Christmas
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Parents prepare gift-wrapping and children get wish list ready for Santa. Suicidal souls worry that this would be their last season, or else they would die by default on Dec 21 or 23 , Mayan calendar apocalypse. What would we like to do in these short weeks? Finish those novels to know their endings? Send an encouraging…
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” I am changing everything” …Like Holden Caulfield, catcher in the Rye. “Oh I don’t want to die..”. The future that I once fret is my current present. “All my sorrows”….were for nothing. They said 90% of our worries didn’t materialize. Yet we keep worrying. Like a plague. Dec 21st or 23rd (Mayan Calendar). Just…
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I saw Clinton’s book on Giving at Goodwill store. The irony did not escape me: its donor must have thought he/she should act upon the idea right away. Christmas might be the season of giving, but not when we are at a stop light, ambushed by the man with the “Help me out” sign. Our…
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We have heard uplifting stories about the human spirits, survivors at seas and in the wilderness. But the other side of the coin is survivor’s guilt. This reaction is just an extension of that loneliness as portrayed in Cast Away. The story goes like this. Three guys survived a crash and found themselves on an…
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Consumer confidence is up. Spending is up. Cards, chocolate and crocodile (over beer). I thought it must be Christmas or Tet all over again. Hunting down a ticket for A House in the Alley took me to two theaters, with the only available seats at 11:20PM. Way pass my bedtime. Oh well, I tried. Supporting Vietnamese…
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This Valentine Day, Vietnam dating scene will be scary! That is, if they picked “House in the Alley” for a date movie. Dan rented a house in District 3, and during the course of trying to find the right film treatment, discovered something about the house in the alley which he had rented (French villa).…
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Plastic or paper? Here or to-go? Before we know it, billions of mindless decisions are made everyday. Taylorism (efficiency down to the smallest detail) has found its way into fast cars and fast food. Even into our every-day use of language: just a sec, ASAP, bs. There is no excuse for snappiness. We have stood by…
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I saw a funeral pouring out onto the sidewalk one day, and on the same block, a wedding the day after. Meanwhile, the street sweeper just went about his business of sweeping, regardless. Even if they could use some industrial-grade sweepers, people prefer man to machine. This solves labor problems. Scavengers make their daily routes by offering…
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When you were young and with others, you wanted to start a revolution. But if you were young, but alone, you might want New Year Resolution e.g. diet, “biggest loser”, learning Spanish, pick up a new skill set. Then when you have been around the block a few times, you still think of New Year…
Thang Nguyen 555 