Someone wipe the lipstick off this kid's face.

Labels: Obama is hot

I've watched him get sworn in like how many times already? And I'll probably watch today's footage again and again. Looking for a new camera angle I had not noticed. A new glint in his smile... A hot new dance position he takes with his wife...

I'm searching for clips online, recovering the moments I've missed, and drinking them in like a hungry unsatiable American beast. Mentally reliving an event I wasn't at in person, as if I was there... imagining myself as one of the characters in the story. And I've seen it enough that I actually believe I was there. I am.

Is this healthy? Does it matter if today was just the fantasy celebration before the tedious reality of rebuilding our nation? I just want to inject myself into this narrative of this day as if it was my every day reality. Even if the smiles, the gestures, and the greetings and goodbyes have been fabricated for the media.

I just came back from a night time celebration in Downtown Anchorage where I watched his inaugural speech again. I know how it ends-- he swears in and becomes the President... it's just the ride was soooo good.... and I can't help but play it back over and over again.

But unlike porn, I am not getting desensitized to it. (Not that I have ever seen porn before.)

Though, I do think I had an orgasm when he did the shaka brah to the Punahoa Marching Band.


Sure, I have my criticisms about today. Rick Warren and his hypocritical invocation about loving and accepting everyone (except gay people... right?). The endless marching bands (we couldn't throw in one gay pride float?). I was a little confused about why he wasn't introduced as "Barack Hussein Obama" and instead as "Barack H. Obama" when he made his entrance (he did make it up in the swearing in and quite smoothly). His speech lacked the quotable "hooks" of his campaign speeches. And why couldn't they have just pushed Dick Cheney down the stairs in that... WHEELCHAIR?!

But I'd repeat today again and again. That feeling of instinctively thrusting my fist into the air and screaming when he was sworn in. Going outside of the University of Anchorage Auditorium and the sun was still not up and yet, we had all seen the light. Looking at the White House site for the first time and really absorbing that no, it's not a joke. It's not a hoax. This is really it. We really did this. We don't just have a black president, we have President Barack Hussein Obama. We have First Lady, Michelle Obama.



I've been pleasantly surprised with Anchorage. And so pleased to celebrate this day here. It is not the beacon of Republican dumb sauce. The pockets of blue are remarkable. AND..... Whoa of whoa! There are so many black people here! And Native! And Asian! Or maybe the Asians are actually Native.... this is kind of confusing and I must figure out a way the jokes in my show can work with this "Asian look-alike" dynamic. I was happy to stand among them and know that we had come together to witness each others awe of this crazy long awaited moment.

There are things so logical about this moment. That are country is being represented for once by someone who is both qualified and whose own life story reflects the actual experience and dreams of so many Americans. That our president and his first wife actually came from working class roots and immigrant dreams. That this is the America we've been waiting for.

This should have happened so many years ago. And yet it still surprises us. This moment where we gathered in public places, we came together as Americans, and we looked around at each other, all of us different in our histories that brought us here to this moment, and today we saw each other.

Labels: Obama is hot

Labels: Obama is hot

I woke up, slightly hungover from a lot of late night celebrating to a slew of text messages this morning. They include:

"Pinch me."
"Good morning. No, last night was not a dream. It really is a new day for America."
"Good morning to a new page in American history!"
"Yes we can (crap in our pants)"

I was surprised how early John McCain conceded but he so got his ass handed to him.

Last night, en route to the parties, I was in Soo-Jin's car thinking we had at least another hour to go before any kind of concession. But the swing states have spoken.
I now have faith in Florida, Ohio and Nevada like never before. I take back anything I said four years ago (and in the last year) about people from those states being inbred. They really have proved the world otherwise.

I was stunned how extraordinarily classy McCain was about his loss. His concession speech was probably the first time in all these months I've actually been able to listen to him for more than two minutes and feel no creepiness emanating from him.

I was screaming in the car ride as McCain was giving his speech: "We need to get out of this car! We need to watch Obama's victory speech!"


We paid $20 to park Soo-Jin's car in Hollywood to go to the "No on 8" party at the Music Box. Last night was like Happy New Year except Tuesday and a week night. The place was at capacity and we were in line outside trying to get in. Cars were honking victoriously. People jumping and screaming in the street (mostly me).

I was screaming at the security people keeping the line at the Music Box: "Please let us in! There is history happening in a bit! I can't tell my kids that when Obama gave his speech that I was stuck in a line outside the Music Box!"

We decided to go to the restaurant next door which was a very good option. They had TVs, beers and seats. It was amazing to sit there with people who were also so awed by the moment. I was a wee bit out of control in my enthusiasm (as I'd been a bit inebriated since 6pm-- taking sake shots with each state that went blue) but so was everyone else. We were screaming in that bar. Toasting! Crying! I even kissed a couple people (in a non-romantic way)! And when Obama gave that speech there wasn't an unawed faced in the crowd.



I finally got to watch McCain's speech just now on Youtube. On the radio, you couldn't see how Sarah Palin was crying in the back. Part of me is going to miss that crazy unqualified would be VP... but not enough to ever want to see her or her politics near my country again. May she rest in peace along Dan Quayle in the annals of political humor history.

I think it's odd to see disappointed Republicans who remind me of left wingers of 2000 and 2004. They are now the downtrodden. They are the ones who are depressed. They are suddenly "the oppressed" the "unheard." They talk of doom and gloom the way we did when Bush was elected, then re-elected.

Maybe they will be the ones to start making bad performance art. They are kind of off to a good start with all their "anti-Obama" art. They seriously should consider taking a survey class in post modern agit-prop theater art.

Later that night, I was at a burrito stand in Echo Park. Cars were still honking and hipsters were screaming in the streets about the high speed train to San Francisco that we will build. One guy was so wasted that he screamed into a police car at a red light, "WE DID IT!! OBAMA!!"

It was amazing, then sobering again when two homeless people came by begging for money and booze. They could have cared less who was elected.

This morning, I was in bed wondering: Holy shit, what am I going to do for a living now that cynicism has been eradicated from this planet? It's like I have to look at my role as an artist in a whole new way. It's no longer through the POV of the reactive and helpless American, but instead, from a place where an impossible victory was had. It's like we've been freed by some awful prison sentence. Finally our utopia has arrived.

Oh, but wait....

Prop 8 passed. Some church that I don't belong to (and one very large church in Utah that I definitely don't belong to) has decided how half the state should define marriage. Ah yes, I remember that old familiar cynicism because it's coming back to me.


Yesterday I worked for three hours at a polling place in Brentwood to remind voters "No on 8." It was amazing how many people took the day off of work to volunteer. There was even an exchange student from Chile there who is going home in a few months but didn't want to see the proposition pass and was spending the ENTIRE day electioneering at the polls.

My bright moment was when I managed to fenagle a couple of potential "Yes" voters to "Nos." They were these women who were a little one the shortbus side. You know, wearing their ID's and bus passes on those clear plastic necklace thingies, lobotomy scars, and wearing sweatshirts and scrub pants even though they clearly didn't work in a hospital.

The scenario played like this....

KW: Hi, vote no on 8.

Shortbus women: Which one is this?

KW: This is the one that would eliminate marriage rights for all.

Shortbus: (confused) So I believe marriage should be for a man and a woman. Is this the one it is?

KW: Yes, this one is for equal rights and the right to marry for all. (Then I start nodding obligingly like I totally get them.)

Other volunteer: Yes, see, Arnold Schwartzenegger endorses No on 8. A no vote is about marriage equality and equality for all.

(women seem obviously confused by what the word "equality" means)

Shortbus: So if I vote "no" that would mean I am for or against gay marriage?

KW: Yes, a "no" vote would support marriage equality. (I hand her a flier as if it will help her in the booth to meet her objective.)

Shortbus: Oh! Ok! (She starts nodding to her friend. Looking at flier. They walk off.)

(We act calm as volunteers and start screaming at how we just manipulated the mentally challenged as soon as they are out of earshot.)

Hey, listen! I didn't lie to them! I just told them what was up. That a NO vote would support equality. Which is all it is.

There was an occasional hostile voter who would grumble or shoot a bad look as soon as they saw us. But it was nowhere near as hostile as how I thought electioneering would be. I imagined getting into shouting matches with old people. But nothing close to that ever happened.

One woman said, "I'm voting against this! But if there is anyone who has an issue with gays sees this they won't vote no! You just totally screwed yourselves!" and stormed off.

We were pretty confused by her too..

I had a tough moment with one woman who said, "It's not that I'm against gays or anything but my church told me that if gays are allowed to marry, then our church would have to marry them. And we don't want to be sued and lose our tax exempt status for having to refuse to marry gays. I have to vote 'yes' to protect my church."

Of course, what she had been told by her church is a huge point of misinformation about Prop 8. Churches cannot be forced to marry gay couples (and why would a gay couple want to be married in a church that hates them?) and the government does not have a role in changing how churches run. But Churches have told this and other lies to get their congregations to vote YES.

Sheep and Mentally Challenged people-- these are the voters who favor crappy propositions.

I learned from our volunteer captain that propositions get on the ballot when enough petition signatures are gathered. This is not how it happens in other states. The proposition system is great and problematic this way. The perks-- anyone can get a proposition on the ballot. The bummer--- anyone can get a proposition on the ballot. This is why so often, we have very strange propositions on the ballots.

There was this one proposition about requiring roomier chickens cages that passed. I actually looked at the voting grids and it looks like everyone in California cities voted in favor of it while the rural farm parts voted against it. It's kind of like Prop 8, people who aren't affected by gay marriage deciding the fate of gay couples. Except it seems that people who don't own chickens care more about having room for chickens than they do about actual human beings and just want the equal right to marry who they love.

It was warming to see a lot of older folks, folks who were straight and had no immediate stake in gay marriage say things like: "Absolutely! Without question!"

Some people were so passionately supportive: "I can't believe this fucking thing is even on the ballot? Who cares if gay people get to marry? It's none of my business!"


One great funny moment last night was the Mayor came by to the "No on 8" party. I was inebriated, but my friend was more so. And as I stood at the side of the stage so the mayor could come through, she threw her drunk ass on me and we both fell on the floor.

I was screaming as she was on top of me, "Get up! Get up! The mayor is trying to get through."

And next thing you know, Mayor Villaraigosa is hovering over the two of us on the floor holding his hand out to us, getting us up off the ground asking, "Are you ok?!"

By the way, our mayor is really freaking handsome.

It strikes my friend and her wife that we are talking to the mayor and they start screaming! Then I start screaming, "Sorry! We're drunk! And you are the mayor! And I voted for you!"

I took a picture of him with my friends who just got married and was screaming to him: "Mayor! They just got married this weekend and we want to keep it that way!"

He is a good guy and gave a great speech that we would not let this fight end here.

But anyway, Prop 8 passed. I'm still in denial. I haven't moved the "No on 8" sign off my balcony.

Labels: magic powers, Obama is hot, vision

Not bad. I got to my polling place at 7:04 am and was out of there just before 8am. The word on the East Coast from my tech Jen in Philadelphia was that the lines were 2 hours long.

Which leaves me wondering... either West LA polling places are super efficient or not enough people are voting!?!


But I loved being in that line with my fellow Americans, I took at least 20 photos of the whole process on my Blackberry. I was ready to wait up to 3 hours which is why I was up at the ass crack of dawn. I couldn't sleep as I listened to the rain. This is like the prom or something.

I feel so proud to be an American citizen.

There were times in line this morning when I just wanted to shout and scream, "Yes! We are Americans!!!" and high five my fellow Americans (be they Democrats or even Republicans-- gasp!) for showing up to vote!


It was cool seeing the teenage boy who lives in my building and his mom coming out of the polling place before me. They are black. I bet this was his first time voting and what a great thing it must have been for them to see a black candidate on the ballot for the highest position in the land. He said hi. It was so cool to see my neighbors at the polls. Like a real community.


Here is how I voted on one important item.....


And another.....

And in two hours, I'll be handing out palm cards for "No on 8!"


Those ballots are scary. I was shaking as I held my pen because I didn't want to make any mistakes. I've pretty much memorized all my votes, but as I'm in there looking at the different little dots.... I'm like: Wait! Did I do this right?! Is it No or Yes?!!

I double checked it all for accuracy and handed it nervously to the Armenian senior citizen poll worker who was taking the ballots and running them through the machine.

By the way, I don't want to give anymore attention to the opposition but I must point out how bad the acting in the following two commercials are. I don't know what remedial ass acting class they got these actors from, if anything, the bad acting should clue you in to how hard it was to find people willing to represent a "pro" position on this crap.

If you are still undecided on Props 4 and 8-- just vote against them based on the bad acting....



This is funny, I saw it when I got home and was laughing to no end. You can almost see the guy fishing for his lines. I'm glad that they were able to give work to the out of work writers of 80s afterschool specials for this one.



The look of disdain on the actor playing Mommy's face is priceless.

"And you know what else I learned Mommy? That the princess can use a harness and a plug and whips and chains!?!"

Anyway, back to freaking out around the house.....

Labels: Obama is hot, vision

Unfortunately, many of the fungoers out in West Hollywood did not have the imagination to see that I was Sarah Palin on Halloween night. It could have been all the excessive props (tiara, sash, assault rifle and binoculars for seeing Russia).

I can't believe I am setting my alarm at 6:15am so that I can exercise my right to vote today/tomorrow. I've been batshit antsy about this election. I don't want to miss my chance to do this right so I am going to be one of the first people in line. I've just prepared my voter cheat sheet so I know who and what to vote for. (Fyi, SEIU has a great one as does the League of Women Voters).

So far I've had at least two nightmares about the election. One dream I had last week was about how my friend Mike had to drive us to upstate NY so we could vote and when I got there I kept punching the wrong holes in the card. And when I went to pick up the card out of the puncher it was full of hanging chads (gasp!). The other nightmare was about the "Yes on 8" weirdos having their way with this election. Separation of church and state--- lest we forget!



On election day (Btw, I prefer to call it "Erection Day"-- no reason), from 11am -2pm I will be volunteering 100 feet (or is it yards?) from the polls to clarify voters on "No on 8." There is some really bad information out there. Apparently people think "Yes on 8" means "Yes for Gay Marriage." Also some shady "Yes on 8" proponents have targeted gay folks and confused them that "Yes on 8" means "Yes to gay marriage."

Right now, we're so close in the polls. It's pretty much, a tie. So every vote against Prop 8 is critical.

Argh! I've not done such sincere proposition campaigning in a long long time. I'm used to dressing like a fake billionaire and giving fake interviews. I went to a training on Sunday and it was really moving to see so many people ready to volunteer for equality. It was kind of teary for me to be in a room with so much passion. And it was people from all walks of life-- young and old, gay and straight, white people and people of color. I've been inspired by this election. How much hope and love there is this time around. How it isn't about "Oh no! Not Bush!" but that we've got an amazing candidate in Obama who has really made me rethink how cool and real politicians can be. How I can actually find a hero in a politician.

They told us that our job is not to debate or argue with people, but just to clarify to people what Prop 8 is. They reminded us repeatedly-- "disengage from confrontation"... what a challenge for me.... I so much prefer being a sassy pants. But for the cause, for three hours, I will be on my bestest behavior.

And then tomorrow night, I'm prepared for an Obama victory (it has to happen). I'm headed to an Obama Victory party which will be the greatest "Happy New Year"-esque party in the history of life. I want to be by beer and people and televisions. I want to cry and hold strangers like we've been given a second chance at a great American life.

We're in this place America. We're smack dab in middle of a fork in the road. It's either going to be the end of the worst and the beginning of the change we need so badly. Or it will be yet another chapter in the Red bloody nightmare that's being playing out the last 8 years.

Please vote.

Labels: Obama is hot

My awesome trans friend Riku commented that this has been the gayest week of my life. And more awesome than that, he said that I may have actually "out-gayed" our gay as hell friend D'lo this week.

It really has. I was out campaigning for "No on Prop 8" on Wednesday. It had been a while since I stood out on the street with a sign rallying. And yesterday, I coordinated "Kristina's Lesbian Jamboree." It was a gathering of lesbians and their friends in West Hollywood. It was about getting the married lesbians out of the house. Introducing my lesbian friends to each other. And also building some awareness around "No on Prop 8."

And oddly enough, for a gathering of Lesbians, it was not that dramatic.

I still struggle with pinning my "orientation" down to any one word. And though many speculated that I may have definitely been bi- or bi-curious when I rode my bicycle with the "Dykes on Bikes" at Pride a couple years back, I was still mums about how it is I identify myself.

But I've decided this week to come out of the closet.

Ladies and Germs, I am a loud and proud Gesbian.

I know this may come to a surprise to all of you. Particularly, this may be hard on my family who like my friends, are still trying to figure out what a "Gesbian" is. (I want my family to know that I love them and that I would never do this to hurt them.) I'm sure my family and friends are worried about me-- getting "Gesbian bashed," being discriminated against for being a "Gezzie," and will I have the right to marry another Gesbian? Could I have kids with another Gezzie?

I'm ready for the scorn, the discrimination, the Gesbiphobia. Because this is who I am. And I refuse to be someone else. I've hidden it for so long. But at my core, I'm a GESBIAN.

Last night my two good girlfriends who are partnered and are absolutely meant for each other sent a late night email that they are getting married today at City Hall. I think if they had the choice they would have waited to plan their wedding more at their pace. But right now, they don't know if they will have the choice after November 4. So they are rushing to do this.

I cry now as I re-read their words and the passion behind them.

"those of you who are closest to us know how much we care for and love one another and most of you understand the commitment we continue to make in our "practice" of lifelong love. it is not a magical something that just appears, even when it feels magical. it is the practice of committing and trying and learning that makes our life together strong and lasting. homophobia and heterosexism do not always give us the best options when it comes to this practice.

"we are hoping that in the awful event that proposition 8 passes, our marriage will not be retroactively nullified. and therefore, affording us all the rights and benefits that married couples have in the state of california.

"we would love to share this moment with all of you, so please keep us in your thoughts tomorrow as we marry. please keep us in your thoughts when you vote on Tuesday. the best you can do for us is to vote NO on Proposition 8."

I think it is remarkable....

That they believe in their love this much that they will stand up against the ignorance of homophobia and heterosexism to have that love.

That consenting adults still have to fight for the right to love who they love. And that other entities will spend so much money and energy to stop other consenting adults they do not know from marrying each other.

That their marriage ceremony does not have the luxury of being planned with the time that a straight couple has to plan, and that it still risks being nullified if something as archaic as Prop 8 passes.


I am not getting married anytime soon to neither a man nor a woman. In fact, if you remember, I am married to myself and would love the government to recognize my marriage as a real legal binding contract. And on top of that, I am a pioneer in the fight for Gesbian rights and visibility.

I am working on the "No on 8" campaign because it affects my friends. It's about equality and that's something that we all should be concerned about. I am encouraging you to vote "No on 8" because discrimination should not be written into the constitution. (Leave that shit for reality TV!)

Labels: a shot at love with kristina wong, empowerment, feminist research, i'm kristina wong, Obama is hot, oh my god, sex is unnecessary when you have yarn.

Today I am doing some work on the "No on 8" Campaign. I've not done direct political campaigning work but I feel both a need to speak out against such an awful proposition and also feel involved in this vote. What a freaking backwards ass proposition. I opened the paper last week and some fear freak took a full page ad out with a picture of Jesus on the cross and a quote from Leviticus about how a "man should not lie with a man." And then it's followed with a tagline "Vote Yes on Prop 8" at the bottom.

By the way, Leviticus is really like the Marlon Jackson of the Bible (ie "Wait? Who's is that? Which one of the Jackson 5 was he? Is he still alive?").

I say, if this ad doesn't have Jesus with a straight up speech bubble coming out of his mouth saying, "I died on the cross because I want you to bomb Iraq and discriminate people based on who they choose to love," then I am not convinced that Prop 8 and Jesus are in cahoots.

Here's my CA voter guide.

Vote Obama

YES--- Prop 5, Measure 1A and R

NO-- Props 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11


And if you are in San Francisco

YES-- Prop K

Labels: Obama is hot

I was told to let you know the following by my masters at moveon.org....

Hey,

Want an Obama T-shirt? MoveOn's giving them out if you make a small donation to their young-voter registration program, aimed at registering half a million young voters in swing states. I just got mine, and wanted to share the opportunity with you.

Click this link to get your Obama T-shirt:

http://pol.moveon.org/obamatshirts/index13.html?id=-5172334-XZmO3nx

Thanks!

Labels: Obama is hot

Ok, I know I've been blogging a lot. But now that I feel somewhat less spooked I can write about this. Basically. There's a ghost in this house. This has been confirmed by the Director. It's the grandma of the guy who built this house in 1907. And during some seance they had way back when, she said she was happy with how this house is now being used. And she's friendly. And her presence has been confirmed by the board. I wish she would help me kill these roaches and write the novel. But it's creeping me out a bit. I think this only happened this week with the advent of the roaches takeover which has made me ultra antsy. Though tonight, there was only one tiny roach and a big roach that ran back into the walls when I came in for the kill.

I am not one to "feel" ghosts. But I feel this one. I can't describe it. But I'll be brushing my teeth and it's clear I'm not alone.

I'm beginning to feel like Sarah Winchester.

So I'm on this totally nocturnal schedule. Where in my freakouts, I am wide awake at night staying up with the ghost and the roaches. Doing computer work. And all sorts of weird crap happens. Like frogs inexplicably appear and throw themselves against the window and breathe. Floorboards creek.

So I'm slowly moving back to a regular sleep schedule. Because being up late at night, I know, can bring this out in a person. Delirium. Cabin Fever.

On a bright note. Here are some video blogs I made right before sunset.


Me talking about how much I love Obama kissing babies.



A tour of the Manasota Key.



This is really bad.



If you were wondering how I am progressing with work.



I made this for my friend Double G who says stuff that sounds psychotic if you say it back slower and more breathy.

Labels: crazy, Obama is hot

This is easily the cutest news story this year.


I want this man to be my President! And I want to be his mistress. OH...BAMA!!!!!!

Labels: Obama is hot

So he still hasn't sent me my shirt. There's no denying love at first sight. I'd fist bump that man all night long if he'd let me.

Labels: Obama is hot

So for once, in our somewhat impersonal email relationship, Obama emails me, not to ask me for more money... but to tell me... we are pretty much within reach.

It's sweet. But where is my shirt?

The guy asks me every two days for $25. He flakes out on sending me my shirt and I get no time with him because he's so busy with his "career." Geez Louise Obama! Are you my boyfriend or what? Because you are reminding me of men I've dated!

Good news is... I came pretty close to raising my goal of $100 for Myanmar/ Burma. Between Sunshine, KT's partner Kim, Jinsoo and my $20... we have about $100. Thanks for everyone who has sent money over! Next up, I'm trying to save up a little for China's earthquake relief. This month is a little tricky financially because I'm not touring. Not touring= No income! And even with all the cooking I've been doing, money seems to pour through my fingers.

But I have faith! It will all be ok. I'm writing some grants and taking some time to rest and reconnect to LA.... catching up with paperwork... before I leave again.

It's been a bit quiet over here on Planet Wong. I am working on my "Big Hollywood Showcase" that is my Birthday celebration of sorts. It's at the Comedy Central Showcase.... yes... a big deal! Peep the flyer below. And please come!



Basically, I've been reworking my old showbits into this showcase. It's a pretty nutty so far. Kind of filthy and raunchy. But I guess that's who I am on the inside.

Back to the grind.

Labels: artist life., hollywood wong, i'm kristina wong, Obama is hot, vision

I'm in a cafe in Williamsburg. I will miss it here. Even in all it's hipster obnoxiousness. This has been a fun time. I leave Wednesday.

I just had a meeting with a writer and tech geek who offered to help me re-design that 1999 beacon of bad HTML... www.bigbadchinesemama.com. He feels really ambitious that a new design with better features could bring life back to the project which has just sat in dusty college feminist studies memory. Looking at the site is painful. It's so ugly. It's like looking at old pictures of yourself with bad hair-- literally. I said to him, "Take it! And do with it what you will! I can't stand looking at it"

So I did well in my last show in Flushing. A great big audience of very receptive people. A somewhat intense Q&A (why must these audiences ask such personal questions?!!) that I think I handled with a lot more composure than in the past. And I had enough energy to spare to go to a craft fair in Greenpoint later that day. Crafts!!!

I think I described it best when I said to someone, "After a show, my brain is running on adrenaline, but I have no feeling or energy from the neck down. So I just lie awake in bed for 12 hours staring at what magazines I can prop in front of me."

I am like the boy in the bubble... or something.

I'm sure there were other important things to add to this update. But I can't remember them. I do know that the Salvation Army on Bedford Ave has some pretty damn good books. But I must exercise control.

Oh yeah, here's my last thing I want to mention. I gave money to a politician for the first time! I must really love this man. I sent Obama $30 this morning and he's going to send me a t-shirt!

Check it out...

Labels: art talk, artist life, crafty, new york city, Obama is hot

The motel we're at has a waffle machine that let's us know where we are. The continental breakfast is so funny. There's a gallon of milk in the sink sitting on an inch of ice. Waffles, bread, and squirtable jam and butter. And coffee.

No fruit. No juice.

Hey, it's Texas.

The enchiladas I had today from Tito's were insanely good. And rich. I'm glad the walk from Jumpstart Performance Space to the Motel is long. And I started doing an 8-minute Pilates DVD to keep me fit despite all this touring.

Fitness baby.



Right now I'm watching this special on CNN about how we've been in Iraq for five years now. When it's over, I plan to watch the extras for tonight's episode of Flavor of Love 3 online.

I guess I like my cocktails an equal mix of horror to fluff. "Flurror" I shall call it.

"I'll have a Flurror on the rocks. Well, make that on Iraq."

Today in rehearsal my director was talking about how people are so tired of Bush bashing. I am too. I was like an angry ex-girlfriend, but now, after a lot of time, I'm ready to move on to my new hotter and more hopeful boyfriend Obama. It seemed pretty lame about a year ago to get mad at Bush anymore and high time to just move on with it.

So we started to really look at the show and started hacking away at entire sections. Not because they were "Bush Bashing" sections, but because we wanted to challenge ourselves to find more meaning in the same amount of time. More hope perhaps?

Three years later, this show is still an evolving monster that begs more and more questions.

Have we turned over every rock? Have we tried everything? Have we looked at this story deeply enough?

Because even when you have the answer, there are always more questions. And then, there are always more answers.

Labels: artist life, i'm kristina wong, Obama is hot, road wong

New Crafts
I haven't been knitting much lately if you have figured it out from the blog. It's been nicer on my wrists and now I don't feel like I'm going to have carpal tunnel by age 30. I brought much of my yarn stash up to my parent's house where it's hiding much to their chagrin. I'll knit again, but for now I'm taking a breather. I am making a lot of these felt dolls though. I can stitch a doll up in about 40 minutes while watching TV. They make nice thank you gifts. Here's a stash I made for folks in Miami and at CBS.



I make them out of reclaimed felt and the stuffing is from an old pillow. Yay for green crafts!

Cuckoo's Nest
I am in Santa Barbara tonight staying at the "Faculty Club"-- the campus accommodations. I have a show tomorrow. Yay! What a great way to spend Chinese New Year-- talking about suicide and depression! It's been about four months since I've last done Cuckoo's Nest and I swear it's a lot harder for me now than it was a few months ago. It is beginning to feel like a pair of pants I've outgrown. A lot has to do with the great reality that the depression/mental illness topic doesn't seem as impossibly elusive to me as it first was when I was trying to tackle the show. Also, I've done the show so much that it's sometimes unreal to me. I also don't knit as obsessively as I once did, and my body is changing.

So Nurit and I have been reworking parts of the script, finding more places to tighten and slice.
It's fun when we figure out those moments. It keeps it fresh.


New Show
Even though I swore I wouldn't make any more performance art shows that were a pain in the ass to tour, I've been dreaming up a new show that will be a pain in the ass to tour. I'm working very slowly on a new piece tentatively titled "The Cat Lady" which will be about being a cat lady, pick up artists, dry humping, reality tv, Ross Dress for Less and look at bigger issues of human isolation. I imagine now having newspaper cat sculptures all over the stage that I talk to intimately.

Yeah, not autobiographical or anything.

I'm actually not interested right now in touring it or thinking too big about what I'll do with it. For once, I want to make a show for myself that is not overtly save-the-world-esque, is not aimed at furthering my career, and instead, is really for me and nobody else. I think touring Cuckoo's Nest for my livelihood has turned this "love of theater" into a whole other monster. Artmaking becomes so different when you rely on it to pay the bills.

I want "The Cat Lady" to be my return to what I love about my craft. An exercise in having fun as an artist. Not that Cuckoo's Nest wasn't fun! It was just really stressful to take on such a nutso issue for a show.

I just hope it isn't career suicide to expend energy and time on a piece that may have zero financial returns. If anything, will just cost money to make! But I really don't care tell you the truth. And I have faith that I'll be fine.

I didn't become an artist to be rich. Right?


Barack-- His middle name is Hussein?
Yay Kristina Wong for coming late to the party. I kept reading "Barack Hussein Obama" on blogs and stuff and just assumed that it was just people being racist a-holes-- but YO! That's really his middle name!

I think Super Tuesday really stunned me in how awesome Americans can be. For some reason I just assumed that most of Middle America was racist and ignorant, but maybe not so much if they are voting for Obama.

My boy Barack took Utah? And all sorts of other states where I never thought they'd ever consider a black president! And the whole "Hussein"/ Muslim connection of his name that you'd think would bother the most ignorant of Americans, has obviously not affected his numbers.

It gives me faith again in Americans... maybe we aren't as stupid as we seem!

How great it will be to hear that name "Barack Hussein Obama" when he takes the presidential oath. To see a black man, mixed race, who didn't come from money, a new generation of leadership take the white house.

It really truly will be the America we've been waiting for.

Labels: cat lady, cat pee, crafty, crazy, Obama is hot, sex is unnecessary when you have yarn., the pick up artist

"Mommy, before you became Daddy's mistress and had me, did you vote for him during that historic primary in 2008?"

"You see, Barack Jr. When Mommy was a crazy college lefty in 2000, she decided to register as a Green because she was so mad at the two headed monster that was the American political party system. She never changed her party registration thinking it was a nice gesture to help the Greens in numbers, not realizing that your Daddy would one day be running for President as a Democrat."

"You mean you couldn't vote for Daddy as a registered Green?"

"Nope, the Armenian senior citizens that ran the polling station in West LA wouldn't let her. Even though she pouted and begged."

"What did the polling people say to you when were given a Green Party ballot?"

"They said, 'Wow, you are only the second Green to come in here' and they stared at your Mommy like she was some kind of mythical beast.'"

"So who did you end up voting for Mommy?"

"Well Barack Jr., since it was pretty much a giveaway vote she almost voted for a candidate named 'Mad Max'-- because that sounded like it might be kind of fun... but instead gave the vote to Ralph Nader. And it bothers her to this day."

"So when those primary results showed Nader having six votes in California, does that mean one of those six was you Mommy!?!"

"Yes, much like the Oceanic Six. Your mommy was of the 'Too-Lazy- to- Switch- from- Green- to Independent- and- Gave- my- Vote -Unwillingly- to- Nader Six.' But after that day, she changed her party affiliation to 'Independent' so that it would never happen again."

"Mommy, can you explain health care reform to me?"

"Sorry honey, Mommy has to sing happy birthday to your father Marilyn Monroe to JFK style. Maybe later ok?"

Labels: Obama is hot

Take me big daddy! Take me!!

I've spent the day stalking Obama online. I never remember having a politician crush like this before. He's so dapper, so articulate, so handsome, so humanitarian, with such a warm humor. And the way he stood up after the LA debate with Hilary, and gently held the chair for her.

I just want to crawl into his lap while he whispers "HOPE" in my ear.

Obama's the perfect man!

My girlfriends have been telling me that to find the perfect partner, I need to make a list of what I want and send the list to the universe. And now I know what goes on the list.

Kristina's list: What I want in a partner
1. That he be Barack Obama.



Man, if he get elected, I'm first in line to be his intern!

Oh baby! See you at the poles tomorrow! I mean...polls!

Love, Kristina Obama-Wong

Labels: Obama is hot

Last night at a fancy function in Bel Air for Creative Capital, I heard about an Obama rally for women today at UCLA. And that's what I just came back from.

And admittedly, it didn't sound too appealing when I was first told about. I imagined myself standing out with a sign, screaming into the wind. Political rallies... boring. Right?

Wrong.

I never knew a political rally could be so inspiring. That I could actually find myself looking at a candidate and his wife as role models, as people who could give me the inspiration to live my life with more purpose. The way MLK Jr. or other great leaders have given our lives deeper meaning.

And OPRAH was there!

There's so much I felt being there. I was teary with excitement that this could be my country. That there was such things as politicians who walked their talk, and stood for things I never even imagined were possible.

Obama wasn't there, but his wife was. She's the most amazing orator. I found myself teary just listening to her. Is it LA of me to say, "I wish Michelle Obama was my life coach!"

Anyway, there's so much more to say of this inspiring rally. I think it will be most excellent when Obama becomes our president. He's freaking handsome. And he's brilliant.

That's why I made him my top myspace friend today.

Uh, only bummer is, I can't vote for him Tuesday. I forgot that I am still registered as Green Party (since 2000-- whoops.) Oh well, I urge the rest of you to check the B.O. out and vote for him. He's my new Ghandi.

Labels: Obama is hot