todaytoday

Dad picked me up to go to UCLA for Yau's lecture about his book, and about Calabi-Yau manifolds. The stadium filled up to about 150 people, it got pretty packed and was damn cold inside. Dad fell asleep and started to snore. I started laughing. Afterwards we went to the reception and I talked to my dad for a long time, probably the first time we've really really talked to one another. Then Yau came and talked to us for a while, in between all of his book signings. Dad walked me out to find my mom and my mom and I went to pick up my littles from tennis.

We came home and found out that my dad didn't go out with Yau for dinner because he didn't feel like it. So we all went out to Monsoon, a fusion asian place on the 3rd street promenade for dinner. I had 2 green dragon cocktails, which was this light green concoction with vodka, pineapple juice, and melon juice. sooooo tastey!!

Tuna salad

I talked to my dad today about potential business plans in China, and about his interest in getting my papers published and a book published for me in China. He told me that developing ideas is the hardest part, but my whole life, i've had good ideas, i've just lacked execution. He said that's the easy part, the originality is the hard part. Then again, I feel that an american thing is that every one is expected to be original whereas creativity in China is harder to find, since the culture is more geared towards studying what other people have written. for example, there's no such thing as plagarism in china. actually, it's respected when you incorporate others' words into your own work, because it means you've digested and really tried to understand it. it's not like america. that's one big difference i found when i was studying in shanghai.

anyway, as much as i like that i've made LA into a haven (my mom noted that when i was a bit younger, or, just a year+ ago, every time i came back to LA she would barely see me because I'd be out the door in a second going out and hanging out with friends) it does get a little bit boring being stagnantly in my mind. I made it this way, blocked out all people here that i've known since highschool so i can have it as a place to relax, to think, to regroup and figure out my next step. to watch movies, to read books, the things i barely have time for in NY when my life is consumed with social responsibilities. it feels good to have made a choice and see it to fruition, but it also becomes limiting. but i have to start only seeing the good. only see the good.

Yau says he knows Zhang YiMou and Ang Lee and want to introduce me to them the next time I'm in China. I'm sending my dad the 15 pg paper I wrote on Globalization, the problematic of "Authentic culture" and whether it exists, using Zhang Yi Mou as my primary example that I wrote in Shanghai in sociology class. And also my Wong Kar Wai color analysis paper that was 20 pages long. Dad wants to get someone to translate it and publish it in the newspapers, since they're always hounding him to write new articles. I'm getting more excited about my book idea, after talking to him about it because i think it'll be big in China (and the US if I can follow through with getting it published) but my anxieties are over the personal aspects that are necessary to the book that i'm a bit afraid of revealing because not only could they be controversial, but also i'd feel so exposed and vulnerable.