Yes, I went to one of the most conservative universities in the nation and no, I don’t know why I chose to go there. But honestly, I don’t think I would have had it any other way…

Anyways, here is an expert of my brilliance from the days of yore:

Accessories are also becoming more stylish. Rhinestones and studded fabric are the latest craze. This is seen with many of the jewel-studded bandanas, belt buckles and jeans, yet another trend bought back from the 1980s.

Wow. That is Pulitzer Prize worthy writing right there.

Wanna read more of this painful article? Click here.

In the Sundance Film Festival hit, American Teen, Academy Award nominated director Nanette Burstein documents the life of five teenagers in Middle America with an honest grit that is a far cry from the trivial nonsense of “The Hills.”

Following the formula from John Hughes’ classic story of teen angst, “The Breakfast Club,” Burstein takes us into the lives of a jock (Colin), a popular girl (Megan), a heartthrob (Mitch), a geek (Jake) and an artsy girl (Hannah).

In a recent interview with the documentary specimens, I sat at a round table with four of the five teens (Hannah couldn’t make it, but I got answers from her later). As they nursed Starbucks lattes and tossed around a novelty “Space Chimps” inflatable beach ball, I wondered why these kids from the small town of Warsaw, Indiana wanted to be a part of this project.

The queen of the Warsaw Community High School: Megan Krizmanich

“I didn’t want to do it at all,” says Megan, who gave Burstein a tour of the town on her initial visit. “I was a little hesitant about having my final year in high school (filmed). But I watched her other films, got to know her and jumped on the bandwagon.”

Ultimately, it was the boredom of their “bubble” town that made them want to have their final year of high school documented on film.

“When something this big comes along, you obviously want to take the opportunity,” says Jake, who now has a crew cut as opposed to his shaggy ‘do in the movie. “This was something exciting.”

The band nerd: Jake Tusing

Unlike the debauchery and drunken romps had on reality shows, Burstein’s documentary brings a grounded vision to the lives of normal teenagers. Each have their own story that prove to be universal. Colin is the basketball golden boy, hounded by his Elvis impersonating dad to get a scholarship. Although Megan is the most popular girl in school, she is anxious to get an acceptance (or rejection) letter from University of Notre Dame University and while doing so, she causes some “mean girl” trouble to pass the time. The charming Mitch crosses social status boundaries and while doing so, he discovers an interesting side to himself. Jake, the awkwardly endearing nerd, just wants to have confidence and a girlfriend. As for Hannah, she just wants to get the hell out of Warsaw.

The ultimate midwest heartthrob: Mitch Reinholt

Now in college, the five teens reflect back on their senior year in high school with a film that Mitch referred to as a “living yearbook.”

“I thought it would be a good experience – something I could show my grand kids,” says Mitch, who is much taller in person and is the epitome of the All-American boy. “The more we got to know Nanette, the more comfortable we were. And the more comfortable we were on camera, the more fun we had.”

As we continued to talk, we digressed. Colin, Jake and I got into a deep discussion about “The Dark Knight,” Megan giggled at the way my southern twang came out when I said “y’all” and Mitch shared his affection for dressing in dinosaur costumes.

After getting on track, I asked them what other role in the film they would’ve liked to embody. Mitch and Megan wouldn’t mind having the free spirit of Hannah and Jake wanted to walk in Colin’s shoes as a popular star athlete. But Colin decided to take a different route.

The basketball star: Colin Clemens (center)

“I would like to be Jake in the sense that I would rather not be noticed,” as Colin says this, he apologizes to Jake, hoping he doesn’t take it the wrong way. “I’ve been in the spotlight because of basketball. It would be nice just to walk around and not have people talk to you all the time.”

Later on that week, I got the privilege of hearing from Hannah with her answer via email.

“Watching the movie, I found that I have at least one thing in common with every other kid in the movie,” says the creative rebel. “I can be a hardass like Megan, a geek like Jake, romantic like Mitch, and sometimes I can be a real jokester, like Colin. The great thing about the movie is (that) everyone can find a little bit of each us inside them.”

The artsy one: Hannah Bailey

The five remain friends to this day and plan on continuing their BFF for years to come – but that doesn’t mean that some of them have regrets about their actions in the movie. The biggest regret is from Mitch in regards to a “techie” way he ended a relationship in the film.

“Text message breakups,” cringes Mitch. “What was I thinking? It was not cool.”

I agree with that. Bad form young Mitch.

Based on this and the film itself, this is not just another teen movie.

I ventured to a club in SF (who’s name I will keep hush-hush to save its dignity) for my sister’s birthday. Right of the bat, the DJ sucked. I don’t drink, so the music has to be really good at a club for me to enjoy myself – that and the company. The company was great, but the music was a big pile of doo doo. Sure, I everyone loves a great remix to “Like a Prayer,” but give me some ass jiggling freak nasty music that I can pop my booty to.

Then there was the crowd. Is it wrong that this club was blatantly the hub for unattractive people that evening? And we just happened to take a wrong turn. I mean, my crowd was the hottest group of people in there – with the exception of me. I was kind of busted so maybe I fit in.

Anyways, I don’t know if times have changed since I was a big ol’ club whore, but there were so many girls who looked like they should be wearing clear heels and turning tricks on a brass pole – but that’s just the beginning. The guys were ultimately the winners of unnecessary clothing that night.

I recently read an article in this month’s Details titled “Are You That Guy?”

And when they say that guy, they are referring to that guy – you know, the one who thinks he’s really cool because he puts his kid in Che Guevara shirts and says stuff like “I need my Starbucks ASAP” whilst wearing his shirt half tucked and a pair of Crocs.

This had to be one of the best pieces ever written in the mag. It basically defined 90 percent of the guys at the club. From the list of “that guy” annoying antics in the article (click the link above to read it), I spotted these while I was at the club:

- Fist bumps
- The phrase, “My Bad” was used
- People outside of the club offering money for a cigarette
- A wardrobe that consists of a “going out shirt” and “fancy” sneakers
- Guys who thought Hayden Panettiere is hot (okay, this may not have been an obvious “that guy” giveaway at the club, but I could picture SO many guys in the club saying this accompanied with a fist bump.)
- I am SURE there were guys in that club who would claim that they didn’t know who Spencer Pratt is
- Guys with half-tucked shirts
- White dudes with a tattoo in Asian lettering
- There was a rampant Bluetooth epidemic

There were a couple of things left off of this list that I would like to add on. Hopefully the Details editor will casually stumble upon this blog and say, “Hey! This guy is good! He needs to be writing for us!”

But here are some things that I saw last night that need to be added on to this “that guy” list:

- Guys who wear sunglasses inside a dark club – or indoors in general
- Guys who wear really ugly fedoras which don’t make them look dapper, but like a Cuban drug lord
- Groups of guy friends that look like a male version of Destiny’s Child, wearing the same thing but in different variations (i.e. boot cut denim, “fashion” sneakers, and vintage fit screenprint tees).
- Guys with huge unnecessary belt buckles, like a skull or something obnoxiously novel
- Guys who wear wife beaters and paper boy caps
- Guys who mouth the words to every single song that the lame DJ plays and makes overly-animated facial expressions whilst doing so

I am sure I am missing some characteristics, but you get the picture in who “that guy” is…

I did have a good time last night because it was a great opportunity to people watch and to witness my cousin’s gal pal almost get into a fight TWICE – once with a dude. She is gangsta.

From here on out, I am approaching these rare club going trips as anthropological studies.

But there was one thing that made this club well worth my time. As the designated driver, I had to drive my sister and brother-in-law home. I was overjoyed when, out of no where, my sister mumbled from the backseat to pull over so that she could throw up. And while doing so, the song “Weak” by SWV was playing.

It was the end to the most eventful evening I had in a while…Happy Birthday sister!

Yunjin Kim! (a.k.a. Sun from Lost)

She is contributing her voice to my “Asian Americans in Entertainment” piece I am working on.

Actually she was a bit late calling me – about 30 minutes late. But that’s okay. I mean, c’mon it’s SUN from LOST! You can’t get mad at her!

So the interview went well and she gave me some great insight on her views concerning Asian Americans in entertainment. If you don’t already know, she lived in New York, went to Korea and became a movie star there and then came back stateside to work on her Hollywood career. That’s pretty much her story in a nutshell.

Of course we chatted about Asian Americans in the world of entertainment, but I just HAD to ask her about Lost.

So I asked how she felt about Sun and Jin’s story. What did she want to happen with their characters? How did she feel about their development? I asked if she could at least give me a hint – but she just gave me one of those optimistic answers of ambiguity:

“I believe in happy endings,” she said. I could tell she was smiling over the phone.

Considering Sun and Jin are two of my favorite characters, I hope that their story does end happy – but her answer can mean many things. There could be a hopeful closure to his death. Jin may not be dead at all. Sun and her child can have a joyful reunion with her husband. Who knows?

Anyways, we were chatting and having a great conversation and towards the end of the interview, I told her, “I don’t know if you remember – but I met you a couple of years ago at the Television Critics Association conference in Pasadena.”

She then said, “I thought your name sounded familiar!”

I had to contain my excitement! A famous person remembered me!!! I mean, how could you not forget someone as obnoxious as me?