Author: Frank

Music…

Life is Beautiful

The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack

Sixx:A.M.
and Words

You can’t quit until you try
You can’t live until you die
You can’t learn to tell the truth
Until you learn to lie

Can’t breathe until you choke
Gotta laugh when you’re the joke
There’s nothing like a funeral
To make you feel alive

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

Raised on the radio, the early 80’s was a mosaic of music that hold fragments of memories from a partially misspent youth.  While we may select one radio station that fell under the category ‘popular’, ‘jazz’, or ‘classic rock’, that’s the extent of choices you had.  Radios had a handful of presets in which may select, though you were still a captive audience to what they played.  There were cassette tapes, of course, but even they were limited.  In a package the size of a small phone, you may store up to 90 minutes of music; if you wanted more options, you’d need to tote more these compact reels of magnetic tape that stored your music.  Many had bins of these in our cars or backpacks in order to have more options.

Continue reading “An honest tale of addiction” →

Music…

Chances

Slice

Five For Fighting
and Words

Chances are when said and done
Who’ll be the lucky ones
Who make it all the way?
Though you say I could be your answer
Nothing lasts forever
No matter how it feels today

Chances are, we’ll find a new equation
Chances rolled away from me
Chances are all they hope to be

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

We all have those movies we love.  They’re the kind of movie where you can recite large portions of the dialogue; this can be either endearing or annoying depending on with whom you watch the film.  This is the kind of film where you are compelled to finish if you should run upon it as you channel graze.  I have several films that qualify, but certainly The Blind Side is among them.

The film is based on the book by the same name; it is the real-life account of Michael Oher.  It effectively frames the story that is as engaging in its significance as it is endearing.  It’s simply one of those stories that makes you smile.  As the credits roll from the film, they start with a slideshow of pictures and this particular song.  I simply can’t hear this song and not see those pictures in my mind.

Continue reading “Hidden truth of the blind side” →

Music…

Anthem to the Estranged

Blessing in Disguise

Metal Church
and Words

Starved for destination, a beggar man by trade
A desperate man needs more than someone else to blame
Friendless he appears, he hides behind his tears
For things he’s lost, or things he’ll never have at all

The forgotten man wanders misplaced in the world
Obscurity is all the eye can see, and I recall

I’m all alone again

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

On a weekday afternoon, I look out the window in my office.  It is situated on the second floor in Building 85 at Microsoft.  Floor to ceiling windows line the opposing wall of the office, and through them, I see a lush meticulously landscaped landing.  People may toss a frisbee out there on occasion; in fact, I may have played catch with a baseball with teammates once.  On one day, I marveled at a stunning double rainbow as I look out said window.  This was my ‘work’ home for a few years.

Continue reading “Coding at the threshold of hearing loss” →

Music…

Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2

The Wall

Pink Floyd
and Words

We don’t need no education
We don’t need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave the kids alone

Hey, teacher leave the kids alone!
All in all it’s just another brick in the wall
All in all you’re just another brick in the wall

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

On an otherwise ordinary school day, we gathered at the cafeteria in my middle school, Parkway Middle School.  Teachers and administrators shuffled the student body in an orderly manner into the large room.  Long tables normally used as our lunch tables filled the room.  The tops of each table pivoted to a makeshift bench; between the tables and the lunch chairs, they’re all aligned to face the same direction.  We gathered to what appears to be a student talent show.

Continue reading “Having my pudding whenever I want” →

Music…

Wind Of Change

Crazy World

Scorpions
and Words

I follow the Moskva and down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
An August summer night soldiers passing by
Listening to the wind of change

The world is closing in and did you ever think
That we could be so close like brothers?
The future’s in the air can feel it everywhere
I’m blowing with the wind of change

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

On an otherwise forgettable afternoon or evening in the 1980’s, I channel surf to find a movie.  The movie Gotcha! comes on one of the premium channels; it’s a movie about a young American tourist who travels to Europe.  While I did enjoy the film, I would encourage you to watch it.  It’s worth it even if only to see Anthony Edwards as a naïve, though cocky college student.  I won’t give away the plot save for one thing; he eventually lands in East Berlin.  What?!

Many of you are not old enough to remember that the city of Berlin, and even Germany, was split into two halves, the East and the West.  It now all sounds like a bad joke; it’s reminiscent of King Solomon ordering the baby to be split in half…  Except that they did.  Germany split into two halves, and they erected a literal wall that separated the East and West sides of Berlin.  That was the reality in which I grew up; much like we think of North and South Korea.

Continue reading “The fall of the Berlin Wall and an opportunity to dream” →

Music…

Happier Than Ever

Happier Than Ever

Billie Eilish
and Words

When I’m away from you
I’m happier than ever
Wish I could explain it better
I wish it wasn’t true

Give me a day or two to think of something clever
To write myself a letter
To tell me what to do, mm-mm

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

I rarely track new music artists these days; I find fewer opportunities to listen to new music as I go on my daily tasks.  When I do listen to music, I generally resort to a poorly fitting playlist that I simply call ‘Good Tunes’.  On a lazy Sunday evening, I turned to some music awards show on television.  I listen somewhat absentmindedly on the background as I continue to type away on my Surface Book.  My keys continued to click loudly on the mechanical keyboard as different artist cycle through the awards and the stage.  Most of them whom I recognize only by name, but others whose name I don’t even register.

Continue reading “Found a gem, the light saber was optional” →

Music…

They Say It’s Gonna Rain

Always Doesn’t Mean Forever

Hazell Dean
and Words

Moo-soo-too-younger-hey-hey
Moo-sala-kooloo-hoh
Moo-soo-too-younger-hey-hey
Moo-sala-kooloo-hoh

They say it’s gonna rain
Blue sky is gonna break
Can you tell why me why
Do good things always have to end?
It seems like yesterday
But it only just begun
Laughing in the sun
I’d hoped you’d be my life long friend

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

As I turned ten, I moved from Puerto Rico to Fort Lauderdale and subsequently spent much of my time expunging the Chinese and Spanish culture from my mind.  No, I’m exaggerating.  I spent no energy intentionally forgetting my culture but certainly did little to retain it.  By the mid 1980’s, I graduated high school.  I made a few great friends with whom I still keep in touch, but truthfully, I fumbled my way through it.  There were no other Cantonese students in my high school, and very few that spoke Spanish.  By the end, I functioned mostly as a native, though average, English speaker with aptitude for mathematics and computers.  I proceeded to study engineering at the University of Miami.

Those months between high school and college were transformational.  For years I took for granted the significance of congregating with people like me.  I sleepwalked through high school, establishing friendships, but not quite finding my people.  In some surreal way, I felt very alone, fully believing there was no one else like me.  Then abruptly, in one night at one party, it all magically appeared.  I found people who looked like me and lived the same experiences.  During that summer, I finally found kinship with other Chinese-Americans.  It felt just short of having a fairy godmother.

Continue reading “A somber remembrance” →

Music…

Never Gonna Give You Up

Whenever You Need Somebody

Rick Astley
and Words

We’re no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do I
A full commitment’s what I’m thinking of
You wouldn’t get this from any other guy

I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling
Gotta make you understand

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

If you’ve spent any amount of time online, you’re likely familiar with the term Rick-rolling.  The classic form of this prank is to simply to link the video into a discussion about something else entirely simply to get someone to click on the video and watch it.  It’s almost like an online version of playing tag.  Getting Rick-rolled is entirely harmless.  I have targeted friends with Rick-rolls and have myself been the target of Rick-rolls.  It all ends with simply the realization that you have indeed been gotten.  Depending on your disposition, you’ll either go on with life or plot revenge.  This post is not a glorified Rick-roll.  The link to the song is front and center, so it’s not as if I’m surreptitiously getting you to click on it.

Continue reading “The Rick-roll and other gags” →

Music…

Metal Health (Bang Your Head)

Metal Health

Quiet Riot
and Words

Well I’m an axe grinder
Pile driver
Mama says
That I never never mind her

Got no brains
I’m insane
The teacher says
That I’m one big pain

I’m like a laser
Six-string razor

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

I wake obscenely early on a Saturday morning; it’s maybe 5:30am.  I get a quick breakfast and gather my things to head to school.  Sometimes my mom drops me off, but today I ride my bicycle to school. As I leave my house, there’s a chill in the air, and fog covers everything.  The streetlights I pass create a cone of light, more visible with the fog; they illuminate the roads as I spin over the sidewalks.  I next ride over the bridge over the Florida’s Turnpike as I approach my high school, South Plantation.  Finally, I lock my bike on the familiar fence between the faculty lot and the football field.  Today, I represent my school in competition.

Continue reading “Heavy Metal Mathematics” →

Music…

Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye

20 #1’s: Classic Rock

Steam
and Words

Na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na
Hey hey hey, goodbye

He’ll never love you the way that I love you
‘Cause if he did, no no, he wouldn’t make you cry
He might be thrillin’ baby, but a-my love (my love, my love)
So dog-gone willin’, so kiss him (I wanna see you kiss him)
Go on and kiss him (I wanna see you kiss him) goodbye, na-na

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

A little over a year ago, my friend read though a number of my posts on Facebook; he noted the length of each post and the subject matter, which centered around social issues.  He suggested that I start a blog.  This was a great idea.  While you can certainly mark each post as publicly visible, there are limitations to posts on Facebook.  There are many limitations for formatting your posts; you can’t emphasize words (with different sized fonts, italics or boldface), you have limited ways to embed images, among other restrictions.  Finally, one of the biggest motivating factors was that the content would be strictly mine.  If I should happen to close my Facebook account, it doesn’t simply go into the ether.

Continue reading “Goodbye, Spotify” →