the mission statement of the norristown neighborhood project is:

"To promote positive change through youth education, community leadership, green spaces, the arts, and the celebration of Latino culture."

re: the book of salt:

i finished it this morning
...i liked it.
TBoS comes "full circle" in the way it's told -- not focusing so much on a distinct storyline or conflict as much as on the gradual revealing of a character. i ended up with a lot of questions about the ending of the book, because so much of it was so vague. and yet, i'm thinking back to the chinese folk stories i read at my grandma's house when i was really little, and remembering that i always had a similar feeling after those... the feeling that things are left unfinished and that the rest of the story is up to you to fill in.

Tuesdays always suck for me because I have three courses that all leave me feeling drained, be it from the discussion or from a very late time frame. Today was not different from this sad pattern that has become a painful habit for this whole semester. I wanted to write a post unpacking what I felt like during the class and how frustrated I am in continuing a discussion that centers Blackness as the culprit of racism, when it never was/isnt and cant be. I want to write and attach links to things I feel like are interesting, but don't have the energy. Im doing what I can and trying to engage. It is just a lot that I dont have the patience to explore in a classroom context. 

in a comment that anne left on the first english paper i wrote in our 360: "I also note that you don’t mention your own positionality in the complicatedly linked stories you tell here...Your difficult, stretching story makes me wonder what other stories of being Asian-American might deepen even further the probing account you give here of 'looking for innocence.’” 

i'm not sure how to reflect on class today - it seems like we've had this same conversation a million times and nothing has changed. i want to reiterate what i said earlier, that it's okay (it's good!! it is - actually - necessary) for us to allow ourselves to be wrong. people keep getting caught up in proving that they're right or clarifying that they didn't mean to offend anyone. i think we can all assume that no one means to offend others - that doesn't mean it's not going to happen. it's more valuable to accept that you said something fucked up than try to defend yourself. (i know that's easier said than done!! no one likes being wrong/feeling mean!!!) people have also gotten defensive when someone tries to move the conversation in a different direction.

Binh's father's voice seems to function much like a haunting, appearing throughtout the novel in almost a ghostly manner as Binh attempts to make a life for himself in France. I'm interested in exploring the ways in which this haunting might function to drive Binh forward--to make some sort of change--as the ghost does to her host in Beloved. 

       Truong interweaves the ideas of writing, cooking, sexuality and identity. Binh reflects extensively on what it means to speak a language not one's own and what it means to be forced into silence; to be exiled from a home to which one never fully belonged and identified with the very things from which one is ostracized.

Coupla things:

I think in part due to The Book of Salt, one thing that really struck me from the video was using food as

“Who are you?” she asked blankly. She wasn’t joking…” Hi Yummy Mommy.” At least she knew who I was. (176)