observations, humor, and nonsense
What a year, eh? Holy cannoli, I don’t want to do that again. I’m recapping the 2019 year of blog posts, and looking back through photos from a decade of living abroad. Whoa. January 2019 started off with taking a look at my relationship with money. I’m proud that I posted it, cause, you…
Read More
What a month. What a year. 2019 was a hard working year, and December was no exception. The first half of the month was all about finishing up work, getting our scholarship kids graduated, and wishing the holiday break would hurry up and get here already. But now that I’m in the middle of my…
Read More
This month I’ve decided I’m celebrating 10 years of consistent blogging which coincides with how many years I’ve lived abroad. Technically, I should have made a fuss in late August, but like so many milestones, I forgot. My first post was called Ground Control. I reflect on how often I have to look at the…
Read More
I am left-handed. Although, my younger brother was originally left-handed, he was corrected in grade school. He likes to joke that he’s been robbed of his true self as a result. But since he ended up in the U.S. military, I think that being right-handed served him better. It turns out that being left-handed makes…
Read More
Hello, lovelies! It’s another month of participating in Su’s “The Changing Seasons” photo challenge. Head over to her blog for the details.
Read More
Believe it or not ‘why is it so hard for Asians to love themselves’ was a search term that I found on my blog one morning. I’m usually amused or curious what folks are looking for, and I don’t make it a habit to turn them into blog posts (see exception), but this one piqued…
Read More
Hello again! I’m back for another monthly photo recap hosted by Su at Zimmerbitch. Click on over for the guidelines.
Read More
After July, August felt like I had something to prove. I plowed into teaching and writing projects as if all my New Year’s Resolutions depended on only this month. So, naturally, I got sick. It’s okay, I’ll live… (*flings herself on to the bed face down, and starts howling*)
Read More
Hello all y’all! I’m participating in The Changing Seasons Challenge which is basically a monthly recap that I heard about through Sarah, who got it from Su.
Read More
In 1991 Spike Lee released ‘Jungle Fever’, a movie about an interracial couple. When it came out, it was making the news, but I only remember it because my brother looked at me and said, “What’s the big deal?” I shrugged, “I have no idea.” Fast forward to 2019, he sent me a New York…
Read More
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. ― Plato Darren is doing a 30 songs in 30 days music challenge which he got from clever Sarah, and they inspired me to do it!
Read More
Hey, people who travel with their bed pillow. You look insane. – Jim Gaffigan Is everyone on holiday but me? Even though my vacation is later this month, I’m still burning with jealousy at everyone else’s Instagram feed. I’m convinced everyone’s loaded with unlimited cash – and having a great time. *sobs into monogram handkerchief*
Read More
“What happens when people open their hearts?” “They get better.” ― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood I’ve wanted to start a newsletter for some time (and podcast while I’m at it), but I didn’t know what to share. I’ve also contemplated starting another blog and even to find other sites where I can talk about everyday…
Read More
There’s a debate regarding what education is for: is it to prepare students for work or is it to stimulate the soul? But one of the key components I feel is missing is that we go to school to learn to get along with others. We, then, continue to play nice when we enter the…
Read More
It was my junior or senior year in high school when I fell in love with poetry. I think like a lot of people I had a preconceived idea of what poetry was and I had decided it wasn’t for me. Since English was my first class of the day, I used to put on…
Read More
Okay, okay, maybe domestic goddess is too strong a term, but I do enjoy cooking, keeping a clean house, and staying at home. When it’s cold out, I’ve been known to pick up my crochet needles. I can build a fire to warm up a winter home. I love to bake. (I miss baking! Thai…
Read More
I’m definitely a morning person and by that I mean I’m more productive in the daytime. I used to wake up with the Hawaiian sun shining through my bedroom window. (Doesn’t that sound like something out of a Disney cartoon!) I didn’t own an alarm clock until I moved to the Mainland (or Continental…
Read More
Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home. – Matsuo Basho I’ve done a lot of moving in my life in attempt to discover where I belong. I’ve moved from Portland, Oregon, down to Chico, California, then further still to Oceanside, California. And when we were fed up with the West Coast,…
Read More
It’s been years since I wrote a painful-but-true Valentine’s Day post, so I thought I’d dust off the ‘ol corners of the brain, and pull out the EMBARRASSING MOMENTS file for your stupid holiday pleasure. Enjoy.
Read More
Many years ago, I was chatting with an old college friend and he confided that he always felt like one of the keys to a perfect life was eluding him. “What do you mean?” I said.
Read More
I had a complicated (and unhealthy) relationship with money and like a lot of issues that need examining, this one starts with childhood. At home My mother is obsessed with it. My father was frugal, but beyond that he hasn’t influenced me like my mother because he died when I was very young. I knew…
Read More
Do you have a kitchen? Apparently, that’s not such a strange question to ask. It’s believed that by 2030, kitchens will be either shared or smaller due to more people ordering-in.
Read More
Remember when you were a kid and you’d look up at all the things that adults did and you’d go – WHY? Well, I don’t wonder anymore. // Passing out after work
Read More
Perhaps it is too soon to reflect on the year past, but I’m currently occupying that space between here and there. In other words, I’m getting ready to move from Northern Thailand to Central Thailand. And instead of doing the impatient-dance, I’m diving into deep creative waters (at least as much as I can).
Read More
Some people travel well. They can read while traveling, eat, sleep, watch movies, play games, and even join the mile high club. I’m not one of those people.
Read More
As a Taurus, I’m told I don’t like change. Yet, my life-line so far has been a series of interruptions and situations that have forced me to adapt. After college the longest I’ve ever lived in the same town was for about three years, and that’s not counting the times I moved within the town.…
Read More
I might be procrastinating. Or maybe I’m taking my time! I’m definitely trying to avoid rushing the process because that’s what I did last time, and I regretted it. Also, I’ve run into a few problems. It’s nothing that can’t be solved. I’m not worried. Let me explain.
Read More
I was late to social media. An old high school friend convinced me to get on Facebook because “everyone was doing it”. She excitedly talked about how she reconnected with so many friends from school. Funnily, while I enjoyed high school because I was part of the theatre program, I wasn’t popular, didn’t consider myself…
Read More
I wish I could say that this list came easy for me, but alas it did not. I love this idea though! I got it from Gallantly Gal. You must do it, too. Then post it for the world to see! And no, you may not “balance” it out with a follow up post called…
Read More
“Do you ever have dark thoughts?” My best friend from high school looked at me, paused, and then said, “Yes.” I nodded. That’s all I needed to know.
Read More
“Desirable views have a hint of mystery. We like to understand and enjoy what is happening around us, and to imagine that if we traveled from where we are into the unknown we would meet with pleasant surprises…” – Psychology Today When we first arrived back to Thailand, the skies were muddy and grey. They…
Read More
There’s a Thai word “greng jai” that has always annoyed me. It’s basically used to describe a person who doesn’t want to be an inconvenience to anyone. They don’t want to be a bother, and it’s supposed to be a positive trait. We have this same idea, too, in American culture, but I feel it…
Read More
Sometimes I feel like an anomaly. I’m a 45 year old American Thai-Chinese woman who was born in Hawaii, who has lived on three continents, and who was raised by a Thai immigrant mother and a working class white male. I can’t squeeze into an “ism”. My dress size is small in America, but…
Read More
I remember the first time I used chopsticks. We were at Aiea Chop Suey (HA!); it was my mom, my younger brother, and me. We were not given any silverware, just those horrible off-white plastic set of sticks. “Uh, I said. “How are we supposed to eat this?” My mom was already eating. She laughed.
Read More