Monthly Archives: September 2005

The Definitive Guide to Wearing Your Ethnicity

Posted on by
29

By now it’s common knowledge that I like to wear tshirts with funny, ironic, and silly messages related to being Chicana and/or Mexican. I have a good collection going now.

Whenever I post photos of the myself wearing the tshirts over at Flickr (Look at my chest set) I get questions about where I got the tshirts.

So, I just thought I would make it easier for you all to get some tshirts too, if you want them.

For those in LA/Southern California, you can shop at both the Montebello Town Center and Puente Hills Mall. The store I shop at in the mall is Aztlan Gallery (626.839.7780).

For online shopping and browsing:

Chica
“CHICA is a lifestyle brand dedicated to empowering Latinas and all women who follow their dreams. Our clothing will always have an upbeat attitude with a Latin Flair, drawing inspiration from La Cultura: our language, our people, our food, our music & our dance.”
- From the site.

This one is just for las mujeres who want to be cute while representing. I really wish I could wear this tshirt, but alas it is not true. I was not hecha in East LA. Also, shouldn’t it be hecha since a girl is probably going to be the one wearing the shirt?

Chicano Nation
“A small retail/wholesale business which targets a special market of the raza community (the Chicano consumer).”
– From the site

I don’t think I have anything from Chicano Nation, but I like the look of their accessories.

Firme Clothing
The website doesn’t say much and I don’t know much about these guys. For some Firme tshirts, check the Brownpride Store.

Industrias Ilegales
“Industrias Ilegales is a small company from East Los Angeles. It was founded in 1998 by local Artist/Activist from the community. Our goal is to produce a quality garment with possitive message. We are tired of false representation from big companies with no conexion or respect for our cultura or our struggle. ”
– From the about us page.

Some of the designs are based on familiar altered logos. Others are more focused on promoting our indigenous heritage. Since I’m so pale, I felt the need to prove that I was indigenous inside. I also have the viva la mujer bag.

Insurgentes
“Revolutionary attire for the rebel in you.”

“We try to cover the different perspectives of our culture. We have Northern Indigenous literature, and history. Also crafts from Mexikoh, which represent the day of the Dead. We have Alpaka hats from Ecuador, and our most popular item: T-shirts. Revolutionary, Indigenous, Traditional, Political, Payasadas, and just plain garras Firmes.”
– From an article on their Echo Park store, Nahui Ohlin

My friend bought me the Chilivera tshirt for my birthday. I also have the decolonize tshirt and the infamous Chapulín Colorado tshirt.

Mayazteca
They have more than just thsirts, they also have some really nice dress shirts. I have a friend who has some of these and wears them all the time to work. Mayazteca seems to be a one stop shop for cultural wear and accessories. I’ve wanted the Chicana banana tshirt since my first year in college.

Mis Nopales
“Mis Nopales is a small company based in southern California created by dos hermanos. We strive to celebrate the history and orgullo of Mexican culture through our products. Our focus is to provide quality products with a unique flavor, like frijoles y nopales! Our name is a representation of our environment (Who doesn’t have nopales in their backyard?).”
– From the site.

The Mis Nopales tshirts are my current favorites mainly because I get questions like “what does ‘ni entiendo’ mean?” When I answer, “I don’t understand.” I get great confused looks.

NaCo
I like the NaCo clásico line more than the newer tshirts. Whenever I go to Café Tacuba concerts, I get a kick out of seeing the roadies dressed in “estaff” tshirts.

Orale Wear
Conscious urban wear. The guy who runs the company is the uncle of a good friend, so I often saw him wearing the different tshirts and sweatshirts. I don’t think I have anything from here, but I bought my sister the soluna tshirt a while ago.

Xochico
“Xochico is a small California-based company that markets licensed and original goods to people who like unique products that you can’t find just anywhere. Cool stuff, ethnic and international — we bring a unique perspective to pop culture for those people who don’t feel “represented” by traditional companies and products.”
– From the site.

The chingón tshirt makes me think of El Más Chingón,

The final two are not specifically related to Raza, but I occasionally find something worth wearing, like my Mexican Basketball Association and bésame tshirts.

Busted Tees (basketball shirt)
Vintage Vantage (for the bésame shirt)

Blogotitlán is too big

Posted on by
21

Never talk to strangers

Blogotitlán is too big geographically, but not by population. I’m still lagging on putting links to some of my favorite blogs, but if you could see it (the old one is here) you might be able to figure out that we’re rather spread out across the map both nationally and internationally. While being spread out all over the place is definitely a strength, I also get a little sad that there are people I’ve been reading on daily basis for a little over a year and don’t know if I’ll ever meet. I’ve met a couple of blogeros, but there are so many I’d love to just hang out with for some tacos y cervezas. I know we all have crazy schedules, but what if we tried to organize a little meet up?

I still frequent the Okayplayer boards. I feel less like that space is an online community for me for several reasons — one of which is the fact that Blogotitlán — is more supportive and intellectually stimulating. Anyway, in 2000, a year or so after the boards took off (I think in 1999 or late 1998) several okayplayers got together for a Reunion in Philadelphia. Since then the location has changed ever year. I’ve attended twice, once in LA and once in Atlanta. Anyway, we don’t have to do anything as elaborate as the Re, but I just wanted to put it out there that it can be done.

If we start planning now, we can save our pennies.

Look at me, I’m a grad student!

Posted on by
6

Matt Groening’s description of a grad student: The most bitter person in the world.

The grad student life is hardly glamorous. I’ve been living it for about a year. I miss my old job working with students directly. A few weeks ago, I sat it on a panel regarding evaluation of the retention programs I worked with. It had been over a year since I had thought about the day-to-day aspects of running MEChA Calmecac, one of 5 student-run, -initiated, and -funded retention program in the Student Retention Center housed in UCLA’s Community Programs Office. I sat down to talk to the new staff members about what a good evaluation should look like and how it could be a tool for planning and improvement. Everything I learned in my two years as director came back rather quickly. It was like getting on a bike, I never really forgot all the details.

There are plenty of things I miss about the old job. I miss being the boss, working with students, the vibrancy of the CPO, and more than anything else — even the income — I miss counseling students. The students I initially counseled as first-year are about to be graduating seniors, wow.

Still, grad student life presents its own challenges and rewards. I’ve been rather lucky. I don’t have to practically beg my advisor for a job, she just gave it to me. I also was “funded” my first year, meaning I got a fellowship (yay for free money!). The advanced grad students at work boss me around… er, delegate tasks. However, they’re really helpful when it comes to answering questions or just listening to me whine about classes. I still have a year or two to go before the real academic hazing of qualifiying exams and the dissertation proposal begin.

My experience differs a bit from that of Eric Strand, a PhD student in English at UC Irvine. In a Chronicle of Higher Education article Strand, deftly contrasts his reality as a poor ABD (all but dissertation) PhD to that of former co-workers wth much more glamorous jobs in the LA entertainment industry. Strand describes his initial reactions to his friends’ stories as “overwhelming jealousy.” By the end, his attitude has changed

The renewed awareness of my good fortune was a gift that my Los Angeles crowd presented to me: I may not be hobnobbing with Russell Crowe, but my ivory-tower niche isn’t so bad.

Strand’s description of grad school seems more in line with The Simpsons. From a recent episode

Bart Simpson: “I was so bored, I cut the ponytail off the guy in front of us.”

(Putting ponytail on his own head) “Look at me! I’m a grad student! I’m 30 years old and I made $600 last year.”

Marge: “Bart! Don’t make fun of grad students! They just made a terrible life choice.”

Thanks to Pub Sociology for the text.

But it’s really not that bad, as Strand writes in his article. He eventually reconciles the fact that as a grad student you will be poor, but it’s not a bad life.

I’m still working my way through intellectual issues that I started thinking about as an undergraduate. I can pick up an old paper I wrote and chart my mental growth from then to now. And there’s the hope that in some small way, that growth will not just be measured by career advancement, but will lead to a contribution to a wider public sphere. That, I think, is why we forge ahead in the face of a grim job market in which only half of us will get positions.

I don’t have friends in the entertainment industry. They may be working full time, but not enough to afford luxury cars. I guess that’s why my grad school life doesn’t seem that bad. A lot of my friends are still in grad or professional school. The only friends I have in PhD programs are the ones who I met while in grad school. My friends from undergrad are now in rather un-glamorous jobs like teaching at LAUSD high schools, social work, and community organizing for non-profit organizations.

I’m not the most bitter person in the world, at least not yet.

Happy Mexicans

Posted on by
5

familia “All these people are here for you?”

I gave my friend the look to let him know he was crossing the line. “Of course,” I responded. “They all showed up because they love me.”

My friends who showed up to my party on Saturday night seemed to think that I had a big turn out. “You have a lot of family here, don’t you?” they’d ask while looking around. I was thinking the opposite. A lot of my extended family members had not come to the party. It was probably a good thing since we were running out of tables and chairs. When I told my friends this, they seemed a little shocked because there were still lots of people at the party.

The comments at the party reminded me of the comments I frequently get on my pictures or posts regarding my family. The gist of those comments is that my family appears to be very close.

In some ways I find that ironic because to me it seems like we’re less close than we used to be and all the pictures of smily Mexicans having a good time at parties obscures the fact that those smily Mexicans often are pissed off at each other and sometimes go weeks without any substantial communication. Yeah, we’re just like a lot of other families.

But then I start to think a little more. The friends were not the only ones making this observation. Others in Blogotitlán noted it too. The comments got me thinking and wondering why my family was rather close and gave off that impression.

The primary reason we’re close rests on proximity. Through most of my childhood all my parents’ siblings lived in Southern California. My mom’s sister Socorro lived in Ecuador with her family so I didn’t see her much until I was about 10. My tío Beto moved to San Diego shortly after he got married. And when I was still in elementary school my tío Manuel moved my tía Eva and their 6 children to Jeréz, Zacatecas. Some of their kids moved back when they were old enough. Despite this, 7 out of 8 siblings and their families living within 150 miles of each other was not bad. My grandparents also lived in the area, but Papá Chepe and Mamá Toni traveled frequently between LA and their homes in Tijuana and El Cargadero (near Jeréz). On my dad’s side, it was a lot more simple. Everyone lived in East LA, Montclair or the San Gabriel Valley. I’m a lot less close to my dad’s side of the family, so for now I’ll just talk about the U side of the family.

Another reason we seem to be so close, especially lately, is because of mis abuelitos. My octogenarian grandparents are not necessarily the glue that holds the family together. My mom and her siblings all get along very well, but having my grandparents around means that there are a lot of get-togethers in their honor. For instance, anniversaries and birthdays are always celebrated. In the back of our minds I think we worry this birthday or anniversary might be the last.

Third, there isn’t too much of a big difference in age amongst the cousins. Well, not for me at least. We grew up together doing the same activities and enjoying the same things. We all liked the Ninja Turtles, played baseball, and spent summers in Mexico. We even have similar music taste and are very supportive of eachother’s endeavors.

Last, we trust each other. This one is mainly for my siblings, but I think it also goes for the cousins. I feel completely comfortable talking to my almost-20 year old brother about guy issues or just complaining about work. My sister and I have a really tight bond as well and we can both confide in each other. The older brother and I are close too, but it’s odd since our interests are so different.

My family isn’t perfect. My siblings and I still fight. We get annoyed with our cousins. My mom and her siblings have little arguements too, but overall we’re forgiving people and things always seem to right themselves. If the conflicts won out, we’d miss out on some great things like camping and more parties.

Knowledge Gained

Posted on by
6

VR/Papas Dodger Blues Scared of something Educating the best minds in education Virgen de Guadalupe

31 Things I learned about myself in the 24th year of my life.

  1. I don’t look too bad with a hair color other than just plain brown.
  2. Blogotitlán is an incredibly comforting and often supportive place.
  3. Some conservatives are actually pretty cool and nice.
  4. I need a job with more human interaction than just other grad student research assistants. However, once I finally learned how to do the important statistics related tasks, I really liked my job.
  5. Going 40 days without alcohol is tougher than I thought.
  6. Platonic friendships with [single] male friends don’t always remain that way.
  7. I have “white” music taste. Oso can confirm this.
  8. Hummus is present at all grad school events (potlucks, parties, etc).
  9. My mood can change quite quickly depending on how well my favorite baseball team, los Dodgers, is doing.
  10. My competitive streak with Isa, the roomie, can make me rather mean.
  11. I can keep secrets about myself.
  12. Guys like me, but I can never tell until they do something absolutely clear like kiss me… and then it still shocks me.
  13. I’m not too good at managing money. Don’t tell my dad.
  14. My brother Adrian is a really good listener and gives good advice about guys.
  15. If you wear a tshirt that says “Bésame que soy Mexicana,” someone might do just that.
  16. Mexico is an easy place to miss.
  17. Sometimes lying might be better than telling the truth.
  18. My life and personal business is interesting enough for people to gossip about.
  19. I really like the field of higher education, critical theory is fun, I just might have a good idea of what I want to focus my research on.
  20. I feel more at home than ever in East LA.
  21. Sometimes I dream things and they happen.
  22. Home is where the drama is.
  23. It’s quite easy to sum up a day in 17 syllables… if I’m disciplined enough to do it.
  24. I feel naked without something on my left wrist, preferably a beaded bracelet.
  25. I’m not working to my potential.
  26. Moving is difficult.
  27. Most of the time, I miss my dog, VR, more than I miss my parents, siblings and grandparents.
  28. My lunares and voice are attractive.
  29. My issues with procrastination are much more severe than I initially thought, but I know where to find my ganas when the time comes.
  30. Getting hit with a baseball in the face really hurts.
  31. I do like Mexican guys.