UGH

I hope you get finger cramps

I hate it when I text and you text and I text and you don't respond.

Text messaging has made communication so much easier but also so much more complicated. Just call me, dammit. But I probably won't pick up.

Oscar 2009

My favorite picture of Oscar night.  The Slumdog kids are sooooo cute!  Especially the one on the bottom row, right:  Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, he played the youngest version of the main character, Jamal. Isn't he a cutie? I caught a clip of Ryan Seacrest interviewing them and I didn't really like how Seacrest handled the interview.  He pretty much perused over them.  View here:

Contrary to most American television viewers, I actually really enjoy the Academy Awards. I get to ogle all the dolled up starlets in their pretty dresses and listen to sometimes touching speeches. But unfortunately, I wasn't able to witness the televised version this evening.

No worries, though. Chicago Tribune had me covered with the Best and Worst of 2009. I liked that their comments describes not only what happened at the event itself (like that Kate Winslet won Best Actress and Hugh Jackman was the host) but also gives background story (I didn't know that Marisa Tomei hasn't been to the Oscars since 2002). Their coverage of the overall event is fast, breezy and comes with pictures! Perfect for the modern television audience. Check out their link here.

Sibling Rivalry

My sister is an aspiring actress.  She's been at it ever since she was chosen out of 300+ kids to play a role in Lethal Weapon 4.  She even has an IMDB page. Check it out here. Feel free to leave a reply about how cool she is.  

So the other thing about my sister is that she is fiercely family-oriented.  She would do anything for us.  So thoughtful her found me going through my quarter-life crisis and said, "hey... why don't I recommend my sister to my agency and see if they'll like her and take her?"

So I talked on the phone with her agents and managers for a while one morning.  They expressed concern that we were too close in age and looks and worried that we would compete against each other for roles.  

As much as I love acting, I know that this wouldn't be the right career path for me to take.  My sis on the other hand, is passionate and good at it.  There's not a doubt in my mind that she's going to be a star.  

So that's exactly what I told her representation.  They should meet with me and if they like me and feel I'm right for their company, take me.  If they think I'm too similar to my sis, don't worry about it.  I'll walk away.  No hard feelings, I'll focus on writing, journalism, food photography, television development or one of the other millions of things I want to do.

This got me thinking, though.  There are plenty of celeb siblings in Hollywood.  Some are more successful than the other.  Let's take a look at some of my most favorite ones (plus or minus a few) and in the Battle of the Older vs. Younger Siblings, who comes out on top?

John and Joan Cusack

He stole my heart when he lifted that boombox up over his shoulders in "Say Anything..." With his boyish charms untainted by time, Cusack is the epitome of the Everyman (even when donning his creepy black trench coat).  His big sis, Joan Cusack, however always irked me a little because she consistently plays these uptight women who always scrunches her face up and is forever yelling and freaking out.  I may be in the minority on my opinion of Joan, though, because she has been nominated for the Academy Awards twice while John has yet to score a nod (a travesty, I say). But who's headlining films while the other is mostly known as, "hey that woman in that one movie!?"  Guess it just goes with the well-known notion that Oscar nods don't mean blockbuster hits.

Therefore...  1 point for the younger bro! Just watch Say Anything..., and then if you still don't get it, watch Serendipity and if you still don't feel anything, America's Sweethearts and if you're still unmoved, you're heartless.

Oldies: 0 Young 'uns: 1

Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal

Jake wins. Need I say anything more? Yea, I didn't think so.

Oldies: 0 Young 'uns: 2

Warren Beatty and Shirley Maclaine

I was surprised when I first found out they were siblings too. Each one has become such a huge star in their own right, her for classics like, "Terms of Endearment" and "Steel Magnolias" and him with "Dick Tracy," "Bonnie and Clyde" and just being an all-around sexy man.  

"There's no way Warren and I wouldn't become stars. It was bred into us by parents who were in competition with each other. One was driven to believe in success. The other was afraid of it." - Shirley Maclaine

I say...let's hear it for both of them.  They're Shirley Maclaine and Warren Beatty, for goodness sakes!

Oldies: 1 Young 'uns: 3

Jamie Lynn and Britney Spears

Big sister Britney started raking in the dough when she danced her way through the Mickey Mouse Club.  She then climbed to pop royalty with "Hit Me Baby One More Time" and has since remained one of the most fascinating American pop culture figures.  There was that whole mess of two years what with the rehab and all but at the end of the day, people are still rooting for her to succeed, find happiness and stay healthy.  Britney's fame allowed the younger (but much older-looking) Jamie Lynn to star in her own Nickelodeon show, "Zoey 101," which was doing pretty well until...she got pregnant. At age 16.

Who's the winner?  Of course it's Britney, bitch! 

Oldies: 2 Young 'uns: 3

Ashlee and Jessica Simpson

Say what you will about Ashlee and Jessica Simpson but I like the two of them!  Jessica's got more of that All-American gal thing going on with the hair and the boobs.  But she was super endearing in The Newlyweds (you call it annoying, I call it endearing. You call chicken, she calls tuna.)  and girl's got the lungs of a mammoth (I just googled, "animal with big lungs" and that's what they gave me. How'd you like them apples?)  My favorite is younger sis, Ashlee, however. Her music is dancey and less snoozy than her big sis' and she also had her own reality show, "The Ashlee Simpson Show" where she demonstrated to the world just how delightfully kooky she is.  That's my kind of girl!

Oldies: 2 Young 'uns: 4

Julia and Eric Roberts

One is America's sweetheart and the other always gets stuck playing creepy guys in Lifetime movies.  I think it's pretty undeniable that although Eric Roberts has made a decent career out of acting, his little sister, Julia has pretty much got him beat.  When Rourke was receiving his Independent Spirit Award this year for his role in "The Wrestler," he kept asking people in the audience to hire his buddy, Eric.  Not that Eric is unemployed or anything, but many just felt that he is far more talented that the roles he's relegated to. I haven't seen enough of his stuff, to be honest but I do feel that younger sister, Julia Roberts is quite overrated.  She was just very smart and wise in her career choices and got pretty lucky.  Nonetheless, money and fame talks and she's still doing better than her big bro.

Oldies: 2 Youn 'uns: 5

Hmm..looks like it's just not in the "stars" for me to become an actress!  Break a leg, Jess. =)

Dr. Penelope

I came down with something last month.  It was a mysterious illness. One I couldn't immediately identify and wrap my fingers around.  

My parents tried to figure out what was up. They would be extra nice to me, and indulge me with special lunch trips and gentle soothing voices.  My sister shed tears for me, mourning my discomfort.  I genuinely appreciate their efforts and I am so grateful for their support but alas, it is still my own fight to face, my own wounds to heal.

I've been walking around with the illness, spreading it sometimes to my friends.  For those friends I've contaminated, I apologize but hey, misery loves company.  

Finally, I decided to do something about it; I decided to Google it.  And you wouldn't believe what I found.

Wikipedia best provided the words to my symptoms.  

Characteristics of quarter-life crisis may include^{[citation needed]}:

• feeling "not good enough" because one can't find a job that is at one's academic/intellectual level
• frustration with relationships, the working world, and finding a suitable job or career
• confusion of identity
• insecurity regarding the near future
• insecurity concerning long-term plans, life goals
• insecurity regarding present accomplishments
• re-evaluation of close interpersonal relationships
• disappointment with one's job
• nostalgia for university, college, high school or elementary school life
• tendency to hold stronger opinions
• boredom with social interactions
• loss of closeness to high school and college friends
• financially-rooted stress (overwhelming college loans, unanticipatedly high cost of living, etc.)
• loneliness
• desire to have children
• a sense that everyone is, somehow, doing better than you

Hmmm...13 out of 16.  Yep, I officially diagnose myself with "quarterlife crisis."  Alright! Identifying the cause is half the battle.  Now let's see what we can do about it.

Lucky for me, there's this whole world out there called, um, the internet and as I was browsing it one day, I stumbled across my doctor.

Penelope Trunk, no M.D. at the end.

"Don't worry, this isn't going to hurt. you won't feel a thing."

Penelope Trunk is a writer, entrepreneur, and blogger who gets that we young people these days will not end up with one career for the rest of our lives. She understands that we will graduate from college with hardly an inkling or a clue about what we want to do. Or that we want to do it all.  She empathizes our confusion over the booming technology trend, the ever-fickle, swiftly-changing industries. She knows that we're often so preoccupied with that flickering computer screen, answering emails from our cell phones and music blasting from the ipod to our ears that we can't see the big picture, the big idea, the big purpose.  

From advising us on how to talk to a friend who's just been laid off (asking "how's the job hunt?" might not be the best conversation starter), to How to Build a Career as an Artist (forget about being a starving artist), Penelope delves on many issues that we face today.  She's also witty, eloquent and damn relatable and I've been having a ball receiving consultations from her on a daily basis.  

Below are some of the other posts that I've found to be super-helpful.

• How to beat the system to get a great job (use other people's resumes to build yours)
• Don't try to dodge the recession with grad school (grad school pointlessly delays adulthood)

And... most importantly...

• How to figure out what you should be doing with your life (give yourself time to do it, time to fail, time to get lost)

I know these are all advice floating around my ears for the past couple of years but because they're all organized, categorized, bulleted, and condensed into one easy-to-read blog which I can access on a daily basis, print out and glance at whenever I feel the need to, little by little, I'm starting to breathe again, my brows are un-furrowing, and my heart is shifting from my stomach back to its original spot.

I understand this illness is stubborn and it's going to stick around for awhile.  But I'm a fighter so bring on the pain! (And the bandages.)

Party at Brett's House

Best part of the evening. 

photos taken January 29, 2009

Mainly because we partied too hard and blacked out for the rest of the night.  The next morning, we ended up outside his porch with Sharpie drawings all over our faces.  Just another night at Brett's, I suppose.

JK...the party was pretty much over by the time we finished our interview.  My friend, Mike and I were only able to sneak in 2 pieces of hors d'oeuvres before they whisked it away.  When we got to Brett's discotec, we were pretty much the only ones shaking our booty there.

Ratner may be famous for throwing wild and crazy parties in his Hillhaven Lodge but this one sure wasn't it.  It's okay though because for a couple of college kids on the outskirts of the Hollywood scene (for now), we were just impressed with the glitz, lights (and boy, were there plenty aglow) and brushing shoulders with Russell Simmons. 

For now.

Ouch

"Men know how to use the phone. If he's not calling you, it's because you're not on his mind."

-Greg Behrendt, author of "He's Just Not That Into You"

Why would I need to watch the movie if I'm already living the life?

Feedback

Woke up this morning to a pleasant surprise in the form of a buzz on my blackberry signaling that I had received an email from one of my editors at APA:

"Hey J,

You might find this interesting:

http://alpha-asian.blogspot.com/2009/02/dats-fine-with-me.html

I don't like that the blogger calls you a "college reporter" but dat's fine since he shows you much love.  and deservedly too.  Ada's probably told you how good your article is and I definitely have to second it and more.  The piece was engaging from intro to freak ending.  I love how you play the straight man to his lunacy.  Worked out great."

Open Your Eyes, Miley!

I'm a little behind on this but a couple of weeks ago, Miley Cyrus, Disney pop sensation ("sensation" being the right word because this girl's talent and worth is totally sensationalized by the Disney machine) was found in a picture with a group of her friends doing this...

At first glance, one can say, "okay. It's just a picture of a girl having fun with her friends, making some goofy faces."

One can even interpret these faces in many way. Maybe they're pretending to need glasses! Maybe they're potheads! Maybe they're constipated!

But upon closer inspection, it's pretty obvious that this is a completely racist picture of a bunch of white folks pretending to have chinky eyes. Note how the one Asian dude in the shot isn't making the face at all? Note how some people (Miley included) are pulling their eyes taut to achieve the oriental look? Note how one genius in the back even put his fingers up to his mouth to adopt a buck teeth look reminiscent of Charlie Chan's (incredibly racist) Breakfast at Tiffany's character?

Genius

Inspiration

Gotta give him props for being precise and detailed!

Now, I'm not the biggest advocate for anti-racism or anything. I understand that people make mistakes sometimes. We've been brought up in a world where stereotypes exist and racism still lingers. As much as we try to become as open-minded and loving of our neighbors for who they are as a person rather than the color of their skin, it's still typical to make jokes about certain races, to make comments generalizing a group of people, to behave a certain way around them. I'm not saying it's acceptable. Just that it's typical.

However, Miley Cyrus is a celebrity figure. The comments she says, the faces she makes, the pictures she takes, weigh a whole lot more than the average human being. There are little girls who don't even know what racism means who dance along to her songs and sleep on "Hannah Montana" monogrammed pillows at night. I know that she's only 16 herself and just trying to grow up in the public eye but she's been in enough photo scandals to know that anything she does on film will be scrutinized, analyzed and criticized by society. By taking a picture making that kind of face and then letting the photographer keep the picture and post it up online only shows that she doesn't care what message she is sending out.

My sister was in her "7 Things" music video and told me that on-set, Miley wouldn't take pictures with any of the young girls who asked her. Taking pictures with her fans, those that feed her livelihood and made her who she is, is a no no but you know, taking "goofy," ignorant and utterly tasteless shots, that, she will do!

So as is typical "Disney It Girl Gone Bad" fashion, Cyrus has come out with a sort-of statement explaining the photo:

"I've also been told there are some people upset about some pictures taken of me with friends making goofy faces! Well, I'm sorry if those people looked at those pics and took them wrong and out of context! In NO way was I making fun of any ethnicity! I was simply making a goofy face. When did that become newsworthy? It seems someone is trying to make something out of nothing to me. If that would of [sic] been anyone else, it would of been overlooked! I definitely feel like the press is trying to make me out as the new 'BAD GIRL'!"

Girl, you need to (no pun intended) open your eyes if you think that the picture was just goofy. If you think people are "making something out of nothing," why don't we just put up a picture of a bunch of people with hay stuck in our mouths and greasy long blonde hair in our faces and see how you feel about that?

Asians are offended by racist actions like pretending to have chinky eyes because we've had a history of being taught to hate our smaller-than-white-people peepers. We've had a history of thinking that the smaller your eyes are, the less attractive you are. So when you go and take a picture trying to mock our eyes and then say that you weren't trying to do that but was just making a goofy face, you've not only made fun of us once by taking that picture but twice by saying that the face you were making was goofy. Thanks! I quite love walking around with a "goofy" face 24/7.

What Miley Cyrus did was not okay. And I hate how other people out there also think that it was. On Zap2it, the commenters to the article would say these like, "she's only a kid!" and "I don't see what the big deal is!" Um..okay, just because you're a kid doesn't mean that you can get away with racism. If we don't punish her now, how can she grow up to become a responsible, race-conscious adult? And the big deal is that no one ever makes a big deal when there's racism targeted towards Asians. John Imus' infamous "nappy headed hoes" comment drew outrage all over the country, this hardly made a ripple.

On the other hand, there are people who are angry about this and insults Miley back by calling her just another ignorant "country hick." That's kind of racist as well, wouldn't you say? How about we say that Miley Cyrus isn't just another ignorant country hick. She's actually a very lucky girl who's able to live out a dream most other girls would kill for. It's harsh being under the spotlight all the time but you can't expect the fame, glory and moolah to come without some costs, can you? With great power comes great responsibilities (yes, I totally pulled a "Spiderman") and she needs to learn how to be a proper role model whether she likes it or not. If she doesn't want to be one, then GO AWAY. Let Selena Gomez take your place.

Oh! And I also found the Grammy performance Cyrus did with Taylor Swift (whom I girlcrush on madly) She totally ruined Taylor's gentle song with her nasally and crass hooterin' and hollerin'.

Hmm..Taylor Swift's eyes are known for being fairly cat-eyes and slim, I wonder how she feels about Miley calling her eyes "goofy"?

Inspiration for this post: Angry Asian Man

*Edit: FINALLY a real apology issued on her official fan club website...

Posted on Feb 08, 2009

"I want to thank all of my fans for their support not only this week, but always! I really wanted to stress how sorry I am if the photo of me with my friends offended anyone. I have learned a valuable lesson from this and know that sometime my actions can be unintentionally hurtful. I know everything is a part of GODs ultimate plan, and mistakes happen so that eventually I will become the woman he aspires me to be. Peace and love, Miles."

Nick, Nora and Dat

I (finally) just watched "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist."

And it totally satisfied my heart.

Plus! My interview with "Last Comic Standing" original winner, Dat Phan is up!  Read it, he's quite an interesting fellow.

I should have taken advantage of the California sun and sat out by the parks and hills more.  Who knew that this would turn out to be such a wet week?

On the other hand, I do enjoy the cheery pitter patter of the rain. Time to bust out the rain-boots!

The "25 Things About Me" thing has been going around these days.  I've almost been tagged more times than the amount of people I'm supposed to tag.  It's very tempting to also partake in this trend. I even started on a draft. But after getting to item #8, I realized that I don't really want all this information of me floating around in cyberspace.  In time, I will change, my thoughts will change, my words will change.  I don't want to have to explain myself 10 years from now for something I filled out back when I was a young collegiate who got "tagged" by a couple of her friends. (I didn't even get physically tagged! There were no human contact involved!)  

Besides, I'm trying to be more mysterious.  Is it working?

Surreal

Going to school in Los Angeles, California definitely has its advantages.  For one thing, celebrity sightings are a dime a dozen.  You see them everywhere, pumping at the gas station, shopping at the grocery store, dining at the In N Out.  But I've had an especially star-packed two weeks. 

Last Tuesday, Professor Grobel took our "Art of the Interview" class to a screening by one Al Pacino.  That's right. We sat in the same room as The Godfather himself.  We breathed the same air as him.  We (or at least I could since I sat so close) could see up his nostrils.  

Then on Thursday, my editor at APA asks if I could conduct an interview with this comedian named Dat Phan.  I think, "sure, why not?"  It was just supposed to be a simple phone interview.  

So imagine my confusion when a couple of hours later, I'm sitting right across from him at our school's food court, watching him eat Panda Express.  

The interview should be up online shortly and I'll be sure to link it here. (Don't worry, I know you're waiting anxiously. You'll get to read it, I promise.)

Today is Thursday.  That's college party day.  Most kids will probably be at a Frat house or someone's birthday.  My "Art of Interview" class, however, will be at Brett Ratner's (director of Rush Hour, Family Man, X-Men, etc.) Hillhaven Lodge House of Fun!  Ratner is famous for throwing these crazy parties at his Hollywood home and he's throwing a Pre-Grammy one tonight and we're invited!  You should be expecting craziness.  

I mean, we'll still have to conduct the interview (something we've been preparing for for over 4 weeks) but after that, who knows what madness will occur.

Yea, I definitely take Los Angeles for granted.  Not anymore!