I was tagged by eliaday for this blog meme recently, and so I guess that means I write 8 random things about me here. I call this an ingenious way to come up with blog material; you call it lazy. Let’s just agree to disagree.

I’m calling this blog meme “8 Diagrams” in honor of Wu-Tang month. There are actually no diagrams, but there are 8 bullet points. So take from that whatever you want.

1. My favorite slept-on rap verse off any mainstream song is Babs Bunny’s verse from Bad Boy This, Bad Boy That My favorite couplet in the song is: “you a thug, why you keep on talking? Let’s get it crackin/Get a b** stomped out in the club, I make it happen.” It’s just so unapologetically gangsta; it’s like that moment in A Bronx Tale when the motorcycle gang gets locked into the mafia don’s bar. Thrilling.

2. I hate wearing t-shirts with sleeves, but I hate dudes who always wear sleeveless t-shirts more. If I started wearing sleeveless t-shirts around town, I might as well grow a ponytail and ride a Segway to make the transformation from person into “Mad TV” sketch character complete.

3. When I was a kid, whenever someone anywhere in the building flushed a toilet, the water from all faucets would flow weaker. If this happened while I was in the shower, then I’d step away from the water because I’d be thinking, “ew, toilet water,” and then once the stream got strong again, I’d step back in.

4. I don’t peel the shells off shrimp before eating them. I usually eat the entire thing, including the crunchy things at the end of the tail that contain no meat. I’m not sure if this is because I never realized you were supposed to peel them, or if I’ve just always been lazy, or what, but said behavior is ingrained in me now, if someone gives me a peeled shrimp to eat, I don’t like the texture.

5. I worked as a street team promoter back in college. In fact, I was the lead New England promoter for this national LA-based company, which was pretty new at the time. I put up posters at record stores and bars around town promoting new albums and upcoming shows by bands of varying degrees of fame and relevance. This company has grown now to the point where they have promoted for Linkin Park, U2, Gorillaz, Dashboard, and a bunch of well-known acts, but at that time, the biggest band I remember promoting for was the Tragically Hip. I, however, was a minor at 20 years-old, and could not stay to watch the show, only could put up posters before the show, come back the next day to put up more. That was fine though, because I wasn’t a fan of their music. I also woulda probably stuck out amongst the white beer-bellied 35+ crowd that is their fanbase. Lookign back, the most surreal experience in that job was working a Britney Spears concert (!) promoting for her opening act, Michael Fredo. (I wondered at the time if he named himself after the surviving sons at the end of The Godfather.) I was in fact allowed to see the show, but chose to wait outside for 3 hours instead. I think I made the right decision.

6. Tabasco sauce is my favorite American food.

7. I think our wedding party when we got married in 2006 was like the most pan-Asian wedding party I’ve seen. Aside from the bride being Cambodian and the groom (me) being Chinese, the bridesmaids were all Cambodian, Lao, and Chinese, and the groomsmens were all Chinese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, and Indian. By the way, my wife and I first met in Asian American Studies class. Chris Chan Lee should make a movie about us. Yeah I said Chris Chan Lee.

8. So the Wu-tang-related title isn’t completely out of place: Junior year at UMass, a bunch of the Asian dudes who lived in the same dorm - Lewis, in the Northeast section - each happened to take on a different Wu-tang persona. I was GZA (aka the Genius), mostly I think because I was the only one who could read. Recently I caught a Youtube video of GZA talking shit about Souja Boy and 50 Cent. Good to see we concurrently became grumpy-ass old men.