I am old enough to remember seeing "Hispanic" as a racial/ethnic category suddenly appear on school forms. And now "mixed" is offered as an option, but they only allow you to select one other category, so you can be "mixed black" or "mixed Asian" but not "mixed black/Asian."

OK, creepy solicitor moment: someone voting canvasser just knocked on my door and addressed me BY NAME. Freaked me out so much I just shut the door. Do NOT want strangers WHO KNOW WHERE I LIVE addressing me by name.

And that train of thought led me to this Sopranos quote:

Tony Soprano: My wife thinks I need to meet new people.

Dr. Jennifer Melfi: So?

Tony Soprano: C'mon, you're Italian, you understand. Guys like me we're brought up to think that Merigan are fuckin' bores. The truth is the average white man is no more boring than the millionth conversation over who should have won, Marciano or Ali.

Dr. Jennifer Melfi: So am I to understand that you don't consider yourself white?

Tony Soprano: I don't mean white like Caucasian. I mean a white man like our friend Cusamano. Now he's Italian, but he's Merigan. It's what my old man would have called a Wonder Bread wop. He eats his Sunday gravy out of a jar.

Huh. Having gone to public schools first in NYC and then in Milwaukee, it wasn't until I went to university that I was in a majority white school. I sometimes forget that that's not the norm. My world now is a lot whiter than it was growing up, actually.

The overlap between race and ethnicity gets confusing. Like, a lot of the reaction to stuff like "Jersey Shore," I can't call it racist, because Italians aren't a race, but "prejudiced" seems like too general a term -- talking about how much you hate those fucking Guidos seems more specific than prejudice.

I was momentarily puzzled when I was talking to someone from Germany and she used the word racism to refer to bias against Jews, but since then, I've noticed that usage a few times in things from a few different European countries.

I definitely read a thing in college about how Italians became white -- southern Mediterraneans were definitely not considered the same as northern Europeans.

Older immigration papers have separate sections for "race" and "color." Most of my ancestors are listed as Hebrew for race and white for color. Some of them also have a space for "complexion," but that seems like it was pretty subjective, since I've found the same person, who went in and out of the country multiple times before becoming a citizen and thus had to fill out immigration forms each time, listed as nearly all of the available options at least once.

Some of them also have a space for "complexion," but that seems like it was pretty subjective

Given that I am trying to buy foundation, I'd say yes. Rassenfrassen.

OK, creepy solicitor moment: someone voting canvasser just knocked on my door and addressed me BY NAME. Freaked me out so much I just shut the door. Do NOT want strangers WHO KNOW WHERE I LIVE addressing me by name.

ACK! DO NOT WANT! KILL THEM WITH FIRE! Um, I have issues. And shutting the door on them is probably better than the fire thing.

My nephew has to keep a journal for school and write one thing every day. Today's entry:

When I am 100 years old I will be all wrinkley. I will live at the Take Care Center and everybody will have to take care of me. I won't be able to take the dog for a walk because I will have a cane.

How do I get in on this Take Care Center thing? Some dog walk help wouldn't hurt either.

Given that I am trying to buy foundation, I'd say yes. Rassenfrassen.

I hear CVS takes returns, but have not tested this myself. Of course, after breaking down and buying pricey foundation at Sephora recently, I realize I can buy a couple of drugstore mistakes and still come out ahead financially....