Month: October 2023

Music…

Self Control

Self Control

Laura Branigan

and Words

Oh, the night is my world
City light painted girl
In the day nothing matters
It’s the night time that flatters

In the night, no control
Through the wall something’s breaking
Wearing white as you’re walkin’
Down the street of my soul

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

Logically we understand the day officially starts at 12am, it crosses over, and we increment the date.  However, culturally our day ends when we go to sleep, the day turns over while we can’t observe it.  Even semantically, when we use terms like ‘tonight’ or ‘last night’, we refer to the time until you sleep.

We use the term ‘midday’ to refer to 12pm.  The term ‘midnight’ is a bit of a misnomer; it’s not the midpoint of the night; it is the dividing line between day and night.  While midnight defines the transition from one day to the next, it has a certain continuity.  We are neither Cinderella nor Gremlins, the rules don’t abruptly change when the clock strikes 12am.  Or do they?

Meanwhile those hours between midnight and slumber are magical pockets of time what defy definition.  Is it day or is it night?  Or better yet, neither?

Continue reading “Living among the creatures of the night” →

Music…

One Way Ticket

4 Hits: Eruption

Eruption

and Words

Mmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Oh, oh, oh, oho
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

One way ticket, one way ticket
One way ticket, one way ticket
One way ticket, one way ticket to the blues

Choo, choo, train a-trackin’ down the track
Gotta travel on, ain’t never comin’ back
Ooh, ooh, got a one way ticket to the blues

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

On a particularly hot night in the summer of 1979, my mom, sisters, and I arrive in Hong Kong.  My mom returns after being away for over a decade.  At the age of eleven, it’s my first time in Hong Kong.  We pile into a cab and make our way into the residence of my mom’s long-time friend, yet another friend who we’ll end up calling ‘aunt’.  We’re all collectively jetlagged, exhausted, and cranky.  Upon our arrival, the only thing I ask for before going to sleep is a glass of water.  They pour me a cup of hot water from a thermos; it still emits steam.  It wasn’t the refreshing beverage that I expected.  This should have been my first clue.

In 1979, the British still ran Hong Kong and would continue to do so until 1997.  In many respects, the British westernized Hong Kong compared to the rest of China.  As such, many places understood English.  However, at this stage in my life, my ability to speak English was comparable to Cantonese.  They composed many signs in English as well as Chinese, at least I may recognize words.

Continue reading “A stranger among family” →