Sunday, April 8, 2012

My sociology into my own life.

From the shoes I wear to the bat ears hat I own and clapping with my hands above my head music and television has influenced my socialization into American culture. Some musicians may have been forced upon me, others I voluntarily listen too to make my socialization easier and alas the ones I liked when no one else around me liked.
Coming to the United States I had had an accent which I got rid of for the most part within a year of my being here. Upon my arrival I knew nothing of what was going on in music because in Cameroon such things were trivial at the time. The first few months were spent listening to Radio Disney. So many tales they told and so many morals to go along with them. However when I started school here, all the kids were listening to Hot 97 and songs about people being shot in the hood. I found everything about such music appalling but I pretended to like it in order to fit into my surroundings because I had nothing else in common with these foreign children. This was in primary school.
As the earls went by and I entered junior high school, my new accent trained with the help of 7th heaven, Charmed, Buffy the vampire slayer, one tree hill, and The BBC I found that everyone was suddenly obsessed with what they wore which baffled me because we had a uniform, white collared shirt khaki pants and black shoes however everyone turned these basic things into hundreds of dollars worth in clothing and my mother found that ridiculous so I was unable I connect with anyone. As a result to not haven bought 200 dollar sneakers I was picked on so instead I got my socialization of a preteen did from book by Judy Blum and Julie Ann Peters among many others like J.K Rolling and such. From Harry Potter I learned the value of loyalty and friendship. The only problem was I had no one else to share these newly found values with because no one else was reading the same books as me. With One Tree Hill, though I’d been drawing for ages I adopted the style of drawing one of the main characters used, I also got a lot of the music I listened to from that show. The only thing I did socially was play chess with strangers over the Internet. So for 3 years I listened to Radio Disney, watched Television, played chess with strangers and read countless books. 
In high school I got to enforce all the morals I picked up in books and movies and still be cool all because one day I got my mum to buy me a pair of classic converses which the small group of head shaven tattoo sporting piercing haven cool kids wore. This landed me a spot in their little circle and in that circle I enforced for myself what I felt was right and wrong based on the books I'd read and what I watched on television, It was wrong to not drink alcohol and do drugs, It was wrong to have sex with random people, It was wrong to dumpster dive, It was wrong to side on the side walk and look like a hobo (this rule was flexible if I was tired of standing) it was wrong to listen to radio Disney, it was wrong to mistake The Turtles for The Doors, It was wrong to not wear tight pants and loose tops, it was wrong to dress in bright colours, It was wrong to look like your clothing just got laundered. Eventually I got sick of all the rules of socialization so I went to join a different more simple group or so I though. The next group was a practically all lesbian group, and learning the acceptable gender terms and fashions was a tedious as the last group so after a while I left there too and joined the girl’s basket ball team as their manager. I wasn't as expected to know everything a basket ball player would know but I had to learn new handshakes and locker room etiquette.
Leaving high school I got really into the band Tegan and Sara which I'd gotten to know from One Tree Hill. I liked what they stood for, love, peace and equality. Tegan and Sara are identical twins from Canada who play indie rock music. They also happen to both be lesbians which doesn't matter to me because music doesn't have a gender. They also educate their fans on various subject matters, for example Sara wrote a piece about misogyny in the music industry which is really important for any female in today's day and age. I've been reading a lot lately because of Tegan and Sara. Sara has a book list which she updates frequently and the types of books she reads are rather different from what I generally enjoy reading. Aside from their book list, Tegan and Sara fans are very literate so since I and several friends of mine run a Tegan and Sara fan page we do a lot of reading, we even ship books to each other because none of us live near each other. Though my mother teaches English she couldn't get me to read any of the classics but I'm currently reading Catcher in the Rye and The book Thief. Of late people have been telling me I'm quite well read and I really attribute that to Tegan and Sara.
In conclusion I think I have been more influenced by books and Television than my own parents. No one really ever listens to their parents because what do they know they aren’t from our time. On the other hand when you have music and shows and friends who partake in influencing of your adolescent to adult lives you really grow close to it. Then maybe you actually go back and listen to your parents if all goes wrong. I think I’ve turned out alright, and so must my mum because she constantly brags and takes credit for everything I do.

Friday, January 22, 2010

People change.

At times it just breaks my heart when I realize the world around me is changing and I'm stuck in the past. People change, the times have changed . No longer do we live in a time where the man of the house bust through the door with a bouquet of flowers and his suitcase in his arm expelling "honey I'm home". No longer is a wife expected to stay home and take care of her four family and dog house. Times have changed yes. As a woman who isn't interested I'm sitting at home baby sitting for a man, I'm not too disappointed that that in particular has changed .
Back in the day celebrities spent more time with their fans they weren't scared of them as I read an article/blog written by one of my favorite bands I was astonished that they of all people have finally conformed to the new society norm for celebrities . I guess us fans have brought it upon our selves . John Lennon was killed by an obsessed fan who wanted to be him. John Hinckley Jr an obsessed man who tried to assassinate the president of the united states to prove his love for Jodie foster. There are many more world class total creeps who ruin it. For the rest of use but that just shows the world is changing.
Gay people .
There have been gay people since the beginning of time . It wasn't even that long ago that being gay meant you were going to be committed to the mental hospital . People felt that it was a mental illness to love someone of your own gender . People have changed , some people anyway. And though I am not a fan of change I am glad that, that is one change people have actcepted , some people anyway. In Canada , Americas hat gay marrige is allowed . You'd think that a place like America a supposed melting pot of all kinds of people would be more actcepting but they are not. You'd think that finally after over coming bias behavior, discrimination, dogmatism, fanaticism, injustice, Jim Crowism, narrow-mindedness, partiality, provincialism, racialism, racism, sectarianism, sexism, unfairness and bigotry that the citizens of the united states wouldn't understand that all men are created equal regardless of thier sexual prefrences . It astonishes me to see that it's alright for a man or woman to hore around with the opposite sex and catch lots of twisted illnesses but it's wrong for two men or two women to just love each other . That's just so wrong on so many levels.
People change alright bit do they learn? As a young adult honestly questioning my self the people around me, my government, the world. I on many circumstances shake my head in shame. People change but before they do they disapoint . Whether it's a change for good or a change for bad change in it self will hurt those around that you care about.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Invalid ...

So the other day I was mulled by a cat .. Don't laugh it's not funny. I can't use my right arm the feeling has been lost . I'm really pissed about it because I'm right handed and I now have to rely on my left hand for stuff , like typing this blog for example.
Here's how it happened , it was a lovely Saturday here in New York I had intentions of hanging out in my room watching television , drawing and enjoying good old amazing music on my iPod when all of a sudden a crazy, berserk orange cat ran madly into my room attacking a kitten that so happened to be laying on my bed . Instinctively I jumped up and started to chase the crazy cat. To my dismay it was completely mental , it did a 360' jump, wrapped itself around my arm and started biting and scratching . I don't quit remember what happened next but I do remember looking down on at my arm. My arm was completely covered in blood , just as I started going into shock my mom entered my room and saw what happened and got me to calm the fudge down . Luckily for it ( the cat) I was in to much shock to cut it's guts out and feed it to him with my bare hands.
Now that I'm some what sane and rational I realize it's really petty for me to want nothing more than to do something horrible the cat... As my mom mentioned when she saw the murderous look on my face "it's just a dumb beast."
Is it fair though ? I mean It could have killed me . But because it's IQ is lower than mine it gets away with it . That doesn't seem right to me . As I sit here typing with one arm in serious pain I feel nothing but resentment for the animal. I can't draw , I can't paint, I can't feed myself, I can't enjoy a good nights sleep and I can't kill the damn thing or have it put down. For some reason that doesn't compute well in my head and yet I fogive it...
I'm out and about right now. After about several hours I finally got ready to go out . I don't know why but I like staying home despite the fact it's a horrid mess. I guess having a home makes one feel safe . At the rate mama and latante are going, who knows how long we'll have one so I figure I should enjoy it while it last.
I'm at Coral right now it's a restaurant in the neighborhood . Mama likes eating there , I on the other hand don't . I personally think the service sucks and the waiters don't know how to act. I might even go as far as to say Their like barbaric in the White House, not that this place is the White House . There are roaches and mice that wonder around like it's their play ground. I really don't like the environment of the place but my ma does so I have to keep patronizing it.
 Is loving someone you don't know actually loving them ?? Like a celeb 4 example you don't know them not really, you know what they want you to know about them so to sum this up your just in love with an illusion a creation of how someone wants to be portrayed . you're  basically in love with a Sim.
Haven't watched actual television in some time, haven't taken a metro, wanting to go retro. It's 2-10 so now I'm wondering when I'll have me a flying car n a pill that taste like actual food , wondering when I'll take that "A" train to the "soul train" to the moon n back . Wondering when so by then I can say I was there it's 2-10 It should have all happened . No close encounter with any kind, no life on big red . Feeling cheated n robbed ...Y2k that's OK . Sorry just something I wanted to say....

Thursday, October 8, 2009

commenting

OK so for a while now I've lost all faith in blogging , not only does no one read unpopular blogs but when they do they don't even comment . Come on its not that hard even if the blog your reading sucks you should comment on it and let the person know , that way they stop writ ting sucky blogs.
i was just reading this blog and this girl was trashing Kanye for what he said about Taylor Swift and it was a well written blog whoever no one had commented on it why is that? does it really take that much time to write something like that's cool dude or hey maybe you had better to take a creative writing class kid ? come on people just give a comment here there and every where.