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Here's a list of things I've done recently that makes me feel like a better person.

Building my own furniture. I now have a table and a desk, thanks to two trips to Home Depot, some hammering and screwing. The table is not very stable, which is something I need to fix. The desk is stable only because I shoved an extra piece of plywood under it and looks horrible from the back. However, since nobody can look through my walls (I hope) that shouldn't be a problem.

Driving under the speed limit. When I came back from a conference at Exeter, NH last week I almost always drove at or below the speed limit during the second half of the trip. Part of this is because I was rather tired and couldn't get much sleep the night before despite going to bed at eight. More importantly, I just don't think that driving over 50 miles per hour is a good idea on curvy, hilly country roads. This really angered the driver behind me. I would feel bad if he had actually tried to pass me during the times when there was a passing lane and I slowed down for him to pass instead of constantly tailgating me for over half an hour.

Not using the air conditioner in my car. Somehow, I survived a week of 99-degree heat without an air conditioner. In fact, I spent most of that time packing, cleaning, carrying books to and from buildings and otherwise doing low-intensity physical labor because it was just too damn hot to sit down at a Macbook and make a presentation. I am doing much better in dry heat than I have before; now that I am used to the cold winters I suppose my next project is to build up my heat tolerance.

Buying more of my food at the local co-op. Well, first of all, there's this brand of jalapeno-flavored cheese snacks that only the local co-ops sell for a reasonable price. Anyway, with the exception of meat, I've been buying over half of my produce from the local co-op. And now that I've found a co-op less than twenty miles away that has meat I've been buying most of my meat from there as well; while meat is much more expensive at the co-op the difference is acceptable when I buy in bulk. The meat, especially, does taste better coming from a local organic farm.

Paying for things I used to get for free. Today I, for the first time, paid full price for a piece of Microsoft software; the last and only time I paid for Microsoft software that did not come with hardware was when I bought a copy of Windows XP under a campus license agreement. This specifically has to do with the fact that OneNote is in fact an amazing piece of software that is worth its money; you wouldn't see me using Office, much less paying for it. Thanks to local, awesome record stores and rental services like Netflix I actually don't want to download music or movies anymore. Besides, the music I enjoy all come from small, independent labels which means that download services, legal or not, won't have anything from their artists. The whole having a job and a good amount of income that will depreciate faster than most things I buy thanks to our nation's failing economy also helps.

Eating ice cream. It's been a very long time since I had ice cream in the fridge and actually ate it. Well, now that I finally remember that small amounts of ice cream every now and then is awesome, I better get to eating some of it.]]> http://www.wingie.org/index.php?entry=entry080703-181319 2008-07-04T00:00:00Z 2008-07-04T00:00:00Z Assumptions

Don't assume that this applies to you. It probably doesn't, but for some of us, it may.

Don't drop names when you see a minority. I know that there are only five Asians in town. I don't know any of them. I don't care about meeting any of them more than meeting any other people in town.

Don't tell me that you live down the street from an Asian family that you don't know the name of. I'm sure that they're nice, don't ever bother you, and drive a Lexus. Their child probably practices the piano every day. I hate those people.

Don't try to relate to me by telling me that your father was once stationed in China during World War II unless there's some other purpose to this than “oh look, you're Chinese, you must appreciate it!”. It's great that he fought for freedom back in the old days. But, you know what? I would think he's great wherever he was stationed. The fact that he was stationed in China does not mean that you have something in common with me.

Don't greet me in what you think is my language when we're in New England. You look and sound like a tool who wants to be cultured but only ends up showing that you're trying way too fucking hard. Often, you suck at it. Often, the person you are greeting suck at “their” language. You lose doubly so if you end up speaking the wrong language. You lose triply so if you're surprised that I speak fluent English after your botched greeting. The exception to this rule: when you are first greeted in another language or when you expect to be greeted back in said language. When a Hispanic dude says “hola amigo”, it is okay to reply with “hola”.

Don't act surprised when you hear “Vermont” when you ask me “where are you from”. I know you want me to be all exotic and such so you can feel cultured being around me; you want me to say something like “the mountaintops of the heavenly city of Lhasa”, or at least “China” or “Japan” or anything that isn't half an hour away by motorcar. But, seriously, I live in Vermont. That's what my name tag would say. That's what's listed under my name in the IRS record. Also, we're probably in New England when this exchange occurs, so you shouldn't be surprised.

Don't assume that I am in love with Japanese pop or whatever and listen to it all the time because I'm Asian. It's nice, sure, I like it, but it doesn't have nearly enough fiddles and cellos to hold my interest for more than a few minutes at a time. Bonus: if you make this assumption, nine times out of ten my musical taste is whiter than yours.

Don't assume that when our conversation doesn't go smoothly it is because of my Asian manners or some inherit cultural difference. Asia is appalled by my complete lack of manners. I am awkward around you because I'm a nerd who'd rather be playing video games than talking to random people sometimes. I don't tell you everything about my life because you can just Google it and read my blog. Also, see the nerd bit.

Don't start a conversation about something Asian if you don't plan on following through with it. Don't do it because you want to make me feel better in this awkward social situation. (Remember, it's not the fact that you're white and I'm afraid of you, it's because I'm socially inept.) Don't do it because you have nothing else to talk about. Don't do it if you want to feint interest in awesome ethnic things. Some people are offended when you think that they are experts on Asian culture because they're Asian. Me? I am offended if you don't actually care about my five minute exposition on the linguistics of modern Chinese or how tofu should be cooked to maximal perfection or which brand of five spice powder is best. You asked. Now listen, because I'm a nerd and I love exchanging knowledge.

Don't assume that I will only date and/or reproduce with other Asians. Seriously. Don't do this. You will either end up wrong or sounding like a pro-eugenics get-your-dirty-nigger-hands-off-my-daughter segregationist asshole or both, depending on your tone. Unless you are a racist asshole. If you are, why are we conversing? Why aren't you quietly sneering at me across the street while I lust after your white, genetically superior daughter in my lustful desire to enhance my pathetic genetic line?]]> http://www.wingie.org/index.php?entry=entry080606-220921 2008-06-07T00:00:00Z 2008-06-07T00:00:00Z