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Quiet Musing In The Autumn

  • What Are You Happy About?
    One thing good about the holiday season is that one feels happy about one’s own grumpiness. All the stress of experiencing cheerful things, the boredom of shopping trips, the mental anxiety of trying to say something less like holiday cliches can add up and make anybody grumpy. But we tell … Continue reading What Are You Happy About?
  • Poem: The Holiday Haul
    Morning sunlight pale, shadow of floating cloud chill. A half full parking lot, many full carts of goods, whether you need or need not. One in T-shirt, with cool words printed on, deliberately non-provoking. One in winter boots, not for the feet, but for the beautiful legs. One in jacket, … Continue reading Poem: The Holiday Haul
  • Remember Or Not
    My friend said his father is getting forgetful, but his father’s doctor told them that his cognitive ability is at the top 5% of his age group. The family should be celebrating rather than worrying about his mental state. So I asked how the doctor made the judgement call and … Continue reading Remember Or Not
  • Poem: A Windy Monday
    The howling sound, the waving bare branches. Your age old greetings, timely every fall, dreaded every winter. Clouds are pushed here and there, fallen leaves swept away. What’s not fixed or tied down flown off. Gone is the past season of fear that virus spread through the air. Holidays are … Continue reading Poem: A Windy Monday
  • Poem: In Season
    It’s an eccentric fruit, in color, shape, structure, pronunciation, and spelling–pomegranate. Suddenly it shows up in stores, some in piles, some in bins, some big–more than one pound each, some small as a tennis ball. The seeds are so red, almost hurting your eyes; eating them are so messy, hands … Continue reading Poem: In Season
  • The Happy Surprises
    I woke up this morning, surprised that I had a good sleep last night. Insomnia gone, headache nonexistent. Sometimes happiness descends from nowhere. I almost felt that I don’t deserve it. Have you ever experienced the moment when your friend did or said something that happily surprised you? I have … Continue reading The Happy Surprises
  • To Admire A Place
    The best way to admire a place is from a distance. Once you live there, it’s a very different story. I know a couple who admired a house in South Brunswick township for a year when it was being built–that was years ago when many new development were happening there–and … Continue reading To Admire A Place
  • How To Fight The Winter Blue
    I guess this is all caused by the fact that the sun set at 4:40PM and darkness swallows several hours of an afternoon. The crisp autumn air and the mild temperature cannot save the day when daylight shrinks so much. When you have the winter blue, just think about those … Continue reading How To Fight The Winter Blue
  • Mini Story List
    Stories about Armei, Pammy and Lu Trouble With Language Three Women On Politics The Manager Of The Bamboo Palace The Sales Training The Thrill And Peril Of Love The Driving Lesson A Non-Greek Tragedy Chul And Jool The Battle Of Love Stories From Memory A Cat And A Train Ride … Continue reading Mini Story List
  • Mini Story: The Bamboo Palace
    The Bamboo Palace is owned by Victor and his wife Mai. Victor is the owner’s English nickname, which was chosen when he first arrived in America more than thirty years ago, obviously for its victorious meaning. Since then, people have gradually started to call him Brother Vi due to his … Continue reading Mini Story: The Bamboo Palace
  • Mini Story: Three Women (Part 2)
    Click Here For Part 1 “I don’t understand why Democrats are so happy? I mean the election is so close even if there’s a pandemic and there’s a big unemployment number. Four years later, I bet it’s going to be Republican again. Probably somebody more extreme.” Lu said. Armei and … Continue reading Mini Story: Three Women (Part 2)
  • Half Month Reading Wrap-up
    “Pangs of Love” by David Wong LouieI suffered a lot while reading “The Barbarians Are Coming”, but as soon as I finish it, I take on this book. Do I ever learn? Am I an incorrigible self torturer? The first story “Birthday” is like “The Barbarians Are Coming” (BAC), deja … Continue reading Half Month Reading Wrap-up
  • When I Look At This
    Last night I stared at this picture, but no sleepiness comes. By the way I checked the copyright of this picture, for which the painter Redon died in 1919, more than 100 years ago and I guess we can post the image just as freely as we can with Van … Continue reading When I Look At This
  • Mini Story: Three Women (Part 1)
    It’s Nov. 9, 2020, a Monday. Every Monday afternoon, Lu, Pammy, and Armei met at Armei’s little cosmetic store, specializing in Asian cosmetic brands. It’s not really Armei’s store. She’s just a shop assistant. Monday is slow and a perfect time to meet her friends. If the owner of the … Continue reading Mini Story: Three Women (Part 1)
  • Today’s Mishaps
    Insomnia is overlooked by people. Nobody considers it as a sickness but it is. It has almost no remedy and people who suffer from it have a nightly dread of going to bed. Although I failed with valerian roots, I am thinking of trying chamomile next. Will meditation work? Thinking … Continue reading Today’s Mishaps
  • How Lucky You Are
    Shermei, Shermei, You don’t know how lucky you are. You’ve never lived in a flooded house, your only shelter, standing on a little stool to eat your meal. You’ve never lived through a famine,when a chicken in the black market would cost a month’s salary. You’ve never encountered social turmoils, … Continue reading How Lucky You Are
  • Let Me Sleep
    I am so afraid of my insomnia that I started to dream of not sleeping last night. I dreamed of myself walking about in dread of going to bed to lie there without feeling sleepy. My grandma appeared in my dream too telling me that if I am not as … Continue reading Let Me Sleep
  • Blocked And Unblocked
    I am completely and probably irreversibly blocked right now after reading a book about blogging, which says what one wants to write is not what others want to read. It sounds really true. Just think about our own life experiences–what we really want to say is often not what other … Continue reading Blocked And Unblocked
  • November’s Bad Poems
    It’s the ugly child of poem that only I can love. Leaves Everywhere I saw her at the Asian grocery store here several times. She must be living nearby. She walked so purposefully into the store as if she’s marching towards a battlefield. To battle what? I don’t know. A … Continue reading November’s Bad Poems
  • Thoughts At The End Of The Day
    Try not to reflect. Whenever I do reflect, I find a lot to regret about. This is why I never like to reflect or meditate or look back. The past is like an endless list of embarrassing moments, unfulfilled desires, flawed decisions. Even if those things I did well, I … Continue reading Thoughts At The End Of The Day

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