Productivity!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I'm really looking forward to kicking it with many of you this weekend!

I have published work coming out in November, so I'm pretty jazzed about that. Things have been equal parts exciting and frustrating with some of it, though: namely, the editorial I shot a few weeks ago. It's been *rough* getting it out the door, because the editor just had a baby and has been in and out of the hospital over the past couple of weeks. I totally understand her situation, but this was supposed to run in the November issue, and I didn't get her photo selections for the final spread until 2 nights ago. Gah!

I got it done, though, because I am awesome. And hey, November is almost here, so I can show off a lot of things soon. ;)

I'm also working on a business card for Amy. She has more of an earthy style, so I'm doing something more illustrative to play on that, so it's been a fun little side project. I showed her a draft yesterday, and she loved it, so w00t!

Bleh, I'm not so much in the mood for blogging today. BUT, Friday is made of Win. And Fridays that are also Halloween? Whee!

Prop 8

If you know me, you probably know that I'm not easily offended by many things. I'm not often bothered by stereotypes, because I recognize them for what they are, and I also recognize that some stereotypes exist for a reason. Some people take themselves too seriously, and some people look for insults when the intent is just not there.

Being half-Chinese has made me sensitive to discrimination, however. I can recall instances where I went shopping with my mother, and she was quite literally stared at in the grocery store, by sheltered East Coast people who acted like they'd never seen an Asian in their lives. It was far from being a direct act of hatred, but it was still unsettling.

A co-worker of mine was victim of a hate crime earlier in the week. Thankfully, they chose to attack her car instead of her person, so nobody was physically injured, but the circumstances indicate that it was clearly about her race. And this happened in Portland, a city that seems to almost define itself by its progressive and tolerant views. If we're so progressive, then we should know that a good person does not deserve to be put down, or treated like a freak show because of how they look, how they speak, or how they live.

With these thoughts having already been in my mind over the past few days, this short clip seems fitting:

Regardless of how you might feel about alternative lifestyles, discrimination is never right, and our country has a pretty ugly past when it comes to discrimination. I don't presume to tell people how to live, and it's not the law's job to do that, either. Legislating morality with measures like Prop 8 is a HUGE waste of time, when there are far more pressing matters to be dealt with than who marries whom.

I'm sure my California-dwelling friends are smart and reasonable enough to already know this, but it bears repeating. :)