Alpha Asian

The Asian American organization Thymos just published  Where Are You From? An Anthology of Asian American Writing .  This anthology includes writings from notable Asian American writers such as Lawson Inada and Darrell Hamamoto.  There are a wide variety of essays, short stories, poems and even artwork on a diverse set of topics.  Here are some of the stories and essays that stood out for me: "Dog Muncher" by Beth Kaufman Do you ever wonder what goes through the mind of an Asian American woman who rejects Asian men?  This funny story reveals the thought process of one such woman, a TV journalist, who  goes on a girls night out with a fellow news editor and a weather girl. On the surface it sounds like the crap-on-Asian-men-Sex-and-the-City-imitation China Dolls, but "Dog Muncher" is a very funny insightful story on the insecurities of a Korean adoptee and how rebelling against societal expectations can limit your choices in romance and...

Thanks to Big WoWo for this one. Check out this candid discussion on love and relationships: Here are some notable quotes from the discussion: At 2:15 Nancy Lee (the girl on the left) says, "About relationships: I don’t have a preference really, but for some reason Asian men don’t really approach me." I'm looking at her going, "REALLY?! You've got to be shitting me?!" But then again, I have heard this complaint from many different Asian women: that Asian men don't approach them. Some of these Asian women then think they're not good enough or don't measure up in some way. At 3:19 Danny Cho says this about making relationships work: "It’s not a chemistry thing for me, it’s a compromise thing. It’s a whether or not I believe in this relationship enough that I’m going to make my sacrifices and be selfless to this person." I think this is very true, and most couples fail to take this into account. The chemistry of a relati...

So a couple of nights ago, I was the guest host and moderator for the Big WoWo podcast. Byron, the blogger of Big WoWo, normally moderates these podcasts, but he wanted to debate with the guest, a controversial blogger who goes by the moniker the "Asian of Reason." The guy is... oh... I don't know... NUTS! He says he's a Chinese American student at Johns Hopkins University who believes in the concept of "human biodiversity." Sounds like a benign term, but HBD is essentially a neo- eugenics philosophy. Picture forced sterilizations, Gattaca and Brave New World. I looked through his blog to prep for the podcast, and I found some of his posts pretty funny. When I was talking to him during the podcast, I thought this guy was playing a character, like Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers movies. But I don't think what he is writing is satire. This guy believes in this stuff that he writes. This guy is one of those bizarre WTF Asians, like Mong...

I got this Anthony Robbins video off of the Big WoWo blog. We'll be doing a "blog carnival." I don't know what the hell that means, but Big WoWo and I and perhaps other bloggers will be posting on some psychology and ways to be a confident and more productive person. Everyone should be the best version of themselves they can possibly be. I'm sure you've noticed that I tend to write a lot of psychology posts. I've always been fascinated by how people self-actualize and tap into their full potential. On the flip side, I always wondered why so many people who are clearly talented or smart NEVER fully tap into their potential. Fact is, there are very few self-actualized people running around. Most of us are the proverbial icebergs with only the tip above water. Why is that? How can someone who is smart and talented not accomplish anything? Many times, people don't succeed in accomplishing anything, because THEY DON'T FOCUS. They don't h...

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...