*Preface - This marks the glorious return of Buttugly-length posts. Last month, I posted at a breathtaking pace, but I couldn't afford the time to develop thoughts. I can't promise I'll deliver a post-per-day, but enjoy this ramble. Also, Alicia Keys is set to drop soon, and so far, the tracks I've heard have sounded awesome. Not aawesome, but simply soulful. You aren't ready.

This racially motivated hate-email was sent out back in 1996, by one Richard Machado, to 59 Asians enrolled in the University of California, Irvine. Mr.Macahdo, a minority himself (Mexican), was later criminally charged for his actions.

I already posted something along racial lines a couple posts back, and while it wasn't my original intent at all, I had a feeling it was leading up to something. Here's an edited version of the email to provide context for the following small discussion:

"I hate Asians, including you. If it weren’t for asias at UCI, it would be a much more popular campus. You are responsible for ALL the crimes that occur on campus. YOU are why I want you and your stupid ass comrades to get the f*** out of UCI. IF you don’t I will hunt you down and kill your stupid a****. Do you hear me? I personally will make it my life carreer to find and kill everyone one of you personally. OK?????? That’s how determined I am."

Obviously, this is absurd, and you'd be inclined to think that as a society, we've made social progress since 1996. But let me assure you that these things happen on a daily basis even in the year 2007, or as I like to call it, Willenium + 8. What a polarizing album. There were maybe two songs that didn't make you want to introduce your head to the closest baseball bat. But that's neither here nor there.

You'd figure people would be more secretive with their unreasonable hatred given the liberal society we live in, but dumb people prove me wrong all the time. Never count on dumb people. Unless, you're counting on them being dumb. Even that sometimes is a stretch.

It's not enough for us to stop there and just label dumb people as dumb, because that's not the root of the problem. This horrific expression of stupidity is an example of an extreme symptom of some deep-rooted values woven into the fabric of our society. While these expressions are usually subdued, for some, subtlety is not a strong suit.

And while I'd gather to say that most of the people reading this (or the people I am aware of) have been shielded from such ignorance in our privileged lives, just because it hasn't happened to you, doesn't mean it doesn't happen at all.

May I present to you, real life scenario A. I was purchasing steaks from a local deli shop, and while paying for my purchase, an elderly Caucasian gentlemen behind me made eye contact with me and then unleashed a string of Mandarin phrases before explaining that was one of the many languages he had picked up during the course of his life. I countered by informing him I had no knowledge of the Mandarin dialect whatsoever, and sincerely congratulated for being multilingual.

Upon walking out of the store, and out of his hearing range, my buddy, who was standing there beside me the whole time, exclaimed, "I'm glad it was you who dealt with him because if it was me, I would've pwn'd him because that was straight up ignorant."

Was it cute for the old man to approach me like he did? A little. Honestly innocent in his intentions? Most probably. Does it change the fact that it was indeed ignorant for him to jump to conclusions like that? Nope.

That's what I'm talking about. The way we generalize people is almost dehumanizing. Yes, it is a reflection of the culture we have been raised in, but that does not rule out individual responsibility. Let's learn to understand one another, setting aside personal preferences and taking into account factors that may not have been prominent in your upbringing, but important in the development of the other person. And even more importantly, let's look out for one another instead of focusing on ourselves.

I had cup of butter pecan flavored coffee and a pralines and cream flavored muffin this morning.

As if ice cream invaded my breakfast.

The only thing missing was a scone.

By the time you read this, it will already have been too late.

Or too early. I don't know. The math confuses me at this time of night. Actually, I don't even know what time of night it is. Regardless...

I have a question. And you probably won't have the answer. But a few of you may attempt to think of one on the spot in my comment section below. Knock your self's out. That's right. Your self's.

There's a lot of thinking going on in this post.

Thanks to daylight savings time, if someone wanted to go back to "02:00 November 4, 2007" in a time machine, would the machine warp them to the first 02:00 (which was an hour ago), or would the machine warp them to...right now?

I timed that perfectly by the way.

So while I reach over to adjust my annoyance that greets me every morning alarm-clock, I do so hesitantly, knowing my actions could irrevocably ruin the space time continuum.

Am I the only one who thinks about these things?

I'm all for exposing kids to different aspects of cultures at various points in their education/life, but I think this is taking it too far. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just watch the cute kids do a cool dance, but if you know, then feel free to shake your head:

Bubble-gum makes my jaw tired. It's probably why I never buy bubble-gum, nor take anyone up on their gum (bubble or not) offers. I inevitably end up spitting the gum out in five minutes.

But today, I deemed five minutes worthy of the $1.36 it costs for a pack of Sour Apple Bubblicious, the only brand of bubble-gum worth anyone's time anyways. Feel free to disagree, but you'd be wrong.

So I stood there, counted out $2.36, took my $1.00 change, and walked towards the door feeling proud for unloading 7 worthless coins (6 pennies and a nickel) and for indulging myself in a sudden urge to splurge on what amounts to chewy, flavorful sugar, until I was stopped by the shrill voice of the cashier.

"Sir, your bubble-gum?"

I had almost inadvertently walked out of the store without my purchased merchandise. The scary thing is, this is not the first time I've lined up, paid for an item, and walked away without said item.

I am a modified-philanthropist by trade. I give to the poor stores.