Tumgik
#(well actually I mean all of willow’s music starting at 2017 I don’t really listen to her 2015 album much)
gummiix · 11 months
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🎶✨️when u get this u have to put 5 songs u actually listen to, publish. Then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool)🎶✨️
so this is actually pretty hard because I listen to a LOT of songs… but here are some I really adore (in no particular order) :]
-Lonely Road by WILLOW
-Stress Relief by late night drive home
-Hope by Arlo Parks
-Paralyzed by The Cardigans
-Piedmont by Destroy Boys
(pspsps I’m actually really proud of my playlists so if you wanna check ‘em out my spotify is here)
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carnationcomplex · 3 years
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Person who I secretly think is very cool and funny @aspeneyes tagged me to answer 30 questions and then tag 20 blogs I want to get to know better (I definitely don't know that many but I'll try my best...)
1. Name/nickname: Chrissy which is actually already a nickname for Christine and I've been going by that since 4th grade. Got tired of people calling me Christina but now I get Christy so not much has changed lol
2. Gender: cis woman
3. Star sign: scorpio (not that I really know what that means but apparently it's sexy of me idk)
4. Height: 5'8" last time I went to the doctor
5. Time: 9:59 p.m. est (well it's 11:30 p.m. when I'm finishing this but that's when I started)
6. Birthday: November 10th
7. Favorite groups/bands: I'm a kpop bastard as we all know so you got bts, dreamcatcher, txt, and a.c.e as the main ones. I also listen to twice, red velvet, everglow, itzy, stray kids, etc. more casually. Outside of that I do listen to fob and patd (although almost exclusively vices and virtues or pretty odd) and also Daughter because I'm unwell <3 Also the musical Nevermore about Edgar Allen Poe it slaps
8. Favorite solo artists: There are less of these but for kpop you primarily got chungha and then you got hyuna and sunmi and such. Outside of that you mostly got hozier and sleeping at last (isn't he technically a solo artist?) and Marina.
9. Song stuck in my head: honestly it's how you like that by blackpink which I am annoyed about because I don't really like it that much but oh well (I don't dislike all their music just this one song in particular)
10. Last movie: I watched Jingle Jangle with my friends before christmas and a few days before that it was Klaus (which i liked better) with mck and willow
11. Last show: the last show I finished was The Untamed (thank you birdie for the worms in my brain!) and I'm now watching House M.D. because I need something to act like background noise when I'm unwell
12. When did I create this blog: uhhhhhh I think 2017? Or 2016? idk I was in high school probably sophomore year
13. What do I post: basically whatever Fandom I'm in so I used to post about voltron when I was watching that (yikes!) and now it's mostly kpop and then theres that destiel/election meme I made that got an inexplicably substantial amount of notes
14. Last thing googled: 'cat tortoise' (to check how to correctly spell tortie because I was talking to birdie about how my cat has tortie like patterning to some of her coloring)
15. Other blogs: this is the only one we die like men on main and all that
16. Do I get asks: I used to get 0 but now I'll get a few when I reblog ask games and stuff but nothing outside of that
17. Why did I choose this url: the girl I was tragically in love with in high school said if I was a flower I'd be a white carnation because of my 'pure love' or whatever and I've been sad about it ever since
18. Following: apparently it's 126
19. Followers: 109! (It genuinely used to be like 10 until the Meme got over 60k notes and I gained nearly 100 which side note why are you guys still here this can't possibly be the content you signed up for but thanks for being here)
20. Average hours of sleep: uhhh somewhere between 6 and 7, 8 if I'm on my best behavior
21. Lucky number: 21 (which is funny)
22. Instruments: guitar!! (both electric and acoustic but I've played acoustic longer)
23. What am I wearing: a navy blue sweater with thin horizontal white dashes and stripes and grey cotton trousers (also fuzzy light grey socks it's cold in my room)
24. Dream job: it's a fight to the death between being a poignant little actor in poignant little films/plays and being a LPC working with children and teens
25. Dream trip: well I was supposed to study abroad this year, Oxford in the summer with 2 of my friends and South Korea in the fall all by myself, which obviously didn't happen so I'd desperately like to still get to someday. Also a road trip with all my friends would be nice...
26. Favorite food: my mom's mac and cheese
27. Nationality: American
28. Favorite song: there are way too many songs to truly pick one but at the moment the answer coming to mind is the gambler by fun.
29. Last book I read: technically the last thing I read was the script for my university's first spring production (it's an adaptation of Three Sisters by Chekhov)
30. Three fictional universes I'd like to live in: When I was a kid I uses to roleplay being at camp halfblood with my neighbors in the woods so the percy jackson universe has gotta be one of them. I'd say the untamed because it would be cool to magically kick ass with a sword but I'm a woman so I'd probably die... Other than that idk
Alright so like I said I don't know 20 blogs but I'll tag @korimi4 @holdingthispain @waluigiapologist and @restinpeas since you're all newer mutuals of mine! (but obviously no pressure if you don't want to!)
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nctmoonstarsun · 6 years
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11 question tag
I was tagged by @g-te  for the 11 questions game where you answer 11 questions then write 11 new questions! (Thank youu! ^^)
how are you? / Meh lmao
sad ballads or happy upbeat songs? / Depends on my mood really, but right now, happy upbeat songs
fave anime movie? I haven’t watched any haha
dogs or cats? / Cats!!
do you keep stuffed animals in your room? / no ^^
someone you miss? / Honestly everyone is there for me, so no one
describe your phone case? / A black, professional-looking case 
favorite lore/myths? /  Ooo i dont know..
earbuds or headphones? / earbuds
can I steal your heart? / um you can try..?
favorite thing about your ult bias? / How he is always really cheerful and positive, such a little fluffball honestly ^^
cloud’s q’s
Do you know a ksong by heart? (bc I don’t :x I can hum a trillion tho) / A few (I do karaoke a lot sooo)
When it comes to friendships, are you low or high maintenance? (As in your friends gotta talk everyday with you or you’ll feel like the friendship is dying OR if you can spend days without talking to them yet you still remain close) I can spend days without talking to them yet I still remain close
Do you have a secret that you will take to the grave? (Ofc I’m not asking you to reveal it) / No XD
Recommend me 5 songs (not necessarily kpop songs) / DRAMARAMA (MonstaX), Limitless (NCT), See You Again (Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth), Red Flavor, Russian Roulette (Red Velvet)
What do you prefer?: first, second or third gen kpop songs? / I listen more often to third generation kpop songs
What’s the cheeeeeeeeeesiest thing you’ve done? (one time a former friend of mine was telling me about a problem she had and at the end of our convo I kissed her in the forehead bYE) / Um… honestly I have the worst memory so I can’t actually remember
If you were asked to participate in a variety show, which one of the following would you pick and why? (Pick two!): problematic men, master key, hello counselor, weekly idol, one fine day, law of the jungle / WEEKLY IDOL, Hello Counselor (honestly I love these shows so much)
Your top 10 kpop songs of 2017? / DNA, Mic Drop, Cherry Bomb, Red Flavor, Likey, Really Really, Dramarama, Russian Roulette, Limitless, Rookie
Would you rather live in a huge mansion or a compact studio house? Compact studio house 
Tell me a fun childhood story (I’ll start! One time an aunt gave me money to buy ‘papas’ (potatoes) at the grocery store so bc I’m obedient af I went and asked the counter lady how many of em could I buy with the money I had so she went ‘uhh, not many tbh’ so i ended up getting like two and when I returned to my aunt’s house she laughed her ass off and said: I meant ‘papas fritas’ (potato chips) Not those! - and uh yeah this is funnier in Spanish but it proves that I’m such an innocent angel I mean wow) /  Well not much happened in my childhood but I remember how before I moved to England (I used to live in India), me and my friends (we were 7 year olds) would practice talking in English because ‘I needed to get used to it’, and now I talk to them about that and we just laugh at it lmao trust me it’s funnier than it sounds if you’ve experienced it.
If you were offered to start a band, would you accept? / HELL YES (even tho I have no talent I still love singing does that count?)
kiki’s q’s
Link your favourite playlist here if you can and if you can’t write out the first 10 songs on it! (Not a question but shh) / I don’t really have a playlist I literally just go onto the group and then pick the song on spotify ahaha
Is your current ult bias your first ult bias? If not who was your first? / No… My first ult bias was Jungkook ^^
Who is your ult bias? / Jung Jaehyunnnnn <3
Who is more likely to hog the aux cord, you or your ult? / Hmmm I feel like neither of us would hog it, more like just take turns or something I guess
Who is more likely to forget an important date, you or your ult? / Ummm… guilty as charged (basically me)
Who is more likely to ask the other to pick them up after work, you or your ult? / Me, just cos I love the idea of him picking me up after work lmao
Who is more likely to write the other a hand written note expressing themselves rather than just saying it, you or your ult? / That will be me… I’m not that good at expressing my feelings in general, but if I really want to, I’ll sit down and write a long heartfelt note
Who is more likely to cry when a dog dies in a movie, you or your ult? / I don’t cry at movies, but I feel like he’ll be upset and then I’d start crying because he’s upset
Who is more likely to almost burn the house down while cooking, you or your ult? / I can cook, but so can he..? So I don’t know
Who is more likely to start a pillow fight, you or your ult? / Probably me, I have a habit of throwing pillows at people if they tease me 
Who is more likely to ask the other to come over to cuddle with them so that they can fall asleep better, you or your ult? / Me probably haha
Mir’s q’s :D
If you could travel anywhere, but were completely by yourself, where would you go? / I honestly don’t know because I hate going places on my own
What inspires you? / Stories of successful people who got where they are now by hard work and dedication (esp. those with the same aspirations as me)
How many pets would you have in your ideal future? Any specific names or types in mind? / Just one small puppy
What are you opinions on fedoras / Um, not really the biggest fan of them
how many spoons can you balance on your face at once (picture or video proof preferred (i’m trying to get someone to do it pls anyone)) / They’re all the way downstairs and I’m in bed right now I can’t be asked to move
What is your favorite type of tree? / Willow tree
If you could convince one person to like kpop who would you convert? / My dad, cos if he’s convinced, my mum will automatically be converted too XD
What are three things you are normally associated with and/or what are three things you want to be associated with? / Well, I guess making people happy, but that’s pretty much it
If you were in a kpop group what position would you hold (ie. leader, main vocal, moodmaker, etc) feel free to tag your mutuals and who they would be! / I think I’d be vocal, leader and the 4D member haha ^^ @g-te would be rapper/moodmaker and @thatbubblecat would be the lead dancer and visual 
If you could have any wild animal as a tame pet what would it be?? (i’m ocelot loyal all the way) / Probably a lion
What is your opinion on mint chocolate chip ice cream? (for maj) / LOVE IT!!
Gitte’s q’s
What is your (clothing) style? like is it casual, street style, sporty, classy… It really depends on my mood, like sometimes I wear casual, and sometimes classy, sometimes girly.
Would you reather be very smart/intelligent but ugly, or dumb but beautiful? Very smart but ugly 
Which languages do you speak/understand? English, Hindi, Malayalam, French
What is your biggest dream? To be a doctor
Do you fold or do you crumple up your toilet paper? (I am curious okay?) Fold XD
Your favourite season? Winter
Do you have a favourite number? If yes, which and why? It’s always been 17, I think it’s my lucky number
Do you prefer, day or night? Night
Do you like bright or dark colours? Both, I usually tend to stick to two colours though; bright red or black
Do you have any habits? Accidently hitting people when laughing (even though I apologise immediately after), covering my mouth accidently with my hand when awkward and mumbling at the same time if I’m talking. 
What’s your ideal type? Oo well he's caring and protective, a pure baby but can be manly. Can sense if I'm upset and quickly tries to make me feel better. Empathetic, down to earth and modest, generally cheerful person who is positive and optimistic. A bit extroverted. In general, similar to me, I guess.
Ae Sook’s qs
      1. What qualities do you like of your ultimate bias? (Say who he/she is too)
      2. What sort of animal would you be if you were to choose one? (your spirit animal)
      3. What is your favourite ice cream flavour?
      4. Do you like kpop? If so, how long has it been since you’ve been into kpop?
     5. What star sign are you? 
     6. List all the groups/bands you listen to regularly (any genre of music).
     7. What is your favourite choreography (kpop)?
     8. How would you describe yourself? (positives and negatives, but put mainly positives)
     9. Sushi; yes or no?
    10. Who is that one idol you can relate to most? (Who do you think you’re most like? - and no, I don’t mean your ultimate bias)
I tag:
@thatbubblecat @taeyongtown @deeimana @g-te (i know you’ve done this, but I want to see what you would put for my question lmao x)
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mrsrcbinscn · 5 years
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BDRPWriMo Task #6 - 10 Short-Short Stories
Task #6: Write ten short-short stories of no more than a paragraph long.
Franny Robinson’s musical influences; ten interview quotes about other musicians and singers that she says inspire her work
i. Jenny Lewis
“I dunno, there’s just-” Robinson paused and with her palms flat up, made claws with her hands as she searched for the words. “-something so honest about Jenny. I had the honor of performing with her once and I was just in awe. I think I have a little bit of a crush on her. I was first introduced to her work in 2001 by a great friend of mine from college, Dani Weiss [currently a member of the American-Canadian newgrass band The Weepy Willows]. We were...going on a little trip -
Q: Acid or shrooms?
“My husband is sitting right there, oh god. Acid. In moderation, I think things like that can be worthwhile experiences. In moderation. We were doing acid in her apartment and listenin’ to music and she [Weiss] put on their album Take Offs and Landings. I was real into it from Go Ahead [the first track]. Which. I always liked chill music when I dropped acid, anything too loud and busy made me anxious. And when the followup, The Execution of All Things came out, it was like - I was like - just like, ‘damn, this woman is amazing.’ Her songwriting ability is just phenomenal and her voice- I feel like I’m sittin’ across from her and she’s tellin’ me stories. There’s- again, the only thing I can think of is this honesty about her.”
ii. Hizuru
“Japan actually has a vibrant history with jazz music, so I’m familiar with a lot of Japanese jazz and have had the honor of working with many talented Japanese jazz musicians. I don’t know very much about Hizuru, actually, other than I love them. I have been experimenting with incorporating traditional Cambodian music with, you know, jazz and other western styles of music. That part of my culture is very important to me, so I want - I want to show the world how beautiful instruments like tro and chapei are. Anyway- I was struggling with a balance of sounds when in 2017 I stumbled upon a Hizuru song called - oh, god, I don’t speak Japanese, so I’ll probably butcher this. The song is called Ushiwakamaru. It is an instrumental piece, as is the entire self-titled album, and the blend of traditional Japanese music and modern jazz on that entire album is perfection. I hope they come out with more soon, I am hungry for more, truly.”
iii. Ella Fitzgerald 
Q: Of the early jazz vocalists, who inspires you the most?
“Oh my god, Ella Fitzgerald. Well - mm, no, absolutely her, no question. I am by no means implying I live up to her standard, in fact I never will, but I have channeled her. Especially in my earlier work when I was a bit more concerned with going what jazz fans want, expect, and love versus taking lessons from those who came before me and building on that with my own ideas, my own voice. If that makes sense? She was classic. It’s Only A Paper Moon was, I think, the first jazz song I heard when I was little. Or, it was the first that really struck me. [laughs] My oldest brother used his birthday money to buy an Ella Fitzgerald album for me on vinyl so I would stop running around the house singing the only lyrics I remembered. I think it was like [singing]- Say, its only a paper moon, sailing over a cardboard sea...and I forgot the rest so I could just repeat cardboard sea like three times.”
iv. Patsy Cline
“I’m from Georgia,” laughs Robinson, running a hand through her hair as she pulls her feet up under her on the chaise lounge in her Swynlake home. “Like, out in the country in Georgia. You couldn’t grow up there in the eighties and not have known who Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton were. Dolly was more, like, relevant and current, but Patsy’s a classic. And as a woman whose natural register is lower myself, I really appreciated being able to sing along decently well without much effort. We don’t - we don’t get to see alto voices in popular music a lot. Pop, even the jazz music that gets a following outside of hardcore jazz fans. Hitting the craziest high notes does seem to be a current trend across the genre spectrum.”
When asked if that was a bad thing, Robinson simply shook her head. “I don’t think it;s positive or negative one way or the other. It’s just an observation.”
v. Ahmad Jamal
“I mean, if you want to talk jazz pianists, you can’t not talk about Ahmad Jamal. On Green Dolphin Street? Autumn Rain? F---, man, leaving him out is criminal. He’s been in the game for five decades, that’s longer than I’ve been alive. I only hope to be on his level. Like, I hear words from his piano. I understand what I’m supposed to be feeling, thinking, or seeing when I listen to his work. And with instrumental music, that’s a challenge. Classical? I struggle to listen to classical music. I think it’s beautiful, and I really respect classical musicians, but unless I’m explicitly aware of what picture this piece is supposed to paint in my head, when I tell a classical expert what a piece makes me feel, they’re usually like ‘ACTUALLY...’
vi. Édith Piaf 
“My father - well, he’s technically my stepfather,” Robinson said, scowling at the word like it was a swear. “But, he adopted me when he married my mother, and my biological father may as well have been a sperm donor. Anyway. My father is from Switzerland, and they have four official languages there. He speaks them all, plus English, plus he learned to speak Khmer when he married my mother. He’s so cool, my dad. He’s from a Francophone-Italophone Swiss family, so I grew up listening to a lot of old French, Italian, and some German music from him. I still don’t speak German and Italian though, [laughs] sorry Dad.”
“We listened to Édith Piaf a lot together. I was very protective of my mother as a child, you know how kids of single moms are? My mom was my superhero and I was used to American men thinking they had a right to touch her because she was just a poor foreign woman who owned a restaurant. So when my future dad started hanging around, I hated him. But he was determined to make me like him so I’d let him marry my mother, and he’d take me for ice cream and play Édith Piaf cassettes in the car. He’d tell me about what the love songs meant, and didn’t tell me about the songs that weren’t, and told me the love songs are how he felt about my mother. He was like, ‘Dara-’ my legal first name is Darareaksmey, it’s Khmer. My parents usually calls me ‘Dara.’ ‘Dara, if you let me, I’ll be good to your mother, and to you.’ I eventually got tired of him begging me to marry my mom so I let him. [laughs]
I asked if she ever regretted giving him her blessing.
“No, never. He’s my dad, and the two boys he brought into the marriage are my older brothers. I’m my Swiss grandparents’ only granddaughter, so they spoiled me even from Switzerland. No, we’re family.”
vii. Dolores O'Riordan
Interview date, 26th of January, 2018
Q: Let’s talk about something I just found out about you from your Twitter feed the other day.
A: Oh, no, should I tell my husband to cover his ears?
Q: No, it’s rated H for Husband. 
A: Excellent.
Q: You’re a huge fan of Dolores O’Riordan. Which, I wouldn’t have guessed. But on the day the tragic news of her passing broke, you Tweeted out a tribute to her including ffive meet and greet pictures of the two of you together- the first, correct me if I’m wrong, is from 1994?
A: Yes, yes I had actually seen then the year prior, when I was thirteen, but ‘94 was the first time I could afford a backstage package with my babysitting money. The other four are from 1999, 2002, 2010, and 2016. I loved The Cranberries, they were the first concert I dragged my husband to when we were dating.
Q: Safe to say you’ve been a hardcore fan for-
A: Two and a half decades, yeah. Yeah, The Cranberries are one of my all time favorites. Dolores O’Riordan’s voice was...everything.
Q: You’re a jazz artist, primarily. What’s consistently drawn you to The Cranberries?
A: [laughs] Other than being a teenager in the 90′s? I mean, her voice. She changed the game for what it meant to be a female vocalist in rock music. And up until my second year at NYU, I wasn’t sure where I was going with music. I loved rock, I loved jazz, I was into R&B, I loved bluegrass. I sang in several bands in high school and college, and The Cranberries were usually on the setlist. Her voice was amazing. I idolized her as a young vocalist, even if I ended up gravitating toward a different genre.
Q: You uploaded a cover of Dreams with Irish alt-rock singer and guitarist Padraig Chen, and Irish indie musician Siobhán Walsh as well. How did that collaboration come about?
A: Padraig’s been a friend of mine for a long time; we met through a mutual friend who is also an Asian-diaspora musician in the UK and Ireland and it was a match made in music heaven. We’ve collaborated a lot. Siobhán is a friend of Pat’s, and we all looked up to Dolores, so we just got together and made our little tribute to her.
viii. Badi Assad
“I was first introduced to bossa nova...probably during my sophomore year of college. Her voice is like butter, but frankly, that’s not the most interesting thing about her. She combines traditional jazz, bossa nova, other Latin music elements, and traditional Middle Eastern sounds. Anything that is a marriage of different tastes and cultures is interesting to me, and when its done as well as she does it? Forget it. She is one of the best jazz and jazz-adjacent guitarists out there today. I really admire her. I hope to perform with her one day, it’s genuinely a dream of mine.”
ix. Ros Serey Sothea
“One of my most unexpected musical influences...well, I don’t - I don’t think she’s so much unexpected, as any of my following outside of my small Cambodian or Khmer-American following won’t have ever heard of. Ros Serey Sothea is one of the most important singer in Khmer popular music history, she’s called the Golden Voice. My mother would sing her songs to me as a child, whichever of them she could remember. Under the Khmer Rogue, which my mother survived, something like 90% of Cambodia’s artists, dancers, musicians, and singers died or were executed. She was one of them. And my mother’s favorite singer. Most of the master recordings from her and other singers like Pen Ran and Sinn Sisamouth were destroyed by the Khmer Rogue, so whatever recordings we do have of Khmer rock and roll from that era are so, so vital to preserve and keep record of. Even though I am a jazz music educator, at my lower level, more generic classes where I have the wiggle room to do so, I talk about Khmer music of the 60s and early 70s for a class because I feel so strongly about the legacy of this music.”
“I went on a tangent,” Robinson said apologetically. “Where was I? Oh, Ros Serey Sothea. Right, so her voice was just-” Robinson put her arms out to her side and swayed to the imaginary music in her head. “-you could just kind groove like this to only her voice, nothing else needed. Her voice danced on top of the backing band. My mother managed to get her hands on some records, her siblings who remained in Cambodia sent some to us and her other siblings who were resettled, in the mid-eighties. So, I was six or seven before I heard my first Khmer song from a record player or a cassette instead of my mother’s voice, even though she’d been singing to me since I was born. These songs are still incredibly important to Cambodians today, and diaspora as well.”
I asked her if that had anything to do with the semi-viral success of her recent  cover of 70′s singer Sieng Vannthy’s ‘Console Me’. 
“Oh, for sure.” Robinson said.  "It’s the first time I professionally recorded a song in Khmer, a lot of people were surprised I spoke the language.”
x. Dolly Parton
“Okay, Dolly probably has less of an influence on my music than my persona, I’ll be honest. But her music means so much to me. At my wedding, during toasts, my mother mortified me by throwin’ in video footage of my first ever live performance from ‘89. Little nine-year-old Franny was on stage in little secondhand cowboy boots, this horribly 80s lookin’ frilly dress, my hair in little twin braids, singin’ and dancin’ to Why’d You Come In Here Lookin’ Like That. To this day, my husband still brings that up.”
Q: How do you mean Dolly Parton influenced your persona?
“Great question. So, our origins are similar. Kind of. She grew up poor one of twelve children, I grew up poor, one of three. My family eventually was lucky enough to make it out of the poverty I was born into but we were still always poor, you know? Like. I remember my mom rationing her food so I could eat enough until that stopped when I was about seven and my mom didn’t have to make a meal for herself last two meals.  And we’re both from the American South.”
“I grew up on Dolly. She’s the queen of our people [laughs] and I’m not even being facetious. We love her. Can’t get enough of her. And I include myself in that; Dolly Parton is an icon. She is unashamed of who she is and where she comes from, which really struck a chord with me. As the American-born daughter of a refugee, I was always caught between two cultures. Am I Cambodian, am I American? Which can I claim? My mother taught to me my Cambodian culture, our Vietnamese friends taught me about Vietnamese culture, but my white father was from Switzerland so I didn’t learn to be American until school. That’s when I started droppin’ my G’s, sayin’ y’all and ain’t, and asking my parents to make grits for breakfast when they’d never eaten them before in their immigrant lives. I wanted so badly to just be seen as American, to be seen as just a girl from Georgia. If it weren’t for my mother refusing to let me speak English to her at home I would have lost my Khmer. She spoke English just fine, but English was for Out There.”
“My mom taught me to be proudly Cambodian, but I’m not just Cambodian, right? I mean, I’m biracial, sure. But more importantly, I’m bi-cultural. I’m not just Cambodian, I’m American - Southern, if we wanna get real specific. Both of my cultures are vibrant, and beautiful, and are equally important to me. My mom taught me not to be ashamed to be the daughter of a refugee - she didn’t get into specifics until I was older, but she was always made it clear she had Been Through Some Shit and could handle anything. Even now, when I go through something difficult I just tell myself, ‘Mom survived genocide, you can do whatever this is.’ I knew how to be proudly Cambodian, I knew how to wear traditional dress to nice events, and wear Khmer wedding clothes for my wedding instead of a white dress. But I didn’t know how to embrace this other part of myself - because wasn’t raised in the default Middle America. Even my American side is a type of odd culture, isn’t it?
Dolly Parton taught me not to be ashamed of the other half of where I came from. She is unapologetic about bein’ who she is. She is proud of where she came from. And I want to be the Dolly Parton of my rural Georgia town. My identities as Cambodian and Georgian are more important to be than my identity as, like, an American person in general. I want people to think, ‘that’s a Georgia woman’ when they think of me, just like you look at Dolly and say ‘that’s a Appalachian girl’ before you just go ‘oh, she’s American.’
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