Is this month over yet?

It's been a long month. And its only halfway over. I'm exhausted.

But I'm back home. I've been in Minneapolis for the last week at the White Privilege Conference. It was pretty good and I heard some really awesome speakers. I don't remember if I explained what the WPC is last time but throughout this week I've been keeping a running blog of many of the events. (I was doing this on my brand new Droid 2 which I already love dearly and haven't even spent time messing around with it yet!) At some point soon, I will post that blog and you can see some of my thoughts, reflections, and things I've learned from it. Its challenging stuff, especially for white people because it talks about privileges that we have that are unearned, which often causes defensive and dismissive reactions, often guilt as well. When I post the stuff, I want to make sure I express it properly so if you do decide to read it, you won't have these reactions.

I talked with my dad about it last night and we ended up debating it for an hour and a half even though it was after midnight and he is usually well asleep at that point. He frustrated my mom (in case you didnt know my dad is white and my mom is hispanic-mexican and panamanian) and my brother recognized his "debate tone" and left before he go more angry too. But I'm very much like my father, enjoy a good debate, and was expecting such reactions to the topic because I've had them too. It's not something you get on the first try. Worse, I didn't explain it to him well because I was talking about all the activists that were at this conference (I don't really care for "activists" in the traditional sense thought I understand the need and effectiveness of them in certain situations), which set my dad assuming it was a bunch of BS when the topics were actually very academic, unbiased, and understanding. I know I'm talking around the conference a lot and that's because I would rather give you the blogged notes. I'm just meandering through my thoughts about this weekend.

Minneapolis was a cool town that I'm glad I visited but wouldn't want to live there. I saw Twins Stadium, the outdoor art museum, the country's first basilica, and, of course, the Mall of America, the largest mall in the country. Yes, I did ride the roller coaster (one of three) inside and yes it is huge!! The one downside is that most of the stores there are you every day stores. Growing up in the suburban area I did, there were plenty of malls around with all the same stuff. Just not as big. Still it was pretty amazing to be there. I have some pics on facebook (the ones from my new phone!) and will post more later.

Brock's Corner: I haven't done of these in a while but that's mostly cuz of this month being so insane that I haven't actually seen Brock or Clark or Alejandro who is staying with us. But here's a few facts:

Brock's been gone most weekends tending to the new home he purchased. Yes a house. Brock, ever seeking a way to make money, invested in home owning because that market is so poor right now, everythings cheap. So now hes playing landlord a few hundred miles away but once it gets going I think it'd be pretty cool if he had tenants. Oh the responsibility hehehehe.

Brock has a tendency to watch awful TV. Now I don't really watch TV period unless its sports, usually baseball. But Brock does most evenings and when he comes home for lunch. Here are some examples of the shows he watches: 16 and Pregnant, CNN, and RuPaul's Drag Race. Yea, quite a spectrum. This can be summed up very simply: Brock watches train wrecks. (If you think about it for a sec it makes sense) Oh Brock.

Actually, speaking of and to Brock, I found out which characters on RuPaul my boss, Santa Claus, knows: Raja, Delta Work, and Venus Delight. I think those were the names. He also gave me a recommendation for a fun evening outing watching drag queens fashion shows, which if its anything like drag queen bingo, which I've done, I imagine it would be pretty fun. Yes, people often think I'm gay. I'm used to it :)

And on that note! Goodnight!

Listening to: Tenshi singing Carrie Underwood (not very well she says though I disagree) I haven't seen her in a while so rather than go home, I'm still on the road sort to speak, visiting her at that silly rival school.

Reading: Screwtape Letters and Rediscovering Catholicism. Lent's only here for one more week. Gotta finish those!

Playing: Castlevania Dawn of Sorrows, a fun game with terrible storytelling on the DS.