Phoenix Rising

So I've been e-meeting a few fellow young adult authors via The Debs and other webby things recently. It's been a really great experience because even in my limited time interacting with other authors, I've learned so much about their experiences and processes. I don't know how I've gone through so much time without really meeting other writers but it's something I definitely crave and am thrilled about.What I'm equally thrilled about is getting...

Still the Champs

A few weeks ago, one of my friends informed me that he gave up following sports a year ago. Outside of paying attention to a few quarters of the last Super Bowl, he's been "clean." He had good reason. He's got a busy job, a beautiful wife, and a darling child. But it came as a semi-shock to me because he was a virtual sports encyclopedia. We'd flip to some obscure late night ESPN showing of archery or bowling or something and he'd be all like...

Turn down the treble, pump up the bass

So my good friend Brian has a short write up about him on Disgrasian. It's under the Babewatch category. Allow me to go on record and say that Brian's mix of good looks, intelligence, and "his deep, velvety voice," have always made the ladies swoon. I mean, it was fun standing in his shadow -- often literally, since he's like a muscle bound rock that shades me -- as girls flirted with him and he obliviously ignored them and told (off-color) joke...

Medicine for Melancholy (2008)

I gotta say, for such a great synopses, trailer, buzz, and reviews, I was sorely disappointed. For a film that has been described as a love letter to San Francisco, an exploration of what it means to be black and indie, and (yet another) boy-meets-girl Before Sunrise, I was ready to have my socks knocked off. Instead I found my attention span waning and my annoyance growing.Here's a few lines from a review: "Micah and Jo are struggling with gentrification...

Serenity Now

Oh happiness, how difficult a target you present. It's a toss up who has the worse aim, Cupid or whichever cherub is in charge of ensuring joy for all (Mickey Mouse?). Well, there's some human help out there. Tina is the Chief Happiness Officer (CHO) of Think Simple Now and her goal is to bring fulfillment and happiness into your life. Exciting hunh? I tend to roll my eyes at anything that remotely resembles self-help but I'm addicted to Tina's...

Zap! Pow! Bam!

A friend told me about this new graphic novel, "Secret Identities," that combines Asian Americans and superheroes. This is obviously right up my alley so I rushed out to buy it. The editors of the book put together an All Star roster of Asian American writers and artists to explore "the hopes, dreams, fears, and realities of being Asian American." The book is worthy of support from every corner and I'm about halfway through and love it already....

Adventureland (2009)

There's a lot of things to like about this movie. For one, the actors are all appealing. Jesse Eisenberg (Squid and the Whale) is a less dorky -- and better -- Michael Cera. Kristen Stewart is, well, Kristen Stewart. And I'm ecstatic for any ex-Freaks and Geeks-ers who get a big role, in this case Martin Starr. And I feel like Margarita Levieva will have more to offer than just a dumb blonde role in the future. Ryan Reynolds was predictably terrible...

Put 'em up, put 'em up!

I say this all the time so my love for anything/everything Oz-related is obvious. It might be my number one obsession. So when a big screen version of the film was showing down the street from me at the Roxie, I jumped at the chance, bought my tickets, and headed off to watch it. I've never seen it on a movie screen and I feel like most people haven't either. Needless to say, it was fantastic. I walked home through the mean streets of the Mission...

Got Black to Asian and Caucasian sayin'...

"As a teenager, I lived in two worlds: the traditional Bengali heritage inside our home and the contemporary California of my suburban peers.Sometimes the gap between those two worlds seemed huge. Apple pie? Didn’t taste it till I got to college. Our kitchen smelled of mustard-seed oil, turmeric, and cardamom. Bikinis? No way. A one-piece bathing suit felt too revealing (and still does). My mother never showed her legs in public, even when she eventually shelved her sarees in favor of jeans and long skirts. Dating? Fuhgeddaboudit. My parents’ marriage...

Pin Me, I'm a Deb

I was invited to a cotillion once. There was a party, there was an organized formal dance, there was cake, and there was a young lady being presented to the world by her family. Well, this year, my Chloe-Grace will be getting a debut party of her very own. I beam like the proud parent I am. I better enjoy it too because chances are, a book daughter might be the closest thing I get to having children for quite a while. And humanity sighs (in...