Sunday, November 23, 2008

three sisters and a baby










My sisters and I had a sleepover last weekend. Elliot (my sister Judy's #4) joined us.













My other sister Emily is expecting her first baby this coming winter. Here is Kalea's nursery.













Me and "Chunk."

Saturday, November 22, 2008

yip yip yip yip yip yip

My friend Stanley is a do-it-yourself master of creating the YipYip costume. He has shared his creation at Wondercon and with other DIY-ers.

Here's the Sesame Street original. Wait for the ring...

Sunday, November 16, 2008

smoky eyes

Every two weeks or so, my good girlfriend and I hang out. Our get-togethers usually start off with eating, talking about work, and planning to take a walk after dinner. As the night progresses, we're munching, farting, debating over Proposition 8, whining about pimples, discussing the nuances between "hotness" and "cuteness," and looking at websites on hair and make-up, convinced that if we just learned to do them right, our lives would be a little better. A favorite of our discussions is the "smoky eye" look. My friend is usually more up with these trends than I am. However, this is one area where I've gained an upper hand.

Once upon a time I was part of an indie rock band. It was a wonderful experience where I made some friends, learned about playing shows in the Bay Area, and most invaluable of all, I learned how to do smoky eye make-up. After one of our gigs, a well-meaning friend told me that I needed to look the part of "the girl" in the band - I needed to think about wearing knee-high boots, flashier clothes, and more makeup. Though I had always prided myself on my lack of interest in such matters, I rose to the challenge and decided to learn the "smoky eye" look that my good girlfriend had mentioned to me before. So where did I go? To YouTube, of course, a godsend for the makeup impaired. After about a night of research, I found a couple of good videos...and not so helpful videos that were nontheless...interesting.



Pay your respects to makeup guru, RiceBunny, both my and my girlfriend's #1 pick. I especially like the soothing music and text of her videos. I am also amazed by how she can maintain that calm smirk as she's just milli-millimeters away from poking her eye. (I usually blink in an agitated fashion and make strange contortions with my mouth.) And finally, here is my first (conservative) attempt at the smoky eye look for my former band's CD release show. There is hope...?

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

watch this film



directed by Danny Boyle ("28 Days Later").
Here is the trailer.

Saw it a couple nights ago and...*wow*...it's definitely my top for this year so far.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

i kissed dating goodbye



A recent outing with a friend rekindled my memories of this book by Joshua Harris. I read it junior year of high school with my friend Carol while we were at a winter church retreat. This book was all the rage and the retreat speaker even had to speak on it. Although I thought it was a great book, I liked it mostly because it already conveniently aligned with my personal philosophy on dating (being the mature teenager I was back then). I decided not to date in high school and renewed this decision in college. Anyways, ten years and multiple relationships later, I still get warm fuzzies thinking about it much in the way that you think about an old friend. I still think it has some good principles that even apply to my life today. Here's Joshua Harris' description of his book.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

proud for once

My Taiwanese heritage is something I usually like to forget. I avoid meeting Taiwanese-Americans my age since I assume they will be perfect-looking, high-achieving professionals or semi-geniuses around whom I'll feel like a loser. I've also grown to fear first-generation Taiwanese-American mothers. I've put my angst to use by making a film illustrating the sad effects of my Taiwanese-American upbringing, writing a play inspired by my mom, and even putting together a workshop exploring Asian/Asian-Am female stereotypes to further air out my self-hating tendencies. Yes, the number of issues I've harbored is just a tad disgusting...

So imagine my slight reluctance when my cousin Jon suggested that we check out the Taiwanese Film Festival at the University of San Francisco. Thankfully, the desire to see my cousin and my love for movies prevailed and I saw "Summer's Tail." I was pleasantly surprised by this coming of age story taking place in a suburb in southern Taiwan. I was also smitten by the leading actress, Enno (Cheng), who is not only an adorable singer/songwriter (whose music is featured in the movie), but is also the screenwriter of the film (as well as daughter of the director, Cheng Wen-Tang). Though I was envious of her talent and success at such a young age, she impressed me. I also enjoyed the understated direction of Cheng Wen-Tang, which produced believable chemistry between the characters in what appeared to be everyday situations, but in the context of adolescence, were dramatic moments.

Seeing the movie was a much-needed reminder that I relate better to present-day Taiwanese culture than to the values of my Taiwanese parents' of an earlier time. (So I’m not going to hold it against Taiwan for producing crazy Taiwanese people in America anymore.) Also, as an aspiring filmmaker, it was encouraging to see some Taiwanese artists out there that I could be inspired by.

Here's the trailer. (Like most movie trailers, it's a bit misleading, but it'll do...) If you have 10 minutes to spare, here's one of my favorite clips from the film.