There’s a fellow student in the college who may seem aggressive and in your face, at first. Well, okay, he is that way… but he’s that way because he thrives on the sharing of ideas and reaching understandings through argumentation. He is always forthright, generous, and doesn’t take shit lying down. That is awesome, and we need more people who don’t settle for the status quo, who calls them like they are (or at least like they appear), and who are inquisitive enough to try to understand where others are coming from. Yay, him!
One thing, though… conversations with him are exhausting sometimes, and he can catch me off-guard. It’s probably exactly where he wants me, but it isn’t necessarily where I want to be. I fully believe that I shouldn’t want to be comfortable if I want to learn and push my understanding, but sometimes, there is something to be said about propriety and less belligerence… :P
Zelda piano Medley
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf6w7_bxWNM]
I dunno what it is.. but this medley almost made me tear up. Tons of Zelda fans participate in a shared experience. Think about it… While everyone may have varying degrees of attachment, it’s still true that millions of people around the world know what it is like to play Zelda.
I mostly make a choice based on convenience. Do I need to go to the U-District, to grab some books from my office, for example, or can I just stay in Ballard?
But sometimes I wonder to myself… do I want to be surrounded by White people or by a diverse population? Most of the time I am in the Cafe on the Ave, I am part of the norm since most of the customers are other students and half of them tend to be Asians. Here in Ballard, well.. I guess it feels more like the rest of Seattle. I don’t believe I’ve seen a single Black person step foot in Cafe Verite/Cupcake Royale as a customer.*
I like both environments (and anyone who knows me knows I am attracted to White women) but sometimes I feel like one setting over another, you know?
*Once, a young Black kid stepped in selling candy bars, obviously for some sort of charity. No one gave him the time of day. Most people immediately looked away after seeing him. (Admittedly, he was a horrible salesperson, not even plugging the charity in his sales pitch, but ya got to wonder… was it because he was selling something or because he was Black?) Nice. And this is in a coffee shop that supposedly cares about the community. Makes me wonder if they actually mean lower-class White folk when they say “community.” Or perhaps they just don’t see a connection between everyday life and charity.
I love how this one woman at Cafe Verite/Cupcake Royale in Ballard tightens her lips every time she puts mugs away. It’s like how Michael Jordan sticks his tongue out whenever he tries to make a basket. Lots of people have little quirks about them when they engage in activity that requires concentration, especially when physical dexterity is involved. It’s cute.
I wonder, however, if it is a social thing. Do people do these as a way to signify to others that they are concentrating and that they are slightly self-consciously aware that others are or might be watching? I wonder if they would do these physical cues without others around…
cupcake. tasty!
Check out the cute store a friend maintains!
It’s small but growing so buy stuff!
1. To start adding photos to my blog entries as much as possible…
Here’s a gratuitous one from http://icanhascheezburger.com/:
2. to post more about the different things I do/am a part of: Technology for Teachers planning and thinking, my progress in the PhD program, the games I play, how screwed up academia is, the crap that goes on in WoW, and the crap that goes on in everyday life
3. and of course to post funny shit
TechEBlog » Techno Privacy Scarf
Reminds me of those books about crazy Japanese inventions.
http://wowace.com/wiki/Main_Page
Their site is a little hard to navigate, but to make things easier, just click on the WoW Ace Updater on the left there… or actually, to make it even easier, just download it here. Then run it and see all the cool addons you can pick!
Must haves are FuBar, Cartographer, either agUnitFrames or PitBull, and, if you do raids, oRA2 and Big Wigs.
What’s funny is that two different people recommended the Ace Updater on the same day. Hooray for viral networks!
Hallmark Scientists Identify 3 New Human Emotions | The Onion - America’s Finest News Source
One of the best Onion articles I’ve ever read… not that I read a whole lot of them past the headline, but still….
