Apropos everything

Written by serene. Posted on February 2, 2010. Filed under Nerdy. No comments.

Watch this video first.

Okay, now we are on the same page. Not to point out the obvious to anyone, but the Media (yes, capital M implying a singular entity, which I defend with giant conglomerate media companies) – it is a cesspool of suckage. It is a buy-product of an era where people had at most two venues for information (newspaper and network television), mediated by whatever network affiliates found interesting for the day. It is dying. And it is scary because it is the thing I always thought I would be involved with, career-wise. I think this video gently pokes fun at how predictable, unimaginative, and formulaic it comes across to audiences.

Now we have Twitter, RSS feeds, and even Facebook to receive what we consider pertinent information. The question that haunts me, and shapes most of my academic interest, is what classifies information as pertinent. Is it demarcated as interesting because it pops up in a news feed of Facebook, or truncated in a 140 character tweet? It’s a complicated issue to think about, considering how diverse motivations for information gathering can be. For some, news is simply something to talk to others about (social stitching?) and for others, it is to be engaged in a global environment.

This is an open-ended dialogue. What does news look like to you? Why is it useful? What types of information are compelling to you?

Because the night belongs to lovers.

Written by serene. Posted on January 26, 2010. Filed under Culture Club. 1 Comment.

If I admitted that I shed tears while Patti Smith sang “Because the Night” a capella, would you make fun of me?

Despite the vastness of Benaroya Hall and the heaviness of her poetry and the sadness buried with Robert Mapplethorpe, a smile crept on my face each time she mumbled an apology for fumbling a line as she nervously fussed with her hair. This was intimacy intensified, so strong that it pulled me down from my nosebleed balcony seat into her lap. I felt like it was okay to reach out and touch her wild mane. Her voice scratched with the richest texture which snapped my heartstrings.

It was a beautiful night.

Love in the time of chaos

Written by serene. Posted on January 23, 2010. Filed under Politics. No comments.

I have something political brewing here. You have been adequately warned.

Like you, I have been emotionally steamrolled by the photographs and stories coming out of Haiti. And statistically speaking, you probably also donated through SMS, as millions of people in the United States participated. The outpouring of generosity in these days that feel so economically unstable is pretty amazing.

But why does no one act on behalf of impoverished nations when there is not a spectacular natural disaster to show the need for help? It seems wrong to be rallied by photo-ops of poor people of color sitting amongst rubble. (For the record, I am including myself in this grouping)

Look, I’m not going to try to bombard anyone with Developed World liberal guilt. But as I confirmed my donation to the (now questionable) Yéle Haiti campaign, I was angry with myself: why did it take such a dramatic disaster to compel me to donate? I know of the struggles of the Global South, and I have changed my consuming habits to address my issues with exploited labor and unreasonable IMF lending techniques. But apparently I cannot sacrifice an occasional night out to help out others.

I want to do more. Sadly, I am a poor college kid that works 15 hours a week. But what I do have is some free time that can be put to use. My previous efforts of trying to volunteer have failed (Seattle non-profits seem to be pretty picky), but I will renew my commitment to doing something to give back.

An interesting side note emerging from this story is how simple technologies make donating easier. The ability to text your donation, brag about your donation on Twitter, and posting pleas on Facebook is an interesting model of connecting people to causes. It feels like technology may have just proved its humanitarian value. I don’t know about you, but this effort feels a lot more important than changing a time zone with Tehran to provide communication channels in Iran.

My final thought is that I can only hope that the funds are being spent on the Haitian people and into McGoverns’ several hundred thousand dollar a year salary with the Red Cross.

Peaches and her “Mommy Complex”

Written by serene. Posted on January 21, 2010. Filed under Culture Club. 3 Comments.

I love me some Peaches, especially when she is dressed up like a neon clitoris.

Peaches “Mommy Complex” (Dir: Antuong Nguyen for MOOP JAW) from Moop Jaw on Vimeo.

h/t Cookie

Big Pun

Written by serene. Posted on January 11, 2010. Filed under I am a sap. 14 Comments.

“I ain’t a player, I just crush a lot.”

What rang true in 1997 still rings true today. It’s as if Big Punisher crawled into my head/heart space, and whittled my modus operandi down to a simple phrase played over a run-of-the-mill generic 90s beat. (Though I will be the first to admit that I wish the words came from a more attractive man, given my predilection for crushes. Go ahead – call me an asshole.)

I can trace my crush developing behavior to middle school, where my shyness coincided with four middle school transfers in three years. This unfortunate turn of events made sad, dorky love to my personality neurosis, creating an insurmountable distance between Crush du Jour and myself. I would punish myself, walking by Crush du Jour and get a thrill from the sinking stomach drop feeling, not so different from the feeling you get when you are on a wild and jerky amusement park ride. Or, Crush might have asked me some inane question about lunch or class and I would melt into a mumbling puddle of incomprehensibility.

I was, and still am, a sucker for that shit.

It may be somewhat alarming that I still continue this behavior. I think it’s healthy for me, because adult me develops crushes on people that I actually have an interaction with, rather than people I think I know, like 14 year old me. The nature of my crush has also changed – it has developed more into an admiration with a dash of lusty thoughts. They are never destructive to relationships, and they give me a blast of excitement in a normally predictable day.

I refuse to think I am alone in this tendency to crush a lot. So, come up and tell Auntie Serene a crush story, so I don’t feel like such an idiot.

A little something for your head on an introspective Saturday afternoon.

Written by serene. Posted on January 9, 2010. Filed under Culture Club. No comments.

(Burial, “Fostercare”)

HHG

Written by serene. Posted on January 1, 2010. Filed under Culture Club, I am a sap, Nerdy. No comments.

In the perpetually swelling and inspiring nerd universe there is a demigod named Neil Gaiman. The man wields words like swords and has birthed some of the most important cultural texts (Coraline, The Sandman, Fragile Things, et al.). The meringue on this bespectacled nerd pie is that he once graced the stage of The Colbert Report. Trust me when I say this man walks hallowed ground.

Anyway, he once said something truly inspiring worth sharing on this dawn of a new decade:

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t to forget make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.

I cannot muster the energy for resolutions, for a variety of reasons which are not interesting enough to share, but His Holy Gaiman definitely inspires me to muster the will to surprise myself this year. Here’s to you, here’s to the continued expansion of the nerd universe, and here’s to surprises.

Proud

Written by serene. Posted on December 28, 2009. Filed under Culture Club. 1 Comment.

This video makes me inordinately proud*:

Totally unrelated note, and not intended to harsh anyone’s mellow, but who is visiting me from [redacted]? Whoever you are – I don’t know what you are looking for, but multiple visits on several pages a day probably won’t unearth it. Shoot me an email if you have something to ask.

*Inordinately proud because I’m not from Seattle, I’m not a rapper, and I don’t remember a Sir-Mix-A-Lot video being shot. But, the video is gorgeous, I do love Seattle, and I love the hip-hop coming from this town. I even made a little doc about it a few quarters ago.

New Mexican Posole

Written by serene. Posted on December 21, 2009. Filed under Cooking. No comments.

Posole is a New Mexican soup, usually served during the holidays. The traditional dish dates before Spanish contact, specifically coming from Anasazi celebration of the fruits of the earth. The soup features New Mexican harvests of corn, chile, and meat (if that’s your thing). Southern New Mexican posole features red chile and Northern New Mexican posole uses green chile. Not only is this soup amazing because it is so comforting, it is also really simple, versatile, and easy. If you don’t have access to any chile and are in Seattle, drop me an email. I have a cherished stash I am willing to share with those who are missing home or for the curious. If you are from Seattle and think you have tasted true chiles because you bought a can of “chile” from the store, you are mistaken. Let me fix that for you.

Ingredients:

1 lb hominy (or posole) kernels

4-6 dried red chile peppers

1/2 tablespoon oregano

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon salt

Optional: 2 lbs cubed pork or beef

1 teaspoon red chile powder

Directions:

1. Hominy is hard field corn, so the first step is to soak the corn in lightly salted water the night before. There is no specific amount of water – just make sure that it more than covers the kernels, because they will absorb some of the water and you don’t want them to dry out. (* If you are using canned hominy, skip this step.)

2. Transfer the hominy into a large pot with the lightly salted water it soaked in. Add a bit more water, and boil the hominy for an additional 2 or 3 hours.

3. Add the minced garlic, dried red chile peppers, and oregano to the boiling hominey. If you are using meat, add it at this point. If your water is low, you will want to add more at this point. Cover and boil for an additional hour. I also add a little bit of red chile powder because I love the heat, and some cloves for an additional spiciness. Experiment with what you like.

4. To serve, pull the red chile peppers out of the pot and laddle the posole into a bowl. I recommend serving the posole with warmed corn tortillas and a squirt of lime juice. Word on the street is that cerveza (beer) is good with posole, but I don’t drink. Try it if you do.

Violá! Enjoy. I told you it was easy.

Merry GIF day to you

Written by serene. Posted on December 21, 2009. Filed under Nerdy, Photography. 4 Comments.

There just weren’t words to capture how hilarious this moment was, so I had to make an animated GIF to share.

(p.s. Making an animated GIF in CS4 is hard. Try it sometime.)