For a little background music to go along with this entry, please click on the photo and prepare to sway. Thanks!
I've been really busy lately and haven't had time to get my butt over here to say something -- anything! -- but here I am, ready and willing.
I have to admit, though, that I was very surprised to find 914 comments on my last journal entry and extremely flattered that most were invitations to play poker online with a bunch of weirdos... not!
I understand that poker is really "hot" right now in the States and elsewhere, but come now.
What kind of person are you if you have to start inviting perfect strangers like myself to play poker with you?! Inviting me once or twice is ALMOST acceptable, but 914 times?! Isn't that a little desperate... ?!
What's happening here?!
I hate to be rude, but... I think these people need to stop and take a moment to reflect upon the meaning of their lives...
... wouldn't you agree?
So I've been pointing some friends to these
Talk Da Talk blogs to get their initial feedback, and the first question that everyone keeps asking me is,
"Do you know David Wu?"
Hey come on! What about my writing? What about my family background? And what about my Chinese jacket with the bank deposit slip stapled to my SLEEVE? What if I had gotten hurt by that crazy teller with the staple gun?! I could have gotten killed, know what I mean?!
So many questions to ask me, and yet people only want to know if I know David Wu... ayah...
Well, the answer is, yes I do...
... sorta.
A long time ago (1995) in a land far, far, away (Taipei), and at a night club that no longer exists (Two Kinky), a bunch of us ABC's (American born Chinese) used to hang out together in a loosely defined social circle. I used to see David quite often at restaurants and bar lounges as we had and still have a number of mutual friends, but I don't think I ever really spoke to him at length because usually, that guy was SURROUNDED by a million people!
What was I supposed to do?
Take a flying leap over the crowd and hope to land in front of him without wiping out all the dishes on the table?
So anyway, there was this one time when my friend Walter was visiting me in Taipei, and it happened that his friend Gail was David's friend, too, so we all went out to dinner together at some random restaurant in the city.
When we were formally introduced, I didn't want to make any ASSUMPTIONS -- one must never make any assumptions about people, right, especially if you don't really know them -- so the first thing I said was,
"Hi David! Nice to meet you! So... what do YOU do?"
LOL.... yes I pretended not to have any idea that he was a famous VJ in Singapore, Taipei and Hong Kong so that he could be a normal person like everyone else and have the opportunity to tell me about himself and what he does for a living on his own accord, because hey, I was just being polite. And he of course answered my question, and in a very nice way.
So yes, I do know David Wu...
... sorta.
The REAL question is:
Do *YOU* know David Wu?
Did you know that traditional Chinese outfits have become really HIP in the United States?
Now what is a “traditional Chinese outfit“, you may ask?
Well I don't know... you tell me! But I have several, and one of them is this really pretty coat that I found at a Taipei boutique shop last year (誠品書店).
Most of the time, when I wear it to parties with my friends or even just to the local supermarket, I get a lot of compliments and people think I am SO COOL. Yeah!
Although, the people at my local bank may beg to differ...
The other day, I was in a mad rush to get to the bank before it closed and was running around like a chicken with its head cut off! I didn't skip a beat in finding great parking spaces, dashing in and out of buildings, grabbing what I needed to grab, and filling out paperwork as needed. Even the teller at the bank was super fast, allowing me to make my counter deposit in less than 60 seconds!
I was impressed with both myself and with her... up until the moment I asked to borrow her stapler.
I wanted to staple the deposit slip to my paperwork, and she held the stapler for me from across the counter as I tried to do this, but instead of just stapling the documents together -- and mind you I was already facing the door ready to exit the bank ASAP -- she also managed to staple my coat sleeve along with.
Yep.
There I stood with my deposit slip and paperwork stapled to the sleeve of my beautiful Chinese coat, and a kazillion people anxiously waiting in line behind me, watching as these events unfold.
I took a deep breath, looked at the teller looking back at me, paused for a brief moment to reflect upon my life as it were -- it was as if the whole world stopped spinning just for this to happen -- and then lost it.
It was SO FUNNY.
As I stood there looking like a complete idiot and laughing my head off, she feebly asked if I wanted to borrow her staple remover to which I politely said "No thank you..." (what are you nuts?!), and the rest I'll leave to one's imagination.
So much for being a “cool” Chinese American... sigh...