The political is personal: week 6 of the COVID-19 social isolation, 2020, random day’s log

Yesterday between other political, domestic, family, and minimal self-care tasks* I was on two really good zoom calls. One was essentially about the importance of data-driven political organizing and education and the critical youth vote and one was about pretty much the same thing, and how to help good candidates get their message out and […]

The “wine mom centrist” speaks (the 2020 primary election sucks)

Since people are sharing their stories of supporting Elizabeth Warren while not being “elite,” here’s mine. I think I’m inspired because some rando “socialist” bro just referred to me as a “wine mom centrist” on Twitter, and I have lost IQ points just writing those words. I have supported a couple of different candidates in […]

Day of the Dead, 2019

Day of the Dead, 2019

Last weekend, when we went to see the Dia de Los Muertos altars and display downtown, I really was blown away by their beauty and intricacy and all of the care that had gone into each one, and how the entire display in Grand Park was so dazzling. I spent a long time looking at […]

Difficult conversations

Yesterday at a conference of grassroots progressive activists, I was listening to a panel of data experts discuss the preliminary analysis of who voted in the 2018 midterm elections. One of the guys presented an interesting data slice. He reported that (in a traditionally conservative area of California) among “independents” (meaning mostly conservatives who reject […]

Where They From?

Posted by on Sep 15, 2018 in Asian, Family, Immigrant Experience, Personal, Writing | No Comments

Here is something I wrote much earlier this year but still applies to our daily reality of living in this era of sudden forgetfulness of the American Dream. Where They From? (with apologies to Missy Elliott) January 17, 2018 In the week before Martin Luther King Day, the sitting president* of the United States made […]

Here is the film list you need to escape and yet understand this damned hellscape

Here is the film list you need to escape and yet understand this damned hellscape

Posted by on Nov 7, 2017 in All, Media, Politics | One Comment

I’ve been working on some things that are not ready for prime time yet and also trying to get back into my life as a person who can sit still long enough to watch a movie that doesn’t just have a lot of magic swords in it. Not that there’s anything wrong with those movies. […]

The OpEd Project

The OpEd Project

Posted by on Oct 5, 2017 in Los Angeles, Media, Writing | No Comments

In September I took part in a daylong seminar by the OpEd Project at the UCLA Center for the Study of Women. It was a great experience and I recommend it. The organization conducts seminars in the cities listed in the link above. For people who are trying to get their ideas for change into […]

On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder

On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder

Posted by on May 6, 2017 in All, Media, Personal, Politics, Writing | No Comments

If you read this blog (hello, my five or ten friends and other people who occasionally google me!), you will see that the spaces between posts have grown and grown over the last few years. This coincides with the birth of my third child and my attempt to finish a masters degree in writing. Oh, […]

A Moment Changes Everything

A Moment Changes Everything

Posted by on May 6, 2017 in All, Family, Los Angeles, Personal, Politics, Writing | 2 Comments

I had the privilege of being in the Spark Off Rose storytelling show again last month, telling a story on the theme “A Moment Changes Everything.” Spark Off Rose is one of my favorite shows because of the care the producers take in choosing themes and stories and shaping them with writers. The monthly show […]

Speak, MFA

Speak, MFA

Posted by on Nov 25, 2015 in All, Personal, Quotidian, Writing | One Comment

There were so many blog posts* and other bits of writing I half-wrote in my head this year and the year before, as I went running in the morning or drove children to school or doctor or dentist appointments. Sometimes at times like that, my head is blissfully clear, and everything makes so much sense. […]