Black Friends

I just got done reading this very interesting article on the GQ website that dealt with racial diversity in one's social circle. Specifically the article was about a certain editor of the magazine that had posted a bulletin on Craigslist.com advertising for a black friend.
The obvious references to the sexual connotations that might be transcribed from the title of the post aside, he went on to describe the responses he received and the actual meetings he had with the people who did respond.
The whole process, he retells, began at a party when one of his two black friends was unable to make it, thus cutting the number of black friends he had by half. He was struck by the fact that if just one of those two guys moved away or stopped liking him, he would only have one friend of color.
At this point in the article he asks the reader to consider his own situation. How many black friends do you have? This might not be something that you think about often, or ever even, but really, how many black friends, or just friends of a different ethnic background do you have?
This situation had an even deeper layer for me because of my specific situation. I am a Mexican guy who grew up in Mexico, with Mexican friends and a very tight relationship with my Mexican family, but who, by various twists in fate, is now living in a dominantly white city and hangs out mainly with white friends.
Now, it's not all that stark for me, I do have plenty of Mexican friends back in Huntsville, where I'm from, and I do still talk to my family in Mexico, but all of my best friends are white. Is that even weird? I don't know.
The point is, For a society that prides itself being a very accepting nation with peoples of all cultural, religious, and racial, backgrounds that are judged not by these standards but rather by the worth of their personalities and work ethics, we as individuals are not living up to the dream.
I mean, we just voted a black man into office as the leader of our nation and most of us don't even have a single black friend.
Just something to consider.

Movie Making

Making a movie is serious business. There are so many little things that go into it that people are not aware of. You have to come up with an idea, write a script, bitch with your coproducer for weeks about the script. Change the script some twelve times. Revise the script seven more times after that. Bitch some more. Find the actors. After your first cast bails on you, find new actors. Get Drunk. Rewrite the script; the idea was dumb anyways. Come up with equipment for the shoot. Reshoot after realizing your lack 0f knowledge and preparation of the equipment put a big stupid watermark over all your footage and an annoyingly high pitched beep over the audio track. Get drunk. Clean up the mess from last night's drunken swaree (a mustard throwing fight may sound like a good idea, but seldom is.) Fuck it, we're not really doing anything, let's go get drunk again... At the Mexican club. Who the fuck is this Anel girl in my bed? Who the hell calls their kid Anal? Get back to work! You've got a deadline. Skip class. Go to work. Do the dishes. Fuck it, we'll just buy disposable. Watch a movie. Get inspired. Get back to work! Call the actors. Get them ready (Thrift Mart!) Your coproducer's A.D.D. is seriously colliding with the production of this film and generally pissing your A.D.D. off. Get drunk. Look for music for your movie. Should we worry about plagiarism? Where's my left shoe? Begin the editing process. Bitch with your coproducer about the editing process. Get drunk. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! Whatch an incredibly bad Mexploitation, straight-to-video-released movie. Write a blog. Finalize the movie. Give it a title. Fantasize about all the cool things you're gonna get when you're rich, and what hot actresses you're gonna sleep with. Realize you're not willing to share Tina Fey. Bitch with your coproducer about it. Make a list. Come up with a complex set of rules for the picks on the list. You did it! You finished your film and nobody important got hurt... you know it... Get drunk!