THE TALENT OF SUCCESS IS NITHING MORE THAN DOING WELL WHATEVER YOUDO WITHOUT A THOUGHT OF TIME

[Taipei, 9/26/24]

The title of this article I lifted from a woman’s half cotton dress that was more like a long T-shirt or night shirt. At least half the world are sleepwalking around in American style “casual wear.” If I was still at Seven Stories Press, some ditzy proofreader would miss the humor of this bad English. Sighing, I would have to correct her frontally offensive correction. Fresh from college with her English degree, she’s just thrilled to have one cutesy stubbed toe in Manhattan, so is working for next to nothing, if not nothing.

This morning at Tomorrow Hotel, I slyly positioned myself right next to the dancing girl on the screen. I doubt anything can happen to supplant her as the mindblowing summit of my Taipei trip. So spontaneous and joyful, she’s clearly possessed by being here, just as I was decades ago. I, too, believed in my poetry. If I could blush, I would. Instead, I must gnash my cracked, broken and misaligned teeth.

All around me, I heard Tagalog. The Spanish “pero” gave it away and, of course, the rhythm. About to go to the airport, a dozen Filipinos were laughing and yakking. One woman in a “NY” dress wanted to have her photo taken by the reception counter. Her friend, though, kept messing up. NY wasn’t happy. By her wide stance, it’s possible NY just wanted to kick that bitch in the mouth.

You don’t need to read her mind to know she was thinking, Did I come here for this?! Ten fuckin’ years I saved to see Taipei, and now you’ve ruined not just this trip, but my life, with your vicious photos! This is surely not me. You’ve made me look like some aging ladyboy who hasn’t gotten any in decades.

The lone male receptionist was in pink this morning. Just half a block away are all these gay bars, Secret Garden, Kiss, G-Paradise and Ximen Red House, etc. There’s a sex toy boutique. The most common type in this area, though, are young girls looking sexy. After dark especially, they parade around. Last night, I noticed one masked girl having her photos taken. Why try to look cute if you’re hiding half your face? Her thin fingered hands were so lovely. Her hair was tinted auburn.

Perhaps she sleeps with mask on? Covid can wiggle through slits under doors. Plastic surgeons should offer flesh colored masks as facial extensions. Designer babies will be born already masked.

New York article on 4/19/21, “The Forever Maskers—For a select few, covering up has become a way of life. What is the cost?” The New Yorker on 12/28/22, “The Case for Wearing Masks Forever—A ragtag coalition of public-health activists believe that America’s pandemic restrictions are too lax—and they say they have the science to prove it.” Why hedge with “ragtag” if you’re pushing it in sophisticated magazines? They just love to fuck with us.

Near masked girl was an old man collecting cardboard boxes. Made me think of the cardboard grannies of Hong Kong and South Korea. Lying on the ground and looking dirty was a beggar with one foot missing. By Ximen Station’s entrance there’s, again, that prostrated man with his fat ass in the air. European beggars also make themselves look abject. In use since circa 1200, it’s much more exact than “panhandler,” which first appeared only in 1893, in the New York Times, of course.

Cophetua was a black king who didn’t give a shit about “women-kinde,” until a beggar fixed his queer ass. In 1612, Richard Johnson (b. 1573) recorded this tale. One passage:

But Cupid had him so in snare,
That this poor begger must prepare
A salve to cure him of his care,
Or els he would be dead.

Poor panhandler just wouldn’t work.

It’s 1:05PM. The Filipinos are all gone. What strikes me about the guests here is not just the frequency of English on their clothing, but of references to the USA. A woman’s bag had names of American cities, including Philadelphia, Dallas and Houston. One chubby man had “LET’S GO DUCKS” on a shirt with a pattern common to Christmas sweaters. Even with hockey sticks, I doubt he was thinking about Anaheim’s NHL team. There’s a green backpack with the Boston Celtics’ logo. Unlike Washington’s Redskins and Cleveland’s Indians, Lucky the Leprechaun hasn’t been canceled. Chasing its wearer outside to take a photo, I ran into an older man with a silhouette of the US capitol on his chest. Superimposed on it was a skull, and this was beneath, “CAPITOL PUNISHMENT.” One scowling dude wore “SOFTBALL IS LIFE.”

Visiting wonderful Taipei, Busan, Osaka, Bangkok, Jakarta, Hanoi or Phnom Penh, most Orientals would rather be transported to the mythical West, it seems. In East Asia, no one is sucker punched, pushed onto subway tracks or shot in the head after being mugged. Here are your kiss kiss souvenirs, sucker! Only bullets will dislodge their fantasies.

Without enough jobs for its college graduates, Taiwan is bleeding its most educated while absorbing lesser skilled workers from Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand and even Sri Lanka. There just aren’t enough Taiwanese willing to wipe old asses. What Taiwan fears most is a huge influx of Chinese mainlanders, when this island is finally annexed.

Who’s pushing for war?

In the early 70’s, Chiang Kai-shek finally gave up his dream of retaking China by force. His backer, Uncle Sam, didn’t think it was such a great idea. Sinking fast, Sam’s more belligerent than ever. Newsweek on 3/19/24, “Taiwan has confirmed there are U.S. troops stationed on its islands in the Taiwan Strait on a permanent basis, including an island just over a mile off China’s southeast coast.”

Despite all the omens, let’s hope we won’t suffer another Ukraine. One is tragic enough.

[Taipei, 9/27/24]

[Taipei, 9/27/24]

[Taipei, 9/27/24]

[Taipei, 9/26/24]