August 21, 2003
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EDIT: Have to get rid of the noraebang pic cuz I'm getting tired of looking at me pointing at me...
Xanga: The Great Equalizer
One of the better illusions of xanga is that everyone is equal. It doesn't matter how old you are, where you're from, what race you are (as long as it's Asian. Sorry, Eliot...), which sex... all that matters is your voice and your xanga personality. We can all come together online and laugh and sing and be one big happy family. You feel close to people, like you know them and they understand you. That is, until you meet in real life.
Yesterday, I had lunch with some xangers in midtown. Among the invited were slouchingtiger, juliocoolio, chaz_meister, and two girls who we'll call "Buffy" and "Matilda". Buffy and Matilda's xanga identities will be kept secret cuz I don't want them screaming at me the next time I see them. Anyway, the other guys couldn't come for one reason or another and so I was stuck at lunch with these two chicks who are 21 and 22 years old, respectively. I'll be 32 next month. But I didn't think it was a big deal since we all know each other so well through xanga and all. This is how conversation went:
"You HAVE to come for the sample sale..."
"Kyu is so wrong. The national average for engagement rings is $2,000 something and for the northeast it's $5,000 something..."
"I wanna be the ceo of sephora."
"I heard this as a rumour, but I don't know if it's true - is M.Y. the same age as Pastor Ro?"
"He was an artist with all these tattoos and he had his brother's bloodstains on his wifebeater, and it just seemed so interesting..."
"I wanna be an international art dealer."
"My engagement ring has to be 2 or 3 carats."
"I am so open to meeting people these days. I met this guy and we exchanged numbers, and then I met this other guy and we exchanged numbers..."
"I hate side stones! I hate all those weird shapes. It has to be round."
"Oh man, I can just see myself being 30 and single..."
Now, there's nothing wrong with this conversation per se. It's just that I shouldn't have been anywhere near it. I thought our xanga bond would have easily helped us rise above our very real differences. Not so. I have to add that I already knew Buffy and Matilda before xanga, and I shudder to imagine what it would have been like if I didn't know them at all. Moral of the story: no more outings which involve heavy conversation with females under 25. Unless they're hot. That way, I can just stare and nod my head and still have a good time...
Comments (61)
i know which quotes to attribute to hyp. =) ahhaaha
hahahaha, i was wondering, which one of those lines is hooju's???
but i guess u were busy singing songs at noraebang with a nice buzz...
no, man. none of them are mine...
btw, that's not very nice to matilda and buffy. you're saying they're not hot.
i didn't really get into the flow of this entry. talking about xanga as the equalizer and then talking about rings and stuff. i wasn't feeling you hooju. it was good that you threw in that part at the end about hot girls. they could read out of the phone book and you still stare at them and nod.
2 or 3 carats....geez their future hubbies better start saving now
at least you hang out with younger girls, unlike mystic1, who hangs out with younger guys.
i'm juss kiddin' mystic1, you know that, right?
never hung out w/anyone thru xanga but i think how people are on xanga might be totally different in person. i mean, how can u possibly know a person through a computer right? everyone seems cool and normal on xanga but in person, that could be another case.
girls, the secret to getting a big ring is . . . fat fingers. that's right. cause if you've got skinny little fingers, a 3-carat ring is just dopey. it'll spill over into your other fingers. but if you've got chubby fingers, you need at least a 1-carat just to look normal. so start fattening up your fingers.
the girls seem fine and normal to me. i think you need to work on the way you put together conversations so the quotes dont seem like random outbursts of superficiality but rather a normal discourse amongst friends.
Yo Hooj, you're messed up. Ok, my data was off by 20 years. I think the average of 0.20 carats was true in 1980. Now with all this marketing by DeBeers, the average keeps going up. Not good for the average man. I tell you it's a conspiracy. It's like a bid system. The bids keep getting higher and higher.
or perhaps you should consider how different the conversations would have been if you yourself were to be involed in it. i feel bad for these girls. you really messed up hj
no, there's nothing wrong with the conversation. i'm just saying it was HARD for me to be a part of it... different interests, that's all...
kyu, the diamond industry is totally based on marketing. it's not a precious stone. in fact, it's abundant all over the world, it's just that debeers controls such a huge percentage of the mines that they keep supply low. also, the 3-month salary calculator is just a marketing tool, you don't actually have to spend that to get a great ring. also, the diamond industry gives weapons to warring tribes in africa so that the civil wars keep the native people fighting, thus keeping them from realizing that they have every right to the mines and the money it produces. international govts, including us, know about this, but diamond lobbiers have a lot of money. and dumb women think they need a diamond. luckily, there were some mines found in canada that's starting to gain popularity.
here's one article on this.
gloriakim is wise beyond her yrs. and i'm sure its "dumb women and arrogant men"
I think the price for a diamond ring is higher if you are talking about asian women from the northeast... they tend to not really go for anything lower than $10k it seems... not going to name any names. The quote of 2K to 5K seems more realistic for the midwest...
And Hooj... I feel your pain... it was good of you to even go out of your way to remember those quotes. hahahaha
man, you ARE mean! don't worry girls, we know his story is biased.
i think xanga personality and real personality are so diff for most people. but it humors me how people become all buddy buddy through xanga & friendster though they hardly know each other in the beginning...
i heard sapphires are becoming popular b/c of people boycotting DeBeers...
since gloria blew my cover as "matilda" i just want to point out that 2 or 3 carats was NOT me. i knew you were all thinking that...and i'm offended hj. i consider myself a great conversationalist.
wait a minute, isn't it karats? sorry hooju, i guess you were right.
carat. 4 C's of diamond (carat, cut, clarity and cost)
i'm sorry ur cover was blown, parkhaley. now u might as well tell us who "buffy" is too
mystic, dang it, what did i tell you about flirting with girls on my site?? gloriakim's my married former bible study student, for crying out loud...
and when did i become "hj"?
haley, your conversation skills are fine. i'm talking about CONTENT...
Actually, the 4th "C" is color. these 4 "C"s determine the Cost. Hey people, remember when Kyu called me materialistic and then try to play it off as though it was a good thing? For the umpteenth time, yes, I do like nice things, but I'm so not a snob because I want it for myself and couldn't care less what others have. HJ...where did you come up with "Matilda."
CONTENT? you're basing this ALL on ONE hour!!! I normally like to talk about derek, fantasy baseball, politics, more derek...
hey, i just noticed...5 quotes were from "buffy" and five from "matilda" good job.
ah that's right. i knew i forgot one thing. but i guess COST seemed like a bigger factor! hahahha. j/k!
keep digging hooju.
haeyoung, i remember when kyu said that, and for a second it almost made sense when he said you're "good" materialistic.
uhhh... "matilda" just came to me...
the hang out site is back.
so defensive... dang... i stand by the hoojster... the man had no ill intent i'm sure, right hooj? ;p
and don't let the shallow "hot girl" talk fool ya. hooj wouldn't even know what to do w/ a hot girl!
i got ur back, hj
thanks, mystic. i appreciate the support...
umm....well, i ain't gonna take sides. i'll just stay neutral on this one.
btw, great choice of names hooju. matilda and buffy. not your typical girl names...hmmmm if i have daughters, i'll probably give them unique, not-so-common names, like the ones you mentioned (i wonder about the torture they'll go through in school when they're being made fun of) or maybe sydney or something like that. some names are just too played out.
actually, i've been thinking that my last name doesn't go too well with a lot of names. sounds bad especially with girl names. (any girl's name) kang. ugh. all of 'em sound real bad. just try it. if you come up w/ a name that sounds ok, let me know. my last name sounds too masculine...
i have a friend named hanna kang. it sounds pretty good to me. and isn't there a female jdsn with the same surname?
animal, you are so antinoonchi. we were having a nice fight and you killed all the momentum...
how about "butterfly"? Butterfly Kang. has a nice ring to it...
ooops...sorry hooju.
butterfly?! how/where/why did you come up w/ that name? haha
hyp...hanna doesn't sound too bad...
animal, please don't name your daughter matilda. no offense to the matildas out there, but it just reminds me of an old, fat, english woman.
ok ok...i've been told that i was being anti noonchi and i killed the momentum...well, if you read the comments leading up to mine, you'll see how i killed it. anyways, let me try starting it up again:
Hooju, it's all good! you keep doing your thang. I got your back too!
glo: hahahhaa...how about olga? doesn't that sound pretty? *shudder*
ok, back to the fight. hyp, why did you claim matilda? i would've claimed buffy.
this whole time i thought julia was buffy, but then i actually read the post and i see buffy's 21, and then i see esther getting worked up, so . . . can i be detective snob? no, i don't kill jokes.
hooju, i was just rereading this entry. it's very misleading. you make it seem like you just met these people through xanga, when in fact you've known tiger, julio, chaz, matilda, matilda, and buffy for years. why are you trying to mislead your readers hoojer? what kind of ex-jundosanim/sunkyosanim/jipsanim are you?
yeah, but dude, up until two months ago, i'd never really hung out with buffy or matilda. last time i talked to them, they were in HIGH SCHOOL...
i SO wanted to claim buffy but....hooj (will not refer to him as hj since he hates it) says 'respectively 21 and 22 years old' and since I'm the 22 year old...julia was a great guess for buffy. joon: i thought the post was misleading also! he makes it sound as though we had this great xanga rapport and met in person for the first time, only to be disappointed. why was matilda listed twice?
Sorry I wasn't there to partake in the joyous conversation. I was overloaded after blackout week. I'll join you guys next week.
And here I am late again.
Ah yes... I know "Buffy" and "Matilda" so well that I figured it was them by reading the quotes and I didn't even know that you had lunch with them.
Whoops, "Yoojin" was really me up there. I forgot to sign in.
HHAHAHHAHAH.. I completely stumbled in and found a great blog.
now i have to read some more...
hugS>
HAHAHAHAHAHA! ah yes, i knew one was hyp, & i had a feeling about #2. let me just say that at least u tried to give people anonymity & they just blow it themselves by commenting.
when i hear "matilda" i keep thinking about the british bulldogs' mascot & also mario cuomo's wife.
Insong, I know what you mean by people incriminating themselves. I remember one time when Jacob Kim went on a retreat or something with a bunch of other church guys here. I don't know what happened but somehow everyone found out that he wears Underoos (Aquaman was it?) Anyway, someone wrote about it in the Vine and kept it anonymous and I myself didn't know at first that it was Jacob until Monica came up to me and went ballistic saying how could you do this to Jacob? She went on making a big scene. Well, the whole church found out because of the scene she caused. She hated me after that.
no, bring the purple shirt back. gives you a much better image than this cocked-head picture.
no way. those pumpkin colored walls were really getting on my nerves too...
actually, i blew matilda's cover. and buffy sorta blew her own cover but i pointed it out. so i guess it's all my fault. =)
yeah, plus you called hae an old, fat, english woman. that's messed up. i was thinking of the 1996 movie with the little girl named matilda...
hahaha dang..you have a huge discussion going on here...
i enjoyed reading this
TOO funny! hahahaha. so u knew these people from xanga? or church? for some reason, i thought it was from church. =)
umm...xanga entries get stupider and stupider
keke...i'm glad u like my choice of color 
i like urs too!! 
muhahaha...
oops - i meant comments.
ahahaha
hooj, can i tell u that you got many lurkers? some of my friends read ur site through my site and told me how funny you are. you should start a xanga fan club.
I didn't write anything. Someone who went to that retreat wrote about his underoos. I myself found out only after it was published that it was Jacob cuz Monica confronted me. If she'd kept her mouth shut I wouldn't have found out, nor the rest of the church.
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