Author: Frank

Music…

Killing Time

Thunder Seven

Triumph

and Words

Hanging out on the corner
He’s got no place to go.
She sits in an empty bedroom
Playing the radio.
Every day they’re regretting
All the things never tried;
Every day they’re dyin’
Just a little bit more inside.

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

I attended high school where I first discovered Triumph.  They played hard rock, but they felt different than other bands of the time.  Other bands had image or even some dirt.  They sounded cleaner.  I started with this album, Thunder Seven.  I imagine that I initially had it on cassette, though I only remember playing it on CD.  Subsequently, I attended two of their concerts, the tours for this album and The Sport of Kings.  The stage shows were phenomenal.

Since my teens, I listened to this band, mesmerized by the sound of their music.  These days predated the streaming applications and even digital music, in the form of MP3’s.  Playing music meant that you needed to carry the physical media, typically in the form of cassettes or CD, so I needed to be selective.  Triumph was a persistent part of that collection.  This continued through college and beyond.

Continue reading “Carpe Diem” →

Music…

Bicycle Race

Jazz

Queen

and Words

Bicycle, bicycle, bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle, bicycle, bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

In my early days on the sunny isle of Puerto Rico, I really wanted a bicycle.  My parents ran a restaurant which doubled as our home.  We resided on the dividing line between San Juan and Rio Piedras, a busy street as far as Puerto Rican roads go.  Running the business also kept them occupied.  They could easily keep an eye on me if I were sitting around doing my homework or watching television, but once I wandered out onto the streets, all bets were off.  They vetoed the idea of a bicycle based on these two factors.

Once we moved to Fort Lauderdale, I got my first bike.  My mom found a Kent BMX bike that she could afford in one of the local department stores, like Jefferson’s.  I tolerated that bicycle for the first year or two; it would be that or nothing at all.  We were poor, and while my mom provided us with whatever we needed, what we wanted was entirely another discussion.

Continue reading “Endless summer days on two wheels” →

Music…

The Power Of Love

Back to the Future Soundtrack

Huey Lewis & The News

and Words

The power of love is a curious thing
Make a one man weep, make another man sing
Change a hawk to a little white dove
More than a feeling, that’s the power of love

Tougher than diamonds, rich like cream
Stronger and harder than a bad girl’s dream
Make a bad one good, make a wrong one right
Power of love will keep you home at night

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

It’s just a typical Thanksgiving.  I’ve had the turkey thawing in the refrigerator for a few days; I will deal with any pockets that remain frozen when I take it out and examine it.  I baked the cheesecake last night; it remains the same recipe that I’ve baked for years.  I also have provisions for scalloped potatoes, it’s a microwave recipe that came with my microwave when I was in college.  Slicing the potatoes into the thin slices is a bit of work, but it’s all part of the ritual.  Yesterday, I also picked up a Honey Baked Ham because it’s delicious, and I want to give my guests options.

I moved to the Seattle area from Miami decades ago.  Upon arrival, I didn’t know anyone in the Seattle area, though I developed friends quickly.  I faced the dilemma that many people early in their professional careers face.  Do I travel to see family for Thanksgiving, or do I stay put and make plans with friends?  On most years, I would stay put for the long weekend, opting to spend a little more time during the winter holidays.

Continue reading “Giving thanks, twice a year” →

Music…

Burn

Halcyon Days

Ellie Goulding

and Words

We, we don’t have to worry ’bout nothing (nothing, nothing)
‘Cause we got the fire, and we’re burning one hell of a something (something, something)
They, they’re gonna see us from outer space, outer space
Light it up, like we’re the stars of the human race, human race

When the light started out, they don’t know what they heard
Strike the match, play it loud, giving love to the world
We’ll be raising our hands, shining up to the sky
‘Cause we got the fire, fire, fire
Yeah, we got the fire, fire, fire

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

On an early Wednesday morning, I navigate the parking structure that dives down six stories from the ground level.  It’s relatively easy to reach the bottom level; ramps lead directly down only briefly opening on each level.  I choose the lowest level for consistency as I park close to the elevators.  Next, I ride this elevator up to the second floor.  I walk past Jerry’s shoeshine station, though it’s closed today.  Had he been there, I would’ve greeted him with a warm smile.

I cut through the courtyard that separates the Nordstrom Rack and the food court, none yet open.  I reach a bank of elevators just past that courtyard, I pick the set to the right.  After clicking through my badge, I ascend to the 26th floor where my desk resides at work (at Pokémon, or technically TPCi, a subsidiary).

Continue reading “A typical day at work… until it wasn’t” →

Music…

Closing Time

Feeling Strangely Fine

Semisonic

and Words

Closing time, open all the doors
And let you out into the world
Closing time, turn all of the lights on
Over every boy and every girl

Closing time, one last call for alcohol
So, finish your whiskey or beer
Closing time, you don’t have to go home
But you can’t stay here

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

As a young child in Puerto Rico, my dad ran his own restaurant; the rear of that building was our home.  My parents ran the business, though different aspects of it.  However, I only got to spent time with my dad during the afternoon siestas and late at night, after our business closed and all the side work had been finished.  I think this was the start of my becoming a nocturnal creature.  I treasured those moments I spent with my dad, though he passed away shortly after I turned nine.

My mom tried her best to get us to bed at a sensible time.  The television stations played this annoyingly memorable song at a particular time at night; that would inform parents to put their kids to bed.  The first verse translates to “Let’s go to bed, since we have to get some rest.”  We eventually grew wise to this scheme and turned the channel in order to stay awake a bit later.

Continue reading “Carpe Noctem” →

Music…

Sentimental Street

7 Wishes

Night Ranger

and Words

Saw you walkin’ out on sentimental street
What you doin’ out there?
Who you tryin’ to be?
I know what you’re thinkin’
‘Cause I’ve been there myself
I’ve been kicked so many times
I don’t know nothin’ else

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

On a typical winter day in South Florida, I start the moderately long drive from Palm Beach to Miami.  The forecast may be cloudy, but the sun still beams and casts hard shadows upon the hot pavement.  Well, I call it comparatively hot.  I now live in Washington where it is around 40 degrees Fahrenheit.  Florida’s 70’s seem downright balmy.  The southeast coast of Florida was my home during my late childhood, and in many ways, I still consider it my home.  This is not an account of a particular trip, but it is instead an amalgamated account of many such trips.

Beautiful beaches line the southeast coast of Florida, ones that I took for granted while growing up.  Uniformly along that coast, there’s a freeway, Interstate 95 (I-95 for short) that follows that coast.  It consistently runs around a 15-minute-drive from the actual coast.  It allowed for easy access to the beaches, but similarly it was far enough away to avoid many of the problems from being right on the beach.  If we were to follow it north, it’ll run all the way up the east coast to Maine; I’ve driven it to Connecticut.  If we were to drive it south, it eventually empties into Miami, directly onto South Dixie Highway (US1).

Continue reading “A drive down memory lane” →

Music…

The Logical Song

Breakfast in America

Supertramp

and Words

When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful
A miracle, oh it was beautiful, magical
And all the birds in the trees, well they’d be singing so happily
Oh joyfully, oh playfully watching me

But then they send me away to teach me how to be sensible
Logical, oh responsible, practical
And then they showed me a world where I could be so dependable
Oh clinical, oh intellectual, cynical

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

On an especially vivid childhood memory of my dad, we built Legos.  My kid sister, dad, and I sat on the cold tile floor late at night.  Some bricks were scattered over the floor, though most remained in a bucket-like bin used for storage.  We built tall, colorful, symmetrical structures that resembled nothing in real-life.  It was long past our bedtime, and we struggled to stay awake.  My dad ran a restaurant; we didn’t get his uninterrupted time until after closing time.  These slivers of time oozed with anticipation and magic.

My older sister, four years my senior, did not join us in our brick-building activity.  I’m not sure if she felt she outgrew it, or perhaps it just wasn’t her thing.  She approached teen hood at the time, and maybe it was time for her to develop her independence.  The one observation about my younger sister and I, we both went on to become engineers.  We graduated on the same day, years later; she with a mechanical engineering degree and me with a computer engineering degree.

Continue reading “Logic, reason, and the journey of life” →

Music…

Fly Me Courageous

Fly Me Courageous

Drivin N Cryin

and Words

I’ve got you on the loose
I left you groovin’
I’ve got you on the beat
I left you broken
But won’t you take my place
Since long ago I wandered
Way out on a cliff
With the brilliance of an angel

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

On the summer of 1991, I walk into the men’s room at work.  Much like you’d expect, I simply walk in for a nature call.  As I stand there at the urinal, I do my business.  My mind wanders, and for a brief moment it turns to absolutely nothing.  Next, I absentmindedly zip up and walk to the sink to wash my hands.  As I lather up, my mind fixates on precisely where I am.  I panic.

I stand in the men’s room at Microsoft’s Building 13; I started my professional career a few days ago.  A whirlwind of activity led up to this week.  First, I had a short vacation days before I left Florida, where we drove up the East Coast to visit friends in Philadelphia and Connecticut.  Next, I arrived in Washington a week early to take care of administrative tasks.  I used this week to accomplish tasks like getting a new license, transferring my registration, finding an apartment.  Subsequently, I tackled all these.

Continue reading “One crazy summer” →

Music…

You’re Still The One

Come On Over

Shania Twain

and Words

When I first saw you, I saw love
And the first time you touched me, I felt love
And after all this time, You’re still the one I love

Mmm, yeah
Looks like we made it
Look how far we’ve come my baby
We mighta took the long way
We knew we’d get there someday

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

In an otherwise ordinary summer weekend in the late 1990’s, I fly into St. Louis.  Today, I’ll be meeting my sister and her then fiancé, in this unfamiliar city.  My flight runs late, and I’ll be keeping them waiting.  Well, the two of them and a mess of strangers.  You see, they all need to wait for me to arrive before we can all take the long car ride to Rolla, Missouri.

A year before, my sister and now brother-in-law attended a family event with his extended family.  He and his extended family, a collection of cousins from his father’s side, collectively decided to meet for a cousin reunion each year.  Each year they’d pick a different location, and everyone would flock to that city.  What they did was really of little consequence, it was simply an opportunity for family to gather.

Continue reading “Family of another kind” →

Music…

Don’t Look Back In Anger

(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?

Oasis

and Words

Slip inside the eye of your mind
Don’t you know you might find
A better place to play
You said that you’d never been
But all the things that you’ve seen
Will slowly fade away

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

As I watched the Academy Awards a few weeks ago, the movie “Everything Everywhere All at Once” won most of the awards for which it was nominated.  I celebrated in stoic Asian pride as I watched people who looked like me shuffle onto the stage.  I watched the film only a few days preceding the Academy Awards, and to be perfectly honest it took more brain power for my state of inebriation at that moment.

Naturally, many of the faces on the stage were familiar.  However, there was one face, both on the stage and in the film that I was familiar, but I couldn’t quite place.  I scrolled through the cast listed in IMDB.  It was there that I got my answer, the actor was Harry Shum Jr.  Though now that I have a name to go with the face, the question was…  “Where have I seen him before?”

Continue reading “Now or Never” →