September 2009
9 posts
15 tags
Catholic School as Vicious as Roman Rule
I was talking with a friend the other week about the Death Cab for Cutie song, “I Will Follow You into the Dark.” I remarked that the song itself sounds somewhat bleak and flat, but I’ve always enjoyed listening to it. I said I wasn’t sure why but I’ve always been fond of that verse, “Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule; I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black.” This led my friend to...
17 tags
Déjà Vu
My Dad wasn’t the most talkative person. When he and Ricki, my step-mother, separated, our meals at the dinner table would be anything but gregarious. During most dinners neither of us would utter a word. Looking back I don’t think I made it easy for him. Although, don’t we all when we’re going through teenage angst? During high school I was a brooding teenager who moped around the halls with head...
13 tags
The Outsider
“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche
I noticed certain groups and cliques in high school. Kids banded together based on tribe, race, and popularity. This trend started in late primary...
14 tags
Oi! ching chong china man! Go back to your bloody...
I’m fortunate to have only experienced racism firsthand once in my life. I was in grade 8 and living on my step-grandfather’s farm in Melbourne, Australia. I still remember the 30 min walk from the farm house to the main road where I’d catch the school bus. I would talk with my friend, John, on the 40 min bus ride to school. There was an older kid in grade 10 who would come on the bus and tease...
10 tags
Mixed, Raced and Confused
My mother is Chinese. My father is Scottish. Which makes me half Chinese, half Scottish. I didn’t always see it this way. As a child, I saw myself as either one or the other. How do I explain my confusion with being identified with being Chinese or being white? Would it make sense if I were to say that at certain periods and in certain places, I would try hard to fit in by being whatever others...
8 tags
Even Hercules was Mortal
As a child I looked up to my Dad on the same plane as a King or Hercules. He was my hero. “My Dad could beat up your Dad” was something I’d often tout to my friends. Sadly, as I grew older, it seemed my Dad went from an invincible, mythologized figure to a middle aged man who suffers the same problems like all other mere mortals. I’d say my respect for him went down, as did my confidence in...
13 tags
Black Sheep
I have an odd thing against fads. In fact, I can be so stubborn that I’ll refuse to listen/read/do certain things when it seems everyone is following a fad. I still haven’t read Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code because I didn’t like how everyone was gushing over it. My friends in high school kept saying I “had to” read this book. I didn’t like that. It took me 7 years before I watched the Titanic...
4 tags
Bedtime Stories
It’s funny, kids reach a certain age when it suddenly becomes un-cool to hug or kiss their parents. I remember there was a period when I wouldn’t kiss my Dad anymore, so if we were to ever part for an extended length of time and say our goodbyes, he’d say “What? You too old to give your old man a kiss?” I’d go all red, shuffle my feet and just give him a reluctant hug. My Dad usually had a beard...
4 tags
My Meeting With a Pterodactyl
I was having a conversation with a good friend the other day when the subject of traumatizing experiences with wild animals came up. It brought back a horrific but hilarious story of my childhood in Brisbane, Australia. Aside from being chased by dogs while delivering papers on my paper route, I was also victim to flying predators from above. For those of you not familiar with magpies, they are...