Miscellaneous Tag

Adam Carolla The Ace Man is the most practical person I’ve ever heard speak. Adam is a broadcaster, comedian, father, husband, and life veteran. He is a champion for extreme common sense. If you haven’t seen his movie, The Hammer, check it out. I got into him when he did Love Line back in the day with Dr. Drew and if you didn’t know, they do a new podcast together called The Adam and Dr. Drew Show… basically Love Line Part 2 but better because it’s more of their opinionsRead More

Plays, musicals, orchestras, concerts, dance-performances–we can’t get enough. For the first-time tourist or the returning traveler, New York’s artistic scene is never lacking. From the classic Broadway theater experience, to lesser known immersive experiences, New York will have shows to accommodate any age and any taste.   1. The obvious, number 1 on your list: Watch a Broadway play or musical. Broadway is timeless, and there are always a wide variety of shows to suit any taste. If you’re looking for a comedy, there’s Book of Mormon or Wicked. ForRead More

I’ve been traveling a lot recently. I’ve been visiting friends and going to weddings and generally enjoyed a packed social schedule that has been more hectic than normal. I’m not complaining; it was sweet. The traveling has eaten into my writing schedule though so I’ve been a little M.I.A. here (Sorry Ascher!) Good thing for you though, dear readers, is that traveling stirs the soul and fosters creativity. Some of the great writers in the world found their masterpieces either On the Road (sorry everyone else for that pun) orRead More

In terms of success, it seems like the world is divided into 4 general subdivisions of people: Success has a subjective definition, and is different in the eyes of everyone. Most commonly, it means obtaining our goals and achieving personal happiness. For a few, it may be affluence; for some, their names etched in the history books; and for others, simply a nice home, small family, and stable job.   The people who “don’t work hard” yet still succeed For some individuals, it seems as if serendipity and luck always seem to beRead More

Record 7: Palo Alto, CA, Thursday, July 5th, 2012. Day. I’m sitting alone in my apartment, on the Ikea futon. I’m staring into my laptop, typing 1s and 0s like the rest of my 20-something dude friends. This calms me. I lose focus and realize it’s been weeks since Hadley: the girl that no one but me will ever love. She used to sleep next to me with her hands on my waist, her ribcage pressed flat against my back. In the mornings we’d stay in bed and smoke cigarettesRead More

As I stumble my way further through college and dabble in the so-called “real” world, I’m coming to the sad realization that so many careers are fueled by the misfortune of others. A good friend of mine was recently accepted into pharmacy grad school, much to his elation because as he put it, “I’m pretty much guaranteed a job for life now, unless people suddenly stop needing medication or something.” As altruistic as his intentions probably are, the core of his future profession is dependent on waiting for people toRead More

Yes “soccer,” not “football.” I’m not usually a cranky American, but football = pigskin, just so we’re all clear. It’s funny how so much animosity can be harbored towards a singular sport, but soccer has come a long way. Compared to the US soccer scene ten, even five years ago, tremendous progress has been made in harnessing support and fandom for our men’s and women’s national teams. (I actually have a meager collection of jerseys now.) But compared to something like the NFL, MLB, or NBA, MLS does not standRead More

Unless your childhood was a mundane mix of mild manners and perfect parenting you probably read the infamous, Alexander and The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorsts, somewhere between wetting the bed and fourth grade.  I could delve into details of the prizes his brothers found in their cereal bowls that morning and what Alexander found instead,(nothing), but from the title the underlying nature of the story is apparent.  As adults without bed times and with the ability to buy ourselves a cookie, we at leastRead More

Middle grounds and in-betweens—where boundaries are blurred, expectations are muddled, and nothing is really satisfied. Let’s start with the basics.   2% milk: it doesn’t have the creaminess of whole milk, but it isn’t the health conscious choice of skim milk. Diet soda: it’s ultimately still soda, and by default unhealthy. But it tries to compromise with a lower calorie count and a poser for sugar? B’s: the mutant hybrid between effort and indifference—the love child of half-heartedness. With just a step further in effort, there was the potential toRead More

I started working in my first real world job three months ago, and quickly became friends with the only other 20-something in our side of the office, Ceara, who is one of the coolest girls I’ve ever met. She recently got offered a job teaching theater at a school just down the street from her, and I honestly couldn’t be more excited for her – it’s a great opportunity. However, I did go through a couple stages of being less than thrilled. After all, the person I was closest to atRead More

World renowned psychologist Abraham Maslow once ordered all our needs into a rigid pyramid of importance. As Maslow argued, at the base of all our needs is what keeps us physically alive as human beings. As the pyramid narrows toward the top, meeting physiological needs transitions toward meeting more internal, emotional needs. He deemed this to be what founds a “stable” individual. However, is it true in every moment that we put our physical “needs” before what we mentally desire? Can Maslow’s rigidity ever flex? I don’t want to believeRead More

I come from a long line of proud, Chinese-born and Chinese-raised relatives, but I am the first one to be born in the United States. Despite living in a suburban Bostonian home, I was raised on scallion pancakes and rice, torturous Chinese lessons every Saturday, and stereotypical Asian values. Every dinner was a lecture about how fortunate I was not live in a poverty-stricken communist country. Grades were always held as a number one priority, even before health and sanity. My Chinese school and group of family friends were alwaysRead More

I was just reminded that Cory and Topanga, my favorite sitcom couple, are going to be premiering in a new spinoff on Disney Channel called “Girl Meets World.” It will feature the couple married with their kids, but the show focuses on their daughter. I have watched every episode of Boy Meets World repeatedly, and my love for Cory Matthews grows stronger every time I watch him. It is one of those character obsessions for me I guess. But I truly believe his character would make the best husband forRead More

  Record 6: Silver Lake, California, Tuesday, July 5th, 2011. Day. You start the day at Casbah with a shot of espresso, half a cigarette, and an Adderall. Today, you’re 26, you remember. You’re on the wrong side of 20, and your Facebook friends don’t care what you did last night. Not anymore. The barista is your friend. Her name is Ashby. She knows it’s your birthday. Or maybe she doesn’t. Maybe she’s a bad friend. “You want something else?” She asks you, and you realize you’re standing at theRead More

Duck Invasion Over 100,000 ducks caused traffic to come to a halt in Bangkok earlier this week. No news of where they came from and where they’re going. But I love that they travel in such an organized pack. I’m not sure I’d be angry if something like this happened to me. Much better than your average traffic jam. Who could be angry over a bunch of quacking ducks? Just look at them go! Or maybe they’re on strike, protesting against something. Maybe their bread supply was cut! Guess we’llRead More