Monday, January 19, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
petty facebooking censorship
I got up really early this morning to prepare for class and just when I was about to head out, boss calls to tell me my morning classes are canceled due to the heavy snow and the fact that he's too lazy to just shovel it off our school's driveway so classes could go on. Not that I'm unhappy about the sudden free time, but along with my canceled classes is the planned tamago-maki (japanese square egg) cooking session with Yoshiko, one of my students. And I was already fully made up!
I turn on the TV, tuned into CNN, expecting to hear more about the shelling of the UN headquarters in Gaza. Guess what, for a full 2 hours CNN reports on nothing but the US domestic plane which made an unexpected landing down the Hudson River. No mention whatsoever on the Gaza shelling. Sure, that near disaster is important news, but hey, humanitarian law just about went kapoot in Gaza and a supposed reputable news station go for a full 2 hours without devoting a proper story on it? Even if it was a devoted American program (Wolf Blitzer's Situation Room), I don't think that's enough of an excuse.
So really, what can someone stuck in the sticks do but post a Facebook status in protest? And I write, "Nyel is annoyed CNN chooses to devote a full 2-hours on the US plane near-disaster when there are other matters that need attention, like the UN Gaza shelling."
Because there's not enough space, I added on a 2nd status, "Nyel no wonder Americans are such spoiled brats and think the world revolves around them."
Guess what, facebook deletes it within 5 minutes of posting. So much for freedom of status and right to criticism.
I turn on the TV, tuned into CNN, expecting to hear more about the shelling of the UN headquarters in Gaza. Guess what, for a full 2 hours CNN reports on nothing but the US domestic plane which made an unexpected landing down the Hudson River. No mention whatsoever on the Gaza shelling. Sure, that near disaster is important news, but hey, humanitarian law just about went kapoot in Gaza and a supposed reputable news station go for a full 2 hours without devoting a proper story on it? Even if it was a devoted American program (Wolf Blitzer's Situation Room), I don't think that's enough of an excuse.
So really, what can someone stuck in the sticks do but post a Facebook status in protest? And I write, "Nyel is annoyed CNN chooses to devote a full 2-hours on the US plane near-disaster when there are other matters that need attention, like the UN Gaza shelling."
Because there's not enough space, I added on a 2nd status, "Nyel no wonder Americans are such spoiled brats and think the world revolves around them."
Guess what, facebook deletes it within 5 minutes of posting. So much for freedom of status and right to criticism.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
deliver us from the devil
amazon is evil. evil, evil! god of mr. scrooge, save me from this online bookshop (my fingers are quicker than my penny-pinching brain when they go click-click-click).
Saturday, January 03, 2009
the Grand vs. the mundane
At half past-one in the morning, I could hear my brother Kazu laughing like a kid in his room. The boy-man (he's 18 now) is most likely catching up on animes he missed during the short trip we made for the holidays. Tomorrow, he might take me window shopping for laptops.
Mama and the Japanese step-dad are both snoring in the living room (Jess definitely outsnores Cecille hands-down), because we have visiting relatives (Tita Gigi, her partner Ichan, their 4 kids in tow, plus Teru) sleeping in the main room. Tomorrow, the plan is we all go skiing, butprobably everyone would just end up playing with snow or sliding down the slopes on kiddie sleighs.
---
Pretty soon, these will all just be part of things I'd reminisce about or vaguely remember when I look at 2008-early 2009 photos.
You never tell friends the mundane stories when they ask about your travel; you tell them of the grander things like hiking up Mt. Fuji (which I didn't do) or getting treated to an authentic 4-course Japanese fine dining lunch (happened last Monday). The grand things you remember vividly, you memorize the colors and see snapshots so clearly in your head. The image attached to the mundane maybe a bit blurred but it has a smell, a sound, a taste. When we revisit the Grand, we do it on purpose, dusting off album jackets, then leafing through the scenes one by one. Usually, the Grand makes us think of happy times. The mundane, on the other hand, sneaks up on us and makes us want to go back (because the mundane experiences are the closest we could get to "the way things were").
Mama and the Japanese step-dad are both snoring in the living room (Jess definitely outsnores Cecille hands-down), because we have visiting relatives (Tita Gigi, her partner Ichan, their 4 kids in tow, plus Teru) sleeping in the main room. Tomorrow, the plan is we all go skiing, butprobably everyone would just end up playing with snow or sliding down the slopes on kiddie sleighs.
---
Pretty soon, these will all just be part of things I'd reminisce about or vaguely remember when I look at 2008-early 2009 photos.
You never tell friends the mundane stories when they ask about your travel; you tell them of the grander things like hiking up Mt. Fuji (which I didn't do) or getting treated to an authentic 4-course Japanese fine dining lunch (happened last Monday). The grand things you remember vividly, you memorize the colors and see snapshots so clearly in your head. The image attached to the mundane maybe a bit blurred but it has a smell, a sound, a taste. When we revisit the Grand, we do it on purpose, dusting off album jackets, then leafing through the scenes one by one. Usually, the Grand makes us think of happy times. The mundane, on the other hand, sneaks up on us and makes us want to go back (because the mundane experiences are the closest we could get to "the way things were").
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