All we need is love

I learned still more about love by inquiring with strangers in elevator, woman at a bus stop, a gay close friend, homeless people, my immediate family, my friends, friend of friends.  I learned about love with so many so-called ordinary people who are living with great heart.  Their insight of love, which spring from their passionate and compassionate deeds, from their continued cultivation of feeling minds and thinking hearts – made my quest one of continual lesson.  Love for self, family, community, country, the world, earth described in so many different languages, different point of view boiled down to one fact.  Love is an art of giving; the art of giving your time, your care, your admiration, your attention, your talent, your trust, your affection, your acceptance and your commitment.

Eros
Xenia
Philia
Agape

Can You

Can you talk to me?
Can you hold my attention for more than 30 minutes.
Can you make me laugh falling out of my chair gasping for air.
Can you look into my eyes and see my desperate need for a hug.
Can you hold me close and feel my heart beat against yours and not get scared?
Can you see me in despair and disappointed in humanity and not judge my feelings.
Can you love me for who I am? All of me, fierce, vulnerable, sexy, sad, spiritual, vain, happy, joyful, giving, loving, beautiful, innocence.
Will you protect that part of me and allow me to believe in my own fantasy; where spirits are kind, giving, and loving.
Can you be yourself and allow me to me to be myself.
Can you watch me from across the room and be proud and loving without judging my presence.

Can you?

Vivaldi - Concerto op.3 no.6

What I hear...

Dance, dance

Fly, fly

Jump high into the sky

The wind is rushing by

Warm air bright sky

Dance, dance

Fly, fly

Taste, taste

Smile, smile

The sweetness of love

The happiness of being alive

The sacred breath

Taste, taste

Smile, smile

So in love with the Seattle's sky

Europe Itinerary

France
Learn to jaywalk like the locals. Take metro everywhere. Book a place near city center in Paris. Take train from Charles De Gaulle airport, and then transfer by metro to hotel. Get use to the French style coffee, aka espresso, and the 2 hour dinner. Note if a place says it closes at 6:00 PM, they start kicking people out at 5 PM.
Paris
1. Buy a 3-4 day museum pass
2. Check out Champs Elysees from Invalides metro stop, to the Arch de Triumphe. Stroll down Champs Elysees during dusk.
3. The Louvre is a must; Prado or the Rijksmuseum has better collection, but the Mona Lisa is there and the architecture supposes to be great.
4. Notre Dame (word it is not worth paying to go to the top of the tower, Seville's cathedral is much more impressive). Go across to the Latin Quarter & Jewish quarter. Eat a fallafel there
5. Musee D'Orsay
6. Versaille (plan an entire day for it, it's in a different zone for metro, need to take RER over). Check out the hall of mirrors and Japanese tourists. Stroll in the garden & Grand Canal. Go see Marie Antoinette's apartment
7. Eiffel Tower, naturally. Climb the stairs instead of taking the elevator; skip the café at top :-)
8. Check out market on/nearby Rue Cler. Order sausage & Saurkraut, Alsace style.
9. Gotta have Crepes with Nutella!
10. Take the metro (or walk) to the Opera House (close at 4). Phantom of the Opera based its set on it. Check out shopping in that area.
Nice
1. Take a leisure stroll along the beach; after all, it is the French Rivera
2. Check out the market in the morning; buy some baguette & sausage & cheese. Take a bus (1 euro) to Monacco. Watch the changing of the guard. Check out Grace Kelly's tomb at the royal chapel. Head over to Monte Carlo casino. Watch beautiful people out of a magazine page.
3. Buy cookies & sweets in Nice. Macaroons in Paris are overrated, but give it a try anyway.
Spain
General shopping: Go to Mercado Anglais for general shopping i.e. water & stuff in Spain. It's a big department store.
Food: Tapas. Order different tapas there. Try gambas (shrimp), preja (pig's ear), puplo (octopus), pimentos, and champinones (mushroom). Their escargot is good (and cheap) too. Compare differences between Catalan (Madrid) and Basque food. Try Paella in Madrid.
Madrid:
It's an old city and a block is tiny.
1. Museo Nacional Del Prado (better than the Louve). They got Dali.
2. Palacios Real de Madrid (Royal Palace, good comparison between Versaille. France dominated Europe in the 15th Century and Spain went on a declined).
3. Any Museo de Jamon (Museum of Ham) and enjoy wine & real Serrano Ham.
4. Enjoy tapas after siestas. Be adventurous on this.
5. Chocolateria San Gines after a nice stroll thru Plaza Mayor (don't eat at Plaza Mayor). Enjoy real churos (not the Disneyland kind) and hot chocolate.
6. Stroll & shop by Puerta Del Sol.
7. Bull fight should be in season.
Seville
1. Check out the Cathedral; Columbus is burried there; go next door to the royal palace.
2. Near the university, there's a govt/army building named Isabella. It was used in the movie "Lawrence of Arabia" as the fake Cairo.
3. Have some fried food. Check out the narrow streets and abundence of orange
Barcelona:
1. Check out La Boqueria (markt) and take in the color of different fruits & meats; swing on by Ramblas.
2. Check out the Gothic quarter (Barri Gotic) & its cathedral (not as impressive as Seville's cathedral)
3. Check out the Piscasso Museum
4. Check out Sagrada Familia (Temple of the Holy Family). Note the natural feel of the architecture by Gaudi. (In Barcelona, there's no famous plazas/roundabouts and cathedrals like the rest of Spain; also note the Octogon intersection--it allows horse carriage drive to see each other)
5. Check out the Gaudi house off Ramblas.
6. Go shopping...

I am

There are two worlds; the world that we can measure with lines and rules and the world that we feel with our hearts and imagination; I rather live in the later.

I am an island floats from coast to coast
I am the ghost of certain yesterday's dreams
I am the voice behind the silent scream
I am the sun
I am the sky
I am the moon

Moment like this

Wildly happy alone
Moment like this; rain rain drop
Wet earth
All my senses alert
Cross the street, peeping sounds adjust
Freezing nose, hot green ginger tea
Lots of raw sugar, fragrance of twisted
old roots and leafy green tea
Sit in enclosed wet red car
Empty parking lot on top of Capital Hills
Buried with new books, poetry and mystery
Waiting patiently for the clock
to strike at eight
Life is a game of waiting
for you don't want to make mistakes
Mistake I made plenty, plenty of heartache
But moments like this
Sitting in the rain, nothing seems to matter
Since I have nothing to gain
No past, no future, no mistake, no pain

Mariners vs Angels

You can take the girl out of California but you can't take California out of the girl... At Safeco field and I cheer for both teams; Mariners and Angels. I live in Seattle now but I love my Angels. Awww I am torn between two loves... May the best team win :). Go Mariners. Go Angels...

Do you fear the wind - Hamlin Garland

Do you fear the force of the wind,

The slash of the rain?

Go face them and fight them,

Be savage again.

Go hungry and cold like the wolf,

Go wade like crane;

The palms of your hands will thicken

The skin of your cheek will tan

You will grow ragged and weary and swarthy,

But you will walk like a man

My memory of Paris - Pierre De Ronard

Quelque plaisir toutesfois qui me tienne
Faire ne puis qu'il ne me resourvienne
De ton Paris, & que tousjours ecrit
Ce grand Paris ne soit en mon esprit

About Dreams

Even for a dream
You
are needed

Before we awake, who knows that the dream we are dreaming is not real?

We are all swimmers, in the ocean of dreams

Dreams last for so long, even after you are gone

DREAM: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dreams are a series of images, sounds and feelings occurring in the mind during sleep, accompanied with rapid eye movement. Dreams typically last in the range of 5 to 45 minutes. The contents and biological purposes of dreams are not fully understood, though they have been a topic of speculation and interest throughout recorded history. The scientific study of dreams is known as oneirology.

DREAM: How to be happy through human by W. Beran Wolfe
"One of the most crucial discoveries of modern psychology is the discover made by Alfred Alder that dream is not an accidental occurrence in the process of life. Alfred believed dream but an valuable device that we use during the training process of approaching our individual goal of security and happiness. Freud pointed out that dreams were determined by our unconscious mind. But it was Alfred to convince that dream had a useful function. Like imagination, the dream always represent a bridge between present and future."

"Once I dreamed I was a butterfly, and now I no longer know whether I am Chuang-tzu, who dreamed I was a butterfly, or whether I am a butterfly dreaming that I am Chuang-tzu."
- Chuang-tzu

A good day

If I love you with all my heart what would you give me in return? She asked me and she didn't want my answer. She said she loves me anyway.



Wake up at 9. Have a cup of espresso with Baileys. Sit in the sun. Play fetch with Kai. Trim the roses. Plant some tulips. Have strawberries and mango for lunch. Sit in the sun some more. Walk Kai to the beach. Take a bath. Get dressed and drive to a blind wine tasting party. Try to pace myself by taking very small sips of wine. Help rate the best wine. Mingle with other women. Plan next girl's trip. Leave to meet friends for a late night dinner. Feel like an island floating in the Pacific Ocean. The out of body experience of living aware; watching and listening. My mind is racing and computing the information offered, total disillusion; the complicated process of past, present, and future experiences weaves together into the tapestry of human interrelation; my own experience. The stimulation of energy swapping is mind boggling. Like the floor on Wall Street, everybody is selling and/or buying dreams; swapping, exchanging, sizzling. Prices based on demand; illusions? Smile, laugh, talk and go home before the clock strikes at midnight.

I find solitude so much easier to handle. Sitting in the garden with Kai and the trees and the sun; the world seems perfect, united. The energy is abundance and free... no string attached... pure giving and receiving. But it is easy to be competent, content, joyful and alone during day's light hours. Only after sunset, when the air is so still and the shadows come out to dance. When even a thick blanket and heat at highest setting don’t seem to take away the chill. Like a friend quoted in his journal “At night fear like water seeped in the crevices of my heart, my soul and take away the power of my freewill”. The darkness of the soul; where so much has been concealed for a person to be as peace with himself. He calls it the dark well. I like to compare it to the ocean; alluring, peaceful, immeasurable, dangerous, and capricious; not in any orders.

I am in the picture, I can't see the picture
Hide my shell whisper in solitude
The mind's eyes search for the absolute
The only shadow, the reflection of my soul
The secret hours, the quiet hours
When wisdom rides on the wings of dove
When wisdom speaks the tongue of love

Foot Steps

Toss a coin in the river of change
Hold close to my heart the only request
Make a wish and it remains a wish
Not for love since love comes and goes
Not for fame since fame is moments notice
I ask for peace and serenity
In my thoughts and my everyday practice
To become what I always want to be
Free of sadness and tears of regret
Free from greed and fear of life’s true test
To take back the rightful happiness
The freshness of time and the sacred soul
Another day, another chance for greatness
Accept life and the beauty of change
Like foot steps left on the beach of sand
The ocean erases all messages of man

My songs

Quiet Times  - Dido

Put your Records On - Corinne Bailey Rae

Big Girl Don't Cry - Fergie

When I look in your eyes - Diana Krall

Shadows of Ourselves - Thievery Corporation

Gained The World - Morcheeba

Relax, Take it easy - Mika

Sway - Michael Buble

Magical Place - Seattle

Dark night, street light
Drizzle rain drops on my shoulders
Walking thru the street of Seattle, I remember
Years ago on the street of Dalat
Years ago on the street of OC
The dry heat, the sunshine
The hectic streets, the friendly faces
How did I get here?
Why I am here?
Dark night, street light
Walking to my bus stop
Anxious to get home, a place I now call home
Shaded trees, calling birds, whispering creek
Quiet winds dancing, Maple leaves singing
Dark night, street light
I am in awe and so much in love
All my wishes and dreams realized right here
On the streets of Seattle wet with rain and full with lights

It is true; life is full of surprises and not in my control
It is true, life brought tears and pain but also joy
It is true, life’s magic shows only to the believer
I am a true believer of the magical place called life