April 30, 2008 • 10:49 am
I finished reading it yesterday, I couldn’t wait to get to the end. The characters really got to me, I love a good anti-hero. There were several elements that reminded me of Lautreamont’s Les Chants de Maldoror, although I have to say I vastly prefer Maldoror. Maldoror is a horrible being, the shark scene and the God scene will be forever branded in my brain.
MW is a political work, Tezuka launches a serious critique of US foreign policy and a sort of call for Japanese sovereignty. This line of critique echoes Yukio Mishima in The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. Unfortunately, I also see condemnation of homosexuality in Yuki, Father Garai, the Lieutenant, etc. There always seems to a “girl” in a pairing. Ugh.
Filed under: comics, reviews , reviews
The New York Times Magazine had a front page article about gay marriages. Most of the men were in their mid-twenties. It was sort of fascinating reading about things we’re going through. The case of the Brandons was especially relevant to our case. The article tries to make a big deal about how young gays have assimilated so much that we have more in common with our straight counterparts that our gay elders. We just want a nice house with a white picket fence. I think the author was a bit heavy handed with his argument. There is so much that is different when you’re a gay couple that being that heteronormative must be like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.
I’ve been thinking about this subject a lot lately, for all intents and purposes I’m married. Brian and I have been together for 3 years and we’ve lived together for like 2.5 of those years. What is missing is a declaration to our families that we are soulmates and wish to share the rest of our lives together. Brian’s family is much more supportive, it’s not that my parents are not supportive, they are. But although they like him and always ask about him, I think they would rather think of us as romantic friends. Although they don’t say it, it must come as a shock to them that their boy wants to marry another boy. There is that whole Catholic/Latin thing that makes speaking frankly about such things taboo. For older folk, my parents are really open-minded but they are private people and this talk of marriage and having a ceremony must come as a shock. This sort of thing would never have happened in their village in Mexico. Well, they’re not in Mexico anymore.
There is also another variable at play, my mom is the most careful person I know. It’s almost as if she’s been hurt, she’s so guarded. She’s always been the voice for moderation to the point where sometimes I just want to say: Live a little!
Filed under: advice, hmmm
If all goes well, it looks like work is going to pay for me to take Tufte’s one-day course. When I realized he was coming the price was an instant obstacle, $380 dollars to see him speak? Sure, you also receive the books but what if you already have them? Not that I had all of them but still… He offered a student discount but I haven’t been a student for a few years now.
Now, my work is not creative at all, I’m basically an auditor. We have guidelines and our mission is codified in statutes and regulations. But I’ve somehow managed to be known as “the creative guy” at work. My supervisor’s boss has be design his presentations, posters, screensavers, etc. Mind you, it’s all still very constrained, I do work for the government but still… they see me as creative. It’s worked to my advantage, I’ve received bonuses for doing the most mundane things.So, I figured it would be worth a shot to send my supervisor an e-mail about the course. I copied and pasted what the course would cover and suggested two reasons why the course was relevant. I later learned that the three supervisors in my division and their boss had talked about my proposal and the big boss was very interested and wanted to send someone else as well. So, now one of the supervisors is also going. Life is good sometimes.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Strange Maps links to an LA Times piece about Absolut Vodka’s ad campaign in Mexico. Is it anti-American? It was a dumb move on Absolut’s part, all sorts of jingo gringos are already calling for a boycott. The thing about this sort of thing is that it always seems to bring out these ad hominem attacks with racial undertones. It’s hard not to get defensive and divisive. It’s hard to watch Lou Dobbs and not feel animosity even if he is not talking about you specifically, after all, I’m a citizen. But the tone of the immigration debate and the comments of some people when reacting to this ad campaign is just sickening. It’s hard for me not to get defensive and angry back.
But it does play with a Mexican sensibility, we still can get over the Spanish Conquest and the ceding of the territories to the US. I guess it was ceding them or total annexation, right?
It’s all good, right Lou Dobbs?
There is a pretty lively flickr discussion, I laid down my wise words.
Filed under: curios, images
