Middle Sex

I finished reading the novel Middle Sex by Jeffery Eugenides a few weeks ago and wanted to talk about it. I picked up the book randomly, not knowing whether or not it was well received (sans the NY best seller accolade on the cover). So I started reading it..

I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974.

So, the book is about a hermaphrodite born Calliope (female) who now goes by Cal (male). To my surprise, the novel spans three generations to tell the story of how Cal's family ended up in Michigan and how Cal came to be intersex. In a way, the novel plays out like a three generation long Forrest Gump. Where Forrest Gump charts the life of a common man in the US from the 1950s onwards, Middle Sex plays out like an epic telling of the immigrant family assimilating into America. In Forrest Gump, Forrest finds his way into some of the most iconic scenes in American history (alongside John Lennon, JFK, etc). Similarly, the characters in Middle Sex find their way into cataclysmic events from the 20th century. While Jeffery Euginides places the characters in settings I was unfamiliar with, like Smyrna in Greece during the Balkan Wars, the entire novel is relayed through Cal's midwestern POV. As a result, I found these foreign events relatable.

The book speaks very little of the turmoil of actually going through a gender identity change. As it were, Jeffery Euginides didn't do any interviewing with intersex individuals stating,   

"[I] decided not to work in that reportorial mode. Instead of trying to create a separate person, I tried to pretend that I had this [physical feature] and that I had lived through this as much as I could".

He succeeds in creating a distinct voice in the narrator, Cal. However, Euginides decidedly focuses on events inspired by his own Midwestern upbringing and Greek heritage more than imagined events unique to intersex individuals. The resulting narrative is less about gender transformation than the diverse ways our lives can change throughout their course. The book charts the way 20th century America took in Europeans and spit out post-modern Americans three generations later. Because of its scope, each character illustrates distinct points during this slow transformation. The initial change takes place in nationality. Greeks become Americans (Cal's grandparents). The second change is from lower class to upper class (what up American dream?). While Cal's grandfather Lefty struggled to make ends meet, Cal's father Milton ends the novel owning a successful chain of hot dog joints (which are more lucrative than one might think). The final change is from Modernism to post-Modernism (I went there). Cal ends the novel living in Berlin, having gone through a gender identity swap, and beginning a fling with another exPat, who is Japanese/American. If Cal's parents came from a society that was racist (and similarly sexist), Cal is from a generation that is beyond both race and sex.

The story is long enough that I have distinct memories of the various settings in which I tackled the novel. It's not overly smart, and its accessibility is perhaps its greatest feature. It stands highly recommended.

I Saw a Film Today Oh Boy (My impression of the Wolf on Wall Street)

I went to see the Wolf on Wall Street tonight. After spending 3 hours in the theater watching this relentless film, I am exhausted. Director Martin Scorsese is dealing with some heavy issues here such as money laundering, prostitution, drug abuse, and domestic abuse. The result is a heavy film that I don't recommend trying to lift.

The film starts off with sex and cocaine within the first 10 minutes and doesn't let down for the entire 3 hours. We see Mark Hannah (Mathew McConaughey) coked up while advocating a lifestyle of sex, drugs, and stocks to young Jordan Belfort (Leo DiCaprio). We then spend a very brief amount of time seeing Jordan Belfort becoming exactly the character of Mark Hannah as he devises a plan to sell penny stocks for high commissions and make a boat load of money. At first I thought this was going to be a tale of one man building his own version of the American Dream, but the film has Jordan Belfort coked up and wildly successful within the first half hour. Then I thought this was going to be a somber tale of how this lifestyle inevitably backfires, or a stand off duel between an intelligent Wall Street broker and the FBI. Unfortunately Leonardo DiCaprio's Belfort is presented as a drugged out idiot and makes it really hard to believe that he could possibly outsmart the FBI. If anything I thought to myself I actually already know what to do to avoid and FBI investigation (put all my money in an offshore account entitled to someone else and press the delete key over and over on my work computer). The real takeaway from the film is that Wall Street is a religion, one with so much promise that its hard to resist. Seeing an entire firm on brokers pounding their chests and praising their leader evokes a wildly passionate Christian Mass celebration. But if Christian's praise a life of virtue, the practitioners at Stratton Oakfort, Jordan Belfort's brokerage, praise the ability to sell stocks. The more potent scenes in the film involved the FBI agent who was investigating Belfort facing the temptation of this religion as he lives an honest life in the middle class.

I didn't realize this was a surprisingly true story, based on a novel written by the Jordan Belfort. That definitely ups the ante on the content of the film resonating. It reminds me a bit of the Goodfellas in that respect. A group of guys build fortunes breaking the law and adopt totally reckless lifestyles. In the Goodfellas I remember being really concerned for Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) at the end of the film. I also remember being totally astonished at the outcome of his life (what?! the witness protection program? he got off after only how long in jail?!). Pluse, the mob is a totally intimidating group of guys who will do anything to keep their power. In contrast, in Wolf we get a crazy group of assholes who need cocaine to come up with anything novel and probably don't know where the safety is on a gun. What's redeeming about these guys? Scorsese briefly suggests that these guys are so good at what they do that they deserve the worship they give each other. However, anytime an explanation is offered in the film for their brilliance, Jordan Belfort literally stops and says its not important. In the end, I'm left needing to watch Jordan Belfort's post jail motivational speeches in real life to know that answer.

Pros: Funny on occasion, clever overdubbing, Jonah Hill and Leonardo DiCaprio

Cons: Been here done that, way to long, on par with a soap opera in terms of drama, uninteresting characters

I am learning how to write

So, I started this blog a few years ago and have slowly been adding content to it. When I say slowly I mean at the pace of a child who doesn't really want to play guitar but keeps resigning up for lessons every year only to quit a few weeks later. That being said, I want to start writing more and sharing my experience of just about everything through some digital format that doesn't scream for attention. So for the time being, this is it.

I'll position this post as a general get to know me thing. I'm 25 years old. I live in Oakland, CA where I make art, meditate, cook, design apps, and develop them. I'm keen on occasional cold showers, which will likely lead to me jumping in the Bay and swimming sometime this winter. I make collages right now. I started finding objects on the ground when I was living in the Mission District in San Francisco this summer and I thought that it would be a very cool thing to create collages of the objects that people leave behind the Mission District and replace them in the public space as sort of a 4 dimensional document of the streets. Well, I've been hoarding the collages in my room, but I am on my way to making quite a number of them.

I'm also designing an art application right now. As a result, I'll likely be reviewing a lot of apps and posting those comments on this blog. As for tech, I'm working as an iOS developer in the city of San Francisco, which is something like working on Wall Street in the 20's I'd imagine (just without the glamour and Gatsby parties). I actually don't have a working iPhone right now, so my being an iOS developer is slightly ironic.

I really like sweets, and if I didn't have a penchant for biking and staying fit would paying the price for this indulgent affinity. I have really been into Fig Newton's lately. Figs are really underrated in my opinion. So are dates. Dates kinda suck because of the huge nut in them, which you have to spit out, but they are really tasty. Raisins are alright too.

So yeah. Here I am. Oh yeah my name is Corey. And the only dance I know is the Snoopy dance.