Membership

I took the plunge and have officially declared my geekdom. I bought tickets to Dragon*Con 2010.

The best part is that Husband's going too and he doesn't identify as a geek. However we went to the parade in 2009 and he had a great time people watching. He also recognized a lot of the costumes.

Plus, it's only 4 blocks from where we live.

Until Feb 15, it's $70 per person for the whole convention over Labor Day holiday weekend. Now that's a great entertainment value.

Temporary Protective Status for Haitians

As we all know, a huge earthquake hit Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. We have been inundated with links to ways to contribute to disaster relief there. I hope you all made a donation.

Another thing we can do is urge the US congress and President Obama to give Temporary Protective Status for Haitians living in the US. According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services website:

USCIS may grant TPS to eligible nationals of certain countries (or parts of countries), who are already in the United States. The Secretary of Homeland Security may designate a foreign country for TPS due to conditions in the country that temporarily prevent the country's nationals from returning safely, or in certain circumstances, where the country is unable to handle the return of its nationals adequately. Eligible individuals without nationality who last resided in the designated country may also be granted TPS.

The Secretary may designate a country for TPS due to the following temporary conditions in the country:

• Ongoing armed conflict (such as civil war)
• An environmental disaster (such as earthquake or hurricane)
• Other extraordinary and temporary conditions

During a designated period, eligible individuals:

• Are not removable from the United States
• Cannot be detained by Department of Homeland Security.
• Can obtain an employment authorization document (EAD)
• May apply for travel authorization

Although having TPS, by itself, does not lead to permanent resident status (a green card), a TPS beneficiary may immigrate permanently under another provision of law if qualified

If the Haitians don't qualify, I don't know who does.

The NAACP has great action tools, complete with draft letter, at http://www.naacp.org/get-involved/activism/alerts/111thaa-2009-03-19-2/

This was written after the hurricanes hit Haiti in 2009 but with a little tweaking, you can still use it.

knitting squee

On the New Year's episode of Stash and Burn, Jenny Check mentioned wanting to make a bulky knit Malabrigo afghan of many colors.

Well, I e-mailed her to let her know that I've made one. And she e-mailed me back! Squee!

I know that Jenny and any other blogger/podcaster/celebrity is just another person. But the fact that she is well known in a field that I am a big fan of, just makes it a bit more exciting to get an e-mail from her.

By the way, it was just one line that basically said "cool."

Enough time?

A friend of mine is expecting a baby boy in March. Just found out. Need to make a blanket.

I have the following projects on the go

1. Noro log cabin blanket -- half done

2. top down raglan cardigan -- half done

3. crochet beret -- just began

4. portable small triangular shawl -- about a third done

We'll just ignore the other works in progress hibernating under the sofa. Literally, they are in a box under the sofa.

However, one is a machine-washable square that I was going to make into a throw cushion cover. I could crochet on a striped border and finish it that way.

Hm. That's an idea. Not as much fun as shopping for a brand new project though.

I have three months. Do I have enough time?

Big, Bold and Beautiful

Apparently there's a magazine called V and they are doing an issue with plus size women. By plus size, they mean size 10 or 12. I found out about it in today's NYTimes at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/fashion/MODEL.html

I applaud this effort. I mean, look at these women. They look great!

I am a feminist and I like to look good. What we consider beautiful is influenced by the culture we live in. I live in the USA which generally defines beautiful women as women who are young, white, blond, blue eyed, skinny, and tall.

Well, I am none of those. I am ethnically Chinese, short, and a size 8-ish.

I know, there are plenty of people in the US who would also find that attractive, even without the creeps who fetishize Asian women. And my ego being what it is, I think that I no matter my age, I'd be able to get a good and good looking man.

I haven't bought a fashion magazine in a while but I'm going to look for this one.

And look for the Asian American magazines that address fashion. I know they're out there!

Avatar and Moff's Law

Saw Avatar in 3-D over the weekend. My thoughts, in no particular order:

1. the 3D use was not egregious. Nothing coming at you to scare you or show off, but used well to literally give depth to the movie.

2. nothing on Pandora looks like it had fur. everything was slick or leathery. very few things were feathery or furry. I know it's hard to make CGI hair because each strand of hair reflects light individually and that's a level of detail that's either impossible to achieve or prohibitively expensive. It make me think about how easy it is to spot a bad hair dye job. The hair is dull and doesn't shine and reflect light the way hair naturally does.

3. the story was subpar. It was like Dances with Wolves with tall skinny Smurfs. I would have liked it more if Neytiri was like a middle status hunter and not the princess of the tribe. And her parents seemed awfully ready to adopt Jake. Why?

4. Jake's progress from Marine grunt to avatar driver to being sympathetic to the Na'vi was well done.

5. Why is the US military working with some corporation to get the mineral unobtainium?

6. Really, could they have been more obvious about the name unobtainium? And was it really necessary to bomb the Na'vi all the hell for minerals underground? Couldn't they just have tunnelled their way underneath and get the minerals that way?

Given that I work with refugees, people who had to flee because their homes were destroyed and their personal safety was threatened, I became really angry at the military/corporation.

Then today I read this post at Racialicious which I think is awesome:

http://www.racialicious.com/2009/12/21/and-we-shall-call-this-moffs-law/

AND WE SHALL CALL THIS “MOFF’S LAW”

In the comments to Annalee Newitz excellent io9 post on racial fantasies in Avatar (and other works of sci-fi), Moff, another io9 contributor created one of the best rants I have ever read on the nature of critique:

Of all the varieties of irritating comment out there, the absolute most annoying has to be “Why can’t you just watch the movie for what it is??? Why can’t you just enjoy it? Why do you have toanalyze it???”

If you have posted such a comment, or if you are about to post such a comment, here or anywhere else, let me just advise you: Shut up. Shut the fuck up. Shut your goddamn fucking mouth. SHUT. UP.

First of all, when we analyze art, when we look for deeper meaning in it, we are enjoying it for what it is. Because that is one of the things about art, be it highbrow, lowbrow, mainstream, or avant-garde: Some sort of thought went into its making — even if the thought was, “I’m going to do this as thoughtlessly as possible”! — and as a result, some sort of thought can be gotten from its reception. That is why, among other things, artists (including, for instance, James Cameron) really like to talk about their work.

Now, that doesn’t mean you have to think about a work of art. I don’t know anyone who thinks every work they encounter ought to only be enjoyed through conscious, active analysis — or if I do, they’re pretty annoying themselves. And I know many people who prefer not to think about much of what they consume, and with them I have no argument. I also have no argument with people who disagree with another person’s thoughts about a work of art. That should go without saying. Finally, this should also go without saying, but since it apparently doesn’t: Believe me, the person who is annoying you so much by thinking about the art? They have already considered your revolutionary “just enjoy it” strategy, because it is not actually revolutionary at all. It is the default state for most of humanity.

So when you go out of your way to suggest that people should be thinking less — that not using one’s capacity for reason is an admirable position to take, and one that should be actively advocated — you are not saying anything particularly intelligent. And unless you live on a parallel version of Earth where too many people are thinking too deeply and critically about the world around them and what’s going on in their own heads, you’re not helping anything; on the contrary, you’re acting as an advocate for entropy.

And most annoyingly of all, you’re contributing to the fucking conversation yourselves when you make your stupid, stupid comments. You are basically saying, “I think people shouldn’t think so much and share their thoughts, that’s my thought that I have to share.” If you really think people should just enjoy the movie without thinking about it, then why the fuck did you (1) click on the post in the first place, and (2) bother to leave a comment? If it bugs you so much, GO WATCH A GODDAMN FUNNY CAT VIDEO.

From now on, we will refer to this as “Moff’s law” and apply it alongside our comments policy here at Racialicious.

Happy New Year! 2010

May 2010 be better for all of us!

I feel that the beginning of the year should be greeted with optimism and happiness for the future and any first posts of the year should have some deep thoughts about it. However, I have none of that in my head right now, so I'll just leave it at

Happy New Year!