Nerf Nerd Hazaah!

My latest project is not video related like usual.

It started just a couple days ago on a whim trip to Target. You see, for the last decade or so I have been on a rather unyielding race to grow up as fast as possible. However I have found myself in a relationship with a girl who retains a wish to stay a kid as long as possible (a quality I very much admire and find incredibly endearing). I suppose it has rubbed off on me… or at the very least reminded me of how much I miss playing with toys.

Thus, at Target I purchased a Nerf gun for myself and a Disney princess coloring book complete with crayons for my girlfriend (yes, I do believe it may have upped me to the best boyfriend in the world.. at least as good as the prince boyfriends of the princesses in the coloring book).

The Nerf gun however, is awesome. Maybe the best compliment I received was from a friend who told me that I looked surprisingly natural when holding it (thank you, boot camp).

But that wasn’t enough, you see. I started looking up extra accessories for the gun and came across a whole community of Nerf enthusiasts (most of which are even older than I am) who modify their guns to look incredibly real and shoot its darts much further.

You can even buy premade ones people make at home for $160.

That was it. I’ve spent the last two days taking my gun apart and trying to make it more powerful. I’m currently up now in the mid hours of the morning actually because I’ve been spray painting the body all night on the balcony.

So, while the only thing keeping me from officially becoming a college senior is a five page paper, I’ve apparently found it a much better use of my time to play Army.

I’m so excited to finish but realize at this very moment that I will have no one to battle with when it is finished. BOOOOOOO!

So I call out to all of you to pick up arms and join me (push up glasses).

Will post pictures when I finish.

Bew! Bew! Hazaah!

Scooters the new Harley? Impressing my girlfriend with my thirst for danger and infatuation with the open road

My newest aspiration is to purchase a scooter. Not just any scooter, but one that is at LEAST twenty years old. I had the opportunity to ride a friend’s Honda moped from 1983. Oh yes, I was scared at first.  It was mostly because it took an hour to get it up to speed and that speed was 27 mph. The 35mph roads were the toughest.  All of the other cars were rather nervous to pass me but even more nervous to stay behind me. HOWEVER… those neighborhood/campus roads were MY domain and the tank? $1.75 to fill.

Another friend lent me his scooter for an hour or so. This one was from 1986 (still older than I am). It had a little more pick up than the other one and actually had a front brake that worked. I immediately headed to my girlfriend’s apartment.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Come outside… right now,” I replied.

“What?” she skeptically asked.

“Just come downstairs. It’s important.” I assured.

I’m not particularly sure of the kinds of wild possibilities a conversation like that may have sparked in her imagination but when she opened the door I am convinced she was struck with utter attraction as she took in the full extent of what stood in front of her. My hair was blown back like something blew up in my face. The roaring putt of the Honda two stroke making my muscles appear larger and my dimples even deeper. I asked her to get on.

“Want to get on?”

She looked skeptical, but took a small step forward.

“Come on.. let’s go for a ride.”

A couple more baby steps.

“Come on! Get on!” I exclaimed as I held out my hand.

Finally, she gets on. I realize that the seat on the scooter was only made for one person.

But here we go.

She clung tightly around my waist as we proceeded to go a half block and make a quick turn into the garage under her building.

Later she told me that she watched me ride away and that I make her crazy. While her worries are flattering, I know that they will not be able to keep me off the road.

Best,

Jason Danger Lee

The best advice of 2010

A friend once told me about the difficulty of getting parents to support your passion for the arts. I believe this anti-arts deal is something that many parents go through, but in my experience is especially true among Asian American families.

He said “You have to prove to them that you want it”.

Of course any parent would want the best for their child and does not want to let their kid starve.

His parents began turning around the day his father was reading the Chinese newspaper and noticed that his son was in it.

“Did you know you were in the paper?”

“What? No let me see!”

That was when his father began to realize his son would be okay, not ten years after finishing college but well worth the wait.

And that, my friends, was the best advice I’ve gotten thus far in 2010.

A year in review: 2009 Conclusion

So thank you, 2009, for all you have taught me. The lessons I have learned will be cherished. I believe my biggest regrets have come from not doing as much as I wish I could have and putting bits of time into many things at the same time, but consequently finishing projects way too late. However the new year brings excitement in terms of potential for personal growth and opportunity to redeem. I have been so fortunate this year to have had the experiences that I have and the supportive friends that have helped me in growing into a citizen of more impact. In the end, I find each year not to be a series of regreted decisions or shortcomings, or even celebrated decisions and triumphs. We are on a train ride to a series of destinations. And rather than waiting impatiently to get to each one, we must enjoy the view from the window.

A year in review: 2009 Wedding Video

Before leaving for retraining in Maryland I was given the opportunity to produce my first wedding video. I feel so fortunate to have had a couple like Karl and Jess trust in my talent enough to have me shoot their special day. As mentioned earlier however, my perfectionist attitude towards media work tended to postpone my finishing of their video. It actually went from 2 weeks to 3 months. I felt so bad for not living up to my end of the contract I told them they did not have to pay the other half. In the end I spent more money producing this video for them than I received. However, I am happy to have something to show now for future clients. It was definitely one of the biggest learning experiences I’ve had in terms of filmmaking. When I met with this earlier in the spring, i discussed a video that did not follow typical wedding video traditions that are all too often annoyingly cheesy Hollywood imitated shots. Rather I wanted to give them something that was inspired by working on a wedding earlier with my cousin Steve. More specifically, a documentary type video exploring a couple’s wedding as a proclamation of their commitment to each other from the videographer’s perspective. They seemed to love the idea. A wedding video more critically thought up than the normal capturing of a wedding’s beauty. After finally sending it off however, it seems I have learned that no matter what the couple says early on, they will most surely want the typical video in the end. An amped up version of the amateur home video that captures each and every important section of the day. I don’t blame them. The video is meant for keepsake and not art. Must remember these things the next time. Of course, I am most glad to have had the opportunity and the learning experience I have gained is ery much worth the many hours of editing and money spent to produce it. I am a fortunate student.

A year in review: 2009 APA Orgs

Participating in APA orgs at the University of Illinois

I have participated on the boards of two Asian American orgs on the Illinois campus this past semester. As a vice president for the Taiwanese American Students Club and an advocacy chair on the Asian Pacific American Coalition, I’ve found it to be a significant commitment of time.  I constantly felt like was not doing enough for these clubs and fear I may have spread myself too thin. However I have a real passion for what these organizations are doing in the community and am committed to putting more into my positions in them this next semester. If there is one thing I have learned from my commitments in them, it is that I am no longer participating in them next year. I just feel that I need to focus more on my filmmaking and major. Nonetheless I am so glad to have been fortunate enough to be part of such a strong APA community in the middle of America. The Asian American community at Illinois is nothing less than amazing, especially in terms of being in the middle of America.

A year in review: 2009 Redesigning Turtlistmedia.com

Redesigning Turtlistmedia.com

Also during the summer Serena Wu of Mymomisafob.com helped me convert turtlistmedia.com to WordPress software, which significantly reduces the time it takes to put up features. I love it, but along with my journalism training with the AF, I’ve also decided to rewrite all of the old articles. This has taken more time than I had planned (doh!). This summer Turtlist Media also saw the coming together of a guerrila board of passionate friends from all over the country doing their own features on Asian American aritsts in their areas. I’m finding though that many of these people are so talented that their time is spent doing other things for the community as well. Thus, it has been rather difficult to get things rolling. I regret not putting more time into the site this past year as in fact, the site has shrunk significantly in content. This has been a learning experience though as I find that one of my weaknesses is getting stuff done too slowly. I believe it to come from a combination of my perfectionist attitude towards media work (especially video work) and putting my time into too many things. Thus, while on paper it seems like I am doing a lot, I often feel as though I’m constantly letting people down by taking so long to get things done.

A year in review: 2009 Retraining in Maryland

Spending a summer in the East Coast retraining in Maryland as a Public Affairs Specialist for the USAF

You know how I said that life is but a series of events and paths taken because of them? There was a day after leaving my old hangar when I met up with the officer in charge of transitioning all the maintenance people losing their jobs as the F-16′s were sent to other bases around the country. The morning I met with him was also the morning a sergeant in Public Affairs called in to announce his decision to get out of the military. You see, I joined the Air Force because I wanted to work on jet planes. So when we all had to find new jobs, there was nothing else I really saw myself doing. I felt I was being forced to become a towel washer for the base gym or set up cables in the ground, neither of which particularly excited me. But this single open slot in Public Affairs was an opportunity that seemed destined as I put in for the slot just an hour or two after he announce it.

Thus, at the end of May I packed up my car and drove 12 hours to Maryland.  There I learned everything from writing news articles and features to photography and layout/design. This course essentially taught me a wide variety of skills I was not finding (but seriously needed) in my growth as a media creator.

Being in Maryland also allowed me to hang out with a bunch of old friends in D.C., New York, and New Jersey. I was also able to see a lot of the country I had never really seen before.

In New York I was able to attend the first Asian American comicon as a Turtlist Media correspondent and meet dozens of awesome people doing amazing things in the community. Also I met up with the musicians of Paperdoll, an awesome band whose music was recently featured on a nyquil commercial actually. At the Dragonboat festival an old turtlistmedia feature, Hsu-nami was playing a concert on the big stage and I got to talk briefly with its erhu player, Jack Hsu. As I drove through the eastern half of the country I found it to be so big, but the Asian American community is so small.

In Jersey, my friend Wayne taught me how to gamble in Atlantic City. Though I think I just enjoyed hanging out with a familiar face more… and having long conversations with his parents in Taiwanese.

In D.C. I hung out a lot with my doppleganger, Howard, who everybody seems to say is exactly like me. Sure enough, I found this to really be true and today I celebrate it.

The first time I went to training in 2006, it was not the pushups, lack of food, and little sleep that was difficult. I remember loneliness being the worst part of it. I was constantly surrounded by new friends and acquaintances I worked with, but nonetheless felt a loneliness I had not been used to, which of course has made me appreciate my time at home so much more.

However this time around I was blessed to be in a part of the country close to many friends who gladly opened up their couches and time.

I think it was the best summer I’ve ever had actually. The only thing that would have made it better would be going to TAF.

A year in review: 2009 Californication

A trip to LA/San Fransisco/ Las Vegas

Before leaving to retrain in Maryland, I took a last hoorah trip to visit some friends in the West Coast. It was fun to say the least and I was glad to have been able to hang out with so many different people. I am so lucky to have such amazing friends out there. Upon reflection however, I find that trip to be another blessing in disguise. During that trip I was fortunate enough to introduce some of my Taiwanese media friends to other artistic friends. I didn’t know it then, but they would all begin collaborating.

If I’m honest, I almost teared on New Years Eve as my friend Wat raised a shot to toast. “You changed my life, man” he said. To this I said “I’m just so glad you’re giving back to the Asian American community. I’m proud of you and what you’re doing”. And it’s these moments that make me think that perhaps our most significant impacts on the world around us occur when we have just lightly touched something. However none of this could have happened if not for the Amazing Taiwanese Americans and Asian Americans out in California that are so supportive of each other and eager to help each other out. It is this kind of community that retracts my worries of finding work after I graduate.

A year in review: 2009 ITASA

ITASA at UIUC

I was a programming chair for the 2009 ITASA conference, working to bring Taiwanese Americans to our school to speak. I loved all of the artists we brought and learned so much from them. I believe what keeps me going as an Asian American in the arts is meeting and learning from passionate artists like those who came to the conference. These people were the ones doing it! They’re the ones that jumped right in and started doing the things I dream of doing soon. Their passion and bravery inspire and excite me for what will come in the next few years. If you get the chance, you must check out Alice Tong (singer/songwriter), Jimmy Tsai (producer/actor), and Jeff Chang (hiphop historian/journalist). These people somehow represent to me what it means to be an Asian American artist. It is about the arts first (not about some separate Asian American genre), but still it is important to realize that our identities as Asian Americans must be claimed and inhabited for us to get anywhere in the American gaze.