TGIF

It hasn't been a particularly difficult week, I'm just glad its Friday. I'm always glad its Friday. This weekend I think some dinner, maybe a movie, some shopping, and some baseball are in the cards. Also - going to the dentist for the first time in about a year and a half on Saturday. Definitely not looking forward to it because I think I might have some cavities which is never fun. I also have to go to a different dentist than the one I've been to my whole life because apparently he's too expensive for my dental plan. Usually I love getting things for cheaper than they're worth or on sale, but for some reason, I'm not too thrilled with going to the cheaper dentist. Just gotta get it over with.

Did you hear about the E. coli breakout thats had hit about 11 states since the last time I saw the headlines? When I read about the story in the morning it was at 8 states. But the thing that they think may be the source?? Spinach! Fresh, packaged spinach. Kinda random - I dunno, I always thought that E.coli was all about raw chicken and meat and stuff. Now kids all around the nation will have an excuse ready for their parents on why they can't eat their spinach, even after the threat has passed. I really hope its only the packages spinach becauese i definitely had some spinach last night for dinner, but my mom uses the non-packaged, bigger bunches of spinach. There haven't been any cases in California as far as I know, but considering that 3/4 of America's spinach crop comes from California, not a good sign.
HOLY CRAP. I just went on cnn.com and the headline was "E.coli sickens 94 in 20 states" http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/09/15/tainted.spinach.ap/index.html
So yeah, scratch all that above, and there definitely are cases in California. Just say no to spinach.

So this story really interests me:
http://www.nola.com/sports/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-25/115743414215330.xml&coll=1

Its about a New Orleans Saints linebacker named Scott Fujita who itsn't biologically Japanese, but was adopted by his Japanese father and Caucasian mother, and identifies as being part Japanese. He says in the article that he knows he doesn't have "a drop of Japanese blood in him," but he grew up with the culture and considers it a part of his identity.

I thought this was cute: "Fujita recalls eating steamed rice with every meal as a kid, using chopsticks and not eating a baked potato until he was 8, at a neighbor's house.
"I didn't know what to do with it," Fujita said. "I didn't know how you were supposed to cut it, and butter it, all that kind of stuff."

I just wonder what it must have been like to grow up with a name that causes people to double take when they see your face, and to grow up experiencing all the normal traditions and culture of one of your parents but have people question you when you say you identify with that culture. In the article, he also talks about learning about the Japanese internment and how its a shame that its not taught in schools all around the county. Its just interesting to think that he learned about how his family was interned and had everything taken away from them just because they were foreign and therefore seen as a threat, but because of the color of his skin it wouldn't have happened to him even though he identifies as being part Japanese. I just think he probably has a very interesting and unique perspective on your identity and how its formed. Its also funny to think that when he and his very blonde wife have kids, they're going to be Fujitas as well, and he says that he intends on passing on the cultural lessons he had. Here's another article on him, with pictures:
http://pacificcitizen.org/sports.htm

I'm so leaving early from work.