Yum. (Response to "You're not fluffy, just morbidly obese" by Hyesung Roh)

Response to "You're not fluffy, just morbidly obese" by Hyesung Roh

Mr. Thread

I am simply abashed

When I came over for brunch

You did not taste sweet

or chewy

or morbidly toothsome

What I meant to say was,  you taste..

always as if you're about to point out

that I am, yes I am, in fact

healthy and – and full

Yes, thats what you tell me every bite I take

Thank you for being all of your eight cherry pies. That look on your face, and I can't stop.

Monthly TOEFL Essay #2: Minority rules (unabridged version)

IN THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY,
THE GENDER MINORITY GROUPS

WILL RISE TO BE THE MAJORITY GROUPS

This century will bring a particular sort of social change: one where the world turns over placing minority groups of long history at the top of society. Who are these minority? Two groups have evidently begun the march up to this metamorphosis. One is half of the whole population treated not even human for so long; the other is a much smaller group whose gender identity differs from their biological sex. They are going to rule the world. 

Ladies first. Women's rights are improving: that has been the trend for the last several decades. Changes have been consistently elevating the status of women even since the 21st century began. Ever heard of the term 'alpha girl'? It was sort of a fad a few years ago in the beginning of this century. It indicated a girl or a woman who excelled in activities beyond any man. It indicated a girl or a woman was generally expected to be inferior to males, but there were a few exceptions so exceptional they deserve a whole nice cute phrase to themselves. That's what people thought at the time.  

That phrase quietly crept into the shadows. There are no 'alpha girl's. Every girl is exceptional, and no girl is expected to be naturally inferior to men. Now, people acknowledge that females should no longer be considered any different than men, though action doesn't always follow. People don't believe in 'alpha girl's anymore: they believe in 'alpha people'. Or at least they know they should. That's how we are now equal. There were fights, there was media, there were individual alpha girls, there were stupid men, and there were brave women. There was 'equal'.  

But will it stop there? Men used to be the ruling species; they weren't equal, they were over women. They were at the top of societies, and they controlled. They were the only gender that ruled. The only. So won't women become the only ones to rule as well? They say the qualities required for this century are those of the feminine sort; empathy, sensitivity, carrying out tasks in a detailed manner, knowing how to be subtle. Of course, not all women possess these qualities and not all men don't, but generally speaking, this is what society thinks women have. This is what higher jobs of the new era require, them being more about investment, management, and social relationships. At least, that's what people have started thinking. Among 64,000 people surveyed in thirteen nations, two thirds feel the world would be a better place if men thought more like women. Women are wanted. They will be placed on the top, soon. Or else, they'll make they're own way there. 

Then we have homosexuals. As was just mentioned, feminine qualities are desired in society today. Now, there are gay men who have these feminine qualities. These are the rulers coming after women in the 21C social hierarchy. There is more to this story. Besides women-like traits, there is another thing the society currently needs. Less people. The Earth is overflowing with people. It's gross. People are using up everything. However, it seems like people aren't going to change their style of living for at least quite some time. 

So what can be changed? The number of the pests on the planet. Evolution will happen. There are too many people. Too many people breed. There need to be less people who breed. Homosexuals don't really breed. Or they can perfectly control it. They are what Earth wants more of instead of these destructive heterosexuals. More and more people will gain the mutation. Eventually, the human kind will evolve towards being homosexuals.  

Now you whine, "But our species can't survive if we don't breed!" No, we can survive fine. Why is it homosexuals and not infertile people? Humans have rather amazingly developed technology to the point where no actual breeding is required to give birth to offspring. So if we are mostly homosexuals, then we can control birth rates. I think nature knows that. Gay people are the next step in evolution. That's why so many homosexuals are what is currently viewed by people as 'awesome'. These 'awesome' people will jump up hoppidy hop, up to the top. Then they will ameliorate policies, and even more homosexuals will rule our world.

Women will be the ruling gender of our world, and then gay people will be. It does seem a little radical for the current century. But think about what happened in the previous one. People went from being unable to communicate at distances more that ten meters away to seeing each others faces live while on opposite sides of the Earth. Technology turned over.  Society will. 

Monthly TOEFL Essay #2: Minority rules

IN THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY,
THE GENDER MINORITY GROUPS

WILL RISE TO BE THE MAJORITY GROUPS

This century will bring a particular sort of social change: one where the world turns over placing minority groups of long history at the top of society. Who are these minority? Two groups have evidently begun the march up to this metamorphosis. One is half of the whole population treated not even human for so long; the other is a much smaller group whose gender identities are peculier. They will rule the world. 

Ladies first. Ever heard of the term 'alpha girl'? It was sort of a fad a few years ago. It indicated a girl or a woman who excelled in activities beyond a man. It indicated a girl or a woman was generally expected to be inferior to males, but there were a few exceptions so exceptional they deserved a whole nice cute phrase to themselves.

That phrase quietly crept into the shadows. People don't believe in 'alpha girl's anymore. Every girl is exceptional, and no girl is expected to be naturally inferior to men. Or at least people know that that should be the case. There is 'equal'.  

But will it stop there? Men used to be the ruling species; they weren't 'equal', they were the only gender that ruled. So can't women gain that position? The qualities required for this century are those of the feminine sort; empathy, sensitivity, detailed manner, being subtle. It is what higher jobs of the new era require, them being more about investment, management, and social relationships. Of course, not all women possess these qualities and not all men don't, but generally speaking, this is what society thinks women have. At least, that's what people have started to think. Among 64,000 people surveyed in thirteen nations, two thirds feel the world would be a better place if men thought more like women. Women are wanted. They will be placed on the top, soon. Or else, they'll make they're own way there. 

Then we have homosexuals. As was just mentioned, feminine qualities are desired in society today. Now, there are gay men who have these qualities. These are the rulers to come after women. There is more to this story for besides women-like traits, there is another thing the society currently needs. Less people. Earth is overflowing. Humans are using up everything. However, it seems like people aren't going to change their lifestyles for quite some time. 

So what can be changed? The number of the pests on the planet. There need to be less people who breed. Homosexuals don't. They're what Earth wants more of instead of destructive heterosexuals. Evolution. More and more people will be born with the mutation. Eventually, mankind will evolve towards being homosexuals.  

Now some may whine, "But our species can't survive if we don't breed!" No, we can survive fine. Why is it homosexuals and not infertile people? Humans have developed technology to the awe-striking point where no actual breeding is required to create offspring if there's the material. So if we are mostly homosexuals, we can control birth rates. Nature knows that. 

Gay people are the next step in evolution. That's why so many homosexuals are what is currently viewed by people as 'awesome'. These 'awesome' people will jump up to the top. Then they will ameliorate policies, and even more homosexuals will rule our world.

Women will be the ruling gender of our world, and then gay people will be. It does seem a little radical for the current century. But think about what happened in the previous one. People went from being unable to communicate at distances more than a hundred meters away to seeing each others faces live while on opposite sides of the Earth. Technology turned over.  Society will, too.

Monthly TOEFL Outline #2: Minority rules

IN THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY,
THE GENDER MINORITY GROUPS

WILL RISE TO BE THE MAJORITY GROUPS

Weird. Right? The major change I think this century will bring is a particular sort of social change: where the world turns over placing long long minority groups at the top of society. Who are these minority? I saw two evident groups that were marching right up to this metamorphosis. One is the gender-wise minority group; the other is really young people. They are going to rule the world. I think. Why oh why would I possibly think this?

WOMEN AND HOMOSEXUALS

1. Women's rights are improving: that has been the trend for the last several decades

• Everyone's heard of this. We all know that women were treated really bad and then they started being treated as humans, became enfranchised, and are now looked upon as equal to men by most people.

• So now women are equal. 

• But not so far in the 21st century, women aren't going to stop there. They will rise and become socially what men used to be in the past for hundreds of years; the lone dominant race of the planet for the most part. 

• I know it sounds radical, but it is not unlikely. 

• Ever heard of the term 'alpha girl'? It was sort of a fad a few years ago in the very beginning of the 21st century. It indicated a girl or a woman who could do multiple things at once, or one who excelled in activities beyond any man. It indicated a girl or a woman was generally expected to be inferior to males, but there were a few exceptions so exceptional they deserve a whole nice cute phrase to themselves. That's what people thought at the time. That's what women actually were at the time: it's only very recent so many females started getting out of the household more.

• That phrase disappeared. There are no 'alpha girl's. Every girl is exceptional, and no girl is expected to be naturally inferior to men. Even back then, women were thought to be 'equals', but that wasn't in the whole spirit of the word. Now people acknowledge that females should no longer be considered any different than men, though action doesn't always follow. People don't believe in 'alpha girl's anymore: they believe in 'alpha people'. Or at least they know they should. 

• That's how we are now equal. There were fights, there was media, there were individual alpha girls, there were stupid men, and there were brave women. There was 'equal'. 

• But will it stop there? 

• Men used to be the ruling species; they weren't equal, they were over women. They were at the top of societies, and they controlled. They were the only gender that ruled. The only. 

• So won't women become the only ones to rule as well? 

• They say the qualities required for this century are those of the feminine sort; empathy, sensitivity, carrying out tasks in a detailed manner, knowing how to subtle. Of course, not all women possess these qualities and not all men don't, but generally speaking, this is what society thinks 'feminine'. This is what higher jobs of the new era require, them being more about investment, management, and social relationships. Even if it isn't, that's what people have started thinking. Among 64,000 people surveyed in thirteen nations, two thirds feel the world would be a better place if men thought more like women. Women are wanted. They will be placed on the top, soon.

     2.  And then we have the homosexuals

• Feminine qualities are wanted, right? 

• Now we have gay men who have those feminine qualities. These are the next rulers in the 21C social hierarchy. 

• Now, there is another thing the society currently needs. That is less people. The Earth is overflowing with people. It's gross. People are using up everything. We all know about environmental issues, don't we? And guess what: it seems like people aren't going to change their style of living for at least quite some time. So what else can be changed? The number of the pests on the planet. 

• There's this thing called 'evolution'. Although some people don't believe in 'big evolution', like from a frog to an elephant, most believe in at least 'small evolution', like from an early form of humans to what we are now. I hope you do to. Because what I'm about to suggest here is a rather radical form of small evolution. 

• There are too many people. Too many people breed. There needs to be less people who breed. Homosexuals don't really breed. Or they can perfectly control it. They are what Earth wants more of instead of these destructive heterosexuals. More and more people will gain the mutation. Eventually, the human kind will evolve towards being homosexuals. 

• Now you whine, "But our species can't survive if we don't breed!" No, we can survive fine. Why is it homosexuals and not infertile people? Humans have rather amazingly developed technology to the point where no actual breeding is required to give birth to offspring. So what happens if we are mostly homosexuals is that we can control birth rates. 

• I think nature knows that. 

• See. gay people are the next step in evolution. That's why so many homosexuals are so awesome. 

• These awesome people will jump up hoppidy hop up to the top. Then they will ameliorate policies, and even more homosexuals will rule our world.

I Draw.

I don’t remember when I started to draw. I was told I quickly took on to drawing at the very early age I was introduced to it. One of my earlier great works is a tiger. Scribbles going up and down all ways like this; and they were a tiger. A tiger. Brilliant. Amazing if I think about it now. I didn’t know how to draw a tiger, but I wanted one recreated on paper and so I did whatever I could. And I’m positive I thought it was the ultimate epitome of the panthera tigris species at the time. I wanted to draw, and so I did. 

What have I become.

I grew up drawing. There probably wasn’t a day I went in elementary school without drawing something, may it be the slightest doodle in the margin of history textbook. I remember in third grade I would hurl my school bag in the corner of the sofa as soon I got home and grab a piece of A4 sized paper from the printer, sit down at the table, pull out my multicolor and all terrain pen from my pocket, and get started on business because I had a new style of drawing an eye that I had been storing up all day so I could get to my multicolor pen and pour all that eye out. The eye had the gleam shining in my eyes at that moment. I grew up drawing.

But by the time I learned there existed a certain thing called ranking of scores, something had changed. I had no longing anymore. Drawing was never first priority. I didn’t feel like it. I didn’t really have something I wanted to depict either. Instead it stuck to my hand and became a habit I’d never quite asked for. Lemony Snicket said in The Slippery Slope that fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant filled with odd waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don’t always like. Now my life is like that. And an awful lot of waiters comprise half empty bones of shaky pen strokes, muscles filled with the most delicate of curves that turn out to be nothing, and skin emitting an iridescent hue simply came into existence out of sheer sake of creating the concoction of color itself. 

I’m addicted. I can’t let my hands be when I’m listening to something or watching TV. So I move them and something is recreated on paper. But this time I didn’t want to draw a tiger. I didn’t want to draw anything. I don’t want to draw anything anymore. But the problem is that I don’t have anything else I like even remotely as much as how I liked drawing. And so I hold on to that stark memory I have of the joy I felt in art a few years earlier. It’s going nowhere.

Then I realized with some advice from a particular teacher that I needed time to experiment. I’m doing that now. I was assigned to fill a small sketchbook up with this subject I had never actually much tried drawing before: myself. I don’t know where this will lead, but what else do I have to do? I’ll grow up drawing.

Thought #1: A fish lives in water

Sometimes change happens.

Sometimes things return to the state they use to be.

But that is also change.

People are very subjective to changes in the environment around them.

People imitate other people.

But that is also change.

Sometimes people change because of the environment around them.

Sometimes people return to the state they used to be before they imitated others.

But everything is change.

I hate it when I detect change.

I don't necessarily hate change.

But I hate you if you change.

You did not have to change.

But you did change.

And that hurt.

I know you didn't mean it.

But you don't even know you didn't mean it.

People don't usually notice they changed.

Sometimes they don't notice you.

But you notice them.

A fish lives in water.

We know it can't live out of water.

But did it live in water before it was a fish?

Or did it become a fish because it had to live in water?

I hate the water the fish loves.

Don't imitate its flow.

Don't be a part of all that everything.

Don't hate me because I hate change.

Don't think you mean it when you freeze.

Don't notice how I stray.

I hate the place you've come to love.

I love some things sometimes.

But sometimes change happens.

It just does.

And people are very subjective to changes in the environment around them.

So are you.

But I love it when you're not a part of everything.

Do you like dry land?

Reflection on Nacirema: Reading Ritual among the Asnim Tribe

The common member of our education system has become so familiar with the diversity of ways in which different peoples answer to similar assignments, that he is not likely to be surprised by even the most ridiculous of minjok customs introduced in our blogs. However, there is a certain tribe called the Asnim that shows the end of the spectrum of where human behavior can go.

The Asnims are a rather newly introduced people, brought to attention about eighteen years ago. They are an East Asian group found in residence over an expanse of over three hundred acres of land in a high altitude region. Their territory is located between the Ruetsap region and the Asos culture. Research testifies the Asnim nation was created when some of the Naerok tribe relocated in hopes of constructing the pure, perfect utopia appearing in the legends of Kojnim, their holy script.

The Asnim culture is characterized by a highly developed bartering economy, which seems to have completely replaced the use of physical currency elements once present. From frequent trade, the denizens of the Asnim nation gain magical substances that can either calm or disrupt their digestive systems according to need. This enables them to gain ample energy for the ritual activity they contribute most of their time to. This rite is the reading of holy scripts. The focus of this activity is on the 'luminating board'. Although the application of various types of slate-like boards has been found as a common facet of life in numerous cultures since prehistoric times, the ceremonial usage of the boards in Asnim culture is quite bizarre.

Each individual of the tribe possesses at least one big board and one small board. The big board consists two stone slates attached to each other, while the small board is one slate small enough to be carried in a single hand. Both are used for the same purposes. When highly structural and very specific finger movements are performed on them, the boards light up and fill up with holy blue letters of a sacred script called the 'Koobecaf'. The Koobecaf is an eclectic document made up mostly of diverse writings on ancient history and studies on human psychology.

The Asnims show remarkable obsession about these boards and the Koobecaf. They exhibit almost masochist behavior in taking care of the boards. Carrying around the boards to everywhere they go, the Asnims tire out completely their finger and arm muscles over the day in being insanely cautious never to drop the boards lest so much as a scratch appear on their surfaces. They also stare into the luminated side for hours straight until their heads ache, for the alleviation of which they frequently pour a type of holy water named 'Skistoh' into their throats. All this is so that they can keep reading the Koobecaf. They seem to believe the Koobecaf offers every solution to problems in social relationships, government policies, and other sectors of everyday life. The Asnims have also been found to be able to communicate directly through the boards at even long distance by engraving marks called 'Ekil' into the Koobecaf.

But there is also an entirely different type of holy reading ritual present in the Asnim world. This is the reading of higher texts written in a language different from the one the Koobecaf is in. However, unlike the reading of the Koobecaf, this ritual is not open to all members of the tribe. The 'Citsemod' caste, deemed unfit for such lofty holy activities, is excluded from this activity. The rest of the tribe, refered to as the 'Tanretni', marches several times a week to a special temple located at the top of the central hill, near the residential structures, chanting the spell 'nawgoyggnoey'. Once inside the temple, they are separated into smaller groups and sent to certain specialized chambers, where they are guided by the priests called 'Ti-cer's to read and understand ancient scripts. Although all this is a very secretive rite, I was able to infiltrate into one of the chambers where the ceremony was taking place. Recent tribal focus seems to be decoding the works of the great ancient scholar 'Renim Ecaro'.

Because the language in the documents read in this sort of ritual is very different from the usual found in the Koobecaf, most Asnims find it very arduous to decipher the material given in the temple. They often do not understand the full meaning of the texts, and so the Ti-cers, who have gained full insight in the language and content, are placed in ultimate power among the tribe. They are in charge of holding the sacrifices, including the annual 'Erutcip-tac' ritual, and the legal punishments including the 'Mujlub'.




The Asnims did not understand the Nacirema, as we do not understand the Asnims. The Asnims were so busy applying prejudices and forming opinions against the seemingly horrific customs of the Nacirema that they didn't realize they performed the same rituals everyday.

I didn't realize I performed the same ridiculous rituals everyday.

The Asnims