Alpha Asian

When I was younger, my girlfriends and I would do this ritual that a friend of a friend had heard about: 1) Write 3 wishes on 3 separate pieces of paper. However, you must write down a *realistic* wish so if you wished for a million dollars, you're just forfeiting that wish. 2) Fold each piece of paper separately and place them underneath your pillow before you go to sleep on New Year's Eve. You're supposed to think about your wishes as you fall asleep. 3) When you wake up the next morning on New Year's Day, pull only one piece of folded paper out from underneath your pillow. That wish will come true in the new year. The problem was a whole year would take so long that I'd always end up forgetting what I wished for... but the next New Year's Eve, I'd be back to writing my wishes down. It was one of those silly girlie things we used to do. It sure beats making up REAL New Year's resolutions -- this way, we could escape from holding ourselves accountable f...

My dad has never been shy of asking for things but ever since my mom passed away over a year ago, he has really embraced the concept of " Ask, and Ye Shall Receive ". I would speculate that after having lost such a huge piece of his life, he has realized that everyone should take every opportunity to ask for what he/she wants. It's quite refreshing actually and it has strangely brought us closer together. He has simple requests like picking up an extra bag of rice at Costco or making a purchase online but oddly, I get a good feeling inside just by being able to do something for him. It makes me feel like he is accepting of what I have to offer and approving of the person I've become. It's weird how expressing your wants can create a sense of openness but I guess that's what a healthy relationship should be - an open exchange of asking, giving and of course, appreciating.

So here's a website with a congregation of people that I enjoy talking with: 108 Spirits. I like their attitude: no whiny self-indulgent woe-is-me introspection crap. No pseudo-intellectuals with rhetoric and ideological buzz words coming out of their mouths instead of original thought. Just Asian guys from all over the world who talk and act like men: direct, to the point, unpretentious and unconcerned with shit that don't matter. To illustrate, here's a post at their forum by an Aussie Asian: "Personally I don't really care about negative media images. I turn the TV off, problem solved! What I care about is inspiring more Asian men to become fearless and passionate, free to express their sexuality and exude a strong presence wherever they go. What I recommend to Asian guys who haven't got their woman problems under control: - Get your arse to the gym, pump some iron, baby! - Eat more beef!!! Put that friggin' soy milk down and don't e...

Sometimes we take things for granted here in the San Francisco Bay Area. News is out that Police Chief Heather Fong is retiring, and a lot of people are surprised to learn of an Asian American female who was the head of a police department. We've had 2 Asian American police chiefs: Fred Lau was the first Asian American police chief from 1996-2002 and is currently the TSA federal security director for Oakland International Airport. Asian police officers make up 13% of SFPD's sworn personnel. So you will find lots of Asian Americans in rather unstereotypical leadership roles. SFPD is not the only agency, however. You will find Asian Americans in the sheriff's department, the FBI, the district attorney's office, the fire department and various other agencies in the city. A true sign that an ethnicity has integrated with society is when it's members permeate every aspect of society.

Apparently these screwballs at Entertainment Weekly are trying to drive traffic to their site by spreading the rumor that John Cho will be cast as the Mandarin and Tommy Chong (?!) will play his father in Ironman 2. So allow me to geek out for a second here: Fu Manchu stereotypes aside, Cho would make a horrible Mandarin. Obviously, they're not going to portray the Mandarin as the Ming-the-Merciless knock-off from the old Ironman issues (at least I hope not!). But they will probably portray one of the updated Mandarin incarnations, maybe the one where he's a corporate mogul hellbent on world domination. John Cho has too youthful a look to play that type of villian. Seriously, can you imagine Harold kicking Ironman's ass for an hour or two? It's been a while since I've read comic books, but the last time I saw the Mandarin was in the X-men issue that Jim Lee drew. That was the classic masterpiece issue where Psylocke underwent the "Manchurian Candidate...

I visited my grandparents in Hong Kong one time, and I noticed they had an old 1960's refrigerator. My dad, who grew up in the States, bought this refrigerator for his parents in 1969. I opened this fridge up, and it was completely empty. Apparently, they hadn't used the refrigerator in 23 years. They had no use for it, because they bought their food fresh daily and never stocked up on items. In fact, during my 2 week stay with them at the time, the only thing that was in their refrigerator was a jar of peanut butter that I bought for myself. Many countries other than the US are like this: you shop for fresh food frequently rather than once a week at Costco. The main reason people in these countries grocery shop so frequently is that they buy fresh foods, foods that will spoil in a few days if you don't eat them: vegetables, fruits, meat. Even though it's a pain in the ass to shop so often, it is a much healthier way to eat. Sure, food that comes in a box, can or...

During my time in grad school, I presented at a couple of academic conferences on Asian American Studies: one in Hawaii and the other in D.C. My presentation was Racism and Advertising in 19th America in 1996. I had a slide show of all the negative imagery of Chinese Americans at the time. Very esoteric and very pedantic stuff. The Model Minority website snagged my 1996 article and posted it several years later. Analyzing and cataloging all of those negative stereotypes just burned me out at the time. I didn't feel like I was developing any skills to better the Asian community. My thesis adviser told me something very profound but pragmatic at the same time. She told me, "You want to help the Asian American community? Then get a regular job. Develop some skills and expertise that address the needs of the Asian American community." Years later I met a great guy who used to be an Asian American Studies instructor. He got his master's from the UCLA Asian America...