Matilda - 10 things I think

10 THINGS I THINK

1. Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who continues to refuse issuing marriage licenses to gay couples - even with a Supreme Court mandate to do so, is really a laugh. How can someone who’s been divorced three times and married four times (including the whole mess of having the third husband’s twins while still married to the first husband, and the pair eventually getting adopted by the second husband) can possibly have any leg to stand on when it comes to the vaunted “sanctity of marriage”, is way beyond my levels of comprehension.

If we are to strictly interpret the Bible - as southern Christians are wont to do in regards to gay marriage, though curiously not when it comes to shellfish eating - Kim Davis has committed the act of adultery three times over! I don’t think issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples will condemn her to God’s consternation and a ticket to Hell; this harlot is already there.

2. The legendary broadcaster Vin Scully will be back for the 2016 MLB season, and us baseball fans are all the better for it. It will be an immensely sad day indeed when he does hang up the microphone, though I think the baseball world seems to shun away Scully’s mortality deep inside a locked closet, even as he creeps ever close towards 90 years lived. Don’t dwell over it; live it one season at a time. Enjoy the great orator’s voice and wonderful stories as long as it’s still here.

3. As seen in the tragic death of the Texas Sheriff getting gunned down while refueling at a gas station, a good guy with a gun can’t stop a bad guy with a gun (as NRA vice president Wayne LaPierre so famously state to the contrary a few years ago). The time for universal and comprehensive background checks for gun ownership is way overdue. A person with an unstable mental state shouldn’t be able to just walk into a gun show and purchase a weapon without any obstacles whatsoever.

What am I saying? The gun debate is already a lost cause. If dozens of elementary school children getting massacred on campus grounds did nothing to change the status quo, absolutely nothing will. Well, that’s not true: you’ll see new gun laws enacted real quick if a bunch of minorities started open-carrying guns in States that are legal to do so. There will be no fear in the hearts of the White establishment quite like seeing a bunch of Black guys walking around in public carrying AR15s - even when it’s perfectly legal to do so. But, if a Black man can’t traverse a Walmart whilst holding a toy gun without getting shot down by police, a group of them exercising their open-carry rights will most certainly not end well.

America doesn’t get to call itself exceptional as long as gun deaths each year dwarf all other developed nations.

4. If I woke up tomorrow without any of the obligations and restrictions of today, I would jump in my car and go on a perpetual road-trip to see the world, taking photographs and writing about it along the way. It may appear to be fantasy world, but even with the societal pressures of being an able adult (read: being gainfully employed), my free time preoccupied with traveling to places, practicing my photographic hobby, and writing on my blog.

Because when you ask yourself the “what if I work up tomorrow…” question, you’ll find innately what you want to do with your life. What happens next is the magical part: you simply go and do it.

5. It’s always funny to me to see San Franciscans complain about upper-70s as “hot weather”, even though I too live in the city. When had we gone so soft? Perhaps it’s the high real estate price round here that somehow makes us feel entitled to the constant mild mid-60s that was so promised in the brochure (bring a jacket!). New flash, San Franciscans: upper-70s and low-80s isn’t remotely what’s considered as hot (and not shorts weather, either). The rest of California laughs at our childish tantrum whenever the mercury crosses the 70 marker.    

6. If you haven’t please read Wright Thompson’s long-form piece commemorating the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans as it relates to sports, please do so right now. It’s fantastically written, and the stories within give you a slight glimpse of what life has been like in the Crescent City since the natural disaster.

7. It’s the year 2015, and yet Microsoft Word still isn’t smart enough to provide you with a sample revision when its grammar check finds that sentence of yours to be fragmented. How long has the venerable word processor been in circulation? We’ve got massive amounts of power and information in the palm our hands, and yet Word is still as archaic as that versions I used back in middle school. It's incredibly frustrating when an error is found, but Word doesn’t provide a suitable solution. What on earth am I using it for if it’s not capable of correcting my mistakes? I paid good money for Office! Okay, that’s a lie; I receive a hefty employee discount on campus.

8. It’s surprising how as people my age at the twilight of our 20s are still infatuated with the annual MTV Video Music Awards. To steal a line from the eminent John Oliver, how is that still a thing? I’ve cut cable television a long time ago, but I fairly sure MTV has ceased to play music videos on its channel completely (ah, those TRL days were simpler times indeed). Why, then, does it still host an award show dedicated to them? I’ve sort of answered my own question, haven’t I: people my age, and presumably people younger than us, still care.

Advertising capital rules the world, if you haven’t noticed.

9. Seeing one of my friends shopping for a car and another shopping for an apartment to rent makes me glad that I am doing neither of those things. Granted, I’ve only ever done the former, and it was a painless process as I essentially did the transaction over email. The first time I set foot in the actually dealership was to pick up the car. I expect apartment hunting to be a much more involved and stressful process, though I guess that’s why real estate agents exist (they actually help, unlike a dealership salesperson).

Of course, the worse time to shop for an automobile or a flat is when you’re in desperate need of one. Sellers can smell it like blood in water to a shark.

10. I hope the racist Jeb Bush develops an allergy to oxygen, what with his ridiculous comment about anchor babies and it being mostly prevalent in Asian immigrant communities. 

Now go out and get her - random thoughts

Only a scant two weeks until my under graduate studies are finally over (and it only took five years!). I had a feeling this month of May will just fly by, and indeed even though it has only been the fifth day, it feels like things are quickly coming to an end. But no time to reflect on anything because I still have at least three major projects that I still need to get started (?) on! Haha it is so hard not to let apathy set in and just be like fuck it, I am graduating for sure now anyways, so why bother. But of course I am not that kind of person, and to be honest if you are that kind of person, you don't deserve your degree.

Anyways, at least I got my fun out of the way this past weekend (funny right, fun before work - the American mentality?) when I went down to LA for the Korean Music Festival. Now that I think about it, it is a shame how there is no Chinese equivalent of it. Nonetheless, I had a great time enjoying the weather (though absolutely dry) and some good music (and a chance to fanboy out loud for a bit haha). Speaking of fans, do people not have manners? I understand that may be your favorite singer singing the Korean national anthem, but have some respect and not SCREAM and YELL the whole time. 

I don't think I can live in Southern California in any permanent fashion at all (and not only because of my undying love for San Francisco). The air is just too damn dry, and it wrecks havoc with my skin. I have grew up amongst humidity all by live - South East Asia, and San Francisco (three sides water). Hence I guess I have evolutionarily adapted to having water in the air? You know you've got a problem when you have used twice as much lotion as normal and your skin is still not hydrated. I mean sure it may be nice to not be freezing all the time, but not at the expense of dehydrating your skin (and body too, drink water by the megatons). Anyways, the first breath of air I took back in the Bay Area was refreshing to say the least. 

And of course I can't live in LA because I would get beat up by a Dodger fan.

I came back to San Francisco on Sunday evening to the great news of the death of Osama Bin Laden. Personally I don't get why is his death worth so much celebration. Sure the families of the victims of 9/11 gets a measure of closure, but heck his death will not bring your love ones back, so anybody that actually derives satisfaction over Bin Laden's death is just being selfish. Trotting over the ground zero and raising a ruckus and being all patriotic is kind of excessive - it is not like we WON the war. This is not World War II, and Bin Laden is not Hitler (symbolically speaking, not in terms of being a douche). Hitler's death meant the end of the war in Europe (too bad he shot himself, no glory kill for US). Bin Laden's death as of right now means NOTHING. America is still in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Al Queda still exist (do you feel anymore reassured about our national security?)

I cannot possibly be the only person seeing the death of Bin Laden as the start of the domino falling instead of closure. I am glad that the implications of Pakistan is not escaping the mainstream media. It is more clear than ever that Pakistan did hide Bin Laden within their country, and certainly they cannot be happy about the US coming in unannounced and having a fire fight in on their soil (next Call of Duty game?). Think about this, if another country have helicoptered in a squad of elite soldiers into one of our cities (without telling us) and open fire on a suspect on their most wanted list, I don't think we would be all too happy either (Roman Polanski should be shaking in his mansion in France). How convenient the mainstream press ignored that the US basically disregarded the national sovereignty of Pakistan and just went in there (like a boss!).

It is definitely not the end of it. US - Pakistan relations, and the entire Middle East region will come to a head really soon, especially the role the West is playing (revolution!).

I have to say, having a smartphone with a data plan really boost my productivity. Not to say that I do anything important with my phone (maybe...). It just that having the phone allows me to do all the frivolous social networking and texting during times that I would otherwise have not the ability to. So instead of wasting time, I get to do my Facebook, twitter, and mail checking done and over with, giving me more productivity for when I do get situated at a place of work. Imagine all the time wasted while walking from the car - now I can check all my stuff during the walk so that once I reach home I can start doing productive stuff. So basically it is spreading the non-productivity to other times where before it would not have been possible. They say time is money, and smart phone data plan have allowed me to use it more wisely (because really, who is going to stop social networking and checking news online?)

Oh yeah, loving the weather this week. It really feels like summer is here (even though I no longer have a summer break of any kind). And of course it is the San Francisco kind of hot so it is just perfect. And of course when the girls dress in their summer clothing, it is just the best. Hot weather also makes people go out and exercise. You know what makes a hot girl even hotter? Regular exercise. It just adds mega points to the attractiveness factor.