Enlight'ning 2015: The Time Issue
Love, Life, and Old Age: Breaking Boundaries in Amour
Michael Haneke, the Austrian director of the 2012 French film Amour, has broken boundaries and pushed the limits of filmmaking with his painful and authentic portrayal of aging, love, and life. His film follows the lives of an elderly Parisian couple, Georges and Anne, after Anne has two strokes that leave her ill and incoherent. Georges’s loyalty and love for his wife is put to the test as Anne slips into complete dependence. Amour does what no American film has been able to do; it captures the true nature of old age, love, and the suffering that comes with the end of a life. [Read more…]
A Love Like That
My mother told me, when I was rather young, that no one’s soul ever dies. I imagine that each memory is a small flame, burning amidst so many others. They eventually create a swirling, shimmering glow, illuminated by love, flying up, up, up, until they light the sky.
As we walked through the halls of the clinic, I spotted a ninety-year old woman on her bed, eyes wide, mouth open as if trying to scream. No sound came out. Her breath came in heavy gasps. A shriek, as a patient slumped over in his wheelchair. His orange juice splattered across his white t-shirt. A moan, as patients cast slow, lingering glances at random objects, their tennis-balled walkers gliding slowly across the cold, tile ground. A yell. A patient’s flare of anger at an invisible phantom, lurking behind the humming refrigerator. A groan. Patients forget, their old minds giving way beneath the weight of their disease. A cry. Another memory casually fizzled into the air. [Read more…]
Floating
The world, so much like the ordinary one I’m used to, is suffused with ghosts. As far as the eye can see, and farther, seeming as endless as the perennial twilight of the ghost world. They seem almost like living people, solid and lively, but I step into the crowd too quickly, instead of drifting through aimlessly like they do, and regret my mistake.
They notice me, the one who walks with so much purpose, and ghosts without groups of their own approach me, latching on like I might save them from drowning in their own minds. I can’t help them with that. They’re already beyond any assistance where drowning is concerned. [Read more…]
Alexander
Michelangelo’s David
It’s That Simple
Here’s an MP3 recording of one of my original music compositions. This composition was played by the Harker 6th grade jazz band at a recent concert.
The Bookstore Down the Street
The bookstore down the street was anything but contemporary. There were no rubberized chairs but instead wooden stools that had been scattered among the aisles like Easter eggs through wet grass. I often made a game of speed-walking down the hallways, searching for that perfect seat. Today’s spot was a cozy little nook lit by two adjacent windows.
There were no computer catalogs, book signings, or free WiFi, as other bookstores of the century commonly boasted. There were no cash registers: in their place stood a middle-aged woman with long blonde hair that was braided down her back. Each number she tapped into her rickety calculator gave a resounding “clack” that broke the religious silence of the small store. [Read more…]
Ritual of Men in Tights
Every red-blooded American male has heard of this event: The Super Bowl. From the football player’s point of view, it is a chance to prove to the Powers That Be that they can throw and catch an oddly shaped ball. To the eager viewers, both at home and in the stadium, the Super Bowl is a thrilling medley of beer, unhealthy foods, yelling, betting, and generally high levels of testosterone.
Even I, a Korean-American teenager, have experienced this (with the exception of beer). Or more accurately, I suffered through being the neighbor of the most extreme football fan in Los Altos. Honestly, I never fathomed exactly what makes the Super Bowl, or football in general, appealing. However, at nine years of age I was offered a glimpse into the world of most Super Bowl fans as I mulled over this mystery. [Read more…]
Mumbai
To my one and only favorite city.
The place I want to be most right now in the whole world? You’ll only hear me say one name, without a hint of hesitation or delay– Mumbai.
People ask me why I love it so much– here’s why:
Every year, I find myself in the same airport, feeling the humidity pound against my skin. But I don’t care because I love it just the same. I’ve watched year after year Mumbai growing into the beautiful city that I love it as today. And it makes me want to go back and drown myself in its glory and fame over and over again.