My name is Terry and this is my blog.

I am currently living in Los Angeles.

I like films, music, and don't even get me started on long walks on the beach.

I don't read a lot of books, but am always fishing for book recommendations.

My parents are Vietnamese and I was born in America.

That's all you really need to know upfront.

HOME PAGE
ARCHIVE

FAMILY
Lil Ceesco aka Francis Huynh

FRIENDS
Keith Schofield
Matt White
Steven Weigle
Liam Harrison (rarely updated)
Mitch Glaser

EX-VIET KIEU's
Thirsty Thong
VA to VN

October 2005
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Monday, October 31st

F.Y.E.

music: Strokes - Leaked Songs
mood: Getting Better

So I've been seeing this survey posted all over myspace - thought I'd take a minute and post this as not all of you are www.myspace.com savvy. I found the survey on my friend Matthew's page. Thanks, Matt!

1998

Seven years ago, it was Fall 1998

Take this quiz, post the results, and see how much things have changed since then.


7 years ago...


How old were you?
19

What grade were you in school?
2nd year in school.

Where did you go to school?
Ithaca College

Where did you work?
The Computer Labs.

Where did you live?
upstate NY

How was your hair style?
Monk-ish.

Did you wear braces?
No

Did you wear contacts?
No

Did you wear glasses?
On occasion

Who was your best friend?
Ibrahim Shakoor and Donna Tartt's "The Secret History"

Who was your boyfriend/girlfriend?
I did not have one

Who was your celebrity crush?
Jarvis Cocker and Winona Ryder

Who was your regular-person crush?
Kerrie Reilly and Vicky Hoa

Were you a virgin?
pffft

How many piercings did you have?
None

How many tattoos did you have?
None

What was your favorite band?
Pulp

What was your biggest fear?
Over/underexposed film and low grades

Had you smoked a cigarette yet?
Yes

Had you gotten drunk or high yet?
Yes

Had you driven yet?
Yes

If so what car(s) did you use?
1994 Toyta Camry and 1997 Nissan Pathfinder

Which of your pets were still alive?
Mina

Which members of your family were still alive?
Paternal Grandmother

Which members of your family were not born yet?
Alana


terry on 10.31.05 @ 12:12 PM PDT [link]


Wednesday, October 26th

Fists

music: Needles and Pins
mood: Look at me . . . I'm sooo saaad.

I have yet to beat depression. Hence the lack of blog entries.

Plus, I had jury duty today.

Last Thing: R.I.P. Rosa Parks.
terry on 10.26.05 @ 09:11 PM PDT [link]


Wednesday, October 19th

Failure: What a pussy

mood: uh uh um

So today I listened to Cat Power's "The Greatest" and had to bite my lip. So much for normality.

Pete Doherty does not make me cry, however. And his songs are available for free.

terry on 10.19.05 @ 07:45 PM PDT [link]

Sad Faces

mood: hold steady

Updates to come soon. I just want a normal day today.

Pete Doherty's "Can't Stand Me Now" used to play here.
terry on 10.19.05 @ 11:18 AM PDT [link]


Tuesday, October 11th

Not as easy as it looks

music: Tian Mi Mi
mood: Whimsical

panda (129k image)

I'm a very sad, sad Panda.

terry on 10.11.05 @ 05:49 PM PDT [link]

Congratulations

music: Mercury Rev
mood: Fucking alright, man.

We all know that this blog is supposed to be about me tooting my own horn, but something happened this morning that inspired me to think outside of myself.

My friend Liam Harrison won the He-Man DVD box set from Cartoon Brew by being the first of two to answer the following question:

What was the name of Orko's girlfriend?
(see the website for answer)

In light of his win, the VKLJ is posting it's own He-Man contest. The first person to correctly answer the following question will receive a mystery prize via mail:

What was Battle-Cat's real name?

First person to post wins. And no, Liam, you can't play.


terry on 10.11.05 @ 11:04 AM PDT [link]


Monday, October 10th

Atonement

mood: coming back slowly, yet surely

I know it's been a while and I really have no excuse except for laziness, which is a lot harder to combat than I thought. I promise you that what was lost in time will be made up with emotional intensity.

So, two weekends ago I went to RESFEST LA at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles. I got the all-access RESPASS, so I tried to go to everything that time and logic would allow. In the end, I was able to see all the programs I wanted to see and was quite impressed with the programming this year. The Traktor Retrospective, Triple Threat and By Design were some of my favorite programs. The two programs that really stood out for me and touched me on a more personal level were Two By Mike Mills and Ginga, a documentary about Brazilian soccer.

For today’s blog entry, I will discuss the former program.

On the festival’s Friday, my friends Mike and Keith joined me for the Two By Mike Mills program. The two films were The Reassurance of Architecture and Not How, What or Why But Yes. I won't go into too much detail about either films, but I will say while neither films was entertaining per se, they both raised questions I had myself about life and my current situation. The first film, The Reassurance of Architecture, followed a confused suburbanite teenage girl as she wondered aimlessly through what seemed the perfect California suburb. To sum it up - we find out that not all is perfect in suburbia (surprise, surprise). All in all, a very subtle film with a couple of laughs. Growing up in the suburbs of York, PA I guess I could relate to what was going on with the girl. There was a time when I listened to The Smiths and hated my parents. But those days are gone . . .

The other film, Not How, What or Why But Yes, was an art installation piece in which Mills questioned over a dozen people about what 5 things they would do given that they knew they had a certain amount of time left on earth. Mills started off by asking what they would if they had 3 months to live, then as the answers progressed he asked what they would do if they had one week and at the end he asked if anything would change if they only had 24 hours. Though Mills pulled from a semi-diverse pool of people, the answers/responses showed the commonalities of people in regards to their values/lack of values in the wake of death. Most everyone said that they would try to spend more time with their family and make amends with those that they’ve wronged. The same people also said that they would like to get laid and go on drug binges. The best response was from this guy in his mid-twenties, who given 3 months to live, would plan a political assassination.

Obviously the film makes you question what you would do given the circumstances. The moral of the story is that life is short anyways, and that you shouldn’t have to wait around to be given your last orders to do the things that you really want to do or say the things you really want to say.

Funtime: What would Terry do if he were given the notice that he had 24 hours?

I don’t deal well with hypothetical questions, but the film really made me think about the wrongs in my life that needed to be corrected and the voids that needed to filling.

I guess the first order of business would be with the parents; I’d tell them that I did my best to make them proud and I’d apologize for my decision not to go to law school, as I knew that it would have made them very happy. It sounds stupid that I have to make such an effort to please my parents, but given all they’ve done for Francis and me, what they sacrificed in terms of putting us through college, I feel like I’ve been a major letdown. At times I feel like I’ve squandered what could have been a brilliant career in the sciences or other lucrative prestigious occupations. I know I’m still young and that time is on my side, but if it all came crashing down for me tomorrow, there’s no helping the feeling that I fucked it all up. Ultimately they know I’m doing my best out here and are happy as long as I am happy.

Second order of business would be with Francis. Long story short, I think I failed to be a better older brother to him. I can remember a day when we were best friends. Somewhere along the way he stopped looking up to me and somewhere along the way I stopped caring.

At home in Pennsylvania is an old address book that my parents still use to manage their contacts. They’ve had this book since the day I was born. I know this because in the “Notes” section of the book is my father’s journal entries of the days after I was born. It’s written in Vietnamese and before I die I would have those pages translated. I’m curious as to what my father had hoped for me.

Fourth order of business would be to say goodbye to all my friends. I don’t have too many.

This is really fucking absurd, you know. I should have done all of this by now. My parents are a phone call away and I just talked to Francis last week. I could easily have Francis photocopy that address book, as I know a few people who could do the translation. Quite honestly, I’ve stared death in the face before and I never thought twice about this kind of thing. Let me elaborate: A few years ago while I was living/working in D.C. I had a wake-up call. I had been going to the gastroenterologist for some problems, and for the sake of brevity, I had to have a small polyp removed from my colon. For a few months I seriously thought I had cancer. Colon cancer, which is serious business. And the most that I did during that time was go to the doctor’s to get it taken care of. In hindsight, I didn’t want to freak anyone out. I only ever expressed the fear of death to one person at the time.

I remember now, the night before the surgery, calling you and telling you that I was afraid. Telling you, in wordier and lighter terms, that I was afraid of the possibility of not existing. I remember you telling me that I would be around “for very long time,” and that you too would be around for a very long time. I remember your voice, quiet, yet solid.

You can’t imagine the relief, to have the anxiety of death taken away. I didn’t get to thank you at the time, so I’m doing it now.

Make that the last thing. Number 5.


terry on 10.10.05 @ 05:46 PM PDT [link]


Monday, October 3rd

Don't Drink and Blog

music: Babyshambles
mood: Messing Around . . . .

Glow slowly,
age oldly

Be mumbly,
stay bumbly

Wallflower,
don't be sour

Pink clouds,
Pink snow

Keep bright,
I know

Time tells,
tears well

Childish sighs,
say good-bye.

terry on 10.03.05 @ 06:48 PM PDT [link]