Life With Pho

How To Get Shamed By Your Own Race

Patrick — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

I get a haircut every month. I do so in order to control the beast that is my hair. If I let my hair grow out, it’ll spreads in all directions- and not in a hip fro or a cute Howie Day-like ‘do. I’m talking full-on Wolverine status. I’m talking hide yo’ kids and yo’ wife because my hair is coming to get you.

Getting a hair cut is always an adventure. I usually go to the Hair Cuttery by my house where they never seem to remember who I am despite the fact I show up there the same time every month. Recently I decided to go to another location in Alexandria, where I encountered the worst part of getting my haircut.

Shame from the Asian stylist.

I managed to walk in 15 minutes before closing. I got a couple of ugly stares thrown at me as the stylists already started to close shop. They lady at the front made me pay first so they could continue to close-up. I tipped generously.

As I proceeded to get the usual cut: a short, tight trim on the sides and back. The Vietnamese stylist looked at my face and asked the question I was expecting her to ask me.

“Where are you from?”

I gave her my usual answer: “I’m originally from Boston.” I waited for the expected follow-up.

“No, where are you really from?”

I delivered the answer she wanted to hear, “My parents are from Vietnam, I was born here.”

“OH! You Vietnamese? You look Filipino!”

Right on schedule.

“Do you know any Vietnamese?”

“No.”

“Oh! That’s a shame! Why don’t you know any Vietnamese?”

“I don’t know… I was never taught…”

“You should know! You are Vietnamese! You should know your language!”

This is the usual conversation I get with most stylists that cut my hair. Here’s the extended version I sometimes get:

“So you got a girlfriend?”

[I give whatever status I am at the moment]

“Well I hope she’s a nice Vietnamese girl…”

Did my mom hire all the ladies at Hair Cuttery? My haircuts are starting to feel like Thanksgiving Dinner.

Pho On The Web: 1-22-12

Patrick — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 16:00:15 +0000

I’ve been doing a lot of writing. Mostly Washington Wizards & DC Theatre stuff.

For all you non-basketball fans out there here’s a snap shot on the Wizards season so far:

The lockout ended, the Wizards assembled a young, talented, yet immature squad for the season.
They lose the first game in the pre-season, the media panics.
Andray Blatche starts to complain about not getting the ball enough in the paint, DC starts their contempt for him.
Celtics come into town and beat them.
Knicks come into town and beat them.
Rockets come into town and beat them.
The NBA-best Thunder come into town and the Wizards WIN. The crowd starts to boo Blatche anytime he does anything in the game.
Nuggets come into town and beat them in a close one. Blatche goes 0-7 and the crowd now genuinely hates him.

The season is shortened but it will still be a long season. I even did a vlog about it!

Meanwhile I’m still writing up theatre as well. I’ve seen some great stuff including You Nero at Arena Stage and Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies at Woolly Mammoth. I’ve also seen some less than great shows as well.

I’m also starting to do more vlogs- what do you all think about that? Should I keep doing them? I guess I caught the bug from #VEDA.

DC Metblogs Round-Up: 11-30-09

The Secret To Winning NBA Championships & Life

Patrick — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:00:23 +0000

I started my latest attempt to read Bill Simmons’ Book of Basketball (the one I got signed by Bill a couple of years ago.) I re-read the first chapter and decided to vlog out some thoughts on it. Take a look and let me know what you think- I’m thinking about vlogging some more in 2012.

2011 In Review

Patrick — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 16:00:00 +0000

I have mixed feelings about the kind of articles and stories that get put out this time of year. Endless “Best of the Year” and “Worst of the Year” lists, arbitrary rankings and round-ups are written by every newspaper, magazine, and blog. On the surface it looks like lazy journalism simply replace the year from 2010 to 2011, scratch off George Clooney and write-in Ryan Gosling. The whole act feels so formulaic. The fact it’s the last week of the year means you can almost expect a “Top News Stories of 2011” story with as much surprise as hearing boos at Kris Humphres at a Nets game.

However my pal Renan offered a good point: if we didn’t have best of lists, how would we remember everything that happened this year.

It’s good to look back, not for too long, but long enough to give the past 12 months some context and have it help us figure out how we want to live the next 12 and beyond.

So let’s take a look at the past 12 months/52 weeks/365 days of Pho and figure out what just happened.

Work

There were some big ups and downs this year but ultimately this was a great year for me career-wise. I made some big accomplishments, kicked some major ass, and grew a lot at NMS. I’ll touch upon all the travel and trips later but the highlight of my work year has to be winning the NMS Ass-Kicker award back in October. It was a complete surprise but I am proud to have my work at NMS recognized. The award also came with an experience of a lifetime: opening the trading day at the New York Stock Exchange. That probably ranks up there in top moments of the year (if I was keeping track of that or something).

That and ending up on my college’s website.

The bar has been set this past year, and 2012 I’m going to do my best to meet it, if not blast it away.

Social Media

I didn’t blog as much as I would of like to in 2011. That’s because I’ve been spending more time on Twitter & YouTube. In 2011 I decided to put more effort into my YouTube channel. I met some amazing friends and learned a lot about vlogging when I decided to vlog everyday in August. I also had not just one, but two videos top 50,000 views on my YouTube channel. This past summer I went to Chicago to speak about video at the 20SB Summit and this past fall I spoke about social media at the PRSA National Conference in Orlando.

My visits on TBD ended but my visits on NBC Washington started. It’s been a dream of mine to do a media hit on CNN or MSNBC, and I got a bit closer to that dream when I helped out my Brazen Careerist friends with a CNN story.

Social Media has continued to enrich my life with all sort of memories, from weird eating challenges to receiving an entire shipment of PopChips. I’m getting better and better every year with this social media game- in 2012 I hope to take that game to the next level.

Friends

2011 was a year for some momentous occasions and tragic losses. Some of my friends got married, some got engaged, some even had babies. Others moved away from DC and others moved back to DC. Bottom line though, I am ever so thankful for the circle of friends I have here, there, everywhere.

Taking ridiculous photos of my co-workers? Love it.

Going to Jay’s Saloon with my roommates? We might become regulars.

A week on the OBX with 20 friends? An annual tradition.

Shooting guns with my DC friends? The start of gun fever.

Karaoke? Always welcome.

Family

There was big loss in my family this year with the passing of my grandmother. Besides that it was great to spend time with the fam, like experiencing all the steam punk things Diana does in Brooklyn or trimming the tree back at home. There’s nothing new otherwise- all of my siblings are in college/grad school. My parents are now empty nesters who are growing bamboo plants in place of us. Just your typical Asian family.

Love

While some bloggers can write epic poems about their year in love, mine was very quiet. I put my energy into so many other things- dating wasn’t one of them. There was an odd theme this year of people trying to fix me up with girls.

I need to get my act together in 2012 before my parents get me in an arranged marriage.

Theatre

This year I focused more on reviewing theatre than stage managing. I did stage manage a show on Capital Hill that went fantastic. I also got to attend the Washington DC Theatre event of the year: Drama Prom! However I’ve already decided I want to concentrate more on reviews in the upcoming year, for now I’m going to put stage managing on hold.

Of course until somebody asks me to do a show I can’t turn down.

Travel & Special Events

2011 was a very busy year for me travel wise. I took about 23 trips and traveled over 31,000 miles. Here are the highlights in photos:

Las Vegas, NV – SHOT Show

Detroit, MI – Many trips for work

Boston, MA – Mike & Becky’s Wedding

Austin, TX – SXSW

Denver, CO

Hatteras, NC – OBX Season 5

Troy, MI – Carlisle, PA Road Trip

Des Moines, IA

Nashville, TN

Chicago, IL – 20SB Conference

Las Vegas, NV - Falkor’s Bachelor Party

Warrenton, NC – Diana and Brett’s Wedding

Mystic, CT – Sarah & Falkor’s Wedding

Orlando, FL – PRSA Conference

New York, NY – NYSE Social Media Day

Atlanta, GA – SEC Championship Game

I also spent a lot of time at bars.

Well it’s time to close on 2011, it was a great year and I know 2012 will be even better!

How To Spend Your Holiday Break

Patrick — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Book a flight back home. Shop Amazon for gifts for your siblings. Exchange e-mails with your siblings on what to get Mom and Dad. Have no idea what to get Mom and Dad. Poll friends, co-workers, strangers on what to get Mom and Dad. Settle on Costco gift cards and a Roomba.

Post your travel plans on Facebook. Read comments from friends that “want to hang out when you are back in town.” Check the weather back home. Shudder at the thought of colder weather. Receive an e-mail from your parents to pick up Vietnamese food from Eden Center to fly back home. Shudder at the thought of shopping in Eden Center.

Fly back to Boston. Have parents pick you up. Argue with parents about why you don’t want to be a lawyer and why you would be a terrible litigator. Avoid questions about girlfriends. Wish you didn’t fly back to Boston.

Trim the tree with your family, post photos of your Christmas Tree on Facebook and Twitter. Watch It’s A Wonderful Life, Elf, or A Christmas Story on TV. Show Mom how to use her new cell phone. Fix Dad’s computer/printer/router.

Go to only bar in town. See old classmates, teachers, and townies all in the same place. Talk to old friends. Repeat same post-college life story to all who ask, “so what’s new with you?” Reminisce about high school. See college-aged students partying on the dance floor. Realize you are really old.

Wake-up next day with mild hangover. Sleep in til 2 PM. Get woken up by parents who insist it’s time to open presents. Realize the older you get, the later in the day you open presents. Take endless family photos in front of the tree. Post a holiday status message on Facebook. Receive 15 mass-texts from friends. Open presents. Get excited over gift cards and a scarf. Realize you are really old.

Gather for a family dinner. Consume nothing but carbs, fat, and sugar. Avoid questions of when you are getting married, starting a family, or finding a girlfriend. Realize you need to get out of the house. Go to the movies.

Figure out how to pack all your gifts into your carry-on. Realize you didn’t see half the friends you wanted to see. Make promises to see them next year.

Fly back to Washington, DC. Wonder if you’ll ever move back home. See The Mall from 35,000 feet. Remember why you love Washington, DC.

A Special Holiday Message

Patrick — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:10:50 +0000

The Power of Free

Patrick — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Remember “free nights and weekends”?

In early days of cellular telephones, providers would offer free nights and weekend calling to attempt to set their plans apart from the others. They were great deals, a natural bragging point in conversation:

“I have Cingular and it’s great and I have free nights and weekends.”

The idea of limitless consumption for no/limited cost is something we are obsessed about. That’s why people flock to Cici’s Pizza Buffet, jump on a sale if free shipping is thrown in, fill our devices with apps- just as long as it’s free.

Free is an interesting force- when we are introduced to something as a free commodity it sets a very high bar. It becomes harder to put a price on it later on, we’re already used to it as free. It’s why newspapers and print publications struggle to put a price on content online. It’s why Napster and Limewire forced the music industry to fundamentally change. It’s why Louis CK had to rethink video distribution when he decided to release his latest comedy special.

Once something is free, we expect it to always be free. Once something that used to cost something becomes free- we realize the added value of such a service.

Now free nights and weekends is expected with cell phone plans. Meanwhile I don’t know why anybody would pay for a tire rotation anymore when more and more shops are offering lifetime rotation and balances when you purchase a set of tires.

Never underestimate the power of free.

Getting too close to 30

Patrick — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:44:14 +0000

Still hopeless. Probably still romantic. I need another hour of sleep.

No related posts.

Pho On The Net: 11-20-11

Patrick — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:00:00 +0000

I thought I’d start off my links post with something that happened offline…

It was a blast to stand with my CEO and other co-workers as my office opened up trading on the NYSE. It was a fun trip down and I got the chance to meet a lot of new and old friends. This week the travel continues with a trip back home for some turkey.

Well it looks like the NBA Season won’t be happening anytime soon- so I’ve been catching up on the local theatre beat. Last weekend I saw Beertown, and it was a really refreshing experience- totally recommend it.

One final item- Fitchburg State sent a film crew earlier this year to interview me on how my Alma Mater helped me land a sweet gig in DC. The video just went live on FSU’s new website last week:

No related posts.

The Third Screen: Why Television Viewing Will Never Be The Same

Patrick — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Recently I spent the weekend in Pittsburgh visiting my friends Melanie and Jim. When we weren’t hopping around bars and restaurants, we kicked it back at their apartment in front of the TV.

Of course the three of us didn’t just sit there staring at the TV- we had our laptops out. Three pairs of eyeballs, four screens. More if you count our cell phones and iPods.

Television used to be a dedicated block of time. An appointment you wouldn’t miss every week. Now DVRs have turned TV into entertainment that is consumed on the viewer’s terms and is no longer the sole center of attention. The television is no longer the only screen in the living room. Laptops, tablets, and cell phones are moving in for a piece of the pie.

The Third Screen concept isn’t anything new. As video on computers became mainstream people looked to mobile phones as the next frontier for video content and I believe we are close, if not already there. However I also believe the Third Screen can be used to describe the evolving experience of watching television. If we demand multiple computer monitors, tabbed browsers, and stacked columns for our tweets; why wouldn’t we sit down on the couch with a laptop/tablet in hand and a cell phone within reach?

We surround ourselves with so many screens because we want to be close to information, we want to be able to cross reference as we are watching a show or a film. We want to be able to IMDB that supporting actor as we see him or fact check a date or location.

Multiple screens also gives us the ability to share experiences with others. We chat online with others while watching a sporting event and broadcast our instant reactions on Twitter.

Watching television has joined exercising, using an elevator, and even walking under activities that can be done with multiple screens. Nothing is sacred anymore when it comes to earning our undivided attention.

Except perhaps the cinema.