Adele, the Music Maker

In 2011, Adele, a British singer based in London, was reported to cancel the rest of her tour because of the laryngitis that she had and many fans were disappointed.  She was discovered by a record company after her music was heard on MySpace.  Adele became a pop sensation after her album “21” was released in 2011. Songs such as “Rolling in the Deep,” “Set Fire to the Rain,”  “Someone like You,” and recently the new track “Hello” topped the chart and played on most contemporary music radio stations in America.  On November 20 of this year, Adele released a new album called “25,” the most anticipated album of the year as the artist has not released any new music for the past four years. She was nominated and won many Grammy awards and even the pop sensation British singer Ed Sheeran is afraid to go against her in a Grammy nomination.  Her success is not because of her image, it is her voice, talent, and love of music. 

Music is art. It lets the listeners see and understand another’s person perspective and experience in love or in whatever circumstances that the artist is depicting in the lyrics.  Music is healthy for the viewers and for the listeners.  It changes the way we see certain situations and helps us heal from any problems we run into.  Art is a work by someone or something and it allows the viewers to think and to see something from another person’s perspective.  We see love and heartbreak experience through Adele’s music and lyrics. We can even feel the pain she has to go through in her music as it is played on our favorite radio station.  Her voice is art itself and her songs are relatable, well-written and thought-out.  The sensation we feel is difficult to describe but it can help us to be a more well-informed and a better thinker as we have another’s person perspective under our belt. 

 

America: Being Noisy?

United States wants to sell weapons to Vietnam for the reason that China’s naval ship parked in the territory of Vietnam in the South Asia Sea and Vietnam was unapproved of the action.  Vietnam needs surveillance technology to watch China’s action in the sea. As a Vietnamese American, I find the news quite surprising as Vietnam is rarely on the news; since it needs help from another country to protect its territory, who better to call out for help than America, a country with one of the strongest military power in the world. 

I once told my mom that America can be a bit noisy as we seem to be involved in almost every big conflict in the world. Why can we be peaceful and uninvolved like Switzerland, Norway, and Denmark?  For instance, America is very involved in fighting against terrorism in the Middle East and Europe, we are involved in changing the climate, etc. My mom corrected my comment and said that if it is not for America’s kindness, we would not be living in this land of opportunity.  America is not noisy, she said, they are trying to help as many people as much as possible.  Many women in Vietnam do not have the opportunities that many American women have; they might not be able to open their own business, they might not have the education that many American women have.  Being noisy can be a good thing sometimes for some people, and in the Vietnam war, it is a good thing for millions of Vietnamese fugitives.  I guess my mom is right: being noisy is not a bad thing after all. Sometimes it benefits millions of people in need of help.

The New Year

Every year, I come up with New Near resolutions and of course, they are generally forgotten by the end of January.  I try to be specific every single year on my resolutions but they never pan out to anything and I eventually forget them.  However I made a goal for myself since November of this year and I have been working toward it till now in December. Four days from today will mark my two month accomplishment of sticking to the goal.  What helps me to keep doing it is I have a purpose and I know the why to it.  When we know the purpose of our action, we remember it and it becomes a part of our life much easier. The purpose is a sticky note that reminds us what we need to do and helps us to see the future ahead.   

There Could Be Love

In the book "The Giver," the Giver gave his intern Jonas a happy memory of a family sitting around a Christmas tree, enjoying each other presence while it is snowing outside.  The Giver called the memory as an example of love; Jonas enjoys the memory as it was transferred to him and he longs to experience it himself.  However, with how the community and life is in Jonas' society, no one will ever experience the feeling of love. Everything has to be predictable and same as to prevent any pain and bad experiences for the people living in the community.

What happen if Jonas' world is a reality? What would it be like without love? Without us being able to have a relationship with other human beings? Us humans depend on other humans to live and to continue to live every single day.  We are wired to love, to be in relationships, to have a communal experience and cherish each other's beings.  However when we do not have the choice to love and to be loved, it is against our own nature and I wonder how long will our kind exist.  If we live in Jonas' world where procreation is assigned and given then it is possible for humans to continue to live without love. But living without being able to experience the love from other people is an unthinkable experience for many of us as love is the standard of life. We live, we breathe, we want, we desire love in all parts of our life.  It is not the matter of we want love but it is more of the matter of we need love, because sometimes it is the only reason why we live for.

The Sameness

Christmas was yesterday and like many Americans, my family came together and enjoyed some  good food and fun. Our food consisted of a mix of Asian cuisine and American dishes. We had some ham on the side, all cooked up by a friend of my aunt and some Vietnamese spring rolls and many other dishes that I was unable to put a name on. Christmas has always been a special time in my heart. It was a time of giving and receiving and spending some quality time with the family members whom I have not seen for the past year. We had lunch together then opened presents under the Christmas tree that my sister put up every year at her house.

This year feels different. I don't know if time changed me or if the holiday got old. I do not feel the same enthusiasm and excitement that I once had when I was a teen and in my early 20s. Christmas felt like just another day in the year. I do not feel depressed or empty, more like apathetic to what is going on on this special day that the world looks at very jovially.

I am at the stage of my life where the question of what is my purpose in life pops up consciously and subconsciously.  I have been traveling a lot for the past two years and it gave me a better understanding of the world around me and definitely who I am as a person.  In the book "The Giver," the world of the main character Jonas is always the same and orderly. Family are put together by a committee and children are given to the family to take care of base on their personality.  Each family has a parent and the children are a boy and a girl--no family unit can deviate from that formula. The world is always perfect and if there is any wrong doing--a rude remark, a blatant response, an unwise comment-- by a member, an apology and chastisement are required.  The people's life are all assigned by a group of wiser people, also known as the Elders, in the book; they are given the job for the rest of their life base on their personality.   Everywhere the characters look, there is no color; is is black and white only.  I feel like my world has became that: a black and white Sameness story where nothing much happened and where I know there is so much more in life than the one that I hold.

As humans, we want to know the purpose of our life and it always use different channels to show us what our purpose is and is not.  Whatever happens in life, it is always our responsibilities to discover our own purpose and to take an active position in looking for it rather than sitting around in the living room hoping for a miracle to happen. The key is to actively seek for our purpose and to always hold onto the hope that it will come to us one day.  The key is to always hope.

A White Christmas

When I first moved to America, my family settled in Atlanta, Georgia in October 1995 and we experienced our first white Christmas in December of that year. I was eight and found everything in this foreign land amazing and beautiful wherever I turned. I remember grabbing a handful of snow on my right hand and threw it at my sisters in the backyard of our apartment.  I also remember trying to build a snowman but it collapsed at every attempt and me getting all fussy because the snowman did not stand as I wanted.  That first white Christmas was the most unforgettable memory and it represents one of my first few experiences living in this land of opportunity called the United States.

Then my family and I moved to Southern California and the white Christmas disappeared. We can have white Christmas but we have to drive up to the mountain for one to two hours to get the full snow experience and besides, it is always a hit or miss type of thing as the snow in the California mountain can be unpredictable and my family did not want to put our lives in danger by driving in the narrow spiral roads to where the snow is in the mountain; we did not know the existence for the tire chain for driving in the snow twenty years back.

White or non-white Christmas, I am fine with it. I used to get jealous of the East Coast and Midwest Americans who get all the snow in the winter during Christmas time but my visit to Chicago proved that the last thing I want is the white Christmas as the temperature can drop below zero. Sometimes not getting what we want in life can be a blessing. Maybe that one thing we want is not right and good for us. The snow and the freezing temperature are definitely not good for anyone and I am thankful that I do not live in that type of environment where everything is cold in the winter and where my body cannot handle the low temperature.  I am grateful for the beautiful weather that I have every day in Southern California and I would never trade it for anything else--even if it is white Christmas.  I love my non-white Christmas. I have my family and the people who care for me in my life and that is all a person needs in life.  

Quote of the Day

Quote of the day:
“When someone leaves, it’s because someone else is about to arrive.”
-Paulo Coehlo

Syrian Refugees

As an American, I am proud to call myself one. No one is perfect and there is no such thing as a perfect country to live in.  America is definitely not a perfect place to live.  We have a big gaps in earned income for women and men, we face environmental issue such as a drought that has never been fixed, and there is racism in some area in the states.  Despite negative aspects of living in America, it is one of the best countries in the world to live in.  In America, everyone has an opportunity to get the career they desire, the job they want, the house they want, etc.

Lately, with the Paris attack still being discussed on the news, many Republican governors refused to accept any Syrian refugees to enter their states due to the radicalization that ISIS and other terrorist group put in some refugees.  One politician said that she would not let a five-year-old refuge enter the state.  The reason to blocking the influx of Syrian refugee is the act hopes to prevent any further terrorist attack in the states.  I can see the point the politicians try to make but the question come in is will this really work? The US has a strict application process for any Syrian refugees who want to enter the states and be a permanent resident and as many as 2,000 Syrian refugees are currently living in the states and whether any of them are radicalized yet should be the main concern the politicians should focus on.  Even if they were not radicalized when they first enter the state, they might be in the process behind close doors right now after they enter the states. We don't know which refugees are being or is radicalized by an extremist group so we have to be cautious when it comes to performing the application process of letting them in the states.

But the hard question to answer is should we let the Syrian refugee enter the states? I believe we should but with caution.  We do not know if they are radicalized or not or if they have a terrorist plot in mind. Keeping the caution will prevent the heartache and the pain that the victims of the Paris attack had to go through.  I believe in the good of people. Everyone is good in one way or another and we should give everyone a chance to create the American dream.

The Windy City

I visited the city Chicago for four days and the Windy City sure lived up to its expectation.  As Californians, we always have had experienced one of the best weather in the world.  We were expecting the worst of the Chicago weather as winter started already but fortunately the temperature was ranging between 40 to 50 degree Fahrenheit during the day, which some Chicagoans commented how unusual it was as the temperature was 20 degree warmer than the usual winter weather.  I came to experience the Chicago holiday season and I got just that and the great warmer weather that my Californian body could handle.  As usual, I planned out all my days in Chicago. I knew exactly what to do at every hour and day and the plan worked out as intended.  We visited the John Shedd Aquarium where we saw the white beluga whale for the first time, the Lincoln Zoo, Lincoln Square, the Museum of Science and Industry, Chinatown, and gave the University of Chicago a visit where the old buildings look just like Harry Potter's Hogwarts. I covered most famous Chicago attractions within the four day span and even had a walking tour around the North side of the city.  I even discovered my favorite mural called Four Season by the French artist named Marc Chagall called Four Season in the middle of the Financial District in downtown, also known as the Loop.

My time in the Windy City taught me how unique the culture is in the city.  The physical layout of most cities are similar but the culture is always different.  It helps me see what is out there in the world and how people live their life. Chicago has its own unique culture and the way it carries out its daily life just like any other cities in the world.  It is home to one of the strongest economy hub in America and to popular sport teams.  It represents big dreams of people who made them come true and it will always stand its ground as one of the most diverse culture hub and where one's dreams become a reality.

Millennials On Fighting ISIS

Harvard University survey found 60% of millennials want to fight ISIS but only 16% of them want to be a part of the fighting in the battlefield. I can imagine people calling them hypocrites and immoral people but as a millennial myself, I can see where the group stands and why they believe that.  First of all, not everyone is meant to be on the battlefield to fight.  There are certain skills everyone must have and they have to have certain personal characteristics. They have to have a tough skin to weather harsh situations, they have to be disciplined, they have to have confidence and be able to present it all the time.  Secondly, they have to believe with in fighting ISIS wholeheartedly and be able to die in battles if that is the case.  The truth of the matter is most millennials do not possess the necessary characteristics to be a strong soldiers and if they were to be put in the battlefield, the only way to go is death. Us millennials are not disciplined compared to our older cohorts. Most of us are still single and do not plan on getting married until we are in our 30s. Some of us do not even hold a full-time job despite how strong the economy is in America comparable to other developing and wealthy countries. We do not even have the maturity to be on our own and still live with our parents due to the lack of financial stability.  

In summary, millennials are not dumb or lack the will, we are not disciplined and do not have the characteristics to fight against one of the strongest terrorist groups in the world right now. In order to be ready to do something big, anyone has to be ready and well-equipped. Millennials just need more time to be ready, that's it. We have the drive but we don't have the skill. 

On What Mr. Trump Said

Presidential candidate Donald Trump proposed to ban all Muslims from entering the United States and the statement has caused a heated argument in the political spectrum in the states and even in Europe.  Mr. Trump is a  real estate billionaire mogul who decided to give politics a try by running for the Presidential election in 2016. Sure he has all the money in the world to run a successful presidential campaign but the question is can he stand a chance in the race to be the next leader of one of the most powerful nation in the world? His statement caused a stir in the right and left wings and politicians are criticizing him for bigotry toward the Muslims. He even caused a reverberating response in Europe; United Kingdom residents voted to ban Mr. Trump from entering its land.

With that said, Trump's statement followed in the wake of the killing spree of fourteen people at a government health facility in San Bernardino, California by a married Muslim couple.  The two perpetrators entered a conference room at the facility where the staffs and the patients were celebrating Christmas and they opened fired with their AK-15 guns. Luckily, they escaped the chase of the police right after the shooting but they were gunned down by the police a few hours later after a strenuous police chase which caused a police man to be injured during the shooting battle. The married couple died during the gun battle and they left behind their six-month-old child.

However confidence Mr. Trump was with his statement, his belief has many flaws in it. First of all, just because two Muslim couple killed people, it does not mean we should ban all Muslim from entering the states. We cannot put a label on a group of people when only a few people committed an act of wrong doing toward other people. The statement is over the edge and it puts a stereotype label on the Muslim religion. NPR interviewed a Muslim woman living in Southern California and she said she was afraid to go to the supermarket, fearing she would get maltreatment from the people she meets in there. We cannot let the American Muslims live out of fear for something they never do or plan on doing. They are just like anyone on this planet, they want to live a comfortable life; they want to make enough money to live on, they want to protect their family and their rights just like anyone else on this earth.

Secondly, the statement can endanger Americans. Radicalized Muslim may see the statement as a confirmation of the hatred of Americans toward its religion and as a result, there will be further hatred toward America.

All in all we should accept everyone and not put a label on certain groups. Everyone is different and we need to take each person's background and current life circumstances in consideration.  In the wake of the latest attack in Paris and in San Bernardino, the world needs peace and we all can contribute to the cause and create a loving place for everyone to live in.

Character

My mom once told me our character is shaped by life and there will be time we cannot avoid it, no matter how far we try to run away.  Life will hit us in the face when we least expect and we will have to accept it as it is.  We will bite and scream and yell and complain at what is happening to us but the only way to deal with the bad circumstances sometimes is to acknowledge it as a part of life. When we accept things for what it is, we are building character. Character is a personality in us where we dig up the strength when we have nothing. Character, then, becomes a source of strength in us and it gives us the needed energy to do what we have to do.  How do we get character? It is gained from the discipline that life gives us. We might not like what life is doing to us as it disciplines us and molds us into a better person but the result of it is the best thing that can ever happens to us.

Regrets

Regrets. They are the feeling that we wish we had done something different than the action we took. The radio talk the American Life on NPR has an episode called “Regrets.” In the in the episode, journalists interview people across the United States about the regrets they have in life.  A sixty-one year old man, who was  a son of Portuguese immigrants, was jailed for thirty years for robbery and doing drugs. He stated when he was released from prison his parents were deceased and he wished he could see them again; at the age of sixty-one, he had to savings and his biggest regret was for living behind drugs for so long. Like the man, most of us have had regrets somewhere in our walk in life. We wish we held onto that relationship with that man or woman, or kept going when things get tough in life rather than quitting.
Regrets make us feel bad about ourselves and turn and twist us around.  Mistakes make us feel regret. Our  failures make us regret. Our failed relationships make us feel regrets. We cannot hide from them. We cannot run from them.  The solution to easing regrets is to accept the situation, to learn from it, and to move on. It is not an easy decision to turn regrets into lessons but it is possible if we choose to. If we choose to live and move on, then we will. Sometimes all it takes is to take that first move to live a better life and to move on. It is not simple, but if there is a will, there is always a way.