Alexandra Wallace

I'm astounded at how fast a life cycle of a viral video moves. I watched the vid last week. Then I watched the parody videos and a week later, it's old news. A couple of things I wanted to comment on:

1) Know your audience. This girl goes to a school that's 37% Asian-Am and posted her video on Youtube, a site created by an Asian-Am where the most subscribed to channels are by Asian-Ams. It's kind of like Mel Gibson working in Hollywood and ranting about Jewish-Americans. Yeah, we're a minority, but if we control the medium, do you think anyone is going to laud your tirade? And finals week? That's primetime for Youtube watching by college students. How do you think WongFu Productions got so popular? Of course she didn't think this through and now has to find a new college where they have never seen the Internet...good luck with that one.

2) Free speech doesn't mean freedom from criticism. Alexandra apologists say that people should leave her alone, because she has the right to free speech. Free speech is a guarantee against government regulation of your right to speak, not a magical talisman that insulates you against people you piss off. Should we respect her right to air an unpopular opinion? Sure. Do we have the obligation to tolerate her ignorant statements? Absolutely not.

3) My fave parody videos:





Oh and Alexandra? If you're Googling yourself, know that real Bruins study in Young. You were probably in Powell, which is why cellphones were going off every 15 minutes.

Sausalito

I know it's petty, but I didn't feel like posting this on my FB. I'm kind of on a FB bf ban, because I don't want to be one of those girls who are all about their bfs. I do love this picture though. Yay for self-timers.

Blame it on the Economy

The meeting with my Career Counselor was downright depressing. She asked me what I was doing in terms of networking. Umm, nothing? Collecting business cards? Making small talk with people that I probably won't see again? She told me that networking sucks, but I just have to suck it up and do it. Two hours later, wandering through Century City mall, I thought, alright, fine. I'll make an Excel sheet with every person I've ever met. FINE. Is that what it takes to be a winner? Do I even want to be a winner??

You know I never thought I'd be in this position. Everything in my life has been pretty linear. Now graduation is around the corner. Everyone is so excited for me and I am just like: 0_0 As much as I would like to blame it on the tough economy, I have to something instead of assuming that a job will turn up. It was good that I had that terrible meeting.

Although, I won't forget that she suggested I join South Asian Bar Association and then I pointed out that South Asia = Iran, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, etc. She's Vietnamese too. I hate it when my own people make that mistake (which thankfully is not very often). Until my next emo post friends.

obsessed with red lips lately

I have a meeting with my career counselor today. The school sent me an email pretty much saying, "You don't have a job. Come see us." Are you going to give me a job?? Doubtful. Had a long talk with the bee eff last night. My stream of consciousness went something like this, "I need a new suit. But where am I getting the money for this suit? What am I doing with my liiiiife?" His reply? "I'll sell myself so we can get you some pants." Thanks.

another vlog attempt

vegas!

I haven't anything great to talk about lately, so I've been letting the blog go idle. Here are some Vegas pictures for people who are not FB friends with me.

This was in front of Marquee/ kind of close to Chandelier. I loved Chandelier! It was so gorgeous inside and they had this S'more themed drink that came with roasted marshmallows! Mmm.

Most of the girls.

All of the girls at Tryst on Night 2.

In front of this awesome waterfall. It was also sprinkling outside!

I was really lucky go to with a friend of a friend who had a comped room and a free rental car! We had a pretty large group, but everyone kind of did their own thing. The gamblers, the couples, and the shoppers. I went to the huge F21 at Fashion Show and got my first pair of jeggings. I have been wearing the heck out of them. They have the streamline structure of jeans (leggings make me look a bit bulky) and the comfort of leggings.

To wind down on our last day, Jannette and I went to Jean Phillippe in the Bellagio and got desserts. We had a nice talk over coffee and I ended my weekend with something sweet. (Rose macaron, pictured below.)

Valentine's Day

I told myself I would write a timely entry for once. I always think of all these post-holiday entries and forget to put them up and before you know it, it's an Xmas post in March!

Valentine's Day is such a polarizing holiday. Some people love it. Even more hate it. I suspect it's the idea of forced affection. It seems disingenuous that there would be a day where masses of people are guilt-tripped into buying terrible candy, tacky stuffed animals and gaudy cards in order to demonstrate their love. It's simplification of how we want to be loved. Valentine's Day is fast food when love is slow-cooked.

My friends would never describe me as a "romantic," which is why maybe a couple of years ago, this entry would be a hilarious rant about the homogenization of love. I still bristle at the idea of rom-com "meet cutes," because let's face it, we're not going to come across a handsome/beautiful stranger in Central Park who needs our help in some complex scheme which results in a cheesy wedding dance montage. The way we experience love is specific and complex, almost impossible to replicate, despite many self-help gurus who promise to generate love only if you follow their rules.

This kind of gets to why I feel ambivalent about Valentine's Day. I like the idea of celebrating love. I hate the idea of comparing love, as if a singing telegram doesn't appear at your work, it means that you are loved less than your neighbor in the cube with two dozen roses. This causes everyone to eventually cave in and celebrate, no matter how they feel about the so-called holiday. No one wants their significant other to look like he or she is dating a jerk. Fast food in a pressure cooker, sounds good, doesn't it?

How do we avoid feeling like suckers for celebrating, but feeling like jerks if we don't? I don't have any easy solutions and I don't think anyone else does. That's why we all get so mad when this day comes around. (Well, those of us who are not marking jewelry catalogs.) This year, I'm just going to focus on the simple---that I'm thankful love is in my life.

And whether you hate it or love it, who doesn't love 50% off candy hearts the day after Vday. Happy February 15th everyone.