Over the weekend, I volunteered for the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. I have been meaning to get involved with the festival for years, but their shift hours never quite matched up with my availability until now. Hooray for work/life [+ volunteering] balance!

I picked up two shifts, earning myself two tickets to the festival. One started off with taking tickets for an afternoon talk with Aasif Mandvi [The Daily Show, Today's Special, The Proposal] and finished off with passing out around two hundred boxes of popcorn with Toyota’s logo on the box. They’re a sponsor of the festival and were giving out free popcorn for select screenings. The second shift involved a giveway for the Asian Art Museum. I would have picked up more shifts, but with the timing, I wouldn’t have been able to actually SEE any of the films. A little disorganized in some areas, but considering the event is fueled by volunteers [volunteer:staff ratio is quite high], it was a good experience overall. I’d do it again if it fit into my schedule.

Update: The sister who has been working closely with the film festival for years also found the volunteering experience to be disorganized, so it wasn’t just me. Also, during one of her shifts [Youtube Panel], a group of high school girls tried sneaking in. When they were out of tickets, the girls were unruly and swearing at everyone in sight. LOL – glad I wasn’t working that particular shift, although telling off a bunch of tweens might have been hilarious.

So tonight, I’ll be checking out Dear Lemon Lima! From the film festival guide:

“Today I read the ‘un’ section of the dictionary and learned a lot about myself: I am: unpopular, unwanted, and unlovable,” scrawls 13-year-old misfit Vanessa into her dear diary, studded with rainbow hearts and cupcakes, and works her fortune-telling device (covered with unicorns, of course) until it gives her the answer it wants: that Philip, class dreamboat and first-class narcissist, loves her. Half Yup’ik Eskimo, Vanessa is the token minority at a prestigious private high school in suburban Alaska (Philip’s family helped her get a scholarship), ignored by most other students and only accepted by a motley crew of fellow outsiders, slackers and geeks. When Philip finally dumps her, Vanessa hits upon an odd idea to win him back: to lead a team in the “Snowstorm Survivor Challenge,” a high-school contest that “incorporates” (or appropriates) Native Alaskan survival techniques, and hopefully impress him with her skills. An assured comedy about gawky adolescence that doesn’t, despite its cuteness, sugarcoat the legacy of bigotry against Native Alaskans or the toxic overprotectiveness of modern parents, DEAR LEMON LIMA, features winning performances by part-Yup’ik (and first-time actor) Savanah Wiltfong and veteran Beth Grant (reprising her role from DONNIE DARKO) as an overenthusiastic school booster.

The San Francisco portion of the festival runs until Thursday, and then it heads down to San Jose for a few days. There’s usually some great films you wouldn’t get/think to see otherwise, so check it out if you can!

Update: This movie was excellent! It’s on Netflix if you want to check it out.

The splint is out! What a relief. That piece of plastic was getting pretty gnarly from seven weeks of just sitting in my mouth. Yuck and definitely TMI! So now I’m splint-free, but sadly still on the liquid diet. I’m in a much better mood though now that the surgeon has had the chance to see me. It was just not knowing how everything was healing up that was bothering me and adding to my overall impatience.

PLUS, I can talk again!

On Friday night, we went to the Chabot Space Center to see Festizio [@festizioband] perform in the planetarium. YES, IN the planetarium. How cool is that? The sound was fine from where I was standing, but I think the dome didn’t help carry the sound properly to the rest of the space. No matter – it was still a great time! AND for the first time in a long time, I could actually introduce myself to people and roam around without keeping RV or Keane or the sister by my side. Those three were my interpreters for the longest time – poor things!

It was a good show overall. They played some new songs, one of which I am a huge fan of. I found myself humming along to the recording Keane did for me the next morning. Listen to it here!

It was a Gaga-themed party.

I had no idea what to wear the morning of and really only came up with something once I got home from work. I know at some point or other, she donned a wig of a color other than blonde, so I suppose the purple works. It’s got the obligatory bangs. The mini hat, bracelets, and necklace were purchased the day of the party. Since I wasn’t about to sew some outrageous outfit together, I decided on accessories that fit her “style.” As I couldn’t speak anyway, I took the opportunity to cover half of my face up with random lace/glitter I found in the house. In many photos I’ve seen, half of her face is covered in SOMETHING or other. It served the purpose of hiding any drool that might slip past these still-puffy lips.

Somewhere along the way, I smudged my eye make-up. Oh well.

BTW, I am totally going to have a costume closet in the new house.

I can finally see,
That you’re right there beside me.
I am not my own
For I have been made new
Please don’t let me go,
I desperately need you.

I am not my own
For I have been made new
Please don’t let me go,
I desperately need you.

After reading Laura’s adventures with S-Factor, I have decided to update my 101 in 1001 list. I am changing:

009 – S-Factor or equivalent class.

to

009 – Watch all the Star Wars movies.

They both start with the letter “S,” so that makes for a suitable replacement, yes? Okay, one is supposedly more like exercise, but I suppose I can leave the exercising to my other tasks, such as finishing my Bar Method classes or at least getting started on my daily sit-ups.

In terms of progress, I have finished Episode IV through VI! Avoidance of I through III has been suggested, but I might just put myself [and the friends who watch them with me] through the pain anyway to say that I’ve gone through them all.

“Do or do not… There is no try.” – Yoda

It may come as a surprise to most, but I have only begun to watch the Star Wars movies. The first two came out in 1977 and 1980, both years in which I was not yet alive. When the third came out, I was but a toddler. My family never had cable television, so the likelihood of me watching the films as a young person were quite low. In fact, I only recall bits and pieces of the third film. Since I’d not seen the first three, I avoided the last three when they came out in theaters.

Thanks to Keane’s encouragement by renting the movies and providing the venue to watch them, I’m finally getting to it!

Two down, four to go.

Another year, another WordCamp. Once again, I was a volunteer. Woke up early on a Saturday morning to sign volunteers and Automatticians in. I think the day went well overall. I knew more people this year than last, which was very nice. Similar to last year, only some of the talks were relevant to me.

I think there were many [myself included] who wished that there were at least two-sentence descriptions on what the talks would be about. You’d find yourself in one spot because of an interesting title, and then five or ten minutes in, you wish you’d been at the other talk instead. Luckily, all the sessions will be made available on Wordpress.tv! So if you missed WordCamp, didn’t take enough notes, or were hanging out at the wrong session, no worries. I can’t wait to watch some of the early sessions that I missed while registering the volunteers.

Sadly, I couldn’t make it to the Automattic anniversary party in the evening. But it wasn’t without a very good reason. We went to Asian Rock Fest instead, where Festizio [below - middle], Johnny Hi-Fi [below - right], United High [below - left], and Burning Tree Project [above - left] tore it up. It was great!

More iPhone-quality photos from the concert: here!

On Wednesday evening, I had the opportunity to attend an early screening of Robert Kenner’s Food, Inc. [Thanks, Yelp!] in downtown SF, followed by a Q&A session with Kenner and Michael Pollan, author and activist. It was definitely an eye-opener and a reminder that we are what we eat. The film exposed the food industry for what it is, how it got that way, and we’re going to have to do to fix the problems. A handful of corporations control the food supply, basically giving up maintaining the health of consumers, safety of workers, as well as the environment, for money.

One of the featured stories of the film details the struggles of one mother while fighting for regulatory agencies to have more power and involvement in oversight of the various meat producers after her two-year-old fell victim to E. Coli. Another focused on genetically modified seeds, and the harm caused when all a corporation focused on was making money and taking over the market share. This not only wiped out any chance of a seed that wasn’t genetically modified, but it put people who relied on the processes required for maintaining seeds out of jobs.

To say the least, the film is graphic. Animals are slaughtered on screen. It’s not recommended for those who cannot stomach it. Food, Inc. is very informative and doesn’t end in a bitter note. In fact, there are easy ways for making steps in the right direction when it comes to food. They list ten simple ways [click for more details!] to change the food system.

1) Stop drinking sodas and other sweetened beverages. [Yup, I don't do this much anyway.]
2) Eat at home instead of eating out. [Guess I'm learning to cook!]
3) Support the passage of laws requiring chain restaurants to post calorie information on menus and menu boards. [A given, really! What do they have to hide unless they don't know either?]
4) Tell schools to stop selling sodas, junk food, and sports drinks. [Many school districts have done this.]
5) Meatless Mondays—Go without meat one day a week. [Isn't that Friday for some?]
6) Buy organic or sustainable food with little or no pesticides. [I think true organic is hard to find, but we can try.]
7) Protect family farms; visit your local farmer’s market. [Yes, luckily there are a ton of farmers' markets in San Francisco.]
8) Make a point to know where your food comes from—READ LABELS. [It's surprising what you will find.]
9) Tell Congress that food safety is important to you. [Clearly, not enough is being done.]
10) Demand job protections for farm workers and food processors, ensuring fair wages and other protections. [Absolutely!]

Highly recommended film. The movie is a pretty general picture, touching on a lot of different areas. Ignorance isn’t bliss. It’s your life!

So now I have more to add to the reading list: The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, and Fast Food Nation. There are others! Yes, I know that I should have picked those up long ago.

On the plus side of having more free time, I am getting to do more things that I’ve been meaning to check out. This past week has been full of randomness – a book signing, sewing class, online television appearances, a birthday happy hour, moving furniture, lunch dates with friends… It eases my mind a bit that I’m not just wasting away at home. It really helps having supportive friends to fill the calendar!

I’m starting off the next week with the SanFran MusicTech Summit. Some very interesting panels about music and technology that hopefully don’t coincide with one another! The conference runs from 9AM onward with three panels every hour or so. The schedule is up for the picking and choosing of panels [15+ to choose from]! Some of the topics are: Music in Audio-Visual Works, Reaching Fans, Doing Deals, Webcasting Issues, Musicians as Active Participants in Their Own Careers, Social Networking & Music, The Future of the Music Industry, Brands & Bands: The Evolution of Music Marketing.

I’ll be learning, connecting, and of course, taking notes! If you’re at all interested in attending, registration link here!

Originally, RV and I were planning on leaving Los Angeles on Monday. But after walking around a bit on Friday and hearing about a particularly good deal at one of the restaurants nearby, we decided “What the hey, we’ll stay another day as long as it’s okay!” And of course, being as awesome as they are, Jen and Alex let us stay another night. We remained out of their hair most of the time, so that probably helped. Aside from the evening plans, we didn’t really have much of anything else on the agenda. Wandering around, looking for food and just taking it all in before finding ourselves back in SF? Found random spots to take pictures…

Somewhere along the way, we came across the Museum of Death [Watch out - it's a MySpace page!]. And to take words from my Yelp review: Wow. Just wow. We were wandering down Hollywood on our way to a Thai place down the street, and this unusual spot caught my eye.

On the outside, it doesn’t look like much. There are several signs around the building that say “Museum of Death.” Entrance is $15, and it is NOT for the faint of heart. The aim of the museum’s founders, married couple J.D. Healy and Cathee Shultz, is that visitors to the museum leave grateful to be alive. And after a bit of time inside the museum, you really do feel good to be alive… and wonder what is WRONG with all the psycho-serial-killers!

It was rather gruesome, and I was feeling faint at some parts. Just had to remember to breathe. It was pretty amazing though, just how extensive the collections were. Definitely a very random place to wander into when you didn’t really have much planned for the day.

After the Museum of Death, we wandered around West Hollywood a bit before heading back to the apartment to join Jen and Alex for dinner at Citizen Smith. Half off all food on Mondays, and it’s totally worth the discounted price! Large platters of Mac ‘n Cheese for $5. The other entrees are normally priced high, but at half off and for the taste, there’s no reason not to swing by. We also ordered a burger and a meal-sized salad. They cover their sweet potato fries in sugar and cinnamon and call them “churro fries.” Tasty!

To end the evening, we hopped over to Space 1520 for the last in the series of Monday night outdoor movies for Bill Murray month – Groundhog Day! It got a little chilly, but it was definitely not as windy as SF.

Good times. Wondering when my next trip to LA will be. Perhaps August? Maybe sooner?