oh, tony.

...also, if you see a copy of may's filipinas magazine anywhere, check out my article on page 18.

another salon story for your TGIF reading pleasure. those crazy pinoys!

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2005/05/06/marry_me/print.html

Till death do me part
This weekend, Kevin Nadal will marry himself. He wants to make a statement that the choice to be single is as valid as the choice to get hitched. He also wants a new sno-cone maker.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Rebecca Traister

May 6, 2005 | Ah May, the time of year when the New York Times' Sunday Styles section fattens up with wedding pages, and blushing brides-to-be prompt statewide manhunts by lopping off their hair and booking bus tickets to Albuquerque.

There's one guy, here in New York City, who's not about to flee from his intended. That's because he is his intended. Meet Kevin Nadal, 26-year-old "psychologist and performance artist," who, according to an e-mail he sent last week, is kicking off "the hottest new trend to celebrate single life" by "getting married to himself" on Saturday, May 7, in Manhattan. Dress is black-and-white semiformal.

Nadal's save-the-date cum press release led me to his wedding Web page, where the mustachioed singleton poses loungily in a "Trust Me, I'm a Doctor" T-shirt. According to the Web site, "Friends and family are encouraged to fly into New York, in the same way that I am encouraged to fly to California or Michigan and Hawaii for their weddings ... But we won't be celebrating the love of two people; we will only be celebrating the love that one person has for himself, as well as the love that he has for his friends and family ... It's not just a party. It's my 'special day.' It's the day that a boy has been dreaming of all of his life."

Reached by phone, Nadal said that he started planning for his "special day" in January. Naturally, he was inspired by an episode of "Sex and the City" in which Carrie Bradshaw celebrates her independence by registering for a pair of Manolo Blahniks. (Incidentally, if anyone knows of a social or romantic trend that was not inspired by "Sex and the City," please contact this reporter.)

Nadal writes that though he doesn't plan on getting married (to anyone else) anytime soon (it would be a challenge in any case; Nadal is gay), he does "plan on living the wild, crazy, non-stop single life that I have been living ... remaining career-oriented, in pursuing my academic and entertainment dreams. Where is the celebration for that? Where can I register for that?"

Apparently, at Target, Amazon, and Bed Bath and Beyond. Among the many items on Nadal's wish list are a sno-cone maker, the Anti-Stress Comfort Wrap, a microdermabrasion kit, a heated eyelash curler, a Mr. Beer deluxe home microbrewery kit, a "Guys Gone Wild" tape, the book "Global Divas: Filipino Gay Men in the Diaspora (Perverse Modernities)," and a lint remover. So far he has already received a Conair Nose/Ear Hair Trimmer. "What I didn't register for was sheets or linens or china or things like that," said Nadal. "I registered for things that would be practical for me."

Nadal has what he calls a "bridal party." "I don't know why I called them 'bridal,'" he said. "I never thought about calling it a groom's party." There are a maid of honor, best man, seven bridesmaids, seven groomsmen, one (grown-up) ring bearer, four (grown-up) flower girls, a "master of ceremonies," and 11 primary and secondary "sponsors." It's enough to make Jennifer Wilbanks hop a Greyhound.

Nadal is originally from San Francisco and has been in New York for three years, getting his Ph.D. in counseling psychology at Columbia. (The "Trust Me I'm a Doctor" T-shirt is a little premature.) Nadal has also toured the country with his one-man show, "Pinoy," about growing up Filipino in the United States. He describes himself as single, but "dating a lot of different guys at the same time."

Nadal said that he's having his wedding because "there isn't anything to show that my choice to be single is just as valuable as someone's choice to get married and have a family. Before, being single used to mean that no one wanted you, that you weren't attractive enough. Now it's a choice."

Also, he's a little testy about the cash he's hemorrhaged for rental cars, plane tickets, new outfits, and gifts for all of his hetero friends' celebratory passages into traditional family life. I asked him if this self-marriage was about exacting revenge. "I love going to friends' weddings to celebrate when they do find love and have kids, because I enjoy life and they've created life," said Nadal. "But there is a little bit of resentment because they get to live this life that is perceived as normal and celebrated all the time."

But, as I suggested to Nadal, perhaps those who choose to get married or have kids are doing something worth attention. Not because it puts them squarely in some heterosexual, traditional, femme-couvert camp of Bush-approved "family values," but because getting married and having kids is -- or should be -- a serious commitment. Those who choose to do it give up their independence; they pledge responsibility and fidelity and financial support to another human being. It's a big burden to take on.

But Nadal sees it differently. "Being single is just as difficult and just as much of a commitment," he argued. "It's a commitment you have to yourself. But it's just as straining and there are just as many hardships." He continued, "What about commitment to being career oriented? Or to finding love and not settling for anything else? Or to being alone and being satisfied? Who's setting these norms of what's considered commitment and what's considered an accomplishment?"

Nadal says he expects 120 guests at the wedding, which will take place at a loft space in the West Village that was -- sigh -- the set for Samantha's apartment on "Sex and the City." Nadal said the wedding will feature Filipino and American traditions like garter and bouquet tosses and a money dance, and that many members of his family will attend, though mostly cousins and siblings from his generation. His own parents, he said, "don't understand the concept" of the self-wedding" and will not be there. Guests will be coming from Oregon, Maryland, Massachusetts, California and Michigan. The night before there will be what Nadal calls "a rehearsal outing" to a local lounge or nightclub for the bridal party. He's paying the $6,000 wedding tab himself, saving money by serving catered hors d'oeuvres and avoiding what he called "the fancy hotel thing." "My single person's wedding doesn't have to be an extravagant sit-down dinner," he said. "The most important things are alcohol and a DJ."

There won't be an officiant, but Nadal will read himself some vows. "I'll say things like 'I take me to have and to hold and love and cherish through sickness and in health,'" explained Nadal. "I'll also say things people say in corny marriage vows, like that I have found the man of my dreams, my soul mate, the man I've been waiting for all my life."

I asked Nadal if he felt like his impending marriage will change his relationship ... with himself. "I'm generally happy with myself," he said. "I hope it will change the way others view single life. Maybe those who are happy having traditional families can understand that other people might not want that life."

But what if Nadal someday does want that life? He's 26, turning 27 on the day of his wedding. Right now he might be living the "wild, crazy, nonstop single life," but what if someday he falls in love? "I am open to meeting someone down the road," he said. "Now I want to celebrate being single. If I want to get married to someone else someday -- even though it might not be recognized in most states -- I'll do it again. When heterosexual couples have a second wedding, their friends have to go to that second wedding too."

story from today's salon shows that brazil is willing to give up $40 million to reject bush's pro-abstinence and anti-women's rights agenda.

Brazil won't be bullied
The nation declines $40 million in AIDS funds from the Bush administration, refusing to condemn prostitution as required.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Sarah Boseley and Suzanne Goldenberg

May 4, 2005 | Brazil Tuesday became the first country to take a public stand against the Bush administration's massive AIDS program, which is seen by many as seeking increasingly to press its anti-abortion, pro-abstinence sexual agenda on poorer countries.

Campaigners applauded Brazil's rejection of $40 million for its AIDS programs because it refuses to agree to a declaration condemning prostitution. The government and many AIDS organizations believe such a declaration would be a serious barrier to helping sex workers protect themselves and their clients from infection.

The demand from the U.S. administration, heavily influenced by the religious right, follows what is known as the "global gag" -- a ban on U.S. government funds to any foreign-based organization that has links to abortion. This has resulted in the removal of millions of dollars of funding from family-planning clinics worldwide.

Tuesday Pedro Chequer, the director of Brazil's HIV/AIDS program, said the government had managed to resist U.S. pressure during negotiations on the AIDS funding to focus on promoting abstinence and fidelity rather than condoms -- another ideological battle being waged by the religious right. But the U.S. negotiators insisted that the clause on prostitution had to stay.

"I would like to confirm that Brazil has taken this decision in order to preserve its autonomy on issues related to national policies on HIV/AIDS as well as ethical and human rights principles," Chequer told the Guardian.

Campaigners congratulated the Brazilian government for its stance, and voiced concerns that the declaration on prostitution could damage efforts to tackle AIDS among sex workers in many countries. Jodi Jacobson of the Center for Health and Gender Equity in the U.S. said that, unlike the global gag, the declaration on prostitution looked likely to be imposed on U.S.-based organizations as well as their subsidiaries abroad. The office of Randall Tobias, the global AIDS coordinator who is responsible for spending the $15 billion President Bush promised for the fight against AIDS, was working on the language to be adopted, she said.

"Any organization receiving U.S. global AIDS funding will have to agree to the policy," she said. That would include charities as large as Care, Save the Children and World Vision.

"It is a hugely problematic policy from the standpoint of public health alone. It goes against the entire grain of public health principles in not judging the people you are trying to reach."

But Sam Brownback, a leading Senate conservative, told the Wall Street Journal: "Obviously Brazil has the right to act however it chooses in this regard. We're talking about promotion of prostitution, which the majority of both the House and the Senate believes is harmful to women."

Most U.S. AIDS funding goes directly to organizations working in the field, and much will be channeled through faith organizations that back the no-abortion, pro-abstinence and anti-prostitution stance of U.S. conservatives.

But the Brazilian government has strong HIV/AIDS policies and insists that all negotiations go through its own committee. It also has a strong partnership between governmental and nongovernmental organizations, which encouraged a united response to Washington.

"This would be entirely in contradiction with Brazilian guidelines for a program that has been working very well for years. We are providing condoms, and doing a lot of prevention work with sex workers, and the rate of infection has stabilized and dropped since the 1980s," said Sonia Correa, an AIDS activist in Brazil and co-chairwoman of the International Working Group on Sexuality and Social Policy. "The U.S. is doing the same in other countries -- bullying, pushing and forcing -- but not every country has the possibility to say no."

Adrienne Germain, president of the International Women's Health Coalition, said: "The importance of the Brazilian government's decision can not be overstated."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

big ups to hardboiled for winning best undergrad publication this year!

or, as minnie's 11-year-old sister would say - PROPZZZZZ.

melobster

me + lobster 4 eva!

props, as minnie's sister would say

my life is now complete - i got a mention in gawker!

steve asked me to put this in:

last night -
me: "can you turn off the light?"
him: "goddamn you!! i just got all tucked in!!"

Princeton Incident Shows Extreme Case of Asian Fetish

reading dancing with cuba has made me want to 1) go to cuba and 2) take up modern dance. as you can see, i'm highly influenced by books. but i think i really will try to do both this year. just started readng my prof's book first there is a mountain, which is about yoga in india, so who knows what fancy will strike me next...

it is really neat to read books by your profs, especially when they are memoir-ish, b/c profs are usually so mysterious and detached. i have so much more respect for her since reading this, and i wish i had listened to her more when she taught!

my computer is really on its last legs. a virus ate my address book last night, so i had to spend an hour this morning putting everyone's info back in. but i only had the email addresses of people who were in my inbox, so everyone else won't be hearing from me soon. or ever. blahhh.

on a happier note, i made pancakes this morning! and i'm going to see the basquiat exhibit in brooklyn later today.

i'm going to be in dc saturday night thru tues. i can't remember fun things to do in dc!!! help!!!!!!!!!!! looking for: food, bars, museums, food, shopping, food...is c-town express still not so good?

i'm done with school.
new york is boring.
blah blah blah blah blah.

i fully intend to post at length about how muthafuckin cool the japan society's current exhibit is, so look forward to that. also need to update on: sin city and kung fu hustle.

in the meantime, here are some words of wisdom for you ricemakers:
1) one cup of water per one cup of rice (i've abandoned the knuckle-technique, sorry macpainter!)
2) rule #1 does not apply if you are using a microwaveable rice cooker. in this case, use about 1.25-1.5 cups of water per cup of rice.

optional: just make steve cook his own damn rice!

went to boston for the weekend to visit the visiting frootz. boston is boring! who agrees? but i did get to drink screwdrivers in boston common, watch most of "mommie dearest," do a duck tour, eat a lobster dinner (on frootz), and check out the isabella gardiner museum, which i highly recommend.

saturday night came back to the city and got my prada shoes all freaking wet going to adam's and dave's parties. it didn't stop raining all night. i'm trying to go out as much as i can before i leave. had a head cold the next day and stayed in gp and slept the whole day, missing the passover/matzo ball soup party at my apt. :( steve made yummy ass salty korean fish and rice, and surprise, he didn't choke on a bone this time.

habemus internship!
i've been offered a four-month internship here. back to sf in june!

about my mom's fibroid:

lilbadfarts (5:34:17 PM): its the size of an 11 weeks baby
lisa n the sky (5:35:05 PM): IT'S THE SIZE OF AN 11 WEEKS BABY!
lilbadfarts (5:35:13 PM): fetus?
lisa n the sky (5:35:18 PM): yes fetus
lilbadfarts (5:35:23 PM): ok fetus :-)
lisa n the sky (5:35:28 PM): good god there is a difference
lisa n the sky (5:35:35 PM): !!!!
lilbadfarts (5:35:37 PM): LOL

THIS SHIT IS BANANAS

lisa n the sky (4:29:14 PM): how was l.a.!
xSgtMeatx (4:30:33 PM): good!!!
xSgtMeatx (4:30:35 PM): hella fun
xSgtMeatx (4:31:03 PM): well actually the first day was mostl at minnie's friend's work ahhha. but we ate at roscoe's chicken and waffles
xSgtMeatx (4:31:14 PM): and went to the mall right next to his work
xSgtMeatx (4:31:15 PM): hahhaa
xSgtMeatx (4:31:21 PM): and bought hella shit at v.s. and express
xSgtMeatx (4:31:45 PM): at night, we ate the the new giant robot restaurant (not that good...i think they shoudl have an asian am menu like spam shit)
xSgtMeatx (4:32:03 PM): picked up chai fromthe airport, then stuffed our faces at hella good and cheap korea bbq in k town
xSgtMeatx (4:32:30 PM): then "cruised" around and jin made me cat call people from the front seat
xSgtMeatx (4:32:40 PM): thougth i chickend out at most, i made one hahha
xSgtMeatx (4:32:54 PM): saturday, we were supposed dto go with jin to work to buy $3 clothes, but we were too tired
xSgtMeatx (4:33:04 PM): so her mom bought us lunch, thenwe went ot venice and santa monica
xSgtMeatx (4:33:20 PM): we were supposed to do a latin american themed nite for her bday
xSgtMeatx (4:33:24 PM): but with traffic, etc.
xSgtMeatx (4:33:37 PM): we ended up doing noneof theat. we went to this gross rest. in d.t la called the pantry
xSgtMeatx (4:33:50 PM): then wen to this "euro asian" club called hwite lotus
xSgtMeatx (4:33:58 PM): $20 cover!!!!
xSgtMeatx (4:34:03 PM): then wentto denny's

WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MARGOT???

xSgtMeatx (4:36:20 PM): it was la
xSgtMeatx (4:36:21 PM): all la

i love the j-school
the last line of an email from a classmate about a party at his place:

Well, I hope to see you all on Saturday, and if not, go to hell.

a classmate last semester sent his piece to the class for editing, writing with it: "god teach me to write fast."

i kind of scoffed at that at the time, but today, dear god, teach me to write fast.

if anyone has a clogged sink or shower, steve wants me to endorse clr pressurized power drain cleaner. it fixed his shower drain like new. he also wants me to point out that it is sold out on the walgreen's link above.

yes, live-blogging "the bachelor"
is anyone else watching the bachelor right now? yes, the bachelor with brother of jerry o'connell? there is actually a girl on the show who is wearing one of those hot-pink-terry-cloth-pregancy-type tops. but it gets worse. she wearing the top with one of those clear plastic bra straps. and it doesn't end there. IT'S A HALTER CLEAR PLASTIC BRA STRAP!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH is anyone else witnessing this?

i love new york in the springtime
what a gorgeous weekend. 70 degrees, sunny, wonderful. after ditching the j-school's job fair after one horrendous 9:20 saturday morning interview and one meeting where the recruiter didn't even show up, steve and i went down to check out the david lachapelle exhibit at deitch gallery in soho. it was very cool - there were huge slide projections of his photos on a wall next to a few of his actual photo sets. downstairs they played music videos directed by him on a loop. i like his work - he likes boobs! a lot.

then we walked around sunny soho and ran into the bluefly store - hella cheap! $10 jeans, $25 dresses, etc. not that much selection when i went though. walked up to union square and read on a bench, enjoying the sun. the streets were packed; all of new york was out this weekend.

sunday we got yummy h & h bagels on 80th and broadway and ate them on a crosswalk island bench. they make you spread your own cream cheese yourself! sucks, but the bagels are really good. we decided to walk over to central park (on the way, i swore we passed by the house from when harry met sally where harry freaks out about the wagon wheel coffee table and then they have a fight in front of the house). central park was beautiful, and we watched all the white people rowing in the rowboats and witnessed a black couple having a serious talk about their relationship while the boyfriend had his ipod earphones on the entire time (!).

we decided to go back to greenpoint, get some beer and snacks, and sit up on the roof in the sun. it was great. we then passed out into a drunken-sun sleepy nap front of the TV, woke up at 9 pm, went on an unfruitful search for brownie mix, bought ice cream at uncle louie g's, and steve made chicken nuggets over pasta while i watched cold case (which was hella good! anyone else see it?). we stayed up until 3 am watching the office and eating cookies and cream. it was a great weekend.

cookiegate!

two exciting things today -
1) i had an internship interview with this publication, which went really well.
2) kiera called my outfit "the epitome of preppy-punk." i can die happy now!

everyone can breathe easy - it's OK to eat at taco bell now.

REJOICE YOU FOOLS...sayeth yu-gu-oh.

it is 70 degrees in new york, and all is right. columbia has nothing on berkeley in nice weather - where is the bear's lair to have a few pints at 2 pm and fall asleep in the sun? where are sproul steps - with their strict hierarchy of stair levels — to sit and people watch? where oh where? all the preppy ivy leaguers play soccer or baseball. lame.

steve told me to put this in my blog.

Chinatown Bus Bursts into Flame

top ten signs laurie has too much time on her hands

i sent her a picture of a purse i bought her, and she sent this back to me, a reference to my domestic rodent problem.

after posting this, i swear i will do my story. yes. yes.

here are pics of the aforementioned lasagna and fried zucchini:

was anyone else shocked by burger king's blatant sexism?

blogging when i should be finishing my story.

went for a job interview today. i think i've really regressed in my interviewing skills partially because i'm so nervous and unconfident. sucks. i've been sending out about 3 resumes a day now. fucking tenatious. in terms of school, though, i'm totally going through senioritis. i'll be phoning it in for the next month and a half...

add to top ten useful things i've learned from steve-o: how to unclog a toilet (tmi?).

weather's been getting warmer - above 50 degrees every day this week so far. it's quite a shock. new york shakes off winter like an old ratty coat that it doesn't want to get rid of for sentimental reasons.

an "out like a lamb" playlist:
"be yourself," audioslave
"beverly hills," weezer
"some girls," rachel stevens (good ol' UK cheese music)
"life is short," butterfly boucher (even though it was on "gray's anatomy" last week. god, i cannot believe i just admitted i watched that show.)
"it's a hit," rilo kiley (i swear, i only like 2 of their songs, i'm no margot)
"mr. blue sky," electric light orchestra

feeling pretty drained from looking for jobs and apts and temping in the tfa sweatshop. speaking of which, i got a $2 raise today! whoo.

for easter dinner, i made lasagna rolls and fried zucchini. both were hella good. i esp. recommend the fried zucchini. then deep fry whatever you've got in the fridge.

also, i updated my portfolio site FINALLY after much computer/ftp drama.

the american version of brit-com show the office last night was a pitiful sight. i wanted to rip out my eyes like a shakespearean tragic hero. as with almost all things cultural (but few things political), britain does it better. the nbc version was almost a line-by-line imitation of the british verson, ripping off even subtle inflections and ad-libs. what's the point of ripping of a hugely popular (in england) show that closely? people should seriously just rent the bbc dvds, and i will even throw in this guarantee - if you don't like the british version 100000 times more, i'll pay the rental fee. how can you pass that up? (if you're in the new york area, i'll just loan you my dvds - seasons 1 & 2!) the actor who played the boss was simply horrible - i shudder at the thought.

have you all seen the dave letterman top ten list by poley d.? (via minnie)

oh, new york times. how you tickle me with your subway announcer speak.

As if on cue, a voice on the loudspeaker announced: "Ladies and gentlemen, because of a brflig fraptail at 116th Street, the uptown 6 train will frip deet brak croob."

pictures of walls

adieu, san frncisco.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

eventeven (4:11:35 PM): see i am motherfucking caring

Lisa Ruyter, The Girl He Left Behind

some random pics from last night in berkeley - no green beer!

quote of yesterday, courtesy of margotbot:
"Lisa, I can't stop staring at your monkey."

the pasta is dolce and gabbana
last night for my dinner party @ kimi's, i made a pasta from a recipe by dolce and gabbana that i saw in vogue a few months ago. that's just how i roll. anyways, it was a huge hit, and i will share the easy, but slightly time consuming recipe with you. the best part is that it's really filling, so you can eat it for days.

i have never been able to find annellini pasta, so i use bow-ties. there are no amounts of ingredients in the recipe, it's pretty much up to your own taste (last night i used an entire eggplant and four hardboiled eggs, 2/3 a package of peas and i'm generous with the cheeses). mix all that stuff together before layering it over the pasta.

i had to get my roommate in nyc to email me the recipe because it was on our fridge there (the recipe was with a picture of kylie minogue and stefano gabbana). here's her email:

This request is too hilarious to pass up. I have always wondered what Kylie and Stefano were doing cuddling on our fridge.

Kylie and Stefano say:

Cook a package of annelini pasta in boiling water; drain; pour into baking dish; cover with ragu sauce. Add a mix of eggplant slices salted and sauteed in olive oil, chopped salami, smashed hard-boiled eggs, peas, mozzerella and parmesan. Top with another layer of sauce and a layer of the mixture. Finish with a layer of sauce and top with bread crumbs. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove, drizzle with butter, then place
under a broiler till golden brown.

They show this dish with some $85/bottle wine. I'm sure that will be at your potluck, too, right?

good l.a. times article on the newest frontline of the gender wars.

for you top model fans
subscribe to this xanga to get hilarious episode recaps

it's nice to be home
me: "so what's up with these new clubs in the city like suede, loft 11 and suite 181?"
laurie: "all i know about them is that they're really chi-chi. you have to dress really nice...like vegas."

us weekly's editor is korean american - doesn't it all make sense now?

i went to j-school for this?
i interviewed for a paid internship here last week to be an assistant to the exec. editor for the rest of the semester. will keep you posted.

this is a long and intense story about rape in the amish communities, but it's well worth your time. even steve said it was moving.

Yes, Clarissa think, it's time for the day to be over. We throw our parties; we abandon our families to live alone in Canada; we struggle to write books that do not change the world, despite our gifts and our unstinting efforts, our most extravagant hopes. We lives our lives, do whatever we do, and then we sleep — it's as simple and ordinary as that. A few jump out of windows or drown themselves or take pills; more die by accident; and most of us, the vast majority, are slowly devoured by some disease or, if we're very fortunate, by time itself. There's just this for consolation: an hour here or there when our lives seem, against all odds and expectations, to burst open and give us everything we've ever imagined, though everyone but children (and perhaps even they) knows these hours will inevitably be followed by others, far darker and more difficult. Still, we cherish the city, the morning; we hope, more than anything, for more.

Heaven only knows why we love it so.

"The Hours," Michael Cunningham

favorite new catty celebrity blog

baby bok choy, how i love thee...so small yet so deliciously tasty.

back in sf for spring break: mar. 12 to mar. 21

"damn right it's bigger than yours"
i don't think anyone i went to high school with even reads this blog, but in case someone does, and you haven't gotten this link from at least 93 people by this point, here it is (some enterprising lowellite made a video of a bunch of teachers doing kelis' "milkshake").

3/11: fixed the link

gay or hairdresser?

or asian?

a cute asian dude was my hairdresser today. spent all 2.5 hours in the chair trying to figure out whether or not he was gay. being asian and a hairdresser made it hard to tell.

so we're back to short again. short is the new long!

the gates photos

New York's Chinese Schools Revival

my mom's comment on my bio in that story:

"anyway, your credits and comment about wishing you attended was interesting. but i was busy raising free spirits and there are no free spirits at any school called transfiguration school or plainview."

i think i've got the flu. first i thought it was just another cold, but this is the flu -- chills, chest pains, achyness, loss of appetite, dry cough. this sucks so hard. been sleeping a lot but not much progress.

i hate being sickly!!!!

in other news, this month celebrates the two year anniversary of my blog (aka selling out). 4,440 visitors since feb. 2003 (mostly me) -- not bad.

see philly pics

sunday brunch, philly, courtesy of owen

article of the day

how many k.fed fans do i have out there?

finished with draft 2 of the master's thesis!! huzzah!

we had a great time in philly. it was cold as a mother, but we got back to nyc just before the snow started. it was great to see old friends and make new ones. it was also great to do the shopping cart and the "pretend you have big hands" (steve's dance moves). i haven't laughed that much in two days in a long time. we had a great response to our workshop -- on our evals we got all "very goods" and "excellents." someone even said their criticism was that they wished there was more time. but i think we realized how lucky we were to go to cal and not be like one of two asians on campus. we were also lucky that we could have a progressive paper that people read. we didn't go to bed until 5 a.m. on saturday after ingesting 24 inches of sandwich between me, stevo and owen. sunday morning we went to a diner near upenn and saw keynote speaker suchin pak eating breakfast with a not so cute white dude. to suchin i say -- thank you for your show "my life, translated" because it taught me how exactly to use tape to create double eyelids. steve kept saying how old he felt, but i didn't feel old at all. i probably had more fun than the young kids anyways.

when we got back to gp, we pulled out all the stops for owen -- kimchee spam fried rice with korean beef, that korean cinammon drink, napoleon dynamite and yummy coconut sherbet. yummmmm.

oh my god this is so not a joke.

we're going to ecaasu this weekend!!!! whoo!!!! i will finally be a real asian american student. :P yay i can't wait!

yay philly cheesesteaks! yay our own hotel room! yay seeing old friends! yay afterparty!

boo master's thesis due on monday. boo to you master's!!

as i know you are all waiting with abated breath, i will soon post pictures of the gates. "whatchu know bout christo, son?"

how much do i need this?

in other valentine's related news, steve made me cry tonight. NOT from joy. little bitch.

in honor of v-day --

i love
the smell of coffee (even more than the taste)
watching the slideshows of fall/spring fashion shows online
"blind items" celeb gossip
tea from chinese cafes, with los of milk and sugar
dvds from the ny library
chai lattes (not homemade)
saying the word "pierogis"

Yesterday, President Bush released his FY 2006 federal budget — and if it's approved, our children's health may be endangered. The proposed budget requests a 25 percent increase in funding for dangerous abstinence-only programs — programs shown to be ineffective and harmful to young people.

You have the power to stop the deception.

Tell your members of Congress to say "no" to the increase in funding for abstinence-only programs and "yes" to protecting our children's health!

We have to turn this frightening trend around. Start by speaking out against this proposed increase in funding for abstinence-only programs today.

one year and counting

i think sometime last night in my lucid-strep-throat-stricken state, steve said something about me writing about our anniversary in my blog.

i think he told me not to.

instead of celebrating with spam kimchi fried rice and weed, as is most appropriate, we will be putting on our fancy pants and going to balthazar for steak frites. isn't gold the present for one-year anniversaries?

steve is my hero.

2:30 am last night, i hear a rustle-rustle-rustle.

steve found the baby mouse, created a barricade out of shoeboxes, and ferreted it out into the bathroom. it was one fast little fucker!

today i interviewed another undocumented immigrant living with HIV for my master's project. this experience was much more intense than the first interview. she was 47 years old, from malaysia, and a mother of two young sons back home. she broke down crying a few times during the interview. combined with my interview yesterday with the girl who had two abortions and was sexually assaulted by her partner, it's been a heavy week. i'm glad that i'm privileged to hear these people's stories and write about them. these stories beg to be told.

i have no love for you, whole wheat spaghetti!!

as minnie would say -- hate bubbles in my stomach for you.

yay to ming tsai for beating out bobby flay on iron chef last week. how you gonna try to make duck southwest-style? duck is inherently an asian dish.

top of the morning to everyone who reads this blog daily and i only update weekly.

i started off this weekend with an abortion. i saw this documentary called "i had an abortion" and i highly recommend it to you if it comes to your campus. it features women who had abortions telling their stories firsthand. the point is that in the debate over abortion, the voices of the men and women who it really affects get lost. it was a really great film and it covered a whole range of experiences (age, race, religion, etc). it's also part of a movement to destigmatize abortion (along with the "i had an abortion" tee shirts), which i am going to write a story on this week for class. :)
an interesting point brought up during the film was that the older women (second wave) seem to be more "i have no regrets" about it, while the younger women seem much more ambivalent about it. i like how the message of the film is that it's ok to be ambivalent about your own abortion experience and still be pro-choice. it was cool to see some dudes in the audience (the screening was at barnard), and there was some talk about a film about men's experiences with abortion. i am a little more skeptical about that b/c while it's important to be inclusive of men's experiences with this (since it's rarely discussed), i fear it might shift the focus to men too much when at this point in time i feel there can't be enough attention on women's experiences.

friday night we got blazed and made our second attempt to watch the graduate stoned. this time was successful and i love that movie! it's really great filmmaking. i wish someone had told me to watch that after i graduated from cal b/c it's really all about that post-grad malaise. damn we ate so much food. we had fries, chocolate, coke, hella munchies.

saturday i went to see the julian opie public art exhibit downtown near city hall. this was the same artist who did the blur album cover that's four boxes with each of the four band members. i also saw his exhibition in birmingham one of my first weeks there and he is really my favorite current artist.










i also ate steak cubes (yay!) and did some good shopping. everyone was out in the city b/c the weather was nice (i.e. over 30 degrees). i've been shopping at old navy lately, they've got some good stuff (that's for my critics who say i've gone bougie).

sunday "the thinking club" (me, stevo, bethany) went shopping on sixth the entire day and then ate crock pot at home. we watched chinatown last night -- it's a good film, but i already knew the ending, and i don't LOVE noir.

this is a long post, so i'm gonna wrap it up. "can you believe it's february already? what happened to january?"
------------------------------------

new obsession: everyday italian on the food network. move over rachel ray!

the daily outrage
a student in my class wrote on a questionnaire that his favorite part of journalism was getting to talk to a variety of people, from a senator one day to a dog butcher the next day.
my prof. said "dog butcher? is that like in chinatown somewhere?"

-----------------
good article on condi rice and the new black paradigm
-----------------
jingle bear?
so steve, bethany, and i spent the so-called blizzard of '05 camped out in jerry's home in south jersey. it was great. we had planned to go to hotlantic city for a day, but the snow prevented us from even going more than a mile away from the house. jerry's dad used to own a chinese restaurant, so he cooked every meal for us the entire weekend - so good!!! we had clams, fried rice, mai fun, curry, spicy tofu, the works. he even put a little green onion garnish on each dish.

jerry's house was in a rural part of jersey, very picturesque, especially in the snow. steve said he felt like he was at a ski lodge; it also felt somewhat like a bed and breakfast. we smoked a lot and played a lot of ping pong. bethany made some snickerdoodles and we had hot chocolate with evaporated milk. saturday we even played in the snow (after smoking). jerry's mom lent me a pair of white jeans to wear in the snow. yes i wore white jeans. later we played clue: the museum mystery (way more complicated than regular clue) and watched some dvds and ate brownies.

here are a few pictures.

here's me with bethany and jerry in the snow.


here's me in my white jeans.


here's when jerry picked up a huge chunk of snow, and i thought it looked like a dog/bear's head in profile. you can see it too, if you're stoned. the nose of the bear is pointing at jerry's face.



man, we were really gone.

fame!

look who's in the spectator.
i keep it real, yo.

all my friends are models

so i think many of you know that i have an uncanny knack for identifying which celebrities/famous figures people resemble. examples of my prowess: clarence/arthur the aardvark, margot/braceface from america's top model (actually bethany first identified it), corliss/that girl from phantom of the opera, steve/napoleon dynamite, etc etc.

i've got a new one. minnie and kimora lee simmons.

think i'm crazy? take a look.



yes, i'm a little obsessed with her since i saw her on her talk show this morning. check out this article on her. she was karl lagerfeld's muse at age 14!! and she's from st. louis (wtf). AND, if you read the article, it talks about how she says she's half-japanese, but if she's telling the truth about how her grandparents met, she's most likely half-korean. it's more hip to be half-japanese, i guess?

untitled


favorite of my sister's vacation pics

tip for label whores out there -- go to crossroads/buffalo exchange/your favorite used clothing store. i think around the post-christmas/new year time people clean out their closets, and there are tons of big names to be found. here's what i've bought in the past week: marc jacobs dress ($70), prada shoes ($30), marc jacobs sweater top ($20), fendi belt ($9), banana republic top ($12.50). go!!

does anyone else read this besides orlando bloom???
sad to say, but the birthday/christmas/new year season was nothing more than a consecutive series of mildly fun saturdays in december. i just couldn't get into the spirit of anything this year. i think it had to do with the fact that i ignored christmas until i arrived in sf on dec. 19, and by that time, it seemed way too late to drum up any sentimental feelings about the past year or being back at home with my family. things just didn't coalesce the way i thought they would this month. i guess that's what happens when you have expectations, as i used to preach to freesia.

so i'm a big grinch. worse, i don't even have antipathy towards the holidays. it's just a feeling of malaise, of ehh. i haven't felt this way in so long. it was nice to be home, but just nice. not fabulous, wonderful, etc. it's ironic that i'm slipping back into my cynicism when i'm back at home instead of in hardhearted nyc. i'm actually looking forward to getting back to nyc. at least there i'm too busy to think about how unhappy i am. i know i should be thinking about how grateful i should be for so many things at this time of year, but i guess i'm way too self-involved to see the glass half-full.

alright enough whining, i guess. but if i can't vent on my blog, then what is it good for?

pics taken by owen on my birthday:

STEVE YAKKED INTO MY NEIGHBOR'S GARDEN
but he says he was a pro. spam kimchi fried rice is still hella good at ramen house even though it has new owners. stupid phoogie, says laurie. i think his last name's macpainter, though. laurie is macclicky. who's his former student she wants to kill? bill! steve says: thank you, kimi! the food in the opening credits of napoleon dynamite (dy-no-mite!) correspond to the cast member. the four stages of "yeah": 1) what? 2) yeah! 3) okay! 4) yeah! kimi and ali say: all guys like thongs. king dong's dinner B for seven is not bad. going to stonestown to promenade around. the life acquatic is okaaaay, but no royal tenebaums or rushmore. steve's hair is long now. i'm crossing my fingers that it will look like orlando bloom. shleepy!!! all you're good for is stupid. me: ok, do you know what you're supposed to do with the bubble wrap? steve: yeah. pop it one by one!

cry into your christmas cake, don't know what else to do
ah, holidays.
overall it's been pretty nice to be home. the weather is GORGEOUS -- every morning i walk out of the house and say, "damn! so warm!" it's nice to feel sun again, and not have to bundle up when i go out. my friends were complaining about the cold last night, and it was like 50 degrees out. i love it!

had an extremely successful shopping day yesterday (mostly stuff for me), plus i bought some gifts off my mom and sister that they weren't going to give (and i might have regifted a few gifts :P). we went to milk on haight w/frees, ali, margotbot, kimi, braz (aka old man luxury), braz's friends, kat and rich. they had $4 champagne specials for the night, which margot and i were all about. the champagne came in these little red bull-like cans with a straw. nice. at milk they were playing a movie on the screens above the bar that was a very 80s-new york-breakdancing movie. at the end there was a chase on the subway tracks and then a fight and both of them died b/c they fell onto the third rail.

we left milk around midnight and went to mighty, this club in potrero. it's a cool club w/a good looking, mixed crowd, and damn people could dance there. ali, margot, and i all snuck in for free (kimi: "just go, go!") and so we didn't have to pay the $10 cover. it was nice to dance and i miss the sf party crowds (NOT the azn ones). i want to have my next bday there. or maybe this year's bday. it's not too late, right?

going to eugene's party at lit lounge tonight after xmas dinner w/the same crew as last night, anyone else want to join?

email of the day
angus is a bespectacled canadian thom yorke-ish fellow classmate that my roommate has a crush on.

From: Kiera
Date: Wed Dec 22, 2004 08:24:03 AM US/Eastern
To: Lisa
Subject: Re: thanks

I thought I saw Angus, but it turned out to be just a little girl with glasses carrying rolling luggage.

view from bethany and steve's apt.

california, i'm coming home

look who got the cover story this week...

i can't take my eyes off you
i went with my roommates and saw "closer" tonight.
oh my god.
it really gave me a visceral reaction. it's a movie about the relentless brutality and viciousness of love. not the vague broad concept of relationships, but actual love. it's about simultaneously loving and hating someone and yourself, about hurting those you love, and above all, how sex is the ultimate and only weapon in the game of love. it reminded me of the darkest depths of love, shining light on the shady corners of your mind where you can't trust the one you love and you can't trust yourself to do the right thing.
it's a tough movie to watch, no matter what your relationship status is. my roommate lisa walked out and said it made her feel relieved for once that she was single. i couldn't decide if i'm lucky to have someone i love or if i'm ultimately fucked because nothing ever works out happily.
the movie's point is that love is filled with anger, violence, and betrayal. that where you feel most safe is where you are most vulnerable and can experience the most pain. it's for anyone who has cheated, or been cheated on, been hurt, or hurt someone. and i know there are a lot of you out there.
i rarely get a chance to really think about love anymore. i've been hurtling along at breakneck speed for the past year (can you believe it's been a year almost?), and especially the past four months. and for the most part, it's been a string of ecstatic moments. i might have lost sight of my pessimism for the moment.
now that i consider it, sex in the movie might be a metaphor for any act that can hurt someone -- lying, hitting them, cheating, etc. it's all the same. you can give someone your else body, but it's no more or less hurtful than giving them your heart.
i used to believe that no matter how it turns out, good or bad, love is always worth the experience. the movie reminded me that the bad parts can be really bad. but i guess that's how you know it's really love.

so three of the five guys in my RW1 class complimented me on my marc jacobs shoes at our party last night. how crazy is that? and they're all straight! although, i must admit, i had my doubts at first.

one of the most frustrating things about journalism is that your power to make substantive change is so much more limited than if you did direct organizing. because stories are always so focused on what is new or recent, the bigger picture is always absent. and i'm fairly obsessed with bigger picture type stuff. for example, almost every story you'll read about chinatown in nyc is about 1) gangs 2) sanitation 3) underground economy stuff -- knockoff purses and bootleg DVDs. see a trend here? it's all related to illegal activities or breaking laws. it's 2004, and chinese neighborhoods are still shrouded in this aura of illegal activity. and it's not entirely the fault of the media -- it's also the fault of the system's inability to offer better opportunities to these people. it's like we're still in the 1860s when chinese were shut out of all other labor fields b/c of racism and only "allowed" to work in laundries. today the system shuts these people out of the economy and they are forced to do whatever they can to make it, and most of the time it's what's considered "illegal." and the whole knockoff purses and bootleg dvds brouhaha is so infuriating b/c it's so insignificant in the larger scheme of things. who is really losing out? louis vuitton? kate spade? as if the majority of people who buy fakes could even afford the real thing, so how are these huge retailers losing customers? and don't nypd have better things to do anyways? apparently not.

so i just bought a new clock radio in hopes that the radio part will better help me wake up, and i asked steve if i should program it for a music station or NPR, and he said he'd do NPR: "there's a lot of bad music out there. i mean, can you imagine how much it would suck to wake up to the strokes?"

best wipeboard post ever

"Memoirs of a Geisha Guerilla," SF Chronicle

**i highly suggest you read the entire article -- it's very good.**

Tsuchitani saw the exhibition, but is unpersuaded. "For me, it was the museum's choice of using that image and the presence it had in the visual landscape of the city," he says. "It's a loaded image in our culture -- perpetuating the imagery of the sensuous Asian woman, the Asian mystique of the East. It's constructing an idealized 'other,' and for what purpose? While the exhibit may have tried to deconstruct that image, the number of people who actually had their minds changed can't compare with the number of those impacted by that image."

almost....there.....
apparently more people read my blog than i think, so i guess i will update to satiate the masses.

so what's been new. i officially have no more real deadlines for this semester. whoo! it was hard work, i tell you.

i've been making money by temping for steve's work, so i can buy myself something nice from h&m for the holidays. :P some things will never change. it's really cold here in nyc, but some days are milder than others. no snow yet. i look forward to thursdays and sundays, when there is an outdoor sidewalk farmer's market 114th and broadway, and they sell the best hot mulled apple cider ever for only $1. mmm. yum. oh my god, dennis was right. i am bougie!!! fuck.

what else. i'm on a major soon doo boo obsession right now. i must have had it at least 5 times in the past two weeks. it's just so good and warm when it's cold out, AND it's good for you.

i've been going out a few times with the j-schoolers, and i've realized i'm not the man i used to be. a few drinks, and then i've got this headache, and i have to eat something, and then i have to pass out in my clothes on my bed at 9:30 pm. seriously! it's happened twice now. i just can't handle the alcohol like i used to. hopefully it's just a side-effect of the cold weather, and i'll be back to my carousing self in the bay area ;) whatever happened to the shit-talking-ramen-craving belligerent drunk i used to be? steve says it's cuz i'm getting old.

i guess i should say something about the people who have been teaching me and influencing my work here. after much finagling and an unbelieveable meeting with the dean, i've had the great fortune of switching to a new master's advisor. i don't want to write her name here for fear of her googling her name and finding my blog (LAME) but she's really great. she used to write the media column for the village voice, and she also used to work at the new yorker. she's really patient and helpful and supportive, unlike my old advisor. my life is so much easier now. i've also been paired with my very favorite writer from the village voice through aaja's mentor program. i can't wait to meet with her, and she's been very helpful already. i think i'm going to learn a lot from these great folks. my professor for my elective is also really great. i used to call her "yoga lady 500," but now i really respect her. so, as my advisor told me today, it seems i'm surrounding myself with the right people.

that's about it for now. i've got a ton of holiday/birthday/end of semester parties to go to in the next few weeks. whoo!

favorite quote of the night out with the j-schoolers
"hey, i'm an oppressed palestinian! .... anyways, what i really want to do is work for entertainment weekly."

iTunes picks:
"see you soon," coldplay
"this fire," franz ferdinand
"rip it up," razorlight
"turn the lights off," tweet feat. missy elliott
from a basement on a hill, elliott smith

steve's pick (and perennial favorite)
"easy (like sunday morning)" lionel richie

last weekend, steve and i actually had time to do something together that didn't involve stress, my apartment, the new york times, or koreatown. we did one of those typical new york things that we rarely get to do. we bundled up and took a walk in central park.



it was great. it was too late in the season to look at fall foliage and too late in the day to enjoy any sun, but it was lovely all the same. the ice skating rink is already up, and it was packed.



we each had the worst pretzel in the history of pretzels and an unsatisfying bag of nuts. i don't know why i always forget, but central park really has the worst food. definitely bring your own. we trekked through the horse poo-lined walkways and ended up at the plaza hotel. we were in awe of how pretty it is in there -- lots of flowers, chandeliers, and mirrors. by the way, remember that Paris movie theatre from the first episode of the fifth season of sex and the city? where carrie goes and watches a movie by herself? it's right next to the plaza, and it really does show romantic movies, but current ones.

anyways, i know people used to say that i always take pictures of things and none of people, so here is one for you.

heaven!

email of the day
from my roommate

From: Kiera
Date: Thu Nov 18, 2004 05:12:58 PM US/Eastern
To: Lisa
Subject: Re: MUTINY!

what the fuck is k-town?

message from the dean of the j-school

Someone left a Nautica jacket (tan with purple(?) collar) in the deans’ suite yesterday. Winter is coming. If you notice that you’re really cold and your shirt or blouse is blowing in the wind, ask yourself, “where is my jacket?” My assistant has the item.

Take Action!

Abortion Non-Discrimination Act (ANDA)

In spite of what the name might indicate, this legislation does not protect women seeking abortion services from discrimination. Instead, it would allow any health care provider or institution (not just religious entities) to refuse to provide, pay for, or even refer for abortion for any reason. Supporters of this bill claim this is a matter of religious freedom.

With the reelection of President Bush, the conservative right has claimed it is the moral majority in this country. But we know there is nothing moral about preventing women's access to needed health care services.

Speak out against the federal refusal clause and help women maintain access to needed medical services.

launch of my portfolio site (designed by moi) -- http://www.columbia.edu/~lwm2103
bookmark it, love it.

Tonight Get Details | Get Audio
Hourly Weather | AccuPOP™
Heavy rain mixing with snow
Low 33° F

ohmygod.

here's a pic of my rw1 class:


upper: kiera, nicole,alex, katie, lynnell, jaimal, adam, brandon, karen, gina, ivan
lower: wendy, alyssa, alisa, me, shannon, jayanthi, ben

naascon board 2004:

may, james riley, chancey, helen, steph, sam
tom, james, smiley me, bethany
rj and corliss
at usc last weekend

congrats everyone on a great job!

tell me this girl doesn't look like margot

pics from dinner with laurie and mike



at balthazar, a swanky french restaurant in soho (my mom paid for us all to go)

at ñ, a soho bar