Huh? Wha'?

Yes it's been much too long since I've last posted here. That's actually a good thing because I've been productive and writing my chapter and reading more law reviews on Virginia v. Black. At least, I'm trying to fit that in whenever I can on top of teaching classes.

I've been following Tim Hardaway's anti-gay comments and the subsequent outcry which resulted in his banishment from the All-Star weekend in Las Vegas. One in particular, has Charles Barkley not only admonishing Hardaway's comment, but stating that he should've known better. That as an African American and a black man, the history of discrimination, negative stereotypes, and violence should've taught him better than to say something so ignorant and incendiary.

[UPDATE: Yet another video removed for TOS violations.]

I was watching it and to my surprise Barkley seemed like the elder statesman. Well, rough around the edges, but he got the gist of it. Anyways, I came across this clip and consider it as a "different" to the usual public condemnation and subsequent "apology" by Hardaway. It stars George Takei, first shown on the Jimmy Kimmel Show, and I love the fact that it throws the stereotypes back at Hardaway. I think it works quite well.

[UPDATE: Damn this was a good video clip too.]

Writing Fever

Like many friends I know, I was under pressure to finish and mail out a dozen fellowship applications. I get quite anxious over these things. It just needed to be postmarked but on February 1st, I was feverishly typing/editing away the night before, left early for Kinko's to make copies the next day, drove to the Post Office and waited in line -- fortunately it wasn't that long -- and made a frantic drive to campus in time for class. I could've done it after class, but I don't like carrying around these applications which includes my letter, abstract, dissertation prospectus, and cv. That's a heavy load to be hauling. Not only that, I needed some peace of mind knowing that my applications are off and away.

I have one more application due next week and it looks as though that will be it for this round of fellowships. It's extremely competitive and I know I should cast a wider net, but I did limit myself to mostly east coast schools. I didn't want to be that far away from home.

I'm making slow progress on my chapter. Working, even as a part-timer, does take quite a lot of time from the day. It may not look much but there have been plenty of moments when I thought to myself, "Where did the day go?" And then you fall asleep. We don't notice the passage of time, nor do we remember what exactly took so much of it in the first place. In the end, you just know that you do not have time to write.

A friend actually monitored all the activities she did in the day. It's a diary of your time. She had a large pad of paper and recorded the activity she was doing and how long it took. So for example, a typical day's recording looks something like this:

• Cooked/ate breakfast - 30 min.
• Answered emails - 60 min.
• Surfed the internet - 45 min.
• Cooked/ate lunch - 60 min.
• Bank/paid bills - 45 min.
• Drove to campus - 35 min.
• Lectured -120 min.
• Office Hours - 120 min.
• Drove home - 45 min. (rush hour)
• Cooked/ate dinner - 45 min.
• Watched TV (an episode of "Heroes") - 60 min.
• Dissertation writing - 30 min.

(This is not me by the way. But it looks rather familiar to my daily routine ... Fine! It does look like my average day!) Anyways, the point of doing this is to look at all the time that is spent on non-dissertation related activities. There's some activities like driving that cannot be negotiated especially if it's rush hour traffic. But there are others that could be cut down and the idea is to redivert that time to dissertation writing. I find it really useful and revealing to see how my day goes. You keep a daily log and review it to make sure you're keeping yourself accountable. In the end it's still about making time to write that gets the dissertation done.

One Week Down ...

... and 14 more to go till the semester ends. Yes I'm already thinking about it and I can't wait. I seem to have a good group of students in both sections, but it's only the first week.

I plan to write again today but I also have to complete several dissertation fellowship applications in the next week. One of the applications requires a 5-7 page abstract detailing my research, how it is located in a discipline or field of study, and what are its contributions. My eyes initially rolled up at the requirement. Another damn thing to write for something that I could be denied. But I quickly found it was a blessing in disguise. Part of writing this abstract is becoming a shortened version of my conclusion. And to have a real deadline is forcing me to put my thoughts together in an articulate and coherent manner. I had forgotten how having a real deadline is forcing me to write and finish a piece.

Here I Go Again

Today the spring semester for 2007 officially starts for me. Two sections of GOVT 101: Democratic Theory and Practice. Another set of students. Some last minute emails from students about adding to my class. Some minor changes to my syllabus.

And away I go.

Snowfall!!!

I was so overjoyed at the first flakes of snow for this year that I went outside with my camera to photograph the moment. It's mostly random pictures around the area but I wanted to capture the initial layer of snowfall and how it changes the texture of the landscape. While I was ecstatic, my friend, on the other hand, was grumbling about extra time to warm the car, brushing the snow cover off the windshield, etc. etc. I guess I'm still new to this idea of "winter."

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

*sighs*

Where did my winter break go? The spring semester is starting next week and once again my time for writing is rapidly dissipating.

Ethnic Cleansing in LA? "Little Asian on the Hill?"

Posting an awesome analysis by Oliver, a colleague/friend of mine at Poplicks, about a recent op-ed piece in the LA Times about black/latino race relations. The article, Roots of Latino/Black Anger, was written by Tanya K. Hernandez and it's generated a bit of discussion. Not because of what she raises as an important complex and much needed address on minority-minority relations and conflicts, but how she presents the material. Oliver's critique is right on the mark. There's also an accompanying piece in the New York Times about Asian Americans and higher education focusing on UC Berkeley by Timothy Egan called, Little Asia on the Hill -- I guess it's a derivation of "Harvard on the Hill" when someone goes to a not so great college. Oliver's response raises some insightful points about educational policies like affirmative action and its relationship on Asian American students. It's a damn good read not because he's a sociologist, but because he's an alum of UC Berkeley. It's a really interesting perspective of then when he was an undergraduate, to now at CSU Long Beach as a professor in sociology.

New York Pix!

I have my pictures from New York loaded on Zoomr so click below to check it out. I didn't bring my clunky digital camera, and instead used a simple 35mm automatic. Nothing fancy at all and it was easier to carry around. Some pictures had to be photoshopped (is that a word?) because I messed up on one thing or the other -- either I was moving, or someone bumped into me, or just a bad angle. But with some cropping and the power of editing, I was able to salvage some shots. The photos are from MOMA, Museum of Natural History, Grand Central Station, Radio City Music Hall, Spuyten Duyvil, the subway at Bleeker Street, and south Bronx. The photo in the above header is an edited image of Grand Central Station.

Back to Work

*sighs*

New Year's Eve in New York with great friends was fabulous!

Coming back to Arlington, VA, and getting ready for the Spring semester in two weeks is depressing.

Trying to write my chapter in two weeks is my goal.

Think I can do it? Only one way to find out.

Dissertating Daze

These past 3 days I was amazingly productive on my last chapter. I read 6 law review articles, 3 court cases, wrote 3 pages for my last chapter, and discovered a better argument to round out my second and third chapter. I'm not surprised considering teaching does take up so much time and energy by itself. As a matter of fact, it was a relief to be away from teaching and focusing on my immediate goal of just finishing my degree.

Oddly enough, at a moment when I am most productive, I'll be taking a short 4 day vacation to New York to visit some friends starting tomorrow. I'm quite excited to go considering I haven't been to New York since I was 4 years old and I barely remember anything. So I guess it'll be all brand new for me. But it feels like an interruption knowing that I'm on a roll and I should take advantage of it while it lasts even though I had planned the trip less than 2 months ago.

Don't get me wrong; I'm very excited to go and I will enjoy my time there. Nothing is easier than to forget about it writing a dissertation. As a matter of fact, there are hundreds of ways to avoid the drudgery of writing and researching. But there's still only one way to actually finish it which is to sit and write.

Winter Vacation

Finally! The semester is over! I turned in my final grades and I am officially free. I can't wait until next weekend where my partner and I are heading to New York for vacation. I'm not flying to California to visit my folks this year. And considering the major blizzards and airport shutdowns, I am glad I didn't.

I just want to read books, write my chapter, and play video games. And I made some progress on my chapter researching the Virginia v. Black (2003) case. Funny how I can make some headway when I don't have a major obligation like teaching.

In general, I love my students and they've been great. Though they need to stop using Google and Wikipedia as their sources. They need to go to the library and read a book. I wonder if any of them had ever picked up a book. I've always enjoyed the tactile nature of being in a library and thumbing through a book's pages. The internet as a virtual library is wonderful, but it's not the same experience. They also need to be patient and allow the research to develop and evolve. A question does not have to have an immediate answer, but that it takes time to develop. It must be all that mocha frappucinoes they've been drinking.

At the same time, I need to rework my syllabus. I think I have to incorporate more writing assignments, quizzes, and the like. It was too easy a semester, but now that I have a better grasp of this course, I can shape it the way I want it. I also realize that my theme for the course could have been better organized. In some parts, it was just too random, without a certain coherence for students to follow, let alone an understanding of the stakes of democracy. I also really ought to challenge students more and don't let them off the hook so easily. They didn't get away with murder, but I certainly didn't do enough to push them or have them be accountable.

Anyways, I'm off to see the matinee showing of Happy Feet. Hooray!

Photography and Public Spaces

I am by no means a "real" photographer. I dabbled quite a bit but I came across this photographer's weblog and I really love his work. It also helps that his photo essays are about my hometown of San Francisco. Yes I do play favorites. I also enjoy reading his accounts (article from Wired) when he's out on one of his photography trips -- and he gets harassed by the police or the local "rent-a-cops." This is what I fear when I actually do go out. I hate being hassled. It just ruins what you're trying to photograph. But I like the way Thomas Hawk, his pen name actually, approaches them and the irony of photographing what is presumably "public spaces."

It's really ironic. He's taken some wonderfully beautiful photographs of "The City" -- events, neighborhoods, scenery, and buildings. All of which everyone enjoys and photography is not only a way to preserve it, but to represent it as an experience to others. But to have the police charge you with trespassing? Or even attempt to take your camera away? I understand that there are concerns about what the photographs may be used for, or even reveal. But of public spaces like a Muni terminal? What is this fear? What does it mean when security and the protection of public space extends to its representation?

I should know better though that there's a huge difference between taking a picture of Coit Tower and the old carpet of a BART train. And the fear is how a picture of a public service program is going to be used to subvert funding, or justify budget cuts, or be used in a PR campaign to call for more environmentally safe public transportation. Yes, a picture can do many things. It is a politically powerful medium. I think that's why I like and fear this medium so much.

I have yet to go out on a photography trip of Arlington, VA, and Washington, DC -- especially when I really do look at public spaces and not your usual tourist attractions. I like taking what others often do not see and it's usually quite random. But at the same time, I also fear what others think of me when I'm there. I am conscientious about that and every now and then I get a stare or two from the locals. Sometimes I get a chat or two and what usually saves me is that I identify myself as a professor -- yes, it's my "Get Out of Jail" card. A few minutes more of chatting about what I teach and that's it. No harm done. But I think that's what makes photography such an intriguing medium. There's no one else there but yourself, the camera, your eye and your wits. It's a productive tension.

WTF Rosie?!? Follow-Up

So Rosie O'Donnell finally apologized after a week of what appeared to be some intense pressure from her "ching chong" episode. It was the lamest apology which was obviously done on the spot as she was fumbling over words to describe "Asian people." It sounded more defensive than an apology. But the kicker was when one of the co-stars noticed TWO ASIANS in the crowd. Rosie then asked whether the "ching chong" bit offended them, and they said it did not. It's so damn predictable to turn to a "legitimate source" (i.e., Asians) to demonstrate that the slur wasn't all that bad. That is not the point. The point is that she and others on the cast should've known better not to do it. If you're not going to use homophobic slurs on air, then you better not use any others. But props to The Soup for catching and turning it on it's head. Now that was funny.

Her apology:

[UPDATE: Apparently the clip is not available from YouTube anymore.]

And The Soup's version of it:

Self-Explanatory

Yep. Definitely self-explanatory.

WTF Rosie?!?

Just because you are a "liberal" and/or identify with a minority that doesn't excuse you from being an intolerant/racist git towards another. That is hypocrisy plain and simple. And by the way, thanks Rosie for reinscribing a denigrating stereotype on national television. As if we needed your help in maintaing racial prejudice.

Here's the original clip and a pretty decent response:

Bad Santas!

If there's one thing I loved about growing up in San Francisco, it's moments like these that makes "The City" so unique and my experience so memorable. :D

For the original link from SF Gate:

Bad Santas: Dozens of wacky Santas partying it up in San Francisco as part of the 13th annual "cheap-suit-Santa'' celebration stormed the Cheesecake Factory atop Macy's at Union Square last weekend.

Brian Foley and his pals were waiting for a table when he noticed a herd of Santas -- estimates range from 30 to hundreds -- coming up the escalator, including one clutching a bullhorn.

And they weren't your garden variety Santas. "They all had gore makeup on -- fake blood on them, like Halloween meets Christmas,'' Foley said. "One had an eyeball popping out of his face.

"They all seemed drunk and happy, and they didn't really care that everyone was staring at them,'' he said.

"They came in full force and just took over,'' said Assistant General Manager Roy Feigenbaum. "They must have been here 15 minutes, parading around, ho-ho-ho-ing.

"Jaws just dropped to the floor, and staff was at a standstill.''

And the Santas weren't the only eye-catchers to show up at the Cheesecake Factory that night.

Two hours later, Gary Coleman came in for dinner.

And no, he wasn't dressed as one of Santa's elves.

One More Week

One more week and the semester will be finally over! My last class on Thursday ended the same way it started ... with little fanfare. I ended my Tuesday night class by telling my students how much I appreciated their work and committment to the class. I didn't do that with the other section. I simply finished up a few more points about my research, fielded some questions, handed out the final exam, and passed out the evaluations. And that was that.

Tonight I'll have my first batch of finals from my Tuesday night section and another one this Thursday. And then I'll turn in my final grades and that will be the end of it.

If there's one thing I have noticed about students at George Mason University, it's their hospitality and courtesy. Almost all my students referred to me formally as "professor" even though I indicated that it wasn't necessary. When I was teaching in Los Angeles, there would always be someone asking how I should be addressed, or in some cases, students would simply call me by my first name without asking. Not so at GMU. I don't think it's about respecting authority per se, but it seems to be about not being presumptuous. There is a practice of care among these students -- well, my students anyway -- that is markedly distinct from students in Los Angeles.

There's really only three conditions that I demand people to address me formally with my title. First, if it's a formal / public event such as a fundraising dinner for a community organization, or a panel organized by students on campus. Second, I hate it when people bastardize my last name. I can only take that nonsense for so long. And finally, only my enemies address me as "Professor."

One Down ...

... and one more day of class to go. My Tuesday night class ended quite well. I talked about my research on hate violence, how it manifests, it's power, and legislative responses. I was extremely pleased with the overall progress of this section. Afterwards, I handed out my final exam, and talked about how this section made teaching a very meaningful practice for me. And I thanked them for making the semester wonderfully productive. I turned the class over the student to conduct teacher evaluations of me, and stepped outside. Students began to trickle as they left the room and many of them thanked me for a great semester. One in particular said that my class meant everything to him, and he wished he had more opportunities to take classes from me. That certainly made me feel great about what I teach and how I approach the practice of teaching. It was simply an excellent experience.

As for the other section, I'm fairly ambivalent about them. The students are in a program to acclimate freshmen as they transition from high school to college. They have joint classes, share the same residence halls, and are exposed to a "rigorous" liberal arts curriculum. They are selected because they scored slightly higher on the SAT than the average student, but come up short on being in the Honors Program. And there are some great students who actively contribute to the class and the assigned work.

So why the ambivalence? A few of them still have the "high school" mentality. Quite a few it seems. If I was asked to assess their transition, I would say they're stuck in the high school mode. And to be fair, I have to think about what I've done and how I conducted myself in class. I could've created or contributed to an environment where they're still thinking as high school kids because of my friendly and comedic nature. But I look at my Tuesday night section, and I see a huge difference in the quality of the work. I am still the same person, doing what I've always done, and the disparity is quite noticeable.

I think it's the air of entitlement among these students that bugs me quite a bit. That because they're in this program, they seem to think they are smarter than everyone else. But when I read their work, and listen to their discussions, I find them to be fairly average. I had high expectations for this set of students because they were affiliated with this program for good reason. But it's clear that either I set them too high, or they're just not up to task.

Whatever. The semester is almost over and I'm planning to make a push to finish my last chapter. So the sooner this is over, the quicker I can get back to writing.

The Word on Ms. Dewey

This is weird. This "search engine" was forwarded to me by a friend called MsDewey.com. Like I said it's a search engine ... I think. But loading the flash introduction is abysmally slow, and searching for your topics is painfully slower. The results are difficult to read and it's not an expansive list of items unlike google or yahoo. As a matter of fact, all I seem to get are hits from Wikipedia or Amazon.com. After all, it's made by Microsoft so I'm not expecting the best in quality or efficiency.

So what makes Ms. Dewey interesting then? Well it's Ms. Dewey herself, played by actress Janina Gavanka. It's a human, and a very attractive, female interface. She is fully animated, responds to the results of your search, and engages in her own chatter when idle. Here she looks bored, smiles, and fidgets behind the counter and sometimes she says, "Hellloooooo? Type something here!" It's humorous and at other times it's a joke at your expense such as, "Somebody needs to get a hobby. Like, say, something interesting." On a whim, I typed in her name and she says one of the most funniest moments of the site itself, "Janina Gavanka, now that is talent!"

So technically it sucks as a search engine. But it's a different way of representing a search engine where it is personified, a "human" element driving the interface. That is interesting to me because we've been saturated with the idea that computers are personified from the ship's computer voice, played by Majel Barrett in Star Trek: The Next Generation, to the fully interactive library interface of Vox, played by Orlando Jones in The Time Machine (2002). So this site is a fascinating innovation of representation, but I wouldn't call it breakthrough for search engines.

Ms. Dewey's specific racial and gender identity is also interesting. It's no surprise that the interface is feminine in order to conjure up a sense of comfortability and warmth to users. Feminine representations as an animated subject or even a voice is more inviting. But the multiethnic dimension of Ms. Dewey is

Dissertating Daze ... Again

Yikes! I can't believe it's already December!

Not good. Not good at all. Final exams are around the corner for my students and I need to finish my chapter. I've read quite a few court cases from Texas v. Johnson (1989) to Terminiello v. Chicago (1949) in trying to understand the precedent and legal history behind Virginia v. Black (2003) which is to be the subject of my last chapter. But in reading one case I come up with a few more to look up, and not to mention I've accumulated over two dozen more law articles to read. I think I'm in danger of following up on too many tangents and not knowing when to stop. The funny thing is that moment of incoherence is when I should stop reading and start writing as a way to define/refine the parameters of my argument for the chapter. If after writing, the argument still feels weak, then start reading up again.

Rinse and repeat for consistency and flavor.