video killed the radio star. finally, all of my hard work has paid off. i've become the stuff of every kids' dreams. i've become immortalized as a video game character. okay fine, it's not actually me but it's based on me. here's me, and here's virtual me. notice the mole? yup, that's mine. they even got the mole by my right eye (here). i bet this is how cindy crawford feels.

a while ago, when i still worked at the video game company, i was asked if i was authentically chinese. yes sir i am. so i was asked to stand for some reference photos. i was to be the skin of the chinese player for our upcoming ping pong game. now understand, ping pong may be tennis-lite to america but in china it is a revered sport. so i was basically being asked to represent my countrymen in one of the most (if not the most) defining sports of my people. the only way this could have been more authentic would have been if i was asked to star in a badmington game.

and since ping pong is such an asian game, you know they're going to make the chinese player awesome to play. note that i told them we needed to make sure that you could play holding the paddle both the american way and the superior chinese way. i'm true to my roots.

anyway, they took some photos, then promptly sent me back to my video testing cave. the actual game got delayed time and time again. i figured it would never see the light of day. then janelle told me that the game was coming out this tuesday. and she sent me these screenshots. they not only used my skin but apparently some of my features for the character (those are unmistakably my eyebrows for sure)! i thought it would just be a little bit of reference for the character's skin tone but look, it's practically me digitized. (ok i'm going a little too far, but i have to enjoy this while i can). i object to the weird cranium size virtual jon seems to possess, but who cares really. they also said they might try to stick in my tattoos (or maybe just one) in the game. maybe it's an unlockable. my mom would be so proud.

now i'm wondering what the character's name is. how cool would it be if it was "yang." someone go buy this game (and a xbox 360) so i can check out if i'm a ping pong king or what. wow this is monumental. i'm so going places in my life. somehow, miraculously, i've pretty much achieved all that i dared dream to get out of life. i played video games for a living, i'm in a video game, i've written a book, what else is there really? maybe tomorrow i'll grow to six feet tall and be able to dunk. the sky is my limit now.