tien beat

Friday December 4th,2008 Day 103 Just finished reading Catfish and Mandala, a great book about a Vietnamese-American immigrant who returns to tour Vietnam by bicycle, on a meager budget. I think Vietnam has changed a lot, because I didn’t experience a fraction of the hassling he received for basically being seen as a traitor. He took this trip about 10 years ago, I think. Then again, I wasn’t out on the open road by myself and vulnerable in the same way he was. It was written by Andrew Pham. We are nearing the end. The last day of finals is tomorrow, and then it’s Costa Rica the next day. Like always, I don’t have any plans. We only have three days. My only goals are to make it home with some cash, eat a lot of Costa Rican food, and go zip-lining through the rainforest. Maybe some rafting. I recorded an entire song and spent probably 20 hours mixing it, but I think I have to re-record the entire thing. The guitar is just a little out of tune, and it affects everything. The ...

Hot Springs, Nara Golden Pavillion, Kyoto Washio Kids: Gaku and Aoi Homestay Families: Danika, Estes, Lacey, and Me w/ the Washios Day 90: Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 We are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean right now. Yesterday, we celebrated our crossing of the international dateline with our second November 22nd. I’m not sure I’ll ever get to relive an entire day ever again. It was nice, we had a barbecue, no classes, and I played music. There was a live auction for charity and I sold myself. I was pleased to have been purchased for a significant amount. A lucky lady, and her friends if milady wishes, will have the unique opportunity for a “private serenade” at a time and place of her choosing. It was quite an experience being at this shipboard charity auction…let’s just say a lot of kids have unrestricted, unsupervised access to their parents’ credit cards. I’ve finished a couple songs now, so it’s been an average semester of creative musical productivity for me. That seems...

At sea: Enroute to Hong Kong This moment is beyond comprehension. Poetry has returned to power. Barack Obama is the 44th president of the United States of America. President Barack Obama. After following this election process for a tenth of my life, I am immensely proud of our country for choosing an incredibly capable, intellectually curious, eloquent, and pragmatic leader to our highest office. We, a country built on the backs of slaves, have elected a man who is, at once, a historic part of the African American tradition as well as a descendant of slave owners. I am optimistic that this is a signal for the return of rationality in our public discourse. A return for the respect for our civil rights, our constitutional rights. It’s a good day to be alive. It’s a good day to be a young person in America, being brought into the political process in a way that promotes optimism, involvement, and hope. This day was possible because we believed it could happen. We were told over and ...