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light, light, heavy, HEAVY, light
Jan. 20th, 2010 10:54 pmOK, so you know how different cultures have different sense of humor? It seems like the Japanese sense of humor requires that if something whimsical or silly or goofy is said, someone has to point that out. You can't just leave the silly statement! It is not a joke unless someone says "that's not true!" Basically, you can't just boke, right? You need to be tsukkomi'd to make it an actual joke. Whereas in the US and UK, the whimsy stands on its own. We have straight men, but they function slightly differently. Just something I was thinking about. But not necessarily phrasing particularly well. XD
The other night I was going to put on mis-matched striped socks because they were the same texture and type and I was all no one will notice. But then I was still holding the socks as I pulled off the ones I had on (they were too thick) and the sock snapped off my foot and I let go of the one I was holding and it flew across the room. And then I looked and it had landed right next to the sock that matched it.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is that god needs to maybe think about the big picture more or something? This was a ridiculous scenario to get involved in.
Speaking, uh, of big pictures, I was back at some of the adoption blogs I read during my reading about adoption a lot for no immediate/personal reason phase and one of them, Malinda, said a post she'd written about the importance talking to your kids about race had been posted to a general "mom blog" (or something). I'd read the original post, but I was interested in seeing what the reaction would be when it was taken out of the context of her blog and the readers of her blog. She's transracially adopted two girls from China and is very conscientious about the need to be aware that they will have problems and concerns that children growing up with their biological parents or parents of the same race would not. And readers of her blog are also interested in responsible transracial adoption, etc.
People at the Mamapedia, less so. Here's the post - there are some good responses, for sure, but also a lot of "I'm sick of there not being any talk about racism against whites" or "why do people keep talking about racism, it's gone." I would say those commenters are overwhelmingly white, and many have explicitly identified themselves as such. This is the whole point of the white privilege she brings up that you are denying in your comment! It is easy for you to say racism isn't a problem anymore because you don't experience it! And pretending it doesn't exist will not fix things! So freaking frustrating. How can you not realize that, as a member of the race in power, you are not qualified to evaluate whether or not racism is a problem? (shutch, on page 2 of the comments, however, has a pretty awesome summary of some white privilege basics!)
( little digression )
Back in the "adoption blog" world because one of the families adopted from Haiti, is trying to adopt from Haiti again, and the mother/blogger was in Haiti during the quake. She's home safe now and they're trying to get their son home too through humanitarian paroles - a bypassing of some adoption/visa steps in the cases of adoptions that were in progress, so kids who have families waiting for them in the US can get out of Haiti.
The Howertons are Christian, and through their adoptions have ties to missionaries in Haiti who run orphanages and other programs. The Livesay family have been doing mission work in Haiti for 11 years, I think. If you want a sort of personal, grasp-able account of what is happening in Haiti, I highly recommend reading that blog. It's pretty intense. They've opened a clinic and have been going around finding wounded and helping out so you can see how relief efforts are going and they also report on what conditions are like in general and what it was like to go through the whole thing.
They also talk about prayer a lot, just a warning. Seeing charity work through a Christian/missionary lens is strange and complicated to me (meaning my feelings about it are complicated, I guess). It's certainly difficult for me to relate to.
Here is a post from a Christian perspective - that it is the church's responsibility to take care of the orphans in Haiti and get them to safety (aka out of Haiti) as soon as possible. In contrast, here and here are Malinda's takes and the UNICEF statement on the subject of how to care for children in Haiti. The short version: our first instinct is that getting children out of Haiti has to be the best thing for them, but that is not necessarily the case. Providing the money and care and resources to allow them to be safe but stay in the communities that they are used to, where surviving relatives might be able to find them, where people speak their language, is in most cases the better option. The contrast intrigues me but I can only speculate about it wildly and I'm not going to do that in an unlocked post!
Instead, I will get some ice cream and watch Hana Yori Dango promotion material and figure skating.
( as promised, the rest of the 'light' stuff - Laura's adventures in grooming )
Oh, and while I'm on the subject of Haiti, Arashi fans who aren't already apprised should head over the this post at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
arashi_on for an Arashi-themed fundraiser if you feel like it. I compiled the master list and there's some interesting stuff on offer! And it is definitely worth joining the community to see this extra awesome bonus fundraiser about which I can say no more! :D OK, a little bit more - Oguri Shun writing "Haiti" on stuff in katakana is involved.
The other night I was going to put on mis-matched striped socks because they were the same texture and type and I was all no one will notice. But then I was still holding the socks as I pulled off the ones I had on (they were too thick) and the sock snapped off my foot and I let go of the one I was holding and it flew across the room. And then I looked and it had landed right next to the sock that matched it.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is that god needs to maybe think about the big picture more or something? This was a ridiculous scenario to get involved in.
Speaking, uh, of big pictures, I was back at some of the adoption blogs I read during my reading about adoption a lot for no immediate/personal reason phase and one of them, Malinda, said a post she'd written about the importance talking to your kids about race had been posted to a general "mom blog" (or something). I'd read the original post, but I was interested in seeing what the reaction would be when it was taken out of the context of her blog and the readers of her blog. She's transracially adopted two girls from China and is very conscientious about the need to be aware that they will have problems and concerns that children growing up with their biological parents or parents of the same race would not. And readers of her blog are also interested in responsible transracial adoption, etc.
People at the Mamapedia, less so. Here's the post - there are some good responses, for sure, but also a lot of "I'm sick of there not being any talk about racism against whites" or "why do people keep talking about racism, it's gone." I would say those commenters are overwhelmingly white, and many have explicitly identified themselves as such. This is the whole point of the white privilege she brings up that you are denying in your comment! It is easy for you to say racism isn't a problem anymore because you don't experience it! And pretending it doesn't exist will not fix things! So freaking frustrating. How can you not realize that, as a member of the race in power, you are not qualified to evaluate whether or not racism is a problem? (shutch, on page 2 of the comments, however, has a pretty awesome summary of some white privilege basics!)
( little digression )
Back in the "adoption blog" world because one of the families adopted from Haiti, is trying to adopt from Haiti again, and the mother/blogger was in Haiti during the quake. She's home safe now and they're trying to get their son home too through humanitarian paroles - a bypassing of some adoption/visa steps in the cases of adoptions that were in progress, so kids who have families waiting for them in the US can get out of Haiti.
The Howertons are Christian, and through their adoptions have ties to missionaries in Haiti who run orphanages and other programs. The Livesay family have been doing mission work in Haiti for 11 years, I think. If you want a sort of personal, grasp-able account of what is happening in Haiti, I highly recommend reading that blog. It's pretty intense. They've opened a clinic and have been going around finding wounded and helping out so you can see how relief efforts are going and they also report on what conditions are like in general and what it was like to go through the whole thing.
They also talk about prayer a lot, just a warning. Seeing charity work through a Christian/missionary lens is strange and complicated to me (meaning my feelings about it are complicated, I guess). It's certainly difficult for me to relate to.
Here is a post from a Christian perspective - that it is the church's responsibility to take care of the orphans in Haiti and get them to safety (aka out of Haiti) as soon as possible. In contrast, here and here are Malinda's takes and the UNICEF statement on the subject of how to care for children in Haiti. The short version: our first instinct is that getting children out of Haiti has to be the best thing for them, but that is not necessarily the case. Providing the money and care and resources to allow them to be safe but stay in the communities that they are used to, where surviving relatives might be able to find them, where people speak their language, is in most cases the better option. The contrast intrigues me but I can only speculate about it wildly and I'm not going to do that in an unlocked post!
Instead, I will get some ice cream and watch Hana Yori Dango promotion material and figure skating.
( as promised, the rest of the 'light' stuff - Laura's adventures in grooming )
Oh, and while I'm on the subject of Haiti, Arashi fans who aren't already apprised should head over the this post at
arashi_on for an Arashi-themed fundraiser if you feel like it. I compiled the master list and there's some interesting stuff on offer! And it is definitely worth joining the community to see this extra awesome bonus fundraiser about which I can say no more! :D OK, a little bit more - Oguri Shun writing "Haiti" on stuff in katakana is involved.
