Alpha Asian

I recently stumbled upon your Alpha Asian and Strength and Physique blogs. Also read a few of your articles on Bodybuilding.com . Thank you for sharing the knowledge and value.  I am also a police officer and have a lot of respect for the fact that you are able to do all these things on the side while juggling a full time career on the job. Imagine it must take a lot of dedication and persistence in the face of naysayers. You are an inspiration. Keep up the good work.  -G My Answer:  Well thanks, G.  I try to live by these words from Bruce: "Freedom discovers you the moment you lose concern  over what impression you are making or about to make." For every action you take there is going to be an equal and opposite criticism.  But you don't have to get things perfect.  You just have to get them going.  If you spend too much time thinking about a project, you'll never get it done.  Screw it.  Just do it. "You can't ...

I didn't even realize this until today, but the Alpha Asian blog is 7 years old. Wow! Who knew that I'd be keeping this thing going for this long? When I set out to write this blog, I wanted to create a blog that aggregated positive energy, energy that inspires Asian Americans to follow their bliss. I think in a way I've made my mark, because other bloggers are starting to do the same thing. Seven years and I posted over 800 entries with the help of talented Asian Americans on the web. That's a lot of stuff that can get buried over time, so I decided to archive 157 of the old videos HERE. The Alpha Asian blog, back in the day

Recently a UC Berkeley student named Kay interviewed me for a research project on representations of Asians/Asian Americans on reality TV shows.  She was nice enough to provide me with a transcript of our interview: Kay: Well, to begin, I really want to thank you for taking the time to interview with me. Again, like I said, this interview will be about 45 minutes to an hour long, so I really do thank you.  My topic is gendered representations of Asian Americans and Asians in reality TV shows.  For this assignment, we are asked to interview someone who can provide insight into our topic. After the interview, we reflect on it and provide any new insight that we might find and list the pros and cons of the research method. So, that’s the reason why I would like to interview you.  James: Can I ask you a question? Kay: I’m sorry?           James: Can I ask you a question? Kay: Yes, of course! James: How did you find out about my blog? K...

Writer Bryan Thao Worra posted an interesting observation on The State of Asian American Blogs : "Back in 2009, the website connected to the excellent documentary Vincent Who? featured a list of over 50 Asian American blogs . It certainly wasn't meant to be comprehensive, but was an interesting snapshot of many of the voices writing regularly in our community. I wanted to see how many are still active and operating... "This year, on the 20th anniversary of Vincent Chin's murder, it's surprising to see who's still standing and posting out of the sample Vincent Who? noted three years ago. "Out of 55 listed, fewer than 30 are still around. I wouldn't call this a 40% attrition rate but it suggests there are some changes happening on the internet and how Asian Americans are developing their voices." Not listed among the dropouts were The Fighting 44's and Sepia Mutiny , both of which closed shop just recently. I didn't keep up...

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...

I stole this idea from the Minority Militant.  So if you look on the side, there's a blog roll of some notable blogs by Asian American guys. Some of them you're probably already familiar with, like Big WoWo and You Offend Me, You Offend My Family .  But check out some of the others, like Silicon Valley Bachelor and Ben Efsaneyim . I wanted to get a good cross section of Asian American men, everybody from fathers and intellectuals to pick-ups artists and bachelors.

I suppose all good things must come to an end. Our brother James, who has been the founder and torch bearer, has more important things to attend to in life and he has to move forward on his own journey. Let's hope he can come back on occasion with some interesting posts or comments to share, imparting his knowledge and wisdom from just living life. I've been recruited to sort of be the torch bearer (thanks for the kind words, Jaehwan and King!) but I have some reluctance to try and carry on in James' foot steps. I can't say I'd be much of a prolific blogger since my more prominent passions, time, and effort lie elsewhere in other pursuits. Honestly, I don't know how some of you bloggers out there can manage to keep posting worthy material for discussion and what not. Yet, I sort of hate to see this site slip away into the ether. It would be nice, though, if the burden to post fresh things did not rest with one person and if we can get other posts from...

Before the Asian American blogosphere, there were Asian American discussion boards. You had Model Minority, Yellow World and the Fighting 44's. These sites were extremely popular for a time, because they provided platforms in which Asians all over the Anglosphere could connect, discuss and vent on everything from the personal to the political. Eventually blogs came into prominence, and the Angry Asian Man became the first to aggregate news stories of interest to Asian Americans. Now we have tons of AA blogs, everything from Channel APA to the Minority Militant to Slant Eye for the Round Eye to Big WoWo. The rise of AA blogs brought about the demise of AA forums, because blogs address a need for self-expression. Although forums do allow for individual expression, what usually happens is that a core group of posters dominate the threads. Cliques form and what was once a very open forum now becomes a private cyber hangout for disaffected intellectuals who snipe at those they ...

From Channel APA: If you're in the Los Angeles are on November 21, 2009, be sure to check out BANANA, where Infamous Asian American Bloggers Unite to Chop It Up. This is probably the largest group of Asian American bloggers ever assembled. The event is organized by author Lac Su (I Love Yous Are For White People) and television/film producer Steve Nguyen (channelAPA.com LA correspondent).  It's an opportunity to meet the people behind your favorite blogs as well as hear important discussions about the future of our voice, where it will lead to, and how we can come together to find common grounds and focused endeavors to voice our opinions about relevant issues affecting our community. The event will be held on the USC campus on November 21, 2009. If you're on Facebook, then you can RSVP for the event HERE I know the video says I'll be attending, but like I said in a previous post, I won't be there. I'm going to be coached on how to coach my wife on ho...

Big WoWo has a post on Being Effective, Not Popular . I've never been one to follow convention. I like doing things my way, and I don't give a crap on whether or not it's normal or if I'm doing it the way it's supposed to be done. All I care about is: 1) Do I like doing it? 2) Is it effective and productive? When it comes to blogging or any other endeavor you undertake, if you are effective, then the popularity will come. People recognize talent, and they recognize B.S. If you are dishonest with yourself, then your readers will smell it. Most bloggers try to define success by the number of readers they have. They stress quantity over quality. But it is much better to redefine success by the quality of readers as opposed to quantity. Who cares if you have a 100,000 readers a day if most of them never care to visit your blog again? If that's the case, then what you said obviously didn't make an impression on them. The key to writing a su...

So I got a question from another blogger: Q: "Are you an activist? Do you do stuff outside of the blog? I heard your Better Asian Man podcast . Good stuff." My Answer: I am for "The Cause" (my friends and I use this code term for Asian American causes), but I am not an activist. I dislike the terms "activism" or "activists," because hard core activists make The Cause too personal. They become so shrill, that nobody listens to them anymore. I would rather put my faith in an Asian American who is for The Cause and has a background in marketing, business or psychology than an activist who has extreme dedication to The Cause but no persuasion skills. People are moved by stories (particularly ones that offer hope at the end) and talent (see previous post), and they are not moved by theoretical lectures, no matter how rationally the points are laid out. A really good book to read on this topic is Influencer . In a sense, this blo...