WHAT I SAID WAS

reunited and it feels so goood…

NI and AL are here (whoah — i was about to type NL and AI .. THAT would be interesting)! they met me at my temp office to pick up the keys and to grab a bite at boudins. damn their bread is good, but $8 for a whole sandwich that’s about the size of 1/2 a normal sandwich? really, fisherman’s wharf? anyway, we caught up over lunch, albeit hurriedly since i had to be back in the office. it was as if we were never apart! they informed me that some folks in nyc are refusing to move to the bay area because – and i quote, “that would mean Will wins.”

🙂

anyway, after lunch, we separated. wrapped up my last few hours of beautiful views and hottie architects and hopped on the muni to head home. on the way out of the office, i ended up talking to one of the employees who apparently worked for the interior design firm that’s renting office space from SB (who knew?). he was super chill and we talked from pier 39 to powell. i guess he’s from manila and is pretty new to the firm. his hope is not to stay in the states or in luxury projects, but to make enough to move back to manila to open his own firm. no idea what his name is, but i will remember his face, i’m sure. i asked him about manila – actually, my tactless-self said, “people have very mixed feelings about manila.” he knew what i meant, and concurred that it’s not the best place to visit, but if you’re from there and know the culture, people, and places to go, that it’s actually a great place to be.

back home, we ordered pizza from zantes, which took TWO HOURS to be delivered to the apartment. it’s indian pizza so imagine a pizza, but with lamb, shrimp, and a bunch of indian spices. it is freaking delicious. AL went to meet his friend while NI and i just passed out. it is so refreshing to get 9 hours of sleep again finally. i’m not sure i can ever work a normal 9-5 anymore.

what’s the male version of a camel toe? i bought two pairs of khakis from GAP using WY’s employee discount and they looked amazing in the store. when i actually wore them in broad daylight to my temp gig a couple of months ago, i started noticing a frontwards wedgie which has now become more pronounced since i washed them two days ago. BOOO!!! OH UNIQLO! you are the ONLY store that does right by me!

as i type this, NI and AL are probably circling the blue skies above san francisco prepping to land. did you see how to train a dragon? i want to ride a dragon through clouds and emerge all dewey and viking-ey and shit.

at the risk of turning my blog into a movie review site, i just needed to comment on gran torino, which was my netflix-of-the-night. is it a thinly-veiled excuse for clint eastwood to spew out a bunch of deragotory terms towards asians or actually just a shitty commentary on racial prejudice and our ability to transcend preconceptions? i’m not exactly sure, but all i know is the acting sucked. i can’t believe he got nominated to grumble and clench his teeth for 2 hours.

and while i fully support casting unknown/non-actors for movies, i don’t support casting unknown/non-actors who can’t act. actually, i’m kind of sick of watching crappy films with or about asians. get it together! while i will always have a soft-spot for joy luck club, i can barely remember a film about asian americans that i actually loved. why can’t we have more films like yi yi? is it really that hard to write a 3-dimensional, asian american character where his/her race isn’t at the forefront, but just one trait of the character?

i guess that’s my job.

for the last hour (which is way longer than i’m proud to admit), i’ve been staring at two little birds attempting to break in through the kitchen, living room, and office windows. they’ve been hopping back and forth between each. when they’re unsuccessful at one, they move on to the next, and the cycle repeats. i have no idea what in their puny brains or biological programming is making them do this – – we’ve no food to feed them and it’s not like they’re flying back to their nest inside our apartment — but it makes for an entertaining sunday morning… err, afternoon.

we had a sold out show last night! considering it was our first time doing most of the skits, i’d say it was pretty successful. we do need to get more comfortable with the dialogue and timing. hopefully we’ll have it cleaned up for the next show — when that is, who knows!

after the show, i bar-hopped with three of the cast members and some of our friends. after the second bar, MJ and i headed to q bar for some dancing. we both noticed there were a lot of women there and wondered if we were in the right place! definitely a fun crowd and the music is always pretty good. i was a sweaty, drunk mess by the time they announced last call. totally didn’t plan on going out so my sweater was drenched through. at least i don’t have to go jogging today (or so i tell myself) though it is another gorgeous day in the bay.

MGS and i are still on season 4 of the wire, but i hear the next season is all about the newspaper industry. i’m really excited to start watching it because i’ve been thinking about the power of the media a lot lately especially because of that idiot pastor in florida who keeps getting attention for his hateful actions. all the press is imbuing him with power he wouldn’t have otherwise. i don’t support censorship, but i do support anti-sensationalism. we see it ALL the time now. simple events and worse, simple people are being way over-hyped because the reporters want to capture the angle that’s going to attract the largest number of readers/viewers.

for instance, during the oakland bart protests, very few media outlets focused on the peaceful protests, but instead focused on the random ass anarchists (white, out-of-town anarchists i might add) who were the ones causing the majority of the chaos. activists don’t riot — we organize. get it straight! but that’s probably too boring and lacks the hype. people asking for peace and a fair resolution? why would we want to cover that? give us the bandana-covered guys carrying sticks and smashing in car windows because that makes for a nicer picture!

and what about all those tweens that have become overnight sensations thanks to youtube and all the news coverage? i wouldn’t consider myself a veteran performer, but there’s a part of me that is a little bitter that Rebecca Black is hitting it so big with such an awful song. she’s become a cultural phenomenon. granted most coverage is equal parts news equal parts mockery, but the fact that she’s getting attention in the first place is what bothers me. if i were Robyn or Janelle Monae or willbur or all those other overlooked artists as of late, i’d be a little P.I.S.S.E.D.

i was just reading a play by rajiv joseph called gruesome playground injuries about a guy and girl who use pain – physical and emotional – to keep the other close. i couldn’t really connect to the characters, but THEN this morning, i get an email from someone i know with whom i’ve had a rocky relationship with throughout the years. there’s totally a correlation between how s/he manipulates people to get attention and the way the press markets itself to sell papers. sex sells. negativity sells. shock sells. same thing goes for relationships and the insane tactics that we’ll employ to get attention. i’m getting too old for that shit. it’s a game i don’t want to play, but i’m afraid it’s a game we ALL play. i’m not innocent: how often have i used pain to get love?