Christmas
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How many among us actually put in that many hours pursuing one thing? Yet studies show it takes that much practice to master a skill or a trade. That long to promote ourselves to the rank of outlier : Bill Gates coding skill, the Beatles smooth performance etc… Today marks my first 10,000 views of…
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I touched on this slightly in another blog. It’s about growing up never knew if my grandparents even smiled at all (I gathered this from the black and white photos in the family album). We are still shackled by the analog world which tells us to stand straight and stare straight into the lenses (36 poses…
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I live next door to a convent and behind a restaurant/bar. The differences are quite obvious: Above and Below. One life style is to focus on the afterlife, the other , this life. For the weeks leading to Christmas, I heard rehearsals and refrains on one end, toasts and talks on the other. Both found an…
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We will hear a lot of ABBA‘s Happy New Year this week. But “the Winner Takes It All” speaks directly to our zeo-sum society. You lose, I win. There are only limited “chips” on the table. Scarcity causes rising values. Hot air also rises. Like New Year’s champagne bubbles. It’s time for a 2012 wrap up.…
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I brave heavy traffic to get to the book store on Nguyen Hue again. Just to find out if Murukami’s 1Q84 part II in Vietnamese was available. It hadn’t. Back and forth for nothing. But the two interwoven stories must have that crisscrossing point, a happy ending. Can’t wait to find out. And that was…
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Since her debut, Skeeter Davis with her hit “The End of the World” has etched in our collective memory. Since then, we have gone through a series of doomsday threats: ICBM‘s, fate of the Earth, hot and Cold War, now Doomsday 2012). In Murakami’s latest 1Q84, our principal female character, who once was a Personal Trainer,…
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A few blogs ago, I wrote about Noel Decoration in Saigon. A few weeks from now, the glitters will have been all gone. Party is over. Then, it’s a long grind. 2013. The quants have already crunchedl year-end data: sunk costs, margin, consumer behavior (irrational at times – hint: sell spirits over the holidays). The monks look on…
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Saigon currently is under a shield of grey. The weary, the worried put on ponchos, just to take them off. False alarm. Oh Come Ye O Faithful blasted out from neighboring homes. Christmas is in the air. but not for those who make a living hand-to-mouth, and there are a lot them. Maybe this year is the year…
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In front of Eden mall, Saigon, Christmas ornaments are on display. People here love to come and take pictures. It’s a tradition. It’s their annual pilgrim, blending East and West (Noel decorationas prelude to Tet’s celebration). Sidewalks still uneven. Tourists still trip over loosed bricks. Yet they keep coming. The other boulevard (Ham Nghi) with Old…
Thang Nguyen 555 