“Tinh Khuc Buon” and “Tinh Cuoi Chan May” were two of my favorite videos from Don Ho. They sure bring back the good old days.

Translation of Trinh Cong Son’s “Xin Cho Toi.” The translator is unknown:

Please let clouds protect man’s fate
Please give me a morning’s shine
Please give me a one bright full smile
To forget the recent grave
I’ve begged for myself a thousand times
I, who only knows to fool around
I just ask to have peace

Please let me sleep soundly for once
Please let the night be without bombs
Please let the birds sing in the sky
I wish to be like flying clouds
Please release me from our life
Until peace has returned to the world
I wish to have my life back

Please let me rebuild my love
Please let me revive peace
Please let me forego obstacles
To see the blood stream in his heart

Please give me mother’s embracing arms
Please let me hear the joyful sound of children’s footsteps
Please let my country have a peaceful sleep
I’ll love you from that moment on.

Please let me come back in one body
To let me hear nature’s songs
Please let me forget imprisonment
To let me be the bitter wine
Please give me the whole life
So one day when a child sings in his cradle
Please, just give me one day.

In five months I am going to be a father. Just the thought of being a parent is daunting me. Like most parents, I want my kids to turn out good, but I don’t want to be a helicopter parent either. I have witnessed so many Vietnamese-American parents who spoil the shit out of the kids. They give the kids everything they wanted. They beg them to eat. Yet the most intolerable is the lack of respect from the children.

The overparenting continues even when the children go to college. I knew a couple who would think twice about buying something for themselves, but would provide their only boy whatever he desires. They worked hard and paid full college tuition for the boy. They bragged about him every chance they get. The parents even apologized when the kid was angry. From an outsider perspective, I felt bad for the parents.

I was also a spoiled child and I still am feeling guilty about it. My mother would give me everything that I needed even though she didn’t have much. She was always there to protect me in any situation. When I grew up enough to face the real world, I had a hard time dealing with reality when I realized that no one out there gives a fuck about me. No one pampered me the way my mother did.

It hit me hard. I was devastated and it took me quite some time to make the readjustment. I do not want this to happen to my kids. I want them to be ready when they face the real world. I want them to have the space to grow. If they fail, I want them to get up and learn from their failures. I hope that I won’t be so blind when dealing with my kids like the way the parents I have observed dealing with their kids. It would be a definitely failure on my part to spoil them.

I hate moving. With the help of my friends, we have moved three big truckloads full of stuffs for my sisters last saturday. The amount of supplies, including detergents, paper towels, toilet papers, she has bought could be used for the next ten years. I am still exhausted with a headache. I slammed my head into the garage top from coming off the U-Haul.

Let’s see how many times I have involved in a moving in the past year. Moved my mother from Poughkeepsie to Lancaster. Moved myself from Poughkeepsie to Springfield. Moved my wife from Wappingers Falls to Alexandria. Moved myself again from Springfield to Alexandria. Moved my sister in-law from Alexandria to Fairfax. Moved my sister. Soon will have to move mom to sister’s place. The final move (I hope) will be once we find a new place. Damn, I can’t wait for all the moving to be done and over with.

I just thought of a list of people who still owe me money: ex-roommate, ex-landlord, ex-best friend and even ex-girlfriend. Obviously they will never pay me back. I forgive, but I never forget.

Let me show you a snake that isn’t scary.

Wanda Sykes hits it straight on: “If you don’t believe in same sex marriage, then don’t marry someone of the same sex.”

Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross conducted a very interesting interview with professor Irene Pepperberg and her unique relationship with Alex, an African gray parrot who could speak, understand, count, identify colors and develop emotion.

Five weeks ago we put in a contract for short sale property with a price above what the seller was asking for. We’re the highest offer and the only remaining buyer of the house. Both the seller and the banks have approved the price, but the short sale agent refuses to close the deal with us. She is negotiating with the second lender to lower its net so she could get more commission.

From what I understand, the owner goes into short sale to avoid foreclosure because he cannot make the payments. The banks don’t want to go into foreclosure either because it would cost them more money. In this case, it is the seller agent who is dragging on the contract because she is not getting enough commission. If she keeps dragging this out, the house will eventually fall into foreclosing.

So the increasing number of foreclosures isn’t necessary the owner’s fault, but the greedy agents. Has anyone have any experience with short sale? Is the seller agent allowed to do that even though both the banks and the seller accepted the price? Is there any regulation?

I am not a circus guy, but I enjoyed Cirque du Soleil‘s KOOZA. It was quite entertaining. Highly recommended.