Lyrical Essay about Love Republished in the Huffington Post UK

Different writers have different milestones.  For me, (re)publishing an essay about love in the Huffington Post is pretty seminal.  Considering how many people read the HuffPo, I see this moment as another step in my slow trajectory as an emerging (non)fiction writer, slowly getting his writing out there to the world, slowly building a readership.  So for that, I say many thanks and cheers.

Article about the Irrationality of Love Published in the Good Men Project

Two of my fave things to write about (in fiction + nonfiction) are love + the limitations of reasoning.  In this article, you get both.  Read this piece + you'll understand the strange visual juxtaposition of phallic rockets + a bunch of hearts.

Article about the Poverty of Male Affection Published in the Good Men Project

As some of you might know, after I started my dissertation, I became really invested in the (de)construction, mediation + question of contemporary masculinity, in part because I think we live in a fascinating time in history where gender roles are necessarily collapsing (+ where the push-back becomes even more violent).  Anyway, this time I wrote a short piece in the Good Men Project about the lack of affection between (+ for) straight men, how it starts with our old school fathers, continues with our classmates + male friends + continues until we either confront the void inside us or until we're fortunate enough to surround ourselves with people who are loving, affectionate, open + communicative with us.  If you have a second, you can check it out here.

Memoir about Being a Secret Hapa + Nerd Masculinity Republished in Discover Nikkei

My memoir/essay, "American Otaku" about the life of a secret Asian American + nerd masculinity that was originally published in the GMP was recently republished at Discover Nikkei, a site that explores transnational hapa identity + interconnection between cultures, celebrates community + also provides a forum for hapa + nikkeijin history to be retold + therefore, reremembered.  If you have a second + you missed it the first time around, you can check out my piece here.

Lyrical Essay about Love Republished in Australia

Sometimes when you write shit down, you have no idea what's gonna be big when other people read it.  Truthfully, I don't pretend I have a damn clue what excites readers--that's why I try to write things that excite me + hope readers feel the same.  For those of you who haven't read it yet, I published a lyrical essay a little more than a week ago in the Good Men Project entitled "How to Stay in Love." I wrote this piece about LB partially because I'm still crazy in love 6 years after we started dating, and partially because the older I get, the more I realize how uniquely awesome our relationship is (+ I should know, I'd had tons of shitty relationships in my life, so I've got a point of reference).  Anyway, Kristin Shorten, an Australian journalist from News emailed me last Monday + asked if they could republish my essay on one of Australia's top news websites.  And I was like:  fuck yeah!  So here's an abridged republication of my essay, "How to Stay in Love" in the lifestyle section of News.com in Australia, along with a few pics of LB + me in Socal + Buenos Aires for your viewing pleasure.  I've also included, just for the hell of it, a picture of the front page, just to give you some context of where my essay fits within the bigger picture of today's news cycle on this website + why it got republished in journals + news engines like The Herald Sun, Courier Mail,  News Whip + Optus Zoo, among others.  My essay was even republished on a German website called Ad Hoc News with a picture of Michael Jackson!

Lyrical Essay about Staying in Love Published at the Good Men Project

There are a lot of things I'm not qualified to write about (of course, this has never stopped writers before).  But one of the things I feel I'm eminently qualified to do is write about love.  I've been in love more than once.  I've been in too many relationships to count.  Some of them have been horrendous slogs, others ephemeral + dramatic flare-ups, + quite a few fell somewhere in between.  Either way, one thing I'm good at is connected to one thing I believe in wholeheartedly, which is the capacity for humans to love + the redemptive place that love can play in our culture.  My life would have no value without it.  My best writing comes from a place of love (of characters, places, experiences, languages, ideas, etc., etc.).  My best relationships are overflowing with that stuff too.  Anyway, this time I wrote a lyrical essay about my relationship with LB, which the Good Men Project was happy to publish because they love it when men talk about love.  If you have time, I hope you'll read it + tell me what you think about my piece, "How to Stay in Love."

Article about Marriage + Gangster Love Published at the Good Men Project

While I acknowledge that marriage is definitely not right for everyone (fuck, it wasn't even right for me until three years ago when I had a major epiphany while driving shotgun with my friend Lisa through Koreatown), + while I know that even great marriages don't always last, nonetheless, I wanted to write a piece in the Good Men Project that refuted the cultural myth of matrimonial castration for husbands + suggest that marriage with the right person could be a joint Galatea project, a place to actually evolve + grow.  Sometimes, it might even be the most gangster thing of all.  Anyway, here's my piece about the Evolved Gangster in Love.  It's obviously about marriage, but it's also about how marriage can upgrade your own masculinity, the way it can make you stronger, more flexible, more in tune with yourself, the way it can make your more vulnerable, more authentic + more compassionate too.  Check it out when you get a chance.  And since I've been talking about love, marriage + being totally gangster, it's only fair I suppose to include a shot of me + LB to give you some context for my piece.  In the foto, we're in a bar called Millón in Buenos Aires.  I'm pretty sure I'd just cracked a joke about something or made fun of LB in a sweet sorta way.  But I think it's safe to say we're kinda fond of each other.  Pictures don't lie.