Hahaha god I love this show.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
HAHAHAHA
I recently decided to look up old shows I used to watch when I was younger. The Babysitters' club was not really one of them, though I did read the books, but it came up as a search result. Zach Braff in the Babysitters' club, this is too much to pass up. Even he can sound like a bad actor with a shitty-ass script!
Mo' money, mo' problems
I've come to the realization that my greatest fear is to live a shallow life.
It sounds really pretentious of me, but I think hanging out with family during the holidays really gets to me. I have a very hardworking but extremely materialistic extended family. All of my cousins live in these nondescript mansions out in wealthy suburbs, drive German luxury cars, and sport either Louis Vuitton or Burberry purses. My family isn't too much better I guess. My dad drives a Mercedes and I just spent an inexorbitant amount of money on a Prada purse for my mother (it's actually a super nice purse though :) ). But really, I did because my dad asked me to, because my mom deserves it, and because she was feeling inferior to her friends and our family for not having nicer things. Now my mom feels she can't ever use this purse because she doesn't have equally expensive clothing and jewelry to accompany it. And therein lies the problem: Why all the fuss in the first place? Why must we be appraised with the things we own?
And then there are the people who live to find the best bargains. Meaning that anyone who doesn't spend hours shopping for the best deal was cheated and thus, their purchase is worth less than the one bought for 100 bucks cheaper. For me, shopping is a rare and usually arduous endeavor. I don't buy expensive things to begin with, so if I end up spending a little more on a nice thing than I should have, I don't really care because I'm not out to save every penny. The point is, I don't save money on deals. I just save money by not being a big spender. Doesn't that seem logical, that you would save money if you just buy less to begin with? When I buy something, and get told that I should have done this or that to have saved x amount of dollars, it ruins the pleasure of having even made the purchase. And then I want to burn all my cash, cut up my credit cards and wander off to Alaska in search of "something more." Wait. Someone already did that, and now it is a book/Hollywood movie. The irony.
My point is, I don't want my identity to be reduced to what I wear, drive, and live in. Or how much I spent. If I have children, I don't want to have them just because my family wants me to, and then bitch about the financial and social chore of having children (another popular topic of conversation with the cousins). I's like all of them got dealt the unlucky hand of having to start a family and having to live in these expensive houses with big mortgage payments. Really, people?
And to top it all off, one of my cousins had the balls to say to me that I should pursue a different medical specialty that makes more money so I don't end up like my brother. You know what I say to that? Mind your own fucking business. My brother is an amazing person who lives simply and more importantly, contently. He's got all the same comforts that you have at a quarter of the price, and he probably appreciates it more. It's not his fault you feel an inferiority complex and need to puff your feathers, so don't take it out on him or on me. Same thing with my mom, whose friends ask her why she doesn't wear designer clothes. Why can't people just leave us alone? We are the way we are, and I always thought and still think we are plenty happy.
I see a glimpse of the future relationship I will have with my extended family and the prognosis does not look good. I think we are just on very different wavelengths, and ideally, I'd like to stay that way, if it means I don't end up deeply in debt because I'm trying to prove my financial worth to them. I'm priceless, baby :)
It sounds really pretentious of me, but I think hanging out with family during the holidays really gets to me. I have a very hardworking but extremely materialistic extended family. All of my cousins live in these nondescript mansions out in wealthy suburbs, drive German luxury cars, and sport either Louis Vuitton or Burberry purses. My family isn't too much better I guess. My dad drives a Mercedes and I just spent an inexorbitant amount of money on a Prada purse for my mother (it's actually a super nice purse though :) ). But really, I did because my dad asked me to, because my mom deserves it, and because she was feeling inferior to her friends and our family for not having nicer things. Now my mom feels she can't ever use this purse because she doesn't have equally expensive clothing and jewelry to accompany it. And therein lies the problem: Why all the fuss in the first place? Why must we be appraised with the things we own?
And then there are the people who live to find the best bargains. Meaning that anyone who doesn't spend hours shopping for the best deal was cheated and thus, their purchase is worth less than the one bought for 100 bucks cheaper. For me, shopping is a rare and usually arduous endeavor. I don't buy expensive things to begin with, so if I end up spending a little more on a nice thing than I should have, I don't really care because I'm not out to save every penny. The point is, I don't save money on deals. I just save money by not being a big spender. Doesn't that seem logical, that you would save money if you just buy less to begin with? When I buy something, and get told that I should have done this or that to have saved x amount of dollars, it ruins the pleasure of having even made the purchase. And then I want to burn all my cash, cut up my credit cards and wander off to Alaska in search of "something more." Wait. Someone already did that, and now it is a book/Hollywood movie. The irony.
My point is, I don't want my identity to be reduced to what I wear, drive, and live in. Or how much I spent. If I have children, I don't want to have them just because my family wants me to, and then bitch about the financial and social chore of having children (another popular topic of conversation with the cousins). I's like all of them got dealt the unlucky hand of having to start a family and having to live in these expensive houses with big mortgage payments. Really, people?
And to top it all off, one of my cousins had the balls to say to me that I should pursue a different medical specialty that makes more money so I don't end up like my brother. You know what I say to that? Mind your own fucking business. My brother is an amazing person who lives simply and more importantly, contently. He's got all the same comforts that you have at a quarter of the price, and he probably appreciates it more. It's not his fault you feel an inferiority complex and need to puff your feathers, so don't take it out on him or on me. Same thing with my mom, whose friends ask her why she doesn't wear designer clothes. Why can't people just leave us alone? We are the way we are, and I always thought and still think we are plenty happy.
I see a glimpse of the future relationship I will have with my extended family and the prognosis does not look good. I think we are just on very different wavelengths, and ideally, I'd like to stay that way, if it means I don't end up deeply in debt because I'm trying to prove my financial worth to them. I'm priceless, baby :)
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Regina Spektor - A lesson in how fleeting preservation is
I totally forgot about this song but she did perform it at Ram's Head
Regina Spektor - 8th Floor
Apparently this is the only circulating recording of this song anywhere on the internet. I bet the person who did this video would have taken care to do it better if he/she knew that would be the case! :)
Regina Spektor - The Wallet
At this point I'm just archiving all these random songs so I don't forget :)
Regina - Blue Lips
Argh WHY have I never heard this song before?? I love that she doesn't perform carbon copies of all the songs from her albums, but man I keep discovering random new songs that don't seem to be anywehre
Regina Spektor - Human of the Year
I love the part that starts "Hallelujah..." Sends chills down my spine.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
The Devil is spelled I-n-t-e-r-n-e-t
My sister and I had a long talk about cyberspace and the effect it has had on society. It's amazing how big and powerful people feel when they have virtually (hah, pun intended) no one to answer to. People slander each other in the worst of ways, simply because they can, because there are no real consequences. I know of one particular person who marched to the front door of someone who trashed her on the internet...but a) she's psycho in many other ways, and b) for the most part, if you see something bad written about you, what can you really do about it, short of something illegal that will put you in jail or on a black list? You sulk about it, and move on.
Plus, the internet makes people narcissists and stalkers. Facebook and blogging make it so that we must all be intimately involved with the details of each other's lives without even really interacting. Talk about a major shift in the social scene. I can think of quite a handful of people that I know plenty about - their career goals, their relationship status, who they partied with last Saturday - without having talked to them for months, maybe even years. And then in return there are people who know these things about me, because I've chosen to make it public information It's so....wrong. So not the way I want to live. But I can't help it. I'm a victim of the 21st century :)
However, all I can say is that at least I got into all this internt culture "late", i.e. in college. Facebook didn't exist until my sophomore year of college. And I still consider myself to be a part of the Facebook generation. But man, 5-year olds can make Myspace accounts. That's disturbing. And what's more disturbing is how easy it is for adolescents to get addicted to these stupid online communities and make it their second life. And then you get stories like that 13 year old girl killing herself over a completely falsified online boyfriend. Falsified by a friend's mother who was avenging this girl for having beef with her daughter. People are crazy! There are so many things wrong with that scenario: poor parenting, online addiction, etc. I'm a big fan of "knowledge is power," but a part of me wants to hide computers from my children until they are 18.
On another note, my sister mentioned some article about blogging culture in Japan versus Western countries. Apparently in Japan, everyone blogs with the intent to conform, to fit in and prove that their life is equally as mundane and normal as everyone else's. No one will say anything negative at the risk of becoming a pariah. Whereas in the States and Europe and probably Latin America, clearly that is not true. The blog is our virtual soap box/photo album/diary, and we will pontificate until we drop if it means we can garner an attentive audience. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, at least by our standards. It's very interesting how a simple communication tool can really demonstrate fundamental societal differences.
I realize there's nothing too riveting about this post - but I'm horribly bored at work and it was an interesting topic. Now I shall dismount my soap box :)
Plus, the internet makes people narcissists and stalkers. Facebook and blogging make it so that we must all be intimately involved with the details of each other's lives without even really interacting. Talk about a major shift in the social scene. I can think of quite a handful of people that I know plenty about - their career goals, their relationship status, who they partied with last Saturday - without having talked to them for months, maybe even years. And then in return there are people who know these things about me, because I've chosen to make it public information It's so....wrong. So not the way I want to live. But I can't help it. I'm a victim of the 21st century :)
However, all I can say is that at least I got into all this internt culture "late", i.e. in college. Facebook didn't exist until my sophomore year of college. And I still consider myself to be a part of the Facebook generation. But man, 5-year olds can make Myspace accounts. That's disturbing. And what's more disturbing is how easy it is for adolescents to get addicted to these stupid online communities and make it their second life. And then you get stories like that 13 year old girl killing herself over a completely falsified online boyfriend. Falsified by a friend's mother who was avenging this girl for having beef with her daughter. People are crazy! There are so many things wrong with that scenario: poor parenting, online addiction, etc. I'm a big fan of "knowledge is power," but a part of me wants to hide computers from my children until they are 18.
On another note, my sister mentioned some article about blogging culture in Japan versus Western countries. Apparently in Japan, everyone blogs with the intent to conform, to fit in and prove that their life is equally as mundane and normal as everyone else's. No one will say anything negative at the risk of becoming a pariah. Whereas in the States and Europe and probably Latin America, clearly that is not true. The blog is our virtual soap box/photo album/diary, and we will pontificate until we drop if it means we can garner an attentive audience. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, at least by our standards. It's very interesting how a simple communication tool can really demonstrate fundamental societal differences.
I realize there's nothing too riveting about this post - but I'm horribly bored at work and it was an interesting topic. Now I shall dismount my soap box :)
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