Keep on Waitin’

I have come to realize a huge reason as to why I prefer the west coast to the east: we seem to be much less stubborn and more progressive. (all statements hereafter are with the exception of gay marriage. WTF CALIFORNIA)

First off, the dotcom boom. Didn’t happen in New York or Boston or D.C. or wherever else there are cities here. It happened in the bay. Google, Yahoo!, Facebook, Twitter, HP, even Microsoft was founded in Washington state on the west coast. West coast doesn’t depend on old money – we make our money. We make our money because anyone who wants to make it had to invest everything they had in their start-ups, a term many east coasters don’t seem to know.

Second, while public transportation is most definitely more prominent and awesome on the east coast, we use cars, which means we have no limits. Trains can only go on the rails they were made for, and can only go from one end to another. In a car, you have control over your journey and destination. You can go on a freeway, surface street, back road, dirt road, the beach, anywhere, really. You don’t have to depend on anyone else’s schedule to get where you want to go.

And maybe it’s just because of the world I work in, but I feel like there’s nothing new or progressive happening in art, human rights, education, or anything really. People work to fit molds, to fit patterns they believe work because they have always worked. I see new organizations popping up everywhere, but I’ve never worked in one where I felt I was really seeing the progress. Don’t get me wrong, I love Human Rights Watch, but in the bay, I feel like I’m working with people who really feel the cause and want to make a change. While San Franciscans and Berkeleyans (sic?) usually don’t seem very bright or know what they’re really talking about, everyone else in the bay is usually pretty fucking smart.

Anyway, it was just another day in which I realized I love the west coast, despite it’s backwards issues with gay marriage. Fuck you, SoCal. You can suck my moderately liberal cock.

With My Freezeray I Will Stop the World

I just saw a group of interns go by – it’s orientation day. I chuckled and thought to myself “None of them is as awesome as I am.”

How do I know that? Well, besides the fact that I just am, I’ve been thinking (as I’m sure they have as well): Why am I here? I think back to an episode of E.R. when Dr. Benton is interviewing new residents. He asks them “Why do you want to be a doctor?”, to which they all reply “I want to help people.” The point of the scene is that all doctors want the same thing, and while it’s all fine and dandy, it’s nothing special. I feel the same logic applies here – we all want to be involved with human rights to change the world, give a voice to the silent, help people, make the world a better place.

And though I want these things, I believe my reason, my main reason, is a bit more selfish. I want to work for Human Rights Watch (or just in the human rights community in general) because I believe it’s better than being a photojournalist. I don’t want to photograph these violations and events anymore. I want to research and network and communicate and do more than just photograph. It would be awesome if I could be a photographer for HRW or anyone else, but I think I’d rather make the phone calls.

Anyway, my supervisor just sent me something to do. Finally. And btw, you should come to the film festival.

Got Your Sunglasses On Baby

My bosses today were discussing the press release about the film festival, and how it’s different from all the other human rights main stream films, like Hotel Rwanda and Blood Diamond. One of them said “I mean, Blood Diamond was good, but it’s not going to make people change or anything.”

I feel like that’s not fair to say. To start, because of Blood Diamond, I decided I didn’t want to be a journalist. Second, if it’s not main stream, you can’t reach a wider audience. People who will come to our film festival want to see these films. Blood Diamond and Hotel Rwanda, however, have big names and play in more theatres. I don’t think we should hate on other films – if they do what we’re also trying to achieve, then awesome. Right?

I think it makes sense. Anyway, back to work.