Obama

I support Barack Obama because he genuinely understands race relations, identity crisis, being poor in the world’s richest country and the struggles of immigrants.  These topics define America, uglifies America, and shapes America.  I have never heard a Politician talk about these topics the way Obama does: showing he not only understands the nuances and complexities, but has personally gone through these experiences and knows how you feel about them.

The truth is scary and at work in the school or on a public podium, we are pressured to say what is expected.  Obama’s courage and oratory skills, however, has allowed him to tell the truth without appearing radical, to crash the conventional wisdom of only speaking about the clique.

There needs to be change: because the upper class has enjoyed socialism for too long and the middle and lower class have been unfairly taxed in capitalism.  It is unfair that I get taxed 34% for my income when my boss, who makes AT LEAST 10 times as much as me (not even including bonus,) gets taxed the same?  True: the very poor don’t get taxed at all, but do you HONESTLY think the government should take doolars out of a person who can barely survive on minimum wage?  We are not taxing the rich because they get away from all kinds of loopholes.  Of course they worked hard for their money, but people below them worked hard as well, and got less.  That is the unfair part.

Obama’s plausible Presidency is substance and symbol wrapped in one.  He is not only the candidate with the best ideas, but his Presidency will symbolitically heal the pain of so many.  Not only for African Americans, but also for Latinos, Asians, Gays, Immigrants and Native Americans: a Obama presidency means that the discrimination, humiliation, and struggles these people have gone through somehow had all meant for something, that progress is not just a dream.

What you should NOT splurge on

I’m a girl in a city, there is no way I can “truthfully” cut back on spending for cloth, not even in a recession.  Because let’s face it, image is everything – well, not everything but a part of everything we can’t survive without.  So I can stop shopping at Bloomingdale’s, but if I need a great trendy pair of boots, I better find them in a consignment store…  not having a pair is not an option: it’s detrimental to my image.

What can I not splurge in a city in times like this?

Let’s see…

1. I can switch from Chanel makeup to cheap ones at Walgreens, I doubt anyone will notice

2. I can stop my personal splurge on books.  I can’t walk out of a bookstore without buying books, it’s my thing, and now it needs to stop.

3.I’ve been trying, with a bit of success, to switch from buying Starbucks Caramel Frapp (I need that huge jolt of sugar, it makes all the difference in my mornings) to combining soy milk with lots of milk tea powder and a large dose of condensed milk.  It works – I just need some whipped cream on top and a better water bottle to hold it.

3. I need to move to a cheaper place, this will drastically change my life for the better, I know it, and will promptly do so in…  five months?

4.  Going to prevent myself from making big purchases: like that bed frame I’ve always wanted, that lighting fixture, those very expensive (but still worth it in the long run) purses and shoes, basically anything that I find a good investment, long-term.  I can’t think long-term at this moment.

5. I’ve promised myself to keep myself in check when going out, like don’t order too much, don’t drink too much.  Because the truth is: I have to go out, and when I do, I have to purchase alcohol on top of dinner. And no – I can’t do appetizer and a beer, not gonna cut it.  A girls’ gotta live and find friends – but I’m going to stop buying round of shots and try hard not to order that $8 dessert.

6. No taxis.  Bring a pair of flip flops and walk home.  Done.

7.  But really, strategies on saving money is great… if you are a crazy spender, but it’s a load of crap for the rest of us.  You can’t be rich by saving money.  You have to find ways to earn more.  I need to start a internet business (like everyone else) with my cousin…

Why is Google’s Android Phone Hot (or not)?

Google and T-Mobile has teamed up to produce G1, a phone that runs on Android: it went on sale today.

Android is (1) a software platform (not a mobile device like the iPhone) based on Linux and (2) has open-source coding.

What does this mean? It means that anyone can alter this mobile device’s operating system to fit their need (assuming they know the underlying language of Android, which is similar to Java).  It also means that random people can start developing programs to produce shortcuts or new features that make the Android operating platform better or different, whatever the consumers want.

Android came from a company called Android, Inc., which Google acquired in 2005.  Since then, speculations have been flying high on how Google wants to enter the mobile phone market to compete with the iPhone.  Google has installed this one of a kind software on a one of a kind phone: T Mobile’s G1. But it is assumed that G1 will not be the only phone to have Android as its operating system.

The success of Android depends not only on the application itself, but also the phone itself.  That is because users’ purchasing decisions rest on a seamless integration of the device itself (physical feel and touch, size, color) and the operating that runs within (user-friendly, multifunctional, internet speed, applications offered)

Mobile phones are not only communication devices, but cheap-versions of computers that conduct financial transactions (from transferring money, investing in stocks, to trading goodies); such functions are highly utilized in developing countries.  Imagine this: an Nigerian and a Chinese business man meeting in the Sahara Dessert, finally agreeing on a shipment of goods to arrive in China in 3 weeks: the Nigerian man calls his cell phone and dials a transfer, the Chinese man sees on his that the money has been deposited into his bank account.  Using cell phones to conduct business is now commonplace in places that lack expensive infrastructure.  Android will certainly play a role.

Imagine my aunt: on a dirty train in a hot summer day, looking at her cell phone and realizing that a stock in Shanghai just dropped.  She does a few clicks and buys it for the good opportunity.  Android will certainly play a role here as well.

Android’s impact is not only sales, but it has the potential to change the entire landscape of our cell Mobile Phone Market – what a phone is, and what a phone does.  Get excited.

Halle Berry Teaching Girls about Life

Halle Berry, at 40 years old just after having a baby, is named the Sexiest Woman Alive by Esquire Magazine

This woman of color who after 2 failed marriages, many untrustworthy men messing with her self-esteem, has finally figured out the finer details of womanhood: the happiness out of owning yourself.  For girls who are still trying to figure out what she wants, what should she want, and what can she get… here’s what Halle will tell you:

1.  Sexy is not about wearing sexy clothes or shaking your booty until you damn near get hip dysplasia; it’s about knowing that sexiness is a state of mind – a comfortable state of being.

2.  Sexiness is about loving yourself even in your most unlovable moments.

3.  Sexiness is also about knowing what’s sexy to you.  To Halle, spaghetti is sexy, especially when it’s served off the tips of a man’s fingers.  Wine is also sexy, just before sex.

4.  Lingerie is sexy, but the truth is, every woman should own at least one good pair of pumps and a tank.  A tank top and pumps: you’re good to go then.

5.  What else? Ah, yes: the big O. You know that stuff they say about a woman being responsible for her own orgasms? That’s all true. And in Halle’s case, that makes her responsible for pretty damned good orgasms these days. Much better orgasms than when she was twenty-two. And she wouldn’t let a man control that. Not anymore. Now she’d invite him to participate.  Halle’ll tell you this: she has learned her tricks.  She knows what she likes.  She does not wait around.  She initiates.  And She’s not all about frequency.  She favors intensity.

Powell endorses Obama!

Be a democrate.

A Black man of steel in brains and body, from the south Bronx born to Jamaican immigrants -Colin Powell represents the American Dream.  He is, however also the guy who sold us Iraq.

People make mistakes – Colin Powell realized he screwed up as Bush’s Secretary of State.  Call it coercion or not, Powell help to create this mess – I don’t think he’s comfortable living with this mistake.

He is now trying to save his reputation – endorsing Barack Obama is a step.  There is something beautiful about a black man endorsing another, but more importantly, a Republican endorsing a Democrat.

Powell showed us that Bush is not just republican or conservative, he is WACKO NEOCONSERVATIVE – ignorant and screwed up in ways his little brain cannot even comprehend.  I wish Laura Bush would stop supporting her inapt husband and smack him in the face – Bush listens to nobody these days but her.

Film Review: Religulous

Lask week I saw Bill Maher’s “Religulous,” a documentary about people believing in the silliest things that make up religion.

Bill Maher never found why people hold unshakable faith in “facts” that are “obviously” inconclusive: like Noah’s Arc or Jesus’s Resurrection.  Why do they “just know?”  He questions why doubts and reasons never seem to be able to creep into those that believe in God, why pupils of religion hold the kind of absolute obedience similar to kings and queens of the past, toward systems of beliefs that are just plain ludicrous.

Not having a religion is a privilege: if you’re in a prison and God is all you got, then both Bill and I agree – it’s understandable for you to be religious.

What Bill fails to realize is that the privileged can also be hallow on the inside.  You can be endowed with wealth but be completely uncertain in life.  Bill Maher seems to imply, that the privileged who have fervent beliefs are simply too lazy or too weak to think for themselves.  I tend to agree, because to accept not knowing is really a lot more difficult than to accept a simple (but probably wrong) answer to the greatest questions of life.

But I also agree that there is nothing wrong with being lazy and weak, we are human beings.  We are selfish and maybe being happy requires us to just choose ignorance over “the Greater Good.”

When the fundamentals of our existence become meaningless, that is hard to ignore, let alone accept.  I wish I can argue that I am the strong and brave type that choose to not sink into religious fever, but I have to admit that I am not happy, not happy because I cannot rest on simple answers when I know they are wrong.  The agnostics, as well call ourselves, are like the majority of people in New York City – pissed off and perpetually discontent, loving and enjoying life but somehow unfilled underneath it all.  I hope I can at least believe that this is okay.

Fervently religious people are happy; their mind may be clouded, in denial, but they are content.  They may curse at other people or treat them out of God’s kindness, either way – they are happy.  This void in our mind of “I don’t know” sometimes renders the world a little like New York City – bitter, lonely, and cold – because that’s how people are when they don’t know.

My mother became a Christian a few years ago, since then she has become much more calm – she no longer yells at me or gets crazy or hormonal.  I don’t agree with her views, but I think “God” or her relationship with this possibly nonexistent being has made her relationship with me better.  I don’t care if God really exists, if this thing makes my mother easier to deal with, I’ll let it pass.

Friendship guide for girls

A girl’s worth comes down to confidence and beauty.

Beauty is inherited but can be manipulated left and right – you either look effortlessly beautiful or look like you try too hard.  You want to go with the former no matter what you’re born with.

Confidence is a product of growth and childhood experiences, in essence our perception of beauty.  Our confidence can jump up and down because our perception of reality changes.

In the realm of friendships, I prefer girls who are either in quadrant II or IV.

Because insecure girls makes me sad.  Those who in quadrant I wants to make everyone around them depressed, they suck all the positive energy out from around them.  They complain and refuse to accept change, they stay in the mind set of hopelessness and will want to make you feel the same.

Girls in quadrant III are dangerous.  These girls will try to sabotage you at every moment in order to feel good through your misfortune, they are also less dependable as friends since the whole premises of their friendship is based on them outshining you – because that’s the only way that insecurity hole.

Confidence makes you more approachable and less threatening.  (Note: those who act threatening through confidence are deeply insecure and are either in denial or hiding behind their solemn veil)

Girls in quadrant II and IV will feel insecure, but the foundation of who they are, their worth, and the choices they are willing or not willing to sacrifice will never change.  These girls are who I want to be friends with: those in quadrant II are loyal friends who will not get jealous by your beauty, and those in quadrant IV will not make you feel inferior through their beauty.

This city feeds into your insecurities and makes you feel inferior – it’s been hard for me to find confident girls.  (Another note: confident girls will not be manipulative bitches, if a girl is a manipulative bitch, you can be sure that she is deeply insecure within).

And thus I continue my journey to find confident girls…

on Looking Good

In New York, looking good is not an option or a luxury for the wealthy only.  Looking good is an requirement to survive.

Residents of Harlem (at least before they get old and broke) are hot.  I know this because I work there part time.  They may not be able to afford real Prada, but they have their eyebrows waxed, nails cleaned, and cloth matched in color and style.  Nobody walks out the door in just simple attire.  They have perfect skin, especially the Dominicans, I don’t know if it’s good genes or lack of stress.  Looking good is part of their culture, something ingrained in everyday life.  That’s hot.

Compared to Harlem, midtown people are just sad, excpet they’ve got the confidence and expensive attires to compensate.  Personality matters, but you’ve got to start out looking stylish first.

Public image accounts for more success than hard work, I believe this because I had to find out the hard way.  I’m not naturally stunning: I can’t just put on a t-shirt and look glamorous.  Nothing about me shines through effortlessly.  I have to try to remember to match my outfit, to workout, and to make sure my hair flows right.  All this effort is not necessarily enjoyable because I’m absent-minded.  Clearly, looking good hasn’t been part of my life.  But I try to look good because I have come to realize in my short span of time working in the real world, that looking good gives you a lot of points, if not everything.

So, in an effort to look good and to look even better (because I don’t think I’m good looking enough), I need to give myself a wardrobe makeover.  I also have stopped shopping because, well, I have no money.  But thanks to my friends at Harlem, I know that looking good, even in Midtown, doesn’t require a big load of cash.

the Jackie O of Multicultural America

Michelle Obama – where do I even begin to describe my delight seeing her on the world stage?

 

Does she realize how difficult it is to find a good man of color these days?

 

She is pieces of many women of color, in our own skin.  She is authentic; she’s been through the anger and oppression of being female and being colored.  Unlike Condi Rice who turns a blind eye to oblivion every time the race subject omes up, Michelle Obama understands that race is entrenched in our social perceptions, and she is open to address this issue.

 

But Michelle Obama is no longer angry – her acknowledgement of our struggles is followed by a transcendence of her uniqueness into a positive force, a belief that this nation is changing for the better.  She is quite tactful at dealing with complex issues.

 

But what us women of color all envy Michelle Obama, more than anything else, is the fact that she married an amazing guy, who is (1) not white (not that it matters, but, it kind of does) (2) praises (not suppresses) Michelle’s independence (3) shares Michelle’s passion to change this world.  I mean, I don’t think her marriage (or anyone’s for that matter) is as perfect as it seems from the outside, but they do look like they are very in love, after fifteen years!  Barack Obama better not cheat on our princess!

 

I cannot wait to see the changes this woman will bring to the concept of beauty in America.

Whatever makes me happy

I have been taught as a child to always do what I should do, it’ll be good for me eventually despite feeling a bit wrong right now.  I can see this being applied correctly to some aspects of life: 

1.  I should keep my tiny living/bedroom not the dump it is now – this will lighten up my mood considerably when I get home at night to a spotless living area. 

2. I should be grateful for this job that I have, and work even harder everyday – because one day it will pay off, I will get promoted or get on more interesting projects because I’ve proven myself.

3. I should drink less and save more – so I will pay off my loans and be debt free

4. I should start looking for a boyfriend – because being single does not make me happy despite my feminist views that I am okay by myself.  I am lonely and I am too afraid to love

5. I should memorize vocabs and workout more: they have obvious benefits

But I also know that what feels right, however counter-intuitive at the time, will prove to be right in the end.  I am one who goes with her feelings, not her head.  And so, I have decided much to my pleasure the following solutions to life:

1.  My job is not my passion.  Therefore I will look for another one and try it out.  This is recession and my rent isn’t cheap, so I will (1) keep this job until I have another one and (2) move to a cheaper neighborhood once this lease is up.  I might regret quitting to find the outside world much less pleasant, and I will get jealous when others keep making more and more climbing that corporate ladder, but I will keep looking for that opportunity that takes my breathe away: this is my philosophy on life.

2. I know I should save money, but I should also spend dinner outings with my friends and that expensive trip back to China to visit my grandmother and cousins, because they make me happy and happiness will make me rich – in the soul and in real life (this is proven by past research).  I will also hire a maid to clean my room because I can cook, I can decorate, but I cannot keep a room tidy.  And I don’t have time. 

3. I know I should get a boyfriend or at least start sleeping around, because everyone else is doing this and talking about doing this and I sit there listening and not sharing because I have nothing to talk about. I am scared to take that first step of officially becoming a whore and therefore, I will not until I am fully ready.  There will be times when I go, fuck it, just let me go crazy.  Until that time comes, I will not “pretend” to go crazy otherwise. 

These decisions are counter-intuitive to a lot of people – and to the logic part of me that reads books.  But making decisions like the ones I’ve made above relaxes me and frees me from exactly the conflicts I play inside my own head.