Happy (pre)Valentine's Day!

Happy Lunar New Year!

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy Year of the Horse!

On Sandwich Abominations...

George and Johnny Huynh Beating the Odds

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

So happy for them!

Their story made it onto the Nightly News. We need more stories like this on the news.

Brothers escape Dickensian childhood to earn American Dream
The Huynh brothers, who raised themselves on the streets of Dorchester, Mass., have overcome incredible odds to earn prestigious college scholarships that will better their lives. NBC’s Harry Smith reports.

PS Go Wolfpack!

[via Boston Latin School and Association Facebook Page]

Boston Snow VS My Car & Me

K-Pop Will Unite Us All: Meet Latin America's Fans

I seriously had no idea that K-Pop was that prevalent and widespread. But seeing the video footage of a packed stadium for a Super Junior concert filled with Latin Americans singing along to Korean lyrics was quite amazing.

If you want to get a sense of what Mexican teenagers are up to these days, here's an unexpected place to start: A Korean bakery in downtown Mexico City. 

Every Sunday, dozens of teens — mostly female — convene here to eat Korean snacks and geek out about their favorite boy bands. They're known as los k-popers – a growing subculture of Mexican kids who are crazy for Korean pop music. 

"K-Pop really changed my life," says Samantha Alejandra, 18. "I'm addicted to it." 

Read More

What is so addicting/appealing about the magic that is K-Pop?

For me, it's the manufactured pop beats, dance moves, cute faces, and the fact that I have no idea what they're singing about.

[via NPR]

Selfie Sketch Dreams: Bruce Lee

Last night I dreamt that I was the long lost daughter of Bruce Lee.

The man was in my dreams. I admire him, but I'm not a fanatic like my brother and his friends. So why I would dream about him boggles my mind.

Anyway, in the dream he was so excited to have found me. He even wrote his phone number down on a slip of paper so that I could reach him whenever. And now I'm trying to remember what those numbers were -- would so come in handy for a lottery ticket!

When I woke up, I was a bit out of it because...I have a real dad.

I should also sketch out one of my more whacked out dreams which involves a sea of floating dead fish in the sky.

Riding Bus 19 to the Top, Boston.com

"Growing up poor and in tough circumstances in Dorchester, George and Johnny Huynh wanted a better life. Globe reporter Billy Baker tells the tale on Twitter of how George took one big step ahead today." 

Read more via Gawker and Boston.com

What a truly inspirational story. Really proud of what these two brothers have been able to accomplish so far with all the challenges that they've had to overcome. Kudos to their support team of mentors as well!

Woohoo to fellow Boston Latin School alums!

Everyone Wants to Date an Asian Woman, Interview with Kristina Wong

ahaha! Kristina Wong cracks me up! And I do agree -- let's file this under:

• best interview ever
• that's how you do an interview

New data shows that of all races, everyone prefers dating Asian Women the most. Funny lady Kristina Wong breaks down how hot an Asian woman is in this AMAZING interview with "Alicia Menendez Tonight" and Josh Fischer of Facebook's "Are you Interested?" app. On the Fusion Network.

[via Hyphen]

Make Me Fat

Life at 30-Something-Something: The Contest Continues

Houston Rocket's Jeremy Lin vs. Raptors

Bring it back Jeremy, bring it back!

What an inspiration. I hope he keeps fighting and improving.

Other than my hometown team Boston Celtics, the only other team I'll root for is the one Jeremy Lin is on :)

[link via Jeff Yang/OriginalSpin]

Jimmy Kimmel: Marvel Marketing Thor to Women [Video]

Oh schnap.

Too funny.

Never Give Up: Jim Lee co-publisher of DC Comics

We all started from somewhere but we rarely get to see the very beginnings.

Jim Lee, artist, writer,  editor, and co-publisher of DC Comics gives us a peek into how it started -- and just how persistent he was.

Now I feel like an absolute lazy bum with only two rejection letters under my belt. Only two because I stopped hounding publishers...not that two even constitutes any hounding whatsoever -- more like a 'hello and 'bye.'

Anyhow, check out the rest of the letters Jim Lee dug up on his Instagram as well as his first finished piece for Marvel.

Quite inspiring.

 [via AngryAsianMan]

Money, Money, Money...But Not for You, Alma Mater!

Official Marvel Captain America "The Winter Soldier" trailer

Ummm...yes please!

Learn More About the Asian American Experience

This is a great series skimming the surface of what it feels to be Asian American in "Young Americans: "Asian American Experience, Episode 2" (VICE)". Check out all 8 episodes of VICE Young Americans.

My Chinese Immigrant Parents Have More Than One Birthday

Apparently, fake birthdays are the norms for the majority of immigrants -- minus a year here, add a year there, or revise the month. Hence, I never know when the actual birth date for my parents are. It makes it harder that they're into the whole lunar calendar thing which means it changes year-to-year. So, to make it easy on me -- because it's all about me -- I just go with the fake birth date :)

Anyhow, some changes are on the way for the comic. My 3-4 panel strip shall continue every two weeks, which is in line with the newspaper publication date. But, I will be working on additional comics throughout the week and switching up the panel structure to be more vertical/page-oriented with a longer storyline.

PLUS I've got some mercy on the way. I might as well finish the year off on a good note, eh?

Like the FB page and follow Twitter for the latest and greatest.

And thanks for following the doodly Lee family shenanigans.

My Lady Thoughts on PBS' SUPERHEROES: A Never-Ending Battle

Anyone else catch this last night? Surprisingly, I was able to -- a first! But, if you didn't, PBS is offering the full 3-hour special online for a limited time. Watch it here.

The documentary was pretty interesting and I learned a lot of new things like how Image Comics started; what the early days were like; and, how/why characters were created. Some good stuff...and, it also inspired me to continue making my little comics and to really push it moving forward.

Why? Purely for my own selfish, narcissistic reasons -- I want to read comics that I can identify with. Yeah, I enjoy reading Batgirl, Superman, and X-Men, but I also want to read comics that reflect my life as a:

1. woman (BY a woman)
2. 30-something-something
3. ABC (American Born Chinese) balancing family expectations/obligations that are still rooted in the Motherland (Hong Kong/Macau/Guangzhou)   

It's great to see that more and more women are creating comics, but you wouldn't have known that while watching because it was seriously a dude fest. I wish the makers could've tracked down at least one female creator/writer -- just one.

Granted, the documentary Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines aired previously (which I've not been able to watch just yet), but it just would've been nice to have invited the ladies to the playground, so to speak -- primarily featuring Lynda Carter, the actress who played the part of Wonder Woman in the 1970's TV series doesn't count (even tho I <3 her).

Regardless, it's worth a view to learn more about the history and genre as well as to take that step -- if you so choose -- make it even better.

Note: My comments relate only to the superhero universe of comics (aka, DC, Marvel, etc.) -- not the indie/graphic novel scene, which is what got me reading and truly loving comics in the first place because I did find stories and characters I could relate to (i.e., Adrian Tomine, Gene Luen Yang, Jen Wang, Lela Lee). My interest in the superhero/superheroine genre developed only within the past year or so :)

Gene Luen Yang brings The Green Turtle back in "The Shadow Hero"

I finally ordered my copy of Boxers and Saints the other day and now I'm learning that come July 2014 there will be new work by Gene Luen Yang!

He and artist Sonny Lieu are teaming up to resurrect the first Asian American super hero -- The Green Turtle.

In the U.S. comics boom of the 1940s, a legend was born: the Green Turtle. He solved crimes and fought injustice just like the other comic book characters. But this mysterious masked crusader was hiding something more than your run-of-the-mill secret identity... The Green Turtle was the first Asian American super hero. 

The Green Turtle comic had a short run before lapsing into obscurity, but the acclaimed author of American Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang, has finally revived this character in a new graphic novel that creates an origin story for this forgotten character. Hank just wants to enjoy his quiet life running the family grocery store with his father, but his mother has other ideas for him... she wants him to become a superhero, and to clean up their Chinatown neighborhood! 

With artwork by Sonny Liew, this dazzling, funny comics adventure for teens is a new spin on the long, rich tradition of American comics lore.

I'm looking forward to some great story-telling and art :)

[via Boing Boing]

On Racist Boarding Passes Courtesy of the TSA at Logan Airport

Mr. Lee travels a lot for work but being called out for his Asian-ess in such a blatant way was a very first. 

Mr. Lee: "Usually they scribble something quick on the boarding pass, but for some reason the lady was taking a long while writing. When I looked at the pass,  I was like...wtf?!"

Well done Boston Logan Airport...well done. 

I guess we can file this under "racist boarding passes."

DC Comics: Injustice Gods Among Us (Full Movie)

Holy manoly this video is long!

I've been trying to finish it the past couple of nights, but Mr. Sandman overtakes me.

These are the cut scenes from Injustice Gods Among Us story mode. Someone was kind enough to stitch it all together.

Friday Fabulousness: Marcello Barenghi Draws a Potato Chip Bag Like a Bawss

I'm gonna file this under "holy shit that's F*n amazing."

Really love seeing the artist work with combining different mediums -- watercolor, colored pencils, and markers. I wish that my art professors could've shown us the possibilities. There was one in particular who even poopoo'd on the notion of using markers.

Now, I'm gonna experiment :)

Thanks Marcello Barenghi for the inspiration and for sharing your techniques!

[via Boing Boing]

Two Families Battle It Out for Best...Scarecrow in New England!

“Chinese Dragon” that Gail, Sarah and Amos Wong of Topsfield made from grape leaves, phragmites, artichoke, hot peppers, pumpkins, corn husks and carrots this year. (Greg Cook/WBUR)

I'm filing this under super family cute.

“The scarecrows were just pumpkin heads and flannel shirts,” Gail Wong explains of the concoctions that used to populate the contest at the annual Topsfield Fair. “We figured that’s no good. That’s boring.” 

So for some years now, two branches of the Wong family have been competing back and forth in the agricultural fair’s annual scarecrow contest and regularly beating all other entries from the region. 

“We’ve done crows, nightmares,” Wong says. “We’ve done flying monkeys. The year the Bruins won, we did the Bruins bear holding the championship trophy over his head.”

Too amazing!

Check out more of the creations here.

[via WBUR]

SUPERHEROES: A Never-Ending Battle

Joe Quesada describes the feverish pace of modern comic book production.

SUPERHEROES: A Never-Ending Battle is the first documentary to examine the dawn of the comic book genre and its powerful legacy, as well as the evolution of the characters who leapt from the pages over the last 75 years and their ongoing worldwide cultural impact. 

Among the notable on-camera talents in the film are Stan Lee, Adam West, Lynda Carter, Pulitzer Prize winners Michael Chabon and Jules Feiffer, and interviews with the late greats Joe Simon (co-creator of Captain America) and Jerry Robinson (who helped create the Joker).

Hosted and Narrated by Liev Schreiber.   

It premieres October 15th on PBS. However, if you should miss it -- which I most likely will -- PBS will offer full episodes online.

Suh-weet!

[via PBS]