nb: this was originally written monday, but never shown to the world till just now.
dallas ended up being what i needed it to be.
not exactly what i wanted it to be. for one, i didn’t expect it to be a suburban wasteland. secondly, i didn’t get to do a lot of the cowboy things i was originally looking forward to. no rodeo, no shooting shit, no horses. but goddamn is it hot. and goddamn is that sun ridiculously powerful or what?
aside: wtf?! i’m watching cmt and seeing def leppard singing with taylor swift. huge wtf moment. who’d a thunk they’d ever get together to sing fucking taylor swift songs. admittedly, taylor swift is somewhat of a guilty pleasure… and i do think she’s attractive, but playing with fucking def leppard?! pour some sugar on swift. that was actually a kinda pleasant image. hmmm…
back to what i was saying. dallas was what i needed it to be. thursday was a movie night, with no drunken hijinks and nothing really crazy, but necessary considering i was still recovering from norleans. friday was restful… though admittedly not through any real amount of choice. i did need it, because i can feel myself getting sick. c’est le vie.
i ended up visiting this neighborhood called deep ellum with my friend and pseudo-stooge sister, catrina. she and her family was kind enough to take me into her home, which btw, is helllllllla baller. deep ellum, while i didn’t see it at night, seems to me like williamsburg junior. hipster heaven. but not necessarily in a bad way. i feel like i could’ve had a lot of fun there. the street art was beautiful. and fucking everywhere.
play that gitar boyo
ivy eyed... that's gonna be in a poem.
batter up!
like i said, hipster heaven
and dude. food was awesome. recommended by a local, the angry dog in deep ellum was tasty as hell, with huge portions.
da burger... yes DA.
after a long detour in a bookstore, i ended up going out with my homegirl caly to meet up with our other friend thi at the local watering holes. we actually had a really good series of conversations regarding everything from love, to work to the nature of life. which is always kinda awesome and reminded me what the whole point of this trip was, to connect with people and by so doing, to connect with myself. hence the reason the poem i wrote for caly awhile back, but which has been heavily rewritten, which i need to end up titling sooner or later, will be posted on the website sometime soon.
fried pickles
me and caly's mom's awesome bun bo hue
me and jiggly
aside 2: taylor swift and def leppard were just talking about how things that are in your life, that happen to you, the strong feelings that you feel inevitably end up in your music. this is both true and something i’ve always believed in. i write what i feel. know this.
saturday was significantly more productive. went to fort worth, which is part of the metro dallas area to go to a series of museums, the kimball and the modern. both of which surprised me in the breadth and depth of their collections. i had a really good time and was surprisingly moved by much of the art.
the modern
if only catrina, if only
fascinated at one of the most realistic sculptures ever
monet at the kimball
beauty is the realm of the divine
ended up watching the movie all about dad at the asian american film festival dallas, which was a fun time. it’s always interesting to see media that reflects your experience, and this most definitely did. the issues of first and second generation, expectation of family, the experience of the refugee and of the american born. these spoke to me, which has always been extraordinarily important in my appreciation of art. and hey, i got pictures with the dad, who is in many ways similar to my own father. hence i bought him a heineken.
heineken with the dad
afterwards, i ate a 25 oz steak with cat, phuong and macy, the new three stooges. good time. i did damage. and i think the steak might have done damage to me. whoa. i heart cat for bringing me to do something so texan.
before
after
how i felt before
how i felt after
that night i went out with jiggly and her friends to the gayborhood. i actually ended up having a really great time in my first lesbian bar because the people i was around were so awesome. i can’t remember all the names, sarah and albert and viet and many others. but that’s what picatures and facebook are for.
she actually really does look like this all the time
teh females
folks
3 dudes and a girl
i am currently at my friend john’s house in Austin, safe and sound, getting ready to go play jits. they’re an awesome, generous and loving family out here. you may not hear from me for a bit because my laptop screen is cracked, but i will try to update when i can. great love. i do want to say that i am awful glad i went to dallas. there’s lots of good folks there, and i’m hella appreciative to the ngo family for taking me in and treating me like a member of the family. even if i tease them. also, hella thanks goes out to all the people i met in dallas in general. sure, yall disabused me of my wonderful delusions about texas, but hey, it was good.
hit me up if you’re reading. comments are much appreciated. i’ll leave you with a pic of two of the stooges and pennies.
stooges and pennies
life is like a jits match, you gotta be ready to act when you feel the balance point.