A Word With a Friend

The room felt empty even though I could see dozens of people walk by me. The commotion was unlike anything I had experienced before in my life. Despite all that surrounded me, it felt as calm as a river’s gentle flow. I didn’t have a care in the world. I was in the moment. On one side of the curtain was chaos. On my side, it was heaven. 

I couldn’t believe that it had come to this. The St. Jerome’s 16th Annual Spelling Bee was not something I thought that would bring me so much stress. After all, I was deemed as the second best speller in all of the school. Well, there’s only 248 students in the school and my eighth grade class has 31 of them. Not a really stiff competition since I’m really just competing against my own class. Getting here wasn’t shocking. But what surprised me the most was who I had to face off in the final round.

Devin. My best friend. 

We had known each other since we first met in kindergarten – and we were always with each other. He was a scrawny little kid when we first met. He had this dark curly hair that looked like a bed of cotton resting on his skull. I thought he had the coolest hair then and I still do now. Our moms both seemed to like each other too. I think I was always hanging out at Devin’s house every other Saturday. He lived about a mile from my house and both my mom and I would walk the 20 minutes or so to get there. She enjoyed her mom time with Mrs. Devin and I would just play video games with my friends while scarfing down the stuffed crust pizzas from Pizza Hut. Mrs. Devin always got that for us. That’s the best kind of pizza there is. I haven’t eaten that kind of pizza since the last time we hung out at his mom’s house. Those were some great memories.

In Los Angeles, Madi Diaz Gives A Tour Of History Of A Feeling

My photos from the Madi Diaz concert was used for this review!

What happens when you sign a publishing deal at 20-years-old?

When singer-songwriter Madi Diaz signed a publishing deal at the young age of 20-years-old, she (likely) imagined a never ending list of opportunities and doors opening for her dreams to come true by becoming a successful musician. And for a while, it looked like it was actually happening.

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Feelings on the destruction of my old home church by a fraud pastor

I have been part of Trinity Church of the Nazarene in Monterey Park since 2012. It was a wonderful church. It was my home church. It was a great place for people to love God and love one another as a united community. The church actually had a second location in Rowland Heights. I grew to love the people at that church too. This was my home church and I envisioned being part of this church for the rest of my time in Southern California. But the church was in a middle of a transition. The church was looking for a new lead pastor after the previous one was called to a new position in Northern California. It became a two-year search. But finally, after that long wait, a candidate was chosen and was offered to the congregation to a vote on whether or not they would extend the position to him.

Racism Against Asian Americans

It has been a very difficult time for Asian Americans this year. The foundation of hate in which this country was built upon is creeping its ugly head and hurting my people.

The pandemic has unleased a barrage of racist attacks towards Asian Americans. Trump is the ring leader of this, continuing to call it the “China virus” and other variations of the term even though he has been told of its hurtful connotations. And his supporters continue to choose to defend the term and its ideas over defending the people whom the term is hurting. This is an outright act of willful racism perpetuated by racists. (The virus is called “COVID-19.” Call it that. Don’t go out of your way to call it something else. Choosing to do that is an act of racism. There are no exceptions.)

The stereotypes of Asians, including the awful hurtful label of “model minority,” continue to devalue who we are. The term, which on the surface seems like a compliment, is a form of racial microaggression that stereotypes Asians and puts down other people who don’t live up to that “standard.”

Sadly this isn’t new. This country was founded on white supremacy, hating on people who are different. This is the root of America. And it continues today. How can anyone claim that this country was “great” when racism has pulsed toxic blood throughout the life stream of this nation?

I wonder what kind of power my people have in defending themselves when this kind of racism exists from all levels of power. One major way is to vote. This country has a history of voter suppression. Even the concept of having to register to vote is a form of suppression. But that should not stop us from using our power to bring forward the right leadership that will defend us, not defend hate.

I hope that this video helps bring light to some of the major issues and struggles that me and my people have to endure every single day. It’s exhausting trying to live in “the country of the free” when its own people make me feel trapped. I urge you to please consider our plight and stand with us. And for the Asian Americans, I urge you to continue to fight. Whether it’s at the voting booths, in the streets or where ever you are, you have the power. Make your voices heard.

Don’t support racism in any of its forms, including hurtful words and actions. Fight for the freedom and the equality of all. I pray that God that we can bring forth the best possible outcome in this.

This America we know now must die. It is time to build a new one. Let’s go get it.

Disney’s new ‘Mulan’ film is a cultural representation disaster like its animated predecessor

The story of Mulan (花木蘭) is a story that I grew up with. As a Chinese kid, this was one of the most important stories that I had to know. It is similar to America’s Johnny Appleseed story. The story originated from a ballad but has now become one of the most important folklore in Chinese culture.

Trying to create this beautiful story into a movie is a daunting task. It’s been done many times but for a mega company like Disney to take it on was a great joy for me in 1998. Finally, my people’s faces and story gets a spotlight on the big stage. The people of America and around the world will get a chance to my people. We don’t get the spotlight very much so this is very special to me. I was hopeful that the movie would do the Chinese culture and people justice.

It did not.

A discussion about race

The George Floyd death and protests is fresh on our minds. Check out the first 90 seconds of the video.

I’m totally over online church services

Church service countdowns… I hate staring at these. 

Online church sucks.

It’s been a challenging transition going to church since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. From my experience here in America, it’s obviously not the same as it was when I was able to physically attend a service and see my close friends at church.

I cannot take for granted the great blessing that we have during this pandemic. We have the technology to broadcast church services live on many different online platforms. I can still get my experience of hearing a preacher preach every Sunday and being fed the good word of the Bible. I am grateful for that.

Imagine if this pandemic hit us 20 years ago. What could we have done as an alternative to the shelter-in-place ordinance? It would be a massive phone conference (local calls only) every Sunday. Internet speeds would be at 56K for most people with limited computer programming. It would be challenging and the technology likely wouldn’t have been available to everyone.

But we are good right now because we can still “attend” church by pulling up our Facebook Live or YouTube app and watch it on our laptop, our phone or even cast it to the TV. We can still get church and we don’t have to even leave our home or even change our clothes. Isn’t that great?

No. It isn’t.

Processing the suicide of Pastor Jarrid Wilson and celebrating what he did for me and my faith

On Monday, Pastor Jarrid Wilson took his own life at the age of 30. I’m still processing this as I have a connection with him despite never having met him.

But before I talk about my thoughts, here are some details on who he was and what he was about.

First, here is a tweet from Senior Pastor Greg Laurie with a link detailing Wilson’s role and impact at Harvest, a church based in SoCal in which he joined 18 months ago.

It is with the deepest sadness and shock that I have to report that @JarridWilson went to be with the Lord last night.
At a time like this, there are just no words.
The Bible says, “There is a time to mourn.” This is certainly that time. Read more athttps://t.co/EKJb7UJaki

— Greg Laurie (@greglaurie) September 10, 2019

When your creation gets featured and shared by important folks

For work, I created some Rick and Morty assets for social media to go with our new Rick and Morty crate.

I created them myself and posted them on Loot Crate’s channels. Then this happened!

The whole Faithbox idea is absurd

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This is Faithbox. They are a subscription company that sends Christian things every month. For $25 per box (or $22 per box if you go for a yearly plan) they will send you Christian items based on a theme. The theme you see above is money. So they will send you money-related Christian things like how to handle it, how to tithe… and oh look, a wallet with Faithbox’s logo on it.

What a strange concept. I know that the subscription box concept is designed for people who are fans. (I know. That is my profession.) You can be fans of TV shows, music artists, movies, etc. But can you really be a fan of Christianity? No. Christianity is not something you be a fan of in life. It’s a lifestyle. You are fans of creations made by other people. The Christian faith is not that.

So it’s very strange that this thing exists. And I would assume it was created by Christians. So people are asked to give money to an organization for something to receive an unknown entity (what’s inside the box) in hopes that it will answer questions they may be having in their lives.