Alpha Asian

My name is Aldryn McAuslen, I'm 18 years old right now. I'm an avid reader on philosophy, psychology, and self-help, I've spent money literally on hundreds of books, audio, and video programs on those subjects since 13. Right now I'm gathering info on critical race theory (Asian Pacific American issues and white priviledge) I've read James' book and really digg the ideas he has. That's what brought me here. I have a blog post idea that's been running through my head and I will post that in the next post-after this one. =] -I think the purpose of the human being is to self-actualize and to express one's self honestly. -I think the purpose of life is to be in a happy state as much as possible Here are my goals right now: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Health/Fitness-->Short Term: Look f****in' hot in a swimsuit -->Long term: Complete the Iron Man Triathon Emtio

I'm not sure if it was because of my Tiger upbringing or if it was just an innate trait, but I was always an awkward kid. The kind of quiet person that didn't know really know how to talk to people. Of course, I was pretty talented: I took martial arts, piano, art, and of course, I did pretty well in school. On top of that, my dad was a pretty successful person himself. He was well known in Saigon as being one of the best street fighters (he had a portion of his skull cut off when some sore loser smashed a spear on the back of his head after he lost a fight), was Mr. Popular, (to this DAY, he knows just about every Vietnamese person in town), was basically an Asian Casanova before the concept of "Asian playboy" ever existed, if it wasn't for the war, he'd have finished medical school, and even founded a successful computer company (but after a certain bubble popped when I was a toddler, we lost most of our money so I never knew exactly HOW well off we were

Q:   I just discovered two of your blogs today Strength and Physique  and Alpha Asian. I enjoy the writing style a lot and enjoy every little bit I read. I just want to take this chance to thank you for being such an inspiration for Asians, as well as for fitness/bodybuilding enthusiasts worldwide! :) Cheers! Dash My Answer: Thanks Dash, I'm glad you enjoy my blogs. I can't believe it's been 4 years since I started my Strength and Physique blog and 3 years since I started the Alpha Asian blog. I started the Strength and Physique blog as a marketing tool, and in the beginning I put a lot of effort into launching it.  Over time, I grew tired of answering the same basic questions over and over. I still enjoy helping readers with exercise and diet advice, but I found the Strength and Physique blog too limiting in scope with regards to subject matter. I was limited to exercise and fitness questions, and they tend to be rudimentary ones at that. I wanted to talk a

In 2009, I interviewed TV producer Marie Yuen. She produced a television pilot called Wingmen , a sitcom about 5 Asian American men in the Chicago dating scene. A bit like "Sex and the City" with Asian dudes. Hey I'm an Asian dude, and I like "Sex and the City!" Anyway, Steve Yeun of The Walking Dead started out in this TV pilot which never got produced: AA: So tell me, how did this TV show get started? Marie: A friend of mine and I first started meeting in the spring of 2006 to brainstorm TV series to pitch to the networks. We didn't have any contacts in the industry at that time, so for us at first it was a fun diversion from our everyday lives. After thinking for some months about the shows we were (and weren't) seeing on mainstream TV, "Wingmen" came to us in the fall of 2006 -- and everyone we'd talked to about it got excited because it was nothing they'd seen before on the networks. To some it was empowering because it w

"It was a blessing in disguise..." I'm sure you've used this to describe a setback in your life. As if it was fate that your girlfriend broke up with you or fate that caused you to get fired from your job all so that better things could fall into place. I use this phrase all the time to describe when things don't exactly play out as planned. Though I may use it, I hate what it assumes. It assumes I had no role in how the scenario turned out. It implies that this mysterious force called "fate" is the one to blame or thank. What if I told you that you can turn every bad situation into a blessing in disguise? I know it's hard to believe but you can create these miracles at will . If it's so easy why don't more people do it? It's because everyone likes being the victim and this leads to the first step in turning your setback into a little blessing.. Stop acting like a victim. I can be your hero baaaaby

I admit, I'm a sucker for anything Bruce Lee. If there's a documentary on Bruce Lee, then I'll watch it. History Channel had a documentary last night called "How Bruce Lee Changed the World." It wasn't a good biography on Bruce. There are better ones for that. But it was good documentary that showed how Bruce influenced a wide variety of people in a wide of variety of fields and wide variety of cultural backgrounds. From the documentary you'd figure Bruce invented the space shuttle and sliced bread. Nevertheless, it does show how Bruce's philosophy had a huge impact on the world. I remember growing up as a little kid watching his movies and feeling a sense of pride in my Chinese heritage, something I didn't feel prior. What amazed me at the time was that all of my childhood friends and classmates who were white, black and Hispanic all wanted to be Bruce and emulate him. That's the thing with Bruce: he was so extraordinary that peo

Man, it can be lonely at the top... I was out the other night for one of the Perfect Asian Dudes' girlfriend's birthday party. It was a spur of the moment thing. I wasn't familiar with her social circle so nearly everyone there was unfamiliar to me. My friend and I got to introducing ourselves and chatting up her friends for most the night. A good time overall. I talked with old friends, made new friends, took advantage of the $1 drinks, infiltrated a group of hot pharmacy students, and effortlessly got a number. Even with all the makings of a great night I still went home with a sense of uneasiness. The great time was trumped by a realization I had....most guys are effin' lame excuse-making little babies. Let me explain...

Apparently this is how I see older Asian-Americans...... Last week I was holding the door open for a Chinese family behind me at the Chinese community center I go to for my art lessons. There were two adorable girls wearing leotards that had just finished with their ballet lessons running behind me, eager to get into the car so they could go home. I recognized the mother from when I was walking to the bathroom to wash the paint from my hands. She was watching her kids and had that nostalgic look on her face. I thought her expression was beautiful. When I was coming back to the studio, I saw her practicing pirouettes in the corner of the room. I let their kids run past by me and the two parents raced out as well, trying to catch up to their kids. They looked back, smiled and said "Thank you!" in unison, in perfect English. I've been averaging about 4 hours of sleep a day for the past two months so I may or may not have been in the right state of mind, but it amazed

There was an article in last week's Washington Post about the upcoming Harold and Kumar Christmas movie. The reporter decided to focus on the media stereotypes of Asians in the movies and how the H&K movies go against the grain and reflect the humanity of the characters, and gets past the fact they are Asian Americans. An excerpt: “The feature market has gotten tougher in general, there are less features being made, and the kind that get made are big pictures, superhero movies,” says Cho, who was also a series regular in last year’s “Flash Forward.” “They need to be more conservative, take fewer chances. I think TV is willing to take more chances. Perhaps it has to do with the fragmenting of the market; there are so many more channels than there used to be, and to distinguish themselves they have to make more interesting choices...." The bottom line? Cho believes that the success of the H&K films shows the studios that “it’s not the public that doesn’t want to see Asi