Imagine
I was cleaning out my file cabinet the other day and found this. When I was young, I had written Lennon a letter. His assistant typed back a thank you note. At the bottom, John had scrawled a...
View ArticleLet them be
As I was wiping the polish off my son's tiny fingernails, I told him that there’s nothing wrong with nail polish on boys or girls, just as there’s nothing wrong with pierced ears (at an appropriate...
View ArticleAnd So This Is Christmas
To this day, when I see a bag of M&M's, it reminds me of a time when it was difficult being the new kid who couldn't speak English, who had no idea what was going on and who desperately wanted to...
View Article“Miss Granny”
A huge hit in South Korea, where it was filmed, "Miss Granny" doesn't have a unique plot. But, the director deftly takes an old premise (an elderly woman finds herself magically transformed into a 20...
View ArticleSorry, Sorry
“I don’t know if you care," a friend told me. "But words do hurt.” Yes, they do. I understand the power of words. As a writer, it’s how I earn a living. And, as an immigrant whose skin color made it...
View ArticleGo Away With … Eddie Kaye Thomas
"When I was young we didn’t have a lot of money, so we didn’t take fancy vacations," says "American Pie" and "Scorpion" actor Eddie Kaye Thomas. "But we made little local trips that were so much fun....
View ArticleGreen Tea (Matcha) Cake
My mother doesn't like overly sweet desserts. So, for her birthday, I made this delicious Matcha (Green Tea) cake. It tastes like the ones I used to buy from the Japanese bakeries. Honestly? I may even...
View ArticleGrey is Not the New Black
I have begrudgingly joined the pro-grey movement. But rather than making me feel empowered and beautiful, my lighter hair makes me feel self conscious. My friends offer kind words ("I like your grey!"...
View ArticleChicago (My Kind of Town)
Our kid likes to travel. He has taken high-speed KTX trains in Seoul, played in New York City's Central Park and fed dolphins in Paradise Island (Bahamas). All of that was amazing. But it's wonderful...
View ArticleMusic, music, music
I'll be updating this page periodically to include music that's piquing my interest at the moment. What's that you say? Some of this music is old? Well, so am I. :-P
View ArticleYour Sister’s a Bimbo
My friends have asked me why I don’t just delete the negative comments on my site. It’s because the comments document a certain sector of our population that takes great joy in being anonymously nasty....
View ArticleImagine
I was cleaning out my file cabinet the other day and found this. When I was young, I had written Lennon a letter. His assistant typed back a thank you note. At the bottom, John had scrawled a...
View ArticleTaekwondo: Kicking, punching, way of life
I’m not delusional enough to think that taekwondo lessons will make my son the victor in a schoolyard brawl. That’s not how “street fights” work. But, I do think that if he fought back, the other child...
View ArticleSam Smith’s brush with racism
Singer Sam Smith got skewered on social media for a series of tweets. After witnessing his friend being abused due to his race, Smith said he was astounded that something like this could happen in...
View ArticleWhen “Mean Girls” are men
Thinking about it now, I see so many things that I didn't as a young reporter. I see their white privilege, which was tinged with racism, sexism and jealousy. How dare an *unqualified* Asian woman...
View ArticleWhat would’ve happened if Ryan Lochte had spoken Portuguese?
Too many people have brushed off Lochte-Gate with, "Boys will be boys." Which makes me question, just what kind of boys are we raising?
View ArticleWhen your child “loses”
As we were walking home from school, I listened as some of the children voiced their opinions as to who should (and should not) have been elected to student council. According to my chatty informants,...
View ArticleVoting
One of the privileges of being a citizen of the United States is enjoying the rights that were fought for by those who came before us. I know. I sound a bit ridiculous stating the obvious, right? But,...
View ArticleThe Art of Saying No
If you want me to write about pop culture for a magazine, I will accept (for the appropriate payment). If you want someone to help your kid get into Harvard, do not ask me to look over anything. Hire a...
View ArticleHanging Onto Childhood “Clutter”
I am an anti-hoarder who has no use for a lot of "things." But, I will never turn down old family photos. The memories that are tied to them are things that money and "experiences" can't replace.
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