Audrey Hepburn - Moon River

Beautiful woman, beautiful song

Iraqi Journalist Throws Shoe at Bush

Video of the year. Bush has amazing reflexes...one would think he's probably had to dodge several shoes in the past...

Yngwie Malmsteen Acoustic Guitar Solo

Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me

Hilariously cute. If anyone can find this rabbit in stuffed animal form, let me know!

Fiona Apple- Waltz (Better Than Fine)

Summing up my current mood of the day.


If you don't have a song
To sing you're okay
You know how to get along
Humming
Hmmm

If you don't have a date
Celebrate
Go out and sit on the lawn
And do nothing
'Cause it's just what you must do
Nobody does it anymore

No I don't believe in the wasting of time,
But I don't believe that I'm wasting mine

If you don't have a point to make
Don't sweat it
You'll make a sharp one being so kind
And I'd sure appreciate it
Everyone else's goal's to get big headed
Why should I follow that beat being that I'm
Better than fine

Sarah Palin's Greatest Hits

The very best of Sarah Palin. Yes I am contributing to the "media bias" against her, and happily so. And I love that people call it "bias" when the very stupid words are coming out of her mouth unedited.

Honestly, numerous other grievances aside, the biggest one of all has been her garish need to be in the limelight just after the election. She cost the GOP and John McCain quite a bit of their credibility among moderates/independents, and now rather than letting John McCain lose with dignity, she's completely eclipsed him by deliberating the issue of being the GOP candidate for 2012. Silly woman. She should read a few newspapers first!

Diamonds are a girl's best friend

Carolyn Hax is one of my favorite advice columnists because she's completely no-nonsense and hilarious, and a great writer. I think this whole business of giant rock engagement ring is not just about the engagement ring: it's about the 3-story mansion, the BMWs, the private schools, the Ivy Leagues.

Having grown up in an affluent suburb with parents who struggle with this conflict every day (my dad claims to be very modest but buys a big screen TV and a BMW at his leisure), I'm trying to figure out where I fit on the status-scale. I used to hate on designer clothes/fashionistas/food snobs, but now I'm surrounded by them, and seeing as that I am going to be a doctor, it will only get worse. Carolyn's last sentence will stay with me forever.


Washington Post

Dear Carolyn:

I know I'm a horrible person for admitting this, and feel free to throw flames at me, but I feel inadequate about my engagement ring. My mom never even had one, and I know huge blingy rings are just another product of the Wedding Industrial Complex that I so despise, but I just can't help feeling bad when I see my friends' giant rocks compared with my (very lovely, but smaller) ring. Part of it may be due to the fact that my friends already think my fiance is poor because he has a blue-collar job, even though he makes a decent living. How do I stop feeling jealous of others and putting so much importance on material possessions?

Carolyn writes:

"My friends already think my fiance is poor"! Wow.

Smaller rock, meet the hard place: your conflicted feelings about status. Even if your friends are hateful snobs, this sounds like your insecurity talking -- you gravitate to status-conscious friends, and then profess or parade that you've chosen humble things. Yes? As in, the rock didn't reject you, you rejected the rock?

It's a theory. If it has no merit, then this is probably all just bling envy. Admit you're impressed by opulence and leave it at that.

If the theory does have merit, next question: Is bringing a "blue-collar" fiance into your (apparently) white-collar world another ostentatious rejection of something you secretly value? If so, please make sure you're smitten with the person, not the statement he makes.

Oh Al-Qaeda, why so angry?

Why are there some unabashedly evil people in the world? Makes me sad. Al-Qaeda will try to find anything to keep the power of their influence alive.

REUTERS

Qaeda scorns Obama with racial slur
Thu Nov 20, 2008 12:13am EST

By Randall Mikkelsen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's deputy leader accused Barack Obama of betraying his race and his father's Muslim heritage on Wednesday and urged more attacks, as the group tried to counter the incoming U.S. president's global popularity.

Osama bin Laden's second-in-command Ayman al Zawahri attacked Obama as a "house Negro," a racially-charged term used by 1960s black American Muslim leader Malcolm X to describe black slaves loyal to white masters.

"You represent the direct opposite of honorable black Americans like ... Malcolm X," Zawahri said in an 11-minute recording publicized on the Internet on Wednesday. It was al Qaeda's first high-level commentary on Obama's election on November 4. Bin Laden could also release a message on Obama within the next two weeks or so, one analyst said.

Zawahri criticized Obama's support for Israel and plans to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, where he said they were destined to fail. He urged Islamist fighters to keep striking a "criminal" United States until it withdraws from Muslim lands.

The recording was distributed on a videotape that carried pictures of Obama at the Western Wall in Jerusalem and Malcom X, flanking Zawahri in the center.

U.S. officials and analysts, alert for signs of an attack in the period leading up to the transfer of presidential power on January 20, said there was no sign of an imminent threat.

They cast Zawahri's message as an attempt to shift al Qaeda's focus from U.S. President George W. Bush and maintain an enmity against the United States among its supporters.

"They're faced with what is by any accounting a change in this country," said one U.S. counterterrorism official who asked not to be identified.

OBAMA BRINGING CHANGE

"The way they're dealing with the change represented by the election of an African American as president of the United States is to insist that nothing has changed," he said.

Obama's transition office declined to comment.

His election was greeted with broad hope in the Middle East, where U.S. relations with Arabic countries were deeply strained under Bush.

Daniel Benjamin, a counterterrorism official under former President Bill Clinton, said Obama's election on a platform of breaking with Bush policies was a boost to American "soft power," or nonmilitary international influence.

"I think they (al Qaeda) are deeply threatened by the fact there is a new American president and that he has come to office saying he wants to have a more constructive relationship with the one billion Muslims in the world."

Zawahri, he said, "feels like he has a competitor for the hearts and minds."

Zawahri referred to Obama's Kenyan father, who was raised Muslim but became an atheist. Obama is a Christian. "You were born to a Muslim father, but you chose to stand in the ranks of the enemies of the Muslims," Zawahri said.

The Malcolm X reference probably reflects the influence of American-born al Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn, believed to be close to Zawahri, said a U.S. terrorism monitor who goes by the pseudonym Laura Mansfield.

Zawahri has employed the "house Negro" insult before, when in 2007 he used it to label Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her predecessor, Colin Powell, who are both black.

"And in you and in Colin Powell, Rice and your likes, the words of Malcolm X ... concerning 'House Negroes' are confirmed," Zawahri said in the message released on Wednesday.

His spoken remarks could also be translated as "house slaves," but al Qaeda's accompanying English translation, distributed by the IntelCenter Web monitor, used "house Negroes."

Mansfield said it typically takes bin Laden, deep in hiding, longer than Zawahri to produce a statement reacting to events and relay it to an outlet. But it would not be a surprise if he released one soon, she said.

Me fail English! That's un-possible with Barack Obama as President!

It's been beaten to death, but it's true: America is facing another major culture war: The culture of terror versus the culture of thought. Nicholas Kristof cogently describes this below.


November 9, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
Obama and the War on Brains
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Barack Obama’s election is a milestone in more than his pigmentation. The second most remarkable thing about his election is that American voters have just picked a president who is an open, out-of-the-closet, practicing intellectual.

Maybe, just maybe, the result will be a step away from the anti-intellectualism that has long been a strain in American life. Smart and educated leadership is no panacea, but we’ve seen recently that the converse — a White House that scorns expertise and shrugs at nuance — doesn’t get very far either.

We can’t solve our educational challenges when, according to polls, Americans are approximately as likely to believe in flying saucers as in evolution, and when one-fifth of Americans believe that the sun orbits the Earth.

Almost half of young Americans said in a 2006 poll that it was not necessary to know the locations of countries where important news was made. That must be a relief to Sarah Palin, who, according to Fox News, didn’t realize that Africa was a continent rather than a country.

Perhaps John Kennedy was the last president who was unapologetic about his intellect and about luring the best minds to his cabinet. More recently, we’ve had some smart and well-educated presidents who scrambled to hide it. Richard Nixon was a self-loathing intellectual, and Bill Clinton camouflaged a fulgent brain behind folksy Arkansas aphorisms about hogs.

As for President Bush, he adopted anti-intellectualism as administration policy, repeatedly rejecting expertise (from Middle East experts, climate scientists and reproductive health specialists). Mr. Bush is smart in the sense of remembering facts and faces, yet I can’t think of anybody I’ve ever interviewed who appeared so uninterested in ideas.

At least since Adlai Stevenson’s campaigns for the presidency in the 1950s, it’s been a disadvantage in American politics to seem too learned. Thoughtfulness is portrayed as wimpishness, and careful deliberation is for sissies. The social critic William Burroughs once bluntly declared that “intellectuals are deviants in the U.S.”

(It doesn’t help that intellectuals are often as full of themselves as of ideas. After one of Stevenson’s high-brow speeches, an admirer yelled out something like, You’ll have the vote of every thinking American! Stevenson is said to have shouted back: That’s not enough. I need a majority!)

Yet times may be changing. How else do we explain the election in 2008 of an Ivy League-educated law professor who has favorite philosophers and poets?

Granted, Mr. Obama may have been protected from accusations of excessive intelligence by his race. That distracted everyone, and as a black man he didn’t fit the stereotype of a pointy-head ivory tower elitist. But it may also be that President Bush has discredited superficiality.

An intellectual is a person interested in ideas and comfortable with complexity. Intellectuals read the classics, even when no one is looking, because they appreciate the lessons of Sophocles and Shakespeare that the world abounds in uncertainties and contradictions, and — President Bush, lend me your ears — that leaders self-destruct when they become too rigid and too intoxicated with the fumes of moral clarity.

(Intellectuals are for real. In contrast, a pedant is a supercilious show-off who drops references to Sophocles and masks his shallowness by using words like “fulgent” and “supercilious.”)

Mr. Obama, unlike most politicians near a microphone, exults in complexity. He doesn’t condescend or oversimplify nearly as much as politicians often do, and he speaks in paragraphs rather than sound bites. Global Language Monitor, which follows linguistic issues, reports that in the final debate, Mr. Obama spoke at a ninth-grade reading level, while John McCain spoke at a seventh-grade level.

As Mr. Obama prepares to take office, I wish I could say that smart people have a great record in power. They don’t. Just think of Emperor Nero, who was one of the most intellectual of ancient rulers — and who also killed his brother, his mother and his pregnant wife; then castrated and married a slave boy who resembled his wife; probably set fire to Rome; and turned Christians into human torches to light his gardens.

James Garfield could simultaneously write Greek with one hand and Latin with the other, Thomas Jefferson was a dazzling scholar and inventor, and John Adams typically carried a book of poetry. Yet all were outclassed by George Washington, who was among the least intellectual of our early presidents.

Yet as Mr. Obama goes to Washington, I’m hopeful that his fertile mind will set a new tone for our country. Maybe someday soon our leaders no longer will have to shuffle in shame when they’re caught with brains in their heads.

Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States of America

The following article (directly lifted from the New York Times, I am not trying to plagiarize!) sums up perfectly everything I have been feeling about this whole election. It talks about how Obama was such an unlikely but qualified candidate that had the right generation and circumstances behind him, the fatal flaws of the other candidates that led to their downfall, and most of all, the fact that Obama (and all of us) have much work to do to improve our country's embattled condition.

In Obama's acceptance speech, I felt that it was the first time I really heard OBAMA speaking, not his campaign advisors. It's not that I think Obama was a sham for the campaign, but it is true that you have to put on a game face, and that means some rhetoric. But I think Obama's promise to try to serve America in the most holistic and logical way is sincere, even if it gets dolled up in different packages to help appeal to multiple audiences. And the man is fucking eloquent.

I think my favorite line is when he said "I will listen to you, especially if we disagree." It shows that he is open and willing to grow. But it is evident that he has the strength of logic, reason, and a background in the law to guide him, so any decisions he makes will be well-informed and well-deliberated. That's what I voted for and that is what I have faith will occur. We shall see in January!

And now, the article:


The New York Times
November 5, 2008
Editorial

The Next President


This is one of those moments in history when it is worth pausing to reflect on the basic facts:

An American with the name Barack Hussein Obama, the son of a white woman and a black man he barely knew, raised by his grandparents far outside the stream of American power and wealth, has been elected the 44th president of the United States.

Showing extraordinary focus and quiet certainty, Mr. Obama swept away one political presumption after another to defeat first Hillary Clinton, who wanted to be president so badly that she lost her bearings, and then John McCain, who forsook his principles for a campaign built on anger and fear.

His triumph was decisive and sweeping, because he saw what is wrong with this country: the utter failure of government to protect its citizens. He offered a government that does not try to solve every problem but will do those things beyond the power of individual citizens: to regulate the economy fairly, keep the air clean and the food safe, ensure that the sick have access to health care, and educate children to compete in a globalized world.

Mr. Obama spoke candidly of the failure of Republican economic policies that promised to lift all Americans but left so many millions far behind. He committed himself to ending a bloody and pointless war. He promised to restore Americans’ civil liberties and their tattered reputation around the world.

With a message of hope and competence, he drew in legions of voters who had been disengaged and voiceless. The scenes Tuesday night of young men and women, black and white, weeping and cheering in Chicago and New York and in Atlanta’s storied Ebenezer Baptist Church were powerful and deeply moving.

Mr. Obama inherits a terrible legacy. The nation is embroiled in two wars — one of necessity in Afghanistan and one of folly in Iraq. Mr. Obama’s challenge will be to manage an orderly withdrawal from Iraq without igniting new conflicts so the Pentagon can focus its resources on the real front in the war on terror, Afghanistan.

The campaign began with the war as its central focus. By Election Day, Americans were deeply anguished about their futures and the government’s failure to prevent an economic collapse fed by greed and an orgy of deregulation. Mr. Obama will have to move quickly to impose control, coherence, transparency and fairness on the Bush administration’s jumbled bailout plan.

His administration will also have to identify all of the ways that Americans’ basic rights and fundamental values have been violated and rein that dark work back in. Climate change is a global threat, and after years of denial and inaction, this country must take the lead on addressing it. The nation must develop new, cleaner energy technologies, to reduce greenhouse gases and its dependence on foreign oil.

Mr. Obama also will have to rally sensible people to come up with immigration reform consistent with the values of a nation built by immigrants and refugees.

There are many other urgent problems that must be addressed. Tens of millions of Americans lack health insurance, including some of the country’s most vulnerable citizens — children of the working poor. Other Americans can barely pay for their insurance or are in danger of losing it along with their jobs. They must be protected.

Mr. Obama will now need the support of all Americans. Mr. McCain made an elegant concession speech Tuesday night in which he called on his followers not just to honor the vote, but to stand behind Mr. Obama. After a nasty, dispiriting campaign, he seemed on that stage to be the senator we long respected for his service to this country and his willingness to compromise.

That is a start. The nation’s many challenges are beyond the reach of any one man, or any one political party.

Jesse Jackson Apologizes for Open Mic Slight Against Obama

This whole incident pisses me off.

First of all...if you have a microphone strapped to your chest...assume it is on. Always.

The complete quote is paraphrased according to the captions on the O'Reilley Factor:

"Barack Obama is talking down to black people...I wanna cut his nuts off"

I can completely understand Jesse Jackson's frustration with wanting Obama to be more attentive to the African-American community. Jesse Jackson is a leader in the African-American community, so he should be an advocate on its behalf. But the fact is, Barack Obama is no longer just a community leader. He is running for the President of the United States, one of the most daunting and powerful jobs there is. He has to appeal to as much of the American demographic as possible. It's not that he is neglecting black people...it's that there are even MORE pressing problems that he needs to address that apply to a more generalized population - the war, the economy, national security, blah blah blah...let the man get elected first before you start banging on his door! If Jesse Jackson wants Barack Obama to be able to live up to his promise of helping the black community, he needs to be supporting him unequivocally so that Obama can even have a chance at this race.

And as far as Obama pulling Bill Cosby-like comments against the black community...let us not forget that Obama grew up with a single mother, so he probably has a soft spot for the plight of single parents. How is it bad that he is trying to advocate for two-parent households and general personal responsibility? Yes, there ARE societal and racial issues that plague poorer communities that ultimately result in these broken families. But at this moment in his campaign, there isn't much else that Obama can do except advocate, advocate, advocate, and try to be a positive influence. I guess Jackson's beef with that is that Obama talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk. All I'll say to that is, at least Obama didn't have a love-child!

I do think Jesse Jackson has immense resentment for Obama...he too tried to seek the presidential nomination. But Obama is a wholly different candidate than Jackson, so the comparison isn't even there.

There are conspiracy theorists who think that the whole incident was a ploy by Fox News to make Obama look even worse for black voters. I wouldn't have put it past them...the whole thing seemed too perfect, that Jackson happened to say a loaded comment when they left the mic on. But if that is the case, then I have absolutely no respect for Jesse Jackson. Way to take us backward 10 steps just because you wanted 15 minutes of fame.

Coldplay - Violet Hill (live in Amsterdam)

Probably my favorite song off the new album

Coldplay - Viva La Vida (live in Amsterdam)

I am so spiteful toward Coldplay for totally selling out and going on iTunes ads like U2...but this song is infectious!

WALL•E Teaser Trailer

Best. Movie. Ever.

MGMT - Electric Feel

I love www.hypem.com ... what a great way to discover new music. It's just a little overwhelming because they seem to update it every hour!

Anyway, I really liked this song, and the rest of the album is decent. They are coming to my area in July...hm...

Anjelah Johnson - Nail Salon

Ah...all Viets are proud/slightly embarrassed about this one.

Kaki King - Bone Chaos in the Castle

Awesome.

Kaki King - Fashion Tattoo (Bubonics cover)

Kaki King's version of a German metal band's song. You think she's so soft...and then you hear her rock out. So cool.

Nada Surf - Je t'attendais

It really sucks to be a Nada Surf fan in the U.S. They are infinitely more popular in Europe, so they release a lot of bonus tracks on the European version of their albums. I had no idea this existed. But yes...showing off their multilingualism. Yo espero a que hagan una cancion en espanol!!

Je T'attendais

Je t'attendais
Dans les loges chez des amis,
Je t'attendais dans la rue et dans la nuit
Je t'attendais
T'es bien ici

Les années que j'ai gaspillé
Je m'inquiétais
A la fin, tu m'as trouvé et rassuré
Dans les loges chez des amis
Je t'attendais
dans la rue et dans la nuit
je t'attendais

comme une île
quand même bien
mais à moitié endormi
j'ai reconnu mon destin
je formulais une vie
les années réinventées
tu as un tel effet
tu ne dois pas oublier
t'és ma sorcière et ma fée

Je t'attendais
Dans la rue chez des amis,
Je t'attendais
dans les loges et dans la nuit
ensorcelé
T'es bien ici, t'es bien ici

comme une île
quand même bien
mais à moitié endormi
j'ai reconnu mon destin
je dirigeais ma vie
mais ton visage près du mien
ça, ça me donne envie
les années réinventées
tu as un tel effet
tu ne dois pas oublier
t'és ma sorcière et ma fée

Kaki King - Playing With Pink Noise Video

So I went to my 5th Nada Surf concert yesterday. So far every single one of their shows has sold out. I'm so happy for them, and naturally they put on an amazing show!

Kaki King was their 2nd opening act and my god ,she has sick chops! Unfortunately none of her recorded stuff really does justice to her live performances, but if you get a chance to see her live, you must. She does sing too, but again I don't think any of her other songs really show her wicked guitar skills.

As for Nada Surf...what can I say? I got to party with them in Spain, so this time I hung out on the balcony to take in their performance without having to compete with tall people. Their setlist was more or less the following:
Proximity Effect - 80 windows

Let go - Blizzard of '77, Blonde on Blonde, Inside of Love, Killian's Red, Fruit Fly

Weight is a Gift - What is your secret, Blankest Year, Always Love

Lucky - See these bones, Beautiful Beat, Whose Authority, The Fox, Ice on the Wing, Weightless, I like what you say

Matthew did a funny bit where he wore a fox hat for "The Fox," for which he confirmed my suspicions that it is a rant against Fox News.
All in all, a very comprehensive overview of all of their best stuff. I really wish they'd played Your Legs Grow, or something else from Proximity Effect...but I can't be too hard on them :) It didn't even seem like a concert to promote their new album but just to be like "hey, this is who we are," as if introducing themselves to the crowd. And imagine my shock when they said "This song is from the Proximity Effect" and I was one of 5 people who cheered. Ah and when Ira was setting up his drums I was the only one who recognized him...seemed like everyone else thought he was just a techie. I was not happy with the crowd either. It was sort of like being at a frat's reunion...by that I mean people who definitely looked like they were out of college but wanted to party like they were still there. Some obnoxious people booed Kaki King even though she was awesome. And oh my god, who does the lighter and the bullhorns at rock concerts anymore?? Are we at a Kiss concert in 1980??

And get this - we were standing next to a 10-year old and her mother,and both looked absolutely miserable and they left early. We could not figure out why they were even there. Maybe the girl couldn't get tickets to Hannah Montana so she settled for some random concert. Who knows. But it's totally inappropriate to bring a kid like that to a rock concert, I'm sorry, parents shouldn't be so naive.

But aside from the annoying people, Nada Surf was wonderful as always. I will say Daniel looked a little aloof the entire night. He barely did backup vocals and didn't talk much to the crowd, which is strange. But I'm probably just overanalyzing and he was probably just baked out of his mind :)

Matthew also said a little schpiel about how April 19th is Record store day, and that people should continue to support record stores that are starting to close down. I wholly agree! Everyone is against buying CDs now because it's so easy to download, and it's more modern, and it "fights the evil record label corporation..." but as with anything, decreased profit affects the lowest on the food chain first...which are the local record stores. To quote Matthew, "when you're 13 and 14, you dream in a record store. You can't dream the same way in front of a computer screen." Thanks for always keeping it in perspective!

Animals - The House Of The Rising Sun

One of the first songs I learned on guitar....it is amazing! And the lead singer is unconventionally handsome. Maybe it's that come-hither look that is so enticing!

America's Best Dance Crew Episode 1 Performances

This is a pretty cool recap of the whole season. Hope it won't get taken down too soon!

JabbaWockeez on America's Best Dance Crew

jabbawokeez - live audition

Their first appearance on ABDC

Jabbawockeez part 2 final round miami guinness record

More Jabba...they've been around long before America's Best Dance crew, obviously..or they wouldn't have been that good :) But it's weird to see so many more of them!

Jabbawockeez Master compilation Ep1-Ep8 Final

Let's see how long this stays up...

Revolution is a funny thing...

To what extent is "revolution" good? I realize that's a very loaded question, and I don't attempt to answer it discretely. I suppose in the wake of Castro stepping down from Cuba and my family's history with Vietnam, and of course with the war in Iraq, along with several lectures I've had on Latin American history, I've come to question the intentions and repercussions of all these political conflicts. And to what extent do we support revolutions hypothetically, until they affect us personally in a negative way? It's easy to say you want democracy and equality in an essay or over coffee. But how much would you sacrifice to attain it for your country?

For example: My great aunt is sick, so my great uncle is visiting. My parents have repeatedly commented about how my great aunt and uncle used to be extremely wealthy "before 1975." Then afterwards, they lost everything. A sad but common tale for many refugees. But when we look back on Vietnam from an objective, historical perspective, some would argue that the revolution finally ousted years of French occupation, which also helped attain Vietnamese sovereignty (albeit under Communist rule). Politics aside, what I mean to say is that behind all the rhetoric and the policy are innocent people who get caught in the crossfire. If the people are theoretically who we are fighting for, then what are we really accomplishing? Sure, the Communists freed Vietnam from the French, but they also sent hundreds of thousands either fleeing for their lives or to re-education camps. Diem's government and the Americans were also to blame as well for religious repression, corruption, the My Lai massacre, etc.

I think Vietnam is in a much better place now. It is on the rise economically, it is developing exponentially, and it isn't regarded as the political pariah that Cuba is, or the money-mongering, corner-cutting, human-violating mess that China is. Considering Vietnam's high profile for its war with the U.S., the two countries are surprisingly friendly. And I think my great aunt and uncle were still able to make very wonderful lives for themselves despite losing all they had. But some people weren't so lucky, going from high government positions to janitorial services. Others simply died at sea or were killed in re-education camps. Including some of my own family members. So, even though Vietnam was politically "freed" of European colonialists, with all these casualties and displacements, can we really say that it was all worth it? As a young Vietnamese-American who had the privilege of being born here as a result of my parents' escape, I can say yes. But what about my great aunt and uncle? What about my cousins who lost their father and brother in a boating accident? It must be more bittersweet.

I don't even know how my grandparents' and parents' generation would define the word "freedom." I think they have the harsh reality that freedom is not free, and gaining freedom in one aspect of your life almost guarantees your relinquishing it in another. My guess is they are glad to be here in America. They most likely would have been killed, had they stayed. I can't help but wonder if it will ever happen to me. I've been spoiled here. But will it last? And how would I handle it?

Need I even start on Iraq? We got in because of completely fabricated evidence. Though the death toll in Iraq over 5 years is only equivalent to 3 days of battle during WWII, our country is broke, at odds with the whole world, and our president is STILL IN DENIAL. And for me at least, this is no longer hypothetical. My sister's husband is an Air Force JAG, and was recently promoted to Major. So he accepted the promotion, signed on to 4 more years of service and accepted a signing bonus that ensures he will be deployed. If deployed to Iraq, he will be done anywhere from 6 months to a year. Yeah, it sucks.

Even though I'm not running for my life, this war has come to my doorstep. I've never believed in this war. But if I did, what would I be thinking right now? There are people who supported Iraq at the beginning, got deployed there, and still do. Would you be unpatriotic/hypocritical for having a change of heart? Or is it that you just finally had a reality check that actually made you question your own values and needs? Did my aunt and uncle really believe in the war as they were running and watching their houses go up in flames? My guess is they were just trying to get out of there alive. But now that they have time to think...I guess I really do just wonder what they are thinking.

JabbaWockeeZ - America's Best Dance Crew Episode 5

Dancing to: PYT - Michael Jackson

I usually hate these types of reality shows, but I have to admit, they are extremely talented and entertaining! Plus I think it's really awesome that the top two groups of the competition are both Asian groups. Power to our people! :)

Glen Hansard Marketa Irglova - Oscars 2008

Yay for them!!! Considering all the other choices sucked royally, I would have been so pissed if they didn't win. Plus props to the TV producers for letting Marteka Irglova back on...I'd be pissed if I won an Oscar and didn't even get to have my 30 seconds of glory!

Photos from Madrid, Christmas 2006

It's been a year, so I think it's high time I finally uploaded some pictures from my trip. I was going to take the original prints out of their mats and scan them again for better quality, but what the hell. I am lazy, and the scans turned out ok. Plus I spent way too much time on those damn mats.

Anyway, I never really narrated my trip back to Madrid in 2006 online, so here goes: I decided I would attempt the San Silvestre 10k, an annual race held on New Year's Eve that runs through the heart of Madrid. A whole portion of the city is closed off to about 20,000 runners. There are bands set up at major intersections to keep up group morale, the streets are lit up...it's a very exciting event and a great way to kick off the new year. I finished the race in 1:05...which is on the slower side admittedly, but honestly I'm not a runner. I'm more about quick movements and hand-eye coordination than endurance. But I'm happy I even finished, and had I trained harder I could probably shave it down to a solid hour.

These are pics taken in the days prior to the race, when I flew in over Christmas and spent the holidays with Antonio's family.


Roasted chestnut stand


Kids playing in streamers blowing up from a street vent on the Plaza Mayor


The Plaza Mayor at night


Vendor on Plaza Mayor selling Christmas lights


Paseo del Prado, the street that runs past the world-renowned Prado Museum. This is a souvenir picture since this street will be torn up soon :(

No quiero una vida siempre con subtítulos

Me siento que se me está escapando el español. Hace mucho que no lo he hablado en voz alta con nadie. No es culpa de nadie, lo juro! Es que últimamente no me he encontrado con ningún hispanohablante. Entonces la oportunidad para hablar viene con menos frecuencia. Así que intentaré escribir mis pensamientos en español de vez en cuando para poder retenerlo.

No es una lista de resoluciones exactamente, pero sin querer me ha salido así.

Es un poco cursi y cliché, pero cuando reflejo sobre los últimos años de mi vida desde el comienzo de la uni, estoy alucinada con los cambios. La gente con quien me identifico, mis interéses, mis prioridades...me gustaría pensar que se han mejorado y que me quedan mejor que entonces. Me gustaría pensar que he madurado, que ya no me preocupo de las tonterías de la juventud. Quiero pensar que estoy más segura en yo misma y que he tomado algunos pasos adelante.

Pero por otro lado, me siento igual al "yo" de los años adolescentes. Que aunque me encuentro con mucha gente nueva, tengo las mismas inseguridades y los mismos problemas. Cuando me enfado, tengo siempre la misma angustia, da igual el tema. Como es que uno cambia? Me hace cuestionar si la gente verdaderamente es capaz de cambiar del carácter. A veces pienso que no. Que después de una epoca en la vida (y que es sorprendamente pronto), somos fijos. Que aunque algun día seré una profesional, una adulta, una madre, una esposa...me acostaré cada noche con el alma de una niña asustada.

Es frustrante. Quiero ser mas fuerte y no darme vueltas sobre cualquiera cosa. Quiero no disgustarme cuando una amiga en que confío me decepciona. Cuando pierdo algo o alguien, quiero no echarlo de menos tanto. Quiero no darme palizas o pensar que me he fallado con todo. Sé que la vida tiene muchos obstáculos que extienden mas allá del mundo en que vivo ahora, y necesito estar más preparada para ellos. La gente piensa que tengo todo bien manejado. Es cierto que tenía privilegios y suertes que me han apoyado, y por eso he tenido éxito. Eso lo reconozco, y lo agradezco. Pero la verdad es que con cada paso más, me entran unas olas de angustia que a veces me ahogan. He visto la película "The Kite Runner" (también una novela preciosa) en la cual el protagonista sufre un golpe de conciencia terrible. El cuento le muestra como una persona fea, pero me he identificado con él porque a veces yo me siento fea también. Aunque no he sido tan cobarde como él, pienso, puedo entender ese sentido de auto-tortura. Es irónico, pero cuando era niña, era mas valiente. Pensaba que era invincible y que era perfecta. Ahora me siento mas niña que nunca. Y si no la aguanto?