Thursday, September 07, 2006

Saltines On A Putting Green

It's not quite 0600 and I've been up all night mapping out the plot of my newest novel. I have to say this one was a lot of fun, and I think I might be able to finish the rough draft by the end of the month. Fingers crossed!

I've been really overwhelmed with writing/agents latetly, but feel as if I'm hitting a stride. I know one thing for sure, though. I have to clean my house. I love clutter, but there comes a point when you have to say: ENOUGH! I reached that point around 0317 when I was trying to find a certain book and dropped a hammer on my foot. Yes. Sigh. A hammer. No, I don't know what a hammer was doing between my Arabic manuals and a Sophie Kinsella book. Yes. Yes. I know. Hammers belong in a tool box. OK. OK. I get it!

It's not just the housekeeping that's suffered, though. I haven't even dealt with the wedding in weeks. Not good, I know. I forced myself to order Save the Dates yesterday. I still have to make time to do a mock-up of our invitations and start fiddling with the wording. I'm sure that will spark some kind of backlash from all parties involved, too. Crap. Plus, I had my first bridezilla moment a few days ago. I was handing out Dave's groom to-do list--which I have to point out is unbelievably shorter than mine. I mean, I have 162 items on my wedding planning to do list. He has, like, five. Pick groomsmen, choose tux, give me guest list, deal with transportation, and arrange honeymoon. Can you say gender bias? I mean, seriously, WTF?!?!

Anyways, I was having a really rough day and I was super stressed (and yes, I know that isn't an excuse, but...still.) Dave asked some asinine question about the honeymoon, and I unleashed my inner Mao Zedong. I think my exact quote was something along the lines of, "Mess up my honeymoon and I will crush you like a Democratic Revolt in Communist China. Seriously. Our living room will become Tiananmen Square and I will be the tank barrelling down on your ass."

Needless to say, I apologized shortly thereafter. Actually, I'm kinda relieved that I'm not the only one who feels this way, though. Ash is experiencing the same thing as she plans her wedding. Good to know this is entirely normal albeit inexusable behavior.

Speaking of reprehensible behavior, I watched a rerun of the Daily Show last night that dealt with recent racist remarks by congressmen and Tony Snow, WH Press Secretary. I can't believe that in the 21st century people are still throwing around terms like "tar baby," "macaca," and using racial stereotypes. Then again, it probably shouldn't surprise me. Dave experiences racism all the time where he works b/c the farther east one travels in Texas, the more intolerance one encounters. Plus, it wasn't that long ago that I responded to a call on campus at TAMU and was told by the ignorant, male patient to "...get [my] filthy spic hands off of [him.]" Sad isn't it? It's really sad that someone like that was accepted to this university instead of someone else who probably wasn't a racist.

I guess I've never been the victim of malicious racism. I've definitely been subjected to other forms of it, though. I can remember being six years old, sitting in a classroom, waiting to take some kind of standardized test, and being completely confused by the "pick your race" question. White? Hispanic? Aren't they really the same thing? I mean, Hispanic isn't a race. It's not even really an ethnicity. I mean, no one is born in "Hispana." It's just some label that demographers created. When I asked my teacher which bubble to color in, she shrugged, and asked our elementary principle who said, and I quote, "Tell her to bubble Hispanic. These Mexican kids need all the help they can get."

Ouch.

Can you say defining moment?

Anyways...Jon Stewart and Larry Wilmore, Sr. Black Correspondent, did a segment on racism--especially lazy racism--in the US with their trademark smart ass-ness and satire. This brings me back to the title of today's post. Let me leave you with a little gem from the Daily Show on 22.08.06.

{On Republican Senator George Allen's use of the word "macaca" and Tony Snow's use of the term "tar baby"}

Larry: How am I supposed to be pissed off about ‘macaca?’ That’s weak.

Jon: But you don’t think there’s something though to the idea that phrases like “tar baby” evoke a more dangerous time?

Larry: Yeah but he wasn’t calling anyone “tar baby.” He was using it figuratively. It would be like if someone spills saltines on a putting green, and I say, "Hey! Look at all those goddamned crackers on the golf course!" It sounds bad, but it doesn’t mean anything...

If you have a few minutes, check out the Youtube link below for the full segment. And yes, there is some coarse language, but in this case, I think it's warranted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkwnzHm2duM

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