THE NEW TRAMP STAMP



lululemon's highly suggestive, georgia o'keefe-esque logo - look out for it at the gym or in the marina on sunday mornings

BANGS

thurstyles confirms what all you non-bangs folk have been suspecting about us —

“To me, they scream: ‘I’m cooler than you, I have a lot of sex, and if you leave your husband with me I’ll devour him’”

btw, mine were inspired by cat power and charlotte gainsbourg, and i like to trim them when i'm drunk too!

now i have to go wash them.

ON THE MEED

i heard this story on 'on the media' a few weeks ago, and it was one of the best radio bits i've ever heard. it's about a popular rwanda soap opera that is helping promote understanding between the hutus and tutsis. what touched me about the story was that it reminded me of the awesome power of media - as someone who works in media, so much of the time i feel like the media is good for nothing, not changing a thing - and maybe that is true - but i guess in some places in the world, the media can be a real good, making real changes (albeit with lots of time), and in a real unique, non-preachy, non-didactic way. anyways check it out (i recommend the audio instead of the transcript)

most exciting discovery from the sunday styles two weeks ago (times select): britta from dean and britta was the voice of jem!!!

Back in the old days, the '80s, before Transformers starred in movies and before Ms. Phillips played actual gigs, she played the cartoon rock star Jem on TV. Two decades later, superfans still show up with Jem dolls. Men, too. ''The Jem fans are the freakiest I've ever seen,'' her husband said.

i'm putting this here so i can remember it forever:

kill, marry, or screw? "prince eric [from the little mermaid], aladdin, or...beast"

just in: photos from camping this weekend!

more fotos de alex

yes that is wine and pellegrino on the table cuz that's how we rough it!

the showers cost 50 cents for 5 minutes - quarters only - the best 50 cents i've ever spent.
my ass looks way better from the side and in person ;)

aero! flake! crunchie! cadbury! - or why i spend so much money on chocolate

BITCHY

i've had semi-permanent PMS for the past three weeks. maybe it's all about getting older or getting crankier with age. OR MAYBE IT'S THE FUCKING EYE INFECTION I'VE HAD - no it's not pink eye, you fucking jokers.

it also means i haven't been able to work out as much as usual, which makes lisa VERY CRANKY. IT'S MY WEDDING DAY. BE NICE. FUCK!

ok the other thing is that wearing glasses all the time has made my self-esteem totally plummet. i haven't worn glasses this much since i was 13, and i think wearing them makes me feel like fucking pre-teen lisa, which makes me VERY CRANKY. i think i like like a total nerd all the time. i have compensated by dressing 'slutty' - BUT WHO LOVES A SLUT WITH GLASSES?

UGHHHH.

on another note, i think this will be my summer of shorts over leggings or tights.



and i don't fucking care what you think cuz i'm BITCHY. FIN.

who knew frye boots had such historical significance? when steve bought em for me three years ago, i didn't really dig em, but thought, Eh maybe i'll wear em once or twice. now i love them, and i even wore those heavy puppies on a flight back to grad school just so i could have them in new york - although, yes, as fashionista notes, they were big two years ago (precisely when i was in new york)

GENERATION Y LIKES THEIR BRANDS "SIMPLE"

A recent survey conducted by Outlaw Consulting, located in San Francisco, concluded that Generation Y trendsetters are more drawn to brands that speak to them in a "straightforward and stripped-down way, use plain packaging, and avoid excess," says Holly Brickley, an Outlaw strategic analyst.

Outlaw surveyed 100 of what it calls its "most forward trendsetter panelists" in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami, asking them which companies they most respected, and why.

The sample mostly targeted the first wave of Gen Y consumers, aged 21-27. The goal was to compile a "Trust Index" of brands that evoke "deeply positively feelings" among the trendsetters.

Most of the companies cited by the respondents stress simplicity, says Brickley, who notes that many of their favorite companies, from giants such as Apple to smaller newcomers like Method, are known for keeping things as stripped-down and unadorned as possible - not just in terms of the product's visual appearance but also in the way they organize their offerings. "Apple's computers and iPods are so clean and simple and easy to use," remarked one trendsetter. "No excess."

According to an Outlaw Consulting newsletter, the preference for simplification, lean-and-clean styling and all-in-one convenience could be motivated by environmental concerns. In other words, as the "green lifestyle" is something more and more people aspire to, the notion of excess has fallen into disfavor, notes Brickley, who wrote the report.

"The Most Trusted" 15 brands named by the trendsetters in the survey were:

1. Apple
2. Trader Joe's
3. Jet Blue
4. In-N-Out Burger
5. Ben & Jerry's
6. Whole Foods
7. Adidas
8. American Apparel
9. Target
10. H & M clothing stores
11. Levi's
12. Volkswagen
13. Converse
14. Vitamin Water
15. Red Stripe Jamaican beer

"They also responded strongly to brands that they saw as 'dorky' but 'totally themselves'," says Brickley, who, at 27, is part of the demographic group that was surveyed. "Like Trader Joe's, for example. They liked that the company has a dorky newsletter and makes their employees wear silly Hawaiian shirts. They also really liked that In-N- Out starts their employees out at $10 an hour -- which made the trendsetters happier to eat there, as opposed to some fast-food chains where all the workers look miserable."

Respondents also were drawn to Jet Blue airline. "They loved everything about Jet Blue, noting that the airline is much easier to navigate, the flights are always cheap, always one-way and don't have a lot of weird special prices and restrictions," says Brickley.

The survey was conducted in late 2006, before Jet Blue got a load of bad publicity when one of its planes sat on the tarmac for several hours and wouldn't allow passengers to leave the plane.

The bottom line, concluded the survey, is that any company that is inconvenient or confusing, or that used over-designed imagery, is seen as out of touch and too "corporate."

Source: Marketing Daily, 4/20/07

fotos de mike's bday

I AM THE SHHHH!

some photos from mr. hyphen and melanie's recap
- and baby's first editorial. bless.

MIKE'S BDAY IS THE NEW MEMORIAL DAY

summer e arrivato! and, as usual, mike's birthday heralds the new summer party season, tho not the arrival of warm weather. beverly and alex hosted a marvelous feast featuring the richmond's hamburgers, burritos from el farolito, salsa from papalote, and irish car bombs, claro.

so apparently we are all class now - this much i remember from saturday at delirium - emily hit me in the face (which i don't remember) because i was screaming about her sexually harassing her intern (who begs the eternal question - gay or east coast?); tecate, tecate, tecate; my filipino accent comes out when i drunk dial; and steve ate it (face first) on mission street. oh and i barfed somewhere on cesar chavez.

but the gang was ALL there, and it was SO fun. not so fun? the massive hangover the next morning. getting older sux.

new audrey story on lupus among aa women on my clips site

NEON BIBLE

still searching flickr for some good shots of the arcade fire at the greek last night - it was the most crowded i have ever seen it!






awesome show. s-fist has a write up and some vids.

I BLOGGED!!!!!

please comment!!

finally figured out how to send photos from camera phone to email!

tunnel top last friday:

written on chalkboards upstairs, re: carvings on the walls


tray of grey goose


steve + tan in steve's korea hat + nizar

from archives:


02/04/06: where was this??


view from deyoung roof, dec. 2005


nob hill, jan. 2006


laur and dad, dec. 2005

NUFF SED
"I think Stanford should admit her. She is obviously smarter than the people who she convinced to board her for 8 months"
"She didn't go to Cal because it blows"
"I'm a current student in Kimball, and what pisses me off the most is that she got free food. That stuff is money!"

have had a lot on the mind lately - mostly occupied with using 'the secret' to send positive energy out about getting this job i REALLY want. everyone else send please positive vibes my way!

some notes:
-summer is almost here, tho it doesn't feel like it at the moment. i've still been wearing my winter coats this week.
-kid brother rj is FI-NAL-LY moving to the city - w0o0o0o.
-becoming obsessed with wearing vests - lame/cool? [robot? pa? where are you?]
-FI-NAL-LY saw the host on saturday @ red vic - so good!
-the no sex guy at powell and market said to steve 'hey, no more sex, player'

my sister told me this story about how she was having dinner with my aunt in new york, and they were eating dinner at a communal table with a group of white people. as my sister was leaving, the white people stopped her, and asked where she and my aunt were from - the 'no, where are you REALLY from' conversation ensued - and my sister asked why they were asking. they said 'we've never heard asians who speak english so well!' my sister looked at them and said 'really?? where are YOU from??' the answer was virginia.

Please do not take this personally, “Reply All” people, but: everybody hates you.

steve has accused me of reading the times' book review as a substitute for actually reading books, but he's just jealous that i spend my free time consuming information through sources that don't include the words 'you' or 'tube' (contrary to my previous post and this photo:)



anyways, i read the entire book review on vices a few weeks ago and highly enjoyed it, especially this review on a book about e-mail. i chuckled at all the way through. and seriously i hate 'reply all' people!!

--

aasif mandvi, i love you

--

everybody hates you, too, big group restaurant birthday people

SWEET TIRED

youtube-obsessed steve and i have been SO. INTO. THIS. for the past month.



yeah, so?

FIRES

shitty week for beloved landmarks. shocked at the news eastern market burned down - lin and i wandered in there many moons ago, and he stopped me from buying overpriced tacky earrings.

also catalina island, which was my dream place to live when i was 13...

then surrounded by flames is griffith observatory, where i've wanted to go since developing an interest in men in turned-up collars. oh who am i kidding, i've wanted to go since keanu.

it was also hot as hades in the bay earlier this week. something about going out at night without a sweater that feels wrong, unnatural here. you feel so warm, like your insides are on fire, and you might just -

SHOOTINGS

as i so eloquently said at yesterday's editors meeting (and using the words of the inimitable hillary duff), "virginia tech is gonna be so over, like, yesterday." that's the news biz, baby. i blinked and missed the chance to blog something about this (unlike everyone i know on xanga), but it continues to disturb me how strongly the APA community believes that more and improved mental health services are the "solution" to avoiding tragedies like this. it only strengthens my belief in the how misguided the community can be and how, without fail, it finds the wrong culprit for our problems (abercrombie and fitch? rosie? cmon).

i found this beautifully written and well-informed new yorker piece. we will never solve the problem of mentally ill - we will probably never even make a dent into shrinking that population. shouldn't we focus our energy on something we CAN do something about?

THERE'S NO STOPPING NEIGHBORHOOD SCAMP DENNIS AL MENACE

shit, this was the one i meant to post (the other one is funny too tho)


--

BRIGHTLY COLORED BURKAS

IN YOUR EASTER BONNET


forget the ten commandments. watching easter parade was an annual event in my household. judy garland, fred astaire, and that fantastic scene at the end when they promenade down "the avenue...fifth avenue" with all the other blue bloods and those amazing hats.

i didn't believe my aunt last weekend when she said they still do the easter parade today in manhattan, but the sartorialist says i was wrong.

THE ECONOMIST
jpark tipped me off to a post on john tierney's times blog about the numbers game in speed dating. a lot if gems in here; i suggest you read.

By tracking the success of online daters, the researchers calculated precisely how much extra income a man had to make (relative to the average man’s income of $62,500 per year) to offset a less than ideal attribute. Some of their findings:

Suppose you’re an ordinary-looking guy whose online picture is ranked around the median in attractiveness. (In the study, the ratings of attractiveness were done by independent male and female observers hired by the researchers.) And suppose you’d like to be as successful with women as a guy whose picture is ranked in the top tenth. Then you’d need to make $143,000 more than him. If your picture is ranked in the bottom tenth, you’d need to make $186,000 more than him.

Similarly, according to the study, a 5-foot-0 guy would need to make $325,000 more than a 6-foot-0 man to be as successful in the online dating market. A 5-foot-4 man would need $229,000; a 5-foot-6 man would need $183,000; a 5-foot-10 man would need $32,000. And if that 6-foot-0 man wanted to do as well as a 6-foot-4 man, he’d need to make $43,000 more.

For women in the online study, shorter is better. A 5-foot-6 women would need to make $59,000 more than a 5-foot-0 or 5-foot-2 woman to do as well. She’d need to make $50,000 more than a 5-foot-4 woman.

i've got a new article in the april/may issue of audrey - check it out here.

i'm doing a workshop at berkeley's api conference this weekend, part of a hyphen backrom deal to extend our power over young impressionable college types. here is the workshop description. it may sound familiar to anyone from ecaasu 2005 in philadelphia. come heckle!

hey have you all seen junebug yet? i saw it this weekend, and i only cried like five times really. i think it was cuz i was emotional (tho NOT pre-menstrual) but still really moving. add it to the queue!!

--

from a few weeks ago - the crew at rickshaw stop (taken by snuggles)

shit like this makes me miss new york so

THIS ONE ALMOST MADE ME FALL OFF THE TREADMILL
cue the sex and the city music.

"i started to wonder: when you talk about your exes' new relationships, are you really just talking about the two of you?"

and

hide the fart

NUGGETS
there's a woman in the office who every day eats frozen chicken nuggets topped with frozen vegetables (corn/peas/sad carrot cubes) for lunch and late afternoon snack. she keeps the costco-sized bags in the fridge and heats them up in the microwave. there is more sadness to this than i can articulate.

---

a comment from chai:

i was noticing how easy it is to type your blog name into the web address bar, and realized that 3 out of the 4 letters of your name are on the default keys (asdfjkl;). it really makes a person more likely to visit your blog!

re: philana's comment about what is offensive (see ny post) -
always a good question. i think i've reached the age when i can't get offended all the time anymore. maybe it's age, or seeing the bigger life picture, or maybe it's the onslaught of media/ideas/words i'm exposed to every day. i just don't have enough anger in my reserves to react to every little thing, plus i'm so outraged by other things (iraq, sexism, violence, the 9 express bus).
related, i just read a post about this on reappropriate (run by a gal who some of you know, i think?), and it's something i've been wondering about for a few years. bethany and i always discussed when the time would come when bullshit representation/stereotypes/racist remarks issues would stop being The Major rallying issues among apa activists (esp. college aged). i think it's important for people to know when these things happen, but in terms of organizing protests or petitions, it's really a waste of time.

---
this song has been in my head ALL DAY, especially the whistle solo intro:

PLATEAUS
last summer, when i began working out more days each week, i remember complaining to chai that no matter how hard i tried, i just could not run beyond a certain distance in my workouts. i was hitting a wall, so to speak, on the treadmill. i asked her if it was possible that there was just a maximum distance your body could achieve in any particular condition. she said, "no, i think you're just in a plateau right now, but you'll break through."
i think in life we have peaks and valleys, but i disagree that you're either in a peak or in a valley at any point in time. sometimes we're on plateaus. and there's nothing wrong with that.
as kurt cobain so wisely said (i've been listening to the mtv unplugged album in a vain attempt to reclaim my early teen years): i'm on a plain.

--

the mac-mosa: blood orange juice ($1.99 from TJ's) and vodka

--

some more license plates sightings:
'EAROTIC' (in south park)
'ARRHM8Y' (near costco downtown)

--

snap

i'm cured of my h & m addiction. i went to my usual store today and the guy that rang me up actually RECOGNIZED me. GOD. MORTIFIED.

BUT i did get cute stuff. so totally worth it...but i'll have to haunt another store from now on.

---

good mid-day snack (especially when you are watching giada and barefoot contessa and you want something salty but not junk) - trader joe's corn tortilla flat crackers, spread with tartar sauce, with bit of sardine(!!), topped with chili flakes.

new article from the newest hyphen magazine - peep it here, get it here

TO RJ
AKA RIMJOB AKA RIMJOBE AKA I'M STONED

BEN SAVAGE! lololololol

A LOWBROW ONE FOR YA

watching american idol out of sheer boredom (and because the ANTM naima cycle marathon ended), and diana ross was the guest mentor. reminded me to find this song - when i was little my mom had a small record collection that we would play all the time on our fisher price record player:


i love the 80s

her collection of 45 rpm singles included: diana ross' 'missing you' and sade's 'smooth operator.' my LP collection included the disney mary poppins soundtrack. anyways - yet another example of how the tiniest things trigger my long-buried happy memories.

my favorite scene!



YEP - UHH!

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF A SUNDAY PICNIC AT CRISSY FIELD THROUGH WHAT I CONSUMED
apple
bud light
pastrami panini
goat cheese garlic chips
PBR (2)
champagne + orangina mimosas in plastic cocktail glass (2)
spicy garlic shrimp chips
mango fandango!!!!!! (fruit bowl)

i think we have gotten this whole indulgent sunday thing down to a science. it was 70 degrees with zero wind, and i have a sunburnt back. a football was thrown, kids were shooed away, people were baptized fully clothed in the bay, and we spent way too long looking for nonexistent shark's teeth in an exhibit at the visitor's center. by the way, you should definitely see 'the prestige' if you haven't yet...we saw a dog that looked like its coat was made of grey cotton candy, and melanie asked if we could eat it. i said, no, no, just because we're (half) filipino doesn't mean we eat all dogs - only the tasty ones. it was an awesomely perfect sunday picnic on a gorgeous san francisco day.

afterwards i introduced rj to his first it's it. tan described our group living in sf as 'the eternal college summer,' and it sure feels like it.






pics from jenn

NEW YORK PHOTOS
here, a few select photos from new york (steve won't let me link to the flickr album and there are too many to upload them all here) -


angel share, a japanese speakeasy near st. mark's - very cool, good cocktails (i had the scenes in the city)




meat (flower) platter at kunjip in k-town


tchotkes at pinkberry - not offended - i think they're orange/lemon juicers? - feel bad for the mexican guy in the center with the slanty eyes


pinkberry - original flavor with mango - yum (lower case)


BIG UNIQLO - where we went EVERY DAY we were there - buying score: steve, 4; me, 1


owen wondered why there were so many asians in there


steve silhouette @ moma (muffin top head)


gratuitous shoe photo in moma elevator


scott, me, and minnie at freeman's (LES)


decor at freeman's, with their hipster busboys


reverend billy and the church of stop shopping, in front of astor place starbucks


c-town - shanghai cafe - right before it started snowing

overall, a good weekend - lots of old friends and cool spots - TOO MUCH UNIQLO?

---
p.s. i've made it my mission to go to more museum free days - the new picasso at moma? it was ok, i am more looking forward to the matisse scultpures exhibit coming this summer - the vivienne westwood show at the de young is brilliant and awe-inspiring, definitely check it out!

really awesome post about the misguided reaction the APA community is having to the asianweek fiasco - i am NOT defending it at all (i am totally disgusted by it), but saying 'we all love black people' doesn't fix or help anything...this is basically the same shit that happens any time there is any kind of racist asian thing (abercrombie, rosie o'donnell, etc) - there is a call for an apology, and then the issue dies.

Is this the new model minority that we’re playing out, always apologizing, never pushing the envelope toward justice?

FAT CAT
there is a fat, fat inky black cat that chills in our backyard. it is HUGE. sometimes it hangs out on the (adult sized!) table (built by papabasco), as below, or sometimes on the porch of the playhouse (which also happens to be made of the exact same wood boards). i took a pic, and included the plants for size comparison.



if you click on the photo, it actually looks like i photoshopped the bottom of the cat 'circle' since for some reason the cat's belly is a different black. yeah, like if i had mad crazy fur photoshop skillz.
---

i spent the weekend hanging out with my mom, consuming godiva dark chocolates, and spending lai see from laurie (sucka). my mom reminded me of a ritual we used to do every now and then when we were wee ones - we used to clear the dining table in the living room and have a special candlelight dinner. my parents used the long skinny candles (none of that tea light bullshit) and also real wine glasses from which we drank apple cider. it wasn't for a special occasion, just a way to make a normal dinner special. it was the delight of my young life, those nights, and laur and i would fight to blow out the candles first. now my mom and i drink sparkling wine sometimes from those glasses, and pass out watching tv at 9 pm.

---

photos from our hike in marin last weekend. i took the most rad shots in the set:




steve in non-business casual hiking outfit

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happy fourth year of this blog!

SPEAKS FOR ITSELF


i want a mia farrow haircut + chloe dress!