1. I had lunch with my desk mate from high school, a published writer, and an esteemed Chinese scholar. Over Kim Chee and steaming hot pots of Bibambop we hashed over the Amy Chua firestorm, a cluster F, if there ever was one. These are the points she brought up: 'Amy is inferior in the sense, that she is American born, and not born in China. Her children are considered inferior because they are not pure Han Chinese, and the question is could Amy have gotten into Beida or Fudan, the crown jewels of Chinese academia? From the Chinese point of view, who cares about Harvard?' This is a woman who has busted all stereotypical versions of the 'quiet, docile' Asian, and pissed the mothers of the world off...a choke point you don't want to be trapped in. Warhol said it best. Everyone gets their 5 minutes of fame. How you accomplish that establishes your niche in this short life. Controversy is a flash point. Initially, visceral or divisive. But, it can also serve as the catalyst for intellectual dialogue; it makes you think. Over Irish Breakfast this morning, I thought, huh, I wonder how 'the middle Kingdom,' would have dealt with this? Gives you pause, doesn't it?
2. Jay Cutler. I prefer 'Cutla.' Talk about shit storm. 'Cutla' is the Chicago Bears QB who was diagnosed on Monday with a 2nd degree sprain MCL of his plant leg (the leg he needs to stabilize in order to toss a decent football down the field). The trainers and medical staff of the Bears held him out of the 2nd half of the NFC play-off game. Tweets from his peers around the league went viral and many of them questioned Cutla's 'desire and heart.' In other words, if 'Cutla' could walk, he could play. Perception is everything, and on the sidelines, Cutla looked remote and disinterested. Last Sunday, twittering did more damage to Jay Cutler's psyche than a 320 lb line man physically dropping him. The twitter room is a public galaxy; apparently a lot of NFL guys forgot that.
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