Do you believe in magic?

If it hasn't started raining by the time I leave my home in Virginia for work in DC AND I carry my umbrella, my magic umbrella will control the weather until I return home that evening rendering it useless (other than the magical part).

So, for those people in the DC/MD/VA metropolitan area, when it's supposed to rain, but hasn't, be glad I'm hauling my huge umbrella around the district.

Conversely, when it's not supposed to rain, and it has, feel free to curse me for not hauling my huge umbrella.

Today, it's raining. I'm wearing a newly purchased cologne which, being newly purchased, I'm not used to how much spritz comes out with how much pressure. For those who had to sit around me on the bus, train, and in any meetings today, if my cologne is giving you a headache, I apologize. I tried to wash some off in the bathroom but apparently, I have magic cologne too, it's like long lasting mascara, it's just not budging.

On a side note: When it rains, the back of the bus usually collects water on the seats from leaks in the emergency exit on the roof. Today, I was one of the last to board the bus and had only wet seat options. So, I looked around, and then opened my magic Mary Poppins bag (it has practically everything and anything you need in it) and pulled out two tabloid newspapers (with Wednesday and Thursday's crosswords) and threw them on top of the small puddle to soak up the water, and then sat down on top of them. A lady in the oppososite corner of the bus (who I've always secretly disliked) smiled at me and my ingenuity and I smiled back.

Why have I secretly disliked her? The first morning I rode on the bus, she was on her mobile phone talking to her child. I could hear her telling her child to lie to the teacher, say she had some kind of problem, and ask to go to the nurse so she could somehow either play hooky or get out of doing something, and if the nurse asked certain questions to lie to the nurse. I formed a bad opinion of her parenting abilities and then every time she sat down, she'd take up her seat and put her bag in the seat next to her to deter anyone else from sitting. I prefer people who wait until the bus/train has moved and all are seated before taking up extra seats with carry-on bags. Now that she's smiled, I don't dislike her as much as I did before, but the seat-hogging has got to stop.

Celebrity Crushes (who I'll admit to)

On a lighter note, from my last blog.

I have a variety of odd celebrity crushes. Either my crush is odd or the celebrities themselves are odd. Two celebrity crushes I will publicly admit include Jim J. Bullock and Russell Brand.

Jim J. Bullock (actor) was most popular way back when in the television situational comedy "Too Close for Comfort." I believe my first regular exposure to him was via Hollywood Squares and ALF. He's the younger guy standing on the left in the group picture from the televion series. Nowadays, he occasionally does cameo appearances in independent films. I also saw him on the Oxygen Network's game show "I've got a secret." Apparently, Jim J. doesn't have many secrets left. His lover died with AIDS, he is HIV seropositive, and he is a homosexual. He's always a goofy, hilarious riot. And when I last saw him on the Oxygen Network he had a beautiful frame, nice arms and shoulders. Speaking of frames... he was the inspiration for me buying the glasses I did a couple years back, a retro looking bottomless frame.

Russell Brand (comedian) is my brand new crush. He's described himself as the "S&M Willy Wonka." First he's got the British accent. Need I say more? Second, he's comfortable with his masculinity. Although he is a heterosexual, he has a way of being masculine that is still comfortable with his feminine side (tight jeans, big hair, sexual jokes). I find the combination fun, unpredictable, and appealing. I'm even considering buying one of the T-shirts from Brand's web site that has one of his catchphrases " 'citin' "
emblazoned on the front.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll ever get my hair as high as his (but I didn't say I wouldn't try).

Koreans and the Virginia Tech Massacre

He was Korean.
His parents worked in dry cleaners.
He grew up in Centreville, VA.

Hmmm.... Anything sound familiar?
I'm Korean (half).
My mother owns/ed dry cleaners.
I grew up in Centreville, VA.

On Monday, the news bulletins announced the shootings at Virginia Tech by an Asian man in a black hooded sweatshirt. I knew right away he was Korean. I felt it in my gut. My mother had the same reaction. I prayed that I was wrong and that the shooter was Indian, even though I knew it was to no avail.

Odd thing is- every Korean person with whom I've talked so far had the same gut feeling (sans the praying it was an Indian guy).

The Washington Post quotes a South Korean-born secretary in Annandale saying, "I am so sorry about this. Every Korean person is so very sorry." South Korean President Roh even offered condolences. South Korean citizens gathered in a vigil outside the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. Korean immigrants in Northern Virginia gathered in churches, schools and the county government center and are planning collection drives on Sunday for the victims' families. Moreover, the South Korean ambassador to the US, Lee Tae-shik, vowed to go on a 32-day fast to mourn for the 32 killed, while urging other Korean residents in the U.S. to join.

Did white people start a collection drive for the Oklahoma City bomber victims? Did black people hold a vigil for the victims of the D.C. snipers just because the snipers were black? Perhaps I am not being ethnically specific enough?

When one of the 9/11/01 terrorists is from Afghanistan, do Afghanis feel the same responsibility? Do Germans feel responsible for Hitler (too historical)? Not being Afghani or German or identifying with a host of other nationalities/ethnicities, I just wonder if this sense of shame and responsibility and embarrassment and guilt are world-wide, just Korean, or just me.

When an American soldier is convicted of raping an Iraqi girl and killing her and her family, it makes me depressed. Nevertheless, somehow I can maintain some distance with a bad soldier even if he might have come from the same state or area of the country. But this disturbed Korean boy has tinged me with shame, and if I'm only half Korean, I can only imagine how bad a full-blooded Korean person might feel. I just find this idea of collective shame and embarrassment very Korean. Similarly, the often crass humor of Margaret Cho used to be protested by many members of the Korean community. So, I believe it's a Korean thing. There was an op/ed in the Washington Post discussing/criticizing the Korean community's multiple apologies saying enough is enough. This is just how we do things (I'm sorry).

At least it's not just me...that's comforting.

On another note, slightly related, I wondered why all of the media seemed to call the shooter "Cho Seung Hui" which would be Korean-style Surname (CHO) Given Name (Seung Hui) and not in the European/American style "Seung Hui Cho." They do the same thing with Korean diplomats occasionally and I think they should just stick to the American stylebook. It won't be confusing for Koreans because the last name is quite obvious either way. They should just make it clear for Americans who may not be able to tell the difference.

Bus seating

Now if you listen closely
I'll tell you what I know
Storm clouds are gathering
The wind is gonna blow
The race of man is suffering
And I can hear it moan,
'Cause nobody
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.
- Maya Angelou

Yeah, so, I hate to admit this. When I was younger (much younger), they introduced the idea of the Civil Rights Movement by talking about Rosa Parks and the bus boycotts. After overcoming the first hurdle of why people were treating other people differently based on looks/race, I still had one more hurdle. I should preface the hurdle with this- I took the bus to school. And on the bus, there was a definite heirarchy in the seating of children. Cool kids and/or older kids got to sit in the back of the bus. Teacher's pets sat in the front of the bus. Now, by "teacher's pets," I do not limit the population to children toward whom teacher showed any favoritism, but also those over-achievers, kids who asked if they could have extra homework, or if the teacher had forgotten assigning anything, they would be so helpful as to remind the teacher, and that kid who just HAD to be the line-leader. And at that point in my academic career, I was not a teacher's pet. That really didn't come until college, and by then if the teacher liked you, it didn't seem to hold the same connotation. I mean, in college, I had beers with my mechanical engineering professor (oddly, not my major/degree by a longshot, but that's another story). By now (I realize I'm long-winded), you've probably figured out my hurdle.

As a child, my experience taught me that cool people sat in the back of the bus. And then there's Ms. Rosa Parks refusing to move to the back of the bus... African Americans didn't want to be cool? What a ridiculous notion! Everyone wants to be cool. Ah, but the literacy rate with Black people was lower than White people. Black people were not given the same opportunities in school, if they even went to school, and when they did go to school it wasn't as nice as the White-segregated school. (Since I went to Catholic School, I assumed it was similar to the difference between Catholic vs. Public School. But I digress.) So, eventually, I came to the conclusion that African Americans wanted to sit at the front of the bus because they had been denied adequate education for years upon years, and to catch up, they figured they needed to have as many teacher's pets as possible.

Oddly enough, I take the bus to the metro to commute to work these days. And, I absolutely hate sitting in the front. I think I still have the school bus seating heirarchy ingrained in my head.