Asian Invasion

In a recent episode of Glee, Jane Lynch's character, Sue, the ruthless cheerleader coach who takes over the Glee club (temporarily), called out Glee members that she wanted to be on her team.

Sue: Alright, everybody! Listen up! When you hear your name called, cross over to my side of this black shiny thing.

Will (the actual Glee club coach): That's called a piano, Sue.

Sue: Wheels

Artie the handicapped boy, wheels over to Sue's side.

Sue: Gay Kid

Kurt, the homosexual boy, gives Sue a frosty glance.

Sue: Come on, move it! Asian

Tina and Mike, the Asian kids, glance at each other

Sue: Other Asian

They both head over

Uh, did she mean you or me?

When I watched that scene, I nearly toppled over with laughter. And then I pumped my fist in the air. Yes! Sue mentioned "Asian!" There are Asians on one of the hottest shows on TV! Victory! So not only is the superb Jenna Ushkowitz playing Tina Chang on the show, there's also the adorable Harry Shum Jr. as Mike Chang.

I got the pleasure of chatting with the two talented young stars for Audrey and KoreAm. Read their articles here and here.

Both characters' story lines have not been developed as much as some of the other Glee club members have but Watch With Kristin has spoiler alerted that the next episode will feature "some supercute romantic scenes betwee Artie and Tina" so I can't wait for Tina to do something other than stutter horribly.

Too bad Glee won't be back until November 11. Until then, I will only have Ugly Betty, How I Met Your Mother, catch up episodes of Mad Men, and Grey's Anatomy (I heard it was good again?) to keep me company. Oh - that and the Glee soundtrack on repeat in my car. I think I'll survive.

Sharing Is Caring

Good things should be shared. Bad things like the swine flu or dirty underwear or those millions of pictures that you took of yourself, each one looking exactly the same, except maybe with a different head cock or head twist, should not. (You know what I'm talking about, don't act like you don't have a folder of those stored somewhere in your computer) But good things should.

I really really dig This American Life with Ira Glass. Whenever I can, I bring it up in conversations. Don't even tell me if you don't know what it is because after I pick up my heart that has shattered into a million pieces, I will then proceed to go into this long, somewhat confuddling explanation of the show. Basically, it's a radio show which tells stories, interviews, songs, poems, etc. etc. based on a theme they choose each week. Doesn't sound too exciting, huh? Even the This American Life website noted this problem. Really, the only way that I will get you to realize the awesomeness of the show is if you listen to it. Try with these stories first.

This American Life has infiltrated my own life in America in so many ways. It's helped me understand a lot of complex issues like the U.S. health care problems or the cause for the financial crisis, it's kept me entertained for hours of otherwise mundane car rides, and most importantly, it's shown me the power of a good story and the impact it can have on its audience. That fact alone has kept me motivated in my own endeavors as a storyteller.

It's also motivated me to know that I can share the gospel with people.

In case you didn't know, I've recently become a Christian and, yes, it most definitely has been life-changing and is really quite all that jazz. I can see what the fuss is about and if I had known the happiness and peace of mind I'd feel, I'd have hopped on the bandwagon earlier! I will officially be getting baptized November 15 (come! come!).

Though I can't be happier about my faith and "seeing the light," honestly, I'm still a little hesitant about the whole thing. It still makes me a tad uncomfortable when I listen to sermons while driving with my windows down and I still stutter and mumble when describing just how I got "saved." (See, I'm still uncomfortable with using these religious words that I have to put quotes around them.) I might have to give my testimonial come Nov. 15 and I'm scared of not knowing really what to say.

And don't even get me started on spreading the gospel to other people. Sometimes I wonder, what right does it give me to tell other people about Him when I still have some doubts and questions myself? When I still can't fully believe everything the Bible says even though I fully believe in Him? And religion is complicated! And takes a long time to explain! And it's controversial!

But This American Life has made me realize that when you love something so much and understand and appreciate how good it is to you and for you, you want to share it with the world, no matter how complicated it is to explain. Pastor Ed once asked, "what good is it when you have all this food and can only eat it by yourself? Of course you'd want to call everyone over to enjoy the meal with you." I don't want to just go to Heaven by myself. I'd want all my loved ones and then some to join me. The more the merrier. There should be room up there. Extra pillows and everything.

Case in point: a year ago, I bought my cousin Cissy How I Met Your Mother boxsets. Cissy lives in Hong Kong and had no clue what the show was. Cissy is also a die-hard Friends fan, having watched every single episode at least ten times. The entire time I was in Hong Kong, the Mother DVDs just sat in their DVD collection, collecting dust. Every time I'd try to bust it out, they would make some excuses not to watch. I wasn't frustrated. I was confident that all in due time...

Now, a year later, Cissy's sister, Wrini, tells me that Cissy loves the show! She says it might even be funnier than Friends!

So after reading my post, maybe you'll head on over to the This American Life website. Maybe you'll click on one of the shows. Maybe you'll get into it, maybe you won't. Maybe some other day, you'll hear someone else talk about it and you'll give it another try. Maybe then you'll get hooked. Maybe you won't.

Maybe you'll go check out a church with a friend this coming Sunday. Maybe the sermon will speak to you. Maybe it won't. Maybe the people at the church will be so bright and full of this innate...happiness and good cheer that you'll wonder where it comes from and where you can get in on the action as well. Maybe they'll share with you the gospel which is basically this: 1) God created this Universe to enjoy it and man in his likeness to glorify Him. 2) Man became a sinner (Adam, Eve, apples) and is banished away from His kingdom. 3) Jesus Christ came along and saved us by dying on the cross for our sins. He was then reborn in 3 days. 4) If we have faith in all this and seek His grace and redemption, we will be saved.

Maybe you'll hear this and something will come over you. Maybe you'll still be hesitant and will want to know more. Or maybe you won't and that's that. I hope you do, though. As you know, when I have something good on my hands, I like to share it. And nothing is better to share than the Good News.

Coming Soon...

www.janicejann.com

Friends are awesome.

Woohoo for Woo! Boo for PR Lady

This man is a legend in the film industry.

He is one of the most famous Asian directors with Hollywood leverage. He directed

Face -Off and Mission Impossible 2. He crafted the iconic image of a protagonist jumping out and shooting people with two guns-one in each hand. He is John Woo.

For a guy with such an action-packed resume, you would expect him to be a lot more slicker, harder, tougher, much like the characters in his films. Instead, in person, Woo is a very soft-spoken director with kindly eyes and a constant semi-grin. With a devout Christian upbringing, Woo hopes his films will promote messages of peace and reveal the grim truths of violence and brutality. He wants to educate the youth and help out poor countries. He's like an artsy Mother Teresa. He reminds me of a certain family member. Which one? I'll let you know when the Audrey Magazine blog entry comes out.
I had the pleasure of interviewing him at the lovely Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills last week. This was one interview where I wish lasted longer because I just had so many questions to ask him. Mainly, how he maintains his faith while working in the industry. But time and four other journalists robbed me of the answers.

When the interview ended, I asked the publicist if she would mind if I took a picture of Woo by his poster. The woman said no problem. After I snapped the shot, another journalist, a bearded, chubby white man, asked someone else to take a picture of him with Woo. Seeing that, I immediately asked the publicist if she could kindly take my picture with the director as well.

The publicist did not see the other journalist taking his picture so she said to me, "oh, you want me to take your picture with him? Like, the two of you standing next to each other? No. you can't do that. I know they do that in your country but we don't do that."

Then, she finally sees the other journalist doing EXACTLY that in THIS COUNTRY, no less. Immediately, her tone shifts. "Oh, I guess they're taking pictures. Yea, sure, I'll take it for you." She hurries over to take my camera, snapping this shot.

Everything happened so quickly I didn't even have time to digest the entire conversation until I stepped out of the hotel and into my car.

"Wait a minute, that was racist!" I thought to myself.

Then a million possible comebacks raced through my mind.

"I didn't know people in America didn't take pictures with each other."

"But this is my country."

"Whoa whoa whoa, that's pretty racist, PR lady. Stereotyping that Asian people like to take pictures with other people is kind of bigoted and narrow minded. You should really read my blog entry about that."

It's insulting that we have to face this kind of discrimination in a country we call our home. But I hope with more awareness, like this public blog post, we will face careless, idiotic remarks like that less and less.

Oh, and if you think that PR lady soured my mood, think again! I got to interview and take a picture with John Woo! God loves me.

"And We're Live..."

Would you like to hear the soothing, silky, sexy voice of yours truly for roughly one whole hour? My deliciously girly giggle? My awkward transitions? My dumb gaffs? If so, click below!





The awesome awesome new KoreAm Journal website www.iamkoream.com was even more awesome because they asked me to host the site's first-ever live chat with singer-songwriter, Big Phony.
Even though I had to miss out on a much-anticipated Owl City concert to conduct hosting duties, it was so worth it 'cause, I mean, what girl doesn't like to be serenaded to?

I swear, I'm really happy here.

See? Happy.

But in all honesty, the live chat went really well. We chatted, gave away free stuff, played some sad music, and just got to know the artist known as Big Phony a little better.
On my part, I probably should have done a little more advertising beforehand (like, ahem, on this blog maybe?) but there will be more in the future. Right? Right? Riiiiight.

Thanks for allowing me to show my stupidity all over the Internet, Michelle and KoreAm! Thanks for getting pics, Liz! Thanks for watching, you, you and YOU!

yO Check It

I'm legit, ya hear?

Thanks to Miss Adusumilli, I decided to be a bit presentable by getting these business cards made. It's amazing how much they're still used for social networking. ("You mean you can't just find me on Twitter?") You can get 250 printed for free as well on www.vistaprints.com!

Remember how we used to swap those pictures taken at photo studios and on the back we would pen, "Omg, I look so ugly! Hope you like my picture, KIT!" We should totally do that with these business cards too! Or not...

All in the Family

Some articles are really easy to write. An interview with Jenna Ushkowitz, a star of Glee, a show I not only manage to catch every week but spare two to three tweets every week in anticipation of? Yea. You can bet the article's a breeze to concoct.

But some are a bit tougher. How tough? Think a young single mother undergoing stage 3 of a very rare form of cancer. Yea. You heave that sigh.

When I was assigned this article, all my skills as a journalist was put to the test. I had to conduct extensive research muddling through the complex medical terms and scientific causes to the cancer. I needed to be a sensitive interviewer, asking intelligent, tactful questions and listening patiently and sympathetically to the oft-teary-eyed responses.

The ordeal of this interview took a toll on me physically and mentally. The entire weekend I was working on the article, I was sad, moody and dissonant. And can you blame me? It's a difficult story to tell.

Adding to the challenge was my own family's experience with cancer.

My grandpa had battled with stage 3 of pancreatic cancer on and off for the past 4 years. He underwent extensive surgery 3 times. He underwent chemotherapy. He pees out of a bag now. His butt always hurts.

My family is very close. Like unusually close. Like we all wish we lived right next door to each other and can see each other all the time and are each other's best friends and love love LOVE each other close. To have my grandfather, the grand patriarch of our line, be struck with such a fatal and (at the time) foreign killer was life-altering.

I wish I could write in words how much my grandfather's cancer changed our family. But I really can't. Words won't do. It's in everyday things. Like how my grandma has a really hard time smiling. Whereas before she was a twinkly-eyed, saucy old lady (and I mean that in the sincerest of ways), she now cries for no reason at all in the middle of everything. Or how my parents can't even fathom the idea of taking a night off to eat dinner somewhere in the city, let alone take a vacation. Every single birthday for the last couple of years has been celebrated either at home or at a Chinese restaurant nearby because of my grandpa's illness.

My own behavior has not been the most honorable. I would not win the "Best Granddaughter Award" by any means. I spent the last couple of years rebelling, shedding my overachieving ways, partying (and puking) my guts out, trying this and that out, traveling as far far away as I possibly could every chance I got.

"I just want to lead a normal college life, like all my friends. Is that too much to ask?" I would ask my cell phone emblazoned with my mom's phone number calling me at 11 in the evening and hastily shut it off. I even have the indent of a cartilage piercing to show you how bad to the bones I was.

By the grace of God, my grandfather miraculously overcame his cancer (dude, I have to reiterate, surgery THREE times in the past four year, on anyone, let alone a 80-something y/o man, is a miracle) and I (think) overcame my bad girls ways. He and my grandmother are currently vacationing in Hong Kong right now and for the first time in ages, I actually heard my mom utter the words, "I'm kind of bored." (I submitted her for a commercial to help her kill time, he he).

I'm living at home with my parents full-time and we have this refreshingly pleasant relationship that I cherish to the maximus. Are there times where I want to take the next flight to New York and get away from them as fast as I can? Of course. But it doesn't happen as much as often and I'm-dare I say this-even having fun hanging out with them. My dad's funny. Did you know that? I didn't know he could be. I think I get my humor from him.

Who knows how long this time of peace will last? I'm just grateful it's even here at all.