Author: Frank

Music…

Never Had

10 Years (Soundtrack)

Oscar Isaac

and Words

I’ve been gone for.. so long now
Chasing everything that’s new..
I’ve forgotten how I got here
I’ve not forgotten you..

We were just children, with our eyes opened, and
You were all that I could see
You came close enough to know my heart-beat, but
Still not close enough for me..

Lyric excerpts from Genius.com.

I could tell stories of great romances in high school.  There are great tales of great spiritual synchronicity or emotional belonging with a soulmate.  I can recount the extraordinary circumstances by which a young woman and I were thrown together by fate.  Sadly, they’d all be lies.  My time in high school was socially awkward and even attended my own prom stag.

I was ambitious and generally happy in high school; my friends mostly accepted me for who I was.  I remain in contact with many of them.  Naturally, I had great interest in a number of young women but sadly never worked up the courage to approach them romantically.  It may seem uneventful and maybe a little sad, but it’s the truth.  I suspect many stories of high school were precisely like this.

Continue reading “A missed connection with that high school crush” →

Music…

Tubthumping

Tubthumper

Chumbawamba

and Words

Truth is, I thought it mattered
I thought that music mattered
But does it? Bollocks!
Not compared to how people matter

We’ll be singin’
When we’re winnin’
We’ll be singin’

I get knocked down, but I get up again
You’re never gonna keep me down

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

It was early in my career at Microsoft, and I worked on a project in the audio team.  I teamed up with a young intern who would be continuing my project; his name was Dan.  As we continued to meet in order to hand off the existing project, we got along fabulously.  We both had similar wit and complemented each other’s working style.  It was the start of an enduring friendship.

Continue reading “Pissing the night away?” →

Music…

More Than Words

Extreme II: Pornograffiti

Extreme

and Words

Saying I love you
Is not the words I want to hear from you
It’s not that I want to
Not to say, but if you only knew
How easy it would be to show me how you feel

More than words
Is all you have to do to make it real
Then you wouldn’t have to say that you love me
‘Cause I’d already know

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

It is 1991 at the University of Miami.  This is my fifth year to get two bachelor’s degrees, one in computer science and one in engineering.  The school charges the same tuition rate for all full-time students (between twelve and eighteen credits).  In order to maximize my tuition money, I would load up on as many classes as I could.  Therefore, it has been four straight years of seventeen credit semesters; that’s at least five classes.  Then upon finishing classes on Fridays, it is waiting on tables on weekend evenings, that is Friday through Sunday.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

Continue reading “The pure beauty of one quiet moment” →

Music…

Hotel California

Came Traveling

Sam Hui

and Words

On a dark desert highway
Cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas
Rising up through the air

Up ahead in the distance
I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy, and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

It was 1978, and my dad passed away nearly a year before.  I stayed for the remainder of that school year in Puerto Rico, but we moved shortly after finishing that grade.  I barely knew how to speak English; in fact, I failed English when I took it in Catholic school.

Upon my finishing third grade in Puerto Rico, we moved to Florida where my mom enrolled my younger sister and I into a bi-lingual (Spanish and English) classroom.  Before we learned to adapt to living without my father, our mom yanked us from that environment and thrusted us into a new location (country even, though Puerto Rico is a US commonwealth), with a new language, and no childhood friends.

Continue reading “I can check out anytime, but never leave” →

Music…

Endless Summer Nights

Richard Marx

Richard Marx

and Words

Summer came and left without a warning
All at once I looked and you were gone
And now you’re looking back at me
Searching for a way that we can be
Like we were before

Now I’m back to what I knew before you
Somehow the city doesn’t look the same
I’d give my life for one more night
Of having you here to hold me tight, oh, please
Take me there again, whoa-whoa

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

Upon graduating high school, I got a new-for-me car, a 1966 Ford Mustang.  The car was two years older than I and I named her Lisa.  She was painted metallic blue, as have been most of my cars.  Lisa had short bucket seats with running ponies; that option was called ‘Pony interior’.  Under the hood was a 289 V-8.  I loved that car.  While this may sound shallow, Lisa contributed to my identity for those years while I drove her.

Continue reading “She was two years older and my companion for years” →

Music…

Me And My Wine

High ‘N’ Dry

Def Leppard

and Words

Well I’m down in the alley of Sally and I’m feeling my way
And it’s four in the morning, I don’t have a lot I can say
I know I’m looking for some satisfaction
But there ain’t much news
Got some walking from a back reaction
I’m hanging down and loose

Me and the boys have been drinking
Feeling like this is the wrong time for thinking
All I can say is I’m doing fine with just me and my wine

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

Def Leppard filled hours of my time.  I started listening to them in the 80’s before the release of Pyromania.  It started with this album, High ‘N’ Dry.  This was in the age before digital music when we still played cassettes tape.  I played this album enough times to wear it out; that’s right, with this physical media it’ll eventually fail.  The tape will either lose its fidelity or fail in some spectacular fashion.  I truly had this album committed to memory.

Continue reading “Is Def Leppard the world’s unluckiest band?” →

Music…

Pull Me Under

Images and Words

Dream Theater

and Words

Lost in the sky
Clouds roll by and I roll with them
Arrows fly
Seas increase and then fall again

This world is spinning around me
This world is spinning without me
And every day sends future to past
Every breath leaves me one less to my last

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

One of the most distinctive offices in the team belonged to Curtis.  First, the lights barely illuminated anything in this room, if they were turned on at all.  Second, about half a dozen plants thrived at different key locations in this office; it had a jungle-like ambiance.  Additionally, a set of Space Muffins MIDI drums sat on the corner opposite the desk.  Next, within arm’s reach sat a set of over-the-ears headphones and an array of Vic Firth drumsticks.  Finally, a compact stereo played music astonishingly loudly for its size and the music played from CD’s that lined each of the desk’s drawers.

Continue reading “Remembering my mentor” →

Music…

Over the Rainbow

Alone In Iz World

Israel Kamakawiwo’ole

and Words

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
And the dreams that you dream of
Once in a lullaby, oh

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
And the dreams that you dream of
Dreams really do come true-ooh-ooh
Someday I’ll wish upon a star

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

I won’t tell you that I’m well-read.  Truthfully, I’m a notoriously slow reader.  In high school, a friend devoured books and always astonished me.  I handed him a book in the morning, and he’d return it by the afternoon.  It was during this time when I grew fascinated with the masters of words in science fiction and fantasy.  I would jot down lists of books that I may someday get through.  My mind soared with each word I read from the likes of Heinlein, Zelazny, Eddings, Moorcock, or Asprin.  It was during this time when I contemplated the idea of becoming a novelist.

Continue reading “Was engineering the write choice?” →

Music…

Another Day

Images and Words

Dream Theater

and Words

Live another day
Climb a little higher
Find another reason to stay

Ashes in your hands
Mercy in your eyes
If you’re searching for a silent sky

You won’t find it here
Look another way
You won’t find it here
So die another day

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

I was in my mid to late twenties when I was first approached by a friend with an idea.  She had a dear friend who was young and was going through some struggles.  He was twelve and lived with his mom.  She asked if I would consider being his big brother, though it wouldn’t be in an official (sponsored program) capacity.

Honestly, it didn’t really occur to me how much she was entrusting in me, nor did I really think about what I was getting myself into.  I mostly remembered what it was like being a boy that age without a man with whom I might ask questions.  In that sense, my decision was easy.  That’s how I came to meet Lucas.

Continue reading “Find another reason to stay” →

Music…

The Living Years

Living Years

Mike + The Mechanics

and Words

Every generation
Blames the one before
And all of their frustrations
Come beating on your door

I know that I’m a prisoner
To all my Father held so dear
I know that I’m a hostage
To all his hopes and fears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

It was an August morning in 1977 in Puerto Rico, my mom had called home from the hospital and my older sister answered the phone.  My shell-shocked sister repeated my mom’s words verbatim, “Don’t tell the little ones that dad died.”  This is the moment when I first found out my father had passed away.  I was nine years old, and in that instant, my whole world tumbled.

My mom returned to our house shortly after.  She barely exited the car before she collapsed in despair.  Both of my parents were pillars of strength and today all of that flew out the window.  My dad grew up very poor and became an apprentice in a kitchen in Hong Kong.  He was an excellent chef, and he was an unofficial mentor to many.  He was loved by many.

Continue reading “In the absence of my father” →