Music…

The NeverEnding Story

Don’t Suppose

Limahl
and Words

Turn around
Look at what you see
In her face
The mirror of your dreams

Make believe I’m everywhere
Hidden in the lines
Written on the pages
Is the answer to a never ending story
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.


In many times, I’ve told the story about my aspiration to write.  To be completely honest, I can’t tell you if this calling started upon learning English, though chronologically that’s when it happened.  Was it causal or merely correlational?  My early reading expanded my imagination and horizons.  It inspired me in the way that little else did.  Thus, I started awkwardly at first in high school, though I don’t know if there’s any copy of that writing anywhere.

Years later, I kept an online journal in Geocities.  I stopped writing in it, though it is also long gone now.  There are some services that have mirrors of it on their servers, though I can’t imagine why.  The vast majority of personal websites on Geocities were little more than garbage.  If you search hard enough, you’ll find a shadow of that page.

Continue reading “The Origin to my Story”

Music…

Goody Two Shoes

Friend or Foe

Adam Ant
and Words

With your heartbreak open
So much you can’t hide
Put on a little makeup, makeup
Make sure they get your good side, good side

If the words unspoken
Get stuck in your throat
Send a treasure token, token
Write it on a pound note, pound note

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.


I’ve worked in technology for my entire career.  The technology industry often tolerates their employees dressing casually; I exploited that and often wore jeans, shorts, t-shirts, or even occasionally tank tops.  My friends from work mostly dressed the same.  An occasional peep may wear khakis and polo shirt to the office.  Raymond, who attended prep school, grew accustomed to wearing slacks, buttoned shirt, and tie; he continued this tradition at work.

As my (then) girlfriend and I settled into our lives, she received an invitation to a wedding from a friend; it would take place in Youngstown, OH.  She asked if I would consider attending the wedding with her, and I happily accepted.  However, the discussion did not turn to the logistics of arranging our time off or travel plans.  She marveled that I had never seen me really dressed up.  Therefore, she naturally asked if I had proper attire; I confirmed that I owned a suit.  She followed that question by asking about the shoes.

Continue reading “Angst over a pair of shoes”

Music…

Ordinary World

Duran Duran (The Wedding Album)

Duran Duran
and Words

Came in from a rainy Thursday on the avenue
Thought I heard you talking softly
I turned on the lights, the TV, and the radio
Still I can’t escape the ghost of you

What has happened to it all?
Crazy, some’d say
Where is the life that I recognise? (Gone away)

But I won’t cry for yesterday, there’s an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way to the ordinary world
I will learn to survive

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.


On an ordinary day in the mid-1990’s, a number of us shuffle down to the local Chili’s for a meal.  We, a collection of friends and colleagues from Microsoft, take a break from work and drive the short distance down the street to that restaurant.  We conduct this ritual with alarming regularly, nearly becoming our default place for meals.  I ordered my favorite food item from the menu (the Chicken Crispers), and we sit and chat.

Today, we change our routine and elect to walk around the plaza for a bit before returning to work.  Crossroads sits but a few minutes away.  It distinctively hosts a used bookstore, food court, and collection of tables.  Ever the music enthusiast, I wander into the music store immediately next to the Chili’s, by the name of Silver Platters.  This particular location is considerably smaller than their other locations.  As I browse the collection of CD’s neatly laid out in row after row.  And then this song comes on over the speakers.

“Who is this?!”, I exclaimed.

Continue reading “An unexpected find from a familiar face”

Music…

I’m Alive

Sign of Angels

Issa
and Words

There’s a feeling deep inside me
Can’t describe it, but it made me see
That life is stronger than both you and me
Once a fire burned so brightly
But your heat turned our love into sand
Don’t ask me, baby
Why it has to end

I’m alive
Without you
And I’m better off alone
Like a queen on her throne

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.


Shortly after I arrive at Breakfast Club one morning, my friend Kelly turns to me and asks, “Are you okay?”  These days, we meet over Skype, and it’s currently just the two of us in the room.  He wasn’t asking in an ironic or sarcastic way; he asked genuinely.  While I’m touched by the gesture, I’m honestly a little perplexed.  I don’t post about every minutia of my life on social media, and we meet pretty regularly.  I mentally reflected on recent events and came up blank.

As it happens, it was a response to a recent post in this blog, where I wrote a personal experience towards the end of that post.  Those words genuinely expressed how we felt.  That night and that particular moment shattered us.  It remains to this day, one of the most devastating days in memory.  However, scribing these words have a magical healing, much like draining the poison off a snake bite.

Continue reading “Synergistic Negativity”

Music…

Follow Your Heart

Thunder Seven

Triumph
and Words

People say
Don′t ever look behind
Happiness is just a state of mind
Rock and roll lives and breathes in the hearts of the young

So carry on
You’re runnin′ on borrowed time
Tryin’ hard to survive
Keep on runnin’
Your time is comin’
Keep your dreams alive

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.


As I entered my tenth grade English class in high school one morning, I realized that we had a test that completely slipped my mind.  This particular test was a simple vocabulary test.  Our workbook introduced us to a collection of new words and their definition, and for the test we simply needed to scribble down the definition and perhaps use it in a sentence.  Vocabulary lessons like this taught me words like ‘elicit’ and ‘illicit’ that may sound similar but are very different.

While I only needed about five or ten minutes to look over the words carefully preceding the test, I did not and thus I failed that test.  Following my disastrous first year, I changed my trajectory and transitioned to nearly a straight-A student.  Honestly, I didn’t worry about it.  I did the math in my head and understood that this failed test would not affect my grade at all.  It may bring my grade down 1-2%, but I consistently scored in the mid to high 90%.

Continue reading “Someone who believed”

Music…

As I Lay Me Down

Whaler

Sophie B. Hawkins
and Words

It felt like spring time on this February morning

In a courtyard birds were singing your praise
I’m still recalling things you said to make me feel alright
I carried them with me today now

As I lay me down to sleep
This I pray
That you will hold me dear
Though I’m far away
I’ll whisper your name into the sky
And I will wake up happy

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.


In the mid-1990’s, a song captivated my ears.  Truthfully, her voice mesmerized me as much as the words she sang; that voice held a delicate femininity.  When I discovered that Sophie B. Hawkins would come to Seattle on tour, I simply needed to go.  I cast a wide net; I sent mails to many friends asking if any were interested.  These were the days before streaming music services (or really even the internet), so I copied a few sound files to a share and had them sample it.

I got one bite.  A Vietnamese friend who knew her by her music, but not her name agreed to join me.  While he was more familiar with her debut album, we still went and enjoyed the evening.  We also made plans to have dinner that evening, and it was a date, of sorts.  I was delighted to have seen her in concert.

Music…

Gimme Some Lovin’

The Best of the Spencer Davis Group

The Spencer Davis Group
and Words

Hey

Well, my temperature’s rising, and my feet on the floor
Crazy people knocking ’cause they’re wanting some more
Let me in, baby, I don’t know what you got
But you better take it easy, this place is hot

And I’m so glad we made it
So glad we made it
Why won’t you gimme some lovin’
Gimme some lovin’
Gimme some lovin’ every day

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.


As I closed my freshman year in high school, my trajectory steadily declined.  No, I sugarcoat it; I steered my future steadily into impending death, like a Kamikaze pilot.  Many high school friends likely don’t remember me from ninth grade, but that’s because I rarely attended.  My algebra teacher once shamed me with, “Mr. Wong, you’re out of school more often than you’re in school.”  Then everything abruptly changed.

One might easily conclude that this occurred between ninth and tenth grade.  It didn’t; it occurred as I took my final on World History.  Entering the final, I had a failing grade.  Our teacher, Mr. Beasley did one last review session, and I paid attention and aced that final.  For years, I struggled to decipher what motivated me to change.  Mrs. Broadwell, my English and Latin teacher, once asked me point blank as she praised me for the change, and I honestly responded with, “I don’t know.”

Music…

The Metro

Pleasure Victim

Berlin
and Words

I’m alone, sitting with my empty glass
My four walls follow me through my past

I was on a Paris train, I emerged in London rain
And you were waiting there, swimming through apologies

I remember searching for the perfect words
I was hoping you might change your mind
I remember a soldier sleeping next to me
Riding on the Metro

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.


Right as I entered high school, music permeated much of my life.  With the launch of MTV just the year before, music not only had the audio element, but also the visual elements.  At times we would finally visualize our favorite bands and put a face to the voice.  Some artists used video exceptionally, like Duran Duran; they were often accused of using sex to sell their product, though never denied it.  Other artists like AC/DC lazily released concert clips; their efforts a merely checkbox in a list of ‘must do’s’.

The video for the single release of ‘The Metro’ launched Berlin’s success and put them on the map.  Terri Nunn’s vocals anchored the group distinctive sound, a combination of synth-pop that was so popular in the 1980’s.  The video pulls you into journey, nay… an adventure, through the European train (“I was on a Paris train”).  While the song painted a picture of European flair; the video crystalized it with cut-scenes that mimicked and array of cities.  Nunn’s voice had a sliver of an accent, which I assumed to be of German descent.

Music…

Something to Say

Fear

Toad the Wet Sprocket
and Words

He’s got a thing ’bout losin’ control
Carries it a mile just to see how far he’ll go

Brushes up his chops as he tries to fake a smile
A friend indeed, but I need someone to stay a while
Someone to stay a while

You can bend my ear
We will talk all day
Just make sure I’m around when you’ve finally got somethin’ to say

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.


About a year after I started at Microsoft, we welcomed a new developer to the team.  Jim’s office sat across the hall from mine, though initially we didn’t work on the same project.  However, we’d chat out in the open from our respective desks.  On one of those early days, he stood at my door as we chatted and looked upon my corkboard.  He marveled about the commemorative Space Shuttle Challenger license plate I had pinned up there, and asked, “How did you get that?”  I explained that I moved from the Miami area, and it was a gift from a friend upon my departure.

Jim confessed that he moved from Florida as well, and that he watched that very same Space Shuttle Challenger explode on his rearview mirror as he drove.  While we didn’t run in any of the same circles in Florida, having a fellow Floridian made me a bit less homesick.  That may have been the very start of our friendship, over 30 years ago.

Continue reading “Living his truth”

Music…

All Through the Night

She’s So Unusual

Cyndi Lauper
and Words

All through the night
I’ll be awake and I’ll be with you
All through the night
This precious time when time is new

Oh, All through the night today
Knowin’ that we feel the same without sayin’
We have no past, we won’t reach back
Keep with me forward all through the night

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.


I endured high school during the 1980’s and definitely lived the life of a computer geek.  Back then computers were in their infancy, and all anyone really did with them was word processing, gaming, and programming.  I excelled at computer programming, enough to represent my high school in competition.  Eventually, I went to study engineering at the University of Miami.  That said, my existence in high school mostly felt like that of a misfit.  I consistently hovered in the edges of society.

Few popular books (or movies) portray people like me.  That is people who collect trivial knowledge about video games, computers, and RPG.  When we picture protagonists, we don’t see people like me.  Eventually, we get the Ready Player One.  Ernest Cline released the book, his first novel, in 2011.  Honestly, it remained off my radar until the release of the film in 2018.  Though upon the release of the film, I purchased the novel and read it.

Continue reading “Parting ways with Art3mis”