Yes, Debito recently posted the top 12 things that had impacted him in 2007. Let's take a critical look at the man, the myth, the looney toon come to life Debito's 2007.
Can't say anything bad about King of the Hill, if he'd lived in the rural south he'd actually see that the humor is every bit as heavy handed as the Simpsons and South Park it is simply more culturally specific.
Nothing bad to say about musical taste or finding a good deal. Good for Debito!
Debito's blog is an interesting read of his rants and raves. Taken with a grain of salt realizing it's writen by a mid 40's white guy who moved to Japan to marry the first Japanese chick who slept with him, got a job he hates with no future, had a couple of kids whom he abandoned, and is rather bitter at anyone he deems successful it's a real hoot.
SNIP for reading's sake - needless to say I don't agree with his choice of a terrible work of fiction (moore's Sicko) but the Enron documentary is excellent even though it spawned one of the worst peaces of legislation the corporate world has ever seen with Sorbanes/Oxley which effectively gives the people who would be best as an executive no reason to become and every reason to avoid becoming an executive.
Anyone who wants to delve deeply into Debito's mental problems should read his post about his trip back to the USA to attend his 20 year reunion and to see his daughter for the first time in years. It is a deeply disturbing view into a damaged mind that will give you not only some sympathy for the man but help explain some of the reasons he is the way he is.
One of my favorite things is that apparently for someone like Debito OpEd peaces are publications worthy of note. Guess this explains why he never went further than his masters degree...
END-YEAR ROUNDUP: TWELVE THINGS THAT CHANGED MY LIFE IN 2007As rumination
is the fashion at the end of every year, here are ten things(okay, twelve,
because, to paraphrase faux rock group Spinal Tap, twelve is twomore) which
changed my life in some way in 2007. In ascending order ofinfluence:
TWELVE) THE FIRST SIX SEASONS OF TV SHOW "KING OF THE HILL"
Can't say anything bad about King of the Hill, if he'd lived in the rural south he'd actually see that the humor is every bit as heavy handed as the Simpsons and South Park it is simply more culturally specific.
ELEVEN) UNCOVERING STASH OF CHEAP MUSIC MAGAZINES AT TOWER RECORDS
SHIBUYA,DECEMBER 2007
Nothing bad to say about musical taste or finding a good deal. Good for Debito!
TEN) DEBITO.ORG BLOG AND PODCASTS
Debito's blog is an interesting read of his rants and raves. Taken with a grain of salt realizing it's writen by a mid 40's white guy who moved to Japan to marry the first Japanese chick who slept with him, got a job he hates with no future, had a couple of kids whom he abandoned, and is rather bitter at anyone he deems successful it's a real hoot.
NINE) SERIOUS DVDS: THE CORPORATION, ENRON--THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM,
andAN UNREASONABLE MAN
SNIP for reading's sake - needless to say I don't agree with his choice of a terrible work of fiction (moore's Sicko) but the Enron documentary is excellent even though it spawned one of the worst peaces of legislation the corporate world has ever seen with Sorbanes/Oxley which effectively gives the people who would be best as an executive no reason to become and every reason to avoid becoming an executive.
EIGHT) TWENTIETH CORNELL REUNION: JUNE 7-10, 2007It was only four days on
my college campus, and two decades since our undergraduate class scattered around
the world. But I saw for myself that manyalums hadn't outgrown the Reagan Era
penchant for converting skills into money("Greed is Good", remember?), and
measuring success and personal growth by growth in one's bank accounts and
capital gains. Cornell's world-class liberalcarts education was discounted in
favor of materialism: Here I was amidst successful bankers, lawyers, doctors, and
other professionals, many preening. To some I was merely a prof in a no-name
university, activist of causes nobody had heard of, and a scholar of some arcane
language in a country past its prime and about to be leap frogged by China. The
brightest "star" was CBS's Early Show weatherman and fellow alum Dave Price, who
gave a smug (and yes, charmingly funny) presentation on how far he'd come. But I
realized just how far I'd grown from this crowd--and how the artsy-fartsy types I
hung around with in Risley College arts dorm were wise to have stayed away. Maybe
check backin in another ten or fifteen years... Still, I had good conversations
with much older alums (who were pre-Reagan, and by now had nothing to prove to
anyone anymore), and nice meetings with Cornell academics (and their students)
who knew what I've been up to over here.
Anyone who wants to delve deeply into Debito's mental problems should read his post about his trip back to the USA to attend his 20 year reunion and to see his daughter for the first time in years. It is a deeply disturbing view into a damaged mind that will give you not only some sympathy for the man but help explain some of the reasons he is the way he is.
FIVE) MY CRAZY WEEK OF SPEECHES JUNE 21-27,
FOUR) THE NJ FINGERPRINTING DEBACLES
THREE) MY JAPAN TIMES COMMUNITY PAGE ARTICLES, PARTICULARLY DECEMBER 18, 2007
One of my favorite things is that apparently for someone like Debito OpEd peaces are publications worthy of note. Guess this explains why he never went further than his masters degree...
TWO) MY JOB EPIPHANY, SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER 2007One head turner was when IIt means nothing at all. You're not even listed as a professor on your schools website but as a lecturer. Deal with it, your another expedable who they can hire a fresh off the boat english speaker to replace with 0 change in quality.
noted I wanted to quit my job at HIU--after findingout from my bosses that I
wasn't worth a sabbatical because, inter alia, I wasmerely an English teacher to
them. Since then, I have gotten a few apologiesfrom people about the things they
said (in particular that "merely an Englishteacher" thang), and will see if
they'll look more favorably upon the sameproposal next year. Meanwhile, I've
still realized that I've outgrown the placein terms of research topic and
educational focus, and want to work somewhereelse more in tune with that. I'm
still looking, and am following a few leads.But I'm also realizing that I'm at
an awkward age--too old and senior to need totolerate the gaijin treatment from
my kouhai (who have to be barked at from timeto time just to get them to follow
Japanese rules), yet not senior enough toavoid the gaijin handling by my much
older senpai (who land jobs here afterretiring from other universities, meaning
we don'tget promoted to positions of authority ourselves). It's not a very
comfortablestage in our lives (and I'm increasingly seeing older Japanese men as
some ofthe loneliest people on the planet). But there is no guarantee it'll be
anybetter anywhere else. So we'll just keep plugging away and hoping the kudos
willaccrue and stick. It's all gotta mean something sometime, right?
Fingerscrossed.
ONE) MY TRIP TO THE UNITED STATES, JUNE 2007This was one of the mostThis trip was disturbing on several levels. The interaction between Debito and his daughter was just frightening. Not on her side but on his. The guy just doesn't get it and thinks that after walking out on his family his daughter should somehow be happy he walked back into her life for a week... Yeah... Anyway - have fun!
traumatic experiences of my life, where I learned myparents don't even wish me
well, I saw confirmed and undeniable evidence oftheir child abuse, and I
realized that many of the pivotal decisions I've madeup to now have been
attempts to get away from them. To quote activist andauthor Rebecca
Walker:
