It doesn't take an online article to inform me that the importance of personal signatures decreases significantly when entered on LCD screens at the supermarket. But it does confirm that regardless of the mark we leave behind, we are still going to be charged real money every time we swipe our plastic cards to conclude our shopping transactions. As is often the case, perhaps indicative in mine of the lowly places I frequent, I am often left with a lingering suspicion that I might as well have drawn a straight line in lieu of my signature and no one would notice or care or bother to revoke the use of my credit cards because I wasn't signing my own name.
Congratulations, your signature is worth crap so let's have fun recreating it at every point of transaction!
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
In the news: RIP Carlos Fuentes
There is the sense of profound loss when a beloved author passes from this world to the next. But there is an undeniable loss when that author is one of a handful of international authors recognized by those of us who enjoy and benefit from non-Eurocentric letters. Carlos Fuentes transcended geographical and political borders.
This is not to be facetious nor to incite fury in those who think we have more than enough reading material in the US already (which in itself is a very stupid idea to even propose). My point in writing this lies closer to the notion that we could indeed do more to promote the works of our neighbors immediately south of the border, as well as in promoting our very own Latino writers living and creating in the US without the need to exoticise them or their work. Being of color in the US is analogous to being exotic and relegated to "otherness." It seems like US readers, while not stagnant in any way, could benefit from learning what writers throughout the world, as well as those in their own 'hoods and barrios, have to say without seeing the work or its authors as foreign. Surely, people of color have known, and in many ways continue to live, a history of oppression but that does not mean that it is a history exclusive to us, the people of color. Ours is history whether we are receiving of inflicting the pain onto others. And included in that history are the same conditions, processes, and redemptive powers of a group of people that could easily be translated into any socio-political context out there.
People are far more alike than they care to acknowledge. Learning about the nuances facilitated by our own contexts as well as those of others can only lead to knowledge and ultimately wisdom. I think Fuentes understood that and through his gift of letters was able to translate it to the rest of the world.
This is not to be facetious nor to incite fury in those who think we have more than enough reading material in the US already (which in itself is a very stupid idea to even propose). My point in writing this lies closer to the notion that we could indeed do more to promote the works of our neighbors immediately south of the border, as well as in promoting our very own Latino writers living and creating in the US without the need to exoticise them or their work. Being of color in the US is analogous to being exotic and relegated to "otherness." It seems like US readers, while not stagnant in any way, could benefit from learning what writers throughout the world, as well as those in their own 'hoods and barrios, have to say without seeing the work or its authors as foreign. Surely, people of color have known, and in many ways continue to live, a history of oppression but that does not mean that it is a history exclusive to us, the people of color. Ours is history whether we are receiving of inflicting the pain onto others. And included in that history are the same conditions, processes, and redemptive powers of a group of people that could easily be translated into any socio-political context out there.
People are far more alike than they care to acknowledge. Learning about the nuances facilitated by our own contexts as well as those of others can only lead to knowledge and ultimately wisdom. I think Fuentes understood that and through his gift of letters was able to translate it to the rest of the world.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Video: The Eagleman Stag (short film)
Can you blame me for being intrigued by this apparently very simple short movie? The Eagleman Stag is a rather elegant rendition of still animation produced entirely out of the simplest of all materials: styrofoam and a few derivatives.
Why do I suddenly think of all the packaging materials I have dumped into the trash over the years?
I could have made a movie!
Why do I suddenly think of all the packaging materials I have dumped into the trash over the years?
I could have made a movie!
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Music: Led Zeppelin
Before there were the Black Keys or the White Stripes or any other monochrome denomination for a band, there was Led Zeppelin.
In the pantheon of the hairy, shirtless gods of rock, Led Zeppelin will forever reign. Now bow, mes enfants païens!
In the pantheon of the hairy, shirtless gods of rock, Led Zeppelin will forever reign. Now bow, mes enfants païens!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Books: The Kindle Reader for your laptop
If you haven't downloaded the free Reader App for your Kindle, or for your Mac or a host of other gadgets, then you should. It is FREE! And you can get a good number of classics at Amazon and the Gutenberg Project. Of course, they don't have Henry Miller free, il est trop sale pour leurs propres esprits, les bâtards. Bah! Of course, they do have plenty of hilariously titillating smut should you be into comparative literature. Oh, oh, oh.....yessss! Noooooooo!
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