Thursday, April 24, 2008




Last night, while eating dinner at 10:00p, Elena and I decided that we are still on Colorado time. While in some regards I agree with this observation, in other instances I believe I’m just being lazy. Generally I consider myself to be a night owl, but in LA I’ve been falling asleep at the 1:00a-ish hour. At home, to go to bed at 1:00a is a pleasure, but as I’m in LA, I feel a little like an old lady. Well, Elena and I should realign our sleeping schedules soon or I fear we’ll be maintaining 11:00a-7:00p work hours, which we did today…

Personally, I have no issues with arriving at work at 11:00a. But speaking in more logical terms, I doubt that life works like this. Nevertheless, I wholeheartedly believe that Elena and I accomplished much more than I anticipated we would today. After days of soundless and somewhat scatterbrained home videos, I was thankful to have a change of pace.
Today Elena and I diligently meandered through pages of David Soo Hoo’s scrapbook, which has its own randomly eclectic quality to it. Amidst the articles of the Sino-Japanese War and Chiang Kai-Shek was an article entitled “Does Your Husband Wish He Was Single,” and another article expounded upon on a rating system for your significant other. Reading these wartime newspapers was particularly enlightening as there was tremendous emphasis on China and supporting the Chinese war effort, not only by the Chinese American community, but also in the greater American population. Despite this newfound appreciation for China (we read an article about US legislation repealing the Chinese Exclusion Act at Whitesides) and Chinese Americans, Orientalism sneaks in and rears its ugly head. On one LA Times cover page, there were a good number of geezer-ly Chinese men with wispy white beards and Chinese hats. What was most striking about this page was the caption about a “lower caste Chinese man.” Lower caste? Caste systems didn’t even exist in China; I think the writers were getting China confused with India. Furthermore, Elena and I witnessed and photographed further evidence of Orientalism – Chinese exotic dancers. Elena noted that these “Chinese nudies” could have instigated what we understand today as the Asian fetish. Not only do I find the fetishes strange but a little creepy as well [please note the picture of my incredulous expression]. Because of our pre-work slacking and coming in late to the office, Elena and I finished up at the CAM at about 7:00p.

Following a productive day at the office and some stimulating conversation about Orientalism, we ventured into Chinatown for dinner. I was a little worried about going out into the dark, especially after Linh (CAM’s PR person) asked if we had mace. Thank goodness, I had Elena by my side because scary wasn’t so scary anymore. May Flower was on our menu tonight, with good food and a community feel to it. With a full stomach of tasty Chinese food, Elena and I clambered into a metro subway car headed towards Ktown. Ktown hosts a nice little Pinkberry knockoff called Yogurtberry, which houses similarly pink furnishings. Though the peach yogurt and mochi was tasty, we will likely be returning to Pinkberry in the near future.