Go Back Where You Come From, You Know This Ain’t Love

My dad is first generation Chinese American. In the car ride home today we talked about my decision to move to Atlanta – how scared I am because I don’t know anyone, don’t have connections, don’t have a job – and he started telling his dad’s story. My grandfather came to the United States when he was 12 years old. His parents bought him a name and social security number and sent him by himself. Both he and his parents knew that they would never see each other again. Occasionally they might write, and if they’re lucky, a phone call. But at 12 years old, he had to accept that he would never see his parents again, and his parents had to have faith that he would live a better life in the US.

Fast forward to the future to me, the second generation of this family. This is one of the reasons behind my tattoo. I have a responsibility to be the best person I can. I have to reach for the stars and work hard and believe in myself and live up to the greatness of my name. I believe I feel these responsibilities because my family’s struggle to come here is so tangible. I’ll admit that I feel less connected with my mom’s family because they’ve been here for generations. I have no sense of her history. But because I knew my grandfather and my grandmother, both of whom left their families for a better life, and saw their struggles, I feel more connected to their cause. I live a great life now, and I’d argue probably better than most. Every day I appreciate the sacrifices my parents made, and the obstacles their parents encountered.

For anyone out there who thinks that immigrants can’t/don’t/won’t contribute to America, you’re wrong. You’re completely wrong. If anything, those who can trace their heritage all the way back to the Mayflower are the most out of touch with what this country is about. My grandfather cheated the system to create a life in America. My grandmother memorized the sounds of the questions and answers to the citizenship test, which I’m sure most natural-born citizens couldn’t even pass. My grandfather worked every day of his life in America until he went to the hospital. Though my grandmother never learned English, she raised two brilliant children and worked until she couldn’t.

Those who witness the struggles or bear the burdens of freshly immigrating here are the ones who bleed the brightest, most American red blood.

Our Common Goal

I’ve read a few articles on the SpouseBUZZ blog about military partner life, and this article about families being “whiners” really caught my eye. (And this article about a family forced to leave their home the moment the husband deployed, but that’s for another post.) One of the main points she touches on is the fact that so many people in this country seem removed from war. And this is why I believe the Wikileak was so important. For some reason, we all stopped being angry about the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. And by “we” I mean the civilian population.

Waiting for the World to End

I’ve had a lot on my mind lately. I want to tell you to still be angry about what Wikileaks discovered. I want to talk about Rush Limbaugh’s impossibly stupid claim that non-profits rape the economy. I want to rant about how amazing Inception was and all the things I love about it. Instead, however, I will tell you about my personal battle with deciding to move to Atlanta.

BSG review: Home part 1

Sorry I’ve been behind. My birthday was last week, and then I had some important peoples to talk to and anyway, the point is, I’m back to not having a life. So here’s my next review.

BSG Review: The Farm

I think The Farm is one of the episode that opens a can of worms that’s never really answered by the end. I still love the episode though. And in case you hadn’t already noticed, I write as I watch the show. So while the thought process may not seem linear, it makes sense as you watch the episode. Here we go!

BSG Review: Resistance

Alright, next episode. And I’ll be putting my notes after the jump, just in case someone out there doesn’t want any spoilers. So spin up your FDL drives! (Because in order to jump…they have to spin up their FDL drives…and you’re going to…jump…to the rest of the entry…haha.)

BSG Review: Fragged

Last summer my friends and I watched all of the Battlestar Galactica re-imagined series within a month. I was talking to a friend about it the other day: BSG took over our lives, it was all we talked about, it was what we lived for. And it ended so suddenly. It’s only 4 seasons, but we’d watch 3 or 4 episodes a night. So I’ve decided to re-watch the entire series, one episode a night.

A couple days ago I was feeling especially inspired, and I wrote down everything the episode made me feel, things I realized, and just my overall analysis of the show’s structure. I did the same thing last night, and I thought “Hmm. Maybe I should actually do something with these notes to make me feel productive.” So that’s what I’ll be doing. Taking my notes, and then posting them here. I’m starting with season 2, episode 3: “Fragged.”

**please note: none of it is edited, so pardon my language, grammar and spelling errors.