Tag: Blog

The Stress of Moving Out

It never really occurred to me why moving out can be so stressful… until now. One too many times I still find myself moving from place to place not thinking when will this temporary living situation be a bit more permanent. It’s been over 10 years now since I left home to what I would say be on my own, except I wasn’t for the most part. I at least had a roommate for most of that time. Only in the past few years was I officially on my own and sadly enough, I kept the empty boxes and added on to those boxes. Nothing has really ever felt like home since moving out. The older I get, the more responsibilities I seem to have and that time to enjoy life just kept getting smaller and smaller. Work from one of my previous employers burnt me out where I spent the next couple of years doing absolutely nothing. And now the time has come where I’m packing my things once again…

The reason for my move this time, and this is not an easy thing to say… but it’s money. If living paycheck to paycheck wasn’t bad enough, I had to deal with car problems on top of that. It was the latest issue that sealed the deal in my moving. Even though life hasn’t quite gone my way lately, I’m not mad about it. The way I see it, this is a new chapter in my life. Sometimes you have to take that step back before soaring forward through the skies (I know, that was a bit cheesy).

What makes this stressful is how even after I had to give my 30 days’ notice that I’m leaving my apartment, I still find myself not taking action. Hardly anything has been packed up and my 30 days are almost up. And I’m starting to feel it. But maybe it’s just because I’m tired of doing this so often, and so many times. And just like every other time, I do have items I tend to sell and donate.

This move will be quite painful for me. I may have to leave one of the jobs I work at, and I really do love it. I love the people I work with, and it’s been such a joy. You know you have it well when work doesn’t feel like work. And unless I’m willing to commute almost an hour just for a part-time job, I don’t know if that’s worth it. Especially with my car running the way it has been. Well, whatever I decide to do, no matter what happens, I will look at this as a new chapter in my journey. Life may not be easy, but I’ll be damned if I don’t get to live it!

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Energy & Life

Life is beautiful. But life would not be what it is if we didn’t have the energy to be able to live it. Energy drives us. Energy makes us. It’s who we are and what we’ve become. Why is it that kids have so much energy compared to adults? In my not-so expert opinion, it’s because they take naps. They have a bunch of caffeine, like drinking a bunch of soda and eating candy. Something that keeps them going for only such a short period of time. Unlike when we’re adults where we do have our caffeine fix but then start to feel the crash in the early afternoon. Naps then ruin the rest of our day or help us push ourselves to work longer late into the night just to do it all over again the next day. But if we don’t take naps then we might just be getting by. Have just enough energy to get us to bedtime but wasting our day without being productive. Unless you live a happy enough life where that is perfectly fine with you. It’s only if you feel like you want more. Want to do more. Achieve more.

So, where does our energy come from? The answer to that is a bit more complicated than it seems. It’s possible that a good mattress will do the trick. Or having a clear mind will get you a good night’s sleep. What I’ve learned is that it very well could be a little bit of everything. Having a good mattress that suits you will most definitely help, and of course, clearing your mind of unwanted thoughts before bedtime. But in my experience, financial situations have made my life more difficult. It is possible that the thought of living paycheck to paycheck is keeping me from getting good sleep. All the more reason for why I have not posted in my blog for over 2 months. That’s just part of life as well. The fact that life can distract you from doing what you love. Draining away your energy without you realizing it. But don’t use it as an excuse. Just consider it an obstacle.

Never forget that life is a beautiful thing and that we are so grateful to have it. To be a part of it. Don’t turn into an adult and erase all the beauty in your imagination just because of your age. Be someone brilliant. You got this!

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Dear Me in 5 Years…

assuming you’re alive and well, please… do more. I understand that life has been difficult but it’s no reason to keep you from going after your dreams and aspirations. You gave yourself goals in life but have made no effort to achieving them. What is it going to take for you to start doing? That’s if you haven’t already by this time. I know what you’re capable of and whether you know it or not, you do bring joy to many people. Even if you don’t feel like you have and feel worthless at times. But who doesn’t think that about themselves from time to time? I want you to know that I know you are wonderful and extremely talented. And don’t forget I was also there to witness how impress our colleagues were just from your conversations with the customers. They were entertained by you!

Another thing, I’m also really confused writing in this first-, second-, or third-person narrative, or whatever it is at this point. But at least there’s journalbuddies to help give us this topic so we have something to write about.

Whether or not this might sound cliché, but when you put your mind to doing something, you’re creating a work of art. Granted, not everything you make is a hit. But it’s still art. Good or bad, wonderful or dreary, perfect or the many mistakes you make. That’s what makes you who you are.

So, let’s not do nothing. Start by starting. Before you know it, you’ll be incredibly pleased with the person you become if you just do it.

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Honesty Goes a Long Ways

So, I met this woman who was sitting across the bar from me one night. She couldn’t take her eyes off of me. I know that look when I see it and wanted to find out more. As curiosity crossed my mind, I went over to introduce myself. And after getting to know each other, with a few drinks later, we went back to her place. Just because my place is a mess and I’m not proud of myself. It’s okay though, it’s probably just my depression. Anyway, back to my story. We’re back at her place and continued our conversation with a night cap. I got a little too comfortable where a fart slipped out. As embarrassed as I was, she didn’t seem to mind. Just giggled. Shortly after the smell went away, we hooked up.

Here’s the thing: the story I told, was a lie. And now you’re probably disappointed with me. But that’s okay (maybe), because I’ve had to deal with that one too many times. If you have friends that do this to you often, it makes it difficult to care what they tell you considering you don’t know if you want to believe what they have to say or what stories they tell. So, why bother?

The story that I told, still holds a lot of truth behind it. Apart from going back to the woman’s place that I mentioned, and thus leading to me manifesting the fart part, this was a really short story. Besides giving you a detailed description of my messy apartment, I was just drinking at a bar. So, what actually happened was…

“I was having a drink at the bar and noticed this woman across from me. She gave me this look. I like to call it the look of desire. So, I went over to introduce myself and as we got to know a little bit about each other, my night ended with me going home alone.”

The moral of the story is that I don’t have a clue how to close. I guess it’s just something that I never got over. Always afraid of rejection and lacking the courage to do so. However, I do enjoy conversating with people, especially if it’s a small group or a one-on-one situation. It just feels more personal.

I like to consider myself a people pleaser. I know it may not sound like a good thing, but it’s not all bad though. Just want to shine a little light onto people no matter what kind of day they are having. This whole thing is really about understanding where people are coming from. We all have a way about us that makes us do or say things that can be good or bad. But telling the truth is better than building up one lie after another. And if you want to keep certain things to yourself, by all means. Everyone should be entitled to their privacy. What you want to share is up to you.

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Unspoken Words

As an entire civilization probably, we think about everything that goes on in our everyday lives. The problem though… is that we don’t express ourselves about what’s actually going on. If you’re confused, that’s okay. Because I am as well. John Mayer had this song, “say what you need to say“, and I could not agree more. How we feel and especially want to express ourselves, yet we keep it only to ourselves is, well, selfish. If anybody says anything that rubs you the wrong way, it makes sense to be straight with them right there on the spot. But life has a way of making us want to bottle these feelings. And why not?! This is what society has made of us. I could be wrong by saying this, but I really don’t care, and the thing is I feel we our all sensitive. The little things hit us right to the core, but by expressing it out loud would make people judge us, and lead to others talking about us behind our back. Not that we should even care about it. But maybe, just maybe, we do care. Of course, we want to make a good impression to everyone around us. And this is where I give so much credit to those that just don’t give a… poop.

Here’s another problem, though. To the people that don’t care, it affects those that do. The day-to-day stuff might just mean more to others, and we should all at least respect it. Stubborn is a word that I feel doesn’t get used enough. To me, it means that people aren’t open to new experiences. That’s why perspective is one of the most important things in life. You live most of your life knowing one thing, and that everything else is basically wrong.

It’s sad. Most people in this world feel like they have to hide behind this façade. And I don’t blame them. Life is difficult. One of the most difficult things is to be yourself. Who cares what you are. Be who you were meant to be. Because you were meant for greatness. You were meant to do things beyond imaginable. “Only you can prevent forest fires!” Sorry. I’m a comedian by nature, probably. But enough talk. Go out there and be the best version you were meant to be. As Joe Dirt once said, “Life’s a garden, dig it!”

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Imagine Our World Today, Without the Internet

For starters, I’m not saying we had the internet and now it’s gone. It’s 2023 and the internet just never existed. What kind of world would we live in? Where would we be with our technology now? The post office may be a great place to have a career, with all the handwritten letters we would write to each other, of course, unless you have a typewriter. But what does that mean when it comes to cell phones? Or smartphones as we call it. Would texting be a thing? Does that actually require the internet to send messages? I honestly really don’t know. But yes, there are so many questions to ask, so let’s just at least start with putting together my hypothesis and see where that takes us.

Plain and simple, the internet made our lives… lazier. Yes, many, many things were easier. But we got lazy with how easy it made things. And with how much we utilized it to where it is today, it also took away what once was valuable to us. Obviously, I wouldn’t be able to make any sense of it all with my blog without the internet, but we would all be living different lives. Most people would freak out if the internet shut down for even just a day. As long as electricity still worked, I would be just fine. That’s just one of the many reasons why I like to collect hard copies of movies & TV shows on blu ray and DVD. And if the power went out for just as long (or longer), I would look for sticks on the ground that looked like guns to play cops & robbers… I’m not sure where I’m going with this anymore. But I digress.

There’s plenty more of what I can say about having internet or not, but one thing we should all at least cherish, the things that made us happy without being obvious. The era that I grew up in involved going to a friend’s place to see if they were home and wanted to hang out. Or using a landline house phone and having to talk to someone else to reach the person you’re trying to talk to. And this one may be a bit of a reach or it’s just me, but neighbors you actually talk to and befriend.

At the end of the day, we live in the world we live in. Sometimes, it’s not much, but it could also be spectacular. You never know what you’re going to get. Isn’t that part of a quote from Forest Gump?

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My Story

This just might be long overdue. Why I got into writing and what my reason was to start my very own blog. Some of my goals and dreams in life, and what is in stored for my future (assuming I stay disciplined and motivated). From everything I’ve learned in my life and what was taken in from 2021, I will be dick-punching 2022 right in the face (in a good way)! So, without further ado…

Inspiration To Blog

My very first post came in May of 2021. I wanted to represent my culture, my family. Basically, where we came from, and the timing could not have been any better. It was right around Laos New Year and with traditions come good eating. We had plenty to eat, but there was one thing I left out in that story… when I got high with my sister and her boyfriend. I had taken a couple months off from smoking but thought since I was with family that I would be in good hands. That my paranoia may have subsided, at least for that moment. As Derrick (my sister’s boyfriend) and I were sitting by the fire and the high was kicking in pretty good, I was having a genuine conversation with him… which was short lived. As I was telling him a story, mid-sentence I just stopped completely because I lost track of what I was talking about. Cracking Derrick up unintentionally from that was pretty nice. Little did I know, I would end up doing it again moments later. We both laughed about it. It was a really good night. But darkness was taking me! My body just became cold. I was shivering so much I ended up being right up to the barrel where we had the fire. Thinking back to it, I knew it had something to do with being too skinny. I took it as a sign that I needed to get some meat on my bones. I know this because when I was at home and was high, I was shivering yet again and every time I would walk, it felt like my bones were rubbing up against each other.

Anyway, the reason I started blogging was because I felt unmotivated and wasn’t driven to keeping up with my YouTube channel. Instead, something that I did notice that I was doing consistently and felt good about was writing. There was less work that was needed to be done when it came to writing, in which turned into blogging. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy making videos, but there’s a lot of work put into the process; recording, audio & video quality, editing, the possibilities of reshooting and so on. At this point I thought I would just start somewhere. Do something that I enjoy doing that takes less work, but still requires a lot of thought and time put into each of my posts. And with that comes what you see now!

Writing

Getting into writing was not a task at all. To me, it felt like second nature. When I got into it, I just went on for days. And considering I have somewhat of an OCD and am a perfectionist, it was easy for me to categorize subjects and topics. So, breaking down these topics and redefining them into details was a piece of Betty Crocker cake. I couldn’t just say cake because there’s a butthole of work put into that. Anyway, writing! I also mentioned this in my earlier posts, when I built my first PC it didn’t take long for me to get into writing. The topics that I have written down so far were for my future blogs and trying to schedule all of it, along with different types of videos for my YouTube channel that is on hold for the moment. However, I like to say that I’m an idealist. Just give me some time, be patient, and I promise to my followers that I will bring some video content, especially for those who aren’t the biggest readers. And speaking of, I was not the biggest reader myself. I used to be all about videos but after a little soul searching, I never realized that I enjoyed reading a lot more than I thought. Articles on the internet and other bloggers, reading people’s stories and their ingredients from Pinterest was… reading! I know this is more than likely debatable but, reading helps build your personal vocabulary. Your own dictionary. When I was much younger, I only had the use of simple words and was not creative or open minded enough to reach out to a larger vocabulary. I really do hope that in the future that the urban dictionary does not take over the dictionary that I knew growing up. All these slangs and terms that are used nowadays. That’s all I want to say about that. On to the next…

Goals and Dreams

One of the things that I always wanted when it comes to a place to live was to be a studio/loft type of apartment. Where there are exposed beams, an accent brick wall, and typically hardwood flooring. The thing about that is you’re not going to find those styled apartments just anywhere. They’re located downtown and as of recent, that’s where I could see myself spending a good chunk of my life in. So, one of my goals in this 2022 year is to move downtown into the city. To have that feeling where most of what I’m looking for is a walk away. Less fuel usage and miles build up on my car. Another thing I’ve noticed is how difficult times are lately, especially with what Covid has brought upon us. And something that I want to do is help people take the edge off by wanting to create content on my YouTube channel and bring smile and laughter to ease the tension and stress to all. So, in this new year I am going to have to be focused and stay disciplined on creating fun and enjoyable content. But I also have to remember to do this for me as well. Having fun with this passion of mine, otherwise it just becomes work.

Considering my current situation, one of my dreams in life is to have my own studio. A place where I can go to and perform my great work of art. From making videos to having a chill vibe environment for writing my blog. To me it is difficult having my work inside my own home because I might not get a lot done. I figured if I have my own studio, it will require me to leave my own home and I could get more work done. That’s the concept I have going on at least. But not just for writing and making videos, having a podcast and a recreational area as well. That’s the dream! All I need to do is just take that next step towards it. We’re on our way. Let’s get it! And as they say in Blades of Glory, “Let’s capture the dream!”

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Hello, Mary Jane

I’m in quarantine. Shortness of breath. I find it hard to breathe. I’m coughing. Then… the smoke from my lungs clear. That rip from my bowl just put me on another level. As my eyes glisten and become redder by the moment, I sit back on my bed and start watching one comedy movie after another. But then it hits me. I get the munchies, so now I’m in the kitchen going to work. What was I going to eat? At this point in the clouds, I let whatever imagination I had decide for me. And this was pretty much how I lived my life for the next several months.

Origin

The first time I ever got high was when I was 19 hot boxing it in Jerry’s car. Jerry was my neighbor growing up since we were just finishing elementary (For me at least. He was 2 years older than me). Between 5 people, we passed around what I thought was a joint and a blunt. I found out later it was 2 joints and a blunt. Or maybe it was 2 blunts and a joint? My mind is a little cloudy thinking back at that moment (pun intended). Either way, that was my first time ever getting high. After a little hindsight, the time we spent sitting in Jerry’s car just on his driveway could not have been more than half an hour. Because to me it honestly felt like we were there quite a while. The same feeling when after Joey and I walked back to my garage, we were just standing in the dark giggling for who knows how long. Joey asked me, “What do you feel like doing?” I told him, “I feel like going for a run.” Never did. The munchies kicked in pretty hard, so I went inside my house and just smashed on what I remember it being a can of Pringles. It wasn’t long after that I went to bed and crashed for the night. The great thing about Mary Jane is that she doesn’t leave you with a hangover. I woke up feeling so refreshed and ready to take on the day.

Being Essential

Going back to 2020 we now had these checkpoints at our work for temperature checking before getting into the building. There was this girl that would check my temperature almost every day. She was very beautiful and cute, and because I never asked for her name, I just referred to her as “Checkpoint Girl.” My situation with her was just about the same as Harold with the elevator girl (Harold & Kumar). I barely spoke to her, only greetings and, “Have a good day.” It was pathetic I know but moving on. After so much time off work and many dollars later spent on Amazon shopping, I had changed my look up a bit. I grew my hair out considering barbershops/salons were closed. That was really nice because I got a lot of compliments from people about my hair being longer. There was only one fellow that didn’t like it. His name… Terry. Terry was my coworker when I first started before moving to a couple different departments. For some reason he just had it out for me ever since I grew my hair out. Every single day he saw me he would always say one or the other, “Get that haircut” or “Where’s my scissors?” and “Cut your hair, you damn hippie.” Seriously, why does he care so much what I do with my life? And I looked up the word “hippie” and… so!? I know why he was this grumpy old man to me at least. He worked with a lot of women in his department and every now and then when I would walk by taking out the trash, I passed them, and I’m sure these women were all saying it. “He’s so hot.” “Wow. So cute.” “Hubba, hubba.” “Oh, I want him to part me like the Red Sea.” Okay maybe that last one was a little much. But I digest (Sacha Baron Cohen). And that was work for me for the next 6 months or so. Dealing with not so Scary Terry, women who would say hi to me that never did before and working all the days of the week.

Passion

It’s summer now and I was taking in a bunch of new information from what random YouTube videos my roommate would watch. One mainly was Linus Tech Tips. He was very much a tech savvy type of person. Into computers a lot and convinced me to build my own computer. So much thanks to you Joey for that. It became a great starter computer for playing video games and such but my intentions with it changed. I found myself on a word document with a blank page, and I just started writing from my thoughts and never stopped. My routine was pretty simple with Covid; go to work, come home, smoke a bowl, eat and watch The Office, then start writing on my PC. One day it just dawned on me, I really enjoy watching movies and shows so much that it gave me ideas to write my own stuff for YouTube. So being OCD and a perfectionist, I categorized a lot of my writing for how I was going to make my next future videos. I would end up not making any videos that year due to not feeling like I was in the right state-of-mind. Instead, I just continued honing my writing and then much later going into this year (2021) I would officially start my own blog. I do expect someday I will try to make videos on the Tube more consistently. I have the ideas, just not the will power. But at least I have this!

Because I find myself having such a difficult time being motivated to do almost anything, writing, whether it was on a word document or on a piece of paper, it was easy for me. I would consider myself to be more of an idealist in that way too. But I know there’s so much more I want to offer to the world with what goes on in my mind. Putting the ideas from my mind onto paper, and then in front of a camera, and editing is a lot of work for one person. Especially with working a full-time job and 2 part-time jobs makes that free time for all that I am passionate about that much more difficult to do. When I do get back that drive and motivation, the videos that I want to make would be more than worth it. For now, the least I can do is paint a picture for my audience in wording.

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How I Burnt The Thanksgiving Turkey

Life is full of surprises, and you never really know what’s going to happen next. All you can do is be prepared and learn from each and every situation. Whether it’s something on your end or not, mistakes help us grow and become a better person. Just like the mistake I made when I burnt the family turkey. And yes, it’s finally that time of year I share this story.

For Thanksgiving I had taken on the role for making the turkey for my family. I took this responsibility almost 10 years ago. Luckily for me, that’s all I had to worry about, nothing else. The role used to go to my brother-in-law before it became too much of a hassle for him considering he had other additional things to make. I volunteered to make the turkey because I knew my mom was allergic and the turkey cannot be cooked in the household. I wasn’t living at home anymore at this point so it made sense. Plus, I felt like it would be a good opportunity to take on something new. Now I’m not exactly sure how many times I made the turkey, but there was one year where I undercooked it. This had to have been my first or second attempt at it. At that moment I was still considered a beginner in the kitchen. However, I’d like to say nowadays I’m very skilled. It only takes time and practice to become good at anything, as long as you are willing to put in the effort.

In The Clouds

After a few opportunities at making the turkey, I was doing pretty well. At this point in my life, I was living with some of my friends I made back from grade school. For those of you who don’t know, the day before Thanksgiving is the biggest bar night of the year. I had gone out to that a few times, but this one particular year I decided to stay in. One of my roommates, Vincent, had a coworker that gave him this cookie edible. It was pretty small in size and if I remembered correctly, we never tried edibles before. So this was definitely going to be quite the experience. I’d like to say also that I hardly ever smoked marijuana prior to this event, so I had no tolerance for this at all. One of our buddies, Eddie, came over to partake in this activity with us. The plan we had was to try it and play Civilization V. We were pretty hooked on this game for a moment. So Vincent cut the cookie into about 8 small pie sized pieces and the 3 of us took one each. The cookie was very potent because when you would bite into it, you didn’t really taste the cookie at all. It was all Mary Jane! Then we started playing the game and after about half an hour in we didn’t feel anything. So second round of the cookie down the hatch and from there, it was alright, alright, alright!

About an hour after we took the edibles, everything just became a blur. I could not function properly. I’m pretty certain I blacked out a little bit too. All I know was Vincent and I took the last 2 pieces. Now that I am remembering it correctly, we skipped the tripping out faze and went to blackout mode. That was for me at least. Eddie, who should have just crashed on the couch ended up driving home. I later found myself in the bathroom having to pee. As I was going… I couldn’t stop. The flow was constant for what felt like 2 minutes which is an eternity in the peeing aspect of things. All I know was that I no longer wanted to go and made the decision to pull up my pants. Did not care if I was still peeing or not. Just hoping for the best! After that, I was rinsing my face with water then just staring at myself in the mirror. They say nobody who has ever used marijuana had died from it(that’s what I heard at least). I thought that was about to change that night.

Long story short… we didn’t have turkey that year. I was still in the clouds the next day. Never knew you could be high for longer than a day. I eventually made it to my mom’s later that night. Half the family had already left to go black Friday shopping and I’m over here struggling to eat anything. It was like a hangover. I only told my sister about what had happened, and I’m sure she let everyone else know why there was no turkey for Thanksgiving.

Extra Crispy

Let’s go back a few years from now. I was living with Ross and his wife at the time. Ross and I were at Lowe’s looking around for something when we came across a deep fryer they had setup for anyone that wanted to deep fry their turkey. Thoughts started racing and next thing we knew, that was the plan for Thanksgiving. This was new to both of us so it would be interesting to see how it goes. Now Ross to me was like my mentor in the kitchen. A lot of what I learned was from him. Thanksgiving morning arrived and we did all the necessary steps on how to deep fry a turkey without it exploding like people have done. On this day, it was cold and windy, so we had to set up a barrier to cover the flames from the wind. Because he was there with me, the turkey turned out great. A beautiful golden brown, juicy and just ever so delicious. Mission accomplished!

Fast forward a year from that, I was on my own again. I loved how the turkey turned out from deep frying it, I wanted to do that again. This time I was at my brother’s place. He and his wife left to do a little shopping I think, leaving me alone to do my thing. I got everything set up, and the day was much nicer than the year before. What could go wrong…? Apparently a lot. I wanted to add something new to the mix, so I tried a recipe that called for brining. Keeps the turkey nice and moist and full of flavor. As I dropped the turkey in the pot, I was having issues with getting the temperature right. It was below where it needed to be, so I kept raising the temperature. But unfortunately when it got up to temp, it kept going up. By this time I had dropped the needle to bring the temp down but it’s hot oil, temperature takes a while to come back down. I was so confused. I felt like Joe Dirt at the oil rig job he did. Eventually the temp went to where I wanted it to but the damage was done. Did not think once to take the turkey out of the fryer to let the oil cool down before placing it back in. And yes, I did noticed the turkey getting much darker than normal but I thought to myself, “Maybe it’s just darker in the oil.”

After pulling the turkey out, it was burnt to a crisp. There was so much going through my mind… before I just decided to head to my mom’s. Boy was that a treat when I arrived with the turkey. Everyone had themselves a good laugh and continued poking fun at me. All I could do was just sit there and endure the fact it happened. There was a plus side to this though. With the brine, and through the dried extra crispy outside, the turkey was still very good.

Be Thankful

Despite undercooking or burning a turkey, the fact of the matter is that it’s Thanksgiving. To be around loved ones and also be thankful for a happy and healthy life. Just last year with Covid being a factor, we canceled our Thanksgiving because I had gotten Covid several weeks before. But we just had to be safe so that was the decision to make.

I feel like here I can be more myself. Letting out some of my inner thoughts and sharing what I’ve gone through and what I’m currently going through. But nonetheless, being able to express my feelings. As a kid growing up I’ve always had a difficult time expressing my emotions with anyone. So if you were to ask me what I’m thankful for, outside of family and friends, it would be this. To start my own blog and use it like I would my personal journal. I get to share my stories with the World!(Universe maybe) Not having to keep things bottled up. And they say writing is very therapeutic. Thanks for taking the time to read this. Have a safe and joyful Turkey Day!

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First Blog/Lao New Year

Introduction

Where does my story begin? That’s hard to say, considering there were many events in my life that were memorable. Having to pick just one is difficult to start with. But the least I could do is tell you a little bit about myself. I’m 33 years old and just recently celebrated Lao New Year with my family. For Thanksgiving I was in charge of making the turkey of which I burnt… just once. And there was another time I undercooked it… I’m getting better. Practice makes progress.

There was one time I had a shoe thrown at my head, going to a wedding dressed exactly like the waiters. Now I am one as of today. Sort of. Had an amazing trip to Florida with one of my previous employers to be a part of a thing they called Team Rally. I was a stripper for a night, escaped from a party we started and I farted in front of a girl I had just met. These are to name a few of many stories I’ll be sharing in detail, in the near future.

Lao New Year

Let’s start with one of my most recent memory. I went to my mom’s to celebrate the Pi Mai. We had the Sou Khaan(a blessing in having a happy and healthy life) which is where someone is saying good prayers for you while tying a white string around your wrist(s). The Lao Buddhist tradition has it where you typically have both hands together sitting flat, then you bow down to honor the one that prays for you. Or so I believe. I haven’t been paying as much attention to my ancestors religion the older I got. You do however have to sit in almost any other position than crossed legged or Indian style, which can get very uncomfortable after a long period of time. Normally during a Thuk Baht ceremony(people offering food for the monks for blessing them).

We then had ourselves some pho. Afterwards, I helped my brother-in-law move a mattress and dresser to his and my sister’s place. I spent some time with one of my nieces and one of my other sisters was later going to grill some chicken and fajitas, which told me only one thing… that I was staying longer. While waiting for the food, I got to spend some quality time with my sister’s boyfriend before heading home for the night. The conversations we had felt real. I had a great time talking to Derrick. We shared stories, had some laughs. I even told him and my sister about my fart story… Overall, it was exactly how Ice Cube explained it, “Today was a good day.” I got to spend some time with my family, bonded with my sister’s boyfriend and eat some really good food. As simple as it was, it was memorable.

The Takeaway

That night I learned a part of what it’s like to be a parent. Derrick has a kid with my sister. And that made me think of my friends with their kids, and understanding from their perspective what it’s like not having as much free time as they used to. Not seeing it from their point of view. I never understood until this night why it was so difficult hanging out. So the very few times we are able to get together for events and whatnot, I just want to make the most of it. Just cherish the moments with the people you surround yourself with. I hope you enjoyed reading this as I enjoyed writing it. Until the next one.

Kawb Jai

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