mumblings..

it's been a while since i've blogged, but believe it or not, nothing has captured my attention long enough to bring me to blog about it. just a few things to talk about i guess, including the fact that my l.a. seminar/trip has been approved so i'm definitely going. and that perfectly coincides with meshell's l.a. tourdates (how absolutely coincidental!) so i plan on attending at least two of her shows at the roxy. other suggestions on what to do in l.a. are requested. i'll probably head out the weekend before the seminar starts so that i can chill out and enjoy the weather and look around.. should be loads of fun. and of course it'll end up being my "all-by-myself-getaway-treat" that i've been wanting to do for ages... i can't wait!

a dear, dear friend and her husband came to visit us from nyc last weekend and by absolute random happenstance they stumbled upon 4 suzanne vega tickets that were being given away for free for her show at the house of blues.. so of course, we went. i'm not that familiar with all of her songs, but the ones i do know, i like. she's touring for her new album which really isn't new because it's just a collection of her old stuff. but it was a pleasant show.. not too wild & crazy, if you know what i mean.

i saw earth the other day on dvd which is the second of deepa mehta's trilogy (the first being fire). it was a great movie. and damn, nandita das is just as fine as can be. if you're a south east asian lesbian and you haven't seen fire, shame on you. anyways, earth was really good. it was about a little girl's experience during the whole partition of india after the british left. as usual, the british conquered, fucked everything and everyone over and then left behind a country divided. anyways, i highly recommend it even though it's mostly in hindi with english subtitles.

lastly, i can't help but noticed that there's a fresh new suicide bombing every time i turn on the tv these days. israel has had 5 just in the past 48 hours. do you think it's only a matter of time before revenge makes its way stateside..?

berkeley? no.. not berkeley!!!

UC Berkeley Bars Students From SARS Countries
Tue May 6
From Associated Press

New students from SARS affected China, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong are not welcome this summer at the University of California, Berkeley, campus officials say.
"After close consultation with several public health officials and campus experts, and based on the strong recommendation of the City of Berkeley Health Officer, I deeply regret that we will not be accepting enrollments of students from these areas," campus Chancellor Robert Berdahl said in a message posted on the campus Web site Friday. The decision affects several hundred students who were planning to attend Berkeley for summer school sessions, which begin May 27. Instead, those students will get their money back. There have been no cases of SARS at UC Berkeley.

so um.. is it me or is that completely the most racist thing you've ever heard??? i mean, really, i understand the concern. we're all concerned. but to just make a blanket rule like that without even allowing for any of these students to maybe get tested and prove that they're not infected? they can't be serious. this kind of thing can't be legal.. can it?

5 random thoughts roaming through my brain this very moment..

1. while this may be common knowledge for most, i was forcefully reminded a few days ago of the fact that the main ingredients in the overall make-up of republicans is absolute selfishness and a nonchalant apathy towards the greater good of all people that inhabit this planet.

2. cry freedom was a great movie.. a particular scene that still brews in my brain is the one where don woods meets steve biko for the first time and after hanging out with him for a while, asks biko's buddies "where did he get his education? he's so very articulate".
(oh, and denzel's accent was very nice..)

3. they're supposed to announce raises today. the bosses have been behind closed doors all morning. the suspense is killing me. i wanna know NOW!!!! update: so yeah.. just got word.. 5% is better than nothing, right?

4. the mother in real women have curves was such an annoying ass bitch! but sadly, i actually know people like that (and no, i don't mean my own mother).

5. caught up with an old, old friend from college who moved to louisiana back in 97.. we hadn't spoken since then but it was just like picking up where we left off. i love friendships like that.