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While Cream’s White Room was on the air, 2001 A Space Odyssey on the screen, I was sitting at home, on lock-down. It’s Hue 68, and the US Embassy in Saigon was under attack. Across our tiny alley, on tin roof, black-pajamas and rubber sandals chased by police (one of VN famous photos afterwards was…
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I want to say Goodbye. Perhaps Farewell. It’s too much on my plate. Our plate. The virus trend is back up (June 27th, 2020) while it’s not the V-shape economy (I heard that back in 2008) we had expected. Can’t travel to NYC. Can’t travel to Paris or London. You can sit next to me…
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Born to run. Born in the USA. Born to be wild. Born to be Black. We sing and swing, party and celebrate. Music unites us. Sports do too. Then we unite in the face of common enemies e.g. WWII, Nam, Iraq, Afghanistan (Contras in between) as the most integrated US troop. Despite being born –…
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I am angry! Unfortunately, available emoticons are now with masks while covid-19 is still under “diagnostic uncertainty”. Hence this winding rant. Lots of uncertainty and anxiety: will I catch covid-19 if I showed up at the gym? at school? at work (if still holding a job). Anxiety: where do my checks come from after the…
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Facts: In NYC nursing homes, we learned more colored old folks died by covid-19 than white (as of April 22-2020) It would be interesting to overlay that with 9/11’s deaths in NYC just for juxtaposition. Today, we witness “the proverbial tree” shaken with old folks slip quietly into that gentle good-night, covid-19 assisted. We got…
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My youth was largely occupied with his top hit,…”sur le sable mouille”. War-time Vietnam: coffee shop, coffee shop and coffee shop whose attendants would change their AKAI reels with Lobo (side 1), Christophe ( side 2) then others. Followed the 80/20 rule, 80 per cent of the time, the top two ruled. French language languished,…
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Since early age, we were told to fear failure, to avoid it and to hide it. As loathing as it was, I had a few run-ins with it , yet none “failed” to produce positive results. First time I failed was at the entrance exam to a public high-school: limited supply, high demand (three students…
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It’s more than likely that one day I will be rotten than recycled. That I will end up inside an urn while not earning. It’s OK. All spent. No new lease on life. Just joining those gone before me. Unmarked grave and unknown soldier. So far, during covid-19, that number has grown to twice the…
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I woke up by the alarm: my brother called back. He tested negative (for the coronavirus.) Good news! He is my big and only brother. When I started school at age 4, he was 21 – at the School of Pharmacology (he fainted at the sight of blood, hence, no Medical School option!). Growing up…
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“Lean on me, when you’re not strong….” “I love rock and roll”… They are a dying breed as a new breed emerges: COVID-19. All that living. Now all that dying. “We all need somebody to lean on”. My nephew often had his white gloves handy at family funerals, a series of them over the year.…
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Thang Nguyen 555 