People Love California

After reading this article about U.S. Cities with the Most Immigrants, I have to admit that California is really bad-ass. 11 out of the list of top 20 US cities with the most immigrants were in California.

Including the fact that 1/3 of all graduate students in the United States are immigrants, half of which are pursuing degrees in computer science and engineering. Growing up in a town where 42.8% of the population is Asian (as opposed to 41.0% white people), you can see how competitive our school system is. In essence, AP tests and IB classes galore! (Yippee!)

Anyway, don't just think that immigrants are taking away the jobs you won't do for low wages you would never accept! Don't forget: the US is a country built with immigrants. Immigrants bring good things to the table and will work hard, too.

Now if I can only get more Asians on TV...

New Dating Tool

I like to read about what's happening in the world of online dating. Whether it's as official as eHarmony or as haphazard as a relationship through SecondLife, it's amazing how the internet is changing the rules of dating, love, and relationships.

Recently on the NY Times, I read about a new way to catch someone through new media. The article featured a site called Cheek'd. With Cheek'd you can get cards with cute pick-up lines with your identification code and hand them out to strangers you find attractive during the day. Then, the apple of your eye can log on to the site and find your profile.

What a great way to get social, right? In general, with the rise of the internet, some would say that people have lost the ability to interact in real life. However, with something like Cheek'd, you're pushing people out of their comfort boundaries to find a mate. It can be hard to find someone merely through cut-and-paste e-mails and trite chats, but if you can encourage yourself to approach someone and give them a card, I think you're proving how interested you are in the other person and that you're not solely dependent upon the internet to find "the one".

I really think that the dating tools profiled in the article are useful. Hopefully, if you use them, you'd get a higher date-rate. (Is that the right way to say it? Basically, you'll probably get more dates.) Also, they seem like fun.

If you're not ready to spend money on the little cards though, why not try just slipping someone your business card? On the back, you can write your blog address or, well, "I <3 You." Right? But then that's probably too "old-fashioned", isn't it?

Back In America

Back in America! So far, I've been adjusting to the time difference.

Excuse my lack of writing for the past year! I'm working on my China blog to be presentable enough for your eyes.

Thanks for your patience.

Delicious Ways To Celebrate "Where The Wild Things Are"

It's still months until the premier of "Where The Wild Things Are," but already people are stoked!

Check out "Where The Wild Things Are" cupcakes (via)

How about a "Where The Wild Things Are" bento box? (via) (the original)


"Where The Wild Things Are Cake" (via)


And stuff found haphazardly

I'm sure only more fantastic things are gonna come.

4 words

Today's theme:

I CAN DO THIS

Can I Get In On That Trophy Action?

Hi my non-reader readers

So, let me hack this Asian Trophy Wife thing to death.

Firstly, this article is just poorly written. The author, Ying Chu, pulls out quote after quote about random facts about Asians but doesn't really tie them in to anything truly meaningful. I get it, I get it: this man says there are Asian women who are victims to "Yellow Fever" and don't even know it. Taiwanese kids are really top-notch at math. Lots of loose ends of facts that don't culminate to much.

Maybe she's trying to say that Asian girls should be proud that we're now being coveted as a commodity?

Now no longer are Asian girls labeled as Suzie Wongs (I did happen to read The World of Suzie Wong when I was in Taiwan and Hong Kong this past winter. Your basic story about a Cantonese girl who works as a prostitute and a Western man who falls in love with her. I actually thought she was really naive and vacuous, but what can you expect from that type of girl from that type of time period?), but, rather, we Asian girls who have white boyfriends can be labeled as Soon-Yis.

Even though Chu herself is an Asian woman, she fails to acknowledge the differences between each Asian ethnicity and, thus, varied socio-economic-historic backgrounds that have led to the rise of such Suzie Wongs and Miss Saigons.

Chu notes that maybe it's "globalization" that has increased the appeal of Asian girls because Malcolm Gladwell notes that Asian kids have a strong work ethic and thus, Taiwanese kids are the best in math in world. She doesn't make sense. Is globalization achieved by way of getting yourself a smart Asian girl? Sounds more like imperialization to me.

In a nutshell, I think this article boasts that:

1. Asian women are a commodity that's very hot/chic to own,
   
2. Asian women are stupid because "Asian women dating white men may never really know if it's a fetish thing."
   
3. You should be wary of a white man with an Asian woman because he's probably just got a fetish and she's probably from a foreign land,
   

Anyway, apparently Chu is the Beauty Director at Marie Claire. I wish the magazine could have found a more competent person to write about this.

That's Weird

Some links to enjoy:

1. Found a book called Why Paint Cats: The Ethics of Feline Aesthetics (via facebook friend)

2. This is one really, really fat baby.

3. Coffee - Calorie Graphic (via)

4. A commercial to combat morning bad breath via Thailand

5. Better run for your lives! It's a big monster!