minute thoughts 3.22.17
Not Java, just a glamour shot of a tiny happy corgi in our kitchen
Thoughts while reminiscing about the time a girl complimented my highlighter in the middle of RL Grime’s set
1. I literally just remembered that one time, two years ago when I was interning in New York, I ran into my uncle that I hadn’t seen in like five years on the street and he casually bought me candy and took me to see a movie like he used to do when I was around three years old, as if it weren't a completely strange thing to run into your niece that you hadn’t seen in five years in a borough you don’t live in and a state she doesn’t live in. And I legitimately have not seen him since. It was the oddest and most random thing, and I honestly have no idea why I’ve never questioned it.
2. I’m so excited that Stila is cruelty-free again! Any suggestions of what to buy? I've already ordered the “Kitten” eyeshadow for highlighting, but I'm also eyeing their liquid lipsticks because I have no self-control.
3. I somehow stumbled upon this new children’s show called Andi Mack, because it was praised by Seventeen for approaching very adult topics and being the first Disney Channel program to star a mostly Asian-American family. I was talking to my friends recently about the importance of representation in the media, and how shows like Fresh Off The Boat and Black-ish are changing the game for minorities. My family actually really likes Black-ish because we feel like we relate to it, obviously not to black culture in America, but to the struggle of maintaining your sense of cultural identity when as a minority you’re considered “whitewashed.” I also like that there’s nothing about Andi Mack that indicates that they’re Asian; they treat them like a normal American family. The mom is played by Lauren Tom, and if you’ve watched The Joy Luck Club you can appreciate how she’s kind of come full-circle as a Chinese-American actress.
4. Marisa and I saw Tchami in LA last weekend and he was so good. But in the middle of the concert, a bunch of guys started moshing, which I absolutely hate and has happened at countless concerts I’ve been to (I was so close to fighting this group of guys at LOUDPVCK two years ago), and it reminded me how fun girls are at raves and how not-fun guys are at raves. Girls are always so nice and they just want to dance and they offer you water, but guys tend to be either creepy or obnoxious/belligerent. Cue the “not all guys!” protests, but in general, I’ve found that girls are a lot more fun.
5. My uncle emailed me re: one of my Friday Fives a while ago, and he wrote:
When I had my recent executive physical, when I talked to the doctor about the little things that piss me off, he said, “Is that worth dying for?” Because stress causes that fight-or-flight reaction that gives you a burst of adrenaline or energy. But in the long run that’s toxic to your body. You don’t want to be in that state all the time. So I think about that any time someone cuts me off while driving or does something stupid. Yeah, you can get tense or pissed about it, but is that worth dying for? Clearly not.
I think it’s the little things like that that really put life into perspective. Sometimes, intentional or unintentional, those things just stick with you. And the beautifully serendipitous thing is that they can come from unexpected places, like a check-up with your doctor, the death of a pet, or something your SO says casually over dinner. It’s these tiny things that make us live our lives a little bit differently, and unwittingly shape us into the people we are and the people we want to be. It’s something to think about when you’re talking to people, because you never know what they're going to remember later on in life.
6. I find memes fascinating, because they’re a very specific brand of culturally-relevant, rapidly-evolving humor that uses this shared sense of inclusivity and recognition. It's actually breathtaking how quickly things are born and then die in the age of the internet, how short the life cycle of cultural information is. The same goes for language—Fast Company did a great piece on the evolution of the English lexicon (and I’m still trying to bring back “rad” and “groovy” as slang). But it’s really a testament to exactly how fast our world moves, and you can either keep up or get left behind.
7. Our family friend just started his first year at Columbia and gave my younger sister his bunny, and she’s really cute! Her name is Java, and she’s this little black ball of fluff and she’s so soft. Like chinchilla-soft. She does this thing where she lies down on her side, except her short legs aren’t built for lying down gracefully so she just kind of flops over. I’m slowly conditioning her to love me by giving her treats whenever she sees me. My mom adores her. She’s always feeding her cilantro and strawberry tops and lets her just kind of hop around our kitchen. But I’m a little bitter because a) she neglects Lily now, and b) We never had a pet growing up because my mom maintained that she didn’t want animals in her house, and now she treats Java like her fourth child. My point is, we could have gotten a kitten a long time ago. And a kitten would let me hold it and probably wouldn’t chew up our bookshelf.
Edit: Java is a he!
8. One of the most irritating things about getting older is being completely blindsided and utterly debilitated by the accumulation of sleep debt. I hate sleeping. I’ve realized now that it’s something both my brain and my body actually need for me to be a fully-operating human being, but I hate it. There's no greater waste of time than lying practically comatose for eight hours. I could be reading or writing or watching Netflix or doing yoga or composing symphonies or working on any one of the millions of mini-projects that are always in progress. Anything.
9. I found a picture of myself with my high school boyfriend at a formal, and then a picture of myself wearing the same dress at an event with my college boyfriend, and I realized I’m so much heavier now omg. And this whole time I thought I was getting away with it. Damn you, night markets and hawker stalls.
10. I personally would like a genuine explanation of the words “radical Islam,” because I honestly don’t understand the controversy. “Radical” literally means “a departure from the norm,” so I don’t understand why a) liberals refuse to identify terrorists as advocates of radical Islam, and b) conservatives don’t understand that when you label terrorists as radicalized Muslims, you imply that Islam is a fundamentally peaceful religion. Christianity is (arguably) fine. Radical Christianity gets you the Westboro Baptist Church and school shooters. Is there something I’m missing? I’m legitimately confused as to why we insist on being ultra-particular about language when in this case, if used purposefully and thoughtfully, it satisfies everyone. This is why bipartisanship is dumb.
