It’s sad that this generation has been sucker punched into loving the ‘Twilight’ vampire series of books. Forget that another book with a similar title was written by Anna Deavere Smith many moons ago. Her book was a collection of stories/monologues from the LA riots in 1992 and one of the first to humanize Korean shopkeepers in the aftermath of the violence.

As if you didn’t have enough reasons to hate  ‘Twilight.’ As if it’s not bad enough that the main vampirical dude is a total stalker. As if it’s not bad enough that the female lead is a complete weakling reliant on an obsessively possessive relationship. As if we haven’t had enough of the same ol’ twisted heterosexual white relationship veiled as some kind of universal epic love story. The whole ‘Twilight’ series is bullshit and it doesn’t help that white writers continue to appropriate at the expense of native peoples. And it sucks that millions are buying into all of it.

According to the NYT: It’s important to point out that the outside uses of the Quileute name, from the “Twilight” books to the tattoo jewelry, are quite likely legal. American intellectual property laws, except in very specific circumstances, do not protect indigenous peoples’ collective cultural property. In fact, many businesses use tribal names without involving the Indians themselves. Consider, for example, well-known products like Jeep Cherokee trucks, Oneida flatware and Apache helicopters — none of which are officially associated with Indian tribes. (The Quileute say they have never been contacted by Ms. Meyer or any of those who use the Quileute name for merchandising.)

here’s the full NYT article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/opinion/08riley.html

yes – they’re real…not stuffed animals.

16 panda cubs posed for a photograph with their keepers at Wolong National Nature Reserve, in Sichuan Province, south west China.

This little short is called “Dumb Professor” by Randall Park. It made me LMFAO! Maybe it’s because i’m at this elitist institution where  tenure is golden.

i always turn to poetry to help me grasp with reality. this is a poem by Lenelle Moîse.

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today young people with hungry eyes reminded me why narrative work is important, why i started to write, why it’s still compelling to me. simply put… because no one else can tell my story…because everyone has a story to tell and everyone’s story is worth telling!