let's all fail a little more

lately, i've been thinking about all the failure that has led me to today.

i was listening to NRP's piece on why so many ph.d.s are on food stamps and couldn't help thinking that could have been me. i could have poured my heart into my essays, drained my bank account with application and test fees, cried and pulled my hair out anxiously, and spent 8 more years in school only to come out unrecognized for my merits and to be on welfare.

and while i did do all of those things, and did them hard, i am glad all 8 programs decided i sucked as a ph.d candidate.

i am glad i failed.

though it's hard and heart wrenching and down right shitty a lot (pretty much all) of the time, it's when you've failed, stripped of everything, left with just the very core of your being, that you remember you can start over.

i say this, not from retrospect because i've still got a seat on the strugglebus, but with hope and optimism. i guess that's all you're ever guaranteed.

so, go forth and fail more because with failure burgeons new dreams.

and no one said you're only allowed one.

- melissa

Tereza Lee and the DREAM

Tereza Lee

Over on the Hyphen blog, there's a great post about pianist, Tereza Lee, and how her story helped the DREAM Act come about.

While on the surface, her life seems like every tiger mom's dream: she was a child prodigy, accomplished pianist at a really young age, accepted into prestigious music programs, and now earning her doctorates, there were major hardships and struggles to get there.

it's a touching story and a call for action to get the full DREAM ACT passed. we want more success stories like Tereza's.

-m

houstonian wins Masterchef

Season 3 Masterchef winner, Christine Ha

i'd be lying if i said i know what this show is about or any other cooking show on tv. i just eat. pan-seared or flash fried, all i care about is if it's tasty.

but i have to give props to one Christine Ha, a blind chef hailing from my very own streets. in the finale, Ha's competitor whipped up "butter-poached lobster with sweet corn grits, rack of lamb with curry spice and spring vegetables and bacon pecan pie" which was no match to Christine's "Thai Papaya and Crab Salad, braised pork belly with kale and a fried egg, and coconut sorbet with a ginger tuile. "

cmon, it doesn't take a culinary aficionado to know pork belly trumps all. helloooo it's thicker-cut bacon. the only thing that can beat bacon is more bacon. obvi. plus, an egg on top? someone get me Ms. Ha's number. i've got a hunger that only pork belly and fried eggs can cure (it's like breakfast on steroids!).    

what's funny is this yahoo article states the show's host, Gordon Ramsey, was quoted saying Christine won by sticking to her Vietnamese roots---did i read wrong or was the winning dish she made Thai inspired? whatever right? asian is asian! it's all the same! yeah yeah, fuck you too.

to read more about the season 3 Masterchef winner, click here  or read about Christine Ha in the Hyphen Magazine weekly TV round up! 

-m

boba 'til i die...which apparently may be soon

say it ain't so! according to some german research and the huffington post: tapioca pearls cause cancer along with happiness and chew-induced-delight.

i'm waiting for the counter article calling bull shit. i'll be in the corner with my bubble milk tea if anyone stumbles upon it.

-m

calling all texans

today is the first day you can start registering for mail in ballots/absentee ballots.

contact your county voter registration officials for any questions/to register/to say hello.

REMEMBER, last day to register to be able to vote in november is October 9, 2012.
for more deadlines and dates, go here.

and one last thing, do the world a solid and vote President Obama for a second term.
thank you. no, seriously.

-m

gangnam ma

by now, you've all heard the obnoxiously (damn-it's-so-good) catchy song by a south korean rapper by the name of PSY. i first heard it when a friend had it blasting from his gchat window with the message: YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS.

it was a lot of strange images set to lyrics we didn't understand; we shrugged our shoulders and got on with life---and then 6 hours happened: because with the internet now a days, all you need is 6 hours for SHIT. TO. BLOW. THE. FUCK. UP.

it was everywhere. CNN covered it. WSJ's Jeff Yang got in on it. and even our friends over at the Asian American Writer's Workshop had something to say.

but it wasn't until i stumbled upon 'gangnam style mom' on the 'ol youtube, where a son teaches his 60 year old mother the gangnam dance, that i became obsessed--nay--enamored with this pop cultural blip. mama tuts like a boss and for damn sure, this kid got it from his mama.


fuck k-town, i say someone makes a show where gangnam mama battles punk kids in the streets set to a soundtrack of repetitive synthesized beats and the same one or two lines over and over again. the plot doesn't need to be particularly existent, just have people gather in large circles every few minutes, have mama do a lot of handstands, throw her hands up in the air like she just doesn't care, and dress her up in all different colored track suits. you've got yourself a 3+ movie installment (with 3D release!)---jon chu, you're welcome.

-m

have you seen k-town?

frankly, these folks are crazy. 
i would be crazy, but it takes too much effort and i'm lazy. 

i was going to post about the texas primaries, but no one cares about that right?

instead, let's talk about the much-anticipated (i use 'much' lightly here) youtube show, k-town, which follows a group of young (again, used lightly) korean americans--though i think not all of the cast is korean--as they drink, smash, and smash-in faces all over los angeles' notorious korea town.

we've heard the buzz for this jersey shore-inspired show for the last 2 years, but it has just now debuted on the youtube channel: LOUD, after being passed up by different tv networks.

to be honest, it's rather boring to me. maybe because i know people like these 8 who go out and drink and drama, so there isn't that same "huh? really?" reaction like there is with snooki sayz jersey shore. but i don't hate the show, if anything i guess it breaks the stereotypes of asian americans as bookish, nerdy, asexual beings. these 8 are wild, sexual, and not the brightest crayons in the box, and i welcome anything that confuses the minds that try to hold us asian americans to flat, 2D caricatures.

the show just aired its 4th 15 minute episode and while the episodes have been filled with blasé backstory (she slept with him, he slept with her, she likes-hates-him-and-her...), next week's preview piqued my interest with the k-town social convention of booking. a friend told me it involves men paying for high-priced tables at clubs and a funneling of women: attractiveness and frequency depend on the price they paid. hm, that sounds like another social convention by the name of prostitution, but fuck, what do i know?

if curiosity (or boredom) is clawing at your back, here's the first episode of k-town:

but don't blame me if your eyes fall out of your head from heavy bouts of eye rolling, if you suddenly find that you've lost faith in humanity, or if you're just really fucking bored. you have been warned.

-melissa

(anddd just in case there is someone out there who was wondering about the texas primaries...)

houston's abuzz y'all

Wednesday's paper

this is what i, and the rest of houston, woke up to this morning! be still our hearts, could it be that big money j is coming to the H...again? i remember last time he was with the rockets, i was talking to my brother about getting season tickets but then, as we all know, he was cut after only 12 days or so.

here's the above article from the Houston Chronicle, and another stating the Rockets will offer Lin a contract anddddd here's some ESPN speculation on the offer.

i hope he accepts because we all know i love me some jeremy lin, and there's a huge asian american community down here in houston ready and willing to support the young point guard---you hear me, j? we're here and we are loudddd. 

in other news, sorry for the silence on here lately. Diane and Doug are off doing cool things that hopefully they'll share with us on here soon (please?) and i am, unfortunately, typing with one hand because i fell 10 feet while bouldering, not fun. real life ruins everything! 

--update-- lin accepts rockets offer sheet!! will the knicks match it?

--update 2-- IT'S OFFICIAL PEOPLE! J.LIN IS COMING TO HOUSTON!

-m

would you believe it? another asians, bikes, and dogs story

keep 'em coming, i say!


a group of cyclists in china threw a stray dog some chicken and wouldn't you know it? she followed them over 1800 kilometers!

what's that saying: you give a dog a bone, and she'll be by your side forreverrrr.
my friends at google told me that's 1100+ miles she trailed them, and by friends i mean i just googled that shit (for you americans who think the metric system is the bigfoot of numbers).

over the course of 20+ days, the little pup hiked more than 10 mountains and, according to the video snippet above, galloped along side automobile traffic too. couldn't anyone scoop her up when there were cars present? how about a nice basket and some streamers for your bikes, fellow cyclists? that's how i blinged out my roadster.

streamers add horsepower, google it.

i told charlie about the story, but he was too busy to pay me any attention:

holllaaaaaaaa.

-m

you have to see this video outta china

it combines 3 of my favorite things: asians, bikes, and dogs



sometimes people forget how intelligent animals are, that they understand what's going on around them. i'm glad moments like this are captured on camera and shared around the world. 
now, how can i teach charlie to guard my bike?