Other
Every moment I am teaching my daughter Querelle Magdalena, born February 2007. We have a large vegetable and fruit garden that we take care of daily. Some of the things we’re growing are citrus trees, broccoli, lettuce, artichokes, strawberries, tomatoes, cauliflower, and herbs. Thanks to her, I have become quite an expert on pregnancy and childbirth, contemporary baby-care and child-rearing guides, baby sign-language, breastfeeding and breastfeeding advocacy, and age-appropriate books, music, toys, and games. As a parent, I highly recommend attachment parenting, the baby sign-language videos My Baby Can Talk, the Ergo baby carrier, Dr. Sears’ alternative vaccination schedule in his book on vaccinations, Mothering Magazine, and the books First Art: Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos by MaryAnn F. Kohl, The Price of Motherhood: Why the Most Important Job in the World is Still the Le
ast Valued by Ann Crittenden, and The Case for Make Believe: Saving Play in a Commercialized World by Susan Linn. My daughter, Querelle, has been modeling for American Apparel since she was six months old.
The rest of this page lists my work experience teaching children, and then details my unexpected acting and modeling “career.”
In 2005 I began individually tutoring South Korean children in their homes in Gainesville, Florida. Each student lived here for three months to over one year. We worked out of spelling, writing, and grammar workbooks. One of the most pleasurable aspects was reading children’s literature together. Each day I brought in a picture book or young adult novel and we read out of it for about fifteen minutes. Jane, a loud and vivacious ten year old girl with quite perfect English, really enjoyed the picture books I brought. These ranged from the culturally conscious African-American picture books by Christopher Myers, John Steptoe, Gregory Christie, and Chris Raschka to a large number of Caldecott Award winning texts to hidden artistic gems like Kveta Pacovska’s Flying. Jane’s commentary was always so funny. We met five days a week for three months. Su Yeon Lee, another ten year old girl, and I met three days a week for two months. She was incredibly motivated and hard-working, with tons of energy. My greatest experience, perhaps due to having them in my life for a year, was with Ruby, age ten, and her sister Lily, age eight. Their English was weaker than Jane’s and Su Yeon’s, hence their shier demeanor, however, I think their personalities were just more subtle than the other girls. Both of them became huge Roald Dahl fans. Together we read The Magic Finger, ESIO Trot, The Enormous Crocodile, and the BFG and on their own they read seemingly every other Dahl book written. Some picture books they reacted strongly to were William Wegman’s Farm Days, which evoked such a strong (and contagious) giggling fit in Ruby we couldn’t even finish the book. Apt. 3 by Ezra Jack Keats also led to an intense giggle fit (yes, in both of us!), but this giggling was due to the discomforting level of what Ruby termed “nastiness.” I also tutored one boy, Jaemin. Although the girls all complained about him — Su Yeon was his classmate and Ruby and Lily’s parents were friends with his parents — Jaemin was respectful and entertaining. We read the Newbery and Coretta Scott King Medal winner Bud, Not Buddy, by Christopher Paul Curtis. I learned a lot from these children. Not only did they teach me about various South Korean specificities (the monetary system, marital surnames, ghost stories, blood types, national symbols, the history of kim chi), but they also provided incredible insight into Korean children’s ESL acquisition and children’s textbooks. Humor is the most difficult thing to translate. The child whose English is the weakest can have the most beautiful voice intonation and pronunciation when reading; The student with the worst pronunciation can have the best writing mechanically; It feels criminal to emphasize proper grammar when the phrase, story, or poem emerges so beautifully from the “flaws”; Some workbooks for children and publishers instruct nationalism and patriotism in their lessons to such a high extent that it’s reminiscent of some of the first literature for children: moral conduct books.
Hao Chinese School. Grade 4-6 English and Reading. Los Angeles, CA. 2004. Every Saturday for one semester, I would meet with 12 children. We read Philip Pulmann’s trilogy together, pulling vocabulary words and literary themes and concepts out of the text.
At Every Picture Tells a Story, a children’s bookstore and art gallery that sells the original illustrations for children’s books, I was the curator’s assistant. I registered, photographed, PhotoShopped and filed original artwork and illustrations from childen’s books, and assisted the curator in organizing outside exhibits for The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, The Museum of Tolerance, and the Skirball Cultural Center. I also wrote/edited gallery promotional material, book reviews, book summaries, artist/author biographies, and helped organize book readings and signings; for example, illustrator Gregory R. Christie.
Hyde Park Elementary School. Kindergarten Teacher. Los Angeles Unified School District, CA. 2000-2001
ACTING & MODELING
Along with writing some of my own Recess progams (listed under ‘Publications’ and ‘CV’), I have read the following segments written by other authors, which are later aired on National Public Radio. Recess is a daily, three-minute program for adults that explores the “dynamic cultures of childhood, past and present, and around the world.” In Los Angeles, between approximately 1994-1999, I also unexpectedly began acting and modeling. I often worked under pseudonyms and was a member of the Screen Actor’s Guild. It was not a goal or plan, but an exciting experience that lends additional insight to my studies regarding children’s literature and culture. I was marketed as a teenager and cast as constructions ranging from ‘Asian girlfriend’ (this title really bothered me) to ‘punk rocker’ to female drag-queen impersonator. Following is a sampling from those years. In 2007, I also did voice work for American Apparel investor documentaries and film productions.
The Dalai Lama June 5, 2007
Emily Bronte and the Genii July 28, 2005.
Barbie’s Debut March 16, 2005.
Mitsumasa Anna March 24, 2005.
Elia’s Mission Elsie’s War March 8, 2005.
Patty Duke Working Miracles December 14, 2004.
Hans Christian Andersen’s First Tales December 2, 2004.
Persepolis 2 November 17, 2004.
television host
Anti-Gravity Room television hostess. I was the weekly Los Angeles host for at least 4 seasons of the Anti-Gravity Room, a 30 minute show about video games, virtual reality games, science fiction and comic books which aired internationally on stations including the US Sci-Fi channel and Canada’s YTV. I would travel to Toronto, Vancouver and San Francisco to shoot on location.
I was thrilled to be the host for this show, and all of my memories are very positive. However, even during the audition process, I was dismayed that the show was looking for girls with a certain edgy, alternative, Sci-Fi look. Obviously, they wanted a cute actress and went to Los Angeles looking for one, despite being a Canadian operation. I always felt the show should have had a host that was truly a comic-book fan. Females are so marginalized in this arena, even moreso then, and the Anti-Gravity room further marginalized them through the show’s masculine focus. The few shows I suggested were shot down — I wanted to do a segment on comics about theorists, like Freud or Marx for beginners. I also wanted to do segments on graphic novels, like Maus. It wasn’t that the director and producer didn’t think it was a good idea, it was that they didn’t think it would be appealing or marketable. Maybe they should have implemented my ideas before the show was cancelled. I have a few memories that elicited very strong emotions. First, I recall feeling absolutely frustrated, confused, and like a complete failure when the director kept telling me to act, to say my lines different ways. I was wearing a long, satin, burgandy gown and was stating the memorized lines as I walked down a fairy-tale-esque path. I thought I was saying the lines different ways and simply couldn’t do any better than I was doing. It was horrifying. Another episode, they required me to lay down on top of a grand piano and sing, which was mortifying. The problem was that I couldn’t act; I had no interest in acting and had never pursued any acting classes. I could, however, memorize lines and recite them in a way true to my personality. I excelled doing interviews.
When YTV flew me to Toronto, after I had already worked on the show for a few seasons, I couldn’t believe that some teenage boys asked me for my autograph. It was also a very odd experience to see the fan and hate mail piled up at the station. Apparently, someone vetted it and responded for me, or perhaps it was just ignored. There was one angry letter by a mom who was appalled that I had multi-colored hair and would sometimes wear wigs. She thought I was a terrible influence on young girls. The other correspondence that still stands out is the Valentine’s Day card with a very long hand-written letter by a very normal-looking man (photo enclosed) going to a prestigious university. I couldn’t understand how or why he would identify with the personality constructed for me by the show.
My best experience was going to a studio that makes simulator rides and games. I didn’t have to wait in any line to ride “roller-coasters” that were really large computer screens and a kind of car to sit in that moved around. We filmed once at Universal Studios and I was able to go on all the rides without waiting in line. I had a weird moment when I ran into an old friend who was working as a ride operator. The cameraperson, sound guy, and director were with me filming and we were in a hurry so I wasn’t able to talk. I felt very superficial. My favorite interview was with the Hernandez Brothers because I genuinely liked their work and thought it was important. It was a bit unsettling to have to lay out by a pool in a bikini, full make-up, and glittery platform shoes while trying to have an intellectual conversation with two men I respected. They were really cool about it — and likely felt a bit awkward themselves — and gave me some autographed copies of their books. Apparently, upon reflection, even my happiest moments as a TV host were filled with internal contradictions. I was attending a local community college at the time and there is a photograph of me for some of their promotional material where I am quoted as wanting to be a professor of Women’s Studies.
This is a list of things that were talked about and looked into on certain AGR episodes: Mallrats; Quantum Leap; History of Spy Comics; Cartoon themes by alternative bands; Joe’s Apartment; Animatronic Critters; Barb Wire; Superhero Stamps; X-Files Comics; Comics in Movies; Anime and Manga; Political Cartoons; Reboot; Star Wars; How to Make a Comic; Getting Published; Gen 13 Animated Series; How to Collect; Marvel vs. SC; Pencilling & Inking; Coloring and Cover Art; How to Produce a Comic; Dr. Who; 12 Monkeys; Dark Horse; Vertigo; Toy Fair Vignettes; Todd Toys; Villian Retrospective; Legion of Super Villians; Extreme Studios; Manga Entertainment; Streamline Pictures; Understanding Comics; Fantagraphics; Heavy Metal (animated movie); Comic Conventions; Eisner Awards; Marvel Online; DC Online; Top Cow; Microsoft; Nintendo Power Pod; Gen Con; Virtual Reality; Robot Wars; Superman (animated series); Sliders; Tenchi Muyo in Love; The Incredible Hulk (animated series); Helix; Wildstorm Studios; Superman’s New Costume; Alternative Press Expo; Keyhole Comics; Mad Monkey Press; Slave Laber Graphics; Mad Magazine; Ren and Stimpy; UK Comic Art Convention; Wallace and Gromit; World Animation Festival
printwork and runway
Teen Magazine; OP (Ocean Pacific); Vans (dir. by Larry Clark); JNCO; Levi’s; Sinister Brand Clothing; Lip-Service Brand Clothing; Taboo hair salon; Yuki Sharoni; Poltergeist Clothing; Sprite; The Crow II: Eduardo Lucero fashions.
television commercials
I made $20,000 doing a Sprite commercial. Over the course of a whole year I received residuals that added up to a little over twenty grand. The shoot took 2 days. All I did was smile silently and bat my eyelashes. My role was “Asian girlfriend.” I didn’t say a word and the camera was on me for only a split second.
Vans (dir. by Larry Clark); Sprite; Dr. Pepper; Popeye’s Chicken; The Crow II MTV movie trailer; Braun men’s razor; Diet Coke; Prodigy (featuring musician Barry White)
entertainment bookings
For several years I performed at various events and booked entertainment including trapeze artists, gogo girls & boys, drag queens, belly dancers, and fire eaters. Other performers I worked with and/or booked include The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black, Alexis Arquette/Eva Destruction, Candy Ass, Jackie Beat, Joey Arias, Holly Woodlawn.
“Snatch” movie premiere party; “But I’m a Cheerleader” movie premire party; “Studio 54″ movie premiere party; “Blade” movie premiere party; OP (Ocean Pacific) fashion event; Nine Inch Nails & David Bowie concert after-party; movie wrap party featuring the band OzoMotley; Sugar Ray Leonard’s 40th birthday; Paul MItchell’s birthday; APLA (Aids Project Los Angeles) fundraising event; MOCA (Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art) fundraising event
extra work
Films: Wayne’s World II; Strange Days; The Birdcage
Music Videos: Barenaked Ladies; “Going Back to Cali.” Notorious BIG.