Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Detox

One would think that I'd be luxuriating in my newfound freedom by now. It is true that there have been moments when an unexpected smile would sneak up on me, taking me by surprise and causing me to marvel at this new stage in my life. I would close my eyes, take a deep breath, and let the smile spread through my being. Those are certainly nice moments, but I apparently still have some anger to work out during this detox period, and what better way to get it out of my system than through this blog?

There have been many times in the past year and a half that I wish I had the courage and audacity to carry this bag around Madame, my former boss. (Former ~ how lovely that sounds!) The bag features characters designed by Lela Lee, founder of Angry Little Girls. True, I was not actually born here, but I might as well have been. English, though not my first language, is my best language. When EvilRedhead first showed me the ALG site, I connected with Kim (the angry little Asian girl) for obvious reasons. She's the cartoon embodiment of my rarely-seen dark side. Of course, I also liked Xyla, the gloomy girl who seems to be a human, female version of Eeyore (one of my favorite Disney characters). Although I never got around to purchasing this bag and parading it in front of certain insidiously prejudiced individuals, it's nice to see someone find such a creative, funny, and financially rewarding way of dealing with unpleasant experiences and the darker emotions.

It is interesting how products can often crystallize our experiences, thoughts, and emotions, sometimes in uncanny ways. Take this beautiful perpetual calendar I purchased last month. The gorgeous book features a work of art and a related quote for each day of the year. After tearing off the shrink wrap, I spent a good amount of time perusing and admiring the glossy artworks. I also looked up various birthdays of family and friends. Quite by accident, I came across Madame's birthday. Much to my amusement and sense of the apropos, the artwork for that day was Henry Fuseli's The Nightmare, a piece I was quite familiar with from my grad school days. The painting has been frequently used on covers of Gothic fiction, and critics have noted connections between it and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Given Madame's nightmarish reign, Fuseli's artwork was eerily fitting...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I would love to carry that bag around to interviews. I remember 2 interviews (same week, different companies) where the white folks told me I would go far in life because they wouldn't have known I was Asian if they spoke to me over the phone.