streamsofconsciousness
10/365: Color Me White or Color Me Nothing
So here I am, 12:18am taking a picture because I got so carried away with homework and perusing around the Net and sort of forgot to take my picture. Nothing spectacular, but it was sort of an accident (the washing out of my face completely). I just hate noise a lot so I made the exposure bias +1.
Then it came to me that it was actually a nice mistake I made by washing out all my pigment. Of course, today was Inaguration Day and Barack Obama was finally sworn in as the 44th President. But today wasn't necessarily all about MLK's dream being fulfilled or African-Americans have finally triumphed over the oppressor. It was about the coming of a New Age. New administration and a New World Order. No more Red States or Blue States, but the United States. I know this is starting to get lame, but I'm almost there.
I remember reading in Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison and how the main character was struggling with an identity crisis. The picture today is I suppose to encompass that meaning by stressing the fact that the call for colorlessness (or white), is to call for the loss of identity. Sure, we shouldn't only rely on the pigment of our skin to help us identity ourselves as people, but its one of the things that make us individuals. I've realized that being African is a really cool thing nowadays. I mean, I've always acknowledged my ethnic background, but only within the past 2 years have I actually admitted to people that my parents were immigrants from the Continent. And I think I've become more of a human when I started to claim my African heritage. I don't know, just an epiphany.
Anyhow, me and my best friend are planning to backpack through Europe this summer with a couple of our friends. At first, we wanted to travel the Silk Road, but realized our parents, even though they grew up in 3rd World environments, refuse to let us explore impoverished and underdeveloped sites. Oh well. Our trip consists of going through:
1. England
2. Belgium
3. Switzerland
4. France
5. Italy
6. Greece
We have a whole plan set up to raise money, organize ourselves, and get discounts on International Student ID cards. We're going into Princeton to get them done tomorrow. Btw, our parents don't know we're doing this...yet. We're working on a PowerPoint Presentation to show them how well organized and level-headed we all are.
ps. So the update with my gauges - I bought 12s and 10s at the mall yesterday (and new vans). I had the 12s in for like...a day. I put the 10s in and they didn't hurt at all. I'm not gonna go up everyday, because that's crazy. But I think I'm gonna buy 2 at a time every week when my mom gives me money and go from there. I kind of want to go up to a 0. lol. Okay, 1. But I can see myself gauging my ears up to a 2 by mid-march. really. maybe I'm going too fast - someone let me know lol.
10/365: Color Me White or Color Me Nothing
So here I am, 12:18am taking a picture because I got so carried away with homework and perusing around the Net and sort of forgot to take my picture. Nothing spectacular, but it was sort of an accident (the washing out of my face completely). I just hate noise a lot so I made the exposure bias +1.
Then it came to me that it was actually a nice mistake I made by washing out all my pigment. Of course, today was Inaguration Day and Barack Obama was finally sworn in as the 44th President. But today wasn't necessarily all about MLK's dream being fulfilled or African-Americans have finally triumphed over the oppressor. It was about the coming of a New Age. New administration and a New World Order. No more Red States or Blue States, but the United States. I know this is starting to get lame, but I'm almost there.
I remember reading in Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison and how the main character was struggling with an identity crisis. The picture today is I suppose to encompass that meaning by stressing the fact that the call for colorlessness (or white), is to call for the loss of identity. Sure, we shouldn't only rely on the pigment of our skin to help us identity ourselves as people, but its one of the things that make us individuals. I've realized that being African is a really cool thing nowadays. I mean, I've always acknowledged my ethnic background, but only within the past 2 years have I actually admitted to people that my parents were immigrants from the Continent. And I think I've become more of a human when I started to claim my African heritage. I don't know, just an epiphany.
Anyhow, me and my best friend are planning to backpack through Europe this summer with a couple of our friends. At first, we wanted to travel the Silk Road, but realized our parents, even though they grew up in 3rd World environments, refuse to let us explore impoverished and underdeveloped sites. Oh well. Our trip consists of going through:
1. England
2. Belgium
3. Switzerland
4. France
5. Italy
6. Greece
We have a whole plan set up to raise money, organize ourselves, and get discounts on International Student ID cards. We're going into Princeton to get them done tomorrow. Btw, our parents don't know we're doing this...yet. We're working on a PowerPoint Presentation to show them how well organized and level-headed we all are.
ps. So the update with my gauges - I bought 12s and 10s at the mall yesterday (and new vans). I had the 12s in for like...a day. I put the 10s in and they didn't hurt at all. I'm not gonna go up everyday, because that's crazy. But I think I'm gonna buy 2 at a time every week when my mom gives me money and go from there. I kind of want to go up to a 0. lol. Okay, 1. But I can see myself gauging my ears up to a 2 by mid-march. really. maybe I'm going too fast - someone let me know lol.