Month: January 2026

Music…

Careless Whisper

Make It Big

Wham!

and Words

Time can never mend
The careless whispers of a good friend
To the heart and mind ignorance is kind
But there′s no comfort in the truth
Pain is the all you’ll find

Shoulda′ known better, yeah
I feel so unsure
As I take your hand and lead you to the dance floor
As the music dies
Something in your eyes
Calls to mind the silver screen
And all its sad goodbyes

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

Wham! came onto the scene while I was in high school.  It all started with the dayglow song, “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”.  This is not a post about that song, which, even today, permeates my head as a detestable earworm.  Wham! got enough radio (and MTV) airplay, but they remained mostly in the periphery of my attention.  That’s where this band remained until I graduated high school.

Shortly after I graduated high school, I found my kin.  I sleepwalked through my first eighteen years without really finding other Chinese Americans.  Only a handful of Asian American students attended my high school.  Even when we crossed paths, it felt as if we were still a token group.  Once I graduated, I met other Chinese Americans.  It felt transformative.

Continue reading “How it started with one dance” →

Music…

Red Sector A

Grace Under Pressure

Rush

and Words

All that we can do is just survive
All that we can do to help ourselves is stay alive
All that we can do is just survive
All that we can do to help ourselves is stay alive

Ragged lines of ragged grey
Skeletons, they shuffle away
Shoutin′ guards and smoking guns
Will cut down the unlucky ones

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

I was in high school when I read George Orwell’s 1984; ironically, it was around 1984.  The words expanded my mind and darkened my heart; I loved that book.  Some allege that, in order to render a book boring to students, teachers need only label it required reading.  This book was required reading, and I loved it nonetheless.  I won’t spend my post detailing the events in the book.  I will say that its dystopian nature and the degree to which the state controlled everything awakened parts of my mind that lay dormant.

While I enjoyed reading other required assignments in high school, George Orwell’s 1984 sits at the top of the list.  I should be grateful that it was assigned reading, because I honestly doubt that I would’ve read it on my own.  On my own, I’ve read other books that others allege as classic must-reads, like Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, but it didn’t have the same impact.

Continue reading “In the shadow of 1984” →