Nicknames

Apparently, the kid pictured above is a big internet hit in China. And his nickname is "Little Fatty."

That's the thing about the Chinese - they usually have or give nicknames that just doesn't mince any words. My sister, though by American standards, who isn't really fat, has been called "Elephant" by my mother half her life. I was a big fat baby when I was about 7 months old, and was called "Piggie" though my mother swears up and down that I was nicknamed "Pearl" (they both sound alike and knowing my parents' humor, it wasn't Pearl).

There used to be a Chinese actor, Sai Guah Pao, "watermelon run?" is a rough translation, whose claim to fame was his protruding teeth. Another Chinese actress, Lydia Sum, was mostly known by her nickname "Sum Fei Fei" which means Fatty Sum.

I never asked my sister how she felt about the nickname growing up, but I guess I don't have to. When she was 16 and came home for a visit (to Singapore) she lost 40 lbs that year, just to make my mother happy. Since then, she's just resigned herself to loving food and being the "fat" one in the family.

I remember how happy she was when I gained weight in college which prompted her to call me the "fat" one. Since I didn't want to compete with her on any level (long story) I quickly went on my very first diet of my life.

Weird cultural customs, eh?

Christianity, Christmas and Deportation

Growing up, one of my favorite hymns was "They'll know We are Christians by Our Love." I never understood missionary work simply because I believed in this song. If being a Christian was right, then our lives would simply show it and people would know that it's the right lifestyle. Yet time and time again, the church would rather lecture and bully people into being Christians, rather by example.

America is supposed to be a Christian nation, or so says those who tell me being gay will send me straight to hell. Then how does America, a Christian nation, justify this? That link is to a story about a nun and a priest who tried to locate a NURSING MOTHER who got caught up in this DHS sweep of illegal immigrants.

First off, the DHS claims that it's not a sweep of illegal immigrants; instead, they're calling it a sweep for identity theft. Hmm, is that why brown-skinned people were roped off? Ah, nah, it's like rounding up a bunch of bank-users to find out who was planning on robbing the bank. See, that's our tax dollars at work. Effective, no?

Hey DHS, if you're so intent on finding identity theivers, why don't you try and find out who broke into UCLA ADMISSIONS database and swiped all those social security numbers?

Boy, just a week and a half before the global celebration of Christ's birthday and we do something like this. My, how very Christian of us. We really know how to show we're a Christian nation.

Welcom Back Doug Gabriel

Please please please, help the Raiders out.

I am so happy that you're back and you should never have been traded in the first place.

Welcome home to the Raiders, Doug Gabriel.

2006 - What a Year

I don't usually do end of the year perspectives, simply because usually the years aren't that memorable.

However, I must say that 2006 really stand out.

This was the year that we stabilized our relationship and it went from a bumpy and sometimes tumultous relationship to one that we both rejoice, almost every second (except when our periods are within a week of one another. Then it's usually a week and a half of turbulence). Bratworse and I really learned to listen and hear each other, but not just that. We strove to give each other what the other wanted, even though most times they're unspoken desires. I think the big turning point in our relationship this year was when we decided to actively make the other person's desires our own priority. From that point on, our delight in each other just took off and hasn't landed since.

This was the year we decided to get an exotic pet - the octopus. Ossie wasn't just a pet, she was an event, especially when she gave birth to 50+ babies.

This was the year we got flooded and we were taught that not everyone operates on the same wavelength as us - that there are some out there who will shirk responsibilities . Repeatedly, this year has taught us that in America, those without voices get lawyers; otherwise, no one hears you.

This was also the year that options for Nobody finally panned out and we were able to visit the fruits of our (Writerboy, Charlie Adlard and mine) labor from 10 years ago. May it continue to bear fruit.

This was also the year that I personally found out the pain of losing one beloved cat and the joys of having a cat that has no or few neuroses. Hmm, no wonder my cats have been hated by most of my friends. Gizi, may you bring us as much joy as you have this past month and a half. And thanks for learning how to fetch. You made Bratworse and consequently me, a very proud momma.

Spreading the Love

Poor Bratworse was sick on her birthday. Not only was she sick, but I was as well, so since Friday, our house has been a cacophony of coughing and sneezing, from both cats and us. I'm surprised our Wii avatars - our Miis aren't coughing as well.

Hopefully, Writerboy and his wife are unscathed in the aftermath of meeting up with us on Saturday to celebrate Bratworse's birthday. We had three celebrations set up this year and had to cancel on two of them. Poor Bratworse.

But, she claims she had a great time, since I took off work yesterday due to a little fever that hung around all day long. In the middle of the night, I felt the fever break. I personally think Bratworse gave me a much better birthday present than I did hers - who could go wrong with a Totoro sweatshirt?

Oooh Oooh Oooh Pick Me!

I feel like Horshack from Welcome Back Kotter, here goes: "PICK ME! PICK ME PLEASE."

I'm writing about OhGizmo's Holiday give-away and one of the ways they're choosing a winner is from blog entries, so here comes our entry.

You want to know what the really weird thing is?

Out of all the products they're giving away, I think the ONLY thing I really want is the ID Messenger Bag but as a gift for Bratworse (she loves messenger bags).

The Nexus Laser which is a green laser, I want as a gift for Writerboy since he told me yesterday that he is using green as a signature color at his job - he writes all of his notes in green, so Bratworse found him really nice green pens.

The BioHazard watch was another gift I wanted for Writerboy but if I do score this giveaway, I'm thinking of keeping the watch for myself, impractical and HUGE though it'd be on my wrist.

The Neuros I'd probably give to Bryan the Fireman and his wife and two kids - so they can have Dora the Explorer on every one of their mobile devices as possible distractions for fidgety kids.

The Abacus watch would probably go to my best friend, DanceTeach from L.A., with the Ice Jacket going to his boyfriend/husband Picasso Mike.

The HP printing mailbox - hmm... Probably my sister who's too busy teaching and raising two kids to have time to read my emails to the kids. This way, she could print out my emails to my niece and nephew and they could read the mail themselves. Hmm I really should write them soon.

And the IncipioBud? I'd give that to my good friend CommieFisherBowler. She has a shuffle already so I'll keep that lol.

Wow, did I really blog about a giveaway so I could be the recipient, only to give away most of the products? Yup, I sure did. I love giving.

I Want This Book

I just read about this from Boing Boing and it simply sounds amazing. What a great book to have around, just to remind us women are beautiful in all sizes and shapes.

This man, Frank Cordelle, took nude photos of all types of women - women who are obese, rape survivors, bulimic, anorexic, scarred, missing limbs, etc. I just hopped over to his website and found myself in tears over the words of healing on that site.

In this day and age where models keel over with a heart attack from weighing 88 pounds, I think it's really important that people understand that beauty comes packaged in all sorts of wrapping paper. There are times when both Bratworse and I look at ourselves in the mirror after a shower, just tut-tutting away. And what could we possibly be tut-tutting? We are both attractive women with hardly any scars to show so why should we have this outlook on our bodies?

And you want to know something about Bratworse and me? Neither of us need makeup to look good. I personally believe that make-up begets more makeup. But because neither Bratworse nor I got in the habit of wearing makeup, we don't need it to enhance our looks. We just need to laugh for enhancement.

Get this book. Then improve your outlook on yourself. It's Christmas. You deserve it.

Suite with a View

Here's the view from our balcony in Vancouver. Vancouver truly is a stunning city.

Scary Mary

The following proves that good editing can produce anything. Here's Mary Poppins recast as a Horror flick.


h/t BoingBoing who gave the link.

At the Outdoor Location

Here's Bratworse and I braving the cold where they were shooting an outside scene for Nobody.

Were our grins big enough?

(Picture courtesy of Writerboy and his wife)

Nobody is a Porn Star

*Mental Note*

In future, must do a google search on name for main character in case name belongs to porn star.

Apparently, none of the creators of Nobody, nor the publishers, nor Blueprint Entertainment, nor Kickstart Entertainment are frequent porn watchers. But someone in ABC Family was on the ball(s). Jessica Drake is also the name of a rather prolific porn star.

Therefore, Jessica will have a different last name for the TV series.

(BTW, the porn star's wikipedia entry has her first films from around 2000. I think she got her name from our comic book, meself.)

We're Shooting a Pilot!

Thanks Lar!
"Hey, what are you doing this weekend?" Larry Young would nudge me and ask.

Most times, cause it's Lar and we like to bug each other, I'd answer "Just hanging out."

But the way cool and more wondiferous (yes, it's a made up word. Deal.) answer that Larry wanted was the one I could scarcely believe even while it was happening. This surreal and astonishing answer was...

"We're shooting a pilot!"

Larry Young and Mimi Rosenheim are the publishers of AIT PlanetLar, the wonderful people who decided Nobody was worth being their first book besides their own to publish. Oni Press had decided to pass on collecting the four issue mini-series into a trade paperback because honestly, Nobody didn't fit in with their other books. Without AIT PlanetLar, Nobody would've languished; instead, it got a second life as a graphic novel with a foreward by Greg Rucka, a beautiful new cover by Brian Wood and a short story written by Writerboy (Alex Amado) and edited by yours truly, Sharon Cho.

Writerboy reminded me that Charlie Adlard, our artist also added a new page for this collection because the pacing was off in one part and needed one extra page to make the pacing just so. No, Writerboy and I aren't perfectionists when it comes to story-crafting. Nah. Actually, now thinking back, (this was 10 years or so and... well, many brain-cell killing moments ago) it might've been Larry who felt the pacing was off and asked us all to add a new page.

Part of our deal with AIT Publishing was that they would negotiate any options on our behalf. None of us creators had any problems with the deal because it was an extremely fair deal AND we absolutely trusted Mimi would work in the best interest of us all. And boy oh boy, are we glad we handed the reins over to them.

We're shooting a Pilot!"

This past weekend, we were treated oh so wonderfully by the folks over at Blueprint Entertainment and KickStart Entertainment. Jason Netter, one of the executive producers, took time out to take us around, introduce us to everybody and made sure our trip was truly wonderful. Jason's da man.

We got to meet such wonderful and nice people on the cast and crew and though I'm sure we got in the way a lot, everyone made us feel as welcome as could be. We couldn't thank people enough for the hospitality shown to us. The energy and general feeling of camraderie on the set was truly awesome. Everyone was upbeat and not stressed about anything.

The first day was just incredible (I'm quick running out of words here to describe just how wonderful this trip was). As we entered the set, our sense of wonder grew. And it continued throughout the day. If I can, I'll post some picts of the cast, crew and sets later if possible but for now, less said is better I think.

I must say though, we all were just agog at the set design wizardry and elegance performed by Ricardo Spinacé. I know for me, I'd have move in there immediately if it were real.

Getting to watch Jeff Woolnough, the director and Jan Kiesser, the director of photography, work together was like watching two minds work as one. The framing of each take was incredible and both created a nice mellow, but serious atmosphere that permeated the set. Many of the crew said part of the reason for the sense of harmony and upbeat tone on the set is due to those two.

Speaking of upbeatness, I must say that EVERY time I saw Kevin Murphy, the man with the vision, the man who optioned Nobody in the first place, the demi-god of writing (I'm sorry Kevin. Aaron Sorkin is god.), ALWAYS had a smile on his face. It was just incredible. At one point, we were asking Kevin about the hecticness of his life right now, he said, "Boo Hoo, I'm shooting a pilot," and then cracked up. Now that's a man with perspective.

Oh, and the reason he is a demi-god? You should see the mythology that he and Jon Cooksey came up with. Those two managed to give ABC Family what they wanted and yet keep the spirit that Writerboy and I tried to infuse into our comic book. *applause* AND they have a long-term plan for the series if the pilot gets picked up. I am mucho impressed by these two.

One thing? I am NOT an effusive person naturally. It really does take a "something" to catch my eye and there's more than a spark of it in what these guys are doing with Nobody. Writerboy, Charlie and I may have given birth to this, but these guys are true parents - nurturing a concept to a maturity and level that both Writerboy and I are wondering why we didn't take that route.

We also met Noreen Halpern, Ali Matheson and Rose Lam - executive producers and producers of Nobody who all were so nice and wonderful to all six of us - Writerboy's wife and Bratworse went along too and thoroughly had a blast on the set too. I think half of whom we met are Canadians and I wonder if that also contributed to the general niceness.

Last but not least, the cast. We got to meet Dawn Stern, Byron Mann, Nicole Alexander "Marcus" (I don't have your last name, sorry but hey, maybe this way you'll be so identified with Marcus you'll get your spin-off.) and "Owen" (don't have your last name either but I'll get it soon).

We were very impressed by the cast as well. We got to see some of the dailies and it's amazing what all of them had to go through on the outdoors sequence. Mind you, it was shot during the big snow storm and the shots came out simply breathtaking. I commend all of the actors for being in such good moods even after being in a near blizzard.

Okay, that's it for now. I'll post pictures if I can and will divulge more if I can.

[Update] Much gratitude to Anonymous commenter aka Larry Young in the comments below for providing the names for "Marcus" and "Owen" - Ryan Belleville and Steve Boyle respectively.

Magic Words in America - Contact a Lawyer

At the airport today, we witnessed a scene that really endeared the U.S. to some visitors from Canada.

There was an old couple, I'd say in their 70s. The husband had an oxygen tank which apparently had no problems for the airlines when it left Canada for the United States. But somehow, during the time this couple spent in San Francisco (which I assume to be a fairly short time) the oxygen tank became a suspect item.

As they announced that it was now time to board, people stood in the doorway to prevent these people from getting on the plane, because they hadn't gotten clearance for the tank. The wife was screaming, "But I don't understand, we came down from Canada with this oxygen tank. I looked on the website, I talked with agents. NO ONE SAID IT WAS A PROBLEM!"

The wife was getting more and more agitated. The husband would stand up, run out of breath, and sit back down again mad at himself for needing the oxygen tank, at the airlines preventing them from returning to their home, at the stupid TSA rules, at the inconsistency of information, etc.

Bratworse and I watched with growing anger. The unreasonableness was so unfair and it was clear to everyone around.

Oh yes, these two white haired trembling white people were definite terrorists. NOT!!!

Bratworse leaned over to me and said, "I wish there was something we could do."

I told her that we could so when we went to board the plane, I walked by the husband and said loudly, "Contact a lawyer."

He immediately turned to his wife who was arguing with airline personnel at the counter and shouted, "Contact a lawyer!"

We boarded the plane immediately after, and while I was adjusting my seat belt, Bratworse nudged me and pointed. The old couple were on board and happy, with an airline personnel being extremely nice, making damn sure they were comfortable and weren't going to sue.

America... where the only magic that works consistently are the words "Contact a lawyer." Wish it weren't so, but alas accountability seems to occur here more frequently when lawyers are present. Ain't it a shame?