Month: April 2022

Music…

Happier Than Ever

Happier Than Ever

Billie Eilish

and Words

When I’m away from you
I’m happier than ever
Wish I could explain it better
I wish it wasn’t true

Give me a day or two to think of something clever
To write myself a letter
To tell me what to do, mm-mm

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

I rarely track new music artists these days; I find fewer opportunities to listen to new music as I go on my daily tasks.  When I do listen to music, I generally resort to a poorly fitting playlist that I simply call ‘Good Tunes’.  On a lazy Sunday evening, I turned to some music awards show on television.  I listen somewhat absentmindedly on the background as I continue to type away on my Surface Book.  My keys continued to click loudly on the mechanical keyboard as different artist cycle through the awards and the stage.  Most of them whom I recognize only by name, but others whose name I don’t even register.

Continue reading “Found a gem, the light saber was optional” →

Music…

They Say It’s Gonna Rain

Always Doesn’t Mean Forever

Hazell Dean

and Words

Moo-soo-too-younger-hey-hey
Moo-sala-kooloo-hoh
Moo-soo-too-younger-hey-hey
Moo-sala-kooloo-hoh

They say it’s gonna rain
Blue sky is gonna break
Can you tell why me why
Do good things always have to end?
It seems like yesterday
But it only just begun
Laughing in the sun
I’d hoped you’d be my life long friend

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

As I turned ten, I moved from Puerto Rico to Fort Lauderdale and subsequently spent much of my time expunging the Chinese and Spanish culture from my mind.  No, I’m exaggerating.  I spent no energy intentionally forgetting my culture but certainly did little to retain it.  By the mid 1980’s, I graduated high school.  I made a few great friends with whom I still keep in touch, but truthfully, I fumbled my way through it.  There were no other Cantonese students in my high school, and very few that spoke Spanish.  By the end, I functioned mostly as a native, though average, English speaker with aptitude for mathematics and computers.  I proceeded to study engineering at the University of Miami.

Those months between high school and college were transformational.  For years I took for granted the significance of congregating with people like me.  I sleepwalked through high school, establishing friendships, but not quite finding my people.  In some surreal way, I felt very alone, fully believing there was no one else like me.  Then abruptly, in one night at one party, it all magically appeared.  I found people who looked like me and lived the same experiences.  During that summer, I finally found kinship with other Chinese-Americans.  It felt just short of having a fairy godmother.

Continue reading “A somber remembrance” →

Music…

Never Gonna Give You Up

Whenever You Need Somebody

Rick Astley

and Words

We’re no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do I
A full commitment’s what I’m thinking of
You wouldn’t get this from any other guy

I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling
Gotta make you understand

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

If you’ve spent any amount of time online, you’re likely familiar with the term Rick-rolling.  The classic form of this prank is to simply to link the video into a discussion about something else entirely simply to get someone to click on the video and watch it.  It’s almost like an online version of playing tag.  Getting Rick-rolled is entirely harmless.  I have targeted friends with Rick-rolls and have myself been the target of Rick-rolls.  It all ends with simply the realization that you have indeed been gotten.  Depending on your disposition, you’ll either go on with life or plot revenge.  This post is not a glorified Rick-roll.  The link to the song is front and center, so it’s not as if I’m surreptitiously getting you to click on it.

Continue reading “The Rick-roll and other gags” →