
I returned to DC several days ago, just in time for the heat wave blasting straight from Hades itself. I wasn’t off exploring a faraway, exotic locale. No, I drove to the Philly ‘burbs for a pathetically short visit to my mom’s house to celebrate her 70th birthday. I figured this trip would also be […]
I wasn’t officially allowed to watch Flashdance when it first came out in 1983. I was ten years old at the time, and my Asian scientist parents freaked out over the R rating. Exotic dancing? Ripped clothing? Sex scenes? Michael Nouri? All that was way too much for their traditional sensibilities. But as the saying […]

I had brunch this weekend with a childhood friend who I haven’t seen in twenty years. JK is as vivacious and radiant now as she was when we were growing up together in the Philly suburbs. We had a wonderful time catching up and looking into the future while also strolling down memory lane. Before […]

When my father passed away twelve years ago, I began to dread Father’s Day. Over time, while I haven’t learned to embrace the holiday again, I now accept it as another chance to remember him and be thankful. My dad wasn’t exactly into fashion. An aeronautical engineer who had taught himself computer science, he had […]

I read somewhere that you should try keeping a childhood photo on your desk as a happy reminder of when you were innocent and carefree. It’s apparently a fine way to relieve stress and keep some perspective on your hamster-wheel-of-a-life. Because as a kid, you weren’t freaking out over terrorism, global warming, and the debt […]