It's unbelievable how one musical can represent a generation...

Nancy fits in my shoes better than I do.

So, now she gets to take home a little bit of TAF Love...

It's set. Houston to end off the year. Chicago to begin the new one.

Last month, I crossed paths with Tony, an old TAF friend from almost 20 years ago. Tonight, I bumped into Jen, another Cleveland TAFer from the same time period, at the hospital where I work.

Post-dimsum bubble tea in Chinatown. Mmmm...

This working-at-night thing is starting to grow on me, since I still get to enjoy all my daytime hours. Well, actually, I guess I just sit around, do nothing, and watch the day pass away quietly by myself... Sounds kind of lonesome, now that I think about it... living this solitary Superhero lifestyle.

Holiday lunch party with Nance!

Thankful for beauty and balance in the world.

Found a nice little surprise visitor this morning...

Dinner Party at Kathy's.

Farewell to Mike.

Group photo. Because we're Taiwanese...

Kathy, Irene, & me. Karen & I match...

"Liquid Gold" Ice wine and delicious truffles with Marge & Karen.

Today, I realized that I am about 40% Wind Element, 30% Earth Element, 20% Water Element, and 10% Fire Element. I desire more Fire. And my Karma isn't as good as it could be...

It's a brownie with an identity crisis.

I went to a social hour celebrating the 5th anniversary of Third Thursdays, a local community group that hosts discussions on topics of interest in the APA community.

While there, I chatted with Gary, who runs Manja, and discovered that he is also Taiwanese American. Apparently, he knows at least two of my old TAF friends from his time spent in other cities (Maida from Michigan, Susan from Princeton), grew up in a small town in Illinois with my college buddies (Connie and Jessica), and had family friends that lived blocks away from my childhood home in the Chicago suburbs. By that point, it was just getting unbelievably weird...

A little bit of Linda inspiration.

Kids coughed and sneezed at me all weekend long, and I am now a human petri dish incubating all sorts of viruses...

I need a life. I'm becoming boring.

When I grow up, I want to be an artist or a chef.

Dear Internet Space:

I have something to say.

It's embodied in a partial list of very Asian-Oriented-Not-Oriental ideas. And it will perhaps be the longest post I've ever shared.

I've been reflecting upon my life recently. I can honestly say that I have come a long way, spending much time and effort in developing my professional path. I'm now at a good breakpoint in my life, with the opportunity to pause and breathe... and thus I find myself thinking about the part of me that enjoys contributing to grassroots movements. In particular, I've been dreaming about how my Taiwanese American community will continue to grow, change, and establish itself within the future framework of Asian America and America itself. I have many ideas of what our community could do, should do, and might do. I also realize that I may not be the person to make it all happen. In fact, I know I won't be.

So, I wanted to post a few of these ideas for internet posterity in the hopes that maybe someone out there may read this, today or in the future, and perhaps be inspired to take a dream and run with it.

Let's start with:

Idea #2
Plant the seeds for an Asian American "MacArthur Foundation" - maybe with my college activist friends - and quietly and anonymously donate "genius grants" to talented APA
artists, musicians, innovators to continue doing their work for the benefit of the APA community. Imagine a struggling artiste, admired for her exceptional creativity and passion, answering her door one day and being handed a monetary donation on behalf of anonymous doners who recognize her past and future contributions.

Idea #3
Host a "2 degrees of Taiwanese America" party, where I ask friends in other parts of the country to invite people they know to a networking party / social hour hosted by me. Most likely the guests would all be people who I didn't know before. We all know there are transplanted Taiwanese Americans tucked away in the cities we live, who are not linked to the community organizations and family connections we all group up with during our younger years. Why not create that network for ourselves and build a new home away from home? Taiwanese food and family would be the theme. Sharing common identity would be our pride.

Idea #5
Envision a realistic plan to organize a national Taiwanese American conference, perhaps for 2nd gen folks, bringing together various facets and interests of our community. We remain too regionalized and too fragmented. And where are the all-encompassing 2nd generation communities beyond the college age group? ITASA was once only an idea, now it is the norm. We have to think bigger and grander, and with foresight into the future.

Idea #9
Help someone come up with a plan to gather and document oral histories of our community, starting with our aging 1st generation parents. Collect stories, pictures, and document timelines of events. One day, perhaps in 20 years, there will be a Taiwanese American historical society or museum somewhere. So our resources, our stories, our unique heritage needs to be preserved and told by us... starting now.

Idea #12
Build a list of Who's Who in Taiwanese America. And let it start with the little person, the one who will be big one day.

Idea #13
Establish a Vertical Chain of business and professional contacts, perhaps in internet directory form, understanding that success of communities in the long-run come from a strong internal network. We support and build upon the businesses and leaders that are in our community. Hopefully, the sense of values and cultural understanding within our Taiwanese American community may prove to be an asset towards a trustworthy and supportive environment.

Idea #14
Open a chain of Asian American arts cafes. It would feature the works of artists, authors, historians & filmmakers, house an essential Asian American "library," serve as a community gathering place for organizations and leaders, share our perhaps unknown gems with the public. And it would also be a place where one can enjoy a quality tea or Asian-themed beverage.

Idea #16
Organize a think-tank of energetic and influential Taiwanese American leaders and activists. I know I'm not the only one with ideas, so why not bring together minds that can creatively and collectively envision a brighter future for all of us? They can put together Ideas #18 and onward.

There. That's all. Just a little bit to consider for now...

Sincerely,
Ho Chie Tsai

*raises hand*
"oooo, oooo, ooooo... I've got something to say!"

Custom design. $38 well spent.

Late night cafe run with Jazzi, Crystal, & Tiff.

Lunch with Margaret, Shirf, little Aiden, Felix, & Joy.

With Sophia & Tiff at Land's End.

The reason why Sophia seems so busy. Clones!

I'm feeling lucky!

Lunch at Google, courtesy of Kasumi.

Dinner with Harmony.

I killed a spider last night. And then I dreamt that its friends were coming to get me...

Tiffany!

I feel like life has resumed once again. Now I can do some things I've been planning to do for awhile... Buy earthquake preparation supplies, clean house and reorganize, make some donations to charity, volunteer for some youth mentoring group, catch up on many movies, reflect on my life mission statement, decide what to do with my website, travel and visit friends and family, be proactive with organizations and community group-building again, expand my circles of friends... There is always too much to do and so little time. I want my life to make a difference.

Post-exam sushi dinner.

My friend Gina.

And old roomie Armen.