some male students in some of my classes

they have their disgusting moments during class:

1. THEY CHEW. they bring food and chew it loudly. I can hear the crunch-crunch sounds of mastication, as well as the accumulation of saliva to help with moistening the food.

2. THEY SWALLOW. LOUDLY. food, water, saliva. Huge Adam's apples go up and down, and I just can't get over it.

3. THEY BRANCH OUT. no, they can't just sit in a chair for two and a half hours. They put their hands on their head so we can admire their underarm sweat stains. They spread legs and knees. They balance back on their chairs.

4. THEY STRETCH. it's usually a whole body movement, which inevitably ends in a hairy belly display.

sometimes, some Americans are just too casual for me.

Yazoo Only You

Pictures

Stella's first visitor

Stella's second visitor

Subsemnata

Mister Michael

My rushed fall

It's just a joke

My friend wrote about her reactions to the movie "Borat". I agree. As my friend and I talked before, I think it is ridiculous to try to raise awareness about lack of cultural knowledge and sensitivity by promoting cultural misknowledge and insensitivity. Borat, the Kazakh character who's supposed to awaken the world from their stereotypes has a Hungarian-sounding name, says "Thank you" in Polish, and resides in a Romanian village. But these are just details, right?

In a Rolling Stone interview, Sacha Baron Coehn, the person behind Borat, declares that "I was surprised, because I always had faith in the audience that they would realize that this was a fictitious country and the mere purpose of it was to allow people to bring out their own prejudices. And the reason we chose Kazakhstan was because it was a country that no one heard anything about, so we could essentially play on stereotypes they might have about this ex Soviet backwater." Well, just because Americans hadn't heard of Kazakhstan, it doesn't make it fictitious. "But it's sooo funny", some people have told me. In my mind, however, this doesn't justify the stereotyping that Kazakh people are going to face from now on. And given the current level of cultural knowledge, so will people from any other country which has a name which rhymes with Kazakhstan. Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan... these are just details, right?

So what is the balance between humor and cultural sensitivity? I've recently wondered, being often confronted with hurtful humor about being Romanian. Racial and sexist humor seems to be less common these days, but other ethnic humor is hot. I am tired of finding a counter-joke to the "because you're Romanian" jokes and I don't always have the energy to explain to the "joker" that I am hurt. I used to let it go, convincing myself that it was just a joke. But disparagement humor is not just a joke and there is empirical evidence about its negative consequences. A social psychologist (Ford, 2000) found that mere exposure to sexist humor increases some people's tolerance for sexual discrimination, presumably because it activates a non critical mind set. Which only supports the idea that if “Borat” was meant to increase awareness of stereotypes, it probably failed miserably, statistically speaking. But it's good entertainment, and I guess that's the ultimate goal.

Unspoken rules

Stingo’s "later edit" for this post made me think. And here's what I think. I admire people who put themselves out there in almost any shape or form, blogging included. Out of respect for them/us, I think there are a few unspoken rules for the blog readers:
-acknowledge in one way or another that they are reading (add to blogrol, comment, or personal communication).
-acknowledge and accept the need for privacy of the writer and other readers. Yes, I definitely know who Stingo is and I could call him by his first, middle, and last name if I wanted to, but I understand that he has chosen to remain anonymous for others. It's a game I chose to play once I started reading his blog.
-communicate complaints, praises, or any other comments directly to the blog writer. That’s why we have a Comments section (or Spank me, in other cases). I think blogs are about communication, a positive one for that matter. Complaining indirectly from the comfort of anonymity seems especially rude.
-in most cases, respect the writer’s choice of language. Of course both Raluca and I speak Romanian. But I will always comment in English to her English posts, because that’s the language she chose for her blog.

"Just going to conferences and standing in the corner isn't enough."

This is exactly why I hate gradschool and why I am starting to plan a career outside the academic world. The advice in the third paragraph kills me. In a bad way.

I prefer the "Publish or Perish" philosophy.

no bine ca am ajuns sa povestesc vise

dar sa vezi ce prostii am visat.

am visat ca ne-am intalnit cu marian care purta un mini tour eiffel pe cap, pe post de palarie.

si dupa aia am visat ca m-am dus cu aproape TOTI prietenii mei la un restaurant, si eram in bucuresti cred, si eu am cerut green tea/ceai verde (cred ca am cerut in romaneste) si chelnerita o fost foarte foarte nesimtita si s-o crizat ca ce e ala ceai verde, ca ceaiul e de fructe sau de menta, si nu rosu sau verde (desi nu e adevarat, si era in meniu), si o inceput sa zbiere la toata lumea, gen "uite, domnisoara asta se crede mai speciala, ea vrea ceai verde", si io m-am enervat super super tare si am facut o criza din aia cum numa o data la doi ani fac (genul de criza facuta lui marius la telefon ptr ca nu-i placea de cris), si dupa aia am plecat, si toti prietenii mei s-au ridicat de asemenea sa plece cu mine, in afara de ***** si *** care or zis ca ei stau sa manance ca le e foame.

Omage

I've always thought that the question "What's your favorite band" is rather insane. How could anyone choose? Since 1991, when my favorite band was Queen, I don't think I've ever answered the insane question.

But I do have obsessions. My current one is Broken Social Scene, and it's been lasting for almost a year. Here are my favorite videos from them:

probably my favorite song

This one reminds me of an afternoon in 1998 when Stingo took my sister and I to ACCEPT and we watched a British movie.

This one is tricky. On one hand, I want to watch and laugh. On the other hand, I just want to get up and dance.

CataMichiiArianaCristiBigdi IoanaAttiOliAlinBogdanAlex StefanMarianIoanaCorinaOana

I miss my friends from home. I miss them a lot.

The Attentive Dreamer and Writer

Nu spun asta pentru ca e sora mea, dar blogul surorii mele e foarte interesant. The Attentive Dreamer nu doar viseaza, ci citeste, merge la film si la teatru. Si apoi scrie despre ele, si o face cu inteligenta, sensibilitate, si bun simt. Ce imi place cel mai mult e ca trece cartea/filmul/piesa printr-un filtru personal si nu se fereste de a face asta.

De cand eram mica, eu am citit carti recomandate de sora mea. Cred ca pot sa numar pe degetele de la o mana cartile (de nespecialitate) pe care nu le-am citit la indemnul ei. Acum, gratie blogului ei, puteti vedea o miime din ce e fain sa o ai pe Cata aproape.

Fashion Interpol

The boots have been quietly sitting in the closet all summer, sweaty and envious of those flip flops with an overly active social life. They've been patiently waiting for that first cold front, when they would finally feel those jeans being tucked into them. And here it is. The cold weather is here and the boots should jump with joy. On my way home today, I've counted three jeans tucked into boots. (Counting things is a bad habit acquired from Michael. For a few months now, he's been challenging me to count the number of Ford Taurus vs. Ford Tempos.) My fashion interpol question: are Romanians still tucking their jeans in their boots? Anonymous readers from around the world are welcome to bring a jeans-in-boots update from Canada, Switzerland, France, Australia, or Qatar :).

Unfortunately for the boots, I have a feeling that these are the last breaths of a dying trend.

In other news, Michael and I went on a car trip to Nashville this weekend and I came to a couple of conclusions:
1. Tennessee's beauty is spectacular
2. Americans like to mount huge plaster animals on top of or in front of their businesses. Chicken and cows are most popular. If possible, the animal should wear clothing: a scarf, a cowboy hat, a yellow tunic, maybe some boots.