Bests of the Week

I’ve been out for awhile, actually, due to a database error created by WORDPRESS v.2.8 and a troublesome little plugin. It’s sucked, to say the least, since I know nothing of fixing database errors via rewriting PHP… and it took even major resolve to just even Google the damn problem to see if there was an article somewhere telling me how to fix it.

Anyway. I digress. I’m back.

Hi. I hope you’ve missed me. Apparently you haven’t, since yesterday I only had 33 visits from 32 unique IPs. You’d best come back, people!

Here are some of the best things I’ve seen and read this week that I think you should know:

1.) fashion. eyecandy.

Trang of Behind the Seams is participating in a campaign from BlueFly and StyleList to decide who is America’s Most Stylish Blogger. 8 girls. 1 challenge. 5 weeks. 5 spectacularly amazing high fashion items. Only one can win the title. WOW.

Here are some of her most recent looks:

Trang's take on AMSB Challenge #2: Prada Booties

Behind the Seams, AMSB Challenge #2: Prada Booties

Challenge week 1: Priorities gabardine vest

VOTE EACH DAY, and vote on BlueFly.com here.

Show your love and support to the lovely, charming Trang on twitter: BTSgrl’s Twitter. Oh and let her know Maeko (Twitter=@Maeko) sent you!

—

2.) book. mind candy.

Thom @ TheSundayBest.org did a brief but effectively interesting review on a new book by Winona of DaddyLikey.blogspot fame called Closet Confidential: Style Secrets Learned the Hard Way.

Here is a rather large snippet from both the book, and from Thom’s write-up.

I envisioned folding my crisp indigo jeans and gingerly placing them in my purple dresser, next to my compass and crime-fighting notebook, while whispering things like, “We’ve done it again, Old Blue,” and “I can’t wait for the adventures tomorrow will bring!”

A few things about this sentence:
    1. It’s at the end of the first paragraph and already she has me laughing out loud in a public place. Old Blue? Adventures? Are you kidding me here?
    2. It’s structurally perfect. Perfect. If I sat here for ten years trying to think of a better way to convey the transformative power we bestow on clothing I wouldn’t add one iota of awesome to it. Perfect.
    3. It demonstrated that although the book is entirely about women and their wardrobes, its themes are universal. Which is to say, I get this girl.I know all about this moment. I know all about crime-fighting, and magnifying glasses, and finding clues, and the outfit you need to do all of that.

Ah, yeah. I don’t think I could be anymore interested in this book now, due to Thom’s descriptions of his reactions to the last sentence of the first paragraph in the book. Being the gigantic pedagogue that I am, I love that a book would have structural perfection. However, it not only interests women–clothes horses, fashion lovers (its target audience), but a man, and gets him to understand the protagonist and her world, and draws him into that world with her, stylishly and engrossing-ly. I think I need to buy the book.

Go visit Thom and tell him I said hello. And go visit Winona and let her know how much you are salivating over her book and how you’re going to buy it. While you’re at it… actually BUY the book, eh?

—

3.) Hilarity.

The boys at The Steel Closet have done it again: made me piss my effing pants after laughing so hard from one of their many weekly video postings.

The many sexy moves of Charlie (from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”):

>

I die. I’ve seen three seasons on this show on Hulu (I’m a season behind due to Battlestar Galactica, X-files, Robotech, and other nerdy staples, as well as Californication and Pushing Daisies), and I’ve never been more floored at the crassness and wackiness of these four hapless losers. And yet, in their devastating wake, much hilarity ensues.

I seriously choked while watching the clip. If you don’t like it, oh well. I think it’s one of the most stupidly funny, asinine comedies on Cable Television ever (aside from Family Guy), and I will break water each time I watch it–from laughing too hard.

Thanks, TSC!!

—

4.) nerdfare.

Most of you will know that I am an Ubernerd. And it’s not just because I’m Asian, but because I was practically raised to worship my big brother, who, despite also being Asian, grew up to love comic books, animé, Japanese Culture, video games and all other major geekery. So imagine my squee* geeker’s joy, pulsating thrill and delight, when I read on The Steel Closet that Prince of Persia (renown Role-Playing videogame franchise) is now being made into a movie.

Why this is cool?

I hardly ever play any other type of game than an RPG, eg. Zelda franchise, Final Fantasy franchise (“The World is Square”), Saga Frontier franchise. Basically, this is right up my alley.

Anytime a video game is taken to the big screen, you get to experience the world of the game in Live Action (i.e., humans vs. cartoon/CG graphic characters on a tiny TV monitor). Humans with real weapons = superace!

The worlds in big budget productions of videogames usually live up to, if not exceed my own vision of the videogame world. I.e., AWESOME battle scenes, hot actors, amazing costumes, great sets.

Peep it here:

Thanks, Cass!

—

5.) snark. social commentary.

Leave it to my tough girl friend, the aptly named ToughGirl101 (AKA Katana-either after the Japanese word for “Sword” or after her motorcycle–either are genuinely appropriate, if you know her!), to get into the dirty nitty gritty of white on Asian social interaction.

Words I hate to hear: “I love asians!”

My issue is with the Asian fetish that is motivated by the ill-informed stereotypes. The little shy Geisha’s that are tigers in the bedroom really only exist in porn. The little Vietnamese girl looking for a big strong American… ridiculous! Especially if they were born and raised in America!… the impression left on this Asian girl is that men who say “I love Asian women” towards the beginning of an acquaintanceship should be dropped headfirst into the Bog of Eternal Stench or chemically castrated. It has never ended well. Never.

Being a petite Asian girl, I have come across this “I love ASIANS” issue from white males extremely often while I was still in the dating pool (I AM NOW MARRIED, BTW). In fact, my first boyfriend and quasi-fiancé, was one such boy with “Yellow Fever.” All his white male friends married Asian women, and all of them only cavorted about with Asian women. In fact, it saddens me to find out now after 6 years of non-communication with him, that he is the “token” in a crew of only Asian friends…You should see his Facebook account. It’s a sad, sad example of the lack of ethnic variety in choice of friends. Of course, I can’t say for sure if he’s Yellow Fevered up… maybe he relates more to Asians than he does his white counterparts… I don’t know. But on first glance, it’s certainly suspect.

I have encountered this way more often than I’d like to admit:

Asian Fetish Guy (AFG): I really love Asians.
Katana: Right.
AFG: The food’s great.
Katana: I don’t cook.
AFG: Oh… so do you speak your language?
Katana: English?
AFG: No, I mean the language where you’re FROM.
Katana: California?
AFG: …

Katana’s got it right… these stereotypes and tastes are based off of some mythical cultural typecast created and perpetuated by movies, New Media and dumb-ass Yellow Fevered freaks. These stereotypes continue to perpetuate a sense of Otherness, an ideal of an exotic, submissive, sexual creature who hails from the OPPOSITE side of the globe, not an empowered, independent, powerful woman who was born, raised and enculturated IN AMERICA, is through and through American by culture and mindset and language, and is the New Face of the typical American–an American with a rich ethnic heritage.

When are people going to learn? Brown, yellow, black and red were here long before anyone even realized that there was a word for race, ethnicity and culture. And we’re here to stay. We’re from here, we speak the same language as you, and you best learn that sooner rather than later. Kthxbai.

-
EDIT:
Oh, and the whole “Asia/California” thing sucks even harder when it comes from a fellow Californian!

“Wow, you have great skin.”
“Thanks.”
“Do all the people where you come from have great skin?”
“What do you mean?”
“Where you’re from, your nationality?”
“You mean, Canada?”
“No… where you’re from!”
“San Diego…?”
“Where’re your people from?”
“Canada… California…!”
“No, you don’t get it…”
“Uh, no, YOU don’t get it.”

Assholes.

—

6.) blog lovin’

OMG! I got my first AWARD! Despite being a blogging grandmother compared to some of my style blogger colleagues (I have been blogging for seven years in some form or other), I have never gotten a blog award before!

So imagine my shock and surprise when Mel of Idee Geniale gave me a Beautiful Blogger Award. I felt honoured and special.

The sitch involves divulging 7 interesting facts about you and then pass it along to 7 other bloggers you admire to do the same.

I think my own personal deets are boring, but it’s up to you to decide whether I’m interesting or not!

1. To save moolah on clothes, my mum made me wear hand-me-downs until about sixth grade. A good forty percent of my clothing were hand-me-downs. This is not a problem in and of itself, mind you, except that my older sibling is a boy. Imagine my embarrassment at my appearance all the way until I was 11 or 12 years old!

2. I’m a really big dork. But I think you can tell. Sci-fi, videogames, comic books, animé, karaoke…

3. I don’t like it if I go to the bathroom and someone occupies the stall right next to me. Especially at work… in public, it can’t be helped most of the time, but at the office, I hold it until I can’t, then I stalk to the bathroom and use the farthest stall. If someone else comes into the bathroom while I’m in it, I wait until they are gone before I come out. I know, it’s weird.

4. I used to idolize Japanese culture, and have wanted to dye my hair blond for at least ten years. I only finally had the money & confidence in my self-image to do it now.

5. I’m Asian/Filipino-American-Canadian with a Southern California culture and accent, but live in the Northern Midwest! How’s that!

6. Prior to meeting my husband five years ago, I’d never gone farther east of Las Vegas, no farther north of Vancouver, no farther west of my home in San Diego, no farther south than Baja California (Mexico). Sad little cloistered existence, isn’t it? Since meeting my husband, I’ve finally traversed to three coasts of the US (Michigan has a four coasts, west and east on the Mitten, and North and South in the Upper Peninsula, on three Great Lakes), been to Europe, and finally visited Hawaii. We plan on going to most of Japan for our Honeymoon next year!

7. Despite loving literature and being an incredible pedant AND nerd, I would rather watch a good episode of a television show than read, I would rather read than play a videogame, and I would rather cook than play a videogame, and I’d definitely rather play a videogame than clean the house.

I’m going to choose my new favourite bloggers:
Tommy at thisisnaive.com
Yolanda at LittleThoughts
Brainy Beauty: DreamEcho
Le Trix
ToughGirl101
Hot Robot, my favourite Hawaiian.

It’s not 7 people, but I’m not one for holding to rules in memes.