Not yet dead (by a thousand cuts). Not yet been jailed (despite multiple lawsuits). And not back down (despite death threats and business shut-down threats). A while ago, I was thinking about female journalists eg. Barbara Walters, etc… who blazed the trail. The ERA struggle back in the ’70s. How women wanted to have it…

At the end of Steven King’s Shawshank Redemption, we find our character laying on his back saying “I’ll be damn!”. His partner in crime had pulled it off. Not a small feat. Papillon’s worthy. One handful of limestone at a time. Sprinkled around in the yard during break times. Unbroken. Maintain one’s sanity and sense…

Before 1968, all I knew of Tet was new clothes and new outlook. It’s been around like clockwork, with foods, festival and fun. Per legends, 1600 BC, wikipedia has this “…Tết, whoever could introduce the most delicious dish for the altar would become the next ruler of the country. While other princes tried to find…

Efficiency, chain of command and hustle. Speed of execution. Climb the ladder. Through smoke. To the top. Only to find out , it’s the wrong building. Or worse, like in 9/11 situation, the building (obviously with hole punched through by an AA flight) collapsed on you and first responders. We hate to admit we were…

Ishiguro always put his fingers on some pulse. First he was known for “The Remains of the Day”. Then went on with “Never Let Me Go”, followed by “Klara and the Sun”. He knows how we feel. Claustrophobic. Hemmed in. By the forces beyond our control e.g. industrialization and digitization. Now with a play adaptation,…

Been dry ! In the desert, riding the horse with no name. Some just let go. Never learned. Never changed. Except on New Years. Then, business as usual. Stores Open and Closed i.e. permanently downsized. However, the longer the wait, the sweeter the result. Like desert bloom. Like maturity and wholeness. Seeing life from both…

On one of the accounts from a Navy man who worked on USS Kirk during the Frequent Wind evacuation at the end of the Vietnam War (recording to be sent to his wife) “they tossed babies from 25 feet in the air, out of Chinooks, and we caught them like basketballs”. Meanwhile, per Newsweek piece,…

We’ve seen it: a hero welcome at the heart of Democracy, a damning report about its former Head, and of course, a massive spending to come. All in one day. Not to mention reduced life expectancy for folks like myself. Everything accelerates: the pace of spending, inflation and interest rates, climate change and no choices…

Around this time of the year, we feel it (joy) in the air, hear the Salvation-Army bell, and see motorists stopping for panhandlers. Very much heart-warming, like in Joyeux Noel (1914 WWI film). Enough for year round. Spin it again. My first memorable Christmas in the alley where I grew up: tables were set out,…

That’s me. I am not writing about someone else. You see, the man who was about to move in across the street has died. I was told. All the frantic buildout, renovating and refashioning. If we were Amish, he and I and the whole village would have chipped in (barn-raise). As it turns out, I…