It was probably the most boring Fourth of July for me because I was playing it safe rather than risk exposure to COVID-19. So it was a less productive day than usual with lots of television throughout the day. A cooking show was that was talking about all kinds of delicious Mexican food and it was focuses on the state of Sinaloa where my mom is from. So my mouth was watering as I listened to all the steps and predicted which one would come next.

So this got me thinking about trying my hand at Mexican cuisine and doing all the dishes from scratch just like my mom. 🙂

The United States is in desperate need of unity at the moment and I’ve been trying to appeal to our sense of patriotism to try and get people wear a mask and social distance on social media. One person tried to derail my careful attempt at avoiding politics and divisive issue by inserting a criticism on our independence day. I remained civil. I was so glad to see the next comment supporting my call for unity because it came from a friend with the most Arabic sounding name and his profile picture has his wife wearing a Hijab. This is what I love about this country and my friends…we are a diverse group of people from all over the world. We’ve got some work to do, but the picture is not a nation full of racists like the media paints it, and it’s not all just black or white. The majority of us fall somewhere in between and beyond.

I missed a day or two (I was honest about it), but I am still in shock that I am keeping up with these daily posts. In looking back through the recent posts, I don’t find anything particularly noteworthy and I feel quite proud of that fact. Why? Because I can be a perfectionist and a procrastinator, which has led me many times to not complete the things I set out to do. So I feel like this shows my maturing and being more responsible and at the very least, it gives me a little escape each day, let’s me practice my writing, and just not keeping putting thoughts and words out there no matter how misshapen they may be. Ninety percent of winning (or whatever large percentage you’d like to do) is showing up. If you never try you will never know whether you can do something or not. And chances are that you’ll likely succeed if you keep trying enough times.

There was one thing I wanted years ago that I never tried so I don’t even know if I could have made it or not, and that’s the biggest regret…not even trying. But I’ll save this for another day.

In happy news, I read about the good people of Bloomington, Indiana are erecting a monument to Kathryn Janeway, captain of the starship USS Voyager. Bloomington is the site of her future birthplace! On some level it is silly to erect a monument to a fictional character from Star Trek, but the geeky side of me got really excited when I heard the news. I’m a huge fan of these huge science fiction worlds with a bunch of extended literature such as Star Wars and Star Trek. Whenever I read the books or watch the movies I feel like I am reading historical records or something that has yet to happen. Well, I guess in the case of Star Wars they are historical records of events that happened a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far way. Star Trek occurs closer to home, but in the future.

The child in me would love to live the worlds you see in Star Trek and Star Wars however improbably they may be. The adult nerd in me finds the actual universe far more fascinating, but at the same time far more depressing, because such travel through the stars will never be possible. The speed of light is the ultimate speed limit: accelerating anything with mass to that speed would take an infinite amount of energy; traveling at the speed of light will mean time to you will come to a stop. What does time stopping for your frame of reference mean? One second for you will mean a century, a millennium, or a million years to the rest. Does this make you eternal? Or like having zero in the denominators, does this just mean you cease to exist? Isn’t it fascinating to feel your brain just completely unable to contemplate what this means? And here’s the tickler…does this mean that light, at its speed, knows no time?

Wasn’t I talking about Captain Janeway?

The COVID-19 news in the U.S. continues to go from bad to worse, so I turned off the television and instead read some of my favorite foreign periodicals. This evening I was reading articles on the South China Morning Post and a lot of the focus is on the passage of the national security law upholding the one country, two systems policy of China towards Hong Kong. I find the history of this city fascinating and the result of colonization has blended cultures like no other place on earth. Its heritage is as much British as it is Chinese. I won’t make a political statement as to what I think is best for Hong Kong, but I just hope that China sees beauty in the uniqueness of Hong Kong cherishes it.

On a more positive note, there was a nice article about writer Agnes Chee finding Hong Kong’s gourmet scene exciting and intriguing. It talks about how Cantonese cuisine is starting to show new twists by incorporating Western delicacies, her love of Dim Sum, making mooncakes with her family, and how even the most seemingly simple dishes are quite labor intensive. She works with local chef’s to document and preserve Cantonese dishes that are becoming less common due to the amount of work they take to make, such as one where a chicken is first debones, then stuffed with a bird’s nest, and finally inserted inside a pig’s stomach before boiling for hours to create a delicious soup.

I was people watching again and paying special attention to the faces and languages of passersby. Most people in Los Angeles either come from somewhere else or their families did, and I wonder how each of them see my city. What made them come here and leave behind their hometowns? Do they still love the city? Is there something in this city that reminds me of their home? The recent racial tensions that have been widely broadcast by the media paint a picture of a divided place that seems to be turning into the Tower of Babel–a tower of dreams of lofty goals that some higher power seems intent on stopping. Some will tell you about how Los Angeles is a highly segregated city.

You will undoubtedly find truth in all of these, but I will tell you to be patient and wait and see. Let me share the vision I see that some may call naive and romanticized. Brave people, You will undoubtedly find truth in all of these, but I will tell you to be patient and wait and see. Let me share the vision I see that some may call naive and romanticized. Brave people, the first of their kind came here to grow roots and make a home of this strange land. The people that follow–equally brave–seek the familiar in the foreign and huddle near the language and culture they know. The culture, language, and foods of the mother country begin to flourish. Eventually these groves of people expand and begin to cross into new groves and become a forest formed from a patchwork of cultures. Here you can have a traditional Chinese breakfast where you’ll have trouble ordering if you don’t speak Mandarin, then have Persian food, and round out the day with Russian food all while driving by a million places with Mexican food. Each culture is as different as the syntax of their respective languages and sometimes we have a challenging time understanding each other, but it gets better with each passing day. We do not need an amalgamation or customs and homogenization of culture to fix the fissures between our rich cultures. What we need is to open our minds and actively seek to eradicate our ignorance in this infant forest full of ancient memories of hometowns afar.

I just finished watching the latest season of Atypical–a story about a guy on the spectrum. It’s a comedy with some very heartfelt moments, but I tend to identify with Sam a lot. I don’t of course just blurt out things like he does, but I find myself thinking the things he says out loud. I find long conversations tiring and sometimes I wish I could just walk away from a conversation or end a zoom meeting because I’m no longer interested in what they other persons are saying. When conversations grow too long I say in my mind things like:

• yes I heard this already
• please get to the point
• why are you using so many words
• can’t you just email or text me
• please be quiet, please be quiet.
• God please make them stop talking. etc…

In general, I have been reading much more these last few months, but it has all come to a halt these last few weeks because of the exciting but arduous process of buying a home. So today I am happy to report that I have been reading a little further along into the wonderful book that is Overstory! It first seemed like it was one great short story after another, but I finally reached a point in the book where they have started to weave together. I was in the middle of one of these beautiful short stories when in a very subtle way characters from the previous stories seemed to float in like faint old memories. Quite beautiful! This is not a review so I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone who might be interested in reading it. 🙂

Today we met with the the man taking measurements of the kitchen, the measurements for more floor, backsplash, and estimate for the restrooms, the French doors replacement, the retrofit contractor, and a representative from closets world to add some cabinets for the garage and laundry area.

Long day and just barely squeezed this in before midnight. Will hopefully write more tomorrow. 🙂