Just in case you can’t get your annual fix from Small Press Expo (link: www.spxpo.com) in September, or can’t make it out to some of the other comic conventions around the country, Smudge Expo offers a smaller, intimate venue still jam-packed with indie comics (over 50 local artists!) and hands-on workshops (design your own characters!). On March 14, Asian Fortune …

By Amanda L. Andrei Typhoon Haiyan (known locally as Yolanda), struck the Philippines on November 8, 2013. Nearly one year later, visiting Tacloban, Leyte, is a surreal experience. What does recovery look like an anniversary later? Considered a transportation and trade hub for the islands of Leyte and Samar, Tacloban is one of the major cities in the Visayas region …

By Amanda L. Andrei It’s hard to resist punning on Kristina Wong’s name – after all, so many of her shows are takes on her Chinese surname: Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Going Green the Wong Way, Wong Street Journal… Covering a vast range of topics (from suicide to environmental living to global poverty), their common thread is the …

By Amanda Andrei In case you haven’t noticed, it’s been David Henry Hwang season in the D.C. metro area. Pinky Swear just pulled off a successful run of Bondage this November, Theater J is staging the regional premiere of Yellow Face this January and February, and the legendary playwright himself delivered an insightful and thought-provoking lecture at the Reston’s CenterStage …

By Amanda L. Andrei     260. That’s the number of food trucks in the D.C. metropolitan area. Enough to put two trucks in every neighborhood of the District. Or enough to start on New Year’s Day and make it through mid-September without ever visiting one twice. Better yet, why not attend one of the many food truck festivals around the …

By Amanda L. Andrei This is the penultimate installment in a series of food tours by our resident foodie, Amanda Andrei. Our next stop will be right here in Washington, DC! Back in high school, seniors used to do the Philly Cheesesteak Challenge. You checked into your first class in the morning. When the right time came to escape, you …

By Amanda L. Andrei Bread. Cake. Noodles. French fries. Tempura. Hoisin sauce. No, these aren’t just banned items on a low-carb diet. These are foods and condiments that often contain gluten, a substance commonly found in wheat and related grains which causes baked goods to be chewy, dough to rise, and unfortunately, serious allergic reactions to some people. An allergy …

By Amanda L. Andrei Fact: New York City is a gastronomic paradise. Whatever your palate or budget, you can find something to eat. Even when narrowing it to only Asian cuisines, the choices are staggering to the point of bewilderment. But if I’m going to spend a weekend in the city, I’m visiting my roots and checking out Filipino food. …

By Amanda L. Andrei “Do you think it was a suicide?” my friend asked. “No.” I gripped my phone tightly at the thought. “No. There’s no way. It must have been a car accident. I spoke to him last Thursday. I told him I would call him back. Or a health problem. It must have been an accident. There’s no …

Immigrant women, including those who are undocumented, will receive enhanced protection against domestic violence under an updated version of the federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which was approved by Congress after a year-long fight and sent to President Obama for his signature on February 28. The Act, originally put into effect in 1994, lapsed in 2012 because of opposition …

By Amanda L. Andrei PEACH POWER! Scurry scurry scurry! Banzai! Banzai! Banzai banzai BANZAI! Such exclamations are only a handful of the delights in Anime Momotaro, a punchy, cartoon-and-kabuki, fantastically sensory adaptation of the traditional Japanese folktale of Momotaro (“Peach Boy”), showing at Imagination Stage in Bethesda, MD until March 10. As the tale goes, an old woman found a giant …