everyone knows thursday is the ugly stepchild

goddamn it, thursday––you snuck up on me.

i know i chose thursday as the day i would be blogging regularly each week, but i'm not sure why because obviously it's the busiest day of the week.

recovering from the weekend means doing nothing monday through wednesday, which means thursday is spent frantically trying to finish everything that has piled up on the desk (because we all know friday will be spent doing nothing in anticipation of the weekend).

but alas, i am a woman of my word! ...because words are free and i can afford them. so here i go. i am blogging.

while i wasn't prepared to write anything, how about i just give you a bit of good news, a teaser for next thursday's post, and a joke.

good news: diane has said she'll be blogging regularly each week, too. tuesdays will be the golden day in which she'll grace us with her wisdom. i am super excited and can only hope dear ol' douglas will join in on the fun.

everyone leave comments demanding douglas write something both witty and enlightening or at the very least, post shirtless photos because i hear he's been working out and getting ready for spring break (spring break, what's that...? oh, grad students and their sophomoric school schedules.) c'mon douglas, let us sexually objectify the shit out of you.

teaser for next thursday's post: i was able to attend this year's CAAMFest: rubbed elbows with the niche-famous, saw some stellar films, and failed at securing any type of work prospect. hey, 2 out of 3 still lands me in the green, i'll take it. so come back for pictures of me rubbing body parts with semi-famous people and hear about how i got out of it, hand-cuff free.

joke: taco bell's new doritos' cool ranch taco is like sexin' a hot, dumb person––awesome during, but so not worth the shit after.

see you next thursday,

-melissa

i was told i am blogging wrong

hello there (again), dear interwebz.
i am sorry that i have left you for so long to rot in cyberspace. it may have crossed my mind to abandon ship and never speak of you again -- but like so many of my other intimate relationships, i have come crawling back, perhaps while drunk but most definitely seeking validation.

i won a contest you see, and the prize was online branding consulting. yes, this is the world we live in: gone are the days when trivia night prizes consist of something cool like fake poo to leave on your coworkers chair or a subway gift certificate; instead, i won an hour to pick the brain of one of them skinny white guys who wears glasses and begin each conversation with 'i work at a start up.'

except, i didn't wield any online branding tools with which i could pick his brain, only a giant ax i use from time-to-time to cut activities i deem extraneous when feeling lazy -- like this blog (but only for a bit ... i am sorry).

so when he kicked off my hour-long prize with 'i work at a start up. ask me anything.' i said 'if you were a dinosaur, who would you eat first?' and after he refused to come up with an answer worth remembering, i said 'i have a blog. the last entry was 6 months ago, and the subject was how i failed at life,' defeated and lamenting the long-gone possibility of freaking out my coworker with fake poo.

that's when he told me i was blogging wrong. in order to build up a strong online presence, i need to post consistently -- at least twice a week, he said. and since i hate to be wrong in anything -- absolutely anything -- and that that was the only advice i remember from the shitty hour-long prize, i will attempt to blog right and post consistently.

though because i am rebellious, but really just lazy, i will post once a week on thursdays. today is tuesday but i am breaking schedule to tell you that i will post every thursday. the quality of the posts are tba.

see you thursday.

-melissa

Another Ignorant Article about "Asian Privilege"

So I decided to make my debut back as a blogger merely 1 hour ago because I was dealing with incompetent people and decided to take a break before I punched a bitch in the throat, but that’s not the point. I wanted to touch base on an article I read earlier this morning titled “Tackling Asian Privilege,” an author’s sad attempt at satire, which in turn received even sadder responses from racist pricks.

Quite frankly, I’m tired of reading shit like this. I become an angry bear, no one wants to associate with me for the rest of the day, then I cry in a dark corner with some emo music playing. I’m tired of white people (not all, mind you, but articles like this have been penned by a majority of white individuals) writing shitty articles like this, thinking they know everything there is to know about a community of color and making assumptions about us and our experiences. Not to mention, this article is ripe with insinuations that Asian people are better than other people of color out there, and stupid ass, gullible and close-minded people will believe that. This just continues to perpetuate the notion that we are the “model minority” when really it is the complete opposite. Let’s go over a couple of points: 

1. “These arrogant Orientals flaunt the racist moniker “model minority.” As a people, these Asians need to recognize they got to where they are not by the virtue of hard work but by stepping on the backs of others.”

First off, the word “oriental” is used to describe a motherfucking object, say a rug. Last time I remember, we weren’t objects but people. And if you’re still using “oriental” to refer to Asian people, then you need to get your ass whooped. You think we got where we are by stepping on the backs of others? If you disaggregate the various groups with the Asian American community, you would know that Vietnamese, Laos, Hmong, and Cambodians (Southeast Asians) are overwhelmingly among those who live in poverty along with blacks, Latinos, etc. They also have the highest drop-out rates of any ethnic group in the education system; when it comes to mental health, high suicide rates are also prevalent in these communities. But no one gives a shit about them or even cares to question it. This type of ignorance is shameful and reveals the system of oppression we struggle with.

1.     “Asian American success has been awarded to them arbitrarily and it’s up to us to take back the power and eradicate this unearned system of advantage. We need to transform society to the point where privilege is not slanted in anyone’s favor.”

You wanna talk privilege eh? Let’s talk about white privilege then. It doesn’t take much to see that privilege is ascertained to white individuals, or people who look white. Being white is the norm here . White privilege is about having benefits or advantages that people of color less likely will experience; whites do not have to worry about triggering negative stereotypes, racial profiling, presumptions of intelligence or competency, etc. Whites are more likely to accumulate wealth than other people of color. White people dominate senior level positions within corporations while Asian Americans run into a “bamboo” ceiling. Higher education institutions cater to a predominantly white population. Issues pertaining to the AAPI community are invisible. Hell, even hate crimes are committed against Asian Americans/Asians and the ramifications are minor at best. A white person can do whatever he/she wants and no one even thinks twice. Shit, if that isn’t privilege, then what the hell is?

So yes, I’m sick and tired of hearing this shit over and over.  I may have kirked off too much in this blog entry, but I get really emotional about these types of issues. Or maybe I’m just acting out against my own stereotype of being the quiet, innocent Asian girl everyone perceives me to be. Fuck that. We have a voice and it needs to be heard.

-Diane