charming

unesco world heritage sites:
just cool.

(da nang)

indelible

transcendence
immersion
oneness

biking like kids
amid the perfect green rice paddies
watching the ducks parade home
against a glowing orange pink sunset

i love my work.

(hoi an)

!!!

i am seriously the fucking luckiest bitch in the world, without a doubt.
totally speechless right now.

(hoi an)

too much

"i promise to god maybe i'll shut up."

my sister will not stop blabbering in my ear!! aaaaalllll night long! it's been hoooouuuuurrrrssss...

between her and the nonstop honking of this chaotic city, i might be deaf by tomorrow morning.

this picture does not really put her in the proper perspective, but this grandma was teeny-tiny. maybe about 4'2". on a good day.

went to this beautiful spa and got a two-hour massage for about $20us. i felt like a kobe beef cow. ate a huge meal then got mauled into submission by a tiny vietnamese lady with absurdly strong hands & feet.

on a serious note, working from the road is harder than i thought. i'm distracted by the sensory overload and my bearings are also off.

luxury dulls creativity.

(hanoi)

shifted.

dear free hug man,

you moved me.

you were standing, all alone, silent with a quiet welcoming presence, right outside the meiji shrine on a chilly sunday afternoon.

i don't know what kind of energy your soul is made of, but you enveloped me in such a way that i will never forget you.

i learned something fundamental from you in four seconds. thank you.

thank you.

(tokyo)

in tokyo

i don't understand
here
where the passion comes from
where the rage comes from
where it goes
and

where the love exists in between.

it's all so clean
and sterile
and muted

it's bright
and distracting
it covers up the lack of
fire
and life
in real.

no matter the city, you will always find me in a bookstore.

bright lights, ginza.

tokyo style.

it's easy to get lost in the crowd...

tokyo youth...

and then they grow up. salarymen on the prowl.

went to a cosplay cafe. don't ask, you don't wanna know.

store decor at a candle and soap store. again, don't ask.

i'm drawn to you, and yet...

(tokyo)

observations

there are no public trash cans.
everything is packaged to design death perfection (love this).
all girls wear lots of thick black eyeliner and thick fake eyelashes.
zero street pda. maybe even in the bedroom...
1st graders walk themselves to school.
no one crosses the street unless the go signal is given. even if it's late at night and no cars are around.
toilet seats are heated, musically inclined and they wash your ass.
foreigners are completely and utterly common.
the world is neat, clean and orderly. even the art. even the rebellion...

(tokyo)

aaahhhh!!!!!!

total excitement!!!

went to muji today in midtown and guess who i see filming there?!  my boys from my creation in motion post - world order (genki sudo!)!!! they were filming a new japanese cell phone commercial.

i never get excited about seeing anybody, but i was seriously geeking out over these guys. 

they totally knew it too.

umm... $185 white strawberries. genetically engineered to absolute perfection. 

i would hope so, considering they cost about $15 per strawberry.

only in japan do they make little girls so cute.

lunch ladies. i was starving.

pit stop with josh before heading to the tokyo american club.

(tokyo)

noodle lust

dear hiroo ramen joint,

ever since i last left tokyo, i have been dreaming about you. your spiciness, your half raw egg, your bamboo shoots and your perfect chewiness. every time i would think of you, my mouth would water. and last night, we had a lovely reunion. you were perfect.

(tokyo)

until the violence stops

wrote/directed/produced this psa to benefit the korean american family service center
so very proud of the girls i am working with
hope you will be able to come support!
check out our facebook profile for more information

(nyc)

thank you

dear yp:

in the course of asking you a zillion questions tonight and hearing your responses, i suddenly had a MAJOR epiphany. actually, two of them.

everything, and i mean -- everything -- just suddenly fell into place. i have a suddenly completely different understanding of framework/structure for ALL of it.

thank you for being my conduit to enlightenment ;)
wow, i don't know what took me so long to figure this out.

things keep changing so quickly for me these days... but in a good way. things are finally starting to seriously click and become real.

super. super. grateful.

(nyc)

in bed

have always loved this particular toulouse-lautrec since i was in high school
i like the quiet intimacy of the painting

but i didn't realize till i was older
that he spent all his time
painting prostitutes at the moulin rouge

:p

(nyc)

editing

sooo exciting to see all your work come together!!
to make other people look good
to make something out of
nothing

to find the timing
the music
the alchemy

coming soon :)

(nyc)

floored

i always loved sculpture, but was never truly moved by it, until i saw two things.

the first was this:

il ratto di proserpina (the rape of persephone) by gian lorenzo bernini @ the galleria borghese in rome.

persephone was the daughter of zeus and demeter, and forcefully taken by hades to be his queen of the underworld. she was missed so much by her mother that demeter caused a terrible drought in the world. zeus allowed persephone to return, bringing the world back to life, but was obliged to spend one season a year in the underworld. thus persephone is also known as the goddess of vegetation.

that's the back story that explains what is happening in the sculpture, but as far as sculpture goes, it looks fairly "standard" in terms of composition and subject material. like so many other sculptures i had seen in so many other museums around the world.

that is, until you see this:

this is the money shot, the close-up detail of where hades grabs persephone as she is in flight. 

when i saw this, i was floored.

the fact that bernini could sculpt so much emotion into cold, hard stone showed his unmatchable skill, his artistry and his depth of understanding. if you look at most sculptures, you can see technical skill in the folds and layers of the way a cloth drapes. but when it comes to body parts touching other body parts, they always lightly rest on the surface. faces, hands, legs, anything. the most amount of contact is simple light touch.

but bernini's hades actually grabs-- persephone and you can just feel his overwhelming strength in this tiny little detail. his hands are actually digging into her flesh, forcing her into his violence. the fucking veins in his hands are popping.

absofuckinglutely brilliant.

the second thing that made me appreciate the infinite difficulty and thus beauty of this art form was this:

if you go the galleria dell'accademia in florence to see michelangelo's david, everyone immediately flocks to the main attraction. but if you take your time, you will notice his series of unfinished sculptures called "prisoners" that line the hallway leading up to david. these four massive unfinished works show the detail and the process of how excruciatingly difficult sculpture is, to end up with a beautiful finished work of art that tells a story. seeing these monstrous pieces was actually much more impressive than seeing his finished works, because i came to understand how painstaking every single little chip and chisel and sanding down must have been. it's almost as if michelangelo freed his forms out of these massive blocks, giving them life. if you see it in person, each little chip in the stone is about the size of an eraser head on a pencil, and these blocks are approximately ten feet tall. the process... the process.

and then within that context of understanding, to then see how bernini sculpted those fingers digging into pure stone flesh...

completely blown away. that's all.

(nyc) 

into the clouds

sometimes, ok, well, a lot of times, this is where i go inside my head.
maybe it looks something like this. except my bedroom would not be this horrible shade of pink with those ugly ass curtains...

(nyc)

rules?

there are no rules.

(nyc)

hmm...

life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage - anais nin

i've been thinking, and so far, i've come to this - that your ability to love will define your life more than any other single factor.

(nyc)

i love

ted.com

that's all.

(nyc)

our childhood

the game: taboo
the rules: you are not allowed to say the words listed on your card, to describe your main word. you must use other words or phrases to get your team members to guess your main word. race against the clock to get as many words as possible.

my word: swimming
words i am not allowed to use: water, pool, beach, inflatable toys, lifeguard

my teammate: my sister

my description that i shout out: it's something you do in the summer!
my sister immediately shouts back: go to the library!!!

lanny, pedro, bobby, charles, yunmi, james: wtf?!?
game stops.

hahahaha...

one day i will have a huge library in my house, harry potter style with super high ceilings, endless shelves filled with books. two levels with a walkway and a rolling ladder. old, dark wood. sigh.

in the meanwhile, jay walker has built the closest thing to my imagination for a private library. check it out:

(nyc)

innovator

bjarke ingels: danish architect, creative genius.
yes is more.

(nyc)

nervous

my sister replies "may the force be with you."

hahahaha... i love this girl. forever.

(nyc)

sexy socks

on set today, shooting a psa that i wrote, produced and directed!
a first for me, but i loved it. both cast and crew rocked.
sometimes you just start working on something and you feel the magic as everything coalesces.

on my markers for the camera, had to take my shoes off b/c i was too tall for the shot setup :P

thx to ec for giving me the opportunity to work and to bl for the photography :)  more to follow...

(nyc)

random

exhaustion
mentalemotionalphysical

i bet you think this song is about you
don't you
don't you

solidifying
fruition

cough cough raspy

you're a bloody fat bugger
3 sets+
rolling rolling
out.

(nyc)

angry

it pisses me off

that you don't understand

that you judge me

that you put me down

for taking risks

for speaking the truth

for chasing my dreams

yet the minute i take off

the minute i start making money

the minute things start snowballing

you immediately want to own me

possess me

stake a claim in me

drown me.

fuck off.

(nyc)

sleeptalker

can you please put your head back onto your body? that is so inappropriate. well, not that one! it's already been used.

what. she gives me fire and she holds me.

stop!!! the pebbles are coming out so much more and more... i think your ears are all fucked up.

we need to film you every night and make a tv show out of you.

(nyc)

hustler

i'm not a businessman. i'm a business, man.  - jay-z

(nyc)

i see you

no
i may not remember
the stories
the details
the events

but
i know
your essence

i watch you
even as i am talking to you
and i feel
with you
as you react
grow
change
take in
give out

did you think i would not remember
did you think i was not paying attention

the water runs deeper than you know
deeper than i know

in my dreams
everything is stronger

but in my days
i.
am.
with.
you.

(nyc)

directors

courtesy of benson k. lee for the heads up
gaspar noe's latest:
enter the void

his last movie (irreversible) fucked me up so much inside that i couldn't sleep for days after watching it.
also felt this way after seeing oasis (이창동)
dancer in the dark (lars von trier)
and old boy (박찬욱).
i bow down to the brilliance of these directors, but i hate the way i feel inside after i watch movies like these.
disoriented.
dazed.
like my skin is crawling, from the inside out.
yet i can't stop.

on a happier feel-good note, check out benson's kick-ass, slamming, award-winning documentary:
planet b-boy

i have never been prouder to be korean than after watching those credits roll. wish i had moves like that.
benson, you've got style on-camera and off. props to you sir.

(nyc)

charity: h2o

a billion people in this world lack access to clean water.

help me make a difference:
www.mycharitywater.org/youricho

(nyc)

february babies

dear february,

you and me, we got something here. b/c all of sudden i'm surrounded by a birthday every day, and i just wanna say thanks for all the lovelies in my life. i must be doing something right.

lmp: you are so unbelievably bright - and what makes you so special is that you don't even know it. you light up every room you're in with your brilliant energy, raspy voice and rock hard abs. i love your purity  and your beauty, both inner and outer. i hate the way you wake me up and your bathroom habits are a little scary, but i love the fact that you can throw a football better than most guys can. you will always be my little catholic school girl watching tv in the club locker room, and a cardboard box at xmas time will always remind me of you.

gml: one of my oldest and most cherished friends. somehow we seem to have been cut from the same cloth. made in 경상도 :) your smile, your presence and your charisma make both men and women weak in the knees and it's no wonder why. i love that we both chose the path of artistry and that we share this nocturnal nature. i'm so proud of all your accomplishments, both professionally and personally, but more than anything, i love your fierce pride for your family and the fact that you are truly a child of the world (i don't know anyone who's lived in more countries than you!). calm, cool, collected. yes, i remember.

mjs: i'm incredibly grateful for having crossed paths with you. i learned so much about life, business and people through you, in ways that you don't even know. you are one of the most obnoxiously smart people that i know - your brain works at mach 10 and it's fascinating to hear you think out loud. beneath your g6 lifestyle (who the hell actually owns a g6?!) i've been lucky enough to see what your heart is really made of, and that's the best part about you. not too many people see it, but i always will.

  

lvdc: my heart's twin encapsulated in the body of a beautiful brazilian. i don't know how i would have survived the past couple of years without your friendship, empathy and compassion. you epitomize unconditional love in ways that most people will never know in this lifetime, and i got lucky enough to be on the receiving end of it. i miss you every day and i want so much happiness in this lifetime for you and your family. brazil is lucky to have you back. 

jc: out of all the cousins, you have always been the one with the softest, kindest, most patient soul. you breathe love like others breathe air, just by your existence, and i just happen to be related to you. wow. despite time and distance, i always feel linked to you in my heart, and i am always rooting for you.

istg: you look like a gorgeous blond barbie doll, you have a cool ukrainian accent and you collect warhols for fun. on all counts, we seemed to have nothing in common, but you totally blew out all my assumptions from day one and revealed what a complex, generous, hardworking and beautiful woman you are. our friendship is not conventional by any means, but that just goes to show how open-minded you are. i've learned a l.o.t. from your depth and your tenacity.

mr: i don't know why, but since our very first conversation, i've always felt a kindred spirit in you. i recognize the artist in you, the writer, and something just clicks for me in the way you process the world around you and your search for meaning and truth. you wear your artistic nature so effortlessly that others take such pains to construct, from the clothes you wear (the cool scarves) to the places you've lived (france) to the books you read (gilles deleuze, really?). even your wife has to be only gorgeous 5'10" korean who grew up in italy. it all adds up to this very mellow nonchalance that i love about your vibe, and our conversational connections. 

honestly, i know some really cool fucking people. they rock. 

happy birthday my babies!!

(nyc)

girl talk

haven't stopped listening since i downloaded this album last year. obsessed. gillis has been getting better and better with time. 'let it go' is my favorite section.

free download here for you too :o

(nyc)

and i quote

walk tall, kick ass... love music, and never forget you come from a long line of truth seekers, lovers, and warriors. - hunter s. thompson

(nyc)

lust

some girls lust after shoes, purses, maybe some bling.

i'm ogling:
my pilots license
a canon 5d mark iii with a bunch of really low f-stop l lenses... yeah baby.
weekly massages

fairy godfather...
put me to work b/c i've got expensive tastes

(nyc)

my favorite artist. ever.

dear andy goldsworthy,

i have been in awe of your work for more than the last decade. your use of natural materials speaks to my visceral obsession with stone and wood, trees and water. the solid elements of life. the fleeting nature of your art makes me want to grab the beauty you purposefully create for just a moment longer, before it flies away, melts, erodes, disappears.
and therein lies the exact philosophy: be present in the process of creation, enjoy what is - right now - because the cycle stops for no one, no thing. 

life, ephemeral.

(nyc)

suck it

don't.
condemn.
me.
for.
experimenting.

when you yourself
don't have the balls
to say
been there
done that.

you don't have the power to say yes
to make things happen for me
to greenlight my dreams
my projects

so why would i give you the power to say no.

(nyc)

damage potential

when was the last time
you wanted
something
someone
so badly
that it had the capability to wreck your life
in a serious way

something
someone
that had the ability to make you feel
completely
raw
exposed
vulnerable
naked
high

to be constantly skating
on the edge of control

i want to know what that feels like
again
to own
and be owned

like blood

(nyc)

yes.

(nyc)

manic insomniac

can't sleep
scribbling in the dark
illegible

i can feel my boundaries
limits
slowly starting to erode
again
it's been awhile

reset.
reset.
resetting.

the edges are starting to form

i want them sharper.

(nyc)