Just to Educate Y'all On What The Nobel Peace Prize is About

Christian --

This morning, Michelle and I awoke to some surprising and humbling news. At 6 a.m., we received word that I'd been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009.

To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize -- men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.

But I also know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.

That is why I've said that I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations and all peoples to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. These challenges won't all be met during my presidency, or even my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it's recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone.

This award -- and the call to action that comes with it -- does not belong simply to me or my administration; it belongs to all people around the world who have fought for justice and for peace. And most of all, it belongs to you, the men and women of America, who have dared to hope and have worked so hard to make our world a little better.

So today we humbly recommit to the important work that we've begun together. I'm grateful that you've stood with me thus far, and I'm honored to continue our vital work in the years to come.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

This Status Post Was Too Big to Tweet...

... and I already stole someone else's status and credited it as a tweet. Jacked from William Penn:

Three reasons the expression "NO HOMO" is stupid: 1. It's supposed to be used to preempt your statement so saying it after the fact is dumb. 2. When you use it you are actually saying "I thought of this in a 'Gay' way and don't want you to have the same reaction". Which ruins the point because even if they didn't the listener now does. 3. Quit being so damn homophobic.

A Conversation Between 2 Students in the year 2059

Setting: In a library, year 2059. Brenda and Al are partnered up for a presentation about health care reform during the Obama administration.

BRENDA: Damn. People would let other people die if it costed them an extra buck?
AL: Talk about crazy!
BRENDA: What if some shit happened to them? Nobody can predict something like cancer from happening to them.
AL: Good thing we found a cure alongside AIDS. Can't believe the medical industry held off on finding the cure because they made more money on just medicating people.
BRENDA: But still. I love my Blue Cross insurance. A lot more than the Obamacare but paying for it is well worth it.
AL: Can't you believe that your operation would've cost 3000 bucks in 2009 as opposed to 300 today?

BRENDA: That's too crazy. Even with Obamacare, it still wouldn't pass 3000 bucks.

AL: Hell I want to make money. But damn, it's not like our health is like some sort of product, like food from the supermarket. But then again, it is. After all, Obamacare is like Albertsons. Your Bluecross coverage is like Whole Foods.

BRENDA: Psh yeah. It's like, hey triple bypass for that coronary - 5000 bucks! Can't afford it? Too bad! You'll just die sooner!

(Brenda and Al look at a youtube video of the protesters during the townhall meeting)

AL: These guys can't be serious. Do you see their picket signs?

BRENDA: Oh, you mean "I don't want the government to tell me how I shall live"

AL: Look how fat is she! She pretty much does not want the government to tell her to stop eating burgers with her fat ass or else she'll have another stroke.

BRENDA: Hey that's mean! But it is kinda scary for people to think like that.

AL: Well, we can't be too comfortable with the government telling us when to take our meds. What if they're deliberately trying to kill us?

BRENDA: Al, we're too critical of other nation's approach to human rights to even let that happen.

AL: But it's still a possibility!

BRENDA: Well hello! That's why you should not purposely do your health in like that. That's why we exercise regularly and eat healthy so we won't have to use our health insurance cards more than we should like they did back then!

AL: Yeah. It's hard to see the image of an American as fat, lazy, and always bitchy these days.

BRENDA: I don't know about fat, but I still see laziness and bitchiness. Just be glad the government doesn't have a gun to our head to exercise.

(Watching Obama's Health Care speech to congress)

BRENDA: Geez. After reading all these speeches opposing health care reform, I still can't find an alternative solution that the Republicans were proposing at the time.

AL: Did you hear that!

BRENDA: What?

AL: That house member straight up called President Obama a liar during the meeting!

BRENDA: You must be kidding me! Is that our government or a zoo?

(Al rewinds the video)

BRENDA: What party was that guy who called Obama a liar?

AL: Um. His name is Joe Wilson, representative from South Carolina.

BRENDA: Al! What party is he?

AL: Republican

Trolling Out the Unwanted Friend Requests pt. 2

As promised, I sent out a friendly greeting to my 37+ odd friend requests to which I don't have a mutual buddy with. The message is as follows:

Hello. I do not think we ever met in person, so do I know you? And if I do not know you why are you interested in adding me? Thanks.

Amazingly I had interesting replies. Of course not everyone replied but I have enough to classify each of them in the following categories: Honest, Fronting, and a special third category to which I personally classify as Argumentative. Honest is honest obviously, who is not afraid to admit they're just adding just to add. Fronting is straight up not being honest. These are the more entertaining replies which led me to think these people really thought long and hard to come up with a story. Here are my replies.

Honest Replies:

"my bad b.......i was just trying to get people off this site to hear my music."

"Hello, yeah you right. we never met before in person. And I don't think that you know me. Actually I don't remember why I adding you.. :) But i just wanna make a friend with everybody. So, thanx for asking.. and I thank you if you be my friend on FB

Let me introduce myself : I am *** from Indonesia, I am 23 years old.

Regards,
***"

"I dont know u but just want u as a friend.thanks too."

"hi! en many people actually ask me that and my answer is always the same, I command request to all if I do not care who they are or not ... bye"

"Hmmm... been adding people for my game - Vampire Wars. Could have been a friend or fb suggestion. Sorry for any bother."

I got a kick out of the fronting replies. Chances are they may be honest, but it is a stretch on the reasons they gave in trying to add me. Here are the Fronting Replies:

"I was one of the fans of Walt Disney
,, and I want to reproduce a friend, especially from people animation, I animator from Indonesia"

"Cause you look like someone who works at disney

Cause that's were I work and you look like a guy from there"

"I dont think that we met in person, but maybe I saw yr nick in a discussion group about VNese food or something like that. I just cant reamember it well, so much,lol. nice to meet u"

Now with this third category, I only have one of these. Her comment on this blog post pretty much sums up much of the reason why I have been spammed by these friend requests (I was an employee of Disney from March 2008 to March 2009.) Here is the Argumentative Reply:

I agree from the standpoint of adding people to add people is just ridiculous. But, also remember that this is a networking site and some people look at their common items and then ask folks they don't know to be friends in order to get to know them, for networking purposes. For example, Christian and I have our place of work in common. This was the only group of folks I tapped into to attempt some networking with people I don't know, but I wouldn't be offended if that wasn't an interest of the other person. Everyone else on my list I actually know. I hope this adds another perspective to the blog... I say this with respect. Best, ***

The reason why this would be classified as an argumentative reply is that this person was probably the only one who justified sending a random friend request with a good argument. I do agree that Facebook is a networking site and it is not necessarily a place for just friends to convene. While many of my friend requests come from people around the world looking for friends, as with anybody that wants to get to know me, I do request an introduction as I do with my other friends on Facebook (which was done in person to add). I am still hard pressed as many of my other friends to add strangers, even if it is a means for networking. After all, what is the reasoning for me to add if you do not introduce yourself to me? Isn't that what networking is in the first place? Now there are people who sent me messages without requesting to add me as a friend, but even if cyberspace where chatting is very informal, I still request you sound educated if you even want to engage in some sort of conversation that may convince me to add you as a friend. Messaging with "So you are from the walt disney company" and nothing else will not even want to keep your message in my inbox.

I understand Disney is a huge company but I suggest you add me on LinkedIn if you want to simply network. I have too many friends to keep up as it is, I'm in a relationship so I'm not looking to hook up, and Facebook is simply my way of keeping in touch with friends that I have met already so I can keep up with whatever birthday parties I may be invited to, to sharing and discussing whichever article they read.

ED. NOTE: I apologize to anyone if I use this situation as blog fodder, but it is interesting to see what people have to say about this. I love dedicating time writing about these frivolous topics because it does bug us from time to time but while many others ignore it, I chose to blog it. =) I will now commence to clearing my inbox of these requests, while keeping some for the sake of continued conversation.

Trolling Out The Unwanted Friend Requests pt. 1

Since the dawn of time also known as Friendster, we had what CNN called "The Friend Padder," someone who adds anyone and everyone just to show off their 1,000 or so friends. These wannabe celebrities are the downside of our generation's social networking simply because most of us normally use these sites to keep in touch with friends. When someone requests me, I look at the mutual friends we have. I also look at the networks this person is part of. If there are no mutual friends or networks that I'm familiar with, I actually do try to remember if the name rings a bell, as in the case of a classmate from the past who I recently added (wuddup Desiree!).

Anyways, I was bitching about 37 friend requests (now 36) from people I don't know. There's obviously the spammers and webcam ladies, but facebook does a good job filtering them out. The rest are simply "normal" people from around the world. A lot of them have a ridiculous number of friends, and there are those who have a normal amount. Now personally, I'm not tooting my own horn but I am a pretty young looking guy. Nobody could tell my height from my profile picture. I look good, I look cool, but worth sending me a request? COME ON!

Part of my gripe about these requests is that the ones who request hopes I'll add automatically. Call me old school, but if you wanna be part of my circle, I have to GET TO KNOW YOU. Since this is an online social network, I have to MEET YOU. And then I grant a request. Am I being to snobbish about this, that I require a sense of interaction before deciding to add?

Now with this aside, if anybody wants to add someone, it would be nice to message that person first. None of these 36 friend requests sent a message to me. WTF. No "hey I met you somewhere, etc, etc" or "I don't know you, but you seem cool. Lets ." Maybe it's not the "cool" or "chic" thing to do, but hey, I'm 29, I'm getting old, and I want to interact with people I know, or people I know that could stimulate my mind with conversation, or people that want to hook me up with a good paying job during these catastrophic times (word to LinkedIn). As a non celebrity, I truly don't have a point in having a thousand friends that I don't know in addition to the friends (and acquaintances) I know already.

With my venting aside, I'm going to extend a hand to these requests and actually message them with the following:

Hello. I do not think we ever met in person, so do I know you? And if I do not know you why are you interested in adding me? Thanks.

The next blog will have my responses, if there are any.

Shit That I Can’t Quite Do Online Anymore As I Near the Age of 30

• Can’t talk street. Saying “yo” at the end of a sentence, or “izzl-ing” every 2nd or 3rd word. Even if I happen to talk like that in person, putting my face with those sentences online is not really cool anymore.

• Telling the whole word how intoxicated I am, especially if the substances causing the intoxication are still illegal.

• Engage in random rants with someone else. I am always open for a debate and discussion, but the minute it turns into name calling and personal attacks (calling someone, but not limited to “Gay” or “Douche”) in uppercase letters, I’ll have to slowly turn away and accept the win quietly. Verbal jousts will have to require a well placed argument from now on.

• Quizzes. I admit I do love quizzes, but I should at least know who the fuck I am through my experiences as I get older, and it’s not the end of the world if I scored as Johnny Drama in an Entourage quiz.

• Posting unnecessary pictures of myself. There’s no need for new profile pictures unless I get a haircut. Chugging a drink or a taking bonghits are not exactly cool if the wrong people see it. Taking pictures with beautiful chicks that I barely know in a simulated sexual position does not make me a Casanova (or Ron Jeremy for that matter).

• Crazy photoshopped pictures of myself. I’m not quite the photoshop wizard I was back in 2003. Unless it was for a portfolio or it was actually published in an actual publication, it is only a matter time till my face on someone else’s body is deemed not funny anymore.

• Brag about a project that is not at least 80% finished.

• Uncreative surveys. They seem to only be useful for dating sites like eharmony and true.

• Making oneself crazy private to the world to a point where no one could add. I came to the realization that I am not a celebrity and if I want my life to be any more private, why do I have a Facebook/Myspace/Twitter account? How about I just don’t reveal anything on my profile, and not add seedy people in my past that request me?

• Making drama public. It’s only my profile, not my reality show or novella.

My Life According to Kanye

Using only SONG names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Pass it on to at least 15 people and include me. You can't use the band I used. Try not to repeat a song title. It's a lot harder than you think! Repost as "my life according to (band name)"

Pick your Artist:
Kanye West

Are you a male or female?
Ego Remix

Describe yourself:
Paranoid

How do you feel:
Heard 'Em Say

Describe where you currently live:
Homecoming

If you could go anywhere where would you go?
Good Life

Your favorite form of transportation:
Drive Slow

Your best friend is:
Champion

What's the weather like:
Coldest Winter

Favorite time of day:
Good Morning

If your life was a TV show, it would be called:
Everything I Am

What is life to you:
Stronger

Your fear:
Welcome to Heartbreak

What is the best advice you have to give:
I Wonder

Thought for the Day:
Good Night

How I would like to die:
Through the Wire

My soul's present condition:
Street Lights

My motto:
Can't Tell Me Nothing

The Loner of the Crew

I have a confession to make. I am not part of the crew. I am more the loner. I don't keep to myself. I don't hate everybody else of the crew. I am just not part of it.

People like me for who I am, but that is not the reason why I am not part of the crew. The reason why I am not part of the crew is that people confide in me. I act exactly the same in private as I do in public. I am slightly sugarcoated when I open my mouth when I chill with the crew but I still have a purpose. I don't small talk, I prod into your soul. If I am clueless about you then feel free to look into mine. Such actions as this is threatening to the whole crew because we put on our masks. Mine is flimsy. You can see my face easily. You might as well call it a thong for my face.

I have a lot of friends, but they are from different crews. At best I am an honorary, but not an official. I value the individual person rather than the persons associated. I cannot change what the person is and I judge by the person's actions. And this is how I earn their trust, simply because I am not associated. This is what makes me sought after and threatening at the same time. I know the person for who that person is - and those who fall out with me do not accept for who they are. I am a mirror that sees through all vanity and self loathing.

To be part of a crew, you must subtract parts of yourself and integrate with the rest. I have trouble accepting that fact but I do what I can do abide. At the end of the day I still know who I am and who chose to present themselves to me without anybody in the background. My friendships are of an individual basis and I accept this aspect of my personality.

Since November 5th (Blogging From the Top of my Head)

Since November 5th I have not written another blog. Maybe it is my attention span with updating something new in my life or an opinion I would like to share in the world. It is the couple month layoff that I usually have with my blogs usually attributed to a couple factors including 1 - repeating the same blog but in a different context, or 2 - no longer having the time, energy, and youthful boldness to talk about people I know. As Randy the Ram Robinson said through Mickey Rourke's portrayal, I'm just an old beat up piece of meat, except for the fact that I was not necessarily beat up but more like left around to rot. Maybe you can say I have been beat up by time.

For the past couple of months that I have not been blogging, I came into terms of who I am, version 2.0. It feels like a redundant repeating process that shows an indication of no direction in life, or not being happy in life. I revealed to my girlfriend earlier that I was on the way to becoming a Professor versed in Asian American studies and a novelist on the side before my father passed away. When he went away, it felt as if my whole family, namely my brothers intervened into my life and indirectly attempt to mold me into their likeness. I had no choice really. After all being out in the real world with just a degree that's not guaranteed to give you anything was pretty scary in hindsight. Even with my brother's influence, I can't help but feel that large void left by father which even the both of them are not big enough to fill.

Then it dawned on me. In a way, I felt the same distance even when my father was still alive. Both my older brothers joked a little during my birthday saying that "Yeah, we tried to steer you back when you were about to graduate high school, but somewhere we fucked up." By then my father left me on cruise control, leaving it to my brothers to direct me to whichever path. It became more apparent then when I looked into my father's eyes when he was bed ridden; there was so much he wanted to say to me yet it was hard to reciprocate then. I was a fourth year, running a Fraternity, and slugging through classes worrying if I have enough to graduate. Even Six years after his passing, I'm still feeling effects of the void he left behind, still no direction and feeling the same kind of distance but this time with my family who left me on cruise control.

I had a conversation with one of my very good friends, whom I call a constant after getting laid off from my recent job. She discussed with me how I never had a good grown up conversation with my father. When I mean by a good grown up conversation, its a conversation along the lines of where I was in life - grown up, no school, and (a sense of) independence. I always have these conversations with my mom, and I imagined how those conversations would be like with my dad. They probably would not be the friendliest of conversations but definitely it would have had a greater effect in my life, maybe even reinforcing a proper direction. Maybe that has been missing these past couple of years, but I know for a fact that both my older brothers do not have that effect my father would, no matter how distant we are from each other. It is history repeated all over again, coming into the terms how I entered high school with these ridiculous expectations left by my brother's reputations, and once again entering the real world with the same expectations left by both of them. As they turned water into wine, they done so with the proper direction and sternness left by my father. For me, I'm not expected to do the same, but rather MAKE water from rubbing two rocks together, with menial guidance from my brothers. I have been doing that the past couple of years and somehow I have a system going - and I continue everyday to fine tune that system because I am not at that point yet.

I quickly do flash back to junior high when I got second place in the Black History Bee. Nobody in my family showed up throughout the competition but as I faced the audience at the final leg, I saw my father smiling and clapping. Back then I felt like, "Cool, I have a ride back home" but now in hindsight it is that same accomplishment that made my dad smile and clap that I have to strive for in my life right now. It didn't matter where I placed, just as long as I did him proud. I felt that even though it is harder to achieve that with him not around, I realize what I need to do is something that I have to find within myself rather than getting pushed by my family's support.