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January 30, 2005

An Ode to Yoko Kanno

Words can never describe how I feel about Yoko Kanno's music. No one composer has captured my heart the same way she has. She is able to disappear into her songs; one cannot listen to two pieces of her work and state that they are from the same composer. Her versatility in song composition is short of mind-blowing, as she is able to compose choral canons, drum 'n bass beats, rock ballads, and jazz pieces on a drop of a hat.

Posted by Charlie at 01:07 AM | Comments (0)

January 29, 2005

Designated Drivers Rock!!!

Last night we went out on a whim to celebrate several occasions: Ireneo's new legal position at a very prestigious law firm, my acceptance into the Tour, and our general fabulousness. I don't remember too much of that night as I was being handed drinks left and right in light of my birthday, but I do remember enough to know that I had a blast last night, playing with vibrating cock rings, sipping on very expensive vodka, showing off my underwear, trading sex techniques, clubbing at oh-so-unfashionable Neighbors, getting hit on by the DJ, getting hit on by the DJ's friend, chowing down on burgers while making plans for Valentine's, and spending the rest of the night throwing it up in the bathroom. Being 24 has gotten off to a good start, I must say.

Posted by Charlie at 04:34 PM | Comments (0)

Nippers & Fillies

Thought of the Day: Kids grow up so fast when you're not watching. Go and discuss amongst yourselves.

Posted by Charlie at 02:02 PM | Comments (0)

January 27, 2005

Church of Scissor Sisters

I swear, there were more queers than one can shake a stick at. Men (and women) of all shapes and sizes gathered together for one night of great music at the Paramount. It was kinda like a Margaret Cho show, except with more ass-grinding and bra-throwing. I screamed so much I think I am going to lose my voice tomorrow. It was a very... fun and memorable experience, and let's just leave it at that.

Posted by Charlie at 11:37 PM

From Bamboo With Love

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHAR CHAR!

So, like, what the hell birthday boy? You think that just cuz it's your special day you can neglect the bush of your people?! I am more than mildly offended. I am lonely. So, so lonely. I wouldn't even mind if you came by and screamed warui bushie! and thrashed me around a bit. But even while I am preoccupied tragically swaying in the breeze, I am simultaneously wishing you a happy birthday and bitchin lucky 24, and hoping you may stop by to celebrate with me, or at least acknowledge me in all my leafy glory. You know, together, we could be unstoppable. A formidable man-foliage duo. Oh yeah, and maybe that klepto chick friend of yours, Boogie, or whatever. She can come along too if she wants, like some violent Shanghai Triad. Fuck all these pussy rhododendrons. Nobody appreciates bamboo anymore. XO,

Your best friend Bamboo!

Posted by Charlie at 04:02 PM | Comments (0)

January 23, 2005

MUJI @ MOMA

Oh my god. I don't know when the MOMA store started offering stuff from MUJI, but I know where I'm going to be spending my money the next time I'm in New York. The low-priced leader in everything for the home, office, and fashion has more than 5,000 items to choose from. Think IKEA, but on a much bigger and better designed scale. The online MOMA store has lots of items for the office, but sadly enough, they aren't offering packets of precooked beef curry. I guess it just doesn't translate culturally.

Posted by Charlie at 02:13 PM | Comments (0)

The Year of the Cock

My 24th birthday is coming up, but I haven't been feeling very celebratory lately. I mean, what is there to show? I haven't really accomplished anything substantially rewarding in the past year that merits acclamation, other than my first-ever alcohol-induced vomiting session a few months ago. To ensure that 2005 will be a much more productive year, I came up with a few resolutions that I hope to accomplish by this year's end:

1. Demolish the cultural paradigm of Asian American men as asexual, small-endowed, socially inept, and sexually undesirable creatures.
2. Spread the word on social, medical, and political issues governing multiracials that aren't normally brought up in ethnic studies classes.
3. Fall in love. And stay in love.
4. Score high on the GREs, finish my portfolio, and get accepted into NYU with open arms.
5. Become fluent in Japanese again, and maybe relearn Mandarin in case I end up going to Taiwan.
6. Travel to somewhere new and foreign.
7. Train my body to accept huge intakes of cheap vodka without any regrets in the morning.

These seven items should cover it for now. If I manage to check off at least five items here, I think my 25th birthday will be a more festive affair.

Posted by Charlie at 06:17 AM | Comments (0)

January 21, 2005

Dusty Apples

A photo weblogger has captured wonderful images of a long-abandoned Apple store in Kuwait. There's something sad and nostalgic about these images, representative of a moment captured in time. The multi-colored Apple mark, the Garamond typeface, the Think Different posters. All captured brilliantly through a wandering photographer's lens.

Posted by Charlie at 02:14 AM | Comments (0)

Quiet Landing

My sleep cycle is totally fucked up. I've been forcing myself to go to bed at 9PM every night, but for some reason I wake up an hour later and spend the rest of the night banging my head against the wall, cursing my internal clock that apparently reset itself to Tokyo time. This is what happens when you don't have a steady flow of income coming your way, you spend your days wandering in and out of lazy consciousness. Days start to blend together and you find yourself constantly asking peers what day of the week it is. I'm not the only one in this predicament; Kevin left his job around the same time I was laid off, like way back in November, and is spending his nights accomplishing what most Americans can achieve after eating their TV dinners. We keep each other company with phone calls and emails to make it through the nights. It's become a weird, simple life and I'm slowly getting accustomed to it.

Not that I have not been busy, of course. My design projects keep me occupied enough so I don't go crazy during the daytime; they're also serving as a much needed boost to completing my portfolio for grad school applications. I'm currently in the process of applying to Matt's Generation MIX Tour, a five-week speaking engagement across 16 different cities across the US. It sounds like a challenging yet rewarding experience, and I would like to be a part of that. I'm not getting my hopes too high, however. There is still a chance I won't make the cut. If I don't, I can always continue my application process to Taiwan. No biggie. PJ is going to Vegas for Valentine's Day and wants me to join him. We'll be two single laddies in the land of plenty. I really cannot wait to try out the $4 all-you-can-eat buffets.

I've also started jogging again, which is totally out of my character. I'm slowly getting out of shape, and being confined to your home office 24 hours a day doesn't really help either. I guess I needed that push out the door, and my new iPod Shuffle was exactly that. It is so light I can barely notice it as I run. Seattle is eerily quiet at 2 in the morning, and playing hard jungle music as you're jogging through the dark streets don't really help stifle that feeling that a mugger is right around the corner.

Well, Generation MIX Tour or not, I can enjoy this banal existence for  another two months or so before I'm going to have to start looking for a regular job to replenish my funds. Although I've managed to cut back significantly on my spending habits - no more weekend excursions to Barney's - the bills are slowly starting to peck away at my savings. Ouch.

Posted by Charlie at 01:31 AM | Comments (0)

January 19, 2005

Paris, Je T'aime

Imagine this: Sally Potter (Orlando), Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Jean-Luc Godard (Alphaville, A Woman Is a Woman), Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas), Mamoru Oshii (Ghost In the Shell, Tenshi no Tamago), Stanley Kwan (Lan Yu), Alejandro González Iñárritu (21 Grams), Joel & Ethan Coen (Fargo, Barton Fink, O Brother, Where Art Thou?), Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run), Vincenzo Natali (Cube), Natalie Portman (Closer, Léon), Steve Buscemi (Big Fish, Pulp Fiction), Gena Rowlands (Gloria), and other fabulously talented directors and actors. All collaborating on one single film. This is going to be, to me, the single greatest cinematic event of 2005.

Posted by Charlie at 02:18 AM | Comments (0)

January 18, 2005

My iPod Shuffle

Sure, there is no LCD screen, the battery life isn't to die for, and it isn't the smallest flash player on the market, but you gotta hand it to the marketing department at Apple. They can make every product introduction a nationally televised event worthy of magazine covers and water cooler conversations. CNN is already reporting that there is a four-week waiting period for the iPod Shuffle.

My own iPod Shuffle arrived in the mail today after a week of sleepless anticipation. It's insanely small, weighs less than an ounce, and is the perfect little companion to my 20GB model. 512MB is more than enough memory for me to orchestrate the soundtrack of my workouts, and after an hour of test driving I can say without neurotic hesitation that I'm in love with this sucker.

Posted by Charlie at 03:58 PM | Comments (0)

January 17, 2005

Ten Days and Counting

It's been over 24 hours and the rain still hasn't let up here in Seattle. I wanted to go to this lecture on Rem Koolhaas' new building in the context of contemporary architectural trends, but the weather was so gloomy I ended up staying at home and sulking. It was altogether a productive weekend, however, with what getting the MAVIN site up and running, making a complete ass out of myself in front of this cool dude courtesy of AIUEO's incessant chatting skills, dyeing my hair a new shade of fushcia, and closing old wounds of days gone past. My iPod Shuffle is coming in tomorrow; I cannot wait! It's the perfect companion to the 20GB model, something I can take out jogging without having to worry about damaging its harddrive. I almost feel whole again.

Posted by Charlie at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)

January 14, 2005

ともだち

I love my friends.

Posted by Charlie at 11:00 PM

Delayed Gratification...

...the true sign of maturity? It's funny how, in life, we slowly gather expectations and standards as to what we want out of life: that perfect job, that perfect boyfriend/girlfriend, that perfect stock portfolio, whatever. We have a set of rules that we create that determine what we think will make us content.  Some people can never think about not dating someone who makes less than six-figures a year. Other people (myself included) can't even imagine ending up with someone outside their own race. But this past week I've been noticing a lot of people ending up in places new and unexpected, totally outside their realms of expectations, and surprise - there is possible happiness on the horizon. All of us who were tunnel-visioned in the past are now stuck in a state of muddled confusion. I'm trying to see if there is any cosmic correlation from any of this, but seeing as I'm not really a believer in astrology, I'm left confused. I think the universe is trying to tell us something, but I can't tell what.

Posted by Charlie at 01:12 AM | Comments (0)

January 13, 2005

The Countdown Begins

The MAVIN site is finally starting to come together pretty nicely. I can't it's been over a year since I volunteered to help revamp the site; I need to start being more punctual about deadlines and hauling ass! Matt has definitely done an amazing job taking this baby and whipping it into shape. It's been a long road, and I'm really glad to finally see it come to fruition.

Posted by Charlie at 02:49 PM | Comments (0)

January 11, 2005

More Apple Babies

I'm soooo on a drooling rampage this morning, checking out the new goodies that Mr. Jobs introduced at the latest MacWorld convention. I want me a Mac Mini!

Posted by Charlie at 11:41 AM | Comments (2)

January 10, 2005

成人の日

Today is 成人の日 in Japan, which means Coming Of Age Day (or quite literally, Adult's Day). This national holiday occurs every second Monday in January and gives overworked postgraduates a chance to rest and to catch up with friends still on this side of the pond. I had a long chat with David while he was sipping coffee at a cafe in Shibuya... how cosmopolitan. He works in Chiba, about a two-hour train ride away, and he tells me that there is an increasing Taiwanese and Korean presence in the area. It's good to hear that racial minorities are getting more socially accepted into what many people still consider a monoracial/monoethnic society. This is considerably more positive news than two years ago, when I was doing research on Brazilian Nikkeis, Brazilians of Japanese ethnic descent who all too often find themselves as undesirable aliens in their local communities.

Posted by Charlie at 12:00 AM

January 09, 2005

Single Again

I think I'm gonna stop dating for a while. I'm starting to confuse my parents and sister at this point, bringing home random bois to stay the night over.

"But wait... I thought you were going out with XXXXX..."
"Nope, sorry Mom, that was last week. This is YYYYY."

"Hey, whatever happened to AAAAA? He was really cute."
"Yeah... he was, wasn't he?"

But frankly I need to start concentrating on getting my act together. I'm starting to feel like I'm in a rut, and although I have a lot to be thankful for - a debt-free existence and plenty of work to keep me busy - I still feel unsatisfied. I'm at a sort of crossroads right now, and I can't waste time having great sex when I can be better off preparing for the GREs or something. Marty Pants wants me to go on his national speaking tour, and I'm really excited about doing it, but it can potentially interfere with my impending Taiwan plans. Of course, I can push my departure to June, but if history is any indicator that will probably not fly.

Also on my mind is New York. I plan on going to grad school there in the fall of 2006, and I have to spend every free moment working on a spectacular portfolio that will blow their pants out of the water. I finally cracked open my GRE books and was relieved to see that studying for the test should be a cinch, like reviewing. I think I might have to hold off Taiwan for a while, it seems. This national speaking tour is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, plus it will be a great chance for me to network academia in other colleges. I need to start focusing. No more bois, no more sex for now. Until I get my GRE scores back.

Posted by Charlie at 02:34 AM | Comments (0)

January 07, 2005

あなたの胸の中に飛び込んで

あなたの胸の中に飛び込んで
今はただし幸せ
牢獄から解放されたように
そこでは風を感じたことなどなった

新しい１日がはじまる

飛んでいく
あなたの心に触れたい
飛んでいく
愛を見つけるために
運命の涙をぬけて
甘い気持ちに身を投げ出して

そうただ
ただ幸せなの

Posted by Charlie at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)

January 05, 2005

Design Slump

This fundraising flyer is kicking my ass, and not in a good way. I miss having the creative juices flowing...

Posted by Charlie at 10:17 PM

Discovering

He lifts up the blanket and points to a scar on his left leg. "See this here?"
I reach down and massage it. "Yeah, where'd you get it?"
"I was shot there."
I look at him. "No way."
He grins. "Way. I was kind of in a gang back in high school."
I laugh at him. "Wait. You were 'kind of' in a gang."
"Let's just say I was on the wrong side of the tracks." His smile gets bigger, and he drapes the blanket back down over us. "I have two more to show you, but let's sleep now."

Posted by Charlie at 03:10 PM | Comments (0)

Racial Identity in Multi-Ethnic America

NPR is hosting a four-part discussion series on race, idenity, media, ethnicity, and other related questions. Makes way for a very interesting listen.

Posted by Charlie at 01:32 AM | Comments (0)

We're Catching Up

OMG. Samsung announced today that they are going to introduce a 5-megapixel cameraphone in the US this year. With 3X optical zoom. Be still my heart.

Posted by Charlie at 01:09 AM | Comments (0)

January 04, 2005

Reunion

It was like good 'ol times again. Kelley, Kyle, and JJ drove up to Seattle for a mini-reunion of sorts, and we quickly got into our usual mode of bickering and gossiping. We had dinner at a really good and surprisingly authentic Korean restaurant in Bellevue, and then spent the rest of the night gaming it away at GameWorks. Definitely like good 'ol times again.

Posted by Charlie at 03:10 PM | Comments (0)

January 01, 2005

Babysitting

Jared, James and I crashed this house party that Kenny was at, conveniently located half a block from my place. The house was teeming with tanned, buffed and coiffed bois, making way for a very ho-hum experience. Jared decided to spice things up, however, with Kenny's Christmas present, a life-size play doll that can walk and blink. It is so scary looking. She wanted to join some of the other bois in the hot tub, so Jared properly undressed her and held her hand while she frolicked by the tub side. We promptly got kicked out of the party five minutes later, but not before Jared "marked his territory" all over the front facade of the house. Man I love my friends. Happy New Year!

Posted by Charlie at 01:11 PM | Comments (0)