i don't do titles

"Untitled", me, 8/25/13

"Untitled": just an excuse?
another word for laziness?
like "i'll call you" or
"we should (totally) get together sometime"
when you just want to end 
a conversation
when did it become so difficult 
to say what we mean
where is the definition, if not in the words? 
when did words become 
clouds in the sky?
i see a bunny rabbit.
i see bart simpson. 

OOJ: "My Superpower"

today's OOJ comes courtesy of a fourth grader from the classroom next to mine.
"My Superpower
"My power is to make people fall in love so people won't be single all the time if someone is single I will make a ball and throw it at them so they can fall in love with someone so they won't be sad all the time and if they are I will cheer them up so they won't be sad all the time and they will be happy with somebody so they won't be sad all the time so that is my superpower to make people fall in love so they won't be sad all their life and I will make them happy for life and not to live with their pets all the time that's how they will be happy all the time so they won't be sad all the time so they will be happy all the time so they won't be sad."
clearly, the kid wants us all to just be happy. incidentally, her teacher happens to be single with three cats.

Stop + Frisk Ruled Unconstitutional

The Boondocks, by Aaron McGruder

on monday, federal judge Shira Scheindlin ruled that New York City's stop + frisk policy as currently practiced violates the constitutional rights of people of color. she ordered several changes for the NYPD, including public community meetings, body cameras to record officer interactions, and a lawyer to further investigate NYPD's constitutional compliance. though i am skeptical that Judge Scheindlin's ruling by itself will actually reduce police harassment of POC, i appreciated that she explicitly called attention to the fact that POC are disproportionately stopped by NYPD: “Blacks are likely targeted for stops based on a lesser degree of objectively founded suspicion than whites.” In other words, your behavior suddenly looks a lot more suspicious if you happen to be a POC, especially a male POC. Charles M. Blow, a NYT columnist, writes: 

     "At what precise pace should a black man walk to avoid suspicion? And can they ever stop walking away, or running away, and simply stand their ground? Can they become righteously indignant without being fatally wounded?"

Judge Scheindlin's comments on racial profiling contrasted sharply with the recent Zimmerman trial, where race as a factor in Trayvon Martin's death seemed to be discussed only outside of the courtroom. To me, this comes across as a blatant refusal to recognize Zimmerman's personal racial bias as "hard" evidence. Ekow N. Yankah wonders how the trial would have concluded had Martin and Zimmerman switched skin colors ("The Truth About Trayvon"), pointing out that "...race and law cannot be cleanly separated". Yes, the role of race in our society can be multilayered, but prison population numbers seem to make it pretty clear that our current criminal justice system does not work in favor of POC (U.S. Census). in light of these figures, it seems ridiculous to attempt any conversation involving crime and/or cops without acknowledging the role of racism in our society. 

OOJ: Babies in Watermelons

i'd be pissed off too if someone dressed me in watermelon... but apparently all the kid wanted was some watermelon arm bands. for more pics, check out the post on 8asians.com.

OOJ: subletsf.com

today's OOJ is a blog: subletsf.com, written by valerie luu when she spent a year sublet-hopping in san francisco. besides her quintessentially SF pics, i especially like her post on how to celebrate birthdays: "The Trifecta". i envy luu and others like her who are enamored with the cities they live in. hopefully someday i'll find a city for me.

speaking of ppl who live + bleed SF, check out this track by SF rapper/artist/creator of beauty, emassin: "SF Out of Body Experience". 

OOJ: Plane View

SW Flight #1382 SAN-ABQ

even though flying has become a lot less fun over the years, you still can't beat the view from a window seat 10,000 ft up in the sky. on this particular flight, the landscape saved me from insanity, since the soundscape (toddlers screaming for their ipads), smellscape (someone kept farting, it wasn't me), and seatmate-scape (i sat next to a middle-aged white male with questionable boundaries) were not so great. 

OOJ: Cord Jefferson on Gawker

this is the first time an article has won OOJ designation. check out Cord Jefferson's commentary on "thuggish white youth". even the readers' comments (a section i usually skip because reading ppl's ignorant statements is depressing) were surprisingly entertaining. Jefferson went on to do a tv news segment with MSNBC's Chris Hayes about "dangerous white culture". behold the colbert-ization of 'serious' news channels. brilliant.

OOJ: Waraku Ramen

waraku, japantown, sf, ca

forgive me- i know taking pics of your food is so cliche by now, but it's been months since i had a decent bowl of ramen, and this bowl of tonkotsu broth was more than decent- it was decadent, rich + comforting, like drinking a good hug. also check out the yelp logo on the paper chopstick wrapper (lower right)- that's so sf/silicon valley!

OOJ: Ocean Beach

ocean beach, san francisco, ca

take from me:
food
sex
family
love

leave me with my memories
sharp-edged images of the ones i love most
flashing in front of my eyes in a looping reel

return me to the ocean on a night with a crescent moon
let the relentless waves claim me
rub away skin, tissue, bone until i am foam

then i can 
rest.

OOJ: Sign of the Times

Santa Cruz beach boardwalk, Santa Cruz, CA