Reality and Randomness

Yesterday, I was at the Gallery Drip Coffee in the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Center, listening to some music on my laptop and watching the traffic crawl back and forth in front of MBK Center, all to the pleasant aroma of slow-drip, hand-poured coffee.


It was a peaceful afternoon.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Peaceful is needed. I am on the cusp of more big changes in my life, and am aware of the inexorable dislocation to come, the need to get things done before this big change, to meet up with people, and say my goodbyes yet again. What is it about this world and the frequency of goodbyes? Do departures mean as much anymore when everyone from Merriam Elementary School (my beginning) to Thammasat University (my latest job) are a click away on Facebook?


Well, they do to me, perhaps because I've been through so many of them (welcome to the expatriate lifestyle) especially the face-to-face ones - with the imperfect pauses, the need to say something but not knowing what exactly, the last hurried hugs, and the wakes left after one's departure ... it's a new globalized world, but we're all processing essentially the same stuff we always have been, the comings and goings that pepper our lives.

Tidbits of History

There are tidbits of history all about, that wait for us to notice them and ponder ... or perhaps ... just enjoy them for what they are ... stand-alone reminders of events that have passed and of people who have gone before.


I keep notes all the time ... scribble things of interest that I see as I travel about (which over the past few months has been all over the New England area and south to Washington, D.C. in the United States).

Credits: Image of the Lower Trenton Bridge from www.thepolisblog.org

For instance, did you know the slogan of Trenton, New Jersey was “Trenton Makes, the World Takes?” Saw that on a bridge as I was rolling south on the SEPTA train to Philadelphia. Wrote it down at the top of my calendar. I enjoyed rolling that around in my mind, thinking of all the possible positive interpretations of that (Trenton produces/has produced a lot) and negatives (we make stuff and then get left behind) or Trenton got “taken” in the greater socio-economic context of affairs. Then, of course, you go on-line and find someone else has taken an interest in it.

Two Movies, Two Reactions

Why do we go to the movies?

I've asked that question in classes before (when I've had a chance to talk about film) and it provokes the usual responses - to be entertained, to laugh, to be moved, to think ...

Image courtesy of www.reddit.com

The best movies, I think, do all of these things at one, or even take us somewhere new ... they leave us, as the credits roll, abuzz, slightly off-kilter, wondering what it was that just hit us like a psycho-spiritual 2 X 4.  The magic of the film, whispered to us in the darkness via flickering light and Dolby speakers, should resound even as we head back out into "reality."

I saw two films this week, Monuments Men and Her, and only the latter had that effect on me. I wish both had ...

Image courtesy of www.impawards.com

Monuments Men, a George Clooney-helmed drama based on a true story from World War II, about a band of soldiers dedicated to recovering art stolen by the Germans, left me largely indifferent, or unexcited, which was strange considering that I'm fascinated by the stories of that war, and was looking forward to it, but the sizable group of actors (some of whom are my favorites, like Bill Murray and John Goodman) moved about from scene to scene like lifeless pawns in a game. It was too bad, because the film was exploring ideas of the importance of art (amidst brutality), and those who would fight back against the “loss of our history.”