Category: Life

• Look at HBO: How amazingly diverse you are!

  I came across a cool new writing opportunity being sponsored by HBO. In an effort to find diverse new voices, they are putting together a writing fellowship where a lucky winner will get to spend 8 months in LA working with and being mentored by some well-known HBO insiders. The culmination of the fellowship might…

  sassevn

  March 4, 2015

  Life

  affirmative action, Asia, diversity, HBO, malaysia, race and ethnicity, writing fellowship

• You Don’t Need Much to Be Successful

  It’s that time of year. I’m putting up the softball backstop once again. Look at this beauty: That’s one of the best softball backstops in Malaysia. Not much too look at, I know. But the availability of things is limited here – especially when compared to the baseball/softball paradise of America. But you would be…

  sassevn

  February 21, 2015

  Life

  amateur sports, compassion, helping others, life, malaysian softball, simplifying life, softball, travel teams in baseball and softball

• The Return of the Vietnamese Bean Cake

  It’s funny how a simple treat from the past can download a whole heap of memories into your consciousness. Have you ever eaten Vietnamese green bean cake? This stuff takes me back.   A friend, stopping by Malaysia coming from Vietnam, picked this up for my family. When we lived in Haiphong from 1994-1997, we…

  sassevn

  February 18, 2015

  Life

  green bean cake, hai duong, haiphong, Hanoi, nostalgia, Tet, Vietnam

• A Post for my Daughter

  My second daughter turns eighteen today. What are all the realizations that a parent has when this happens? Disbelief? Where did the years go? How did I get so old? How could my little pumpkin suddenly be an adult? All of these realizations and much more are what I’m dealing with tonight – mixed with…

  sassevn

  February 5, 2015

  Life

  birthdays, children leaving home, daughter, family, parenthood

• The Lizard in the Pool

  Yesterday, I was standing on the edge of my favorite resort’s swimming pool, which also happens to be my favorite writing spot, when a rather large black and yellow lizard … (I interrupt this writing season for a special report. As I am writing this post, that same exact lizard, I kid you not, starting…

  sassevn

  February 1, 2015

  Life

  animals, Hard Rock Hotel, lizards, malaysia, tropics, vacationing, westerners and easterners

• Those who seek people, those who avoid people

  I’m a writer and an introvert. A very non-volatile combination if there ever was one. If you can’t figure me out, you’re not alone. I’m one of those terrible “avoiders.” I purposefully go out of my way to avoid people I know. I have no idea why I do it. Often times when I see…

  sassevn

  January 25, 2015

  Indie Author, Life

  introvert, recluse, writer’s attitude, writer’s isolation, writing

• If you speak vulgarly, do so in all your languages.

  I don’t use vulgarities. That’s my choice. They were never heard in my household when I was growing up. I was taught the usage of vulgarities was in poor taste and simply made people sound silly and uneducated more than anything else. Some people use them all the time, and that’s their right. I personally…

  sassevn

  January 19, 2015

  Indie Author, Life

  characters and swearing, opinion, society, swearing, swearing in a second language, vulgarity in writing, writing process

• Can someone be too open-minded?

  (Here’s a little different kind of post for today. I like to dabble with philosophical thought and societal issues from time to time. It helps me process. Here goes.) What does it mean to be open-minded? Or narrow-minded? Or closed minded? Have you ever took a minute to think about what those terms actually mean?…

  sassevn

  January 9, 2015

  Life, Philosophy

  disagreement, judging behavior, media, open minded, society

• Are you following the crowd (through the red light)?

  I pulled up to a red light on my motorbike and sat beside several other motorbikes at the front of a long line of cars. One of the other bikes, which is often the case, took off through the red light, anticipating that the light was about to change green. Another motorbike followed suit, then…

  sassevn

  January 4, 2015

  Indie Author, Life

  being original, following passion, following the crowd, genre writing, original writing, peer pressure, writing

• New Year’s Resolutions Get a Bad Rap

  New Year’s resolutions get a bad rap. That’s probably because they have the life span of a gnat. Usually. It takes a tremendous amount of will-power and discipline to stick with something beyond a “honeymoon” two-week period following the excitement of the holidays. Some of you can feel the stares from your spouse already. Or…

  sassevn

  January 2, 2015

  Life

  encourgement, inspirational, New Year’s, New Year’s 2015, new year’s resolution, self-improvement