Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Last Christmas


I received a message while I was out of my office last week. A lady had come into the Center to speak to me about a picture that I had taken last Christmas. Every year the community center where I work holds a toy giveaway to families in the surrounding area. Approximately a hundred or so families come through on that day to get free toys donated by individuals and businesses. Everybody contributes to make this event possible. For example, a student who attends the continuation high school at the Center volunteered to don a white beard and costume to play Santa Claus. A mother who used to run an aerobics class at the Center painted the backdrop. The firemen down the street collected and delivered the toys. Blanca, the office manager, along with my staff and volunteers worked at the registration table to made sure that everyone is orderly. Luis, a kid in my after school program, posed as a Christmas present for the picture taking session. As usual, I was behind the camera. After the children received their toys, they were given the opportunity to take a family picture with Santa Claus to commemorate the joyous occasion. Some of the guests come back a week later to pick up their picture. Others do not. This picture you see here has been buried in my hard drive amongst hundreds of other nameless images, untouched and forgotten until now. What I did not know when this picture was taken was that the father in this family was going through cancer treatment at the time. Sadly to say, he was not able to survive long enough to celebrate Christmas with his family this year. It's especially hard during this time of the year. The wife had come back to the community center in hopes that we still have the picture from last Christmas. I am happy to say that the children have that picture now. And though it may not bring back their father, I am hopeful it will bring back some happy memories to what turned out to be the last Christmas they spent together.

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Friday, November 23, 2007


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Tuesday, November 20, 2007


This is Tue Nam.
Although we were raised
in different homes,
we are brothers.

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...Because being brothers is not about sharing the same last name.

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...It's about looking out for each other
as if we were family.

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"The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them."
-Thomas Merton


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Hanging out with "Noisy" with our matching outfits. We're that tight. That's why he's my dawg!

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Wednesday, November 14, 2007



"Arms Of A Woman" by Amos Lee

I am at ease in the arms of a woman.
Although now,
most of my days I spend alone.
A thousand miles,
from the place I was born.
But when she wakes me,
she takes me back home.

Now, most days,
I spend like a child.
Who's afraid of ghosts in my mind.
I know, there ain't nothing out there.
I'm still afraid to turn on the lights.

I am at ease in the arms of a woman.
Although now,
most of my days a I spend alone.
A thousand miles,
the place i was born.
When she wakes me,
she takes me back home.

A thousand miles,
the place I was born.
When she wakes me,
she takes me back home.

I am at ease in the arms of a woman.
Although now,
most of my days I spend alone.
A thousand miles,
from the place I was born.
When she wakes me,
she takes me..
Ya, when she wakes me,
she takes me back home.
When she wakes me,
she takes me back home.

Here is a great bluesy interpretation of the same song by Ernie Halter.

Rodolfo sang this song with a rock edge. The way he looks and sounds reminds me a bit of Jon Bon Jovi.

Ccarleto gave this song a country feel that is definitely worth checking out.

You can get the chords of the songs here. I put a capo on the 7th fret of my guitar when I play this song.


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Sunday, November 11, 2007

All Grown Up

I took my friend Hoon and his family on a photo shoot at a park today. The girls received traditional Korean dresses from their grandfather as birthday gifts, and Hoon wanted to send pictures back home to him in Korea. Here's a little funny exchange between Lana, Hoon, and me....

Lana: George.

George: Yes, Lana?
Lana: I put on my socks.
George: You mean, you put them on by yourself?!
Lana: Yeah.
George: Good job! High five! (Gives Lana a high five)
Lana: I put on my socks yesterday.
George: You put them on by yourself yesterday too?
Lana: Yeah.

(Hoon joins in the conversation)

Hoon: Lana's a big girl now...putting on socks all by herself.
Lana: Yeah, Lana's a big girl.
Hoon: Lana could move out of the house now, huh, Lana?
Lana:
Yeah.

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Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Blind Sided

I was going to tell Jenny how disappointed I was in her. I've always pride myself in being the kind of supervisor who was fair-minded, flexible, and shows genuine care for the welfare of my staff. Whenever one of them wants to take extra time off, arrive a little late to work, or was forgetful to follow up on something I had requested, I try not to be too harsh or critical on them. Although they occasionally make mistakes, I know that my success would not be possible without their hard work and loyalty to me. I look for opportunities to show my appreciation, whether it is taking them on an impromptu trip to the local Dairy Queen from some ice-cream or thanking them for putting in the extra effort. That's the reason I was a bit irritated when I got back from lunch today and saw Jenny chatting on the cell phone. I didn't make a big deal about it. We all take personal calls from time to time. But I became more annoyed when she got up, continued to carry on her conversation, and disappeared for more than ten minutes. All the while she was gone, I was running thoughts in my head on how I would reproach her... "Look Jenny, I don't mind it if you've got all your work done. But I've left numbers for you to call for the past two days, and you still haven't done it."

But before I was able to verbalize it to her when she finally returned, she immediately apologized for what had happened. "I'm sorry... I was on the phone with the mother of my friend," she paused. "She told me that my friend got into a car accident and passed away." Jenny began to cry softly. "My friend called me at four in the morning to ask me to pick her up. She had been out drinking with some friends. I told her that I can't pick her up.... I've picked her up many times before, but this was four in the morning." In Jenny's mind, she felt partly responsible for this tragedy. Hearing this feels like getting punched in the stomach. All the air was let out of me along with the words of criticism I was ready to deliver. Now, I sat frozen at my chair, not quite knowing what to say or do. I made a feeble attempt to ease her guilt. "It's not your fault... It's not your responsibility," I reasoned. "It was your friend's choice to get behind the wheel. She could have called someone from her family or got a cab." I shouldn't have said that, I remember thinking. I shouldn't have said anything. Better to have just said 'I'm sorry' and be there for her, I thought. "I know...," Jenny wondered. But what if? I asked Jenny if she would like to take the rest of the day off, but she declined. Perhaps it was better this way. Work may keep her mind off her grief, even if it were temporary.

I thought about what happened today. How many times have I made assumptions about another person's behavior without knowing all the facts? You think that you know of their motives, their feelings, their inner thoughts, their fears, their opinions about you and you of them and so forth, but you really don't know unless you ASK and dig deeper. Maybe you're too afraid to find out the truth, so you avoid asking. Maybe you have too much pride. Too lazy to ask. Or maybe you're just too concerned with your own needs to hear above the noise. I am reminded of a story I read long ago in which passengers on a train became increasingly irate at a father who allowed his young children to played wildly on the train. When an angry passenger confronted him, the man apologized for his children's behavior. He explained that they are usually well-behaved. However, they have just come from the hospital that morning where the children said their last goodbye to their mother who lost her battle with a terminal illness.

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Tuesday, November 6, 2007

True Passion

One of my favorite pass time is to watch aspiring musicians do original and cover tunes on Youtube. I am simply blown away by the vast talents out there being broadcast from America's bedrooms and basements. I want to share with you a video of a very gifted singer named Jeremy, a.k.a "passion", singing a cover song of Ryan Cabrera's "True".

If you want to try your hand at playing this song, you can get the tablature here.




"True" by Ryan Cabrera

I won't talk
I won't breathe
I won't move till you finally see
that you belong with me

you might think
I don't look
but deep inside in the corner of my mind
I'm attatched to you
mmmm

I'm weak
it's true
cause I'm afraid to know the answer
do you want me too?
cause my heart keeps falling faster

[chorus]
I've waited all my life to cross this line
to the only thing thats true
so I will not hide
i'ts time to try anything to be with you
all my life I've waited
this is true

you don't know
what you do
everytime you walk into the room
I'm afraid to move

I'm weak
it's true
I'm just scared to know the ending
do you see me too?
do you even know you met me!

[Chorus]
I've waited all my life to cross this line
to the only thing thats true
so I will not hide
its time to try anything to be with you
all my life I've waited
this is true

I know when I go
I'll be on my way to you
the way that's true

[chorus]
I've waited all my life to cross this line
to the only thing thats true
so I will not hide
its time to try anything to be with you
all my life I've waited
this is true

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Thursday, November 1, 2007

Treasure Hunter





This is Rudy, a treasure hunter. He digs for valuables once lost, hidden beneath the surface waiting to be rediscovered.

For the past weeks, my car smelled of burnt motor oil after long drives. I decided to take it in for a precautionary check up. While waiting for my car to be worked on, I took a walk at a nearby park to pass time. It was there I met Rudy and his wife Mary Jo, a couple of retirees turned real-life treasure hunters. Rudy has only been treasure hunting for about 3 months. For the previous 35 years, however, he had worked for the Los Angeles Unified School District as an engineer, a job that he treasured (no pun intended) because he had so much "fun" doing it. Now that he's retired, he spends his days traveling to various local playgrounds with his wife to play the game of hide and seek.

I sat on top of a wall and watched them work methodically sweep their metal detectors from side to side near the swings. Whenever the detector recognized the presence of a metal substance, it would emit different pitch sounds depending on what kind of metal it is. Whenever that happened, Rudy would take his trowel and gently dig below the surface to reveal what is underneath. Most of the time he ends up with duds, like pieces of foil paper, bottle caps, and soda can tabs. But in rare cases, like the first time he went treasure hunting, he discovered a large diamond ring. Recently, he found a beautiful graduation necklace with the name of the school inscribed. I asked Rudy what he plans to do with it. "I'll put it in the 'lost & found' section of Craigslist," he replied. "Maybe someone will see it, and I'll return it." These are the moments that keep him going long after the last beep has sounded. Then there are days like today when all the pennies and nickels he collected couldn't even get him a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Most of us would simply toss back the pennies we find. Not Rudy. Whether it was a penny or nickel, he stored it away in his pocket. I couldn't make sense why anyone would bother to save such seemingly worthless objects."What are you going to do with all those change?" I asked Rudy. "I don't know... I'll put them in a jar and give it to my grandson," he answered.

"Do you see where it says penny, nickel, quarter, and dollar?" he pointed to the monitor on his metal detector. "It doesn't know exactly what's underneath. It only gives you a good idea of what you might find." When I think about what Rudy said, I suppose that we are all treasure hunters one way or another, searching for that elusive find waiting to be discovered. We may end up with a lump of coal or a diamond in the rough. These are the chances we take. There are no guarantees, only possibilities. It takes time, patience, and perseverance. Above all, it starts with the leap of faith that the best is yet to be discovered.


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Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Munchkins in My Pumkin



The Scariest Thing

by Mairi Tereas Gallagher

Some things are scary
Others are not,
Like ghosts and goblins,
And things that rot

Cats and dogs are not scary
At all,
All they do is play chase
And catch a ball.

But the scariest thing
Creeps around at night,
Looking for victims
To scratch and bite.

It hides its face
It's too ugly to see,
It rules all the monsters,
Both tall and wee.

Those who've seen his face,
Their eyes burst and bleed,
They beg for mercy
"Spare us, spare us," they plead.

But he's not a giver
He takes what he finds,
All sorts of people
Both sightseers and blind.

You've got the picture,
That he is the king
Of everything scary,
Every little scary thing.

So watch out at night 'cause if
By him you're seen,
He'll give you an evil grin
And say...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!



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Monday, October 29, 2007

A Little More


"The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is a little
extra." -Jimmy Johnson

Tony Melendez is an ordinary individual who does extraordinary things. What's amazing is not so much what he is able to do, but that he can do it with so much less. And with his example, he tells us that, with a little extra, we can accomplish so much more.

To see one of Tony's performances, go here.




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Tom Boy

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Saturday, October 27, 2007

Dia De Los Muertos

Where would you go if you want to party with, say, a few thousand of your closest friends? At the cemetery, of course! Each year Hollywood Forever Cemetery hosts a special event with dance, music, art show, live performances, and food to celebrate Dia de Los Muertos.

Dia de los muertos, also known as "Day of the Dead", is a traditional Mexican holiday when friends and families celebrate and honor loved ones who have passed away. To commemorate their life, they create elaborate altars with offerings, flowers, pictures, and personal items that used to belong to the deceased. A young girl was asked by a reporter what Dia de los Muertos meant to her and who is the inspiration for her altar. She answered that she created it as a remembrance of her sister who committed suicide. Her participation in the event has allowed her to turn something tragic into something positive. In remembering her sadness, she also recalls happy times together. The only true lost is when you have forgotten. And as long as you still remember, the person's spirit lives on.

Here are a few of the images I recorded at the event. You can read more about the history of Dia de los Muertos as well see past photos of the event here.

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Thursday, October 25, 2007

Hot Investment Tips














I made a couple of investments yesterday. And I'm sharing the hot tips with you. No, they're not one of those "no money down", get rich overnight schemes. They don't promise that you're going to miraculously grow a full head of hair, lose fifty pounds, or instantly feel invincible to conquer the world after listening to some motivational guru on audio CDs. In fact, the people handling the investment will tell you up front that it will take months before you'll see a return on your money. In fact, there's a slight chance you might not see any part of your money at all. And if everything goes well, you will get back the exact amount you had originally put in. Why would anyone do that? Because this investment you make has the potential to change lives. And that's no small change.
I first heard of Kiva.org when the organization was featured in a public television interview. What they essentially do is to match lenders like you and me with entrepreneurs in third world countries. As a banker to the poor, the lender does not make any interest on the loan. The borrower has a certain time limit to repay it. When the loan is paid in full, the lender could either choose to withdraw the amount or reinvest it on other borrowers. For instance, I recently made my first loans to Mr. & Mrs. Srim Yan and Daria Diaz Leon. The Yans needed money to rent a plot of farmland to grow crops to feed their family of five. One of their children is a student and the other two work in a garment factory. Mrs. Yan also plans to use part of the money to purchase rice stock to make traditional medicinal wine that she could sell to supplement their income. Daria Diaz Leon share a similar story. She is a mother of two children, one of which has Downs Syndrome. She makes her livelihood selling flowers and fruits. She needed to borrow money in order to purchase fertilizers to grow her crops.
What I like about this concept is that it is not a hand-out. Instead, you provide others the opportunity and resources to help themselves. It's like the old saying about teaching others to fish, except many of these people already know how to fish. They just need the fishing line and hook they could use to catch their own meal.
What is great about Kiva's website is that you can purchase electronic gift certificates for someone you care about. Instead of buying that special person another tie or fruit cake (also known as "door stop") for Christmas, you can give a gift that could literally change another person's life. And that's one present you don't have to worry about being returned because it doesn't fit.

(By the way, for those of you who have seen the infomercials by Feed The Children. They received an 'F' rating from American Institute of Philanthropy. If you are thinking of making a donation, I recommend that you read about them first on AIP's website.)

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(Pictures of Mr. & Mrs. Yan and Daria Diaz Leon taken from Kiva.org's website)

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Monday, October 22, 2007

Water Boy for a Day

There are days when you just can do no right no matter how hard you try. Everything that could possibly go wrong goes terribly wrong. Then there are those rare moments when everything falls into place, and all that you wished for comes true as you have imagined. You feel like god is looking down on you, as if to say in a wink and a smile, "Hey, kid. This one's for you."


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Sunday, October 21, 2007

Porridge, porta potties, and tamales


I spent this past Sunday shooting street photography. I started out the morning in Chinatown where I had breakfast in my favorite Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant. They have an assortment of tasty soup noodles, pan fried noodles, and rice dishes. On this day, I had a hot bowl of fish porridge with a side order of Chinese donut, which is essentially elongated dough that is fried in hot oil.
After the meal, I took a short drive to downtown that is only a couple of minutes away.
I walked around for about an hour but didn't see anything that caught my eyes. Having been to downtown perhaps a hundred times or more, you would think I know the place like the back of my hand. What became apparent to me that I didn't realize before is that there's an undeniable connection between downtown Los Angeles and New York City: It is impossible to find a restroom when you need it most. Every fast food restaurant I visited did not have one. I would understand it if they denied non-customers. But paying customers too?! Shouldn't they have laws that require certain establishments to offer public restrooms. I'm sure they don't ask their employees to just hold it for an eight hour work shift. Whatever happened to the old saying, "customer is king"? Now, tell me, how could a king rule his kingdom without his "throne" ;) Anyways, after walking the distance of about 5 blocks, I was finally able to find a restroom on the bottom floor of the Grand Central Market. I must say that it was 25 cents well spent, considering you can't buy anything for a quarter these days. Except for a 10 minute meter parking and apparently a good piss. I find it ironic that both have time limit and if you run of it, you're screwed. And you know what's funny? The restroom was so crowded that they hired an employee just to stand inside it to make sure everyone who goes in pays the cover charge. That place is a gold mine. I figured, if the owner of the Dodgers, Frank McCourt, could make millions as a parking lot operator, why couldn't I become a millionaire as a restroom mogul? Taking a page out of Starbuck's marketing play book, I would have modernized porta potties on every block in downtown. I'm just kidding.
Anyways, I wasn't quite satisfied that I didn't get any good pictures, so I decided to drive 10 minutes away to Boyle Heights to see if I would have better luck. It was about noon by the time I got there. All day I've been craving for some good carnitas (roast pork) tacos. I found a restaurant on the corner called, Tamales Evas and chose to have lunch there. I was greeted at the counter by a very attractive young lady. She was articulate, and I noticed that she really enjoyed wearing jewelry. She had multiple rings on her fingers as well as bracelets. Since the restaurant's name is Tamales, I assumed that they must be pretty descent. I was not disappointed by my chicken and pork tamales. You can tell the ingredients were fresh and not simply pre-made and reheated in the microwave before serving it to customers. I like the little touches, such as making sure the plate is heated in order to keep the food warm. Just before I left, a couple of ladies came in with some kids. It was obvious that they are very close friends or part of the family. The waitress called them by their names and warmly kissed one of the little girls. It was a lovely scene. As I was leaving, I complimented the cook on his cooking, and he thanked me for saying that. I would definitely return again if I have craving for some good Mexican food.
I decided to take a stroll up and down the block to see what I could find. It was interesting seeing traditional Mexican musicians in their cowboy hats and guitars in their hands hanging outside different restaurants. They don't make much money performing for customers, but it's a living. After walking for about 3 or 4 blocks, I noticed a very colorful mural in a hidden alley that you see here. I had just purchased a new point and shoot camera- Canon G9. The widest angle on the camera is 35mm. Though I wish it could be wider, it does its job well. I did not have a tripod with me, so I just hand held the camera and took a series of overlapping shots. When I got home, I used Photoshop and digitally "stitched" them together. I'm no expert at Photoshop, but I'm satisfied with the result. If you would like to see the details of the mural, simply click your mouse on the photo to see an enlargement. You can do the same thing on any picture in my blog.

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Ghost Town

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Thursday, October 18, 2007

Elephant in The Room


There's an elephant in the room.

Who will confront it before there's nothing
left to destroy?

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Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Babe Watch


Babe watching babe.

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Tuesday, October 9, 2007

My Father, My Hero

What a concept... a father as hero. Not a celebrity. A sport superstar. An "American idol" . Or anyone with great wealth, fame, or power. Well, perhaps power. Power not in the sense of being able to control or dominate over someone. But the ability to make someone feel that they are important. That they matter. Even when the world tells them otherwise. One of my favorite quotes is, "To the world, you may be just one person, but to one person, you may be the world." The story of Dick Hoyt and his son Rick epitomizes the spirit of this quote and what family and love between a father and son should be. I hope you find inspiration in the article and video.

Strongest Dad in the World

Rick Reilly for Sports Illustrated

I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay for their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots.

But compared with Dick Hoyt, I'm lousy.

Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars -- all in the same day.

Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike. Makes taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?

And what has Rick done for his father? Not much -- except save his life.

This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

"He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life," Dick says doctors told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. "Put him in an institution."

But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. "No way," Dick says he was told. "There's nothing going on in his brain."

"Tell him a joke," Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain.

Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? "Go Bruins!" And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, "Dad, I want to do that."

Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described "porker" who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried. "Then it was me who was handicapped," Dick says. "I was sore for two weeks."

That day changed Rick's life. "Dad," he typed, "when we were running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!"

And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

"No way," Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then they found a way to get into the race officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said, "Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?"

How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick tried.

Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii. It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you think?

Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? "No way," he says. Dick does it purely for "the awesome feeling" he gets seeing Rick with a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992 -- only 35 minutes off the world record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time.

"No question about it," Rick types. "My dad is the Father of the Century."

And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries was 95% clogged. "If you hadn't been in such great shape," one doctor told him, "you probably would've died 15 years ago."

So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass., always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.

That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.

"The thing I'd most like," Rick types, "is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once."

Sports Illustrated Issue date: June 20, 2005, p. 88



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Sunday, October 7, 2007

Achilles' Heel

There is a new craze in the Chinese community. Foot massage parlors are popping up all over town. Within a half block of a busy boulevard, we counted no less than 3 foot massage joints in two strip malls we visited. I first heard about it from a co-worker who spoke glowingly about his positive experience. Besides getting a relaxing message, the price was supposed to be ridiculously cheap. It sounded appealing, and when two friends of mine visited from out of town for the weekend, we decided to take the plunge.
Two banners hang outside the store front of two competing massage parlors in the same strip mall. The advertised price was identical, $15 per hour. We decided to scope out the place before settling in. The first joint we strolled by looked dark from the outside, and we could see busy massage workers attending to the clients inside. It was nothing more than an office space furnished with cheaply made, out-of-style, couches you typically find for sale at a Chinese furniture store or at your local Salvation Army. We decided on the second parlor, because we liked the fact it had individual recliners. After being seated, we proceeded to take off our shoes and socks and rolled up our pants. The workers brought each of us a wooden bucket filled with lukewarm water to soak our feet. We agreed that the water was barely warm, and thinking back now, I think it was probably more meant for the purpose of washing off the odor of customer's feet than to make them feel relaxed. It was close to midnight when we first arrived, and the place was almost at full capacity. There were approximately 30 recliners in all. Every few minutes new customers came in to get treatment or inquire about the price. It was my first time getting a foot massage. The male masseur first worked on my upper body. He twisted and stretched me in different directions. I felt like a human pretzel. Then he pounded me and slap my back with great force as if he were tenderizing a piece of steak. I thought the experience was quite funny and painful at the same time. I couldn't help myself from laughing and grimacing whenever he rubbed a spot too hard. My squeamish reaction made him laugh, and that seemed to break the ice between us. He joked with me that instead of getting massage next time, I should just get an oil rub down. He thinks the pain threshold level is one I could better handle. Hearing that made me feel like such a girly man. "After massaging people all day, you probably need a massage when you get home," I joked. I asked him how long he had been working that day. "15 hours," he answered. "You see?" pointing to his swollen hands. "No English....no money. Driving truck, make the same." he said. After hearing that, I was swept with an overwhelming feeling of sadness and guilt. In fact, I didn't feel like talking much for the rest of the session. For the remaining hour, I just observed him and his co-working whispering to each other and glancing at the owner surveying the floor, as if they were afraid that the owner would overhear what they were saying. One way I would describe the atmosphere of the place is that it is like a Walmart of massages, a place where cheap prices and profit are religion and the spirit of the congregation is sacrificial offering. When the session ended, I paid the masseur for the massage and gave him a $15 tip.
While walking back to my car, I told my friends that I vow to never get another foot massage again. I too wondered as you may whether the masseur was exaggerating his hardship just to gain my sympathy. Perhaps so, perhaps not. I tend to believe the latter to be more true. My guess is that, at best, the owner probably paid the workers less than half of what they charged the customers. I would be extremely surprised if the workers receive any benefits.
I was talking with my mother the other day when we had lunch together. I told her about my experience and how I felt about the situation. She said that many of the workers in massage parlors are illegal immigrants. Many of them come to the U.S. with tourist visas but they never return to China. Because they could not speak English and don't have green cards, they are forced to do menial labor to survive. She's heard of an owner of a massage parlor who rounded up workers in the morning in a van and then dropped off the same group when the shop closed at night.
I wondered aloud whether my decision to boycott their business would actually help or hurt the workers. Although the work is difficult and the owners may be unfair or even cruel, the workers were able to have a job because the business continues to exists. "If they had better choices, they would not be working there in the first place," my mother said. Maybe she's right. Things may look dark right now, but there may still be hope for them in the future. As long as one can survive in American, anything can happen.

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Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Paper, Rock, Scissors


"It is by chance that we met, by choice that we became friends."

"The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend."
-Abraham Lincoln

"A friend is one who walks in when others walk out"
-Walter Winchell

"A friend is one who knows us, but loves us anyway.
-Fr. Jerome Cummings

"Go through your phone book, call people and ask them to drive you to the airport. The ones who will drive you are your true friends. The rest aren't bad people, they're just acquaintances."
-Jay Leno

"In prosperity our friends know us; in adversity we know our friends."
-John Churton Collings

"True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable."
-David Tyson Gentry

"Purchase not friends by gifts; when thou ceases to give, such will cease to love."
-Thomas Fuller


"If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together... there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But most important thing is, even if we're apart...I'll always be with you." -Winnie the Pooh

"We do not so much need the help of our friends as the confidence of their help in need."
-Epicurus

"It is better to be in chains with friends than to be in a garden with strangers."
-Persian Proverb

"Life without a friend is like death without a witness."
- Spanish Proverb

"Great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget."

"Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over."
-Gloria Naylor

"There isn't much better in this life than finding a way to spend a few hours in conversation with people you respect and love. You have to carve this time out of your life because you aren't really living without it."
-Real Live Preacher


"Don't flatter yourself that friendship authorizes you to say disagreeable things to your intimates. The nearer you come into relation with a person, the more necessary do tact and courtesy become. Except in cases of necessity,which are rare, leave your friend to learn unpleasant things from his enemies; they are ready enough to tell them."
-Oliver Wendell Holmes


"Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Don't walk behind me, I may not lead.
Walk beside me and be my friend."
- Albert Camus


"Never explain- your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway."
-Elbert Hubard

"To the world, you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world."
-Brandi Synder

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Monday, October 1, 2007

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Lady Liberty of Los Angeles


Not many people are aware that Los Angeles has its own Statue of Liberty. Regardless of how one feels about immigration reform, I think it is most appropriate that the statue is located in downtown where the large Hispanic population of L.A. works and shops everyday.

When I was a little boy, I used to stay up all night watching t.v. when there was no school the next day. Just before the t.v. station went off the air, it used to end its broadcast each night by playing Ray Charles singing "America the Beautiful". People tend to associate America with red, white, and blue and apple pie. I think Ray Charles should be included on that list. I couldn't think of many other artists who is as soulful as brother Ray. One of my regrets is to not have seen him perform while he was alive. If you've forgotten how special he is, you can watch his performance here.

Facts:

The original name of the 'Statue of Liberty' is Liberty Enlightening the World.

The 7-point spiked crown represents the seven continents or the seven seas.

Lady Liberty holds a torch high over her head with the right hand and holds a tablet close to her body in her left hand.

The tablet contains the text "July IV MDCCLXXVI", which commemorates the independence day of The United States of America on July 4, 1776.

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Friday, September 28, 2007

Clean Thoughts


"I believe you should live each day as if it is your last, which is why I don't have any clean laundry, because, come on, who wants to wash clothes on the last day of their life?" -unknown

"It's hard for me to get used to these changing times. I can remember when the air was clean and sex was dirty." -George Burns

"Cleaning anything involves making something else dirty, but anything can get dirty without something else getting clean." -Laurence J. Peter

"Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.
-Maya Angelou

"Is sex dirty? Only if it is done right." -Woody Allen

"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty." -Mahatma Gandhi

"I see L.A. as a beautiful blonde with dirty underwear" -David Boreanza

"A clean fighter in a dirty game [on boxer Joe Louis] -Wilfrid Diamond

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Thursday, September 27, 2007

For Better or Worse

"Don't marry the person you think you can live with; marry only the individual you think you can't live without." -Lord Byron

"Many a man in love with a dimple makes the mistake of marrying the whole girl." -Stephen Leacock

"Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction." -Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Love is blind, but marriage restores its sight." -Samuel Lichtenberg

"Women seem to be all right on bargain till it comes to picking out a husband." -Ken Hubbard

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother." -Theodore Hesburg

"The four rings of marriage: the engagement ring, the wedding ring, the suffering, and enduring."

"In every marriage more than a week old, there are grounds for divorce.The trick is to find, and continue to find, the grounds for marriage." -Robert Anderson

"Laughter is the shortest distance between two people." -Victor Borge

When asked for about his secret for being married fifty-four years to the same person, he said, "Ruth and I are happily incompatible." -Billy Graham

"A good marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband." -Michel de Montaigne

"The Japanese have a word for it.It's Judo -- the
art of conquering by yielding.The Western equivalent of judo is, 'Yes, dear.'" -J. P. McEvoy

"The best way to remember your wife's birthday is to forget it once." ~H.V. Prochnow

"My wife tells me she doesn't care what I do when I'm away, as long as I'm not enjoying it."
-Lee Trevino

"Think not because you are now wed that all your courtship's at an end."
-Antonio Hurtado de Mendoza

"If you live to be a hundred, I want To live to be a hundred minus one day,
So I never have to live without you." -A.A. Milne Eeyore


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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Horsing Around


"They must get to the end and go, 'We were just here. What's the point of that?'"
-Jerry Seinfeld, on what a horse must think after a race is over

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Friday, September 21, 2007

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Celluloid Dreams


John's job is to clean the stars on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood. Even without his legs, he manages to do a wonderful job shining the stars of the forgotten heroes...even if they're all just make-believe.














Celluloid Heroes

by The Kinks


Everybody's a dreamer and everybody's a star,
And everybody's in movies, it doesn't matter who you are.
There are stars in every city,
In every house and on every street,
And if you walk down Hollywood Boulevard
Their names are written in concrete.

Don't step on Greta Garbo as you walk down the boulevard,
She looks so weak and fragile thats why she tried to be so hard
But they turned her into a princess
And they sat her on a throne,
But she turned her back on stardom,
Because she wanted to be alone.

You can see all the stars as you walk down Hollywood Boulevard,
Some that you recognize, some that you've hardly even heard of,
People who worked and suffered and struggled for fame,
Some who succeeded and some who suffered in vain.

Rudolph Valentino, looks very much alive,
And he looks up ladies dresses as they sadly pass him by.
Avoid stepping on Bela Lugosi
'cause he's liable to turn and bite,
But stand close by Bette Davis
Because hers was such a lonely life.

If you covered him with garbage,
George Sanders would still have style,
And if you stamped on Mickey Rooney
He would still turn round and smile,
But please don't tread on dearest Marilyn
'cause shes not very tough,
She should have been made of iron or steel,
But she was only made of flesh and blood.

You can see all the stars as you walk down Hollywood Boulevard,
Some that you recognize, some that you've hardly even heard of.
People who worked and suffered and struggled for fame,
Some who succeeded and some who suffered in vain.

Everybody's a dreamer and everybody's a star
And everybody's in show biz, it doesn't matter who you are.
And those who are successful,
Be always on your guard,
Success walks hand in hand with failure
Along Hollywood Boulevard.

I wish my life was a non-stop Hollywood movie show,
A fantasy world of celluloid villains and heroes,
Because celluloid heroes never feel any pain
And celluloid heroes never really die.

You can see all the stars as you walk along Hollywood Boulevard,
Some that you recognize, some that you've hardly even heard of,
People who worked and suffered and struggled for fame,
Some who succeeded and some who suffered in vain.

Oh celluloid heroes never feel any pain
Oh celluloid heroes never really die.

I wish my life was a non-stop Hollywood movie show,
A fantasy world of celluloid villains and heroes,
Because celluloid heroes never feel any pain
And celluloid heroes never really die.


Listen to the song, Celluloid Heroes, here.



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Monday, September 17, 2007

Sweet 15


"How strange that the young should always think the world is against them- when in fact that is the only time it is for them.
-Mignon McLaughlin

"The young always have the same problem- how to rebel and conform at the same time. They have now solved this by defying their parents and copying each other."
-Quentin Crisp

"Telling a teenager the facts of life is like giving fish a bath."
-Arnold H. Glasow

"Adolescents are not monsters. They are just people trying to learn how to make it among the adults in the world, who are probably not so sure themselves."
-Virginia Satir

"Don't laugh at a youth for his affectations; he is only trying on one face after another to find a face of his own."
-Logan Pearsall Smith

"I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life's a bitch. You've got to go out and kick ass."
-Maya Angelou

"Maturity begins to grow when you sense you concern for others outweighing your concern for yourself."
-John MacNoughton

"When buying a used car, punch the buttons on the radio. If all the stations are rock and roll, there's a good chance the transmission is shot."
-Larry Lujack

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Sunday, September 16, 2007

Pimping For J.C.


Frank was holding a bible in his hand.

Me: "Are you a preacher?"

Frank: "No, I came from church."

Me: "That's quite an outfit you have on."

Frank: "Thank you!"

Me: "Well, you are an original, I tell you."

Frank: "Thank you!! I have a closet full of suits like this one!"


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