Asian Grandmother Power Campaign

As part of Tara Sophia Mohr's Grandmother Power Campaign I proudly bring you the bombest grandmother ever:

Why she makes me bow down crying "I'm not worthy":

• Granny had 5 kids. 
• Her husband had a stroke while my mom, the oldest, was still in high school, leaving them with only one functioning parent. The younger ones were still in elementary.
• Grandpa died while mom was in college.
• After singlehandedly raising all 5 of that generation, she came to America to raise my mom's kid. Me! Then went back to Taiwan to raise the other grandchildren. Omg I'm exhausted just thinking about it.
• The funny thing is, when I asked her 2 years ago if she wanted that many kids she said, "Nope. Your grandfather did." 
• Granny was a teenager during the Sino-Japan War and had to escape two times. When I asked her how long she walked - that's ON FOOT for you whippersnappers - she said, "One week."
• SHE WALKED ON FOOT FOR SEVEN DAYS TO SURVIVE!!!!
• One of those times she was hiding from the Japanese, tucked into a closet or some cramped space, and they snatched the guy in front of her. She was so small they missed her. So here I am today.
• THEY GOT THE GUY IN FRONT OF HER!! SHE ALMOST DIED!!!! BUT SHE DIDN'T!!!
• Years later, she stayed up late to alter a vest for my pubescent self who was convinced I had to look JUST RIGHT for school the next day. She was tired from cooking all day and could have said, "I walked for 7 days to survive and almost died; stop being a brat, you look fine." But she just quietly altered the vest. (Yes, I'm a horrible person. I still feel guilty about this, which is probably why I'm writing my penitence for the world to see.)
• 4 years ago I got to see her again for the first time in over a decade and I told her the Mandarin equivalent of "I love you to death!" The Chinese of that generation don't say affectionate things too much. Her eyes filled with tears and she said, "That makes me very happy." It was my redemption.

Thank you grandma. I love you to death!

P.S. There's still time to join the campaign! Click the button above.

Wordless Wednesday: Warrior Princess

Happy Belated Chinese New Year!

my cousin's sweet daughter in her Year of Snake getup

Wordless Wednesday: Purple Wedding Party

Bridesmaids

who knew the Burger King was a groomsman

flower girl and maid-of-honor have fallen in love

My Gray Car: On Being Out As A Writer

I'm infinitely proud of my CP Juliana Brandt for hosting her very own blogfest!  I'm not surprised it's dedicated to celebrating each other as writers - Juliana is an incredibly supportive and positive writer.

The first week's question asks: How do you broach the subject of being a writer to other people who aren’t authors?


I live in L.A.

Everybody is a writer.  Even the actors (try to) write.  Even big-time directors "really want to write."

In fact, disclosing that I'm also a writer has a surprisingly beneficial effect of telegraphing my poverty-ridden status quickly and efficiently.  It signals to other writers that I'm not a viable money lender, to my a capella group that I'll be wearing a suspiciously similar dress for this upcoming concert, and to everyone else that my gray car is actually white.

Hey, car washes are not cheap in L.A.

On a serious note, I never introduce myself as a writer.  When people ask, "What do you do?" they mean for money.  When I was in The Biz (yeah I said The Biz), I didn't call myself an actor until I made money doing it.  (Good thing that happened really quickly, or I would have been a "um, nothing" for a long time.)

So I tell people what my money job is.  The writing might never come up at all.

The only people I actively avoid talking about writing with are my boyfriend's family and my father.  Old school Chinese who live by "show me the money."  I have no money to show them, but they're welcome to ride in my gray, I mean white car.

Those folks rarely ask about my writing anyway.  It's less than a hobby, like biking.  It's a shameful frivolity not worth mentioning.  I prefer it that way.  Their negativity and insulting comments are better left unsaid.  (We already know you don't want to write in a Chinese family.)

As Sinclair Lewis said:

It is impossible to discourage the real writers - they don't give a damn what you say, they're going to write.

Besides I have you guys.  That's all I need. :)

1000 Mile Weekend

Sorry I'm behind on the writer's campaign and CPing - I was getting card sharked by this kid:

that's his lucky egg on the table

(also quite competitive at Mario Kart Double Dash)


We logged over 1000 miles this weekend driving up here:

Then up to Sonoma for a wedding, then all over the East Bay to see my two favorite cousins:

The hulking one on the right drove his friend to Stanford all the way from Jersey.  Good friend or insane?

Now it's time for me to finally sleep.