On this Terrestrial Ball

I’m still reminiscing about songs from my last posting.  Remember the catchy song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” by Bobby McFerrin in 1988?  Nice tune with a nice message.  And while I have nothing against the word, happy , I find it too temporary and quickly fleeting.  It’s great to be happy, but happiness is an emotion that fades quickly in the face of coming challenges we face daily.  What I seek is something deeper.   Something that doesn’t fade even when challenges and daily struggles come our way.   Something I can cling to like a life preserver while floating out in the stormy ocean.   The best way to describe that feeling, that quality, is with the word joyful . To be joyful goes beyond emotion. It goes deeper and is embedded into our very essence, that is, our soul.   Tied into being joyful is having a confidence, a conviction so rooted into who we are as a person that even on the days we take a hit from life’s challenges, it’s still ...

For those of you who remember the music of the 80’s, there was a California-based group called “Oingo Boingo.”  I saw them many times in concert, especially around Halloween since, if you know their music, tends to have a kind of Halloween vibe.  There was one song I particularly liked called, “No One Lives Forever.”  Now, I’m not a morbid guy or anything, but the song had a good beat and energy.  But as time went on, the group shortened their name to “Boingo” and then eventually disbanded.  I still have my T-shirt from their Farewell Tour which I went to on, you guessed it, Halloween.  Now, the band leader, Danny Elfman, does mostly soundtracks for movies.  His orchestral music has a distinctive style which anyone who is an Oingo Boingo fan can identify with.  Just listen to “Beetlejuice,” “Edward Scissorhands,” “The Simpsons,” or “Nightmare Before Christmas” and you’ll see what I mean. So yeah, just like one of my favorite bands from the 80’s...

No one likes to wait. When I was a kid, when I went to the movies I would buy a ticket and wait in line until the ushers let me into the theater and once they did, it was a mad rush to get in a grab a good seat.  No one wanted to sit in the first two rows where the screen looked a thousand feet long.  That was way before the days when you can now pick out and reserve your seat for the movie.  But even now, once you sit down in the theater, it takes another 30 plus minutes of movie previews (I like these) and commercials (I don’t like these) before the movie starts. Then there’s the doctor’s office.   Even with an appointment you still end up waiting quite awhile before you actually see the doctor.   And how about the Visa process, which I’ve mentioned in previous articles where you go through a 90-day process, sometimes longer, in order to secure a longer-term Visa. Let’s face it.   Life is a series of events which involves waiting.   I recently re...

I recently went to a neighborhood party in my area.  I’m getting to know my neighbors that live around me in Thailand and am happy to see I basically live in the United Nations.  To the left I have England and to the right I have the United States. Directly in front I have Australia, and behind me I have India.  I little further down I have Sweden and German folks nearby.  And mixed into it all we have Thailand. It’s great getting to know people from all over the world, hearing their accents, and learning about their cultures is a great life experience. Reminds me of a bag of mixed nuts. Good ol’ peanuts combined with macadamias, acorns, cashews, pistachios, walnuts, and even a few of those large Brazilian nuts.   All different in taste, texture, and size but also similar being they’re all nuts.   And aren’t we all a little bit nuts now and then?   I know I am.   So, there I was at this party talking to a new friend, Jimmy, from Australia. ...