Author Archives: Tim

About Tim

I'm a Chinese/Taiwanese-American, born in Taiwan, raised on Long Island, went to college in Philadelphia, tried Wall Street and then moved to the California Bay Area to work in high tech in 1990. I'm a recent dad and husband. Other adjectives that describe me include: son, brother, geek, DIYer, manager, teacher, tinkerer, amateur horologist, gay, and occasional couch potato. I write for about 5 different blogs including 8Asians. When not doing anything else, I like to challenge people's preconceived notions of who I should be.

Hands of My Father

Posted on March 12, 2009 by Tim

I happened to catch the tail end of “Talk of the Nation” on NPR while I was in my car this week. The segment was titled “Hands of My Father“, and was an interview with Myron Uhlberg, the author of … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Family, Observations | Tagged | 2 Comments

East Meets West: How the Brain Unites Us All

Posted on March 11, 2009 by Tim

When I was growing up, my dad liked to talk about how Americans and Asians thought differently. He always referred to it as right brain versus left brain thinking. As an immigrant he of course had Asian thinking, while his … Continue reading →

Posted in Discrimination, Education, Family, Health | Tagged | 6 Comments

College, Bananas, and the Chinese Student Association

Posted on March 6, 2009 by Tim

The recent discussion about Dartmouth’s new president, Jim Yong Kim, sparked quite a bit of discussion on the 8asians internal mailing list, and brought back memories of my college days at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). After reading that Penn … Continue reading →

Posted in Discrimination, Education, Observations | Tagged | 18 Comments

First Chinese Bronzes, Now Gandhi’s Glasses

Posted on March 5, 2009 by Tim

Following closely on the heels of the news that the Chinese bronzes from the old Summer Palace were to be auctioned and not returned to China, comes the news of another controversial auction. This time the auction contains Mahatma Gandhi’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, The Arts | Tagged | 4 Comments

Obama Changed How I View My Identity

Posted on March 3, 2009 by Tim

Yumi Wilson just published a beautiful piece on how our new president, Barack Obama changed the way she views her racial identity. Ms. Wilson is multiracial, born to African American and Japanese parents. In her article, she describes her self-realization … Continue reading →

Posted in Discrimination, Family, Observations, Politics | Tagged | 2 Comments

A Lack of Asian Surrogates

Posted on February 23, 2009 by Tim

Surrogacy, is when a woman agrees to carry a baby for another person or couple. When surrogacy first started, it was common for the surrogate to also be the egg donor. Recently though it’s much more common to use a … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Discrimination, Family | Tagged | 7 Comments

China Fails to Stop French Auction

Posted on February 22, 2009 by Tim

The designer Yves Saint Laurent died last year, and the collection of art he and partner Pierre Berge amassed over their lifetime is now up for sale at a Christie’s auction in Paris next week. Among the many treasures to … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, The Arts | Tagged | 30 Comments

Chinese Treasures to be Reunited in Taiwan

Posted on February 19, 2009 by Tim

The best collection of Chinese antiquities is found in Taiwan. This is of course no surprise to anyone familiar with 20th century Chinese history. The Cultural Revolution brought with it the destruction of much of the cultural artifacts in China, … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Family, The Arts | Tagged | 1 Comment

Our Child Only Speaks English and It’s Not Okay

Posted on February 13, 2009 by Tim

My 3 year old daughter used to yell “Stop Daddy”, whenever I talked to my mom in Chinese. She didn’t like feeling like she was left out of the conversation, and she let us know in no uncertain terms. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Family, Lifestyles | Tagged | 59 Comments

“Avenue Q” Musical Scuttled in San Jose

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Tim

After the American Musical Theater of San Jose declared bankruptcy in early December, there remained some hope that Avenue Q would still make it’s Northern California Bay Area debut in San Jose. But this week’s news declared that the touring … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Discrimination, Entertainment, LGBT, Lifestyles, Music, The Arts, WTF | Tagged | 4 Comments

Wicked, with Deedee Magno, Returns to San Francisco

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Tim

Wicked, the smash Broadway musical, which started life in a pre-production run in San Francisco in 2003 at the Curran theater, is finally back in San Francisco at the Orpheum Theater. The return to San Francisco brings with it a … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Entertainment, Reviews, The Arts | Tagged | 5 Comments

Mixed Couples Divorce In Droves

Posted on February 6, 2009 by Tim

If you grow up in the United States you’re pretty familiar with the fact the divorce rate in the U.S. is close to 50% (meaning 50% of all couples that get married typically end in divorce). So when I came … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Discrimination, Family, Lifestyles, Movies, Observations | Tagged | 27 Comments