Deborah White

above: Deborah (right) outside her apartment with her friend and fellow rocker Miranda Fischer (left).

Friend, almost-birthday buddy (mine’s March 2), and punk-rocker chic Deborah White says she’s based her life around the pursuit of rock-n-roll. She’s the former lead singer for all-girl punk band “Planets,” and currently the bassist for another Austin punk band “The Sexploits.” I also think she looks kind of like the punk version of “Robin Sparkles,” for anyone out there who watches “How I Met Your Mother.” I’m trying to convince her to cover “Let’s go to the Mall” -but a rap version.

Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Deborah White, I play bass in a band called Sexploits, provide guitar/vocals for The Worst, I’ve got a recording project called Vultures going with my boyfriend and I’m starting up another project called Party Milk.

Birthday?
March 1, 1988

Favorite thing to eat and/or drink?
Pizza, beer

Favorite YouTube video?
The Tyra Banks vaseline video will always hold a special place in my heart.

Who or what inspires/influences you?
Performers that no matter how talented or untalented seem to be pouring everything they have into their performance.

What’s your favorite curse word?
Fuck. It’s so versatile. I can fit it into any sentence.

Least favorite word?
I don’t know about a specific word but I really hate when people say “FYI” just FYI.


Your favorite character of all time, real or fictitious?
Dr. Who!

What else would you do if you weren’t doing what you do? (profession or otherwise)
Race car driver or astronaut

What profession would you not like to do?
Retail.

Place you want to travel to?
Europe. And everywhere else, I don’t get out much.

Coolest place you’ve visited?
California, but I haven’t been to the east coast

Any other hobbies or talents?
I can do the best Cher impression. I’m really good at spending money and drinking also.

What turns you on?
Bill Murray

What turns you off?
long walks on the beach

What’s one thing about you that most people probably don’t know about you?
I’m actually a virgin.

Favorite TV show as a kid?
The Simpsons

What would 5-year-old YOU say about you now?
“You never got boobs!”

Favorite thing that happened to you while on tour or at a show?
That’s tough! At the Planets tour kick-off there was an entirely female mosh pit and that pretty much made my life. Also, you just meet so many great people being in a band.

Any thing cool and upcoming to report?
Sexploits is making buttons with pictures of our faces on them to see who’s more popular in the band. Buy all of mine! We also want to get something recorded for y’all this summer.


You can bet your sweet ass I’ll be buying up them buttons. If that doesn’t get you moving, Deb was sport enough to have a cupcake smashed in her face. (It’ll play again, just in case you missed it.)

Devin Usher

Not only does Devin speak French, Spanish, Esperanto, and Gibberish, he’s also the lead singer and a song writer for the Austin band Milk Thistle and is currently working on his own solo project “Two Spirit.” This silky voiced, lover of languages says his upcoming project is inspired by people he’s encountered with a complex gender identity.

And, Devin even wrote me my very own song; on the spot! (See previous post.) Even though he might look serious, he’s a jokester and we manage to have lots of LOLZ.


What to call you and what do you do?
Call me Devin Usher or depending on the temporal context, Verdis Hune or Two Spirit. I…make music and meditate. I guess I’m a little hermit crab recluse that spends his time with himself.

Birthday?
July 13, 1988

Favorite thing to eat and/or drink?
Love some kukicha. As for food, I’m indifferent.

Favorite YouTube video?
Sabrina - Boys; slowed down to half speed (You need to opt in to HTML 5 on YouTube and change the quality to do this. )

Who or what inspires you?
Artists that escape their own personalities or have a certain disadvantage that gives them a unique perspective.



Favorite musician(s)?
Kevin Barnes, Stevie Nicks, Marc Bolan, David Bowie, Françoise Hardy

What’s your favorite curse word?
Pills

least favorite word?
[That’s] Gay

Your favorite character of all time, real or fictitious?
Jeanne Moreau as Catherine

What else would you do if you weren’t doing what you do? (profession or otherwise)
Sex worker until I hated it, then Walmart employee.

What profession would you not like to do?
Day worker

Place you want to travel to?
Japan? Andorra?



Coolest place you’ve visited?
Little places here and there. Mostly hidden quarries in Kansas countryside. Wherever I be the last man on earth.

Any other hobbies or talents?
Kombucha brewing feng shuier

What turns you on?
The exploitation of vulnerability.

What turns you off?
Biting.

What’s one thing about you that most people probably don’t know about you?
I’m a total introvert!

Tell me a story that sticks out in your mind from your childhood.
I used to dance in the dark to Oingo Boingo with my babysitter’s son Joe. One time I accidentally broke his collar bone.

Any thing cool and upcoming to report?
First Two Spirit album recording is September. New character development will ensue.


                       I couldn’t resist the fancy librarian camo. (Sorry Devin, I couldn’t help myself!)

Jedidiah Breeze

I also spent some time catching up with another talented Austin friend, Brandon Means, aka Jedidiah “J” Breezy - an underground urban music artist, producer, and song-writer.



What to call you?
Jedidiah Breeze aka Yung Cutta

Birthday?
Nov 22 1986

Favorite thing to eat and/or drink?
ALMOST ANY & EVERY THING!!! But I must admit, I have a thing for asian food.

Favorite YouTube video?
Team iLuminate America’s Got Talent May 31 2011 

Who or what inspires you?
Life. The fact that we all have the ability to become something if we try.

What’s your favorite word?
“F**k Yeah!!!”

Least favorite word?
“Can’t”

Your favorite person/character of all time, real or fictitious?
My Mom

What else would you do if you weren’t doing what you do?
Civil Engineering. I have a side passion for designing buildings and roads :)

What profession would you not like to do?
Politics!!!

Place you want to travel to?
Dubai, UAE

Creative thinking! Give me a paragraph that uses the same word more than 5 times. (Not a, an, the)
Everything in life takes time. We all often take time for granted, forgetting that some things take more time others. If people could treat time as infinite as it is, we would see that there is enough time for all possibilities.

Any other hobbies or talents?
Pretty much anything with computers / electronics!

What’s one thing about you that most people probably don’t know about you?
I’m scared of heights… shhh, don’t tell anyone!

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
A woodchuck would chuck as much wood as Chuck chucks when chucking wood.

Favorite TV show as a kid?
Power Rangers

What’s your favorite superhero?
Venom

Favorite TV show as an adult?
Family Guy (I guess im still a kid!! lol)

What did you want to be when you grow up?
A rapper :)

Any thing cool and upcoming to report?
Right now I’m finishing up the mixtape tentatively titled “Death of Yung Cutta,” then the album is scheduled to drop Q3-Q4 2012.

Jolie Goodnight

Somehow, lots of interesting people come into my life. From now, until I run out of friends, I thought I’d start a mini project on “My Talented Friends.”

Starting things off with a bang is the glamourous, Jolie Goodnight Musick (Yes, that’s her actual name) in her home, with the things she loves, including her pups. She’s a jazz singer and a burlesque dancer with the Jigglewatts here in Austin, under the moniker, Jolie Ampere.

See the pictures and interview with the fabulous Jolie herself below.

(PS This top photo is probably the most unexpected photo of the bunch, but I really like it. )

What to call you?
Jolie Goodnight, which surprisingly enough is my real name (first and middle!)

Birthday?
May 10th

Favorite thing to eat and/or drink?
I’m quite the foodie, so there are many foods I love to savor. Duck is one of my favorites though so I adore cassoulet made with duck and also the cracklins made out of duck fat.

Favorite YouTube video?
Jessica’s Affirmation is my absolute favorite! We all could use her kind of positivity and ability to recognize our many blessings. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR3rK0kZFkg


What’s one thing about you that most people probably don’t know about you?
I have an addiction to perfume. My collection is vast and ever growing. I can’t go to the mall without smelling anything new that’s been released. I place my bottle of Chanel Mademoiselle in my dressing room when performing, because I consider it a good luck charm!

Who or what inspires you?
My parents have always inspired me. My Daddy was a man who believed in Texas music and who worked hard to get that music to listeners. Without him Austin wouldn’t be the city it is today. My mother is fearless woman capable of doing anything she puts her mind to. She is a singer, songwriter, playwright, painter, artist…you name it. And amongst her many talents she has the ability to be the most caring and angelic person to those around her.

I’m also inspired by great literature, old films, and of course, music.

What’s your favorite curse word?
“Merde”

Least favorite word?
Crusty. It completely disgusts me.


Your favorite character of all time, real or fictitious?
My favorite fictitious character is Madame Bovary, simply for her willingness to dream. She wants her life to be incredibly romantic and does everything in her power to make it so.

My favorite real character, or person I suppose, is Katherine Hepburn. I love her frankness and her unapologetic attitude.

What else would you do if you weren’t doing what you do?
I honestly can’t imagine doing anything else. That’s the problem with being a showbiz person. Once you accept that it’s what you were born to do, the thought of doing anything else is heartbreaking.

That said, if showbiz weren’t an option, I’d love to work in the fashion industry perhaps as a designer. Or as a trend predictor, I’m really great at knowing what is the next thing.

What profession would you not like to do?
I wouldn’t want to be a high school teacher. I earned a degree in French because I was terrified of accepting the idea that I was born to perform. I figured I could be a French teacher. When the time came to apply for jobs I procrastinated, because I knew it was exactly what I didn’t want to be doing. I loved being a dance teacher and I love teaching burlesque, but that’s a completely different thing.


Any other hobbies or talents?
The problem with hobbies and me is that I can’t have a hobby without turning it into a career. Therefore it’s no longer a hobby. However I used to be a florist, and I still love the art of arranging flowers even though I no longer do it for a living. Also, I can juggle ice cream after working at Amy’s Ice Creams as a teenager.

What turns you on?
My husband, Catherine D’Lish, the texture of silk, muted horns in jazz, perfume, and crows feet and salt and pepper hair on really good-looking men. I look forward to the day when my handsome husband gets a little grey in his hair!

What turns you off?
Anger, drama created by bored people, gossip.

Any thing cool and upcoming to report?
Yes! I have so many things on the horizon! This fall my debut album will be released. It’s filled with some of my favorite jazz standards as well as some old dirty blues tunes, produced by my brother, Gabe Rhodes.

Also, I am starting an amazing project with my dear friend, the very talented jazz singer, Mandy Lauderdale. I can’t tell you more than that though! You’ll have to wait for our official announcement!

You can see more of Jolie and her work on her website: joliegoodnight.com

Took me a bit, but I finally got a chance to put together and reflect on all my favorite moments from last year. I’d like to say, it’s because I’m extra reflective. (Some sort of weird word play-pun semi-intended.) Some things I’ve learned, some things I remember, and some things to work on for the rest of 2012, assuming the world doesn’t end sooner.

No. 1 - Baby Sister’s Prom

Last year, my youngest sister Patricia was a senior in High school and starting making the transition into adulthood. I don’t get a chance to go visit very often, but I was happy that I was able to make it home for her prom weekend. Despite being a so-called “adult,” her room remains unchanged. It’s ok, I don’t like cleaning my room either.

There’s more pictures on my original post here.

No. 2 - Elvis’s Birthday

Growing up, the Oldies were all we listened to; my mom was an especially huge fan of Elvis. It was fun to go see this Elvis Impersonator, Donnie Roberts aka “Texas Elvis,” perform at a local restaurant. It was packed and the people were going nuts. So many people told me their personal Elvis stories, my favorite being, that one woman, who came with her mom, told me that her mom loved Elvis more than she did her kids. And the mom totally admitted it.

The lady in the picture, I only know as “Teddy.” I’m not sure, but I think Teddy may have had Alzheimer’s or possibly some form of dementia. She was so happy to come up and dance with Elvis. At this moment in the photograph, she gave him a hug, looked up at him sweetly, and said in the cutest, high pitched voice ever, “I LOVE you”. Then a moment later walked away throwing her hands up. It was very memorable.

No. 3 - Seeing a Wrongly Convicted Man Get Out of Prison

Johnnie Pinchback, 28th exoneree in Dallas County, had just been released from prison after 27 years serving for a crime he didn’t commit. A very nice man, he was like most of the men I met, very humble and gracious, yet still very hardened from his life in prison. This was taken about 24 hours after his release; He was at church with his family and friends and he was so filled with emotion that he started to cry.

Dallas County has the highest number of exonerations in the country. Which is great that they’re getting people out, but not because they shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

I’m definitely planning on trying to follow up with some of these guys this year.

See more photos from this story here.

No. 4 - Getting Someone to Sit on a 12-Foot Jackalope

This was for an assignment for The University of Texas’s Liberal Arts School bi-annual publication, Life & Letters for a story on writer Don Graham, who writes about Texas. He was such a sport. Sitting atop a giant fiberglass Jackalope at a bar early in the morning is a lot harder than you’d think. A few weeks later, the art director over at Em Dash said she set him up for a different shoot, and he was still talking about our shoot.

Glad I could make it memorable for you, Don.

No. 5 - Meeting My Dad’s Family in Malaysia

Being the oldest of my generation to carry the Lim last name, it was a big honor to finally get to meet my dad’s side of the family and to get to see the place he grew up. They live all over the world. I don’t think this is necessarily the best photograph in the world, but I thought it was a nice tender moment. My two aunts were putting my cousin to sleep. I thought it was especially nice, because my Aunt is quite well off and usually has a nanny who often takes care of her grandson and other household chores. Except cooking. My Aunt is an amazing cook.

It was a great experience and I talk about it in more detail here.

No. 6 - Visiting the Scottish Highlands

As part of my trip to discover my dad’s family, I stopped in Scotland first to visit my cousin, who was graduating from school there, so I got to spend a few weeks there being a tourist. (Admittedly, it was a hoot seeing him and a dozens of other Asians dressed in kilts for their graduation garb!) We jumped onto a tour, with an awesome tour guide, and all I can say about the place is “wow.”

MORE Scottish Highlands here.

No. 7 - ROBOTS! (and kids)

Growing up, I would have loved to build robots, but I went to what all the kids called the “ghetto” schools. Since I was a nerd, and not up-to-date with the lingo of the time, I just assumed it meant cool. A kids’ robot building competition is so awesome. At least I can say I met our future bosses when they were wee-uns.

MORE from this project here

No. 8 - Starting a Garden (then watching it die in the heat)

*Sniffle* I had this huge elaborate garden my friends and I built, built out of re-used materials. Over 20 different kinds of plants. But the 62 days of 100+ degree weather just about killed most of it. This was in its baby stage, before the heat. But I won’t give up. I’ll live to grow another day.

No. 9 - Combating the Heat with Water (Balloons)

This is my favorite set of them all - my friend Yaneli. She was deathly terrified of having things thrown at her head. She thought it’d help her get over her phobia, but I’m not sure if it worked. I still can’t help but laugh every time I see her pictures.

MORE from this project here

No. 10 - Flying Panda

During the South by Southwest Festival or “South By” as people here like to call it, lots of craziness happens. I managed to get to see the hot new kids, Odd Future, and it was INSANE. People got rowdy. And for some reason, I decided to wear a dress that day too (which I almost never do.) At the fear of getting crushed against the stage, I stood atop the rafter of the side of the stage and held on. I got lots of bruises, but luckily I didn’t get sucked under the stage (a hand grabbed my ankle!) and got this shot that I thought was fun.


Lots more madness to be had in the rest of 2012, so stay tuned.

Less than three,
S.Lim

Kudat, Sabah
East Malaysia

It’s taken me nearly 6 months to finally put something together, but I’ve been working on restoring some old family photos and thought it’s hi-time I wrote about my trip to meet my dad’s family. This is a personal post, with some snapshots, and I’m not good at writing about personal stuff, even if I am good at making jokes about it.

Growing up the first born in a 1.5 generation family, with one American born parent and one foreign born parent, I’d always felt not quite Asian enough, not quite American enough growing up. I was after all, the only kid with a bologna and Kraft cheese sandwich and a Capri Sun with a bag of shrimp chips and sour preserved plums in my lunchbox.

At home, friends and I joke about my Chinese-ness, yet being in Asia, one of my Uncles always referred to me as the “European girl.” What a funny dynamic.

“Back in the old country…”, as he always says, my dad was an avid hobby photographer. He even has a bag of old photos he’d taken in the years leading up to when he left home for the US at 17-years-old. Some of the photos he’d taken are above, including a self-portrait (top left). He’s embarrassed by them, so it took us years to discover them, then a few more for him to finally share their stories with us. He never did liked talking about himself.

My dad and his 11 siblings (above) all grew up in this one big room (below) that is above the family store.

It’s now been converted into a stock room. This room’s been expanded, and they all actually lived in half this space. My grandfather was orphaned during WWII and migrated down from China to Malaysia by working on a ship. The ship captain thought he was too small for manual labor, but since he had some schooling, he decided to allow him to do the bookkeeping for the ship. He started his business with my grandmother (naming the store after her) originally selling gold and fixing watches. My grandfather expanded the business as he saw different needs grow in the town, selling just about everything, from housewares to food. My grandfather died very young, and my grandmother took over the business, running it with her oldest sons.





This is where they’re buried in Kudat.


They still sell jewelry and my dad’s older brother, Alex and his wife Grace, still run the business. Hard work seems to run in the family. They both work really hard and spend about 80+ hours a week running the store.

This is my Aunt Grace in her garden. Lychees on the left and a fruit called “Chico”on the right.

Old friends of my grandfather and family.

This man everyone refers to as “The Tall man.” He spoke very broken English, but was happy to talk my ear off and was a very good host to show me around the small town. And he was, very tall.

Some random snapshots from around the town:



At the Buddhist temple and the town clock tower. They were the sights to see in the town.





Fish Market my grandmother walked to daily while she was well into her 80s.



The tip of Borneo. It was too dangerously windy to go out any further, but damn, it was beautiful.



My Uncle at the Tip of Borneo. And a pool next to the ocean that I found ironically funny somehow. You’re at the ocean, yet want to swim in a pool. I was told I couldn’t go swimming in the ocean, unless I was an Olympic swimmer, because I was told I would drown. Or get stung by a jelly fish. So I guess a pool next to the ocean is vicariously the next best thing.

Although my dad has only had a handful of chances to go back, I felt really fortunate to have seen the place that my dad has such fond memories of.