Currently pushing: I can't believe I haven't shared this before, but Julia Wertz is an autobiographical cartoonist and her work is amazing. I saw Fart Party 2 on the shelf awhile ago and thought by title alone it wouldn't be up my alley but as it turned out, Fart Party was exactly my type of party. Wertz's latest book, "Drinking at the Movies," chronicles her transition from San Francisco to New York, which makes it especially relevant to me right now (see below). So if you like funny and poignant, go check out fartparty.org and as well as Julia's blog and her many interviews and reviews.
Got a few things going on, the first of which is that I'm off to New York in about a week. I've been itching to get out of California for some time now, and after a summer of missteps and delays, I've been generously given the gift of pure unadulterated excitement as I prepare to fight winter and figure out how to properly tie a scarf. The last time I lived on the East Coast I got through it by wearing sweat pants underneath my gigantic jeans. On really cold days, I'd slap on snowboarding gear and just walk around like a slopes reject. That probably won't work this time around so I'm going to look into other options. Will I be investing in some Uniqlo HeatTech thermals? Yes, immediately. I'm also contemplating growing my hair back out for head insulation.
For example, right when I get to New York I'm going to try to hit up Page Turner: The Asian American Literary Festival, but seeing as I'm still on vampire hours, that could prove difficult. And since it's NaNoWriMo and I need some writerly friends, I'm going to try it out -- but not all 50,000 words -- and participate as much as I can. I have a superhero sort of book I've been dying to get started on so this will prove to be the perfect opportunity.
Then in late November I'll be doing a book event at Books of Wonder on the 20th, along with some fellow 2009 Debs: Megan Crewe, Jenny Moss, Jon Skovron, Rhonda Stapleton, Michelle Zink. I'm super excited about that as it'll be my very first New York book outing and I'll get a chance to meet some authors I've only followed and admired from afar. More on this fine event later but for now, just plan to come see us because it'll be a time.
Last of all, the wonderful Claire Light hooked me up and got me interviewed for this San Francisco Magazine article about Asian American writers. It was a thought provoking and fun interview and Bernice said some very nice things so I'm most appreciative. It also marks the first and almost certainly last time I'll be mentioned within a paragraph or two of a MacArthur Genius so it's pretty historic all around. Read on.
"Burnt out on chopsticks, gongs, and other musty ethnic clichés, the next generation of Asian American writers is giving biculturalism a confident new spin."Oh and I'll do a proper post on it, but I'm trying to get my Asian American writers site off the ground. It's called Lonely Comma and it's obvious I need to update it far more regularly, but you could follow along now and say you were there since the beginning. Like a pioneer.
-Bernice Yeung, "As Asian as they want to be"-
