Relax!

Dear friends,

If you have the time, please read my latest story for VICE: I'M FUGLY, AND I WON'T BE YOUR WAITER TONIGHT.

Thank you very much.

best,
Thwany

Um, no thank you.

"A central puzzle is why anyone would hijack a jetliner and then fly it for hours over the open ocean, as seems to be the most likely case. On Saturday, the Malaysian authorities opened a criminal inquiry after learning that two tracking devices aboard the aircraft has been turned off several minutes apart, indicating deliberate action, and that the plane appeared to have flown for as long as seven hours more."

From the March 16, 2014 New York Time Article, As U.S. Looks for Terror Links in Plane Case, Malaysia Rejects Extensive Help, written by Michael S. Schmidt and Scott Shane.

It's 3am and I still can't sleep. 

Waking up and getting ready for work tomorrow morning should be awesome.

"I think I'm ugly, 
and nobody wants to love me."

From the song Ugly by 2NE1.

"하지만, 

I don't care."

From the song Baby I Miss You by 2NE1.

It's been almost three hours since I sat down to work, and I've barely churned out one paragraph.

Is it time for a drink yet?

"It's difficult to understand change when you are right in the middle of it. I wonder what people thought during the industrial revolution when they rode a train for the very first time, drove a car, or saw electric lights on the streets of Paris suddenly go on as if magic. Did they feel the same mixture of skepticism and enthusiasm that we did when we held our first cellphone, figured out how to use a laptop, or learned how to Skype with our loved ones? Probably. But I bet that they, like us, got used to these inventions very quickly, without paying too much attention to just how significant the moments they were experiencing were."

From the Editor's Letter of W magazine, written by Stefano Tonchi. W magazine, March 2014 issue.

Extremes can make a point.

Dear Carbs,

Why are you so good to me?

sincerely,
thwany

The past few weeks or so.

"How beautiful is this life?
How painful is this life?"

From the song 멘붕 by CL of 2NE1.

Whatever happened to just treating people with respect and kindness?

Every night I try to fall asleep by a decent hour, but things just don't ever seem to work out that way.

I'm currently house-sitting/cat-sitting for a friend in Jersey City right now. I've only been here a few days, and have just been commuting back-and-forth to work from here. It's been an enjoyable couple of days to just break out of my usual routine and try something new, and I'm a little bummed that I'll be leaving here tomorrow morning for good. Even riding the Path Train here to Jersey City seemed like a nice change, which I think is a good indicator showing that I'm in desperate need to get away from NYC for a little. I can't really afford to travel anywhere right now, so I think even a day trip on a weekend would be extremely helpful to keep me going.

It's been a bit too cold out the past few days to explore much, but from what I've seen, Jersey City is pretty nice. There's seems to be a diverse range of people who live here, and there's tons of bars and restaurants near my friend's place as well. My friend Dessie lives off the Grove Street stop, so getting to the World Trade Center and walking to work is literally two stops away. It's great that the Path Train isn't too crazy packed during rush hour either, which has been a pleasant surprise.

But for everyone who's recently endured way too many snow days and cold nights---can we talk about this crazy ass winter? I know that Spring is only a few months away, but I'm just not sure how much more snow and freezing temperatures I can take. The inability to walk anywhere (because it's just too damn cold out!) is what's really driving me nuts the most, and I long for warmer weather where I can pop in my headphones and stroll in whatever hell direction I please.

It's during times like these where I miss Bangkok and Thailand the most. I especially miss sitting on the balcony of my old studio apartment, just listening to the constant traffic on Petchaburi Road and staring at the beautiful view (pictured below) with a joint in my hand. Man, that sure is nice to reminisce about right about now.

Until next time, I wish you warm and sunny dreams. Good night.

Isn't arrogance just masked insecurity?

I can't stand these types of fools.

"I sat down to write this piece fifty-two minutes ago. I named the blank file, gathered all the material I'd need to complete it, and cued up a Spotify playlist of songs I don't know well enough to sing a sing along to. Since then, I've read three New York Times stories, a blog about West Virginia University football, and my Twitter feed (three times). I always wasted time when working---especially when I am trying my hardest to focus. In that way I'm no different from everyone else.

According to a study done by Gloria Mark, Ph.D, a professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, information workers switch activities every three minutes. Millennials---like the students at her school---jump around twice as often. Technology has made us more productive as a society, yet it's also great at tricking our brains into thinking they're doing real work. E-mail, social media, Candy Crush---they all provide that "job done!" satiation our brains crave without actually accomplishing anything. 

Thing is, some of what we think of as procrastination, our brains consider recess. Sandra Bond Chapman, Ph.D, a cognitive neuroscientist and director of the Center for BrainHealth in Dallas, explains that our neurons want to work hard, then chill for a bit. Periods of productivity come and go, and that's okay.

For some people, focus peaks in mid-afternoon; for others it happens in the early morning. Once you know when you work best, build some walls around it. 'The most productive people spend their brains' 'prime time' on one or two higher-order tasks, rather than let lower-level tasks gobble the day,' says Chapman.

The most important thing you can do to finish a job? Start it. Humans are wired to seek completion. Psychologists call it the Zeigarnik effect, after an early-twentieth-century Russian psychologist who discovered that once people began an assigned task, they would almost always see it through, even if interrupted. The trick is setting yourself up to get there. And with the advice from the hyperproductive heavyweights that follows, you'll be able to get shit done. Just like I did now."

From the articled, How I Get $#!t Done: 21 Productivity Secrets from Successful People Who've Figured It Out, written by Josh Dean in the March 2014 issue of GQ.

What a herb...

Gaining 15lbs is so much easier than I remembered.

I think we all go through waves of different periods in life. And right now, I'm eating pasta.

"He hit me,

and it felt like a kiss.

He hit me,

but it didn't hurt me."

From the cover version by Hole titled, He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss).

There's always something to be grateful for.

"I have let you go,
And everything I went through was beautiful."

From the song When I Wake Up by Jill Scott.

"Shafts of sunlight pierce clouds of smoke and steam as I plunge into the heat and noise of the kitchen at Bundo Sati, a small restaurant in Jakarta."

From the article Spice World by Christopher Tan in the March 2014 issue of Saveur.

Sadly, there aren't really any holidays in the NYC restaurant industry.

Happy President's Day though to everyone who has off!

The past few weeks or so.

Congratulations to my friends Jenn and Daniel for welcoming your first baby into the world! The two of them and their healthy newborn baby son are going to make such a great family. I'm so happy for them, and can't wait to go visit California later in the year.

누구세요?

Yesterday was a great day.

What a difference a year makes.

Dinner at The Marrow, and then drinks and singing in Koreatown. 

Thanks to everyone who came out!

The cold air feels so great tonight!

Being a 30 year old grown man whose voice still cracks is not fun. 

Is it normal for puberty to last this long?

ALWAYS REREAD.

"He slept a lot after that, he says. Drank so much soda he almost lost his sight. 'I would buy two-liter Fanta Orange, two-liter Sprite, two-liter root beer---and I live by myself---just guzzling them away. That's how I was getting through the pain, fucking going to sleep and drinking soda. And I'm not even a soda drinker. I drunk so much soda to the point where my diabetes---my sugar level went so high, I started getting blind.'"

From the article, The Secret Double Life of Hip-Hop's Most Beloved DJ, by Zach Baron in the February 2014 issue of GQ.

Moving today was bittersweet, but still really exciting.

Here's to new beginnings!

"Knew a girl named Shelley,
Six-pack belly,
When we made love she made it shake like jelly."

From the song Hot 4 U by Tribe Called Quest.

The past few weeks or so.

Who needs a man when you can have pasta?

Thank you to my college, The New School, for giving alumni lifetime access to the campus buildings. And thank you even more for providing us with free Internet access, because I would be lost without it. Now, on top of always having a clean bathroom to use around Union Square for the rest of my life, I'm also grateful to having a quiet place to get some work done on my computer.

.

"Happiness lies,

In your own hands."

From the song Secret by Madonna.

The weeks seem to go by so fast.

"Love likes me.
Love takes it shoes off, and sits on the couch.
Love has an answer for everything.
Love smiles gently... and crosses its legs.
Well, here we are.
Well, here we are."

From the song Liquid Days (Part One) by Philip Glass.

It's a new week, a fresh start.

Cherry Tavern.