i'm a nerd, part 6735631

Yesterday, I was givine a presentation to new staff in our office (a new intern and a new organizer) on the research I did for our latest campaign. Ten minutes into the presentation, the organizer was staring at me with "zombie eyes" -- the look that you get when you are sleeping during class but trying to keep your eyes open.

Yes, my job even bores my co-workers.

After the presentation, I made myself feel better by decorating my office space with "rap graphs":

quote of the day courtesy of messy danny

"Let me go on the record with something: I went to a pretty good undergraduate university, graduated in the top ten percent of my law school class (and was the editor of the school's entertainment and sports law review), and am a decent enough writer that the good folks at Huffingtonpost.com allow me to blog, and yet I don't want someone "just like me" to be president. I want someone better than me. And 99.9999 percent of us should, too." -- Mitchell Bard, Huffington Post

favorite headline of the day

Comcast Forces Illini Fans To Suffer Through Northwestern Game[Comtastrophe]

It was really funny to see this headline on my blog feed today.

http://consumerist.com/5050643/comcast-forces-illini-fans-to-suffer-through-northwestern-game

because alaska is next to russia

My favorite part of this clip is toward the end when Samantha Bee breaks it down:

coming to terms with 30

I'm watching the mtv v1deo mus1c awards and I only know half of the performers/celebrities. I like the DJ that they play right before the commercials but everything else is kind of... boring (and loud). That pink performance was cool, though.

I'm so glad that I've stepped into the next decade. It's a little bit sad that I'm no longer in the mtv target demographics, but I'm starting not to care.

Cheers to my 30s!

I gotta go to sleep now, old ladies need their beauty rest.

organize THIS, gop.

I'm so offended by the GOP's (Guil1an1 & Pa1in) mockery of community organizing. I work at an organization where community organizing is at the heart of who we are and what we do. To use it as a punchline to mock Obama is insulting to me.

We community organize because the values that many members of the GOP espouse -- small government, reduction of social services, institutional racism (yeah i said it bitches), privatization, globalization, etc. is what has led to the disintegration of many American inner cities. We do it because people are poor in this country, have become disinfranchised and are suffering.

The GOP boldly and ignorantly mocked one of the most noblest professions for the sake of conservative rhetoric & to get a cheap cheer. Even the Dems gave McCain props for his military service.

I wasn't going to write about this. I wanted to be nice to conservatives and not throw down, but since you started it, all I can say right now is:

You can suck it, GOP. Obama is going to kick ASS.

fav dnc moment

I got chills when John Legend and will.i.am performed the Yes We Can song with the Agape Choir Thursday evening.

The original video:

forever changed

I was a part of history this week.



This week was filled with tons of emotional highs and lows. I am emotionally exhausted. Right now I'm feeling simultaneously inspired and discouraged, disheartened and energized. I think the process of attending the DNC really wore me down, but sitting in the stands listening to 0bama and the other leaders will be something that I will take with me my entire life. I am changed. And, as cheesy as this sounds, I hope that change will be coming.



This week, I waved the flag more furiously and passionately that I ever have before, I was overcome with genuine emotion at listening to the star spangled banner or America the Beautiful.

We saw this painted on a wall in the neighborhood where we were staying:


We finally (!!!) got hall passes for press, which allowed us to get into 1nvesco to hear 0bama on Thurs.


I'll post more in the next days or so.

denver

It's been a crazy several days in Denver. I was supposed to get blogger credentials but totally got screwed over and so my friend & I have been hustling trying to work our networks (or rather, hers) to get credentials, to no avail. It sucks because minsoo was recruited to come to the dnc and then they totally flaked and acted as if we were asking for too much. If we knew we weren't expected to get any passes, we wouldn't have shown up. Something fishy is going on. When they told us about the credentials issue I was trying to keep it cool, channeling Minsoo ("What would Minsoo do? What would Minsoo do?") and not wanted to disrespect aam by getting pissed off. I almost cried out of frustration yesterday. Luckily I've met some good people along the way who were able to shed some light on the situation.

Despite the credential thing, it's all been an incredible experience just to be in the middle of this historic convention. I'll blog more fully when I get home. I think most of my blogging mojo will go to AAM this week.

There's a lot of law enforcement out and about, which doesn't make me feel safer. It makes me feel like something bad's going to breakout soon:


There are a bunch of booths with funny stuff... not DNC related.


How I love the crazy hippies:


We snagged passes to the All-delegate party. We met a lot of APIs from all over the country. It was pretty sweet. We've been crashing or following groups of Asians to parties all week. I'm pooped. Political parties aren't terribly fun because everyone's either old or already with their peeps. But at least there's some free booze.


I ran into the former ED from Public Allies, who's a blogger! I was totally surprised and it was really good to see her. I do not know what is going on with my bangs.


I'll post more pics later. By the way, I want to be friends with Michelle Obama. She is friggin awesome. The kids are adorable too.

whoa....

Beginning Monday, hundreds of bloggers will descend on Denver to see Barack Obama accept his party’s nomination....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/fashion/24blog.html?ei=5070&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1219593626-8sFZVUFM+lBxtYxdAylPxA

... This is me in a few short hours.

My cousin lent me his lighter laptop and aircard. I bought a new laptop friendly bag. I don't have a data phone, but I feel as blogger-ific as I'm going to get.

I'm in line to interview Ka1 Penn, Dan1el Dae K1m, Tam1lyn T0m1ta & Ke11y Hu. I'm sure Minsoo is super jealous. I hope I can represent AAM and do it right. My friend who is really making connections for interviews has been evoking my name (as AAM's partner) to get us in the door.

I'm getting really nervous. I kind of wished now that I had taken a real vacation.

denver here i come!

I just booked my ticket to go to the Dem0cratic Nati0nal C0nvention. I'm so excited! It all happened so fast -- Minsoo got an invitation to be a blogger at the convention but couldn't get time off work so in his place, I'm going as an "AAM blogger." I love my husband! My coworkers are also going on their own and they may help hook me up with floor tickets, which is going to be even more incredible.

I am really excited.

office enemy... part 2 (!)

On Tuesday, the former executive assistant to the executive director showed up at our office... to work.

I know. What??

Her keys and clicker for the parking lot gate were taken from her on Friday, so she couldn't get in. When she arrived, she called our main phone line from her cell phone. D asked if she could let into the building "to go to work". The admin director who answered the phone said, "No, my understanding was that you quit last week." Apparently D still did not understand/would not accept the fact that: Quitting = calling your boss, telling off the boss and telling the boss that you are "leaving" and then hanging up without listening to her. D was confused, but finally left and hasn't been back since. I hope she got the message this time.

All of us are so on edge at work because D is so unstable. Today, my coworker was loudly calling up the stairs asking to see the receptionist and we all freaked out. I was on the phone and I immediately told that person I would call them back. My other coworker and I ran down stairs in a panic. We thought that "someone" might be back and trying to get into the building. It turns out she needed help finding something from the closet.

office enemy... resolved?

In January I shared that I think I have an office enemy, or at least I did until last Friday.

Apparently my officenemy (the "executive assistant to the executive director" as she always introduces herself, I will now refer to her as D) was fired or quit --we're still not sure -- on Friday afternoon, almost directly as a result of a conversation I had with my executive director on Friday morning.

On Friday, she was eavesdropping on a private, closed door conversation that the development coordinator and I were having with our ED. (What kind of messed up s*** is that?) Eavesdropping D thought that our ED told us "to keep [her] in line." However, what was really said was that she thought D would be in charge of the calendar because "she can keep people in line."

D confronted the development coordinator, who tried to clarify, but she was having none of it. She called the ED, told her off like a crazy woman and then told the ED that she was leaving and hung up on her. Our ED took that to mean that D was quitting so she called the receptionist to make sure that D left her keys and garage door opener when she left. When D left, the receptionist told her to leave her key and opener and then D said, "Does this mean that I'm fired?"

I didn't find all of this out until this morning when I huddled with my coworkers and pieced together the events of Friday. We came to the conclusion that the crazy lady just got herself fired/quit for getting paranoid while eavesdropping on a conversation. Sad and crazy.

*I changed the name to D, although I prefer to refer to her as she commonly introduced hersel -- the exec. assistant to the exec. dir or eatted

word on the street

Yesterday my co-worker pulled me aside after a meeting and told me that she had heard I was looking for a new job. I expressed my surprise, not because I was surprised that someone claimed I was looking for a new job, because she had heard that I was looking for a job. Apparently, my co-worker said "that was the word on the street."

The street??

I wasn't upset that people were talking about me looking for a new job. What surprised me is that my name is now associated with "a word on the street." Since when did my network expand to "the streets"? And where are these "streets" located? Oh snap, I think I've just been accepted into LA's non-profit "streets."

Anyway, word on the street is that wai-ling is looking for a new job. Only, wai-ling doesn't have any job prospects, only a bad attitude about her current job. And now she's writing about herself in third person, a sure sign that wai-ling needs a vacation.

OMFG (I usually hate this acronym, but I'm using it because it's so appropriate)

There's a crazy-ass story that's been circulating in all of the local papers and tv news programs, my coworkers were even talking about it: Two 78-year-old twin sisters have spent years feeding rats in their pacific palisades home. Pacific Palisades is one of the richest cities in LA and probably in the entire country. Movie stars live there. And apparently so do hundreds of rats and their old-lady enablers. When I heard that story, I was amused because I like the thought of old ladies sticking it to the richies. But serious, I was also totally grossed out and wondering who the hell does that sort of thing. What type of person do you have to be?

Well, unfortunately, I think I know the answer to my questions. Because, as it happens, I KNOW the crazy rat ladies (or rather, one of them). One of the sisters was an elementary school teacher who worked with my mom. I didn't have her as a teacher, but I was at the school when she was there and my mom taught with her! My mom is friends with a lot of my old teachers; in fact, many of them came to my wedding and even my bridal shower! My mom never really kept in touch with Ms. Barthel, but a part of me wonders that if she had, the rat lady could have been at my wedding.

My mom told me that Ms. Barthel used to feed animals at school and always took in stray cats. I wonder if she had already become the rat lady when she was teaching school. Ew. I'm so grossed out right now.

An illustration from the LA Weekly which did a cover story on the crazy rat ladies:


Ms. Barthel, aka rat lady talking to the local newscaster on tv. She has sported her trademark glasses, scarf and hat look since the 1980s at least.


My name is wai-ling and....

mailbox! mailbox! mailbox!

Enjoy this nerd video. Very amusing.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

the blogathon is finished.

Hannah is done with the bar! She finished yesterday. I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday, but congrats Hannah! Yay, you are done and I am proud to call you J.D.... hopefully esq. soon. Is that what you can call yourself when you pass the bar? Anyway, yay for you!

Goodbye daily blogging. We did it... kind of. I'm gonna go take a blogging break.

1 more day

Hannah has one more day until she's done with the bar exam. I think this means that our daily blogging will end soon.

Go hannah go!

we live in LA suckas, part 2

We had an earthquake yesterday. I was in my office, which is a converted 1940s firehouse. My desk is on the second floor in a cubicle set up. When the shaking started, we all thought it was some big truck driving by, as they do almost everyday. The windows always shake and building creaks because it's old. I'm sure the building isn't up to code as it's owned by the city and we "rent" it.

Yesterday, when the shaking didn't stop, we realized it was an earthquake. The door to the cabinet at the entrance to our cubicle space opened up and things spilled out, our cubicle walls started shaking. My interns were under their desks but my co-worker and I were just standing in the middle of our space and looking at each other like, "what the hell do we do now?" After the shaking stopped, we got the hell out of there. The receptionist's cubical wall fell down. Overall, the earthquake wasn't that bad... barely any damage in the region and it wasn't as big as I've felt in the past.

But at work, the earthquake felt like the big one. I think we probably work in a death trap.

for j.d.

Over 3 years ago "J.D.", as we are now calling her, was one of my bridesmaids and here's what I wrote about her on our wedding website. She's going to take the bar tomorrow and so I am going to devote the next few days to writing what I know and love about my girl, Hannah:

Hannah is one of my future sisters-in-law. I remember hanging out with her during my senior year at Northwestern when she was just one of the freshman girls. Now she’s going to be family! Hannah is really smart and sorta crazy. I think Hannah’s gonna be somebody someday. You just wait and see.

Get it done Hannah. We are rooting for you.

we live in LA suckas

Today I saw this sign hanging from the front of our apartment complex: Yes, they're filming on our street on Tuesday. I got really excited when I learned what they are going to be filming:

Yeah, they're filming ent0urage on our street! How cool is that? I'm considering "working from home" that day. I wonder if I'll get to see Vince, E, Turtle or Johnny Drama. Living in LA is pretty exciting sometimes.

Rural Juror

I've been having my own 3o R0ck marathon, trying to catch up on the episodes that I missed from season one. It's so funny I keep laughing aloud and exclaiming, "That's so funny, i love it!" even though no one is around.

Jungle Fever-haver. Ha ha.

new blog ideas

Minsoo left for comic c0n today. Luckily I have Domo 2 to keep me company. I was thinking of creating a domo 2 blog so he can recount his adventures in our apartment... and beyond. He could post pics of himself in various exotic locales. Unfortunately, there's a lot of competition out there -- a lot of other domos also like to take pics of themselves and post them on their blogs. Silly domo bloggers.

Speaking of blogging, I'm thinking about starting a restaurant blog. It wouldn't be for other readers, but simply to help me record the different restaurants that I've been to and what I think about them. This will hopefully address the "where should we go?" dilemma whenever friends or family come into town. I'm still trying to decide what to name it. I'm thinking wai-linghateslinesandnosigns or wai-lingisapickyeater...

3 years

Yay!

uh oh...

Domo 2 is getting too comfortable.

getting more confortable

Domo 2 wants to be like Minsoo. Here he is, trying on Minsoo's new shirt... and glasses:
Yes, that is a pac-man blanket in the background. We are grown ups.

a new addition

I think our new friend Domo 2 has been busy exploring our apartment. I keep finding him in random places. For example, I think he's trying to make friends with my other stuffed animals:Silly Domo 2.

old friend

I was never really into stuff animals, but when my ceiling collapsed on all my worldly possessions back in 2003, I lost my modest collection of random stuffed friends. One of them was a brown animal called "Domokun" (he's the mascot of a Japanese tv station). Today, I finally bought a replacement, Domo 2, if you will.

I forgot how much I loved Domo 1, but now that I have Domo 2, I feel like I found an old friend which is kind of weird.

He's so ugly, he's almost cute:

There he is, spending time with minsoo. Yay Domo 2!

spent

I had a long week because we had three days of a staff meeting. On Thursday, I wanted to punch out a few of my coworkers.

By the way, I'm so glad that Pr0ject Runway has started up again. I'm also glad that Sarah is back in the Yusa! These two things made up for my sucky week.

colonial gardens

Our apartment has a courtyard that's filled with overgrown random trees, bushes and plants. There's also a huge ass tall green bush-tree that shoots up above the second floor apartments. It's at least 50 feet high -- you can see the tree sticking up above the roof when you drive by the building. Everyone who visits wonders what the crap this weird tree is doing in the middle of our courtyard.

Anyway, they're re-doing the plaster on our apartment (re-colonial-izing it?) so they've been cutting down some of the bushes and plants on the sides outside our building. When I arrived home today, I walked through the gate and saw people cutting up pieces of wood. I looked up, saw the blue sky and realized they had cut down the big ass tree!! For those of you who have been to your apartment, you'll know that this is a big deal -- the tree is gigantic and blocks natural light from our courtyard. Yay!

A few days ago, Minsoo and I were debating whether or not the big tree could ever be cut down. I think I won the debate.

neighborhood drama

This morning, I drove by an accident in my neighborhood. An old guy driving a white mazda miata drove over the curb, knocked over a fire hydrant and crashed into the front yard of a home and into the handicapped ramp leading up to the door of the house. There was water shooting up like 20 feet in the air onto the home's front lawn and the street. The fire department was there, blocking the entrance to the side street and the police were arriving when I rolled by. The driver was still sitting in his car, looking dazed. A crazy scene at 8am. I immediately called Minsoo to describe the scene to him. I think you had to be there to appreciate how chaotic it was. It looked like a movie set or something. I half expected to see a film crew you know, because it's LA. Unfortunately the accident was very much real. Bummer for the homeowner.

geeking out

Yesterday we watched a preview of the new batman movie. It was pretty awesome. It was on IMAX so the screen was huge! We got there an hour before, but still had to sit fairly close to the front. When we were searching for seats, I asked an asian guy if the seats next to him were taken and he said yes. When I walked away, I realized that guy was a local newscaster! TV journalists aren't movie stars, but kind of like local celebrities.

There were a lot of movie geeks at the screening too. You'll recognize them based on few features:
1. Scruffy beard meant to look "hip" but looks more disheveled. Beer Belly, mostly from sitting in front of screens all day.
2. Stripped or patterned button down over the special edition movie tv
3. Talking to companion about movies, comic books and comic book movies. Loudly. Authoritatively.

We saw one guy with tons of comic book character tattoos on his arms... and of course, a Chinese character tat on his neck. Because you know, no one is completely "inked" until they have a tattoo in a language that they can't understand.

if only....

I have such a crummy attitude when it comes to work. Of course, I always feel worse when the dreaded "should" (as in, I should be grateful I have a job at all) creeps into my vocabulary and then I get totally guilty for feeling crummy. It's a vicious guilt/sadness cycle. I don't know how to get out of it.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about work as a means to an end. What if I lived more simply and in a place that didn't require money? Could I do it? Would I do it?

Unfortunately I like electricity, shoes, showering and sleeping indoors too much. Damn you capitalism. My friend once suggested that we go back to the bardering instead of currency. I'll trade your shoes for my.... my.... sense of organization? My GIS mapping skills? My pumpkin cookies? This is when bow-hunting skills comes into play. I should have learned that at girl scout camp.

happy birthday hannah!

Because J.D. is spending her birthday studying for the bar exam, I going to bequeath the fortune cookie message I received today to her (pictured left):

"Everyone around you is rooting for you. Don't give up." Word.

ice capades?

I recently made a new mix tape for myself to help me get motivated at work. It's a random mix of songs that make me feel good -- OutKast "So Fresh, So Clean", Ben Lee "We're all in this together", "Suddenly I see" KT Tunstall, along with some Mary J... random huh?

I struggled with putting these songs into order. Do you categorize by type of music? By theme of lyrics? By gender? I've never been good at ordering mixes.

I remember those days when people recorded music off the radio. Many of my mix tapes had horribly taped songs with the DJ's voice introducing the song during the instrumental intro. There was no flow or order... you just recorded the song when happened to be on the radio.

I remember that I was really into taping Janet Jackson songs. When Escapade was the song of the moment, I used to tape it several times onto one tape until I got it just right (very little/no DJ voice over, etc.). I remember that I couldn't figure out all of the lyrics and once thought the title of the song was "Ice Capades." No really, I did. I think I only figured it out when I actually bought the actual tape and looked at the titles.

mean girls

Dude, I'm watching this show called "Queen Bees" that's about mean girls. They all think they're totally beautiful and rule the people around them.

Unbeknownst to them, their friends and family nominate them and the most "reformed" will win $25K. Several of the girls were nominated by their MOMS! It's a sad day when moms will rat out their daughters for being horrible human beings. Message to moms: it might have been your fault that your offspring sucks as a human being. Duh!

In this episode, to win, the girls have to impress blind judges. Ha ha! I love it.

Minsoo thinks I like watching this because "those bitches need to get what's coming to them." I guess I'd agree... a little. But then does that make me a mean girl?

sneakin' in

I had a meeting at city hall today, which is a fairly regular occurence. Since it's such a large city and a huge city hall complex, there are a bunch of security measures that you have to follow which include pre-arranged parking, getting badges for your car and yourself, showing your bag and drivers' license. Normally it's a bit of a pain in the butt, but oh well, I deal.

Everytime I go there, it's the same routine. I'd say I've been there at least 20 times. But today, it was different. There were NO security measures. I drove right into the parking complex without an ID tag (the guy asked me my name and then waved me by), I didn't have to go through the metal detector in the building (he was flirting with my coworker instead). It was weird and although normally I think the measures are a pain, when I didn't have to deal with them today I almost felt... unsafe.

Today was an awesome day to sneak into city hall, if anyone was so inclined. Ooo, So fun... Oh look it's the chief legislative analyst! Is that the public works commissioner? Ohmigod, it's the mayor!!!

nimby

Today we got a letter in the mail from the city planning department. When you get a letter like this, it most likely means that there's a new development happening in your neighborhood and it's most likely going to be huge and/or obnoxiously different from the rest of the neighborhood. I didn't need to open it up to know that it's going to be a pain in the ass.

A 48-unit apartment building down the street from us is being converted to a 92-unit with 201 parking spaces. I guess I shouldn't get all NIMBY (not in my backyard) since I am only a lowly apartment dweller, but this new development is going to suck ass. Not only is it going to be noisy but the traffic and the parking!

And of course, because public participation is *sooo* important, the public meeting is at 10:30am on a Wednesday morning at city hall downtown. What bull crap. I'm going to be at city hall that day, so mmmm. I could represent like the Yu family did.

Or maybe, as minsoo suggested, we should just see if we can move there...

bumming around

Today I was craving some pumpkin pie to feed my job sadness. I know, it's not Thanksgiving! Luckily the awesomest pumpkin pie is available year around at a cafe in Santa Monica (it's outdoors too!). They serve huge slices of spiced pumpkin pie with a yummy sugary thick crust. So basically this place is my favorite place in all of LA because it serves up three of my favorite things: pumpkin pie, dining alfresco and yummy green tea. This is why LA rocks my face off (for all of you LA haters.) Anyway, I digress...

So anyway, I really wanted pie. However, Minsoo was watching a movie so I was scrounging around trying to find someone who would go with me. It's not like I couldn't go by myself, but it's much more fun to eat pie with other people, especially when the piece of pie serves more than one person. I couldn't find anyone to go with so I just ended up at my second favorite place in LA: the shoe store. Then I went home, unbuttoned my pants and ate half a container of green tea ice cream. Ah, another productive Tuesday night that I should have spent working.

I'm so bummed because this time around, the stress of work is going to make me chunky, instead of thin, like last time.

Now I'm watching that america's got talent show... there's an asian girl without an asian name (and has a white mom) who's on stage doing chinese acrobat-type things. Is she adopted and now being exploited for her "exotic" talents? Something about this act makes me feel yucky.

strange white dude dancing video

That where the hell is matt video is addictive. If you haven't seen it, just go to youtube.

At first, I thought it was lame, but the more and more I watch it, the more I like it. It's oddly moving. It seems like it was something he was meant to do and is loving it.

I'm realizing more and more that I'm not doing what I love doing... and that maybe if I did what I loved, the rest of the details of life would fall into place.

Ugh, I sound like that stupid color of your parachute book...nevermind. Back to work.

i heart dining alfresco

I have a love of eating outdoors. And of course, LA has a ton of outdoor cafes. I think I love eating in restaurants with patios that feel like you're eating in someone's backyard because my parents have a backyard deck and I remember some of my favorite family meals were held outdoors.

Sometimes, I think food even tastes better when you're eating it on a warm summer day. I think I'll eat almost anything if we're dining alfresco.

I also have a love of macaroni salad. Since I didn't post yesterday, my next post today will be about mac salad.

summer addiction

I think I have a problem. I love macaroni salad.

Okay, so loving mac salad is not a problem. Some may say it's merely a gross food preference. But for me, it's more than just a preference. It's an addiction.

Every summer, it starts out innocently. I'm at the grocery store shopping for a dish to bring to a potluck bbq and I see it in the deli aisle. Instead of buying the smallest serving, I opt for the larger size, because you never know how many people will be there. Of course, the mac salad is always one of leftovers (because no one eats THAT much mac salad, right?) and I end up bringing at least half the tub of mayonnaise-y goodness home.

The real problem begins the next day. I begin the long long journey of trying to finish the tub of mac salad all by myself. One bowl turns into another one, which turns into eating more than one person should consuming in a week.

Yesterday, I ate A LOT of macaroni salad. So much, that I felt nauseated for at least a few hours after it. We went out to see a movie and I had to stick my head out the window to get some fresh air and make sure I didn't toss my cooki... mac salad. Ewwww.

I should have known better. I'm sure you all are grossed out right now. I know I am. Maybe this post will help me get over this obsession.

4th of july thoughts

I appreciate these thoughts on how to be a different kind of "patriot" during this holiday, from activist J0e Navarr0....

"...How can one demonstrate "zealous love" for this tradition? As an American citizen, who is also a Native American and Chicano, I prefer to celebrate the heroes who have resisted and opposed oppression domestically and internationally.

Instead, I honor African slaves who rebelled against slavery, and white abolitionists who dedicated their lives to end the barbarism; I celebrate the original people of this land who fought and resisted genocide and the Mexicans who battled against a mighty military force to defend their lands from a brutal annexation; I admire the women who have tireless fought for women's rights to vote, for reproductive choice and for equality; I honor Chinese, Japanese and other Asian immigrants who have survived and resisted severe racism, ostracism and unlawful incarceration; I celebrate civil rights and human rights activists who marched, protested and fought for equality in education, employment, housing and healthcare, and expanded democracy; I honor people who strive to uncover the truth about this nation and peace activists who protest in the streets to let the world know that imperialist aggression is not supported by everyone.

So, on the Fourth of July, I will not be a blindfolded flag waving patriot. I will honor and celebrate all the people who have fought (and died) to defend people from oppression and who worked to expand democracy in America."

Oh snap, I'm beginning to think I'm a good cook

I've been told that cooking with a crock pot is fool-proof. All of my married friends rave about it, but I've always been scared to use it. Apparently you put meat into a pot with some water and seasonings, leave it all day and then presto! A meal. I was pretty skeptical.

Tonight I made some sort of beef dish. I didn't use a recipe, and instead used salt/pepper and a variety of seasonings and sauces I had in my kitchen, browned the meat, dumped it into a very sketchy sauce, said a little prayer and then hours later, presto! A meat dish that was actually sort of good. Tender meat, tasty & thick sauce/gravy. Yay!

I think that cooking with a crock pot is similar to wearing A-line skirts: it works for anyone and always make you look good. I can't believe I just compared cooking to clothes. Oh well.

hot asian men!

I just watched Lust, Caution. One word: Whoa.

Tony Leung is ridiculously hot. Definitely at the top of my list.

Also, apparently one of the actors is Asian pop star Wang 1ee h0m, who is very very pretty, and one of those Asian Americans making it big in Asia.

Next steps: y0utube (so i can check out the pretty dude's musical stylings)

days since crying at work: 0

I broke my pathetic 13 day "no crying at work" record.

quoted

This afternoon I had meeting with a city councilmember's staff. I arrived early so I sat in the waiting room with my coworker and picked up a magazine. I was flipping through the magazine when I noticed that minsoo was quoted in one of the articles. That was really cool.

t0ny camp0l0 rocks my face off

TC was the speaker at our church conference this week and I think he covered a lot of really controversial topics. He was all up in our faces about caring about the poor and rejecting our materialistic culture. Although he's Christian, he also has some very controversial views that are very different from the religious right, which was very refreshing. I'm also really glad that one of my friends, who isn't Christian, came to our service to hear TC and really liked it. He definitely ministered to her today. Yay!

I also saw Wall-E today. Awesome and so deep. P1xar did it again.

happy birthday jess!

Today is Jess' golden birthday!

I'm sure you're having a great one. Sorry I can't be there! You rock.

walks

We've been trying to take walks after dinner to get a little bit of fresh air, time away from screens (tv, computer) and hopefully a teeny bit of exercise.

We walk through the nice residential neighborhood behind our apartment and up the hill to check out the amazing view of the city. On the way up the hill, there's a house on a corner that has a dog in their backyard that barks at anyone that walks by the property. The dog sound slike it wants to eat you. I've never seen the dog because it's locked up behind a big wall & gate, but I imagine that's it's a type of pit bull or large dog with sharp teeth and lots of drool.

Minsoo is afraid of dogs so today he told me that he wanted to run by the house, instead of walk by it, so that we could avoid the barking assault. I agreed so we booked it by the house and avoided the barking. We were so proud of ourselves. In hindsight it sounds dumb, but it felt good at the time.

In other news, I'm glad that sasstimesseven got kicked off abdc this week. Good riddance.

happy golden birthday Sarah!

where's bruce?

On the Turner C1ass1c movie channel, they're doing a special on Asian films. Tonight was my favorite film, Flower Drum Song. We were out so we missed it, but now Enter the Dragon is on, which is Minsoo's favorite. We're watching it, even though we have it on DVD. I love those polyester suits and cheesy haircuts.

Speaking of Bruce, when we were leaving Kauai after our honeymoon, the guy checking our IDs and tickets looked down at mine and asked, "Where's Bruce?" Of course, I had no idea what he was asking so I said, "What? Oh, no, it's just me and him [pointing at minsoo.]" The guy asking me was Asian and we were in Hawaii, so I was surprised that he would crack a brucelee joke.

Bruce Lee's family came from the same area in China as my family. We could be related! I sometimes think that this might contribute to minsoo's love for me.

reality show monday

I just watched the most uncomfortable make-over reality show. It was one of those makeover shows where friends nominate you and then get to pick out various "looks" for you. You get to pick one of the "looks" and get a corresponding makeover haircut. It's supposedly a transformative experience.

This episode was a train wreck. At the end, the woman said that she was no longer friends with the people who nominated her and felt like they were trying to break her spirit (she was a 30-year old goth hippie called "p1um"). The whole episode she kept pouting and said nasty things to the host and her friends. I felt so bad for the host, who was trying her best to keep her cool. I even began to get pissed at her. The stylist who was one of the people to help her get her new look scolded her for not thanking her friend who gave up important plans to be there to help her get her makeover. The woman didn't even thank her friends and instead just left on her high horse, saying she'd keep the sneakers but give everything else to g00dwill. I wanted to cry for her friends after watching it because the woman was so cruel, ungrateful and stubborn. Actually, I don't think she was a horrible person, but it did seem like she had serious trust issues and other issues that made it impossible for her to relinquish control and appreciate good intentions. I know it sounds weird but the episode was so intense.

I'm emotionally exhausted now. That episode was toxic for my soul.

I wish I had just watched j0nandkate+8 instead.

warm Sunday night thoughts

I'm sitting outside on my little balcony right now. It's so dang hot in our apartment so I've escaped to the outdoors. It's nice.

It's days like this when I wish that I had a house on the beach so I could sit outside and watch the sunset, instead of sitting outside watching cars drive in and out of our side street and alley.

Sunday nights are so bittersweet. I'm finally winding down from last week and them, boom, I have to begin thinking about next week.

Every Sunday evening, the same thoughts go running around in my head:
"Should I call in sick?"
"Ooo, I wonder if there are any new job listings...".
"Maybe I should start playing the lottery...."
"Is Red Mango open?"
"Gotta check my email before I walk in on Monday and end up already behind on work..."

Ah, sweet, sweet Sunday.

it's hot.

It's been blazing hot this weekend, which sucks for sleeping. Our wall unit A/C only cools the dining room and part of the living room so the bedroom never gets cool at night. I'm really tired because even though I got 10 hours of sleep last night, I was so hot it feels like I only slept for 5. Now, I really want to go to sleep but the room is so hot I don't want to go back in there.

That's it for today.

We celebrate the darnedest things

Just to let you all know, June is national bathroom reading month. I found this out today while listening to npr.

Unbeknownst to me, I have honored this June designation many times this month. I hope you all will get the chance to celebrate this American tradition sometime in the next week.

hi, my name is wai-ling, and i'm addicted to a.b.d.c.

I don't watch mtv on a regular basis because I'm too old (they target kids up to 24 years old). However, I reject ageism on Thursday night when they air that america's best dance crew show. It's a freaking awesome show.

I love how Asian the show is and how the asian crews kick ass. Last season there were only a few crews with Asians in them, however this season it seems like everyone has a token Asian members, even that girl cheerleading group. Asians are like every crew's lucky rabbit's foot 'cuz we keep it real on the dance floor. Okay, when I say we, I mean them.

One of the groups tonight were a group of guys from Napervi11e IL who got ripped a new a-hole by the judges. Their routine made me feel really uncomfortable because they looked like they were trying out for America's best stripping crew. I'm glad the judges also felt that they sucked. Yucky. The other group I totally disliked were a group of girls who did a routine that reminded me of a sport's team's dance crew. Go home Lakers girls, go home, you lost the NBA finals suckas, stop dancing. I can't believe these 2 groups won't go home tonight because of the voting system.

I've gotta go vote online for the crews now. I can't let both the strippers and the cheerleaders make it past next week. ABDC is the best!!!

boo (hoo hoo)

Today I broke my streak of not-crying-at-work. I haven't cried at work (not including the time my coworker died in 2006) since my last job in 2004.

Damn and my not-crying streak was going so good.

I guess this is a pretty rad statistic for me since I've managed to have a breakdown at almost every job I've had except for the one where I was an assistant at a publishing company.

Non-profit jobs are hard, yo.

After a really crappy meeting, due in part to my horrible attitude about work, my coworker friend asked me what was bugging me. So of course that sent me into a crying nightmare. I am not a graceful crier. I get the shakes, the hyperventilating, hiccups, the inability to speak complete sentences without gasping for air....the works. I end up a big fat mess. The aftermath entails huge swollen eye lids, a raging headache and red face. It's so ugly.

Anyway, I've just been really disillusioned with my job as I was hired to do cutting edge social change research and since my co-worker died 2 weeks after I was hired, all I've ended up doing is project management (without the for-profit salary). I love what the organization does, but I really hate what I do day-in-and-day-out. There's a bunch of other things, but that's for another post. Suffice it to say that while I like to say that I'm helping to change the world, in my day to day life, it feels very much like I'm not doing anything but making too little money for too much work.

Sometimes the money looks greener on the other side (the for profit side).

all look same

Today I was at an all day training with a small group of people when one of the other attendees came up to me and said "Hey!" like we had been engaged in a conversation. So I said "hey!" because we had talked a few hours ago and maybe she wanted to talk more...

Then she said, "So I have go in awhile, but I know you had some questions about what I'm doing." I looked at her blankly. She kind of stared at me and then said... "Ohhhhh" and walked over toward the one other Asian girl in the room.

She mistook me for the only other Asian girl in the room... who was at least 3 inches taller, had short hair, no glasses, wearing a completely different outfit and was Korean.

Even in the diverse non-profit sector we Asians all look alike, I guess.

bad day

Mondays usually suck but today was a thoroughly bad Monday.

I opened up my work email box this morning to find that a grant proposal I had submitted was rejected. Then, later on in the afternoon, I found another grant proposal rejection letter in my in-box. Well, it wasn't so much a rejection letter ("Thank you for your application, however because of the number of applications we are unable to award you a grant....") as it was a mass "Congratulations" email blast for the organizations who had been given a grant. So I had to read the whole email and look for our name on the list, hoping that it was my organization they were congratulating. Unfortunately it was not. It felt like I had tried out for high school jazz band and they posted the list and I didn't make it, even though my jazz piano skillz were so excellent (just an example, though, uh not based on real life).

To make me "feel better" my Exec Dir decided to make a joke about how apparently it's just a myth that my department is supposed to earn our org money, ha ha. I gave her a look that said "you suck bitch" while she tried to hug me and make it all better. I just crossed my arms.

On top of this, I saw a big ass cockroach on the ceiling of the conference room when I was having a meeting. I know they are stalking me, I know it.

And of course, to end my bad day....tonight my friend called me up to hang out so I went over to her house thinking that it would cheer me up. I was already in a cranky mood, so I ended up getting into a tense conversation with another girl who was at my friends' house about how "ching chong ching chong" jokes are not funny (she is not asian) and, in fact, racist and offensive to me. She thought "accents" were always funny, R0sie0's joke about DannyDev1to was hilarious and in general ching chong jokes are really funny and so what's the big deal? Comedians are supposed to make fun of people. My head almost exploded. If you know me, you know how little tolerance I have for stuff like this (prob the reason why minsoo and I get along so well). So my bad mood did not help. I almost walked out, but I was eating Chocolate ice cream and I hadn't finished yet.

Today was like a slap in the face reminder that the weekend was over.

wildcat gathering, east coast style

We just got back from a short trip to "the 'Shire" as minsoo calls it. Our college pal got married so we headed to the east coast to celebrate and reunite with our old friends.

We also got to meet our friends new twins. The last time we "saw them" they were inside our friend's belly. They are adorable! They're fraternal and also have distinct personalities already. I'm sad that they live in Boston, because if they lived in LA, auntie wai-ling and uncle minsoo would be hanging out all the time with the little ladies... and of course, with their parents. :)

It was also awesome to hang out with the ladies -- I miss them! It's crazy to think that I've known them for almost 12 years. Luckily, we all haven't aged that much since undergrad (I think.) Maybe I'll post some old pics later on, but for now, here are the ladies, with the new little ladies...

I think that the dress I'm wearing makes me look like I have a tummy. Boo for trendy baggy dresses (so comfortable, though).

Minsoo also reunited with his freshman year roommate. Yay Andrew!

And just a little extra for you all, spotted in the hotel parking lot:

off for the weekend

Heading off to New Hampshire for a wedding. I'm super excited to see friends, especially our friends' young twin girls. We've watched them grow by monitoring their blog, so it'll be nice to finally meet them in person.

It's early. I'm tired. Gotta catch a flight!

"you're not cool" - 5-year-old matthew at bethel

So today, I went to a w0rkf0rce 'n' ec0n0m1c development conference and guess who was there?? OMG, It was rockstar economist JSachs! He's like the only economist that hangs out with bono! He was giving the lunchtime plenary talk and I was totally freaking out! I know, how cool is that?

Okay, so it's not cool. It's totally nerdy. And you know what's nerdier? Because I knew that he'd be at the conference, I brought my copy of his book so that he could sign it after his talk (even though he was hocking a new book).

This was the most exciting thing I did today. I need a vacation.

gas prices part 2 & daily blogging

After yesterday's gas violation, I went to this website called 1osange1esgaspr1ces to find out if there are any cheaper stations near my place. The cheapest gas is about 30 cents/gal cheaper than what I paid yesterday... which seems like a lot until you really think about it. For 10-11 gallons, it really only adds up to saving about $3, which means that I would still end up paying $50 for gas, which is still ridiculous.

I used to scour my neighborhood for the lowest priced station, but finding a station where you only pay $50 instead of $53 is still highway robbery. I'd rather take those 5 minutes doing something worthwhile...

On that note, minsoo and I talked about blogging everyday (minus traveling weekends) in solidarity with hannah, who is studying hard for the bar exam. While blogging does nothing to help her with bar classes, we think it might be a good temporary distraction. I don't promise that every day will be interesting, but I do promise that there will be something on this page everyday (minus traveling weekends) until Hannah opens up a can of whoop ass on the bar exam.

Obligatory gas prices suck post

I waited until I was running on fumes before I filled up gas. I drive a civic ex. I paid $53.27 for a tank of gas this morning. Yikes.

book therapy

I had a horrible day, which turned around when I entered the bookstore this evening and saw Dav1dSedar1s' new book! MeTa1kPretty1Day (one of his older books) is the most hilarious book I have ever read and one of my favorite books. I highly recommend it.

Being at the bookstore reminded me of how I once wanted to be a librarian. I'm not kidding. Did you know that you have to have a master's degree in library sciences to be a librarian? I think I would be a rad librarian. I think I'd like to work in the map collections or the electronic data section. If I worked as a librarian, then maybe I could be the coolest person at my workplace (like someone I know). Boo-yeah.

our small group is a bad influence

Minsoo & I are in a married couples small group at church. Even though a "married couples" group sounds horribly boring and straight out of a scene from bridgetj's diary ("smug marrieds"), the group rocks my face off because the people are all cool and normal. Anyway, I digress. Our group met up for dinner last night at a Mexican restaurant instead of bible study. We were told that a new couple was going to join us to check out our group so we were told by the couple that organizes our group to "be on our best behavior."

We ordered margaritas and coronas while we waited for the new couple and looked at the menus. When they arrived, I was thinking to myself, wow they look young. They were actually not married, but very recently engaged -- and recent college graduates. Oh man.

So I think they were surprised at the fact that we're all oldies (last night I was the youngest person) but also that we were drinking (gasp, Christians drinking!). I'm sure that since they're recently graduated but getting married that they might be a tad bit more conservative than the rest of us.

I'm not sure if they're going to be joining us regularly and honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about having such a young engaged couple joining us. I think we might be a bad influence on them. I would also hate to scare the girl with stories of what married like is really like. She still has that "I found a guy who makes my heart sparkle" look. (Hannah, that reference was for you.)

fun photos

Instead of a deep post about tv, my job or our crazy neighbors, here are some fun photos...

It's minsoo's 30th!

The NU crew

The sisters:

Fun times.

not profound, just a blog

When I sit down to blog, I usually have several things running around in my head that I want to write down. For example right now I'm thinking about the people in the area near Chengdu and feeling sad, the great weekend I had in the bay area, and trying to hold my breath because minsoo's farts have permeated every inch of the apartment.

Today I will talk about how I need to get a new cell phone. Apparently instead of text messages, I've been sending picture messages to people. When I called the phone company the tech people told me that this problems is common to my phone model... they also told me my warranty ran out last month. How convenient. So in the meantime, no text messaging. Normally, I would just ignore this broken feature but my coworkers have started texting me instead of calling me so I need to have an operational text messaging feature. Ah, this is such a boring post.

I think I've decided that we need to have parties more often. It seems as though people enjoy our shindigs and fun times are always had by all. I also like the parties because our bay area party crew represents.

I also appreciate our friends who post pics of their kids from far away (yes, you know who you are). I love seeing how they grow and getting to know them even if I can't be a proper auntie. Yay, keep doing it! I love it!

I'll end this post now. I think I'm going to have to tell a certain someone that farts mean it's time to poo.

the birthday boys...

Mischief-makers and brothers in crime... Happy birthday guys!

happy 30th minsoo!

A special shout out for my boo.
Oh look how far you've come....

no... sleep... 'till brooklyn?

This weekend was all about the LA APA film fest... saw some really excellent films and some semi-well known Asian celebrities. Don't worry, I played it cool.

I'm headed out to Baltimore this week to hang out with McNu1ty and Bunk and duff at charm city cakes*... Okay, okay, I'm going there for a conference. I don't even think I'll get to see the city at all. Boo.

I also have to get ready for minsoo's big b-day bash. Yes, 30! A lot of the San Jose crew are going to be hanging out so I have to get my apartment ready for a massive sleep over.

I'm tired just thinking about this week. I thought that April was hellish, but think I also overbooked myself for May. Oops. It turns out that every weekend this month is completely booked with events (birthday/graduation/wedding/film festival) and every week is booked with work deadlines. June doesn't look any clearer.

So far this year, I think sleeping is optional. If the past 4 months are any indication, I'm going to party like a rock star and work like a dog as I head into my 30s. Bring it on.

*For those of you who don't watch an obscene amount of tv, McNu1ty and Bunk are from thew1re and duff is from ace0fcakes on the f00dnetw0rk.

i think they're stalking me

I'm a part of the "count" team at church, which means that we count the offering at the end of service. After the offering is collected, we count it up in the attic/projection room above the cafeteria (we meet in a high school).

Last Sunday, when I was up in the attic counting with another girl, something flew onto my shoulder while I was counting. I brushed it away but it fell onto my sweater by my waist so I took another swat at it. While I was swatting it off my body I noticed that the thing that I was swatting off my body was a GIGANTIC COCKROACH. You know, the brown ones with the big shell... probably a cousin of the one that was in our apartment. FOUL.

I started screaming and so did the girl that I was with. We were scrambling around this 10x10 room screaming, all the while, the band is downstairs and everyone's singing and the roach is crawling around, taunting us. The money is just laying out on the table, meanwhile we were scrambling around the room trying to figure out what to do. I finally ran down the stairs and got our security guard to come up and kill it.

By this time, we were sweating (it was lik 90 degrees) and so exhausted that I hope we counted the offering correctly.

Now I'm wondering whether I have some kind of smell that attracts roaches... or whether they are drawn to the smell of fear.

the gr0ve: horrible and at the same time, not so bad...

I always take my out-of-town guests to the Gr0ve, but I really hate it because it's so LA (i.e. bad parking, trendy people make me feel ugly, too crowded, too expensive, too etc.)

It's funny that it takes a writer from NY times to describe exactly how I feel about this faux downtown mall thingie:

THE first time you go to the Grove, the immensely successful and completely fabricated commercial center in Los Angeles, you will try to hate it. But then you will watch the old-fashioned trolley passing by, or the dancing fountain as it splurts jovially to the cadence of a Sinatra song, and you will drop your snobby urban integrity and walk around consuming things in a mouth-breathing stupor just like everyone else...

The Grove is everything that is horrible and spectacular about our brand-saturated American lives. It’s a living version of every pretentious theory you may have read back in grad school: a facsimile of a space, a scripted zone, a generic city, a vituperative quote by Baudrillard or Deleuze. But it’s also totally great!

I think the fact that the writer speaks to a lot of things we talk about in urban planning really got to me.

Damn you gr0ve, how do you do it?

glug glug glug

That is the sound of me drowning in my work. All I have been doing lately is working, eating, dealing with cockroaches and sleeping -- in that order.

I'm starting to enter into the work stage when I'm asking myself: Do I still want to work here?

My boss is pregnant and leaving in a month. When she returns, she's being promoted. I, however, am not. Unfortunately not being promoted does not mean that I don't get more work. Most of her current projects are going to become mine. Boo.

Unfortunately, I really like the work my organization does, I just don't like the work that I am having to do now and the situation that I'm in now. I've been so burnt out in other jobs that I really want to prevent me from getting in the same situation....glug glug glug...

cockroach terror

Last night I dropped Minsoo off at the airport for a flight to NYC and then returned home to find a BIG ASS Cockroach on my kitchen counter. It was one of those large brown ones with scaley brown backs and long antennae.

I was horrified because I was all alone, plus I was already exhausted from a really busy week and stressed out about speaking at a large work event today. I felt like it was some sort of spiritual battle. I called Minsoo but realized that I was all by myself.

So I called the friend that lives the closest to us: Nakji. Faithful friend Nakji was unable to killed the creature, but sprayed the area to keep it on its toes.

Last night, I was so exhaused that after Nakji left, I became totally hysterical. I closed the door to my bedroom and put a towel up against the bottom in case the beast wanted to come after me. I text messaged Hannah in desperation:

Huge roach loose in apt
minsoo on plane to nyc
barricaded in rm
cant sleep
big speaking thing tomorrow have to wake up at 6
freaking out

A phone call from Hannah gave me with some perspective while I cried under the covers and prayed for sleep.

Today, I was almost glad to work so that I could escape cockroach island (aka my apartment). After work, I realized that I needed some back up. So I called my parents and asked them to help me clean up my apartment. I think they also wanted to make sure I was okay since I left a hysterical message on their answering machine at 12:30am last night.

My parents helped me clean and then we left to get coffee. When we returned, IT had returned.

My Dad complained that it was "so tiny" (yeah right) and promptly stepped on it, leaving a streak of messy remains.

And that was it.

My Dad killed the big bug. Just like when I was a kid. I guess sometimes a 29-year-old girl still needs her Dad.

PS The event went well. I did my thing. People wanted copies of my powerpoint, which I guess is a sign that my talk was relevant and useful. I got accosted by a few weirdo "policy" people, but overall, I think I was received well.

a career-defining moment? i hope not.

I got roped into being one of the speakers at an event on Saturday, which includes the second most powerful policy-maker in CA (the new assemb1y speaker) and the may0r of the sec0nd largest city in the country (yes, that would be LA). There's going to be anywhere from 200-400 people there.

I am also nervous because I've been really unmotivated at work and I'm not coming to the table with the best attitude. On top of that, I'm not the strongest public speaker.

Pray for me. I can't wait until it's over. I hope I don't suck too much.

He doesn't want me to share this but...

Minsoo is this month's "role model" on our local Asian TV station. You can find the cheese-tastic clip on t0nylamf1lms dot com slash role underscore models dot htm. He he he...

i gotta little bit o'seoul

... and then some...

Something's really funny. i'm not sure what it is.
At the dmz with ohmahnim and sistas hannah & sarah...

Mixed drinks in a bag. yummy. that's minsoo's cousin and sista sarah.

Big hite...

I dream of hotteok

we think posing in front of the soldier is funny.

The trip was totally fun and crazy, full of food, laughing, "jhul", and chatty emo-nims. I had a blast.

dae han min guk

Yes, you got that right. I'm off to Korea for the week with Minsoo and his family.

best.textmessage.ever

I received this photo on my cell from a co-worker who's at a policy conference in New Orleans, which I couldn't go to because I have family in town this weekend...



Yes, my friends, it is Wenda11 P1erce aka BUNK from themostawesomeshowihaveeverwatched thew1re. This photo came with the following message:

"...He says he wants to meet with us when he gets back to LA -- I said our Research Coordinator would be the best point on that." -- Research coordinator?! That's ME!!! The BUNK is interested in the work WE do?!

on the phone with CA politcal celebrity (sort of)

Work has sucked lately so I haven't been motivated to post.

Work still sucks, but right now I'm on a conference call with Ph1l Angel1des, the guy who lost to the governator. I'm geeking out a little bit. I voted for him!