Stuff I Like, pt. II

NiceNeatNecessarykNowledge

Stuff I like... Cats N' Bike

Pictured: Happy thoughts.

Summer, Lately

Kitters assuming her afternoon nap alter-ego: The Trashball

Bell Peppers, Danver's Half-long Carrots, Roma Tomatoes

Petunias, doomed Lavender. Not pictured: Sweet Basil

The cappucino at Luce- I may or may not have

taken a sip before I was able to capture its

beauty. It's Soy. Of course.

My brother looks so handsome in his doctoral graduation

outfit...and crab bib.

GRADUATION!

Things have finally settled down in my little sphere of existence. This week, I had the chance to scrub my bathtub (!), mop my floors, clean my kitchen, sweep my patio and finally shelve stacks of textbooks. These banal tasks were significantly satisfying because I had to budget time and energy during the last weeks of college and the inaugural days of summer- the cleaning account got no love or deposits during this time. Those that know me well are aware that I rely on a clean kitchen in the morning/evening, a working coffee pot, and a tidy room to sleep well at night. Beyond that, dust collected, the tub got a little dirtier and my patio looked more akin to the sahara than a space for commiserating and leisure time. In other words, if it didn't make me hyperventilate to see less than clean, it got the kabash in the daily routine.

In addition to giving attention to these neglected tasks, I also undertook a new venture in yard maintenance: cactus wrangling. Over the last few months, as Tucson received unseasonable amounts of rain, a certain large cactus next to my house, who we will call "Burb" in light of its species (Burbank Spineless), has grown to Hulk-sized proportions and slowly taken over my walkway, roof and some power lines in the complex. I have had several close calls with "Burb", missing s/his racquet sized pads by inches with various parts of my body. On Monday, though, things came to a prickly head with Burb. Literally. I walked strait into a wrath of pads, covered not with spines, but little pokey baby hairs, akin to hundreds of splinters. Adding to the injury of the encounter was the simultaneous verbal protest issued by Tim in the process, causing me to flail about like a half-seized spazz and forcing the contact of my face, forearm and right hand into the mix. If it had not been painful and traumatizing, the whole scene would have been hilarious. Once I calmed down enough, Tim took a look at my limbs and face and proclaimed that I had quite a bit of baggage sticking out of my extremities. To which I responded by stomping back to the house and seizing the tweezers for an hour-long, semi-successful removal session of Burb's five-o-clock shadow(s).

The incident alone would have been enough for me to decide to take action against my encroaching friend, but the missed hairs stuck in various parts of my body provided a constant reminder of the necessity of scaling back Burb's sphere of influence. I undertook this task yesterday.

Luckily for me, I possess of some heavy duty gardening gloves, certain saw-shaped bike tools, Google and an iota of creativity. The first two were used to protect my supple flesh from anymore unwelcome encounters with Burb's fuzz. The second two were put to use researching effective ways to remove the pads from the cactus without causing harm to the plant at large, as well as looking up the ways to prepare nopales. I don't know if Tim and I will actually get around to cooking the cactus, but I imagine the satisfaction I'd feel ingesting something that caused me bodily/psychic annoyance in the past would be significant. You know, kinda like Hannibal.

Here's Burb.

I know, wtf, right? He's like the Barry Bonds of cacti.

C'man

ONE female athlete out of EIGHTEEN on Breakout Athletes of 2010? Fuck you, SI. It's 2010. Those statistics take us back to 1970.

The State of My State

I've had a few weeks to internalize and watch, with horror, the fallout from the ratification of SB 1070 in the state of Arizona. Needless to say, between the passing of this bill and continued reports of the Bp drilling catastrophe, it has been very hard to retain my faith in the greater human race. (Misanthropy, anyone?)

Possibly most disheartening for me is not the people who speak in support of SB 1070, but those liberally identified in other states who are all too willing to bash Arizona for the bill. And while Arizona does have a history of problematic legislation pertaining to racial-profiling, immigration, etc, it is certainly not the loony bin, racist land-o-plenty that lazy commenters make it out to be on media sites. To assert that Arizona is an island of racist policy and people, disconnected from other exceptional, and purely republican entities in the United States, is not only essentialist, it's flat out inaccurate and ignorant.* (However, this is hilarious).

I understand that I move in fairly radical circles, or did at least during my time in the Gender and Women's Studies department at the University of Arizona. And while I was accorded the privileges of being able to intellectually dissect the origins, genealogies and power structures that allow legislation like SB 1070 to pass with substantial support, I also participated in several conversations and rallies outside of the academy with individuals who wholeheartedly did not support the bill. In fact, it seemed that most people I talked to could not fathom the logic behind the bill. Social networks and privilege aside, it seems that a great deal of people in Pima county did not support the legislation. And still, statistics were being thrown around by pundits that quoted up to 70% of the population in favor of SB1070.

Where is the disconnect? And what am I supposed to do at this crucial moment of social and cultural upheaval in my state? My professor from the US/Third World Feminism course I took this spring recently wrote a piece for the Ms. Blog touching on Arizona's complex history with border politics and socio-cultural racialization of immigrant populations. In addition to addressing the current campaign to end ethnic studies in Arizona schools, she declares her solidarity with those groups, individuals and companies that have denounced SB1070 and boycotted Arizona economically.

I am proud to see such outspoken, visible and disseminated dissent being articulated and published. Prof. Guidotti-Hernandez provides an example of praxis: taking theory and intellectual discussion and putting it to work actively for the purpose of creating an alter-narrative. In this statement, Guidotti-Hernandez counters the voice of the racist, Arizona resident that is being forwarded in left media. In addition, she sets an example for young people like myself who wish to put their strengths and abilities to use in the realm of criticism, dismantling and positive action. As she states,

"We need to invest in the future of Arizona by donating time, energy and money to local organizations (like some of those above) to fight the good fight and show that we can triumph over racism. We need to fund education, not bankrupt the state with racial profiling. And we need to stop misunderstanding ethnic studies as a field of intellectual inquiry. There has to be something better than this current atmosphere of suspicion and hatred."

Nicole Guidotti-Hernandez's poignant article reminds readers that the passing of SB1070 in Arizona is not simply an example of singular, isolated racist policy. Instead, the political climate in the state is a microcosmic articulation of a larger trend in all states that illustrates for everyone how economic disaster, cultural xenophobia and fear can be manipulated to disenfranchise particular groups of people under the guise of security and economic safe-guarding. Or, to put it another way, it is no coincidence that SB1070 was able to pass in Arizona, given the current economic, political and social climate in the United States as a whole. As a country, we are dealing with a major case of "oh fuck" syndrome and it is in this climate that fear mongering prevails.

That is not to say that Arizona does not have issues that are particular to the state because of geo-political positioning. Certainly, immigration issues are exasperated by the constant tension between US antagonisms and the clashing of populations with racist policy at the border. But to distance what is happening here from greater structural failings in our country's legal, judicial and economic system belies exemplary cases of historical amnesia and academic laziness.

As Prof. Guidotti-Hernandez also points out,

"People are scared, uninformed and disenfranchised, feeling helpless about the economic future of the state for their children. With the passing of the immigration and ethnic studies laws, we are seeing that fear materialize, directed at Mexicans and other Latino immigrant groups–who are seen as illegal no matter what their actual legal status–instead of holding accountable the state that has forsaken us".

To wrap up, what I hope to see more of in the future is commentators and critics in other regions evaluating the state of affairs in their own communities in relation to Arizona's policies for the purpose of creating dialogue and identifying the greater social and political structures that makes these laws possible. Displacing the blame to Arizona citizens only serves to add to the exceptionalist discourse that maintains the imagined autonomy of state and federal governments and scapegoats populations with no positive result. In Southern Arizona, we've got a huge battle ahead of us in the campaign against SB1070. The best way everyone outside of Arizona can help is to support those in dissent, while educating themselves about the issues within their own communities.

And help us. Or get off our backs.

*Citizens and politicians residing in Tucson have been some of the harshest critics of the new laws, spearheading a movements to take judicial action against SB1070. Raul Grijalva, state congressman-D, hosted a protest at his Tucson offices the day after the bill was signed into law. I stood on a street corner in solidarity with thousands the day Jan Brewer provided her signature for the bill's passing.

Top Ten

It should be mentioned that I have been contemplating the contents of this post for a while but up till now have had neither the occasion nor time to actually put in into writing. I figure my last day of college is as worthy occasion as any other.

Below are the top ten records that I spun during my transformative super senior year in college. Some are newer records and artists, while others lay hidden in my library undiscovered till this year. Each resonated deeply with the events, emotions and experiences I engaged with during the last six months. I am forever indebted to the artists for their inspiration, entertainment and comfort.

Enjoy.

Top Ten Albums

1) The XX- xx

2) Neko Case- Blacklisted

3) Neko Case- Middle Cyclone

4) Florence and the Machine- Lungs

5) Bon Iver- For Emma, Forever Ago

6) Freelance Whales- Weathervanes

7) Lady Gaga- The Fame Monster

8) Local Natives- Gorilla Manor

9) Discovery- LP

10) Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton- What Is Free to A Good Home? EP

Honorable Mention: Mew- No More Stories Are Told Today..., Dirty Projectors- Bitte Orca, Paramore- Brand New Eyes, Taken By Trees- East of Eden, Yeah Yeah Yeahs- It's Blitz!

And for good measure:

Top Twenty Jams

1) The XX- Islands

2) Florence and the Machine- Drumming Song

3) The Black Keys- Meet Me in the City

4) Emily Haines- Rowboat

5) The Knife (in collaboration with Mt. Sims)- The Colouring of Pigeons

6) Neko Case- Deep Red Bells

7) Neko Case- Outro With Bees

8) Neko Case- Pharoahs

9) Freelance Whales- Generator (First Floor)

10) Local Natives- Wide Eyes

11) Yeasayer- Love Me Girl

12) Drake ft. Lykke Li- Little Bit

13) Mew- Introducing Palace Players

14) La Roux- Bulletproof (Zinc Remix)

15) Taken By Trees- To Lose Someone

16) Aceyalone ft. Z-trip- Everything Changes

17) Lady Gaga- Bad Romance

18) Dirty Projectors- No Intention

19) Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Hysteric (Acoustic)

20) LMFAO ft. Lil' Jon- Shots

Honorable Mention: Kid Sister- Right Hand Hi, Pitbul- Shut It Down, Lil' Wayne ft. Nikki Minaj- Knockout, Jay-Z- Death of Autotune, Brazilian Girls- Don't Stop, James Yuill- This Sweet Love, The Dream ft. Fabolous, Juelz Santana, Rick Ross & Ludacris- Rockin' that Shit, Radiohead- 4 Minute Warning, AmpLive- Weird Fishez/Video Tapez

It's Been A Long Trip...

Welcome to Earth.