blake kathryn
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🩵 avery cochrane 🩵
YOU ARE THE REASON
Origami Around
Noah Kahan
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let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
if i look back, i am lost
RMH
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Kaledo Art
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
wallacepolsom
Sweet Seals For You, Always
DEAR READER
almost home
tumblr dot com
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Stranger Things
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@hapaholic-blog
Mark your calendars! The incredible Ken Tanabe of Loving Day is once again organizing a celebration in NYC to commemorate the Supreme Court case that legalized interracial unions.
June 15. Free BBQ, free beer, solid tunes and good company. Don't think it should take much convincing.
The Hapa Project started in 2001, and the book was published in 2006, so it's not new, but certainly worth a look if you haven't seen it. Artist Kip Fulbeck took a series of simply composed portraits and paired them with the subject's handwritten answer to the inevitable "what are you" question. The result is a visually compelling and arresting rundown of how people treat their mixed-race identity. Even though there's no set culture that unites us all, the work is a comforting reminder that there's definitely a community.
Photo: Kip Fulbeck
Not to necessarily criticize anyone, but who else was pleased that Bérénice Marlohe was the first hapa Bond girl? Her appearance in Skyfall may have been short, but glad the role went to someone with sophistication (who still has a lot of character).
It's baffling how this commercial caused the controversy that it did, but why the ad itself is a big deal is obvious.
Granted I'm sure Cheerios wasn't intending to make a grand, epic statement with a 31 second clip hawking cereal, but for people who are mixed and starved for normal media representation, this is noteworthy.
For anyone against it, bad news. _______ dads and _______ moms feed their apparently offensive ambiguously ethnic children cereal on the regular. And posting nasty YouTube comments about it isn't going to prevent it. (Interracial marriage was legalized in 1967 with Loving v. Virginia. You're a little late.)
What are you? (Alternatively, what is she/he)*
People get ticked off when you answer "human," but a) it's accurate b) what kind of question is that?
Met up with a friend who has a young hapa son and lives in NYC, who apparently fields that question all the time about her three year old. Adults, you're looking at a child. Shouldn't we trust that you're smart enough to figure that out? Given that aliens haven't landed and taken over yet, you shouldn't need to ask...
*Could write a thousand plus words on this, but for now this will suffice.
Truthful Tweeting
This past Sunday, someone thought I was born in the '90s. The next day, I found my first gray hair.
As a friend pointed out, #hapaproblems.
Things I've Realized (...a Potential Series)
I'm currently in Chicago, and have deduced, through testing done here, LA, NY and Philly, that apparently when you go out with another Asian (or half-Asian), people afflicted with yellow fever within 2 miles of your location are instantly alerted.
...what's up with that?
Sushi + burritos = Mexican, Japanese hapa food; currently found in SF (Sushirrito) and LA (Jogasaki Burrito). Not sure how I feel about this, but damn, what a logo.
Photo: courtesy of Sushirrito
I never try anything, I just do it. Like I don't beat clocks, just people. Want to try me?
On Friday, badass hapa babe Tura Satana passed away. Strong, ambitious, fearless and determined, this woman paved the way for many of the characters I watched growing up (think Xena, more recently Kill Bill etc.).
Life wasn't always easy for her (she spent her childhood in Manzanar, was gang raped at nine, shot by an ex at 35...), but even in interviews as late as 2008 (see above), you can tell she retained her spirit, keeping herself more lively and youthful at 72 than even some 20-somethings I know.
Lesson to learn from her? Life's tough, so be tougher.
RIP Ms. Satana.
There are a lot of things I still miss about school – late classes, "free" gym and museum access, encouraging words from professors...
But if there's one thing I don't miss (about grade school, high school, college), it's being pressured to bring "diversity" to school catalogues and brochures.
These women were lovely, but were we friends? No. Had we just met? Yes. But we remain digitally bonded, even if it's just by being ambiguously ethnic and having school pride.
...I never watched Scrubs, but preach it Murray.
With all the recent hoopla surrounding the behavior of young kids this is totally a no-no to say...but, I think this hapa child looks fierce.
Maybe it's this past weekend's binge on Toddlers & Tiaras influencing me, but Tom Ford and French Vogue, you make me want to be six again. (Except this time, with cash to style myself).
Feeling SAD and BAM! Reverse Racism
From 2006, when blizzards still seemed quaint.
I've been living in New York for slightly over six years, and perhaps my inner Californian is finally fading.
This is the first winter in recent memory in which I seem to be experiencing mild Seasonal Affect Disorder. The snow's no longer charming, the cold doesn't offer an enjoyable "crispness" and, let's get real: "wintry mix" is not at all as festive as it sounds.
To boot, a newly noticed by-product of the weather? Reverse racism!
That's right kids – when I went to Philly this weekend I was mistaken for Caucasian, twice.
Nothing wrong with that (it's half of who I am after all), but my current paleness provides a reason to miss Los Angeles (besides family, the beach, the PB&banana shake at Swingers etc.).
{So on Saturday} When two of my lovely fellow hapas and I went to Chung Dam to shed 2010's remaining skin at the hands of disapproving ajuma-types, I found it odd I was put in a different locker area. Then, when forcibly taken to the "Western" shower area – it was confirmed. They didn't think I could be trusted to properly conduct or clean myself, Asian-style.
Let it be known however, that after they skeptically asked whether I had "Asian skin," my answer led to a series of giggly, amused "nǐ hǎos." I'm not sure my subsequent silence was a convincing response – on one hand, I could have simply been proving my Asianness by exhibiting Q.A.S., or on the other, been remaining mum because I know zero Chinese (sadly, true).
...I suppose this type of confusion is a bit refreshing though, given that no one even bothered to ask if Akiko Moorman and I were related...
Really – do I really look that much more white? Apparently yes, because I got offered a fork.
Photo: the talented Lia Bulaong.
Three Forks and a Spoon
In the photo above, you'll see what three half-Asian women eating dessert with a Caucasian male looks like. Oh yeah, that's right.
Not not that the spoon was a bad choice, but come on, where's the imagination, the urgency.
My humble hypothesis: for the most part, we come out of the womb expected to eat with pronged utensils, which prompts later flatware dexterity and adaptability.
Spoons are for soup, agreed – but you best not tell us we have eat our ice cream with them.
...You might get stabbed.
If a cheese is created by mixing milk from a Chinese woman's breast and a cow raised in the Catskills, that makes it half-Asian, right?
Introducing Epic Meal Time: Hapa Edition.
These three Canadian guys started a web series in which they create obscene, edible orgies of meat, and what can I say – I dig it.
Here watch as two cultures collide: Chinese food (a watered down version, but hey, Asians don't get much representation on film, so we'll take it) and good ole' fashioned "one-slice-is-never-enough" American-inspired Gluttony.
The results? Gorgeous. Naturally.
The King's Speech
Considering all the films already made about the British monarchy, it genuinely surprises me that there's still material left to use.
...And that I'd actually be convinced to care about aristocratic, male royalty.
Colin Firth, you charismatic wanker. Can't help falling for it every time.
Battlestar Galactica's "Savior"
Don't get me wrong, it's extremely flattering that the key to mankind's survival in Battlestar Galactica turns out to be a young hapa girl – except for the fact that it's a lie.
Grace Park + Tahmoh Penikett + sexytimes = one (mostly) Canadian half-Asian baby. Right?
Incorrect.
No offense to the small and precious Iliana Gomez-Martinez, but the kid's not part Asian, and the show shouldn't try to pass her off to be. The same principal should apply to the very talented Eduard James Olmos. Making him wear blue contacts doesn't erase his Mexican-Americanness...it just makes his eyes fucking distracting.
If the script dictates that he and Jamie Bamber are father and son, chances are the audience will go along with it – even if (gasp) their eyes and ethnic background are different. Toddlers could deal with the fact that Norm Lewis and Sierra Boggess played father and daughter when The Little Mermaid debuted on Broadway, so come on guys. Get with the program.
Props for casting a healthy amount of minorities BSG, but we don't all look the same.
And yes, this post is totally inspired by the fact that if the show came out 20 years ago, I would have wanted to be cast. I'm not going to lie to you.
See? Even had the artistic skills.