Making Music...er...Noises

March 31, 2007 - Saturday

Music Theatre BackStage -- UT Austin, TX

I've been farting a lot today. Must be the chili cheese beans I had for dinner, which brings up the question, "have I been farting all day or just after dinner"?? It makes you wonder if the smelling of one's own fart entrances him to misthink that he's been farting more than he really has.

I so desperately want to practice on t guitar; if only I could fix it up. The guitar shop says that it will cost me 300.00. I'm thinking "bogus!" With 300.00 I could buy 3-4 of the same guitar. Dang, don't you hate it when you're trying t finish something only to feel exhausted or sleepy? That's how I fell now...so on behalf of...yawn...whooo, sorry...on behalf of Dao, cheers!

On the Road for the first Time

I drop out of college. Things are not the same with my then girlfriend and I decide it's time to hit the open road and see what's out there for me. With $200 to my name I know I have to make a change, go somewhere new. Don't know where. I have a '87 cressida and a burning desire to make a change. I give myself that morning to make a decision by midnight as where to go.

I'd always had the fantasy to go to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I knew I would go south but where, and which route? I didn't even have a passport or any money to get there. I fumbled for answers. I sat at Disck Faulk baseball field on mlk in my car just trying to eak out a decision. the day passed. I had lunch. I walked about. This is crazy. But I can't stay here. There's nothing here for me. I have to follow my heart. My heart tells me I won't go anywhere staying in Austin, and that I have to go. Southbound it is, but on which road? Where will it lead me.

I revert to my core values. Enjoy the process. The outcome will take care of itself. I remember having taken Bastrop 71 once and remember how beautiful it was and how it crossed the colorado like 7 times. All those bridges and river crossings. I would take 71 south towards Rio de Janeiro. I got as far as Houston. I knew that I would need to make a little money in order to get further south. But the drive that night with the moonlight guiding me southbound I felt a sense of relief and connectedness to my life and to world around me like I had not in a long time.

College Bound

Off to college. the rest is history. time to make my own decisions. Finally some room to breathe. UT is the largest university in the united states. For a kid cacooned by overprotective parents, this is gonna be rough.

But what a time of exploration this will be. Freshman year I live with my aunt, and two cousins on Willow Creek at the Willow Creek Apartments. Good memories. I'm gonna have such a great time at UT! the world is mine for the taking

New Beginnings

some time before my 5th birthday my dad finally gets the proper documents through to get all 8 of us along with a cousin on a plane to America. Dalls, TX to be exact, where his parents had settled in ten years earlier (long story).

I remember falling in love with the little smuckers jam packages on the airplane. My mother asked for extras for me seeing that I liked them so much, I'm sure she enjoyed them too as we had never had such luxuries in our simple farm life. I had so many that I remember throwing up in a brown paper sack. The flight attendents were all so wonderful and sweet. I'm sure they saw a family full stock of such adorables coming to america to pursue the dream as such a beautiful story, espicially knowing that their country had so much to do with the changes that were brought on Viet Nam.

Before we took off on the plane my family had organized a panoramic photo of the extended family. Remember, we're catholics, so there must have been at least 50 people in this photo. Right before the shoot I was cursed with not being able to find my sandals. My dad was so angry with me. Frustrated, he ended up holding me in his arms, shoe-less. Haha. What a journey.

I never asked to come to the U.S. I guess being 4 going on 5, I didn't really have much say.

Saigon Oi

There's a song my father played sometimes called "Oh, Saigon" (or "Saigon Oi" in our language). It's a ode to Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known and continually referred to as Saigon. These cherished photos are from the Motherland.



Alot of these photos are of my older brother Rocky (Formerly known as Sage...and before that by his (however unfortunate) birth name, Dung. Here's Rocky at what appears to be an amusement park, historical center, or petting zoo.



























Here Rocky has arm shouldering a cousin. He insists having not picked out his wardrobe for the photo.










Here Rocky poses in his overalls with my mother.

Brothers in Arms, Survivors of the Vietnam War.
Standing left to right: unknown, my dad, Uncle Dat, unknown, unknown, unknown, Uncle "The" (far right)
Squatting left to right are three unknown family friends with Rocky looking happy in his extended fraternity.