Simon's Blog

I am on the metro bus heading downtown. There’s a woman on her cell phone. The bus stops. Another passenger enters. He quickly takes out his cell phone. Again, the bus stops; another passenger enters. I count to see how long it takes for this new passenger to check his cell phone. Five, four, three—he already has his cell phone out. Ten people are now on the bus.  All of them are on their phones. Outside the window, a young woman runs to catch the bus. She has high heels, a cell, and a cup of coffee. She must have had practice. She does a pretty good job balancing those items. There is a passenger in front of me wearing a hat with images of cannabis leaves. Every once in a while, he moves his hat to a different angle. Is he seeking attention?  Famous Cards https://simondalexy.com/

There are holly trees everywhere in the Pacific Northwest. They come with many red berries, which are toxic to humans but very important as a food source for birds and other animals. For many years, walking the Seattle neighborhoods, I would take a handful of those red berries and throw them at various objects. Never do I throw them at people. It depends! I throw them at parking signs, trees, mailboxes, etc. I have been doing this for many years. In this silly activity, no one looks my way or says anything. In Seattle, you can get by with doing about anything, and people will casually walk by without saying a single word. I watch as onlookers process, but they never say anything. I am waiting for someone to say, hey man, that looks like fun. It never happens. Famous Cards https://simondalexy.com/

Yesterday, I went to a restaurant downtown. I had a taste for fresh coconut, so I ordered a whole coconut that was on the menu. I ate the soft pulp and drank the sweet juice. The experience took me back to a time when I ate coconuts on the island of Dominica. The feeling of eating it now is completely different, awkward and even strange. It’s entirely strange for me to pay for a coconut when I never had to do it as a kid. Also, the full experience of having to climb the coconut tree, with the struggle of removing the coconut is lost. The entire experience is tied to the climbing, the knocking and picking, and retrieving it from the river or the ocean. Not knowing where it would land or how often the damn thing would just explode before you could retrieve it. That was the fun and the joy of the entire experience.  Without that full experience, I’m not sure I had a coconut. In a very peculiar way, without the climb, the coconut itself feels cheated.   

Bram Stoker was born in Ireland in 1847 and is best known for writing the novel Dracula. Stoker was the third of seven (7) children and was confined to his bed with an unknown illness until he started school at the age of seven (7). After his recovery, he grew up healthy even excelling as an athlete at Trinity College. He was named University Athlete, participating in multiple sports, including rugby.   Stoker worked as a theater critic and wrote several stories as well. In December 1876, he gave a favorable review of Henry Irving's Hamlet at the Theatre Royal in Dublin. Irving invited Stoker for dinner at the Shelbourne Hotel and they later became friends. He became Sir Henry Irving personal assistant and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre. Working for Irving's gave Stoker the opportunity to travel the world. He enjoyed the United States, where Irving was popular. When Irving was invited to the White House this gave Stoker...

This morning, I wanted to get an image about how most people spent their day. I decided to visit several places asking random people, “what is the number one thing you do for leisure? I visited a grocery store and posed that question to a clerk. She said, “If I were truthful, I really enjoy browsing YouTube and BuzzFeed for comedy. It’s what I like to do.” Another person said, “I just want to sleep, play guitar, drink beer, and do art.” My favorite response, “I like playing with other people's pets.”    As I waited for the bus I met a couple of friends. I ask them the same question. With a bit of hesitation, one of them said, “Not a damn thing. No responsibilities. You know what I mean? I just want to chill and do nothing. Don't want to be bothered by anyone or anything.”    We all laughed.      

Being LGBT is problematic everywhere. And Thailand’s history shows that they are no exception. Even in Thai literature, it’s mentioned that there were lesbian relationships between concubines and maids right in the royal palace. We know that Princess Sirorot was involved in a lesbian relationship with Mom Wongthep but Mom Wongthep was already in a relationship with another woman (Lady Hun). There’s another story involving Prince Kraison, King Rama I’s son, in his involvement with two actors Khun Thong ( ขุนทอง )  and Yaem ( แย้ม ). Prince Kraison never tried to cover up this up and spent a tremendous amount of time with these actors, often spending the night. In this Buddhist country, many see LGBT as karmic punishment for previous behaviors and that they deserve compassion rather than blame. Others believe that they should rectify their past life transgressions by making donations to a temple or by being ordained as monks". Also, in many schools’ students ...

I began watching Hotel Del Luna as a curiosity. As I got into the show, I found all the characters likable with the plot and theme fascinating. One of the characters in the show, Jang Man-wol, the Director of the hotel is played by IU and connected to the hotel due to something horrible she had done in the past. There are heavenly women who are constantly trying to guide her along a more forgiving path, but she refuses every opportunity. Man-wol hires Ko Chan-sung as the new manager of the hotel unaware that the women have a plan built in with her new hire. After watching the show for a second time, I wanted to know more about IU. Her real name is Lee Ji-eun and she has always been interested in entertainment. It was during her middle school years when she found a passion for singing and decided to become a singer. In 2007, she got a rare opportunity and signed a contract with LOEN Entertainment. After training for ten months, she made her debut under her stage name (IU), "I and Y...