2020

Wow…it’s been 2 years since I’ve updated this. My desire and inspiration to write just hasn’t been there, until now. Here we are, April 27th, 2020. Ya know, by this time we all probably thought we would be in flying cars eating some space junk food and being surrounded by AI robots assisting and playing cards with us or something. HOLY SHIT what happened? Well…an idiotic, lying, narcissistic, sociopath reality tv star WHO STARED DIRECTLY INTO A SOLAR ECLIPSE is President of the United States (Thanks Russia!). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

World War 3 almost happened again, Nipsey Hussle died, Anthony Bourdain died, Kobe died, people ate Tide Pods, Vine died and was replaced by it’s annoying and racist step-brother TikTok, Lebron is a Laker, Seahawks are still reaching in the 1st round Draft, a young black man made a country-rap song that broke records, immigrants were locked in cages, that reality star President got impeached, #MeToo, Patriots Super Bowl blah blah blah, the Astros loved garbage cans, Kaepernick took a knee, a few mass shootings, white supremacists nazis held a bunch of tiki-torches, Australia was on fire, Toni Morrison died, more mass shootings, Karens are popping up everywhere, Facebook is still shithole, Megan Thee Stallion lived up to her name, Doja Cat is a cow, Drake is…well Drake, Keanu killed a lot of people, Game of Thrones ended, Avengers ended, Billie Eilish won a shit ton of Grammy’s, and we were introduced to a baby version of Yoda.

Obviously there’s a bunch of other things that happened, but the past few years seemed like just a blur. An insane, terrifying, roller coaster on acid giant blur. Especially now as we’re going through a worldwide pandemic, days are just mushed together and time doesn’t exist anymore. I’m grateful to be alive and well as i can be, sharing my thoughts with whoever is out there reading this. Just know, that we’ll get through this. There’s no telling when, but we will. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay beautiful.

- N

To The Young Black Girl in '92

Something that’s stayed in my memory since I was a kid that I’ve never really talked about: In 1992, during the Rodney King riots I was at home watching on the news everything that was going down. I was only 6 and I remember vividly what was shown on tv but I was never explained any context as to what or why this was happening, from my those around me nor from the media. 

The following day at school I was in the lunch line, and in front of me was a black girl that I only knew from seeing around recess. I remember so casually tapping her on the shoulder and as she turned around I said, “Look at what you people are doing on tv, destroying everything. You should be sorry.” She had an angry, confused look on her face and turned back around while I, ignorantly went about my day like nothing happened.

As I’ve gotten older, this has been a tiny memory in the back of my mind that stayed with me with much regret and disappointment in my 32 years of life. It’s reminded me how easily influenced, brainwashed and ignorant kids can be simply from their surroundings. How bias media and racist mentalities (such as my father and the Asian-American immigrant community) can have such a huge impact on a young child. How easily internalized racism and anti-blackness can be planted. How ignorant and racist I was and what I could’ve become. And how much we need to make an intelligent and positive impact on future generations.

I think about how she’s doing today. How much she might have been hurt from it. How much it has impacted her life to growing up. To the young black girl from Maple Elementary in Seattle, Happy New Year. I hope you’re doing well. I’m sorry for what I said and I hope you can forgive me.

- Nam 

98118 x Champion Hoodies

Available 11/25 at 1pm here. 
$50 each
*Very limited supply*

Thank you for supporting #SmallBusinessSaturday!

Sizes are back!

A limited number of sizes have restocked in 98118 sweaters. This will be the ONLY restock, so it's your last chance to get one.

Life comes at you fast.

Yo! 

A couple months ago I printed a crewneck sweater for myself, to show pride in the neighborhood I'm from. The 98118. Rainier Valley. The Soufend. It was nothing flashy or over the top. Just a sweatshirt with "98118" printed on the front, varsity style. I wore it out one night and got a ton of compliments from people and was constantly reminded that if i mass produced these, they would definitely cop one. I posted a photo of it and the response was pretty unexpected and overwhelming, assuring me that the demand is high for it. 

So, here we are in December and in about a week, these 98118 and 98144 sweatshirts will be available for sale here on my site. A direct link to the store will be posted Twitter and Instagram, so follow me for updates! I hope everyone who truly wants one is able to get one, because Rainier Valley means so much to so many. 

hey, thanks for stopping by.

Welp. Here it is. My first official website of all my shit (not literally). I'm just glad that I don't have to promote myself with every single social media link again lol. I haven't been blogging/writing much so this will get me back into the groove. Again, thanks for visiting. Stay tuned!

peace,
-N

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