It's September . . .

Where the heck did summer go? Oh yeah, we didn't get summer in Seattle this year. Anyway, now that it's September, here's my randomness post of the month.

• I love Post-it notes. Like love them a lot; I go through them like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. OK, maybe not that much, but I do go through a lot of them.
  
• I hate bugs of any kind. Any. Kind. Hate. Them. Get it?
  
• I would rather eat fresh fruit than dessert (most of the time).
  
• I have to have the window open to sleep. (I can sleep with it shut, but I don't like it.)
  
• Speaking of sleep, I recently have been falling asleep with the radio on. If it's not the radio (music), it has to be silent. How's that for extremes?
  
• I've played the piano for 15 years. Doesn't seem that long and I don't play like it's been that long, but it has been.
  
• My first grade teacher and I still correspond with each other. It's pretty cool.
  
• I like taking the bus to Seattle. It's cheap, it's easy and there's no traffic or parking to worry about.
  
• I've never been to a football game. Ever.
  
• I never used to understand why people enjoy spas so much. But now that I'm older, I'd take a spa day any day of the week!
• I'm addicted to Red Mango frozen yogurt. Love that stuff.
  
• I've only ever owned (pretended to own) Toyota vehicles.
  

Randomness about me: August

1. I hate writing with pencil. The only time I write with pencil is if I'm writing in my music or if I'm taking a Scantron test. Since I'm finished with school, I don't have to worry about Scantron tests anymore, so I only use pencil when I'm writing in my music.
   
2. I cannot scream. Well, I guess I can, but I hardly ever do.
   
3. I think I'm becoming lactose intolerant. I've heard that 90% of Asians become lactose intolerant before age 30.
   
4. It drives me crazy when people leave their turn signals on forever. And ever. And ever. I only turn my signal on for about .125 seconds before I turn or change lanes.
   
5. My best friend and I have been friends our entire life. Literally. I love you, Paulina!
6. I have really random music tastes. Sometimes I enjoy listening to Katy Perry, when other days I enjoy Casting Crowns. Let's just say my Pandora station is really whack.
7. Although I eat meat, I don't love it. I could probably be a vegetarian if I wanted to.
   
8. I took two years of Chinese in college, but I hardly remember any of it. It's pretty sad when I think about how much grief that class put me through. Sigh.
   
9. Back to meat again; I hate the smell of cooking meat. The worst of them all is ground beef. Chicken is a close second.
   
10. I only like scrambled eggs if they are mixed really well before they're cooked. I know it's the same egg, but if it's partially white and partially yellow, I have a hard time eating it. Weird, I know.
    
11. When I type, I make weird facial expressions. If I'm typing something funny, I smile or laugh. If I'm asking a question, I make an odd smirk. I obviously haven't seen myself do this, but people who see me type always tell me that I do this.
    
12. I only like citrus if it's fresh. I love all sorts of citrus: lemon, lime, grapefruit, orange, etc. But if it is candy, I do not like it. In fact, if I have a bag of Skittles or roll of Starbursts, I will pick around the yellow, orange and green flavors.

So, Asians are good at math, right?

Lies! Blatant lies, I tell you! OK, well maybe some (lucky) Asians are good at math, but I will be the first person to tell you that I am not good at math. The subject has never been a favorite of mine, but I've managed to make it through life with less-than-favorable math skills. (Don't worry, I passed all my math classes throughout school years.)

How did Asians get stuck with the high honor of being stereotyped as good mathematicians? Or good musicians at that (although I am a musician, so I won't post about that)?

I said all of that to say this: I was not cut out to be an accountant.

I'm currently working for my best friend's company doing whatever they need help with. Well, blessings on my head, they currently need help with bookkeeping. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining, I am thankful for the work, money and time spent with my friend; I just know that if I could choose my profession (which, by the way, isn't going too well at this point), I would never choose to do anything with numbers, math, bank statements, etc.

I think I've found my newest answer to the common interview question: "What is your greatest weakness?"

Oops

Wow, it's been a month since I posted last--oops! I guess that must mean nothing exciting has happened in my life. That isn't completely true, but I have been busy. So I have THREE jobs now, yes, three. It is not ideal, but at least it is money. (At least that's what I've been telling myself.) I have my part-time internship, as well as a job working with my best friend's company, and then teaching piano. It's crazy busy, but I guess that's what life has for me now. I cannot wait to land ONE job in public relations with an agency or company I'd enjoy working for. Anyway, hopefully something funny will happen in life soon so I can post about it. Until then . . . .

Time Flew

Well, my wonderful internship at RPR has ended. Sad (no, really it is; I loved it there). I knew I'd miss the internship, but I wasn't sure what exactly I'd miss. Well, I've started a new internship with another agency, and I'm trying to get used to it. It's showed me what I miss about RPR.

I miss the people. I miss the types of clients. I miss the location. I miss being with other people (employees and interns) my age.

So what about this new place? It's not that I dislike it, but it is very different. Good or bad? Time will tell.

Life on Route 435

I meant to post last night, but I was too tired. So here is two days' worth of posts . . .

YESTERDAY:
I was on the bus from Downtown to the ID and of course there were a few bums on there. This one bum in particular was very noticeable from the time I stepped on the bus. He had gross, dirty, long hair. And his eyes were glazed over like he was high and/or drunk. He was sitting next to a fellow bum and they were talking quite loudly to each other. Oh wait, I think they wanted the entire bus to hear them. Anyway, so I'm sitting there on my way to lunch and I hear, "So how is Jane?" (Name has been changed, not to protect anyone's innocence, but because I forget what it actually was.) "Oh she's fine," the gross, dirty, long-haired man replied (we'll call him 'Scruffy'). "Yeah? Have you seen her?" asked the Santa-lookalike. "Well, I'm supposed to go see her today. Yeah, I was going to have lunch, but then she said dinner," Scruffy said. "Oh, she is good-looking," Santa said. "Oh yeah, oh yeah, she is really beautiful for her age," Scruffy said.

So that part of the bus ride was entertaining. But it gets better . . .

I was sitting sideways (some seats are front-facing and others are sideways) and there was this Chinese lady sitting across from me. She looked just like that girl in Spiderman who plays her instrument singing, "Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can . . . ." Well she was just odd. I don't know why I thought that when I first saw her, but I did. Anyway, then I see her digging for gold. Yes, in her nose. Gross, right? Yeah, well she found some gold but it got stuck in her fingernail. Guess what she did next? Yep. She flicked it off of her nail--into the air. I jumped out of my seat and almost let out a yelp, but I refrained. I just didn't want her mucus on me! Thankfully, I saw it land in the aisle. But dang, way to be gross! Then she held the railing in the bus. I will never hold a rail on the bus again!

One more story . . .

On the way home, I was blessed to sit in front of two ladies who were talking about fried food the entire ride from Seattle to Kenmore. I like food, but I just found it funny that they were talking about food like they've never eaten before. One lady was talking about going to some mini fair over the weekend and eating this huge barbecue sandwich. Then about how she saw a stand for fried Twinkies and how she "had to try one." She was talking about how they dipped the Twinkie in batter and then rolled it in cinnamon sugar. Then she made me laugh even harder when she said it was so good she got another one. And then the other lady started talking about how she tried fried pickles at another fair. Then the first lady started talking again about fried Twinkies. Like what the heck?! She said she can't wait for our big state fair to come in the fall so she can get an elephant ear and a Twinkie. Wow. Entertaining bus ride to say the least!



TODAY:
I got off of work a bit early today and since it finally decided to be somewhat nice this afternoon, I walked to a different bus stop. Well, as I was waiting at the stop, a different bus stopped and let down the handicap ramp. No big deal, right? But as the ramp came down, I saw an "it" standing there. For those who don't know, and "it" is a nicer (at least I think it's nicer) way to say a gender-confused person. Normally you can tell if and "it" was a "he that went she" or a "she that went he," but I couldn't tell with this person. Want to know why? First, "it" was wearing a mid-length skirt. Then I saw hairy legs. As I continued to glance upward, I saw that "it" was not only wearing glasses, but also lab goggles. Over the glasses. I am not kidding. "It" was wearing plastic lab goggles like those that chemists wear. I am still wondering if "it" was a he or her. But oh well, I guess I won't know.

Well, my bus came and I was sitting in front of some girl who was talking really loudly on her phone. She was super excited for some reason about getting car insurance and her driver's license. I mean, good for her. Haha.

Anyway, life never ceases to be interesting. Friday is my last day (for now) on the bus, so this series might end until further notice, but we will see . . . .

Later.

Life on Route 435

I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again: these posts technically shouldn't be "route 435" anymore, because I don't even ride that bus now, but whatever. I'm keeping the name. So on to the post . . .

Yesterday was a pretty normal day. Until I got on the bus (of course). I was on ST Route 522 from Seattle, and the bus was full like usual. Thankfully by the time I get on, there are still seats on the rig; it's not unusual for people to be standing the entire ride. (This is not like a quick ride at high speeds, it's 40 minutes, folks.) Well, halfway home, as someone was *attempting* to get off the bus, she rammed right into me. What do I mean? Like she stood up while the bus was still moving and then when the bus jerked a bit, she lost her ability to balance and rammed me with her big backpack. Of course she was totally ignorant to what just happened. I might have been forgiving if she would have noticed and apologized, but since she didn't, she has earned herself a permanent mention on this blog.

Moving on . . .

Everything was going OK, until I (and everyone else on the bus) heard this high-pitched, kid-sounding music coming from somewhere. My first thought was that it was coming from a dude's earbuds that weren't quite in his ear. Well, after I noticed him looking around in disgust from the noise, I figured it wasn't him. So I looked around some more. Couldn't quite pin where it was coming from . . . UNTIL . . . a short, odd-looking girl/lady/female stood up to let someone out of her row. Picture this person in your mind: frizzy hair, black knee-length socks with pirate skulls all over them, short (like short, short, short) black leather mini skirt. Got that picture in your mind? Good. Now add to it her holding a netbook (you know those tiny computers that are popular now). She stands up, trying not to drop her computer. The person leaves. The bus starts moving again. The sound gets louder. And louder. And now it is non-stop.

Yes, the sound was coming from her--or should I say from her computer. All the way from Downtown Seattle until Kenmore (probably farther than that, but that's where I got off). As I got off the bus, I passed where she was sitting and glanced at her screen. I am not kidding, she was playing some stupid computer game and those noises were from each little thing eating whatever other thing in her game (looking like Tumblebugs if you know what that game is). Yes, she was playing her game, ignorant of all the stares, glares and angry looks from everyone else on the bus, and she was playing with the sound on.

I was so glad to get off the bus. I feel bad for the person sitting next to her, but I also wonder why she didn't ask her to turn down the volume or plug in her earphones or whatever. Some things (and people) I will never understand.

P.S. I forgot to mention the girl/lady/female on the bus the other day who was standing the entire time (scroll up for an explanation about people standing up). Yeah, she was holding the handle on the back of my seat, which would've normally been fine, except she was holding my hair with it. I pulled forward several times to try and get my hair out of her grip and also to try and get her to notice she was pulling my hair. Yeah, didn't work. Not-so-funny thing about this story, is that another intern and I ride the same bus every morning, and she was sitting behind me. She told me when we were walking to the office that she kept getting knocked by the same girl's backpack, the entire way from Kenmore to Seattle. Some people . . . .

Randomness for June

More random things about me . . . .

1. I have never had a manicure. Never. I have, however, had pedicures and I love them.
   
2. Speaking of hands, my thumbs are so short that I cannot sign "M" or "N" in ASL. I'm not kidding, have me show you sometime; it's impossible.
   
3. My new favorite show is Glee. Right now, I'm pretty behind on it (since I just started watching it), but I like it a lot. One of the best lines in Season 1: "They can't fire me; I'm a minority." --Ken
   
4. I never thought I'd own an Apple product, but now that I have a MacBook Pro, I will never go back to a PC. Ever.
   
5. In the last six months, I've gone from being an extreme night owl to being a morning person. I used to stay up until at least 2:30 a.m. every day, but now I cannot stay up past 11 p.m. (even 10:30 p.m. is pushing it).
   
6. I seriously get the chills when I see the following: the bottoms of artichoke hearts (after you pull the "hairs" off) and backs of fern fronds (where the seeds are).
7. My dream job would be to do PR and/or marketing for a non-profit organization that works with kids in some capacity. (Like Childhaven, Children's Hospital, March of Dimes, etc.)
   
8. Someday I will travel to Japan, China, Korea, Greece, Ireland and Africa.
   
9. I like it when guys wear pink. I don't like it when they wear light pink, but I do like it when they wear bright and dark shades.
   
10. When I was little, my siblings and I called our different sets of grandparents "different" and "regular" since we got them confused. The "different" ones were my mom's dad and his wife, and the "regular" ones were my mom's mom and her husband. Now we call them "house" and "condo" (respectively) since they, well, live in a house and a condo. (It's not like English when you name them distinctive names like nana, grandma, memaw, etc. In Chinese, if it's your mom's mom you call her one name and if it's your dad's mom you call her another name.)

Route on 435: The Creeper Edition

Wow, I cannot believe it's June 4th already. Where did the time go? Anyway, so it's been too long since I've posted about the weirdos on the bus, so here you go. Enjoy!

I got off work early today (like 3 p.m. early!) because I finished all my projects and nobody else had more for me to do. Since I didn't drive to the P&R today, I had to get the bus that takes me closer to home. No problem, it's the normal bus. The 435. (The normal bus means business people, non-scary, non-threatening people ride the normal bus.) Well, the bus didn't leave until 3:45 p.m., so I had a lot of time to sit at the stop waiting. Not a problem, it's covered and there was a bench open.

I sit down and start texting friends (of course). This bum is standing next to me and before long another bum comes along. The bum-buddies start chatting. I listen to their conversation, interested in whatever bums talk to each other about. Well, these bums were high-drunk-smoking bums. How do I know? They were telling each other about it. "Yeah, I'm waiting for the bus," said Bum no. 1 (Really? I mean, that's why you're waiting at a bus stop. Brilliant!). "No, man, I'm going clear across to the mountains," said Bum no. 2. "I'm going to get high, you know, smoke some ___________ (I couldn't understand that part)." Then Bum no. 2 asked Bum no. 1 if he was hungry. "Yeah, of course," Bum no. 1 replied. So Bum no. 2 reached in his ginormous duffle bag and pulled out a black plastic bag. "Here, this is some salad I got," Bum no. 2 told Bum no. 1 as he gave him the bag holding the container of salad. "It's good salad." Then they did this weird side-by-side pass off thing and Bum no. 2 gave Bum no. 1 something else. I didn't want to get shot, so I didn't look hard enough (I mean, they were right next to me and I was trying to mind my own business, sort of). Well, then Bum no. 2 left and told Bum no. 1 to take care.

I stopped texting for a moment and started updating my journal. Bum no. 1 sat down. Next to me. He started talking. To me. I'm normally a friendly person, but he was creeping me out. (Why didn't I move, you ask? Because it was raining hard and I didn't want to stand until the bus came.) I surpassed my normally friendly state and ignored the bum . . . as I was writing in my journal about him. Haha, good thing he couldn't see what I was writing.

Then I hear a "pop" sound. I glanced over and saw puddles of fizzy something falling to the ground. Soon after that, I smell alcohol. Yep, Bum no. 1 opened a can of beer. Miller Genuine Draft to be exact. The weird part? He kept hiding it in his coat pocket. Yes, an open can of beer inside his coat pocket. Odd.

Anyway, just as I was getting squeamish about sitting so close to a soon-to-be-drunk bum, the bus came. I got on and hoped he wouldn't follow me. He didn't; he was too content with his beer and salad. What a day.

Randomness About: Me

Thanks to my bestie, Paulina, for the idea of blogging random information about herself . . . I'm going to copy her and add my own here. Enjoy!

1. At at whooping 5' 3", I am the tallest in my family. No joke.
   
2. I've played the piano for 15 years. Asian stereotype? Sure, why not!
   
3. Since age 14, I have babysat more than 90 kids from about 35 different families.
   
4. I hate LOTR, Harry Potter, Twilight and Jane Austen. I know, random genres and topics, but don't like any of them.
   
5. I'm half-Japanese and half-Chinese, but people often ask if I'm a) Mexican, b) Hawaiian, c) Samoan or d) Filipino.
   
6. I've never had a manicure. Just pedicures. And I love them!
   
7. I love to sew, but I always rush and end up ruining my projects.
   
8. I enjoy reality TV shows.
   
9. I've never had a retail job.
   
10. I'm extremely indecisive. It's an annoying characteristic to have.
    

There is my first attempt. I'll see how many more random things I can come up with.

Later.

Life Has A New Route

This is a really short post, simply because I'm tired and ready for bed. But in the last few weeks, I've sat next to some interesting characters on the bus. These characters include Inspector Gadget and Harry Potter. Use your imagination.

A Life on Route 435 Update

I suppose I should change the title to Life on Route 36, since that is the bus with all the weird people. Route 435 is actually mostly business people who are normal for the most part.

Anyway, today I wore a short white skirt. Bad mistake. It rained (it was supposed to be nice . . .). I took the bus to meet my grandma for lunch. On the bus to Chinatown, some weird Hispanic/Mexican/Spanish/Latino guy sat next to me since the bus was crowded and it was the only seat open. No problem with me, but he was sitting really close to me. After a few people got off the bus, he decided to move. At first I was excited that he moved, until I noticed that he was staring up my legs (remember I was wearing a short skirt). Yeah, disgusting pervert. Anyway, then finally more people got off and he moved to the front of the bus.

On that same bus, another dude was sitting sideways. Close to me. Very close to me. And he was whistling for a l-o-n-g time, I swear he was trying to get my attention. Then my handy cell phone came out and I started texting my friends about the ordeal. What the . . ., he was peering over my shoulder trying to read my texts!

Anyway, that was my day. Creepy men. They're my favorite. And for you who cannot sense sarcasm for anything, that was a joke.

Life on Route 435. Again.

Today was interesting. First off, it was hailing this morning so it made waiting for the bus miserable (I was wearing a skirt and it was windy and cold). I woke up a bit later than usual today, so I was putting my makeup on at the bus stop. As I was putting my eyeliner on, some super friendly lady walked up to me. "Good morning," she said. "Can I get you to read this magazine? We're trying to get people into their Bibles." I knew right away she was probably a JW, so I asked her, "What is your organization?" And sure enough she was a JW. I told her I wasn't interested and she walked away.

Nothing too much out of the ordinary in terms of the bus ride down to work. I walked on the opposite side of the sidewalk this morning so I could purposely avoid that newspaper man who is ALWAYS there on the corner of 4th and Union.

On my way to the bus stop to come home some dude was walking and he had--not kidding--5 watches in his hand. Not on his wrist, in his hand. Dangling. Like he jacked them from someone or something sketchy like that. Anyway, I was trying to avoid getting too close to him since I was paranoid that he was stealing people's watches from off their wrists (even though I don't currently wear a watch). Well then he started talking. I've gotten really good at pretending like I can't hear the person who is talking to me (it's easy to do Downtown since the street noise is so loud and there are people everywhere). "Hey, is that Chanel for her perfume you got on?" he asked. Well I don't know how he could smell anything on the street, let alone the perfume he thought I was wearing. Oh, and since I woke up late today I didn't put mine on. And for the record, I don't wear Chanel!

So today wasn't too horrific, but like most days I came home with stories to tell of the weird people I "met" while going to and from the office. Later.

More stories

Today my sister drove me to the office this morning, so I don't have any stories from the morning commute (and anyway, the riders on Route 435 are pretty normal, it's the route on the way home that is full of weird people).

But this afternoon I met Kristine and my grandma for lunch in the ID, so I took Route 36. As I got on, some dude (apparently drunk) was yelling so everyone on the bus could hear him: "My apartment, I don't know, my apartment, I don't got my apartment." Well, sorry dude, I don't know what happened to your apartment, but I don't really care.

On that same bus, something smelled horrible. Like pee. I figured it out that it wasn't the bus that smelled that way, it was someone on the bus. Once he got off it was fine (almost).

Then tonight after work, I took the Route 36 again but this time I took it to my grandparents' condo. As I was walking from the stop to their condo (about three blocks), I heard this voice. I looked around and saw nobody. Oh wait, I saw someone on his balcony. And yep, it was that man talking. To me. "Hola ¿Quieres venir aquí. Te ves tan linda," he probably said. (It was hard to hear, but I know he was talking to and about me.) Oh, and that roughly translates, "Hey, want to come over here? You look so pretty." Thanks, Google Translate! Anyway, so he kept talking as I was walking past. He was waving and blowing kisses. Not kidding.

I made it to my grandparents' safely and then Kristine and I drove home. So there is today's excerpt on my life on Route 435.

New Series: Life on Route 435

A *certain friend* of mine told me to write blog entries about my experiences on the public transportation system, so here you go. I'll try to update this series as funny, odd, random or scary things happen while I'm on way to or from the office (some entries may include things that the street bums say on my way to or from the office from the bus stop).

So far, some big burly man told me as I boarded the bus, "Hey girl, you look like Cleopatra!" What? Really? Do I really look like Cleopatra? Then if that wasn't bad enough, he tells the girl next to him, "Doesn't she remind you of Cleopatra? She does, huh?" Yeah dude, whatever!

And then, the next day a bum on the sidewalk was trying to get me to buy one of his newspaper things (you know, the small papers nobody knows about and the ones that are filled with random biased news you never knew could be classified as "news"?). I guess he thought I was too interested in my lunch (which I was), because I ignored his, "Hi!" His second attempt? "Why hello pretty lady!" OK, so maybe my outfit was cute that day, but umm . . . .

Well, that's my first entry in this series, "Life on Route 435." More to come.

Some still don't get it!

This is a random post about confusing words. With life in general, but more specifically with my work on a newspaper, I've seen many of these words used incorrectly. I'm sure you have too.

Do you mean to say . . .

• effect or affect
• to, too or two
• there, their or they're
  
• complimentary or complementary
  
• stationary or stationery
  
• witch or which
• brake or break

The list could go on and on, but the point I want to get across with this post is to make sure you know which form of the word you want to use, and use it correctly!

Word of the day: Assistant

I stayed up way too late last night (or this morning) watching old episodes of The Office. If you're familiar with that show, Dwight always says his job title is "Assistant Regional Manager" when it is really "Assistant to the Regional Manager." Big difference? Yeah.

Well that example along with my ongoing job search made me think of the different ways we use the word "assistant." I saw a job posting for "Assistant Editor" which is obviously different than "Editorial Assistant." The two words that make up those jobs are pretty similar, but the jobs are quite different.

What are other words that are used like "assistant" that have similarities yet strong, obviously differences when placed in certain word order?

A Very Public Private Life

Social media (SM) is a wonderful thing; it's almost like dark chocolate. OK, not quite, but it is wonderful. I've been thinking a lot recently about SM, especially as it is becoming a vital part of the industries for which I went to school--public relations and journalism. It is very uncommon for individuals in these fields, as well as businesses, to not participate in SM. But think a step further: we share a whole lot of our private lives with the public. Here are some examples of tweets and Facebook statuses that people tend to post (fictitious for the sake of privacy, ironic huh?) :

"Going to bed . . . it's 3 a.m."
"Stuck in I-405 traffic, gonna be late today."
"What should I eat for lunch?"
"Hope my boss doesn't find out about this . . ."
"Thanks everyone, I have 592 followers now!"

You get my point. Think about it, why do we post what we post? Are we really that bored? Do we want the world's (or at least our friends' and/or followers') sympathy? Are we really looking for public opinion for part of our lives?

I'm not saying using SM to do the things listed above is wrong, I just wonder why we do it. I know I wouldn't call my friends or email them and tell them things like "Oh, I made cake today." I mean, they won't care! So what makes SM a better platform to do so?

SM, like many things, is a great tool. I just wonder if I share too much of my private life on a public (even though I make it private and/or protected) site. Thoughts?

Trust

I had a random thought going through my head today: there are so many people we don't know, yet we trust. It's good to trust people, but seriously think of individuals you run into each day . . . most of them we pay to do something for us. Weird. Just a few that were in my mind today:

• Doctors; sure maybe you have one doctor you've seen all your life, but really, you trust them to examine, operate or prescribe things for your body. Most of the time, they're a complete stranger with whom you share your most confidential information.
  
• Roommates; well most of us don't have a choice when it comes to roommates, but we share a room with up to three other people we've never met. We leave our valuables in the room and trust that those valuables will be there when we return for the night.
  
• Car mechanics; I have a hard time trusting these people, but still, I try. I've never met them before and yet I trust that when they say my air filter, brakes, lights and tires need replacements, they really need replacements.
  

Those are just a few. What are some that you can think of?

I love my brother!

My brother, Andy, is one amazingly talented designer. I know he'll go far in whatever he ends up doing after college. I can't believe the things he's designed. I took these from his Facebook to share with you! Enjoy!

*Disclaimer: Many of his designs are for academic projects, therefore the brands depicted are not real advertisements.

A typography project he did

A dramatic performance poster he designed

A recital invitation he made

A graphic design project he did (not a real advertisement for Old Spice)

His latest design--a typographical map from our house to his school

Asian, yet not very Asian

So I took a class in editorial & opinion writing last semester; here is the column I wrote as part a class assignment. It's about Asians. I figure I can write about Asians since I'm Asian.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Aren’t you super good at math?”

“Where are you from? When did you come to the U.S.?”

“Do your parents get mad if you don’t ace your tests?”

“How many instruments do you play?”

These questions are somewhat difficult to answer, not because I can’t answer them, but because people always ask those questions when they find out that I’m half-Japanese and half-Chinese. It’s not easy being Asian. Maybe I should clarify: It’s not easy being Asian when you don’t fit the typical Asian template-of-a-person. Maybe that’s a good thing.

You see there are several types—or “breeds” as I like to call them—of Asians. Not in reference to which Asian country we originated from, but rather which Asian stereotype we fit.

For those who are unfamiliar with the true Asian stereotypes, let me be the first to inform you of the common stereotypes.

The Boater—is the individual who apparently just ended his or her trip from across the seas to make a better life in America. Aviation has been around for a long time, but for some reason Asians still prefer water passages and cargo containers.

The Brainiac—is the individual whose parents have taught him or her to view anything less than a 100 percent as bad. Not even 99.9 percent is good enough. These same individuals are often members of Math Club, Chess Club, Orchestra and the National Honor Society (if not full IB or AP too).

The Tourist—is the individual who can be spotted 832 feet away with his or her fanny pack (if you thought those left in the 80s, think again), SLR camera and sun visor. These individuals set themselves apart from the traditional tourist with their innate desire to take pictures. Of everything. They not only snap photos of everything, but also strike the traditional Asian pose by holding their fingers in the recognized “peace” sign.

The Virtuoso—is the individual who can play at least one instrument, flawlessly. Usually the piano is the instrument of choice, but violin comes in a close second. Ever hear of the Suzuki method? These individuals spend hours upon hours at the piano bench perfecting each arpeggio passage until it can be played while blindfolded—this I know from experience.

The Recycler—is the individual who saves anything that could potentially be used to store food, even if it is supposed to be a “disposable container.” With used (and rinsed) yogurt containers, Styrofoam boxes and Starbucks cups, why waste money on expensive Rubbermaid, Tupperware or Pyrex containers?

So there you have it—common Asian stereotypes. They do exist and I know people who may or may not be closely related to me who fit into one or more of the above categories. For me, I eat rice almost every day and I play the piano. Thankfully, that’s where the stereotypes end for me. I’m thankful to have grown up in the U.S. and have experienced both American and Asian culture.

Instead of getting offended by the stereotype jokes, I try instead to find ways to laugh at the jokes in ways non-Asians can’t. Sometimes I wish people would lay off the Asian jokes because they think both they and the stereotypes are funny—because I’ll let you in on a little secret: Laughing hard at all the Wasians and Twinkies (what Asians call non-Asians who try to be or understand Asians) out there is a whole lot funnier than any stereotype about us will ever be.

Job Hunt

So nearly two months later, I'm still without a job. I'm not quite to the discouraged mindset yet, but it's getting closer.

I mean, seriously, how can an "entry level" position require 3-5 years experience? Of course, I'm applying for those positions anyway, but it boggles my mind. I'm more than willing to do an internship--paid or unpaid--but I can only do that for so long. And it's not because I'm unwilling, but rather because my bills need to be paid!

Well, enough ranting for one day. Back to searching for the perfect (or maybe the only?) position for me.

Wedding Bells

I can hear them ringing. Almost. I can't believe my older sister is getting married today! Such a weird feeling for me and it's not even MY wedding. Yesterday was a long day. Errands, rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, bridal party errands (teehee), speech writing, etc.

The bridal party seems to be comprised of some rather funny characters. I'm one of two maids of honor and there are two bridesmaids. The guys are funny (although one in particular is a bit, umm, weird?).

Dinner was fun. Good thing we ate at a loud restaurant so we could be, well, loud.

Bridal party errands were kind of awkward. But in the end, we will have the lovers' getaway car filled with, umm, things.

Anyway, now that I'm awake for no apparent reason after getting virtually no sleep, I'm going to take a nap before the mayhem begins.

Wow, it's been a LONG time!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. It's never easy to keep up with this blog when I'm at school, but now that I'm done, I hope to do better at this!

That's the biggest news in my life: GRADUATION! Yes, you read that correctly, I'm finished with college! Where did the time go? It doesn't really feel like I've been in college for 4.5 years, but don't get me wrong, I'm glad to be done!

So what's next? Find a job! Yep, now that I've spent thousands of dollars for my degree, I'd like a job to get some more experience (and money would be nice, too). I've applied to at least 50 places all over the country and am waiting for an offer! I'm hoping to work more in the PR field rather than the journalism field, but I'll take anything at this point.

Anyway, hope your 2010 is off to a good start!