Stuff That I Like

I found 2 hilarious websites as a result of stalling in Barnes and Nobles to avoid getting my perfectly straightened hair wet.  I looked at Stuff White People Like, the book, and I must say, I was laughing aloud.  Not since the Daily Show's book America, did such a strong reaction ensue.  So, I checked out the website, which is hilarious.  Fortunately, I did not waste the $14.00 on the book, as the website is essentially the book.  Of course, curiosity led me to check out potential websites about my peeps, the Desi/Brown people.  There is in fact a "stuff that desi/brown people like" website, which is equally humorous.  However, although I am a Brown chick, I actually liked more of the stuff that white people liked, such as the Apple products, the Toyota Prius, Indie music, music festivals, Whole Foods, and Asian fusion cuisine.  Oh, I cannot forget, Barack Obama (#8, SWPL).  However, the Desi/Brown people website nailed it with the "Niagara Falls" comparison to the American Varanasi, as usually the first place most of our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. from India visit is. . . Niagara Falls.  

The White Obsession

Why are we so fascinated with the lives of rich, white people?  Fox News latches on quickly to every white woman or child who is missing.  If a pregnant white lady or young white child is missing, you know that Greta Van Sustern and Geraldo Rivera are all over it like mold on bread.  Their pictures are plaster on every Fox News program, from Papa Bear Bill O'Reilly to Hannity and Colmes.  Currently, Casey Anthony, the mother of the missing 2-year-old, Caylee, is the subject of everyone's fancy.  Why--she is some young, supposedly attractive white chick with circulating photos of her "bumping and grinding" with some stripper-chick at a club after her daughter was missing.  Of course, we can't forget Lacey Peterson, Natalie Holloway, and that crazy Runaway Bride chick, with the psychotically exopthalmic gaze.  What Fox News fails to mention is the large number of missing children/women of other ethnic backgrounds, such as black or Hispanic.  Obviously, in the media's constant race to attract the Borderline to Mildly impaired moral majority, the big stories are always the attractive white people who are missing.  Not that it is not important to be aware of innocent people who are missing--I empathize tremendously with their loved ones.  However, I would love to see the same importance given to the rest of us pigmented folk when we have been kidnapped or runaway.

The Latest Trend

I am guilty for falling for music business marketing trends during my youth.  However, as I sit on my sofa watching a Top Chef marathon while Radiohead is getting ready to hit the stage in the Woodlands Pavillion outside of Houston and I DO have ONE TICKET, I am plagued by recurrent commercials of some new singing chick.  This "Duffy" actually sounds a lot like Amy Winehouse.  Now, how many British white chicks are there who sing soul music?  To me, they are overrated.  Of course, upon further research, she is actually Welsh.  Needless to say, Amy Winehouse has many Grammies under her belt, as well as some assault convictions and erratic behavior.  As Great Britain has produced some of my favorite artists, i.e., Radiohead, The Smiths, Depeche Mode, etc., I am beginning to doubt the soul-singing white chick factory.  So, Radiohead is getting prepped, ready, and will be playing the first few bars of "Bodysnatchers" and I am sitting on my ass, typing this.  Oh well, such is life. . .

It's all in the Accent

Rarely, I experience some encounter enhancing my cultural awareness at Super Target.  Living in Texas, this whole concept of super-sizing everything from your Happy Meal to your neighborhood discount store is quite prevalent.  Today, I had the distinct pleasure of overhearing a stout Caucasian gentlemen who must have been in his late 50's-early 60's ask the cashier what her country of origin happened to be.  He said, "Are you Nigerian, or something?"  She replied that she was, and he stated his revelation that, "I knew you had to be from Nigeria or some country in Africa.  I could tell by your accent".  

I realize that people are attempting to relate and think that they are so cultured when they pick up a foreign accent and can decipher the originating ethnicity.  I remember an episode of blind date, when the guy asked the woman, "You must be from a foreign country".  When she shared that she was from Russia, he said, "I knew you were from another country, I could tell by your accent."  Now, I am Indian, and I talk like anyone on the street.  So, I allow new people to ask me at least five questions before I let them in on my little secret about "where I'm from".  My answer is usually, "The Midwest".