Meet this boy.
His parents died when he was young, and he has since dedicated himself to fighting evil.
He is rich, having inherited a fortune from his parents.
He is angsty, and prefers to take on everything himself if he can.
He has a teenage sidekick.
He is popular with the ladies, but has trouble maintaining relationships due to his responsibility to fight evil.
His greatest enemy is the one who killed his parents, and who even now dedicates himself to destroying our hero. He has a very loyal servant.
His public persona is often slandered by the press for supposedly irresponsible behavior.
Clearly, there is only one conclusion to be drawn here: Harry Potter is secretly Batman.
......................
Christian Bale > Daniel Radcliffe
August 26, 2007
August 20, 2007
Eurasian, you're Asian
i have a love/hate relationship.
i like being Taiwanese. i value intelligence and pragmatism. i am not bothered when people call me a nerd, because it is true - both my parents have doctorate degrees. if i didn't value education, i'd be thrown out of the house. there is something sweet about being able to speak Asian languages in America, where people have a much harder guessing what is being said in Mandarin than in Spanish.
that being said, i would like to present a brief anecdote.
there always seems to be ongoing construction at my school - today, there were silver fences strung up all around the school parking lot. i was in a hurry and failed to notice one of the silver fence bars laying around the ground. i tripped, but did not fall. i managed to stablize myself, albeit awkwardly. as i continued walking, some Caucasian boys nearby snickered and laughed, "Asian Fool!" i wondered if i should face them and say something, but nothing came to mind. instead, i ignored them and continued off without bothering to look closely to identify their faces.
thinking back about it now, i wonder why i felt so ticked off. if they had simply yelled "Fool!", i suppose i would feel a little differently. but when they added "Asian" to the insult, i was indignant. what did my being Asian have anything to do with being careless and tripping?
sometimes, i wish i were not Taiwanese. it is a strange thing, but i have learned in my sixteen years that regardless of being born and raised in the melting pot that is America, most Asians still hang out with Asians. this is true for mostly all other ethnicities as well. by association, i am regarded as a workaholic, nerdy, studious bookworm who eats fried rice and plays piano. there is some truth, but much of it is simply a stereotype. there are many unkind people at school - the boy who writes "I'm Asian" as a joke on his backpack, the ones who gripe about our school becoming "Chinatown" when the actual population is about 40% Asian. There are the girls who specifically pick Asian victims out. whenever i've been called out for my cultural background, i've done the same thing i've always done - ignore and walk away quickly.
on the flip side, when the other Asians at my middle school suddenly decided on "Asian Pride" as their excuse for everything, i regarded them with the same disgust as the rest. they acted as if being Asian automatically guaranteed superiority. i found the whole thing entirely revolting and avoided being involved with them as much as possible. i've also noticed that "ABC"s seem to disassociate themselves from "FOB"s as well. Sure, Asian Pride. Just keep two seperate categories: one for American Born Chinese, the other for Fresh Off the Boat.
I probably sound selfish and ridiculous for feeling so, but since I was young, every so often I'd find myself wishing i was only half-Asian: still Asian, but appear just "American" enough to get by without the stereotyping.
i like being Taiwanese. i value intelligence and pragmatism. i am not bothered when people call me a nerd, because it is true - both my parents have doctorate degrees. if i didn't value education, i'd be thrown out of the house. there is something sweet about being able to speak Asian languages in America, where people have a much harder guessing what is being said in Mandarin than in Spanish.
that being said, i would like to present a brief anecdote.
there always seems to be ongoing construction at my school - today, there were silver fences strung up all around the school parking lot. i was in a hurry and failed to notice one of the silver fence bars laying around the ground. i tripped, but did not fall. i managed to stablize myself, albeit awkwardly. as i continued walking, some Caucasian boys nearby snickered and laughed, "Asian Fool!" i wondered if i should face them and say something, but nothing came to mind. instead, i ignored them and continued off without bothering to look closely to identify their faces.
thinking back about it now, i wonder why i felt so ticked off. if they had simply yelled "Fool!", i suppose i would feel a little differently. but when they added "Asian" to the insult, i was indignant. what did my being Asian have anything to do with being careless and tripping?
sometimes, i wish i were not Taiwanese. it is a strange thing, but i have learned in my sixteen years that regardless of being born and raised in the melting pot that is America, most Asians still hang out with Asians. this is true for mostly all other ethnicities as well. by association, i am regarded as a workaholic, nerdy, studious bookworm who eats fried rice and plays piano. there is some truth, but much of it is simply a stereotype. there are many unkind people at school - the boy who writes "I'm Asian" as a joke on his backpack, the ones who gripe about our school becoming "Chinatown" when the actual population is about 40% Asian. There are the girls who specifically pick Asian victims out. whenever i've been called out for my cultural background, i've done the same thing i've always done - ignore and walk away quickly.
on the flip side, when the other Asians at my middle school suddenly decided on "Asian Pride" as their excuse for everything, i regarded them with the same disgust as the rest. they acted as if being Asian automatically guaranteed superiority. i found the whole thing entirely revolting and avoided being involved with them as much as possible. i've also noticed that "ABC"s seem to disassociate themselves from "FOB"s as well. Sure, Asian Pride. Just keep two seperate categories: one for American Born Chinese, the other for Fresh Off the Boat.
I probably sound selfish and ridiculous for feeling so, but since I was young, every so often I'd find myself wishing i was only half-Asian: still Asian, but appear just "American" enough to get by without the stereotyping.
August 13, 2007
Tango
I can remember the feeling exactly three times.
Prince was the first. Taller, older, smarter, faster - the full package and the Ladies' Man. An idol engraved in a stone pedestal. It was only a matter of time before I discovered his Princess in his public declaration of love, asking her to the ball.
Sewage Blonde was the second. The prankster, the athlete, the untouchable. This one hurt less - I could only make out the dim shadow of two dancers that night of farewell. Seeya, written in loopy yearbook letters. Or not.
Orpheus came in a dream, with the lyrical melodies and harmonies entwined in his composure. The night on the cruise boat, replayed. The mysterious goddess caressed his figure, in a tango with his soft lulling words and poetic phrases.
Three times, I had braced myself. Three times, I felt the pain strike anyway. And in the distance, the music of the dance rolls on and on.
Prince was the first. Taller, older, smarter, faster - the full package and the Ladies' Man. An idol engraved in a stone pedestal. It was only a matter of time before I discovered his Princess in his public declaration of love, asking her to the ball.
Sewage Blonde was the second. The prankster, the athlete, the untouchable. This one hurt less - I could only make out the dim shadow of two dancers that night of farewell. Seeya, written in loopy yearbook letters. Or not.
Orpheus came in a dream, with the lyrical melodies and harmonies entwined in his composure. The night on the cruise boat, replayed. The mysterious goddess caressed his figure, in a tango with his soft lulling words and poetic phrases.
Three times, I had braced myself. Three times, I felt the pain strike anyway. And in the distance, the music of the dance rolls on and on.
August 4, 2007
Capriccioso
stand still.
don't move along. impressionist blurs in the window glass. monet and renoir cast spells on the eyes as debussy and ravel enrapture the ears. time lulls, yawns like a sun-soaked kitten curled to sleep by the window. eternal stillness, like the marbled silence of aphrodite and adonis. everything is suspended, hanging by a thread between beads of dew on a spider's jeweled necklace.
don't leave me behind.
don't move along. impressionist blurs in the window glass. monet and renoir cast spells on the eyes as debussy and ravel enrapture the ears. time lulls, yawns like a sun-soaked kitten curled to sleep by the window. eternal stillness, like the marbled silence of aphrodite and adonis. everything is suspended, hanging by a thread between beads of dew on a spider's jeweled necklace.
don't leave me behind.
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