acdw's recent activity
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Comment on Reclaiming Indian food from the white gaze in ~food
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Comment on Reclaiming Indian food from the white gaze in ~food
acdw Link ParentHere's where we disagree. I think it's important, as a white man, part of a group that has historically battered and minimized other groups, to take a personal responsibility to try not to cause...If it's intended to mock one self that is exactly what it is, irregardless of how tired the joke is. We have a responsibility to not find harm where it is not intended.
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There is no indication the older women in question did this. Indeed, with the exception of the very off handed mention of childhood bullying there is no indication anywhere in the article that this woman has had this occur to her.Here's where we disagree. I think it's important, as a white man, part of a group that has historically battered and minimized other groups, to take a personal responsibility to try not to cause harm. It's like harassment at the workplace -- it doesn't matter what was intended, if harm was caused, it was caused -- and an apology, in my mind, is necessitated.
I don't think that's really what the focus of the article is though. I think the author wrote an article speaking to her own experiences as a woman of color navigating a largely-white space that othered her for her culture and her food, and how she was able to transcend that in some way, and claim her own heritage back, by putting together a quarantine cookbook. I don't know, it just seemed like a neat story, and I liked reading it.
As far as the rest of your comment goes, I really liked @rabbit and @NaraVara's replies and agree with them.
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Comment on Getting my new skate boots! in ~hobbies
acdw Link ParentHaha! That would be pretty cold, now that I think about it :)Haha! That would be pretty cold, now that I think about it :)
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Comment on Reclaiming Indian food from the white gaze in ~food
acdw Link ParentI'm not sure where the parent comment or the source article made this assumption -- as a white American from the rural South I did not read that assumption in either text, but I might've missed...I really wish "whiteness" wasn't automatically associated with rural and/or ignorant white Americans.
I'm not sure where the parent comment or the source article made this assumption -- as a white American from the rural South I did not read that assumption in either text, but I might've missed something.
To be frank this assertion that an innocuous comment by a white lady about her indigestion othered the author is frankly ridiculous and the some of the worst excess of victimization culture imaginable. ... The woman was trying to relate to the author through her culture.
I think the problem with this kind of "relating" is that, when someone hears it all the time, it stops being funny or self-deprecating pretty quickly. It's also difficult to take as a joke when the same people who make this kind of self-deprecating humor also make fun of, or belittle, mock, jeer at, or even physically harm you just for aspects of yourself you can't change, like skin color or cultural background. The same is true with the examples you give for staining braces or setting off a fire alarm -- it's hard to separate the instance from the background of "your culture is [in some way] invalid."
Where is the outrage that Vietnamese immigrants have absolutely dominated and perfected Cajun cuisine in this region?
I've heard some about Viet-Cajun food, though I haven't had any; I think that the outrage is missing because there is no attempt to erase the Cajun-ness of the food. It is a pure sharing expression of cultural melding, and that is beautiful.
The problem that I think the author is coming up against is how white people, because of the background of colonialism and neocolonialism that we*'re barely conscious of much of the time, because we're steeped in it and it benefits us, do tend to erase people of color's contributions to our own cuisine. An example is linked in the article, actually: The Stew (here's that recipe, which is pretty obviously a curry, though she calls it a stew).
I took the piece as one of frustration, that the author has felt this way for much of her life, through no fault of her own; and as a way to write about reclaiming heritage through cooking by embracing her own cuisine and showing it to others without apology.
- I'm saying "we" as in "I", and other white people; I don't presume to know your own cultural background.
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Comment on Reclaiming Indian food from the white gaze in ~food
acdw Link ParentI want to expand on @gpl's comment, and add my take on "white gaze" -- I think "white gaze" refers to the cultural expectation, due to colonialism etc., that culture is made for white people --...I want to expand on @gpl's comment, and add my take on "white gaze" -- I think "white gaze" refers to the cultural expectation, due to colonialism etc., that culture is made for white people -- that their gaze, or experience, is the important one, the one to consider. Compare this to the "male gaze," where women are often expected to make themselves presentable to the received male conception of beauty, to see themselves through a male's eyes. Men, and white people, do not have the obverse expectation -- they are free to ignore the gaze of other people.
I think I read about the male gaze in "Ways of Seeing" by John Berger, though I've heard about it elsewhere too. Now that I think about it, I'm extrapolating from my understanding of male gaze to what I think white gaze means, so I could be wrong.
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Comment on J. Kenji López-Alt pays homage to an unusual and delicious combination: vanilla ice cream, Sichuan chile crisp, and peanut streusel in ~food
acdw LinkEverything in here, except maybe the PB and pickle sandwich (though I'd try it!), sounds SOOO GOOD. I want spicy ice cream now, really badly. I am going on a search for the ingredientes!Everything in here, except maybe the PB and pickle sandwich (though I'd try it!), sounds SOOO GOOD. I want spicy ice cream now, really badly. I am going on a search for the ingredientes!
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Comment on Getting my new skate boots! in ~hobbies
acdw Link ParentIs that Celsius? Or are you in some magical winter land where it's 32 F in May? :PIs that Celsius? Or are you in some magical winter land where it's 32 F in May? :P
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Comment on Getting my new skate boots! in ~hobbies
acdw Link ParentOoh now I'm wanting to go ice skating - the problem with roller skating esp in Louisiana is how HOTT it gets in the summer in the un-air-conditioned practice track I'd go to. So I agree with you...Ooh now I'm wanting to go ice skating - the problem with roller skating esp in Louisiana is how HOTT it gets in the summer in the un-air-conditioned practice track I'd go to. So I agree with you on the cold!
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Comment on Getting my new skate boots! in ~hobbies
acdw Link ParentRoller skating is great! I don't know enough about ice skating to tell the difference between the two, but roller skating is definitely a great time and better-suited to summer :) Turning ice...Roller skating is great! I don't know enough about ice skating to tell the difference between the two, but roller skating is definitely a great time and better-suited to summer :)
Turning ice skates into roller skates sounds like a great project!
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Comment on Getting my new skate boots! in ~hobbies
acdw LinkAwesome -- I used to roller-skate and getting my boots was a great time. Skating is so much fun! Does your local rink close down in the summer?Awesome -- I used to roller-skate and getting my boots was a great time. Skating is so much fun! Does your local rink close down in the summer?
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Comment on How Ayn Rand ruined my childhood in ~humanities
acdw LinkMy mom got me The Fountainhead when I was in highschool, though she told me it was because she thought I'd read it and want to be an architect. I believe her, actually -- her own politics are...My mom got me The Fountainhead when I was in highschool, though she told me it was because she thought I'd read it and want to be an architect. I believe her, actually -- her own politics are quite opposite Rand's (when I asked the difference between Republicans and Democrats, she told me "Democrats care about regular people), and she's notoriously out of the loop when it comes to matters of zeitgeist or pop culture -- she gets what she wants to out of media, nothing more. I actually really admire that about her, but I digress.
When I tried to read Atlas Shrugged last year or the year before, I couldn't even get through it. The characters were simply too selfish, too ignorant of their own privileges, for it to be believable. Rand built literal ubermenschen that literally could do no wrong -- she basically wrote a novel where the main characters were robots. I found it incredibly dull.
And her philosophy I find dangerous. I think it's a culmination of hundreds of years' worth of trying to divorce the mind from the "dirty" body, of which emotions are a part. We are all driven by our emotions, as well as our logical mind; to try and deny that emotions play a part in our decision making is hobbling ourselves and blinding ourselves to our own desires. The "selfishness" thing is pretty dumb too -- it seems, like for the father in the article, to lead to an extremely lonely existence.
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Comment on How should I host my images? in ~tech
acdw LinkWhat I do, and I realize this is a pretty specific solution, is host images with my Fastmail account. I get some amount of space (I forgot just how much) with my paid account, and I figure it's...What I do, and I realize this is a pretty specific solution, is host images with my Fastmail account. I get some amount of space (I forgot just how much) with my paid account, and I figure it's going to be CDN'd or whatever for my use-case enough that I don't have to worry about it. And while the web-upload is not as easy as Imgur or the like, it's functional.
Of course, if you don't have a Fastmail account, this doesn't apply. But other email hosts might have an option like it too, if they allow you to host arbitrary files.
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Comment on What did you do this weekend? in ~talk
acdw LinkOur foster dog got adopted this weekend, so we said goodbye to him ... I think his new home is going to be a really good fit. Before that, we took the dogs on what turned out to be a five-mile...Our foster dog got adopted this weekend, so we said goodbye to him ... I think his new home is going to be a really good fit.
Before that, we took the dogs on what turned out to be a five-mile walk around the city, which was strenuous but fun. Later, we went over to my mother in law's house to dog sit for her and worked on crocheting stuff -- my wife is doing pieces for our friends' impending baby, and I'm making my first blanket.
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Comment on Bottled water manufactured by Whole Foods and sold in most of its US stores and on Amazon contains potentially harmful levels of arsenic in ~enviro
acdw LinkI literally just bought a big bottle of this water yesterday because I forgot my usual water bottle at home. Ugggggghhhhhh I hardly ever shop at Whole Foods any more, too.I literally just bought a big bottle of this water yesterday because I forgot my usual water bottle at home. Ugggggghhhhhh
I hardly ever shop at Whole Foods any more, too.
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Comment on Elegy for a Country's Seasons [2014] in ~enviro
acdw LinkI never got into White Teeth, but Smith is a great writer and in this short essay distills so much of what environmentalism does and does wrong, I think. Choice quote: This article is written from...I never got into White Teeth, but Smith is a great writer and in this short essay distills so much of what environmentalism does and does wrong, I think. Choice quote:
That is, we always knew we could do a great deal of damage to this planet, but even the most hubristic among us had not imagined we would ever be able to fundamentally change its rhythms and character, just as a child who has screamed all day at her father still does not expect to see him lie down on the kitchen floor and weep.
This article is written from an English standpoint, and references the American. I'd love to hear what other small losses yall are experiencing due to climate change.
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Elegy for a Country's Seasons [2014]
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Comment on Google blew a ten-year lead in ~tech
acdw Link ParentI think this is an extremely perceptive response. Google's maybe done with the innovation space, and they're aiming for the background-of-our-lives space, like GE, etc. That's kind of terrifying.I think this is an extremely perceptive response. Google's maybe done with the innovation space, and they're aiming for the background-of-our-lives space, like GE, etc. That's kind of terrifying.
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Comment on Basecamp’s founders are trying to start an email rebellion with hey.com in ~tech
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Comment on I just became a U.S. citizen today in ~talk
acdw LinkCongratulations! Have you registered to vote? That's the only thing I can think of right now.Congratulations!
Have you registered to vote? That's the only thing I can think of right now.
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Comment on Basecamp’s founders are trying to start an email rebellion with hey.com in ~tech
acdw Link ParentNice! I didn't realize you could self-host protonmail!Nice! I didn't realize you could self-host protonmail!
Thanks for linking the documentary! I forgot it was around first, even :)