What a ride. First part made me hungry and second somehow made me kind of want to puke, but that will go away rapidly. However bitter, the truth pill is always welcome.
Yesterday in St Louis a young man walked up to a homeless man, he had to fiddle with his gun for quite a bit (incompetence?), and executed him in plain sight daylight.
Linh, if you run into a skinny deaf shoeshine/newspaper guy with a saddle bag over his shoulder, be especially kind to him. I know you would be anyway. Buy him a beer and sit with him, it'll be worth your time. He is a delightful human being, and a privilege to know. His photo was plastered all over the world when the stampede happened, but because he doesn't even have a known name, he didn't get the financial benefit for his loss as the others did. If I'd known about crowd funding back then I would have tried to remedy that.
I loved the colonial architecture which has survived in Cambodia. Phnom Penh is a cleaner and more attractive city than any other in SE Asia because of the civil planning of the French, with their large boulevards and elegant manors. I always admired those 4 story houses Linh mentioned. So far as I know, the city hasn't been plastered in tacky glass and metal facades like everywhere else.
1/i was "doored" - accidentally - while riding a bicycle in boston in the early 1970s - the parked cars were to my right, the lanes of traffic to my left - a car stopped to let a passenger out and as the passenger door was opened i ran directly into the edge of it - it hit me in the center of my chest and took my breath away - also my front wheel was bent
after the collision the driver of the car got out - surprisingly he only had one and a half arms, one forearm wasn't there - after seeing his permanent misfortune i didn't want to complain about my temporary misfortune, i just wanted to leave the scene, which i did, on foot - i was about a mile from home
2/it could have been worse - i still have scars on my arm from a different bike accident the year before - it is all part of life's rich pageant - everyone needs someone or something to love, something to do, and something to look forward to - and you never know when something surprising might happen
My English grandmother who died many years before my birth sent down one little poem to encompass the situations you describe:
'You never can tell from where you sit when the man in the gallery's going to spit!' Gallery = balcony. These days i guess we could substitute 'shit' for 'spit'.
There is girl like the girl in red in your last photo working as a cashier at the market I go to. I think she is Thai though, it sure is nice to see as the background around her is like your other photos but a bit less diverse. Non white people show up but tend to choose a different place to shop. I don't think anyone is mean but it may be that the feel is a a bit rednecky with overalls and hunting attire a common feature. Perhaps those with darker skin equate that attire as a sign of a racist, I don't know.
I've noticed that all the shops have gotten sloppier, with less merchandise, and less concern to keep the place tidy. A lot of the employees have colored their hair not to mention the shoppers. It's going to be a strange world where everyone identifies as something different but really aren't. Everyone going about wondering just what is going on in the heads of all these peculiarly outfitted folks and afraid to say anything for fear of offending. Welcome to the oxymoronic United States where diversity equals strength. Just not for the diverse.
Đọc anh miêu tả cuộc sống ở Phnom Penh làm em nhớ đến những ngày lang thang ở Yangon, sinh hoạt của người dân ở hai thành phố có nhiều điểm tương đồng. Qua ảnh thì người Kampuchea có vẻ hồn nhiên dễ chịu hơn, có lẽ vì chưa bị các tổ chức phi chính phủ G Soros bơm tiền làm nhàu nhĩ hơn chăng…
Một chuyện khác ở Mỹ: năm ngoái sang thăm người thân, em đưa đám cháu trong nhà đi học tự vệ và bắn súng, sau khi một đứa nhỏ đang học ở Baltimore suýt bị bắn vỡ sọ và một nhóc khác suýt bị cướp đâm thủng bụng ngay gần Quince market - trung tâm Boston. Vậy mà các trưởng bối trong nhà vẫn nhìn em như thể em bị tâm thần và lo quá xa… Họ ngắm anh đào ở Potomac và kết luận Huê Kỳ vẫn đẹp và an toàn.
Here in the US, we are beyond the "last flowering of the culture". The bloom is definitely off the rose.
Thank you Linh!
What a ride. First part made me hungry and second somehow made me kind of want to puke, but that will go away rapidly. However bitter, the truth pill is always welcome.
Yesterday in St Louis a young man walked up to a homeless man, he had to fiddle with his gun for quite a bit (incompetence?), and executed him in plain sight daylight.
Linh, if you run into a skinny deaf shoeshine/newspaper guy with a saddle bag over his shoulder, be especially kind to him. I know you would be anyway. Buy him a beer and sit with him, it'll be worth your time. He is a delightful human being, and a privilege to know. His photo was plastered all over the world when the stampede happened, but because he doesn't even have a known name, he didn't get the financial benefit for his loss as the others did. If I'd known about crowd funding back then I would have tried to remedy that.
Wow, nice header photo. Should we have a caption contest? "Who the hell does he think he is taking pictures of us? Chut-zpa! You, driver. Hurry up!"
Alternate- "Alas, a style of travel worthy of our status"
Seriously, that could be Bernie Madoff, but that is definitely not Ruth.
lol, all excellent submissions.
I loved the colonial architecture which has survived in Cambodia. Phnom Penh is a cleaner and more attractive city than any other in SE Asia because of the civil planning of the French, with their large boulevards and elegant manors. I always admired those 4 story houses Linh mentioned. So far as I know, the city hasn't been plastered in tacky glass and metal facades like everywhere else.
1/i was "doored" - accidentally - while riding a bicycle in boston in the early 1970s - the parked cars were to my right, the lanes of traffic to my left - a car stopped to let a passenger out and as the passenger door was opened i ran directly into the edge of it - it hit me in the center of my chest and took my breath away - also my front wheel was bent
after the collision the driver of the car got out - surprisingly he only had one and a half arms, one forearm wasn't there - after seeing his permanent misfortune i didn't want to complain about my temporary misfortune, i just wanted to leave the scene, which i did, on foot - i was about a mile from home
2/it could have been worse - i still have scars on my arm from a different bike accident the year before - it is all part of life's rich pageant - everyone needs someone or something to love, something to do, and something to look forward to - and you never know when something surprising might happen
My English grandmother who died many years before my birth sent down one little poem to encompass the situations you describe:
'You never can tell from where you sit when the man in the gallery's going to spit!' Gallery = balcony. These days i guess we could substitute 'shit' for 'spit'.
There is girl like the girl in red in your last photo working as a cashier at the market I go to. I think she is Thai though, it sure is nice to see as the background around her is like your other photos but a bit less diverse. Non white people show up but tend to choose a different place to shop. I don't think anyone is mean but it may be that the feel is a a bit rednecky with overalls and hunting attire a common feature. Perhaps those with darker skin equate that attire as a sign of a racist, I don't know.
I've noticed that all the shops have gotten sloppier, with less merchandise, and less concern to keep the place tidy. A lot of the employees have colored their hair not to mention the shoppers. It's going to be a strange world where everyone identifies as something different but really aren't. Everyone going about wondering just what is going on in the heads of all these peculiarly outfitted folks and afraid to say anything for fear of offending. Welcome to the oxymoronic United States where diversity equals strength. Just not for the diverse.
Thank you Linh. Always happy to see you in my inbox!!
Đọc anh miêu tả cuộc sống ở Phnom Penh làm em nhớ đến những ngày lang thang ở Yangon, sinh hoạt của người dân ở hai thành phố có nhiều điểm tương đồng. Qua ảnh thì người Kampuchea có vẻ hồn nhiên dễ chịu hơn, có lẽ vì chưa bị các tổ chức phi chính phủ G Soros bơm tiền làm nhàu nhĩ hơn chăng…
Một chuyện khác ở Mỹ: năm ngoái sang thăm người thân, em đưa đám cháu trong nhà đi học tự vệ và bắn súng, sau khi một đứa nhỏ đang học ở Baltimore suýt bị bắn vỡ sọ và một nhóc khác suýt bị cướp đâm thủng bụng ngay gần Quince market - trung tâm Boston. Vậy mà các trưởng bối trong nhà vẫn nhìn em như thể em bị tâm thần và lo quá xa… Họ ngắm anh đào ở Potomac và kết luận Huê Kỳ vẫn đẹp và an toàn.