Seatowngrrl.com

was all i could say when I walked into my hotel room suite.  I am in LA for some work, and I have been put up in a suite that is bigger than my last two apartments.  Two bathrooms, 1 bedroom, massive living room, 2 TVs.  (and yet I am stuck here at a desk partly because my computer battery does not work so I have to be plugged in, and partly because to get free internet you have to use an Ethernet cable)

Anyway, DEF Poetry jam just ended, and I have to get up early tomorrow.  I am off to sleep in my sleep number bed (i wonder how long it will take me to find my number)

If anyone ever asks you if the Radisson LAX is any good, i would say that judging by this suite (on the 12th floor) that it kicks serious ASS.

Diversification is a wonderful thing. This is an ad from the Wall Street Journal about a week ago.

I put off writing about this picture for a few reasons. The first reason was that I wanted to calm down a little and compose some coherent thoughts instead of just ranting as to how offensive I think this add is. I know that I will have to justify my reactions because not everyone sees it the same way that I do.

The first thing I thought of when I saw this add was ’seriously????! Do people not see how this could be offensive?’ This sentiment was echoed by a couple other people who I showed this to (one mixed, and the other the mother of mixed children). Black dog + white dog = diverse dog (ie mutt). That someone is equating being diverse (aka - mixedness) with mutts. I assume that they took one dog and then photoshoped it.

The second thing I thought of is that they are implying that the world is a black and white place, and that diversity is strictly a combination of the two.

Why if the add is talking about diversifying a portfolio and they wanted to use dogs, why did they not round up a bunch of dogs from a bunch of different breeds? Why didn’t they have a cockapoo, and a puggle as well as some other breeds. Or have different sizes and colors. If the add was like that I would have no problem with it, because it would imply diversity, and showing the multitude of possibility, which in my mind is what it means to represent diversity.

I would love to talk to the person or people who put together this add, and ask them why they thought this was a good idea.