How to Stay Healthy and Sane during the Pandemic (Day in the Life Working from Home | Trying to be Productive)

Checking in from the codex club home office. My husband and I set up our work stations in the dining room and are now 2 weeks into quarantine. Here are my tips of how to stay sane and healthy during this time, not because I’m an expert but because these have been working for me and I want to do anything I can to put positivity out there and be helpful at this time. 



Set a routine and keep to it. This has helped me so much, to continue waking up early when I would be working during the week, and have a to-do list that gives me a sense of accomplishment completing (mostly).



Read more! I always say when I have more time I'll read more. Now might be the perfect time to start the free month trial Amazon kindle gives you. So far I've been reading the 'Tao of Twitter', which is pretty engaging and shared a lot that I didn't know.



Exercise. Even if it’s just some planks, mountain climbers and jumping jacks over and over for 5 minutes, get sweaty. It’ll make your mind and body more alert.



Cook healthy food. I’m such a foodie, and enjoy having the time to cook for me and my husband when there’s time. Lately it feels healthier to cook the food I want at home- sausage and eggs in the morning, and fried rice at lunch for example. My neighbors brought over some leftover pork chops which made my day (in the doorway from six feet lol).



Something simple I recommend is having some water with sea salt and lemon in it during the day to keep from being dehydrated.



Filter your news. With the state of things right now it’s so easy to feel overwhelmed, and not all the facts will be correct, potentially because things are always changing. For me, it’s been helpful to mostly stick to the free NYT briefings you can get even without a subscription at this time (it seems pretty vetted).



Binge a favorite show. In the evenings with dinner, I’ve been watching the Mentalist on Amazon Prime, Tiger King on Netflix, and the Mandalorian on Disney+. It gives me again a sense of schedule and something to look forward to at the end of the day.

New Summer Items!

We have almost twice as many products on the site now, ready for your strong start to the upcoming Summer months. I hope you're going to travel, dream, and explore. That's what I want for myself and everyone I know. After a pretty rough winter, it just seems like time to overcompensate and truly soak up the nice weather.

‘But First, Coffee’ ☕️

Maybe I should've buttoned up my cardigan to be more professional today.

Buut... people need to know.

"If you are reading this then this warning is for you. Do you read everything you're supposed to read? Do you think every thing you're supposed to think?



Quit your job. Start a fight. Prove you're alive. If you don't claim your humanity you will become a statistic."



—Tyler Durden ('Fight Club')

This Time Two Years Ago (I Did an Interview)

Around this time two years ago, I did this fun photo shoot and interview with Eliza (Aesthetic Distance) at Hotel Monaco. I'd just moved to Baltimore and thought this lady was so smart and knew everything about the city. Now that Seeds is coming out - I thought I'd re-share some excerpts, below.

You have a really impressive filmography. Can you tell me about how you got into acting?

I was a quieter child, but one thing I really liked to do was sing opera, and that's how I fell into acting. It was the weirdest thing to get hooked into - but maybe because it was so different from me, I thought of it as the ultimate challenge. My father was also really into it and classical music in general, so he would drive me to lessons and it was something we bonded over. The idea of filling up an auditorium with just your voice thrilled me; larger than life. To do opera I also had to take piano (to sight read music) and theater (to feel comfortable on stage). I got an agent around that time in Houston, and did some voiceover work. I became a bit discouraged when I learned your voice doesn't fully mature until your 40's. I don't think it was until I went to New York for college that I got serious about acting. I met my agent there at a birthday party an actor friend brought me to, and I started doing bigger projects. It's still something that's a challenge and an escape for me, and very separate from my real life.

Boyhood was one of the best movies of 2014. What was it like working with Richard Linklater? 

...Watching it, as someone who grew up in Texas during that time, and getting to work with Richard Linklater was awesome. He was very empathetic, and easy to get along with. We had kind of a living script, where if it didn't feel right, you could change what you were saying, and be as truthful to the character as you wanted. I loved that he'd also lived in New York for a bit, and chosen to come to Texas and live on a farm and be around his family and chickens. I respected that he preferred that kind of life rather than be surrounded by industry people and those in the business.

Much has been said about institutional racism and Hollywood casting. How has it affected you as an Asian American actress? 

I get on a rant when it comes to this subject. One of my favorite books is The Hypersexuality of Race: Performing Asian/American Women on Screen and Scene. I heard the author give a talk at NYU back in the day, and found her fascinating. She brought up the famous line from Full Metal Jacket, 'me so horny, me love you long-time', and how it was re-purposed in Lucy Liu's role in Payback, one of Lucy's first roles ever. In it, she says the same line but in a dominatrix outfit, kicking butt... If we can take what we've inherited, and spin it - take power from it and inform the roles and projects we get with our past experiences and make our roles our own- I think things could change faster.

You mentioned that Cruel Intentions is among your favorite movies and in this photo shoot, you're playing the part of Katherine. Do you relate to her character at all? How about her style?

...It seemed like Sarah Michelle Gellar had so much fun playing her, and I always admired how confident, salacious and dark she was. To blend into the last question, I think my favorite roles are those that have had experiences, where the character owns it completely and it empowers them. To a certain extent, I guess I relate to that- without those destructive tendencies. Her style is pretty emblematic of that- love the fitted formal wear and rosaries. It's a lie to say religion doesn't inform who we are, or at least, what we're hiding.

How would you describe your everyday style?

I'm super comfortable with my style. My favorite clothes are my boyfriend's and making them mine... like wearing his huge loud rugby shirt with dark jeans, high heeled boots and a fitted blazer, hair in a high bun. 

Any new projects you're working on right now?

The next thing I have coming out I think is Seeds, a sci-fi film described as Lolita meets The Shining, starring myself and Trevor Long. Owen Long is the director, we shot it in Rhode Island in this really beautiful area. I think it's the perfect blend of romantic and creepy. It was the first script that I started reading late one night and finished in one sitting. I called my agent basically immediately after - it was that good - saying I was interested. The Director of Photography Eu Nah Lee and I worked together when I was back in college, and she has an amazing eye.