Month: March 2004

SSW got me thinking. Over the last three months, I’ve had a new found appreciation for barrier free architecture. I dragged my father up the stairs this evening in a wheelchair. Today was a particularly bad day, but we “borrowed” the chair from the clinic he was at because he was so weak. The brownstone my parents rent is beautiful but incredibly unfriendly — pulling 200 lbs of person and chair up two flights of steps isn’t really ideal, albeit better than trying to piggyback 150 lbs.

In the next two months, my brother is planning to swap his more access friendly apartment with my parents. That apartment has an elevator, and the back buzzer door provides a ramped entrance. Let’s see how that goes.

Some matters:

My undergraduate school’s alumni e-mail listserv sent out the word that the Asian American Writers’ Workshop is having a book sale until March 12, 2004 (free shipping for purchases over $25.00); the group has had to cut back its programs due to funding problems and independent bookstores are having problems generally, AAWW being no exception. According to the message I got:

“‘The Workshop is not moving, we’re not closed… we are struggling under the same pressure of competition and increased costs. If you want to hear the whole story straight from our Executive Director Quang Bao on WBAI radio, you can visit http://www.asiapacificforum.org/ (click on archive section.)

“‘So many of you offered to help the Workshop, and here’s your chance:

“‘PLEASE BUY A BOOK!

“‘We’re running a 5-10-15-20 dollar sale online, with free shipping on orders over $25. Scroll through a wonderful selection of 50 contemporary Asian American books, including children’s literature.'”

Check out the website at http://www.aaww.org/ – the selection looks good and decently priced. Now all I have to do is decide what to buy and read (I was in a good mood at work, until I got irritated by the public my workplace serves; it happens frequently when you’re in the public interest/public service sector; so I need some interesting reading material to make me feel better). (Anyone else interested should do so too!)

Apparently, AAWW will also have an event on April 15 for “Charlie Chan Is Dead 2,” edited by Jessica Hagedorn. (The Asian American Writers’ Workshop, 16 West 32nd Street, Suite 10A, New York NY 10001-3814). Show your support, if you can do it and are in the neighborhood of NYC. (Pardon my using this blog entry as a soapbox; I just thought supporting AAWW seemed like a good cause; back to the usually scheduled odd thought or such).

I was sort of watching “Nightline,” and the topic was about how whether Kerry can show he’s a real patriot/military leader since being a veteran doesn’t mean too much these days (or, maybe it does in the circumstances; it’s still debatable). Ted Koppel’s invited political analysts mentioned the line (which I’ve heard before) that the Democratic party is seen as the “Mommy” party, because it takes care of people — while the Republican party is the “Daddy” party, because it protects people (particularly since George W. Bush is the incumbent leader in a middle of the war against terrorism).

Now, part of me feels that is such a ridiculous characterization of the political parties; have we forgotten that Democrats were the ones who led this country in two world wars, and two Democrats in particular were the ones who led us to victory in the last so-called good war (Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman). During that same time period, the Republicans were much more insular and less on global interaction (and sometimes still are; and sometimes some Democrats are the ones against globalism, particularly when free trade means exporting jobs out of America and bothers the Democratic union base). And, apparently, because Democrats were also the ones who led us into the quagmire that was the Vietnam War (and the Korean War, the forgotten one) and a number of Democrats have been primarily the ones against wars generally since then, the Democratic party is often seen as the anti-war party (if not the unpatriotic/weak party; kind of like the nerdy kid who willingly lets himself get beaten up in the schoolyard because he doesn’t want to fight back because he’s a coward or is non-violent in principle).

Now, considering the contradiction of how to characterize the Democratic party and the historical track of both parties, I so disagree with the idea of simply calling the parties “Mommy” and “Daddy” – that just trivializes both parties.

Another thought – there are many times I think that I should have taken mediation or negotiations or other skills course in law school; then there are times I realize the real teacher of such things is experience. I’m grateful for having been in a clinic in law school; but then again, I still don’t feel that I came out of it with enough preparation in dealing with the difficult complainants/clients (or maybe there is no way to prepare for that). Eh. So it goes in the life of a so-called public sector/public interest attorney. Feel free to make comments, as usual.

What did I learn about San Francisco? It isn’t really a big city — P– and I hit virtually all of the neighborhoods (with the notable exception of Embarcadero/Financial District) on a 3 day $15 Muni pass. That included a half day at Alcatraz and walking over the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset. The free tourist map has a convenient checklist of tourist things to do — there were like only 15 things on the list, and we actually did most of them without even looking at the list. If you are going just to see sights, you can max out the place pretty easily. But that’s really not what the city is about.

San Francisco is an expensive city. It’s even more expensive than New York. However, the food is fresher and the seafood is more amazing. Value shopping is key. We paid $5 for sundaes at Ghirardelli Square and felt ripped off for getting only 6 oz of ice cream. However, we paid $26 for the omakase (chef’s selection) at Sushi on North Beach, and we got a 10 course meal. Gourmet Chinese food was excellent, but wasn’t value for money. However dim sum at Four Seas and Chinese pasteries at Gum Man Bakery (both Grant Avenue institutions) were incredible values. We ditched a $65 Napa tour and instead walked to Marin over the Golden Gate Bridge for $zero (not counting the transit pass). We bought wines at Safeway (10% off for a six-pack, and I joined their shopper’s club to get 2 for 1 discounts — we picked up a Modavi Private Reserve Merlot 2001 that YC and I saw being made the last time I was there — it took about 30 minutes of breathing, but afterwards, it was a fantastic wine) and chocolates at Walgreens ($2-5 cheaper than at the company store) and saved a bundle. We picked up Beach Blanket Babylon tickets for half price at the Tix Bay Area booth at Union Square, which when we told Bob the consierge gave us a totally dumbfounded look — apparently it was as if we got half price tickets to The Producers or something.

Sometimes, though, you just have to do things regardless of cost. You’re going to go to Alcatraz at least once for $15. Staying near Union Square was such a convenience it didn’t matter that it was $95 a night. Buying Girl Scout cookies from cute Japanese brownies will make you cough up $3.50. I’ve taken a new fondness for Red Bull (we snagged a 6 pack from the film festival after-party as they were a sponsor — it’s the perfect jet lag solution).

SF can be a lonely city, especially when we couldn’t get into Cafe du Nord (maxed out their capacity), and ended up missing the last tram back to downtown (froze our butts out on the median for 45 minutes for the next bus). Or when we got up for a Sunday morning flight and the BART wasn’t running and had to blow $35 for a cab. It can be a lonely city when you’re in a crowded theater and don’t know exactly how you got there, or why you eating Bento boxes in the middle of such a national landmark. There are many sidewalks where you are the solitary pedestrians, even when the street is busy. However, it encourages people to cling, especially since rents are so high that people have 4 or 5 roommates.

I made my quota of bumping into people I know unexpectedly. Risa I know from the film festival in New York and NYU. She’s such an over-achiever! MinJung is more funny, more sincere, more huggable in person than even on her website (maybe it was the liquor talking).

Of course the biggest thing that I learned was how great a travelling companion P– is. She’s good at getting the trains running on time, figuring what the hell happened to my cap or my cell phone for the 30th time, or making command decisions on cabs or public transport. Her Chinese is a gazillion times better than mine, so she bails me out when the need arises. She can make her entire wardrobe, six bottles of wine, a box of Chinese pasteries and more fit into a small red pullman, smaller than mine. She’s incredibly comforting when you’re in the middle of nowhere. And of course, that huge travel pillow that she carried, which we named “pseudo-Shelly” in honor of her sister’s beagle.

At one point I had thought about living there, though I don’t see how I would anymore. Nevertheless, I do share the intense joy for the city that Beach Blanket Babylon emits, and we intend to make the SF Asian American Film Festival a regular pilgrimage. Just stay away from the chocolate!