A lot of my friends are perplexed about the fact that I’m a fan of R. Kelly. I assume this is, in part, because I’m Asian (and those confused friends are Asian or Caucasian), but mostly because of his very public and disturbing indiscretions. While I definitely don’t condone what has come out about his private …
Category Archive: Post-College Stories
Jan 27
Marco and the Up Dog
I know it’s unrealistic to think that racism will one day go away. I try not to worry about it too much. I don’t try to make it a battle that I fight everyday, like others do. (which is a very commendable thing.) I just try to rise above it and I think I succeed …
Dec 10
Hammer Pants, the Paleo Diet, and the Goat
“Well, I met her in a bar, like I always say” – The Replacements “Message to the Boys” While Paul Westerberg’s music a huge influence on my life, I’ve never looked at his lyrics as any kind of guide on what decisions I should make. Living by his rules, I would probably have crazier stories …
Jul 18
Family Ties
My mom like to freely suggest to me that I should have some strict rules about my car and who should be allowed to ride in it. These suggestions have good intentions behind them, and often have incidents to back them up, but they sound kind of crazy, like the suggestion that I should refuse …
Jun 14
Down with the PTA
My parents were never in the PTA at Palmer Lake Elementary School. I’m sure the Korean/English language barrier was the biggest factor in their absence, or perhaps they found the PTA superfluous. They might’ve been too busy with work when my sisters were in school, but they weren’t while I was in school, so that’s …
Apr 18
Great Expectations
I grew up with a girl whose parents worked together. They didn’t own their own business, they just happened to both be employed by the same company. I’m not sure if they worked in the same department, I’m not even sure what they did, I just know they arrived at work together and they left …
Mar 14
My Generation
Back in college, I would volunteer at church by teaching 5th and 6th grade kids. For the few years I was there, there were 4 or 5 consistent volunteers that I worked with, and then there were a few others who would drop in every few months. One of the people who made more than …
Jan 31
Overthoughtfulling
A couple of years ago, I thought of a really cool Christmas gift for my nieces. Since they always love to watch The Simpsons with me, I would get them these limited edition Kid Robot vinyl Ralph Wiggum dolls. I’d bought them Kid Robot blind box toys before, but this one was easily bigger, better, …
Dec 29
Going for the Gold (or Blue Maybe?)
I’ve never been able to find my niche with New Years Eve. It sounds silly, but I don’t think I’ve ever spent it with the same people or doing the same thing. Sure, there’s a countdown at some point but that’s it (and on the west coast, it’s on a tape delay). I don’t even …
Nov 22
2 Hours into the Future
(This references this story, which referenced this earlier story – call it a trilogy, if you will) While I’ve written 2 stories about the impact that Chloe has had on my life, I must be honest, I’ve never actually had a conversation with the kid. That’s not to say that I’ve never met her or …
Aug 09
My Life in Irvine (Through the Words of Pavement)
“As you sleep with electric guitars / Range rovin’ with the cinema stars” – Elevate Me Later (Ell Ess Two) Irvine is a planned community. It is a city owned by the Irvine Company and takes great pride in being considered the “Safest City in America”. It’s located in sunny Southern California and borders Newport …
Jul 19
Friendship Bracelets
When I was a kid, I went through a phase where I had friendship bracelets. Sadly, I do not remember what friends I shared those bracelets with. I’m pretty sure we got them at the local arcade (or the equivalent to a Chuck E. Cheese) and wore them until they got faded and never replaced …
Jun 28
Home is Where the Beer Is
When my family moved to San Diego from Brooklyn Park, we moved to an area that was in the midst of being developed, an “up and coming” community, if you will. While we didn’t know it at the time, Brooklyn Park was starting to slowly deteriorate. It never boasted itself as “America’s finest city” (ironically, …
Jun 01
Attention Deficit
My friend once told me a story about how she was watching this baby try to get his mom’s attention at a party when she was talking to some of her friends. After his first couple of attempts were deemed fruitless, he decided to take drastic measures, so he dumped his plate of food all …
Apr 26
My Korean BBQ Shirt
During Welcome Week of my freshmen year of college, I was invited to a party by a girl I had a crush on that I met during summer orientation. She was a year older (she was paid to help with the orientation), so she and her roommates were having a party at their apartment. I …
Mar 01
Seven (+13) Pounds
I wouldn’t say I have “interpersonal conflicts” (aka friends pissing me off) all that often, but even if I did, they are somewhat inevitable. Sometimes I can brush them off, but sometimes there has to be some confrontation. When that happens, I try to cool off as much as possible and I try to get …
Feb 01
All Aboard the S.S. Gout
December 4th is Jay-Z’s birthday. Even if things like Wikipedia never existed, I would still know that December 4th is Jay-Z’s birthday? How? He wrote a song about it. His mom is even a narrator on that song. December 4th, 2009, was Jay-Z’s 40th birthday so I decided to round up some friends and go …
Jan 04
The 5 Year Plan
In college, I had a friend tell me about how they and their significant other had this huge plan on how they were going to support each other through med school and law school respectively (after the significant other finished community college, which would be after they got back from serving their country), and get …
Nov 23
The First Thanksgiving
I don’t remember many Thanksgivings from my childhood. In fact, the earliest Thanksgiving I remember was from freshmen year of college. The plan was to spend Thanksgiving at my sister’s place in LA. I was having a hard time reaching my parents and finally when I did, I was informed that I would have to …
Oct 26
How the Flaming Lips Saved My (Spiritual) Life
It’s weird to go to the same church for 8 years and then one day decide “Maybe I should just stop going here.” There was no life changing event, no epiphany, I was just bored. I was showing up late, if at all, and was leaving the minute service was dismissed. I realized that if …
Aug 03
Molly want a Cracker?
I’m occasionally forced to hang out with Molly a couple of times a year because we have a mutual friend, a mutual friend who I think was trying to hook us up at some point, probably since we both consider ourselves writers. Alas, we are not Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, unless Dave Eggers’ feelings …
Jun 29
Hidden Quirkiness
“I think the girl in the story should be cute and quirky like ME!” Without thinking, I got up from my chair and stared Molly in the eye. “This is a waste of my time.” There was no wink, no chuckle, not a hint of irony. I was offended by her idea on so many …
Jun 22
Cock Block
I went to DC a couple of years ago for St. Patrick’s Day. I was single, had a green shirt, and I had a place to crash. If I was making more than your typical retail salary, it would be the ideal situation. Other than Bruce, who’s place I was crashing at, I had no …
May 11
Hang the DJ
I know that you can’t really have a best friend when you’re an infant, but just to kind of make things simple, I tell people that I’ve been best friends with Bruce since we were babies, circa 1983. My mom and his mom were (still are) really good friends (if not best friends) and realized …
May 04
Chris and Ryan Go to South Coast Plaza
There’s a debate about the Korean American identity. The issue is that there really isn’t one. There’s a Korean identity and there’s an American identity and then there’s a bunch of people who argue about what is the right balance of the two. I’ve consistently been the target of “not being Korean” enough by these …
Apr 13
The Divine Secrets of the Bolsa Brotherhood
A few months back, Jessica asked me what my weekend plans were. I reminded her that I was going to the Of Montreal/Health concert on Saturday. “Oh, that’s right, you’re going with your boyfriend” she replied. I was confused, not because I didn’t understand that she was making a joke, I was confused by who …
Mar 30
Now Museum, Now You Don’t
I was once on a public elementary school field trip to the Science Museum of Minnesota and I saw Bruce there with his mom (he went to a private school). They weren’t there with anyone else, no classmates, no teachers, just the two of them. It was a treat to see my best friend on …
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