Whose Life are you Living Through?

Parents, especially immigrant parents, often attempt to live through the lives of their children. It’s understandable because they want their sacrifices to count for something, to transcend their deaths by continuing to live through the success of their children. But life is hard and young people don’t really know what they want to do with their lives right away. Every mother wishes she could could say “my daughter, she works at Goldman Sachs and has two beautiful children.” But her daughter is still living with roommates and has the generic internship of every college graduate who has no idea what to do with his or her degree yet. Richard Williams was the same way as the parents of such college graduates because he wanted his training lessons to come into life and his pride was validated through the success of Serena and Venus. But did he ever ask them what they wanted? Did they want space from their insisting father? Did they want to attend college and be regular people? I bet he never asked them these types of questions because he lived, and continues to live, off of his daughters’ lives since he dedicated most of his time to developing their athletic talent.

-Bremda A. 

Photograph

            That little boy is really pulling off the high-waisted pants with the suspenders. The overgrown vine in the upper right hand corner creates a nice juxtaposition to a staged photo. The bushes are trimmed immaculately. Family photos are the biggest family myths. These photos only emit the values and characteristics the family pretends to possess. This girl is going to grow up and become a drug addict. The mother is an alcoholic. The father a pedophile. The boy may just escape the tight noose that his childhood put around his neck, but when he has a family of his own he will commit a murder suicide in this very house. The one unruly vine will take over the whole façade and the next photo that will be taken will be by the crime scene investigators. Or perhaps I have just been watching too much CSI. The father is a mathematician who coaches his son’s baseball team. The mother owns a real estate agency and inspires her son to follow in her footsteps. The daughter goes on to become valedictorian. Or perhaps I am just an optimist.

Scout Sabo

Hey Nixon, Listen to the Hunters

       I could not help but realize that Nixon insisted he was helping the nation by putting his personal judgements of just security or (also known as) "spying" into the context of protecting the American people. His Anglo-American jurisprudence proves to cement itself within his beliefs, never mentioning any line of regret or even remorse, for America or for his own personal core values which stand slighted, at best... yet this makes sense in the scheme of the 1970s.
       Hunter S. Thompson might be crazy, but at least he is rational in the sense that he is not overly paranoid of competition because he trusts his obscene journalistic "Gonzo" style. I have studied the Watergate incident thoroughly and many of the names that Thompson mentions are familiar and true to their descriptions, with a little bit of overly nationalistic angst sprinkled on top. But, ultimately I agree- no matter who you are, over-confidence is vice. It would be better for everyone if the whole population had a sense of self evaluation and double checking of their in"sanity", but hopefully not in an obtrusive way. Stay safe within your personal wishes, vendettas, and aspirations- be loud when you're called for.