there they are alive on the moon

i got an email the other day saying that this picture has been shortlisted for some contest i didnt even know i was in. it's for Schmap. i had no idea there even existed a thing called Schmap until i got this email. actually, that's the first email i read on my birthday. i thought it was neat.

i think i bruised my ribs last week playing football when i caught the other team's QB with his knee coming up as he threw the ball.

do you ever look at something really mundane and then wonder why is it that people essentially allow that thing so much control over their lives? like today in class, i was looking at a can of coke i had and all of a sudden i got all weirded out by the fact that so much of the world is determined by a little red aluminum can with scrolling letters on it. i'd say this is the first time i've stared at something like this, but it's really not. it's almost like looking at some foreign object that you are aware has some importance but for the life of you, you have no idea why people would put so much value in it. and then there's the name. Coke. Coca Cola. the all American drink. who needs to worry about supplying food and medicine to developing countries, if they know what a Coke is, their lives can't be that bad...

see what I mean?

i got a new pair of nikes yesterday. i can't even remember if i've EVER owned a pair of nikes. i bought them because I'm going to be spending the rainy season in Dhaka and they're built for getting wet and drying fast. the fact that they had a swoosh on them that seems to be a major determinant in a lot of people's lives never really registered in my brain until i got them home. when i pick them up off the display shelf i was initially drawn to them because of their description, not because there's a great big check mark on them. and then later i thought about it, and wondered how many people i've seen on the skytrain or the bus with $200 nikes on because they seem to need them to live their little lives full of swooshes and red cans and little green alligators and whatever. humans are weird. we put so much value and importance on the strangest things.

i have homemade cookies.

there they are alive on the moon