All Is Optional

Prospective Father: Are you a student here?
Me: Yes, I am.
Prospective Father: Where are you from?
Me: Arkansas but originally Pakistan.
Prospective Father: Where in Pakistan? We are from India. (note: only this man was there, no family with him.)
Me: Karachi — most of my family is there.
Prospective Father: We know people in Lahore.
Me: That’s nice. I lived in Islamabad briefly, too.
Prospective Father: What are you studying?
Me: English and Film.
Prospective Father: Oh. Bye. (exits Honors College office.)

Some words of wisdom to the parent of a soon to be finance student:

Stop reinforcing to both your self and your child that you can only uphold certain values. You can interact with both those who claim South Asian heritage and those who don’t. You can study both finance and art. You will not be less intelligent, less successful, or less sociable. In fact, you will profit from the diversity you allow yourself.

Oh, by the way, stop expecting me to be just like you because we have similar amounts of melanin in our skin. It doesn’t mean anything more than how much vitamin D we need to take in to exist in the climates in which we live.

When we first arrived in New York City, there was more of an edge to the city – a bit of threat in the air. Now, dimly lit cafes with their walls of wine replace the grunge and grime that drove the city which constantly challenges our existence. Unfortunately, too much of that challenge weighs on our financial resources.

Some love it.
Some hate it.
Both created it.

Related Photography: 090. Barely Bowery on Project 365

Dear Diary,

I am an asshole. I walked out of Starbucks without paying for this:

The best the NYPost has to offer is this photoshopped image of Nancy Pelosi. But Madame Speaker can rock out with her non-existant cock out. Ethan Phillips put it best when he said Pelosi was in charge of the biggest “good-old boys” club in the country. And, here she is, bitchslapping them with beans

Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House speaker, said Mr. Bush should “calm down with the threats,” and Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, said his impression was that Mr. Bush “doesn’t want anything other than a confrontation.” – Bush Rules Out Bid by Congress for Iraq Pullout