I'm Thankful for Restaurants Open on Thanksgiving

This year's Thanksgiving was certainly memorable, all thanks to...


Remember THIS POST when I talked about a mid-semester slump? Sadly, it didn't get better. A few weeks ago, my roommate asked what we wanted to do this year for Thanksgiving, and I just groaned in reply. For the past two years, we had hosted Thanksgiving for a couple of friends here in Columbus who were in a similar situation to us ("stranded" with no family to celebrate with). This year, however, we were both so mentally exhausted, we didn't even want to make plans for Thanksgiving. The thought of cooking/ baking just didn't seem appealing.

And this is major because Thanksgiving dinner is my FAVORITE FESTIVE DINNER of the entire year. To me, Thanksgiving dinner beats Christmas dinner hands down, and *gasp* even Chinese New Year dinner. I always make something for Thanksgiving without fail (two years ago I made green bean casserole 3Xs!!!).

This year though... GAAAAAH! So my roommate and I, along with two other friends from our congregation, decided that we were going out to eat dinner. And boy, am I glad, and SO VERY THANKFUL THAT PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO WORK ON THANKSGIVING. I know, I know, in an ideal world, everyone would be given the day off.

And in an ideal world, I wouldn't be so exhausted that the thought of even buying a turkey wouldn't send shudders down my back.

But back to reality: We had to hunt around a bit since most places were understandably close, and finally found Texas de Brazil. Similar to Tucanos and Rodizio Grill, Texas de Brazil serves Brazilian-style food, with the sliced meat served to you, and an unlimited soup, salad and sides bar. For Thanksgiving, they added a few more traditional side dishes to the menu, and the cost of the meal included a free soda and a dessert.

Oh
my
word,
the food was soooooo good!

4 Happy Customers

Yes, I sacrificed some of my favorite traditional foods, like stuffing and green bean casserole and endless dessert... plus, it cost A LOT of money ($45+ tax + tip!!! I've never spent so much on myself for a meal in my life!). But oh man, the payoff was so worth it. The food was excellent, the service was wonderful, and they even allowed us to pack dessert home since we were stuffed to the max by the end of dinner. Best of all, no cleaning! Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha! I woke up today wanting to go back and eat the meat again.

Once again, I truly appreciate those who sacrifice their time with family and friends to work so that other people can have Thanksgiving Dinner. You guys have no idea how relieved I was to have found this place, and then be treated so well there! Thank you.

Happy Holidays everyone! Hope you guys had a fun and excellent Thanksgiving like I did, especially during this cold November.

No Justice, No Peace

Last night, Darren Wilson was not indicted for putting 6 bullets into Michael Brown's body. And Ferguson bled.

Yes, I am aware that Brown was not entirely innocent -- there was drugs in his system, he had robbed a store, he resisted arrest and got into a scuffle with Wilson, etc. When the news first broke months ago, I myself thought, "Michael Brown is not really the best example we want to use to talk about injustice, even if he was a young man..."

Then I read about the 6 bullets.

6 bullets. How many times do you need to shoot to injure the suspect enough to apprehend him/her?  I don't know what the magic number is, but 6??? Furthermore, Brown was unarmed. It wouldn't have been so clear a case if Brown had a weapon and injured Wilson. However, Brown did not have a weapon, and when you shoot 6 bullets into an unarmed person, it's a no brainer-- guess who's going to die.

What really galls me is the fact that Wilson was not even indicted to go to trial, which means he will not have to account for every bullet that he put into Brown's body. You want to talk about defending Wilson, what about letting him explain every single decision behind every single bullet. Perhaps there was a justification for 6 bullets, but guess what, we'll never know now.

Aside from the clear injustice of the decision, my Facebook has been inundated with posts either protesting the decision, or saying something along the lines of, "Why are people looting and protesting and using violence to voice their disagreement with the decision, or vent their anger against the system? It doesn't solve anything"

Well, my friends, because this is not a one-time thing that black people happen to vent their anger out on. The truth is, Darren Wilson is not the 1st or 2nd or 3rd or 4th or 5th or 6th or 10th or even the 100th police officer to commit such a gross crime, especially against black people or people of racial minority. This is probably the X000th time this has happened. For example, see THIS ARTICLE detailing another recent incident, the Trayvon Martin shooting. The article also throws into relief some needed historical perspective that shows how black people have been repeatedly screwed over thrown under the bus by the system throughout the decades.

Pray, tell me, how many times should one group of people suffer from injustice again and again and again and again and again and again and again before they have had enough and decide to fight back? True, violence and looting are probably not the best solutions to venting anger and frustration, but I can understand the fury behind their actions.

I wrote on my Facebook status "No justice, no peace. RIP Michael Brown," and a friend commented, "Seriously?" I'm not sure what he meant by that, except to infer that he disagreed with my status, and that's fine. However, I would like to respond here:
Yes, I'm serious. There was no justice to this decision. How do you expect me, a woman of racial minority, to have peace of mind, knowing that a cop can shoot me (or my future children) 6 times, and walk free, without even having to go to trial? Sure, Michael Brown wasn't your star poster child, but neither did he deserve to have 6 bullets put into his body. And yes, I'm serious when I say that I hope Michael Brown rests in peace. 

Mid-Semester Slump- It's Real!

It's that time of the year again for those in school: the mid-semester slump.
URGH!
It has really hit me hard this year. Case in point:

Yesterday morning, as I walked into my office, a fellow grad student who serves with me on the Graduate Student Advisory Committee* asked me if we had a committee meeting the next morning. I had completely forgotten about the meeting, and was glad he reminded me.

The next morning, as I waited at the bus stop to go to school, I took out my phone to, well, that's what everyone does now for various reasons, right? Anyway, I took out my phone and saw that I had a slew of new text messages from other GSAC committee members. Three of them wrote that they were going to be very late for the meeting, and another apologized that he/she would not be able to attend.

And that was when I realized that I had forgotten about the meeting... AGAIN. *Facepalm* The meeting was scheduled to start at 10am, and there I was, waiting at the bus stop at 9:57am, oblivious to the mini-storm of anxious text messages until I checked my phone. Thank goodness most of us were late, and decided to reschedule the meeting till next week.

Thanksgiving and Christmas break can't come fast enough.

*The Graduate Student Advisory Committee (GSAC) consists of six graduate students in the history department at OSU, and they represent the graduate student body to the various faculty committees in the history department, and also organize forums/ events for graduate students.