In this case, it’s quite symbolic. Kick it all the way up North, where they belong i.e. with the NE liberals, the humanitarian, rhetoric meets reality…Here. Your immigrants. Your heart delights. The political football. Venezuelan. Long ago, it was me. A local church which sponsored a Vietnamese refugee family was using me to motivate them…

The 80’s music if you can recall: Boy George, the Police and Bowie. Concert for Bangladesh (My Sweet Lord) and of course, Eurythmics. Every move you make….I’ll be watching. My niece, in one of the early pictures, stood in the background, while I, foreground. She was watching me and whoever took the photo. We’re never…

Sept 11th’s 21st anniversary. 19 hijackers. Turning Boeings into bombs. 3000 deaths. We’re all shocked to the core. Even today in looking back. How could people be that cruel? How could people be that courageous and selfless (to die for others to live). On that day, on flight (UA-93) we learned all about humanity and…

The book, the movie and the song. Three-legged stool. “Where do I begin…” Love and death, hand in hand. Death in combat and Love during R&R. Cy-clo May (three-wheeled cycles) and cy-clo dap (just plain three-wheeled cycle, manual pedal). The GI’s Loved it. Today, the backpackers. Old French Quarters, New Orleans , Hanoi or Saigon.…

Mark Chapman. The name that forever is associated with “The Jealous guy”. Not sure the song had anything to do with his pulling the trigger to kill John Lennon. The talented and the wannabe. Stardom and starstruck. Takes two to tango e.g. The Fan (De Niro and Wesley Snipes), Play Misty for Me (Clint Eastwood/Jessica…

It depends. You can always make a U turn. As in “Boulevard” the movie starred aptly by Robin Williams (coming out). Or learning a foreign language upon retirement? A bit late (for full fluency). One sure thing: it’s never too late to start a healthier diet https://time.com/6209652/how-to-lower-your-cholesterol-naturally/ We operate on different clocks: internal and external.…

The majority of South Vietnam intellectuals and elites have passed. Been 47 years. If survived at all, their memoirs would be full of selective and misplaced details. Sold at an ethnic bookstore near you e.g. Bolsa or Bellaire (CA or TX). Few, but not many, books were meticulously referenced with footnotes, endnotes etc… I either…

Depends on which search results, one may find between 660,000 to 1 million IDP’s emigrated from North to South VN per 1954 Geneva accords’ Operation Passage to Freedom, which allowed for a 300-days grace period. IDP’s could resettle in the region of their own choosing ( stoke by rumors about a certain slaughtering of Northern…

Wish I were her, pushing that cart, her whole possession for the journey: across the campus, down to University Boulevard and Main St. Weekend hangouts, the Corner Room and the alley (where I used to listen to WXLR soft rock). At the Student Union Building, during Orientation, various student organizations are out to recruit. Then…

By now, a year after Kabul, we come across news about the Taliban and Afghan women left behind. Adventurous folks would dine at one of the ethnic restaurants in multi-ethnic neighbourhood, many of which gentrified. Like the Cuban before them, the Vietnamese and Korean. Out of curiosity or nostalgia. It’s almost as if you could…