After we watched an episode of The Twilight Zone, my friend turned to me and said, “Television used to be quite smart. What happened?”
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Poetry and jazz
When my friend Sandra offered poetry classes, I was eager to join because: a) She’s a wonderful poet, b) I’ve been enamored with poetry since high school and c) I knew it would be good for me.
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Who do you write for? (an audience or you?)
I recently read a post called, What Baking Taught Me about Writing and the analogy was quite sweet and satisfying until I got to the last bite: Learn to Please Your Audience. What?
Read MoreWhen I started to read and write (part 2)
I’m thankful I grew up in a household where reading took place. My mom didn’t read bedtime stories to Larry and me though. We didn’t grow up with a house filled with children’s picture books or visit the library together or anything like that. Any picture book we acquired was from my grandma who gave…
Read MoreWhen I started to read and write (part 1)
I started to write when I was about 14 years old. And it started with that audacious moment, when I put down a book I was reading and said to myself, “I can do this. I can write a book.”
Read MoreWhy I write
4/17/07 Why I Write To avoid therapy To create my own reality To dream big dreams To emote, laugh, cry To self reflect Because I believe in the powers of words To express what I’ve learned Because I can’t draw *** Why do you write?
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The art of note passing
Memoirs’ bad reputation (and breaking in).
I wonder if memoirs are like crying babies, unless it’s yours, you don’t want to hear it… Ever since I decided I want to be a big recognized writer, I have stumbled upon the misfortune that falls upon memoirs. I’ve learned that memoirists are by far the greatest types of writers at conferences trying to…
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The day I stopped wanting to be Thai
The day I stopped wanting to be Thai happened in the winter of 2012. I just wanted to go to Sukhothai. I just wanted to go to Sukhothai. I just wanted to go to Sukhothai.
Read More💞 The day poetry saved me from myself (and why I love pillows).
I didn’t want to ask for man-help because I couldn’t figure out how to put the ink cartridge in my new printer. But that was just the beginning of a day of little disasters, and by disasters I mean doing nothing right, and basically feeling like a stupid fool.
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Hair (not the musical)
When I first heard Lady Gaga’s Hair, I thought it was brilliant because women strongly identify with their hair. All you have to do is watch any America’s Next Top Model makeover episode and you’ll see terribly attractive ingénues weeping for pity’s sake over their cherished locks being cut.
Read MoreGoodbye 2011…thank you for writing
It’s the end of the year (again) so you know what that means! Well, I don’t know what it means for you but for me it is a time of introspection. I go back and read my journals and see where I was at and what I was doing when the new year started.
Read MoreChristmas in Chiang Mai
at 3 Kings Monument, merry go round! just your average snowman in Chiang Mai… ice skating??? i wish! some sort of weird plastic surface…but nice winter touch in thailand!
Read MoreWhy do (expat) bloggers blog?
Expat bloggers: self indulgent or service-oriented people? It has come to my attention recently that some folks see writing as an act of self-indulgence. I am feeding myself chocolate. Yes. I am now rubbing the chocolate all over my body and it is melting because of my body heat. Yes. I am recording myself and…
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Celebrating similarities
Celebrating diversity similarities Post TEDxDoiSuthep, my friends and I were discussing the overused bumper sticker of a phrase: Celebrate Diversity. And then it was brought up, Why don’t we celebrate similarities? Afterall, the news already does a nausating job of pointing out cultural differences and all the valid reasons why we have wars and conflicts.…
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Men are insensitive bastards
Can you be friends with an ex?
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Half Thai, lôok krêung, ลูกครึ่ง
I am half Thai, lôok krêung, ลูกครึ่ง and I suspect there are many of us half-breeds running around. It’s a noncount noun thing. To the western mind this term is considered almost insulting, to the other half it’s considered insulting, almost. To my mind, it’s a curious splinter dividing my dance card with identity.
Read MoreMeet the cats
romeo & pippin
Read MoreGoin’ native

Ode to influences
It seems appropriate to follow my first Wordless Wednesday post with the important influences of my life. I had originally shelved this post, thinking of archiving it in my scribbles folder but now I think the time is right to post it. Two of my fellow Thailand bloggers wrote about books that have influenced them…
Read MoreThailand is a poem
It’s the sound of motorbike engines.Broken glass, barbed wire fences and roosterville roosterstinkling wind chimes and jackhammer constructionsIt’s the canvas where the straight line is free to roam.a whiff of colorful without being overwhelming or too powerfulthe smell of love, sex, tourists and something bad rotting in the heatIt’s resistance, resilience and relaxed.A tonal Technicolor…
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💞 Me love you long time (Thai women vs White women)
Why do white guys like Asian women?
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Who am i?
Being back in Thailand means a lot of things. It means I’m eating amazing food again and seeing my friends that I missed when I was in Ecuador, and now missing my friends who are in Ecuador. It means putting Spanish on the shelf and taking down pasa Thai, dusting it off and playing with…
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How to heal a broken heart (or my welcome back to Thailand)
First of all, be thankful you have a heart because your ex certainly hasn’t… Secondly, do something you’ll really regret like cut off all of your hair, beg him to have you back, or write on your FB wall: My ex’s new girlfriend reads my blog. Is that weird or what? Or on his wall:…
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Ladies, we’re all beautiful. Now, quit comparing.
I used to hate the way I looked. Ug. If I was a guy, I’d be in bliss since there are so many beautiful women in Thailand. Thankfully, I read something a long time ago that comforts me. It’s from Marianne Williamson, “There’s room for all of us to be beautiful.” A Return to Love…
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Oh, don’t be such a pad thai
As an Asian woman I’m pretty much expected to be a good cook, kind of like how Asian men are suppose to be a mathematical geek or Bruce Lee. I loathe the stereotype and relish it at the same time. The kitchen was my mother’s domain. And while I should have followed, could have followed,…
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Phases of an expat
I listen and watch expats, fellow friends describe how they feel – the phases they are going through and I think, “I wonder if I’ll ever feel that way.” Sometimes I think, “How sad, I’ll never go through that.” And then I go through it and realize I’m not that special and I was wrong.
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An Expat in Gratitude
The flavor of gratitude tastes stronger here. And I savor every bite of kindness. At first I thought when you pull yourself out of your passport country and decide to live abroad that you’d experience life differently. I couldn’t imagine how you wouldn’t. But then I realized, it doesn’t matter where you put people or…
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A fist full of chickens
I was living at an adventure camp in Colorado where for a few years the owners experimented with raising farm animals. A counselor was on dinner duty and I tagged along. We fed the pigs with the kitchen slop and now were entering the shadowy cage of the chicken coop. Like a coward I followed…
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How men are the most stupid
Men can be stupid in many ways, but this, I believe, is the most stupid.
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