Racism is a Virus: REQUIRED Analyzing

In this world right now, there are two viruses being spread, and only one of them is making national headlines. The other virus that I speak of is racism. While I’ve spoken of racism in the past in this corner of the Internet, this is really the ugliest it has gotten towards the Asian American community in quite some time.

An Exploration of Thought and Poetry: Recommended Viewing

The nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards were announced earlier this week, and I’ll be frank when I say that a number of the people and films whose names are on the list this year I’m both disappointed about and don’t really care for either. One of those films is “Marriage Story;” a film that I, surprisingly, have seen. But ever since “The Rise of Skywalker,” I now see Adam Driver in a new light, which led me to watching this now Oscar-nominated film.

Overall, I’m indifferent about it, and yet within that span of time, I somehow came across the title of another film Driver did a few years ago called “Paterson.” Intrigued by the trailer, I decided to check it out from the library. I’ve since watched it twice and now, I want to make it the first featured material for Recommended Analyzing for the year.

A Love Letter to the Hard-Working Millennial: Recommended Viewing

In the midst of Disney+ taking over everyone’s lives (and time), today I want to take some time to shed light on and recommend a short film that just came out this week, and not from the House of Mouse. It’s a touching film from a creative force I have hailed multiple times in my little corner of the Internet: Wong Fu Productions. For Recommended Analyzing, today I am recommending their latest short film, “A Difference Between.”

In Support of “Steel Crow Saga” by Paul Krueger: Recommended Readings

I don’t always use this space to hype out over other author’s works. That’s usually what I use Goodreads for. But every once in a while, there comes along a book that is just so captivating, that to limit my thoughts about it to just a Goodreads review genuinely just wouldn’t be enough.

At the beginning of the month, I mentioned Paul Krueger’s latest novel, Steel Crow Saga, when I talked about the support that goes around for Filipino American authors and which ones usually get it. This was before I actually read the book myself. Since then, I took my time with reading it and I am so impressed with it, that I want to recommend the following readings in support of it, and in this particular order:

A Reminder From An Eternal Voice: Recommended Reading

This past week has, for lack of a better word, been heavy. Two more mass shootings happened less than 24 hours apart last weekend, that has left 31 people dead and many other people injured. Right after that, Toni Morrison passed away. It’s hard to write about anything else when once again, the people who’re supposedly our leaders refuse to listen to logic, and the words of Morrison remain as profoundly relevant than when she first wrote them.

A Spotlight on a Meaningful Bookstore: Recommended Reading

It’s been a minute since I’ve done a Recommended Analyzing piece, and I figured it would make for a good way to kick off a new month. The article I am recommending today was just published this past week in Inquirer.net; a Filipino/Filipino American-based news outlet. Writer Christina Oriel wrote a feature that spotlights a very meaningful book based in San Francisco’s SoMa District: Arkipelago Books.

An Audio Feature on A Literary Icon: Recommended Listening

I am away this weekend in attendance of a conference – a conference that I will recap on when I’m back next week. For the time being though, now seems like just as good of an opportunity to do this month’s Recommended Analyzing piece. We bounce back into the world of podcasting as I shine a spotlight on the most recent episode of the Asian Americana Podcast.

Telling My Story for Video: Recommended Viewing

After going back and forth on whether or not this would be too self serving, I ultimately decided to go ahead and make the following video the focus for this month’s Recommended Analyzing piece. For those who don’t know, I am the latest subject for the Spotlight series from TFCU; a branch of The Filipino Channel that focuses its efforts on reaching out to and encouraging Filipino American college students to go after their aspirations and goals in life. In the video, I talk at length about my work as an author, blogger, playwright, and screenwriter.

In the World of Solarpunk: Recommended Reading

With a busy weekend ahead, I figured that now is just as good of a time to bring to you the first Recommended Analyzing piece of the year. While I normally tend to recommend material to check out that came out fairly recently, the article that I will be recommending today was actually published a year ago. It’s just that someone I know brought it to my attention recently, and the content was so captivating, that I knew I had to write something about it.

New Chapters on Page and in Life: Recommended Reading

With a busy weekend ahead for me, I felt that it’s time for the monthly Recommended Analyzing piece.  The material I am recommending today is quite a special one, as it is a touching meditation on two beginnings 1. the life of a new book out in the world and 2. the life of parenthood.