I came upon this band about 4 years ago, and I’m glad to say that I’ve finally bought their album. It took one vulnerable night of studying for finals, and within a matter of hours, I’ve spent at least $20 on Itunes. Luckilly, this turned out to be a pretty good buy. Their music is very “mod” and posh, with a slight 80s vintage undertone. This particular track has a lot of repetitive parts, but I think it works. God, I love European bands.
The Sound of Silence
Billboard I saw that very same Friday. Pure salt on fresh open wound.
After months of brewing anticipation, I woke up on Friday August 14th, to this coversation over the phone:
“Hey, so do you have any plans for the rest of the day then?
“Oh right, we’re going to brunch and then you’re coming over to get ready for the concert right?
“Ummmm, it’s cancelled, you didn’t see the email?
I was so heartbroken after the news, I never even got a chance to blog about it. This was the concert that I’d been ticking off the calender days for. It was the sole inspiration for me to wake up and haul my dead weight to class everyday–well, not really, but I’m choosing to stick by that melodramatic thought for now. Anyway, my two amigas and I decided to make the most of our day. We had a scrumptious, wait scratch that, we had a “hungry-man sized” breakfast that would’ve fed an entire Ethiopian village. After that, we explored the rest of Hillcrest by foot, and found a cute little 80s clothing boutique. As the bells on the front door jangled, I felt my heart plummet back into my stomach again. Of all the songs that they could’ve played that day in the store, it had to be a Depeche Mode one. In fact, it was the entire album on repeat. My misery was so overwhelming I didn’t even have the chance to silence myself before the words: “Oh my god, they had to play this song” escaped from my lips. At that, one of the saleslady smirked and asked: “Oh, you’re not going tonight?” I was confused for a second, before I realized that I would have to be the bearer of bad news, because this poor woman was probably working at the store all morning in her delusional state of happiness. It was a good thing too, because apparently she had bought the tickets from a rather shady source, and was frantically trying to reach this “source” to get her money back. *Good deed for the day 
So, I didn’t get to see them a second time. Maybe next time….maybe.
Too bad they weren't put to use 
Sunday Throwback: “Clubbed to Death” by Rob Dougan
Perfect music to drive in the rain with.
“Die you winged fiends…”
ground zero of our kitchen extended into the dining area
Those were the words I’d carefully written across the recycled salsa container which bore the packets of mothballs. It was as if I were casting a wishful spell on the plastic cup to ensure it’s efficacy. If only moths could read…
It’s been close to a month since our last moth infestation in the apartment, and my worst fears are confirmed: they’re back…and getting it on apparently! I discovered the nasty resurgence yesterday as I opened the kitchen cupboard to find two moths comfortably reposed along the wooden shelf. Being the squeamish person that I am, I couldn’t help but let out a tiny yelp before I annihilated the nasty buggers with a wad of paper towel. Bounty should really include “great for killing bugs” in their slogan. I really hope it was just a pair of lost stragglers, and not the spawn of the previous lot we had to deal with.
The problem started in late spring when the weather was starting to get warmer. Someone probably left a window open or something, but soon enough, there were many. I came home one day from the library to find 10+ along my stark white bedroom walls. My apartment mate and I even killed a couple naughty pairs that were caught in the act. When we came back from our two weeks of break, the moths had claimed their newfound territory. We decided that there was nothing left to do but tear the kitchen apartment. It was a sad day–many a great food items were tossed because of larvae/eggs/territorial moths. I really hope we don’t have to call exterminators.
Farewell to a music idol- Michael Jackson
I was on the phone with my boyfriend a little after 2 p.m. today when I heard the sad news. Like many others, I too couldn’t believe my ears and eyes. Regardless of his public reputation, I don’t think that anyone can honestly deny the talent that Michael Jackson had. I have yet to see anyone garner as much fame, and leave as great of a lasting impression in popular music as the King of Pop himself. You can’t remember the 80s without Michael Jackson…may he rest in peace.
Happy Father’s Day
For most people, Father’s Day is celebrated with a warm classic breakfast, or an evening out with the family at Dad’s favorite restaurant. Sometimes it’s not even an elaborate ordeal, and could just be a casual day out in the yard, or fishing perhaps. Within the past 21 years of my life however, I have yet to spend any form of Father’s Day celebration with my dad. It’s not something I could say I’m sad about, simply because I’ve never experienced it to even miss it. Yet a curious part of me wonders at times, how it’d feel to have him by my side. After my parent’s separation since I was 3, it was always an occasional visit on his business trips, or a phone call on the weekends. It wasn’t until recently when I moved to Southern California for college, that I’ve become closer to this man whom I’ve yet to know more about.
My father is an interesting man. For the most part, he’s a scholar who studied in France for the majority of his adolescent years, and practically lived and breathed music all his life. While he was in Vietnam, my father rose to fame as a songwriter with the success of his piece entitled Tình Khúc Mùa Đông, or Winter Lovesong. After a period of time, he left his homeland to attend Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, where is received his master’s in Economics. In 1973, he returned to Vietnam where he became a Professor of Economics at the prestigious University, Võ Bị Quốc Gia. It was during that time that he met my mother and fell in love. I guess my mother and I both have a thing for nerds/musicians. About three years following my birth, my father returned to the states on business, and our relationship was put on hold until my arrival to the US in 1991.
In all honesty, I knew about 80% of this information firsthand, but I had to learn the rest through biographical websites that were put up by others–critics, fans, and Vietnamese-based media. It’s always been interesting to me how I’ve known so much about his public life, but yet I’ve never really gotten to know him. With time however, I’ve come to realize that relationships don’t just sprout up overnight. It’s been a gradual process, but I’m grateful for each step that we’ve made so far. Through our occasional lunch dates and emails, I’m beginning to see him as more than just a person in writing–but a father…my father. Happy Father’s Day, dad.
For those of you who can read Vietnamese, here’s a website about my dad–nhac si Thanh Trang: http://my.opera.com/diemxuacafe/blog/show.dml/2434220
Nhạc Sĩ Ngô Thụy Miên và Thanh Trang. (This was at a musical event in Washington DC; my dad's on the right)
Spiffy T-shirt designs with the fob in mind
I was surfing around the internet the other day when I came upon a nifty little website: http://www.anhoi.com/shirts.htm. They carry a variety of t-shirts with witty play on word lines that any Vietnamese at heart would smirk at. One of my favorites in particular bears the phrase: “It’s a Nguyen Nguyen situation”–because you know it’s a win-win situation when you’re a Nguyen. Okay, enough of the cheeky jokes, but I thought it was cute. Here are some other designs to check out:
Why yes, I am quite FOB-ulous
WTH!!!!!
The infamous sauce by choice of every Vietnamese household--nuoc mam
Que Sera, Sera
The weather took a more pleasant turn today; it was sunnier than it’d been all week. I spent most of my time squandering hours away in the lower levels of the campus library. Well, in all fairness, I was quite productive for the first half of the day. It wasn’t until my fatigue caught up to me in the last couple of hours that I began to trail off into the happy imaginative corners of my mind. By the time I left the library and came home to prepare dinner, it was pretty late already. After the dishes were done and put away though, I’d finally gotten a chance to sit back and breathe. It was then that I suddenly remembered something that my mother once told me. She said that in the words of a famous writer, it is always wise to only lend your heart, but never to give it away. When someone borrows something, they must take care of it in order to properly return it to its rightful owner, but when someone is given something, they are void of these responsibilities and can do whatever they please since it is essentially theirs.
To an extent, this is a rather practical and pessimistic way of looking at love–almost to the point of robbing it of any sense of romanticism. Yet, a part of me can see some truth in it. I sat there on my bed only to realize that a part of me is still closed off. I guess George Michael had a point when he sang the words: “Once bitten, and twice shy…” 
Writer’s Block
It has come to my attention that I have not written anything here for a while. There’d be instances throughout the day when I’d see or hear something and think: “hey, I should really write about that”–never happens. The fact that I haven’t done much writing outside of class is beginning to take a toll on my academic work too. My final for LTWR 8A (short fiction writing) is a 10 page short story, and I’ve been having the worst time putting it together. I assure you the concept’s quite legitimate, but the overall construction of it is an insult to even my own writing from when I was an 8th grader. One of my peer readers told me that my draft was too cliche. I think that nearly impaled me.
