Goodbye to All This

"Something has changed inside me, something is not the same…” Can you tell I watched Wicked last week? For maybe the fifth time I think, but only the second time on Broadway. This time we were just five rows back and it was spectacular.

To recap, I first tried to watch Wicked on Broadway right before Idina Menzel left, flying out in November of 2004 in an attempt to get lottery tickets. That didn’t work out, unfortunately. But since then I’ve made it a point to watch it in whatever city I’m in. Los Angeles in 2005, San Diego in 2006, San Francisco in 2010, and then on Broadway in 2014 and this year. Where next?! Maybe Japan! Through the power of Spotify I stumbled upon the Gekidan Shiki cast recording, which is entirely in Japanese (duh). I’d be curious what they may have changed, if anything.

Anyway, every time I watch Wicked, I pick up new things — or forget past feelings in the interim — and just want to gush over how great and clever it is all over again. If you haven’t seen Wicked, I’ll be ready to go again in another two years. See you in Tokyo?

• "For Good,” performed by Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel (2016)
• “Popular,” Shiki Theatre Company
• The Downside to Rereading (2012)

Of course, Wicked's not all I’ve been doing. Even if that was the definitive highlight of my last week or so in New York. Yup, I’m on my way out again. After just two months this time. Most of me was hoping that I would last longer, and maybe I would have, but maybe my attitude was defeatist from the beginning. Much of the charm and magic of New York for me involves late summer nights, lots of dancing and park-ing, and just generally running around and having fun. But that part has now slipped away. People ask me why, if it’s me or the city. It’s probably both.

I can’t even stand going out in LES anymore, overrun as it is by douchebags galore. I guess it was always like that but it just seems worse now. And Brooklyn, faraway Brooklyn has the same feeling too, at least the few times I've tried to go out. And to be honest, a lot of the change has been me, as I’ve had a very “the death of fun” attitude about things. I’m trying to stop chasing the same thrills, putting the same record on over and over again. It’s like when a dance track is objectively great but after the hundredth time it just loses its power to make you move. Example: Faith Evans, “Love Like This.” You get semi-excited but it just gets tired quickly you know?

Sad as I am, overall I think this is good for me, as I'm finally feeling a little settled down. Inside and out.

Numbers: Over the past seven years, dating back to 2010, I’ve lived in New York for twenty-nine months, with one or two months at a time being the norm, excepting 2011 when I was here for seven months and then 2012-3 when I was here for all of 2013 and four months of 2012. So sixteen months in a row. So yeah, I just keep running back and forth and back and forth. But this time I'm running with no real plans on coming back...

Sure there’s a chance I’ll be back soon enough, never say never, but I don’t know when. At the very least, I've realized that it's unlikely I could live here long term. However, as my friend put it, “You could be back in two months…” And really, where else can I go for the culture -- and people -- kick that I need from here? For now though, the positives of being here are outweighed by the negatives, and so many aspects of the city has curdled for me. So I’m out!

I haven’t seen Netflix's Bojack Horseman yet, but I am newly in love with its co-creator, Lisa Hanawalt. I saw her XOXO talk about creative paralysis and she’s just perfection. And just by coincidence, I came across her Lucky Peach article about leaving New York in 2015, which I’ll link to below.

I didn’t realize Hanawalt was part of Pizza Island, an all-female cartoonists’ collective in Greenpoint that shut down in 2012. I mostly followed Julia Wertz and Sarah Glidden from the Island but I’m thinking I should start following all of them. And heck, Wertz is also leaving New York, or just left, rather. While I’m a merely a fan of Wertz, it seems to say something that she too is leaving the city. When the cartoonists go, I go! Sidenote: I wonder if it's too late to start learning how to draw, I feel like there is a cartoon strip in me. And I have just the topic and name for it! Shhhhh.

• XOXO Festival video: Lisa Hanawalt
• Lisa Hanawalt, “Goodbye to All That Sugar, Spice, and Fat” (2015)
• Lisa Hanawalt’s Long, Talking Animal–Filled Road to BoJack Horseman
• Pizza Island RIP (2012)

Before I leave, I’m wrapping up with Sleep No More mid-week, along with a just finished amazing meal at my friend Pam’s restaurant -- now Michelin starred!!! And maybe I’ll sneak in a bike ride across one of the bridges if I can swing it, since I haven’t done that yet this trip. Play the hits that still hit, as it were.

This was my second visit to Semilla, and it was even better than the last. Pam’s bread and desserts are out of control. Tonight’s rye and potato sourdough bread with Cowbella butter was perfection. Here’s a bunch of links from this 2014 post I did about Semilla, just before Pam and Jose opened shop, lest I re-inundate you with their much deserved praise and acclaim. Also, the Cowbella butter was served with this ridiculously chubby knife that I must get my hands on. Pam revealed it was simply a Crate & Barrel purchase but I can't seem to find it online. Please help me shopping elves, I neeeeed this dull and stout knife in my life!

• Video: Meet the Smallest Michelin Star Restaurant in the World (2016)
• Michelin Madness: Semilla in South Williamsburg Receives One Star (2015)

Ooooh, also, I’m here to plug Mian Tian Sing Hair Salon, which would be my new go-to if I was sticking around. Brandon, my Taiwan school mate, found this place and it’s both cheap and great. For $18 you get a head/shoulder massage and the best (Asian hair) haircut around. I was caught in the torrential downpour of Monday, but managed to sneak my way to Mian Tian Sing under cover of a newly purchased umbrella. Was a great haircut worth getting drenched for? You betcha! Alert: No Pikachu showed up during the thunderstorm, as rumored...

And speaking of Chinatown, I went to Wing On Wo & Co. last Tuesday for a panel discussion co-organized by a friend. Wing On Wo & Co. is the oldest store in Chinatown and it sells various porcelains and antiques. Choosing to forgo graduate school, twenty-five year old Mei Lum took over the family business, preserving it and also expanding its scope by organizing a summer series of talks about the changing face of Chinatown.

I went to the second event, which was a loose panel about the encroachment of (non-Chinese) art galleries in Chinatown. Things got heated pretty quickly, with lots of rising emotions, accusations, explanations, tensions, and even some tears spilled. There's a livestream of the event up on their Facebook page, but beware because the audio is very low. Regardless of outcome, these conversations are the beginning of something and need to happen for the community as Chinatown organizes and struggles with many issues surrounding its increasing gentrification. As one audience member pointed out, he visited DC's Chinatown awhile ago and was saddened/shocked by how it was basically a Chinatown in name (and signage) only.

• Wing On Wo & Co.'s Facebook
• Chinatown Resident Saves Family Store, Launches Series on Changing Nabe (2016)
• Chinatown: New York’s Newest Gallery Scene?

The New Normal

Hey guess what? New York is hot. Like finally tank top weather — which I’ve been waiting for — but now that it’s arrived, it’s just making me dread going outside.

But venture forth I must, as my New York time dwindles to a close. In two more weeks I’m basically out of here, so it’s time to jam in as much as I can. First, there was Dhonielle and Sona’s book launch for their follow up to Tiny Pretty Things, which is called Shiny Broken Pieces. Instead of a traditional launch, they threw together an entire panel of ballet in YA themed authors. Note, the correct answer for best ballet movie is clearly Centerstage, and nothing else compares.

On Wednesday, went to Union Docs in Williamsburg for a showing of The New Black, Yoruba Richen’s 2013 documentary about the LBGT African-American community and their work to get marriage equality passed in Maryland.

Actually, speaking of movies, I’ve seen just a handful recently, and of all of them, the only one I can wholly recommend is Love & Friendship, Whit Stillman’s take on a Jane Austen novella. Kate Beckinsale is perfect in it, as a manipulative and scheming widow. Doesn’t this summer block of movies feel especially crappy? I have half a mind to watch The Neon Demon, but scarred by Only God Forgives, I’m hesitant to give Nicolas Winding Refn another chance. And aside from that, nothing is drawing me to the theater except as a respite from the heat.

So let’s talk books! I caught the tail end of Ted Chiang’s talk at AAWW, and he brought up this article, “The Strange Case of the Woman Who Couldn’t Remember Her Past — And Can’t Imagine Her Future.” It’s about a woman who leads a perfectly normal life, despite the fact that she has no episodic memory. Basically it means she lives perpetually in the present, with no access to previous memories or experiences. The article is great and well worth a read.

Also, if you don’t know Ted Chiang, he’s basically the Galactus of the scifi world, having won literally every award for his writing. And he so happens to be Chinese American, which is an important, if not defining, fact. Actually there are quite a few Asian American writers who have been dominating scifi, and I’ve been trying to get caught up on all their works. Ken Liu, you're next!

• The Perfectionist (2014)
• The Occasional Writer: An Interview with Science Fiction Author Ted Chiang (2012)
• Chinese Science Fiction: A Response to Modernization (2013)

And I’ve recently been working through Shawna Yang Ryan’s Green Island, which is a fictionalized version of the White Terror era in Taiwan, from 1947 through 1987, when martial law was in effect. Having recently visited Green Island, to see the prisons where dissidents were incarcerated, the book holds special interest for me. And what Yang Ryan has done is pretty unprecedented, in taking a period of Taiwanese history that is often overlooked, and creating a compelling novel for English reading audiences.

Then there's Detention, an upcoming game from Taiwan-based indie developer Red Candle Games. Detention is also set during Taiwan's martial law period, and is a survival horror game with fantasy elements. "Detention draws on local Taiwanese cultural references to tell a unique and terrifying story." Check out the game trailer and I think Detention should be available via Steam soon enough.

• LA Times review of Green Island
• Q. and A.: Shawna Yang Ryan on the 1947 Incident That Shaped Taiwan’s Identity
• Taipei Times review

Also, recently read Eddie Huang's second book, Double Cup Love, which was a decent follow-up, if you like to continue on his adventures, but mostly I'd only recommend it only to Huang completists. What I would recommend for all is his Huang's World Orlando episode, in which Eddie returns home for Lunar New Year to hang with his family. They cook up a storm, and Eddie's mom is the unquestioned star of the show.

Despite saying I never travel to beaches, I found myself riding two hours out of Manhattan to Fire Island last weekend. My friend got a car -- to have something to put in her car port -- and she's been trying to make out-of-town trips with it. I was commissioned to be the night driver and so I went. Getting to Fire Island is a bit of a trek, but it involves a ferry, which is always fun. And once there, I promptly napped the afternoon away before we had a super amazing seafood dinner by the ocean as the rain poured down over the roof. Summer 2016: Keep it beachy!

Is This the End?

My de facto office has been Cafe Habana on Elizabeth Street. Not that I work there, but it’s where I meet everyone. Advantages: there are benches outside, there is corn inside, it’s a straight shot down 2nd Ave on a bike for me. Basically my range this summer has been “anything up/down 2nd Avenue or maybe off the L train.” Going across town to Chelsea or the West Village has been too much of a hassle, and Brooklyn, forget it!

Although I have been to Williamsburg more times than I can count over the past week — including a night with the douchetastic crowd at Freehold. Still, if we’re meeting up, it’s starting off at Cafe Habana and then probably a walk around Nolita. And of course I’ll buy a corn and then carry it around for a few hours thinking I’ll eat it but then I toss it in the trash. Food waster, that’s me!

I’ve trolled those few blocks around Nolita at least three times, and I still don’t actually know exactly where I am. Who am I without my trusty compass? Also, as if you had to ask, but of course I’ll all up on this Pokemon Go craze. I can’t stop talking about it, I can’t stop making people download it (Team Instinct/Yellow please!), I carry every single portable charger with me nowadays, and I’m waiting for all the features like trading to get into the game. My main worry about leaving New York is that anywhere else won’t have the density of Pokemon, gyms, and pokestops.

New York is the perfect city to go Poke-hunting and without the easily accessible walking spaces, I’m worried my collection will never be complete. So far my best place to find stuff has been at Pratt, where the sculpture garden was full of interesting stuff to look at. But enough about Pokemon…

The rundown the past week included Fourth of July celebrated from the comfort of my room, which just so happens to look over the Hudson River. Nice view, but my interest in fireworks is nil. So I just stood back while my cousin and aunt peered outside.

After going through a pizza, ramen, sandwiches, Cubanos, and salad phase, I’m now squarely into my diner life. I’ve eaten at three diners recently and while each experience was squarely a B- or a C+, I still loved it. (In case I’ve never mentioned it, Malibu Diner in Chelsea is my favorite one, because it’s got really the best food for a diner.)

I have dreams of just sitting in a diner, quietly reading or writing, but that’s happened zero times so far. I read that Rembert Brown did a lot of his Grantland writing from the old Bauhaus, which I can’t even imagine. I wish I was one of those people who could be productive at cafes or eating places, but mostly I just get all paranoid about the foodstuffs and potential spillage around my computer.

I've learned, over time, that the only way I can get any writing done is in a controlled environment that has little in the way of distractions (or dirt). So much for the image of a traveling writer who parks it all day in a cafe!

An epic half-rainy Saturday unearthed five straight hours of karaoke. To be honest, that’s not that much, because in Taiwan I’ve had people go karaoke for like eight hours. I couldn’t do that back then — due to the dearth of English songs — but I could have gone even longer on Saturday night. We started off with Madonna, whipped through some classic Eighties, got even deeper with the Eighties, moved onto ballads and lite R&B, and then had a sprinkling of Les Mis and Aladdin. Categories skipped that I hope to return to: pop, duets, alternative songs of the 2000s, Guns N Roses.

Till next time...

For the Longest Time

So my friend's wedding happened, it was beautiful, it was in Bryant Park, and the respect you get on the streets for walking around in tuxes was certainly nice. People are so friendly when you’re dressed up! This was the first (and probably last) tux I’d ever worn. From what I can tell, the difference between a tux and a suit is the lapels. Also you’re supposed to wear French cuffs, and there’s fancier buttons and a bow tie involved.

Since my tux came very loose, I had to get the shit tailored out of it. Basically it was like I had to get a whole new outfit made out of baggy drapes. Upon recommendation of my friend, I went to Dejavu Tailoring in the East Village and over the span of two weeks went by a couple of times. Sometimes just to say “hi” because I’m trying to make new friends! And my new semi-friend — I asked for his Facebook, does that count? — pointed me to @TheSalon, where I got my pre-wedding haircut. So you know, I was at peak fancy and it’s all downhill from here. I kind of wanted to have a cummerbund though, since I'd never worn one before. Do they make cummerbund fanny packs?

It’s only the second time I’ve been a groomsman and once again I performed all my duties spectacularly. Actually I really had no duties, aside from just wake up on time and be there without complaining. With those low expectations set, I think I did my absolute best. Thanks K&M for having me!

One of these days someone will ask me to do a speech and I’ll be sooooo ready.

Aside from that to wrap up my first month here, there was an ultimate Eighties / Nineties karaoke session with two of my favorite karaokers. It’s been awhile since we’ve all sang together. And fueled by tequila shots — none for me thank you — and just general joy, we blasted through our jams, new and old. Here’s a sampling of the night’s hits:

• Billy Joel, “The Longest Time” (1983)
• Phil Collins, "Against All Odds” (1984)
• Alphaville, “Forever Young” (1984)
• The Cure, “Friday I’m in Love” (1992)
• Meat Loaf, "I Would Do Anything For Love” (1993)

My personal new go-to is “Hero” by Enrique Iglesias. It’s in my range, vocally and emotionally. Bailamos! Also, I’m waiting for that special someone who can do a credible CeCe Peniston's “Finally.” (Is that even a fun karaoke song? Let’s find out!) And while we’re on the subject of singing, watch this twelve year old, Grace VanderWaal, on America’s Got Talent. It’s from last month but it’s worth a share because she’s just amazing.

Went to the NBA draft too, way up in the cheap seats. Watched the Celtics take the guy I didn’t want them to take, and then got bored and left by the latter half of the first round. Verdict: C+. Going to the draft isn’t that fun unless you know who’s being taken. Even with the ESPN app open to watch it on a screen and IRL at the same time. My advice is to just stay home, watch it on TV. And damn Danny Ainge for not taking Dragan Bender...

A week later, I cruised out to a thing for Chuck Klosterman’s newest book, But What If We're Wrong? He was in conversation with Wesley Morris, of Grantland fame and while the conversation they had was overall pretty good, I would probably have enjoyed it better as a podcast. It's just hard to sit there and watch people chat for an hour and a half these days isn't it? Verdict: Decent B.

Also, Klosterman is very tall, Morris is very short. That should make for a winning combination but Morris seemed to be off his moderator game. Very impressed with Klosterman in person though. He's got this nice ability to take an audience member's (inevitably) rambly Q&A and instantly summarize the question into something understandable. He'll listen and then go, "So what you're asking is <insert nice wrap up>." Useful skill to practice and emulate I think.

• Chuck Klosterman asks: What is the future of TV?

One of my very first podcast episodes (with Lilly!) was about Klosterman actually, concerning his intellectual douchebaggery. The thing is, Klosterman is super smart, and I do really love his writing and he always brings an interesting twisted perspective to things. So I change my verdict, Klosterman's not really a douchebag at all, with the possible exception that he's likely a serial mansplainer. But is that okay because he just knows so much?!

Last thing, if you’re into ex-Gossip Girl leads, sharks, and beautiful surf scenes, go watch The Shallows. Nobody would go watch it with me so I was forced to see it myself. Well naysayers, you totally missed out because Blake Lively versus shark was everything I wanted it to be and more. Since basically all of the current crop of summer blockbusters are kind of sucking right now, at the very least The Shallows will make you cringe and get nervous for Serena van der Woodsen’s well-being. Shaaaarks!

And this past Friday I hit up a New York beach for the first time, Long Beach, which was way far out there. I wouldn't normally have gone except my friend offered to drive. (I live right by the beach back home, why would I sit on a train for an hour to get to one?) Anyway, you try new things and you learn new things. Two word game changer: beach chairs.