vina

this weekend was super jam-packed and memorable in so many ways! first was coming into work and being totally surprised by my work wife with my favourite flowers and cake pops!!! and we had our last event at the columbia club! (which by the way, i think the cornell club is nicer, hehe) it was a great event, but super sad nonetheless. when i came back there was a package from ar and l – sprinkles cupcakes! then ac took me out for red velvet cake from cake man in our hood and we walked around the park while talking about the lakers and lebron james. then when i finally got home, i received the prettiest package from t (she always has a flair for wrapping) and THE BEST gift ever! omg, i was screaming (i have a clare vivier tote, what?!) the ladies took me out to dinner and i got the prettiest flowers from lv and lw also got me the best present ever, dinner at blue hill farms!! i’ve been wanting to go there for AGES. and i would’ve had my 30th bday brunch there if it weren’t for d’s wedding, so yay, i’m SO excited!! then we had bday drinks/dancing at von which was so fun, save for the few dramatic moments of the night. a got me a really sweet bangle from anthro which was so nice of her. the next morning i received another package from h which were my fav lulu pants! whoa! and then i hopped on a train (okay m, amtrak is actually not that bad at all, it’s no european train, but it’s still pretty nice) to baltimore, which from what i saw, seemed like a cute town. the wedding was at the national aquarium so we got to see dolphins and fishies and other water-based creatures. j’s dress, fascinator, bridemaid’s dresses, and flowers were so pretty! it was also really great to see s’ bump! all in all a really fabulous wonderful weekend and wonderful start to a new decade!

always makes me teary (i think in part because i never attended my college/grad school graduations [was abroad both times]) here were some more pics from that day include the beautiful hydrangeas that they were giving away post ceremony

now this, i will watch. lurve her.

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today’s commencement speech at barnard made me feel a little uncomfortable w/all the “womanness” rhetoric. loved janet mock’s speech at usc’s lavender graduation and her #girlslikeus twitter campaign:

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vote for my bestie t’s non profit to win a car for their environmental education programs!

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tune into hbo tonight for the premiere of weight of the nation, bestie l worked on it! so proud of all the amazing work she’s done!

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nothing too exciting this weekend, celebrated w/the ladies at happy hour at red rooster. a attracts really mean bartenders, it’s uncanny. then headed to sylvia’s for karaoke, which by the way, wasn’t like let’s sing madonna, it was like, let’s sing etta james and blow the roof off. dang. may birthdays continued, 2 more parties this weekend, we had dinner at peels for l’s birthday (yup same birthday plan, hehe) and then watched the 5 year engagement, which was kinda bad. i love jason segel but meh. spent most of the weekend outside doing nothing, yay warm weather! the rangers won, which is exciting (i know, weird that i’m rooting for them, also, are the islanders moving to the barclay’s center?!) and saw fireworks outside my window for no reason.

i wasn’t going to post this, but after hearing obama’s speech today and reading this new yorker article, i feel like i should just press publish:

so i got into it w/a friend over a tv show and racism on facebook (yup) and i felt gagged because i was prevented from responding. since i am tired of being silenced and because i pay for this tiny little space on the interwebs, here are my thoughts: a) arguments can be positive! i have learned so much from down and dirty political/controversial fights, but b) when you make an argument personal and attack someone you hardly know that crosses a line. c) arguing about diversity in popular culture is banal. i’m not saying writers should betray their “authenticity” or craft to be more diverse/inclusive, hardly. i simply think girls is an awful, unoriginal show. i’ve already seen a show about 4 white girls living in new york. that shit was done a decade ago and it was called sex and the city. more importantly, as someone whose career revolves around unpacking systems of power, i find it problematic that we have yet another show about hipster brooklyn totally devoid of what makes brooklyn brooklyn. it amazes me that a very simple notion of privilege goes over people’s heads. to defend and praise an artist because “she worked hard” totally misses the point.

my experience as the only asian immigrant family in a small, white, predominantly catholic town has obviously framed my thinking. it was beyond liberating to leave a place that consistently (to this day, yes) tells me to “go back to china where i’m from” (i’m not chinese). i think about what it would’ve been like to have representations of different types of people or families with different backgrounds in popular culture, instead of images reinforcing stereotypes and otherness. i’m not arguing for mainstreaming diversity (which as vaid argues more articulately, is not a mechanism of achieving real structural change), i love a lot of shows and relate to a lot of tv that do not speak to my experiences as a first generation asian american (mad men, the wire, game of thrones, homeland, etc.) but i think girls does a lot of disservice, even if it’s simply a tv show that is for white young hipsters about white young hipsters. set the show in portland and call it a day. do not place these characters within a highly diverse city of 2.5 million people and relegate us to stereotypes. again, i completely agree that the show is successful in what it sets out to do. do i think dunham has a responsibility to diversify her vision, no. i’m simply not concerned with a tv show that is unoriginal and unfunny. and i question why someone like lena dunham and not issa rae is able to tell her stories. what does it mean to keep regurgitating the same narrative and at what cost? don’t get me wrong, i watch a lot of shitty mundane tv and don’t want to constantly be thinking about social justice and systems of inequality, but even if you think girls is a funny show, you should still be able to recognize the role power, privilege and race play in our society. you should still understand america’s infrastructure of opportunity and be critical about whose capabilities are furthered and whose capabilities are squandered.

today, obama talked about the power of example and holding “the system” accountable and even upending it to fight injustice. he said, You need to do this not just for yourself but for those who don’t yet enjoy the choices that you’ve had, the choices you will have...Think about what that means to a young Latina girl when she sees a Cabinet secretary that looks like her. (referring to Secretary Solis) Think about what it means to a young girl in Iowa when she sees a presidential candidate who looks like her. Think about what it means to a young girl walking in Harlem right down the street when she sees a U.N. ambassador who looks like her. Do not underestimate the power of your example. i don’t think shows like community or grey’s or the good wife (which i am OBSESSED with, haha, so bad, it’s so good!) set out to be diverse as a political statement, but there is something about creating a space for different voices/experiences to be heard.