My 500th post

I wish I could say that I saw this coming--that I had planned something extraordinarly insightful to share with you on this, my 500th post. But the truth is, I was planning to upload a YouTube video of something that a few of you may have already seen--a video talking about the rapid rise and spread of mass media and communication technology, especially as it has created the current global information network as we now know it (and, I think, consciously or unconsciously tapping into our fears about China and India becoming dominant global powers, in terms of sheer numbers and in terms of mass brain power).

So when I went to log-in and saw that I had written 499 posts and this was going to be my 500th, I thought that it was a milestone worth noting.

[pause for deep thoughts to percolate and spill over to convey the profound wisdom I want to share at this moment]

OK, I got nothing.

Well, almost nothing.

I must admit that I am considered a late adapter, technologically speaking. I have never been on the front lines of any new technology trend.

[Aside: Heck, we may as well dispense with the "technology" part--I think the only thing I can claim as being ahead of the populist curve was my discovery via a college roommate and cousin in Toronto of the first Bare Naked Ladies album, so when they hit BIG TIME in the U.S. in the mid-1990s, I could claim that I'd been listening to them for YEARS (OK, maybe just 3) before everyone else.]

I was late to Facebook, and to this day I do not really check it regularly or do anything with it aside from add and ignore friend requests (my philosophy is that if I weren't ever really friends with you in high school why are we pretending to be friends now?). I don't have a MySpace page; I've never purchased anything on eBay; and I neither twitter nor send text messages (although I do receive them, reluctantly--at one point I had the text message functioning turned off, but I must admit that there are times when I can see text messaging coming in handy, so I had it turned back on, but again, mostly to be on the receiving rather than sending end).

I wouldn't say I'm a luddite or a techno-phobe. I think in some ways I'm an old-fashioned gal who prefers to read with a book in her hand outdoors, although I admit that sometimes I'm plugged into my iPod while doing this and listening to podcasts I've downloaded from various websites. And I have a few stations on Pandora that I'm fond of listening to as I work on my laptop computer.

And of course blogging--I thought it was a silly, egotistical exercise in narcissism when I first heard about it back in the day (which would have been about 6-7 years ago). And I couldn't understand the attraction and could never imagine I'd ever be reading blogs let alone BLOGGING--I mean really, what kind of verb is "to blog"! RIDICULOUS.

Of course, I have since eaten my words. 500 times over. But I think what attracts me to blogging is, in some senses, still old-fashioned. Which is the writing. I like the writing--the communication of ideas. What this blog and the blogs I read facilitates are conversations with folks I would not have access to in my normal everyday life. And for me, especially, because I am invested in investigating issues of race and racism and in working on being an anti-racist educator, this medium has been ideal for putting my thoughts out there and hearing others in return.

So thank you, dear reader. Whether you are coming to this site for the first time or were there in the early days of my single and double digit posts, I appreciate knowing that I'm not just writing into a void but am writing to engage in smart conversations with a variety of people who both disagree and agree or push back against the things I'm saying.

And finally, here's that YouTube video I talked about at the top of this post:

Justice, Paris style

Today I had some consultants from Best Buy come in to give me the low down on where I should be placing the new LCD flat screen tv I plan to be purchasing in the next few months (the Samsung 13" that I bought 12 years ago is finally on the fritz and since I paid $350 originally, and since it would cost at least that much to fix it, I figured a new tv was on my horizon). For those of you who will derisively tell me that getting consultants in was a waste of money, I actually think for someone as technologically challenged, both in terms of know-how and in terms of current trends, having them here was very helpful, although they pretty much regarded me like a crazy person when I told them I was not investing in HDTV, and no, I don't have TIVO or On Demand or anything else (I pay $20 for cable and adding HDTV would be $50--why do it? I don't want that much tv, but I want to sink a tv on my wall and watch movies).

Why am I bringing all of this up? Partly to show how ignorant I am of technology trends, or maybe trends in general, which is a bit myopic for one who claims to be interested in race and popular culture.

But I just feel like I can't be bothered and it's now how I want to choose to spend my money. I mean, sure, I could spend a ton of money on a home theater system. But since I watch about 2 hours of tv a day, at most, this doesn't seem to be a good investment. And since I don't care all that much about the quality of my picture or sound, again, doesn't seem like the best way to spend my money--I even turned off the text messaging function on my cell phone because I can't be bothered with receiving, let alone sending messages.

And thus, I also don't follow certain celebrity trends and stories. Like the Paris Hilton jail thing. I mean, one can't help but hear rumblings about all of this, and yet, I never bothered to click on the link in the NY Times...until today. Because today's headline announced that after 5 days, Paris would be moved from her prison cell to her home--that she would spend her remaining jail time under house arrest.

Gross.

That's what it feels like. A gross injustice of the American penal and justice system. A gross injustice in terms of class and celebrity status. And since I pretty much feel Paris Hilton is gross herself (I just don't get why she's all that--blond, thin, and willing to wear skimpy clothing and act stupid, is that her appeal?), gross seems to be the right word to describe how I feel about this whole situation. It's gross that she was able to buy her way out of jail because of her family's power and her current celebrity status.

And really, is anyone surprised that a rich, blond white girl would be able to cry her way out of jail? I'm sure all the incarcerated prisoners, of color or not, who are poor, working class, and particularly those who are black and Latino who have been targeted, racially, I'm sure they can all empathize with poor little Paris.