea, Poor Execution.

I must say I'm a sucker for any of the many "Pride and Prejudice" sequels that I can find. I've read many, although certainly not all of them. I just finished reading "The Pemberly Chronicles" by Rebecca Ann Collins. I can sum it up in the simple phrase ... great idea, poor execution.

The story picks up after the marriage of Darcy and Elizabeth and is purported to weave Ms. Austin's fictional word with the realities of England during the reigns of George IV and William IV. I am a huge fan of Ms. Austin's novels. However, I was excited to think about Ms. Austin's characters leaving the sphere of knowledge that Ms. Austin wrote; that is I was looking forward to seeing characters I enjoying the world beyond the single girl looking of a husband. However, I was greatly disappointed.

Rebecca Collins simply hints at the world beyond Ms. Austin's imagination. She talks about politics in generalities instead of details. Rather than focusing on the world outside the marrige hunt, she spends much of her energies reliving her favorite scenes for the BBC version of the Pride and Prejudice movie. For example, when Mr. Darcy is faced with the decision about whether to fence in the common land on his estate a Pemberly, the reader is not presented with arguments about why others are fencing their land or the political realities that have lead to the trend in fencing common lands. Rather the reader is told to remember how silly Elizabeth Bennett was to ever think Mr. Darcy was not a liberal man and to be joyous at the follies of Eliza and Fitzy in their courtship. If this is all I wanted to do I would simply reread P&P rather than a new book.

Furthermore, we as readers, are not treated to any plot or arc within the book itself. We are told this child is born or this young woman is married without any introduction or conflict. The characters do not grow or change or really seem to interact in any way that would make us want to learn more or keep us reading. The story can best be called dull. It seems that Rebecca Collins has wrtten more seuqules to P&P, however, I for one will not be reading them.

it's a sin to kill a mockingbird

October 9, 2009

A fine time to start a blog... after all everyone already has one and this is one big bandwagon jump isn't it. Well maybe so. But still, I think the time may be right for me to start. Sometimes I feel that my life is lived for others. But this little blog will be for me... it will be raw... at times it will be fluff... it may insult... but it will be honest. One of my favorite characters in literature is Atticus Finch. He is a man of conscious and integrity. I try to live my life as he would have... I hope this blog would not disappoint him.