I had a friend over the other day who hasn’t come over in a while, and he was having a little trouble finding my place. Our apartment is behind a restaurant, which is usually a good landmark for guests, but … Continue reading →

I had a friend over the other day who hasn’t come over in a while, and he was having a little trouble finding my place. Our apartment is behind a restaurant, which is usually a good landmark for guests, but not now when they’re undergoing construction.

Eric: I think I’m here… is there a massive dumpster in front of your house?

Me: Yes! It’s, um, decorative?

Eric: Ah yes. Seasonally appropriate decor for the time of dumpster fire politics.

This Ask Polly about writing a book is pretty much how I feel about releasing Takeout. Ok, yes, that day when a new coworker had already played my game, without me telling him about it, is still possibly the best … Continue reading →

This Ask Polly about writing a book is pretty much how I feel about releasing Takeout. Ok, yes, that day when a new coworker had already played my game, without me telling him about it, is still possibly the best day in my entire life.

But mostly, after really, really believing that finishing my game was a real massive milestone, the question mark is still there.

…Once you’re published, you think the question mark will be removed. But, SURPRISE! It’s still there. It’s there when you compare yourself to other writers or count the number of people at your reading or grind your teeth over a bad review….

When people say, “Oh my god, a book, you must feel great!” most writers get a little half-smile that tells you books are hard to hug close. …  With a first book, you also tend to care too much about reviews (if you get reviewed at all) or about how many people show up for events. You might think having a book in the world will finally make you feel LIKE AN AUTHOR, but eventually you discover that feeling like an author amounts to making bad small talk at cramped bookstores filled with indifferent strangers, all the while wishing you were drunk and stoned and young and gorgeous and a ballerina who lives on Mars instead.

Source: Ask Polly: ‘Should I Quit My Day Job to Write a Book?’

I generally think I’m healthy, energetic, excited about my hobbies. I’m just starting out in my work, sometimes I get the giggles, sometimes I plan what I want to do when I grow up. Being in my 30s is basically being … Continue reading...

I generally think I’m healthy, energetic, excited about my hobbies. I’m just starting out in my work, sometimes I get the giggles, sometimes I plan what I want to do when I grow up. Being in my 30s is basically being 22 with greater emotional stability than my real early 20s!

But also, how on earth do you young people have a gif ready for every situation?

Yeah, so I requested all of the books Corinna Ko-Tung tells Kitty Pong to read (in China Rich Girlfriend) from the library.

Yeah, so I requested all of the books Corinna Ko-Tung tells Kitty Pong to read (in China Rich Girlfriend) from the library.

Bird Refuses To Back Down, As Somerville Seizes Electric Scooters This is probably the most Boston story I’ve read in a while, containing both local government steadfastly refusing to alleviate the problems of overburdened public transit, and entitled tech bros … Continue reading...

Impounded scooters. (Pic from the WBUR article)

Bird Refuses To Back Down, As Somerville Seizes Electric Scooters

This is probably the most Boston story I’ve read in a while, containing both local government steadfastly refusing to alleviate the problems of overburdened public transit, and entitled tech bros turning up to DISRUPT!!! without communicating. No one looks good in this story, man.

I went to a screening of Crazy Rich Asians last night. It was so fun, so gorgeous, and although it was quite different from the books, it kept most of the beats and the reveals of the novel, in a … Continue reading →

I went to a screening of Crazy Rich Asians last night. It was so fun, so gorgeous, and although it was quite different from the books, it kept most of the beats and the reveals of the novel, in a very condensed form.  Basically, the books are OTT manners novels with romcom elements, the movie is an OTT romcom with hints of a manners novel.

Some of my favorite characters, scenes, and subplots were cut, probably because it would have been a 4-hour movie. (Actually, that would have been fine by me.) I was a little disappointed that the movie abbreviated the new rich-old money contrast between the Gohs and the Young-Shang-Tsiens. I sort of saw Auntie Neenah as a Singaporean Beetelle Fabrikant, but in the movie the Gohs are all very much comic relief. I didn’t love every change but making Rachel a game theory teacher was an A+ decision.

Also, this song, 我要你的爱, has things I like in my dad’s big band kinda music and things I like in mandopop songs, and somehow the combination makes it pretty much impossible not to sing.