Category: Life
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I Need a Shoehorn for Life
For the past eleven years, my professional dress consisted of sandals, dress shorts, and a button-down, collared shirt with those little slits at the bottom that made it look like it didn’t need to be tucked in. Comfort was the life. Well, no more. Now, everyday, I’m spiffed up like a Manhattan businessman, minus the…
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Do you really need that?
I’m the atypical American, I suppose you could say. I’ve spent the majority of the last 23 years living and working overseas. It’s had its perks for sure, mixed with a downside, but overall, I wouldn’t have traded all my experiences in Vietnam and Malaysia for anything. By having such a transient lifestyle, our family…
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Great Hanoi (& Haiphong) Rat Massacre
I ran across this fascinating article a while back which I wanted to share. It’s about the great Hanoi rat massacre during the time of French colonialism. I don’t want to spoil the entire article because it’s a great read, but the crux of it gets to the amazing entrepreneurial spirit of the Vietnamese people.…
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America in Decline? I Don’t See It.
I’ve been blessed with two months of blissful rest this summer. It’s been wonderful to reconnect with many family members I don’t have the opportunity to visit often. I’ve had the chance to eat some (too much, actually) some culinary delights which I didn’t get often in Asia. And I’ve had ample chances already, with…
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Visuals are Overrated
Visuals are Overrated I grew up listening to baseball on the radio. I first discovered it as a nine year old in 1976 when I stumbled upon KDKA carrying the rhythmic, ritualistic broadcasts of the Pittsburgh Pirates. When I started playing baseball in the spring of 1977, I became completely hooked on the calls of…
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A Railroad Trail
Three hundred yards behind the house where I grew up was a railroad track. Now its a beautiful bike trail. The railroad tracks provided an important hub of activity of my childhood. It was a small, rather insignificant line which traveled from Butler PA to Freeport and beyond, but as a young boy, it…
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Sally, Where are you?
I’ve been rummaging through boxes of old mementos, and I came across a letter from a former student of mine. Here name was Sally. That’s not her real name. She’s Chinese from Dalian where I spent the summer of 1993. I remember her well. She taught me to play Chinese chess, which I have since forgotten.…
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40 Years Ago – Star Wars at Penn Theater
Recently, Star Wars celebrated its 40th year anniversary of its original theatrical release in 1977. I remember it well. I was nine years old and had seen an extremely low number of movies in my lifetime up to that point. Maybe two. One for sure. My family didn’t go to movies. We were not the…
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Intersection of Meaning
I snapped this in Georgetown, Penang a while back. I suppose I was just be nostalgic. But what a meeting of forces. Kapitan is on Pitt Street. Two of the best. One one street. Amazing. Okay, explanation needed. Pitt – as in William Pitt – as in Pittsburgh, the city near and dear to me,…
Author Mark W Sasse 