Sunday, February 17, 2008

Why do we blog?

Listening to: 'Virtual Insanity' by Jamiroquai [Travelling Without Moving]

So I was sitting in the office today (yes, Sunday), waiting for my experiment to finish. To take my mind off tomorrow's bound-to-be-disastrous supervisor meeting, I wandered over to the online edition of The Times...and I came across this. It made me wonder about the purpose of this blog. I dug up my first post ever, and it appears this blog was multi-purpose at first. But now? I don't know.

Blogging is therapeutic - every blogger knows that. And the bloggers...well we're performers, aren't we? This blog is my attempt at pseudo-theatrical grandeur, I am the star of my own epic, and those of you who read this are my captive audience. There's something intoxicating about an audience giving you their undivided attention, hanging on your every word. And the fact that some of you have no clue whether I'm actually like this in real life adds to the excitement.

I blog to relieve stress. To vent. To exercise my creative writing skills (hey, if petite anglaise can get a book deal...). To see if the people who read my rants can show me the other side of the coin. To share my experiences. To give me something to do. To make this lonely existence maybe a little less lonely. I'm sure there are other reasons but they don't come to mind now.

So maybe I'm feeding an addiction to getting attention. So what?

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

The Race Race

Listening to: 'Help Yourself' by Amy Winehouse [Frank]

Race has been making the headlines again (as if it ever stopped!). Last month we had Harbhajan allegedly calling Symonds a monkey, resulting in all hell breaking loose. Apparently, it would've been less of an issue if Harbhajan had insulted Symonds' mother instead. So it's ok to insult the person who brought you into this world and loves you more than anyone else, but it's not ok to comment on the amount of melanin you have? Hmm, iiiinteresting.

Then this month we have Lewis Hamilton, whose 'family' made an appearance at the Circuit de Catalunya. I mean seriously guys...the guy's skin colour has nothing to do with his beef with your sweetheart Alonso...grow up! Booing him is understandable, but dressing up as a golliwog?! That's just retarded.

And in the midst of it all, we have Barrak Obama, trying his best to establish himself as more than just a 'black' presidential hopeful. Sorry m'dear, but just as Hillary's always gonna be looked as a woman before she's seen as a politician, in the eyes of the people, you're 'black' (or African American, for the PC-conscious amongst you) before you're anything else.

Which reminds me...when I was on holiday in the States, I was at a Sri Lankan gathering (man, we're everywhere!), and one lady was telling me about her daughter's wedding...
My son-in-law - he's caucasian, you know - he loved all the fuss...they're not used to such big weddings!
HAHAHAHAHAHA I'm sorry but that's the first time I've heard a white guy being referred to as 'caucasian'. I honestly couldn't care less if the guy was caucasian, negroid or mongoloid...if she said 'American', I would've got the gist of her point. I fought hard to contain the giggles.

But yeah, back to my serious monologue. I addressed Hillary's issue a while back so I don't think I need to go there again. But I think essentially, the same thing applies with race. I mean, so what if you're white/black/brown/yellow/red? Heck, maybe I should add orange for those of us who like our fake tans. It's just a colour, people! The same goes for eyes, hair, and the size of your genitalia. Who cares?! And if you do happen to find yourself at the receiving end of a racial slur, why get all upset? It's not like they criticised your character or your capability, or anything that actually matters.

But then why incorporate race into an insult in the first place?