after traveling all across the northeast for the past week, its strange being deposited back home. the weirdest thing i've experienced in my 12 hours back is the news... before being exposed to mass amounts of media coverage on iraq, i never realized how difficult it is to have an independant intellect in this country. propaganda is imbeded in everything.. even news, the recitation of facts. last week, one of my friends likened the period of flux that the country is in to that of the 1950's. i never imagined the existence of that kind of circularity of historical events .. however, the red-scare has all but reapeared: we hate the french, we burn the dixie chicks in efigy for insulting the president (bush's war is gonna fail, kinda like he did at yale.. a popular new haven anti-war chant), and people wearing peace tshirts are arrestable. we are afraid of arabs.

america, post 911, is hued by insurgent nationalism fused with infathomable amounts of inequity. what we remember of the 1950's are poodle skirts and drive in's, yet the civil rights movement and the repeal of jim crow hadn't even made it to the books... in 2002 - 2003 , civil liberties are again being ignored and reversed.. (the patriot act, forced registration and "disappearing" of muslim nationalists, preemptive war/ breech of international law...) in favor of a garish public culture of flag waving and high fashion. the home cooked simplicity of a simple minded president. ugh ugh ugh. i take a somewhat exhaustive delight in imagining how this period will be rearticulated 10 years from now in history books.

other news: visited georgia, zara, nii. home on sunday. birthday party and birthday dinner (india gate). they gave me happy birthday kheer.. it was delightful :)

right now, i'm hanging out in my room with the ac on. the weather is finally springy... listening to a love slow jams mix tape & trying to get over this nasty cold. i am such a mushy romantic. and such a pissed-off indignant raging/radical ass woman. i am going to conquer this system and its laws one day. i am going to train and master the laws, and then i'm going to master it.... the whole damn thing, this political game

zaijian