ASPIRE Conference

Guess where I'll be this Saturday afternoon?

I'll be speaking on a panel called "Fearless" For ASPIRE (Asian Sisters Participating in Reaching Excellence).

Me? Fearless? There is no bravery involved whatsoever when it comes to the things I do be it with art, lion + dragon dancing, or my 30 blind dates project (which ended up being 4 because #4 ended up being the one).

I don't think about the consequences or rationalize why I should do something versus not do it. Am I scared of failing? Humiliating myself? Hey, those are a given. I just do it and deal with whatever may come my way.

Seriously, what's the use in worrying? Life doesn't last forever so I might as well make the best of what time I have...for the most part. I mean, I do have moments of absolute couch-potato-ness, don't get me wrong.

:)

So if you're interested in going, there's still time to get tickets here.

Solanin by Inio Asano

Just finished reading this manga and I loved it.

The art was just perfect and the story was quiet and yet utterly amazing. The only word I can use to describe the story and art is sensitive. Sometimes the art from other comic books throw me off from however fabulous the story may be, but here the softness and detail served as the perfect complement -- along the lines of Adrian Tomine.

I also have to admit that what drew me to picking up the manga from the comic book shop was the fact that it wasn't the usual manga where it goes on and on for 30+ books. That annoys me to no end.

Solanin is just this one book with this one lovely story that begins and finishes.

Afterword

I drew Solanin when I was about 24 years old. I had just graduated from college and I was feeling a bit insecure about my ability to succeed as a manga artist and whether I would be able to continue to draw manga that were true to myself. In my anxiety and impatience, I felt that all I could do in my mnaga was try to get a true depiction of the times as experienced by my generation.

Lovers, friends, money, jobs, a society with an unclear future, ones own pride...Writhing in these multiple, entangling factors, perhaps they are unable to draw any conclusions. Perhaps this instant now is just a small part of their futile daily lives. The only thing that's certain is that they can never return to the days gone by.

There's nothing cool about these characters. They're just your avergae 20-somethings who blend into the backdrop of the city. But the most important messages in our lives don't come from musicians on stage or stars on television. They come from the average people all around you, the ones who are just feet from where you stand. That's what I believe.

~ Inio Asano, 2008

My San Diego Comic Con '09 Wrap-Up

Spent the convention working the MIMOBOT booth in the Star Wars Pavilion section, which was fun but also SUPER exhausting! The closest I got to anyone of note was the man behind tokidoki, Simone Legno, at the Munky King party. He was not more than 3 feet away decked out in full tokidoki gear -- sneakers, cargo shorts, tee, cap...the whole shebang.

Other than that, I also came across:

• many scantily clad ladies of ALL shapes and sizes


• people who are fanatical about buttons (?!)


• a couple guys who did the "hey, baby" thing to me -- ewww


• crowds and crowds galore

The cool part was having David Horvath of Uglydolls and Bossy Bear sign my Vimobot. I didn't make it to his signing at our other booth, but he was nice enough to sign a few for all of us.

Oh, and please do check out the Bossy Bear MIMOBOT -- it was fun working on that with him!

Did I get a chance to hit up the Sanrio shop at Horton Plaza? Ummm...hell, yeah! More to come :)

ah-Lin! Sushi?