do over

Taken at Vinh Ha Long in Viet Nam.

Three thoughts: I had an excellent time with Neal, I am a failure at multi-tasking lately, and I just saw a photoblog that put mine to shame. So I think I will take a hiatus to be a better Phuong.

That is all.

same cloth and all

Taken at Sea World this past April. The image is actually of ... nothing. This is the view looking up through the shark aquarium, and despite all the artificial lights, it looked like a whole 'nother world up there.

I had to settle for this picture since I deferred all of yesterday's photo moments to Ha who has yet to send me any. Congratulations to Tandre and Carmen on finally tying the knot. That was the sweetest and most heart-felt wedding I'd ever been to.

I had a great time until the music came on and the handsome guy who'd been making me blush unabashedly extended his hand and asked for mine. A national survey years ago marked that people would rather be eaten alive by a shark than have to speak publicly. Well, I'd rather speak publicly than dance. As soon as I hear the word, my sympathetic nervous system kicks in. I start to sweat, my heart starts to race, and I'm struck with the uncontrollable urge to run far, far away. It's terrible, and I kept hoping that my 20,000 "No's" would deter him but no, he made it clear he wasn't leaving until we danced so that was that. Sigh. Thanks also to Tandre and Walter who endured my spastic moves on the dance floor. The RHS gang ended the night on the roof where we laughed and said goodbyes for the thousandth time. It was a special moment as we all reached to hug yet again. I guess past all the drama and distances, some ties bind and are forever.

ties that bind

Taken at Ha Noi, Viet Nam.

Today was a good day despite the heat. I came to lab first again but was exhausted and was almost glad to leave early. Erik was leaving around lunchtime and Tiago was going surfing in Mexico. I drove him to Corona to catch a bus then came back to town for Thai food with Drew. I came home after, got comfy and read in bed. Then later I went shopping, and tomorrow, Ha and I are going to Tandre's wedding. It was one of those mellow days filled with good people, and you can't ask for more than that.

mellow yellow

Taken at Sea World this past month. I was going to upload a foggy picture of an old temple, but why not start the month off with something bright? I'm having a blast so far and there is a friend's wedding next weekend. Hope you're all having fun despite the coming heat.

for the past

Taken at Bu Ho in Ha Noi during my trip to Viet Nam. I wanted to write a separate post as homage to today's date, the 30th of April. 34 years ago on this day, the Viet Nam War ended and our country turned red. I know it's a bit odd to upload a photo not only from the North but from the place in the North, but I wanted to make a point that regardless of what the North does from here on out and how pretty the scenery may be, that I remember the past. It's a concept that pervades some other aspects of my life now. We all want to forgive people and it's divine that we do, but in some matters, all actions for atonement are forever useless. Far, far too much has happened.

the complex

Taken at a temple in Da Lat, Viet Nam. I stayed home today because I was feeling sickly, not the flu sickly, just sickly and I didn't want to alarm my labmates. We've been keeping up with the daily updates on the swine flu, and I can't wrap my head around it all sometimes. Nothing like a pandemic to help a recession. As Tandre says, "it's a good time to be alive".

deflated

Taken inside the caves off Long Ha Bay.

Today I had an idea for my second blog. I'm going to scrap the food one because the name didn't feel right and my heart just wasn't in the idea. I'd still love to be a food critic if I could, but I don't really want to spend all the cash just to blog about where I eat. So instead I will review ... books. I read them all the time anyway, I'd like to share my opinions with someone, and this way I can just refer people to a URL each time they ask what I recommend. I like to make suggestions that I know the other person will really like, but that takes some time and it's hard to sift through all the books of my lifetime in a few seconds.

I haven't actually started it though because all the names I currently want are taken by people who created their blog just to write one liners. How irritating. I wanted "being Jane", but that was already taken. Any suggestions?