network attached storage

first we had myditto.

then the iterations of cloud and drive and dropbox.

then the late regretted budget NAS from early this year.

and now, top-of-line DiskStation, to whom i have given my e-heart and 17 years' worth of digital photos. 💖

all HOM's doing. i do say who you marry is vital.

year's close

because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed

for his compassions never fail.

they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

i say to myself, the LORD is my portion, therefore i will wait for him.

lam. 3: 22-24

redintegration, or, sudden light

HOM and i look thru our old photos. our salad days when J1 and J2 are little and vulnerable and then when they are bigger and vulnerable. when we have S and G before E. 

strange how things are so real and then you file them away neatly and try to forget quickly.

strange how memories stay subliminally docile and then suddenly like gossamer the old pain comes by to revisit.

strange how the sight of them scrawny kids twists your heart into all sorts of unplanned for protectiveness. dash them old photos.

have data and more

i get to thinking about life and devices and the web. entry level stuff, like the palm pilot. and that clunker that was iPhone 4. there was dial-up then broadband then that most helpful of amenities, in-store wifi. and of course amazon.com.

mummy used to clip recipes and file them carefully and one day she gave them to me. J2 won't be getting nuthin' from me, hah. do the shrimp dish that you did four years ago, says HOM. was that the barefoot contessa dish? ok! let's look it up!

fact-checking reaches new sophistication. the truth is out there and now i can look it up as you are talking. some lecturers dislike this. disrespectful, they say. just makin' sure you're on the straight and narrow, sir. and if you lifted it off wikipedia we'll see it in the first link.  

we used to say, have data plan will travel. travel even better with googlemaps tripadvisor and googletranslate. although i occasionally cast a thought for the not-so-net-savvy business that might still be a gem but is now unvisited, like the old towns that didn't get to be next to the new highway. and some places are cyber-better than reality, of course.

my life has altered irrevocably, luddite that i am.

42 nguyen hue, saigon

look at this dingy concrete contraption.

up backstairs like these

this bursts on you at the top

and tadah! my prettiest meal in saigon

notes from saigon

• they like their smoke a whole lot, even indoors and without ventilation
• food is good and on every street corner and so far without gastrointestinal repercussions
• mopeds own the roads and the traffic qualifies for its own blog post
• crossing the roads also qualifies as a bona fide tourist thing to do
• they speak pretty functional english here, much more than in bangkok, for e.g.
• there are fewer beggars and less conspicuous consumption, compared to (again) bangkok
• you forget this is a communist country. they are quite ardently capitalist here
• chatuchak is bigger than ben thanh
• the war remnants museum is a must-go, if only to open your eyes to how fortunate we are
• the post office might have been designed by Eiffel, but it's a bit too colorful
• the night view of district 1 across the river from district 2 is gorgeous

Massacre of Christmas Carols Awards, 2017

for most frenetic, adrenaline crazed version:

The First Noel, played on the Watson's store p.a. system in an infinite loop, sgp

for most unreasonably and unseasonably lethargic version:

Joy to the World, played on Marks & Spencer's store system at Vincom Center, saigon

for the version that shoulda known better:

Adeste Fideles, sung in an actual church service in a way calculated to induce palpitations when they do the o come let us adore him bit, sgp

saigon traffic

i'll say this. they have the whole share the road thing down to beyond a fine art and pretty much into a life philosophy. the way the cars mopeds bicycles and pedestrians move contemporaneously symbiotically and in ten different directions at once around a circle is breathtaking. the only thing that keeps me from breaking into spontaneous applause is the fact of my own progress through the circle as an erstwhile pedestrian.

tourist tips to surviving the traffic:

- take a motorcycle tour. the riders are so cool about the traffic that you begin to acquire some nonchalance yourself, against all better judgment

- step out onto the road into incoming traffic close your eyes and walk. it'll be ok. BUT ONLY IN SAIGON. not in singapore or kuala lumpur 

- don't be too uptight about rules and who has right of way. because the only rule they follow is to stop at red lights. approximately

my bottle of tears

though it seems that your prayers have been in vain

...though your heart should ache 'til it break in two

they that sow in tears shall reap in joy

- Gaither and Gaither, 1964

the tears and the joy the hopes and the fears pass by

and i think, not that God has not tested, but that he has tested and comforted

so that the memory remains, and only the memory of the pain

not quite the tinsel

 but when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  and because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”  so you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

- Gal. 4: 4-7

fullness. time. redemption. freedom.
it's ok if you can't relate to the Santa hats and wrapping paper and exuberant good cheer.

in wonderment and gratitude

it's december. it's been a flurry of hazy memories. we went. he died. he did. they did. she did it. we went again. we're twenty-seven. we four and dog.

what have i done, i ask, to deserve such unbounded goodness? such kindness and generous joys? it's a bit late for thanksgiving, which slipped by in work and travel and meetings and deadlines. but it's not late for thanksgiving, to God who gives good things to enjoy.