I come from a typical middle class Chinese family. My mother was a nurse, my father was an accountant. Growing up, all that was ever expected of me was to do well in school, get a higher education and find a good, well-paying job. One of those jobs that everyone's heard of, like Teacher, or Doctor, or Lawyer, or (... shudder) Dentist.
So when I started working in the arts, my parents were not only disappointed, they were confused. "Do you make movies?" they asked. "Are you a Director?" No, I said, I present movies at film festivals. I help publicize them, and I organize classes and events that help filmmakers make better films. That kind of stumped them. There was no easy NOC occupation that went with that, no one-word answer that they could take back to their friends. In short, they would rather I be a Dentist*.
When I was in Taiwan, I made things a lot easier for my parents. "She's a Writer," they would brag to their friends, relieved to finally have a name for me. But now that I'm back in Toronto, and have made yet another lateral step across careers (this time into environmental non-profit), I've once again put my parents in the awkward position of trying to figure out exactly what it is that I do. But they're trying....
This is just one of many cute emails I get from my dad, and it kind of made my day:
(Click on this to read it)
(the other super cute thing about my dad and emails is that he always puts the salutatory exclamation point in the wrong spot, like "Hi! Anita,"
... which, when I say it out loud, makes me laugh. A lot.)
I personally LOVE not being a one-word answer. And that's probably precisely the point, I'm happy to do laps around any word, any label, any noun. Happy to indulge this childish instinct to dance around the oppressive thumb trying to pin me down...
I am a living document, dagnammit.
So as for what it is I do....
A lot. I do a lot. Come talk to me about it sometime.
*Who the fuck grows up wanting to be a dentist?? That, to me, just points to an utter lack of imagination...
So when I started working in the arts, my parents were not only disappointed, they were confused. "Do you make movies?" they asked. "Are you a Director?" No, I said, I present movies at film festivals. I help publicize them, and I organize classes and events that help filmmakers make better films. That kind of stumped them. There was no easy NOC occupation that went with that, no one-word answer that they could take back to their friends. In short, they would rather I be a Dentist*.
When I was in Taiwan, I made things a lot easier for my parents. "She's a Writer," they would brag to their friends, relieved to finally have a name for me. But now that I'm back in Toronto, and have made yet another lateral step across careers (this time into environmental non-profit), I've once again put my parents in the awkward position of trying to figure out exactly what it is that I do. But they're trying....
This is just one of many cute emails I get from my dad, and it kind of made my day:
(Click on this to read it)
(the other super cute thing about my dad and emails is that he always puts the salutatory exclamation point in the wrong spot, like "Hi! Anita,"
... which, when I say it out loud, makes me laugh. A lot.)
I personally LOVE not being a one-word answer. And that's probably precisely the point, I'm happy to do laps around any word, any label, any noun. Happy to indulge this childish instinct to dance around the oppressive thumb trying to pin me down...
I am a living document, dagnammit.
So as for what it is I do....
A lot. I do a lot. Come talk to me about it sometime.
*Who the fuck grows up wanting to be a dentist?? That, to me, just points to an utter lack of imagination...
May 2, 2010 at 10:45 a.m.
Dads are great.
I think there is a recycling bin for the glasses in the cinema but they can sometimes be tricky to spot.
May 6, 2010 at 5:38 a.m.
Yeah, I told him about that. I also told him, if he wanted to, he could give them to other 3D moviegoers, but the cheapie mizer in him didn't like the idea of having paid for something and then giving it away for free...