dude, where's my kuih raya?
2003-11-13

Reasons I love my school and the city it�s in

1. I pass filming crews on the way to class.

2. I can listen to intellectual discourse analyzing movies like "Dude, Where�s My Car?". I mean, where else in the world do leading intellectuals find meaning in inane pop culture?

3. I have conversations with openly gay professors who want to practice their Bahasa Indonesia. Did you know that the Indonesian word for a pondan is a combination of woman (wanita) and man (priya), wariya?

4. I learn about stuff I would never have known had I chosen to study in a different country, or a different state for that matter. Did you know that traditional Native American societies have a 3rd and sometimes a 4th gender, as opposed to the usual two we have?

It�s amazing the things people analyze these days. Intellectuals are no longer limiting themselves to "serious" text or art or whatever to analyze. They now turn to the ordinary; they say the most unpretentious things reveal the most insight on life.

Seriously, I would never have thought �Dude Where�s My Car?� as a commentary on the strategies of Stupid-White-Male-ism to negotiate dominance. Apparently, stupidity is a strategy to gain and remain in power � prime example, George W.
Plus, I love the fact that the professor who presented the paper was an out-of-the-closet lesbian who looked like a 16-year-old boy dressed in his dad�s suit.

The end of the term is near, and things are getting a little crazy. Research papers need to be worked on, math problems need to be analyzed, design models need to be built � yergh. I sense a stressful month ahead. I'm looking forward to building the model � I'm designing a Malay/Thai-influenced pavilion for a park, a la the Japanese garden in Central Park NYC. I'm crossing my fingers in the hopes that my professor would approve the design � I'd have an ethnic edge over my classmates and that always helps.

On a lighter note, Mommy�s sending over kuih raya.
Dude, sweet!