I think it's important for humans to understand the importance of culture. To understand that everyone has one, and that we all share one. The idea that an individual has one culture and only one that never changes is dangerous to the progress of our species. People need to understand that culture is alive and ever-changing. Language comes down to necessity. The need to communicate with people in that language. If you are a first generation here in the US, it is assumed that you probably still have relatives in your homeland who you speak only the language of that location; therefore it is still necessary for you to use it. Most grandchildren or second generations, don't speak the native language of their grandparents because it's not necessary or useful for them to burden themselves with the hassle of having to learn it. They're already coming here and having to burden themselves, with trying to find their place in our society, and learn the language of the people that surround them, along with the everyday tasks they have at hand. Most people to have time to learn a language that: A. They have no use for (they don't communicate with people who speak it, and B. Most people don't have the time or opportunity to learn another language. Especially one they won't necessarily use. I believe that they will lose their ability to speak the language of their grandparents, when it is no longer useful for them to do so, or when their main culture takes another shape; thus they speak the language of the culture of their social location and not one of their ancestors.

How do the traditions of Cultural Chinese customs (Ghost Money) regarding the dead differ from your culture's customs? Why do their customs seem so strange to Americans? How has your culture shaped your ideas of the living and the dead?

In a way there are many similarities. When one of our loved ones pass, we are socially obligated to purchase items such as flowers, a coffin, perhaps a funeral ceremony. In my own family when my grandmother, and great aunt passed; we had a large ceremony where we payed for a viewing(included embalming, storing, changing, we saved money on the make-up because I did that), a funeral service (transportation of the body, and floral arrangements, large expensive flower arrangements, a headstone, a plot, etc. The list goes on and does not include the costs to maintain the headstone and other various expenses such as food, and entertainment for the services. My point is, that although we didn't purchase ghost money, we 'burnt' holes in our pockets with the cost of what is a socially necessary step we must take in the even that we lose a loved one. It's strange to Americans because we don't see the cultural similarities in how we spend on our dead loved ones, maybe because we're not physically burning the money we spend to gift our lost loved one. Having close family members pass in a short amount of time has opened my eyes to the cost of death. It has also shown me that most of what we do is actually for ourselves, because they're not items that the deceased can enjoy. I have also come to find that if you don't financially prepare yourself for death that is a burden that befalls your loved ones; if in fact you have any. Many of the ceremonies that we do often only benefit the people that implicate the necessity of them on you. Places, like the church who benefit from donations, the food service industry who will feed the people who attend such events, the funeral service industry who survives on the passing of others, etc. Some may view death as an industry in it of itself; composed of people who are willing to take advantage of the fact that you're at a loss.

 

https://www.theroot.com/baltimore-cops-kept-toy-guns-to-plant-just-in-case-they-1822546984/amp?utm_medium=sharefromsite&utm_source=The_Root_twitter&__twitter_imp ression=true

Where have all the data gone? The effects of the FBI’s decision to reduce public access to crime data

https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/where-have-all-data-gone-effects-fbis-decision-reduce-public-access-crime-data

Key Notes:

 

"democratization of data—a threat to our understanding of crime in 2016 as well as to our ability to discern changes in crime patterns over time"

"A comparison of the 2015 and 2016 reports reveals that some of those eliminated charts were crucial—especially when it comes to providing data at the state and local levels. Arrests by race, for example, are reported as a national statistic, but not by state or metropolitan area. Given the fraught relationship between police and communities of color, tracking changes in arrest rates by race is critical in understanding whether police reform efforts are working. We know from our own research that criminal justice data on race and ethnicity are already too sparse, and this move exacerbates that problem."

 

"If the administration wants to make gang-related criminal activity a priority in its discussions of public safety, it has a responsibility to continue producing and publicly sharing relevant data."

Notes on Author: Nancy G. LaVigne

"My colleagues and I at the Justice Policy Center aim to put objective research findings into the hands of policymakers and practitioners so they can make sound decisions about how best to improve the safety and well-being of communities across the country.

"directing groundbreaking research on prisoner reentry"

Blessings in Disguise 11/09/17 (draft)

It's honestly pretty crazy when I go to We Love Art

I always come home like wtf I literally forgot about that person

and how I wanted to date them

and now I'm glad I never did

it's a small world after all

Last night it was Dulce's cousin that she tried to hook me up with when I was all in love wt Isaac

I felt like saying something like "Oh shit I hella forgot I was texting you for a bit....sorry if I hurt your feelings I was emotionally unavailable at the time" you know something to break the tension hahahaha jk

I had the biggest crush on this bartender for the longest time but idk if he was acting all shy guy or stuck up or what but then I stopped bar hopping for a long time cause it was a waste of money and distance and other bullshit so I never saw him anymore

I saw him among other past crushes in the weeks that I've been doing this

He had his mustache friend test the waters last night

"I have a friend who thinks you're really cute, and he wants to know if you're single. He's sitting over there with the curly hair"

Don't do that that's hella pussy - first of all

How do you go from winking at me one week all cocky to oh man I'm too shy so I'm gonna have my brave friend go talk to you for me

Boys are weird

I mean I'm weird but not like emotionally wishy washy

ok I'm lying

I feel bad cause I told him I'd come back and I did and I could totally see him but I just never approached him

Lol I just followed him on instagram lolololololololololo

 [update: I went on a date wt that guy and he was really cool but I think I was still waiting to see what would happen wt S.G. who I was all wet over at the time 

He wanted to go see Saturday Night Fever wt me and ended up going w/o me but it didn’t seem right going on my date that I was supposed to go wt S.G. Wt him on either end like I would’ve felt bad that he was unknowingly a replacement and he wasn’t the person that i wanted to experience that wt  

although that petty side of me wanted to and wanted to post pics to let S.G. Know how replaceable he is for never hitting me up again

but I’m glad I didn’t cause that shit is beneath me and I ended up making the best choice for myself and went to go sell shit cause it was actually the most successful night I’ve ever had

so in a way thanks for standing me up

 

 

 

September 30, 2017

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This man was the definition of a pigthe picture of deceit  he was all hitting on me to the point where I switched seats wt Kacey cause he was making me feel awkward af cause she was right there tooi was like wtf is this guy being friendly or all hit…

This man was the definition of a pig

the picture of deceit  

he was all hitting on me to the point where I switched seats wt Kacey cause he was making me feel awkward af cause she was right there too

i was like wtf is this guy being friendly or all hitting on everyone

he kept trying to put his head on my shoulder and shit I was like gtfo

then what an asshole when we ran into him by the rr

thats not my girl

i felt like telling her she deserved way more than that

some people want love so badly they seek it blindly

they ignore the gut feelings and the instincts  

cause they're hoping somewhere along the way they'll see what a gem you are

the truth is  

lauryn hill said it best

dont be a hard rock when you really are a gem

we let things slide cause we don't want to be alone and the hope hides the truth and reality

but you pretend you don't see it  

so you can pretend you're loved

all you need is love

but you have to be weary about where you search for it

you can't get lost in a web of lies that you've guilded yourself into believing so you can merit your actions

BevMo

When I went yesterday I was going to kill some time after I worked all day

The Bevmologist and I must have the same pallet bc all the stuff I was looking at was marked as his favorite and I couldn’t decide what I wanted

Wine

Whiskey

or a good beer

Wine: they had really good deals but let’s be real I go through a bottle of wine in 1-2 days so spending $15 on a bottle isn’t really budget friendly for me even if one more bottle is just 5 cents  

cause if you divide that then you’re paying Like $7.50 and I’m cheap af and i know there’s places out there where I can get a two buck chuck

Whiskey: they had cheaper options but every time I’ve been seeing Tin Cup I just keep eyeballing it but the price always turns me away but I thought about it and I haven’t bought anything bigger than a 4pk so I’m spending about $3 per beer cause even the 4pk I get comes out to $10 so in a way if I pay this $27 for a bottle it’ll be saving me money and alcohol cause since I paid so much for it I’m not gonna be all willy nilly and I have to make it last

this is just a theory

im testing my hypothesis  

I’m an alcohol scientist

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Tin Cup Whiskey

My favorite whiskey paired wt hand-squeezed Orange juice from here on my family’s property, and Grapefruit juice from my cousin’s tree! (I kept some seeds from the biggest one he gave me I’m low key trying to grow my own!) 

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Oliver? Like twist?

Hey! That’s pretty good! I guess that’s supposed to scare the Dickens out of me?

That’s hilarious I’ve never heard that before!

What you said was pretty good too! 

No one’s ever told you that before? 

I usually say it! I always get people calling me Olivia like I’ll make reservations somewhere and they’ll get that down so I always say Oliver, like twist! That’s why when you said it I was so taken a back but that says a lot about you. I bet you like to read!

1/28/18

Jan 18, 2016

My Tia Lupe was 92, and her health was slowly declining. She had just come home from the first hospital visit. Still not really able to speak. I brought various items to try to strike up a conversation wt her. In my hand I was holding a doll she had made out of paper towels to demonstrate the types of dolls she grew up wt on el rancho. She made it when she was staying with us in Orange Cove. She always bounced back. She was always resilient. This was the hardest time of my life. My mom was dying. I'll never receive a love more pure, honest, and caring than the love that she gave me. Forever on my mind; forever in my heart. Time has passed and I can't believe how much. This feels like it was only a few months back. The memory as fresh as the wound feels, as I travel through the memories in my mind.

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