I am very saddened by the events rolled out lately. It's not the first time there are protests over police brutality, but it's been a good while since some violence of this scale rolled out. The city I live in is currently under emergency curfew due to civil unrest. It is not a time to place blame. It is a time to reflect, how we could do things differently, using each of our very limited influence, so there is a future for younger generation.
I just want people to stay inside and be sa
It's been years since the last time I wrote a story (I've written poems in between, however). There was this story fragment that started off with the main character trying to jump off Golden Gate Bridge, but it was never finished. It was very emotionally taxing to say the least, and the amount of research done on suicide eventually lead me to give up. My life experience just wasn't there, and my own emotional state wasn't the best either to carry on such stake.
The story idea has been re
Have you watched a movie so palpable, it feels like you were flipping through a dust-covered photo album? I Am Jonas is like that for me.
This is going to be a heart-tormenting blog entry. As a proper COVID-19 warning, you might want to social distancing yourself from it if you are not emotionally fortified at the moment. I need to get it out though. Stuck in the 9th Hell is too much grinding (yes, I am going to sprinkle comic reliefs throughout the blog). This blog is not going anywhe
What is on your mind when you think of the word "great?"
Which story do you consider a classic?
Who is your most admired person?
Where do you go to get inspired?
When does a moment become experience?
How do you advance a civilization into the golden age?
* * *
This world is endowed with many great things. Some are eminent, some are waiting to be discovered; some will become a memory, some will never extinc
You know what comes with age? Silver highlight on your hair and hard of hearing. Which I am sure are what most people referring to as wisdom and grace. This year, I am turning Four-Zero, and I will become a legend because my sexlessness seems to inspire a movie.
In any case, what also comes with age is the fact you began to see how history repeats itself again and again (ad nauseam). When young folks were only starting to be disgusted by human nature for the first time around, I
Well, some of you guys know I had a job change. Part of my job is to change primary care physicians for people who request them. Today I received a report from a county hospital system, and on that short report, there were two people changed their primary doctor to one that specialized in HIV/AIDS (and that doctor doesn't accept anybody else, so it's not your typical family doctor). I've not even worked for this place for a month, and I already saw three people admitted to the HIV/AIDS depart
This video was quite refreshing after I had just watched the Anderson Cooper multi-part report on how ex-gay therapy ruined someone's life.
Not I am saying Anderson's very professionally done journalism was bad (it is wonderfully executed), but I felt this innocuous, shy boy made a more positive impact in the direction of convincing there is nothing wrong being gay.
The boy is so cute in a nerdy sort of way.
He wasn't even trying to make a crusade. He just wanted to deliver
Okay, it's made with Indian rice and Indian spice (to save time), but it still tastes good. If you want to know how it is made, here is the recipe.
Ingredient:
rice (I used Indian rice, but most long grain rice would do) - 2 cups
chicken broth - 16 oz.
sweet onion - half of a large one, diced
button mushrooms - 5 pieces, sliced
tandoori masala powder - 1 tablespoon
scallion (or green onion) - one piece
shrimps - 5 large ones, cubed
mini Roma tomatoes - about 10, quartered
b
Methodwriter keeps excellent lists of popular songs of yester years in his blogs. If you haven't read them, please do.
They're often good choices that reflect the period those songs were first performed. This list is an addendum to his latest list: The Class of 2005 Playlist- We're Here, We're Alive, We're the Class of '05!
Anyways, here are my additions (mostly alternatives and punks). Most of them are from around 2005 but not all (ones in parenthesis are recommended songs that may fall ou
Unlikely name for a game, Always Sometimes Monsters
When I bought this game, after reading some reviews, I know it's not going to be your typical RPG where you hack and slash through your enemies, loot their gold and possessions, and buy yourself some equipments and pose yourself as the knight in shiny armor. No, this is game where the reality sinks in, and before you know it, you are robbing homeless people of their sandwich, selling fake drug to a stranger girl, and blackmailing the docto
Yesterday was a fruitful day for me. It was a time of reflection (so reflective, I was soaked in my own thought and forgot to bring my tripod... to a night photography session).
Everyone has heard of the saying "pen is mightier than sword." And throughout the history we have witness that effect: how Jane Austen redefined marriage as a function of love (rather than a function of family duty), Charles Dickens showed the uglier side of Industrial Revolution (and none of the revolution fought
I noticed I am on my way to become a gay separatist... (kind of like radical lesbian feminist separatist, except I am not vocal about it and I am not a woman). I don't know why and I don't think it's healthy. This is especially weird because the world is becoming more gay tolerant (than when I grow up).
I wonder if it's because I am getting older and just want to get a BF and hopefully a committed marriage (sorry I am so skeptical nowadays, I have to put that qualifier in), and forget about
It's kind of weird really. I don't know how/why the transition happened, but to me it's like ancient history, because it's so fussy at this point. I recently dig up a story I wrote for an adventure game project (never completed, btw), and it was written in programming language style syntax.... Lots of conditionals and definition declarations. Wow, Ashi was a nerd!!! I mean a full-fledge nerd, not like the half-nerd I am now....
And then I found this story, which is probably the first st
People are afraid to merge on freeways in Los Angeles. This is the first thing I hear when I come back to the city.
And that was how Brett Easton Ellis started his debut novel, Less Than Zero. Bumblebee's recent status update sort of reminds me how a fussy past sometimes can come back at the most inconvenient time. Some of you guys know I am a photographer, so I have a huge amount of photographs in my hard drive, many photos go way back to a time I don't want to remember. And today, whi
When I read, sometimes I have some internal dialogues for various reasons. Today the internal dialogue I had was about how much information is too much information (no, I am not talking about my daily ritual, thank you very much). At which point should I, as a writer, get my hand off.
Whether it was when I was in my business training or when I was writing some programs (yes, Ashi was some sort of a computer nerd long times ago), one of the things I learned in those disciplines was trying to
Today, I had to tell Georgie George had died. I wonder if he understands what that means. Perhaps to him, it just means the ginger cat won't be here to compete with him anymore. A triumphant story of the undercat, or it seems.
Georgie had overseen the death of two cats. One is my own cat. When Georgie came along, my father shifted the affection toward Georgie and my own cat died slowly out of depression (and he just quietly sit on my lap the day before, and finally accepted my affection
(For best experience, please watch each video clip in order it is inserted before moving onto the segment that follows it)
It was September 4, 2012 when I saw him: George Moscone, or the likeness of him, in San Francisco Museum of Art (SFMOMA). The livid color attracted me, and his smile, as if he was alive and happy. I took a look of the inscription that puts him on the pedestal:
Harvey Milk Too
Twinkies
Danny Boy!
Diane Feinstein Becomes Mayor
Without thinking much, I took
It's a wonderful song by Mr. Rogers. Yes, it's a kid's song, but the meaning of it hits me harder as an adult. Don't know how people here remember this remarkable person. If you're too young to remember him, his lessons of life transcend time, so I want to pass his message on.
Please click to see that heart-warming clip on top right corner and sing along if you want.
It's You I Like
My room is a mess. I admit it. Old receipts in Amazon boxes, CDs full of back up data scattered around, all sort of books and research papers, and accumulation of memories from different stages of my life among other things.... I am recovering from the grand trench of growing pain for some while now, but those mementos keep reminding me of such unhappy past, as if they do not want to part with me, in fear I would find happiness. I have been wanting to shake off those who are still pulling my
Olympics Opening Ceremony has become a show case of the host country's cultural heritage to the world. This year, 2012, people of London have the honor to host the event. While I have limited access to the broadcasting of Olympics, I caught a few clips of the opening ceremony, and it is a job well done.
Let's go to the U.S. for a bit to introduce a parallel story of a city I love greatly (don't worry, I'll bring the attention back to London later on).
San Francisco is the fog city of t
It seems to me social grace has slowly become a lost art. A shame really, as I believe that is one of the most attractive features a person can acquire simply by practicing it. It can greatly improve one's aura of presence, as well as a general improvement of one's social function.
What is social grace? thesaurus.com lists it as "good manner." The list of synonyms includes: good breeding, civility, decorum, consideration, courtesy, tact, etc.. Generally speaking, a woman or a man who ca
All of you must have heard of the recent Colorado Shooting thing. The guy randomly shot people to death at a Colorado Theater that was showing Dark Knight Rises, then made a joke that he was a joker when he was arrested.
We've had massacres before, Columbine, Virginia Tech and many others, but this is the first time in many years that the perpetrator of such scale was caught alive. All previous executors of the massacre committed suicide at the end. I suppose lashing out at people wasn't
This is a variation of Lana's Divine Spaghetti Sauce featured on Allrecipes.com. It has my own spin on it. Here is the link to the original recipe:
http://allrecipes.co...uce/detail.aspx
Spaghetti a l'Ashi
Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef 24 IKEA Swedish meatballs
2 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste Instead of those two, use two jars of Bertolli spaghetti sauce, your choice of flavor. Prego works too, but Bertolli is better. If y
