exposed

Ulrik Lund, Los Angeles, CA

There was a post in a forum by someone looking for something to do on Superbowl Sunday. I replied and offered to take him to a party I was going to. That was how I first came about Ulrik. He ended up changing his flight to arrive later, and asked me to stay over night. I was fine with it. However, as a duty, I usually convince people to stay a bit longer, and he was one of those who did.

Ulrik was from Denmark. He came to the US to conclude his 3 month holidays. He flew in from New Zealand. Coordinating the initial meeting was quite difficult. He didn’t have a telephone on him. I was already with another Couchsurfer Marco and the day was fleeting. I needed to provide entertainment. I finally left a note at my door telling Ulrik to meet up with me at the Jazz Bakery, a venue across town. This was the night Wayne Horvitz’s Sweeter Than the Day group was playing. Our first meeting was a bit off – I was a bit agitated for not being able to communicate. (What did we do before the cellular phone was the norm???) And Ulrik was also annoyed for having to drive to the other side of town after just getting off of a very long flight and dealing with car rental at the airport. 

When Marco came back around to do some really touristy things the next day, Ulrik joined us. He finally made it out of town a couple days later after dropping me off at the airport at the crack of dawn. I was on my way to San Francisco, and he was on his way to the Death Valley. He came back a couple of weeks later when I had a ton more couchsurfers in the house. Through various moments of conversations and activities, we became quite good friends. We keep in touch – this is also because I became his ally in a transformation he was seeking. After much considerations and serious planning, he’s finally transitioning out of working on computers, to get work doing something active outdoors. I’m more than proud of him – I celebrate his courage. Something I said to him in passing, that struck him enough for him to quote it back to me was “right now you have the facility to go crazy – make mistakes and correct mistakes, heart breaks and all that good stuff”. I wonder if I even believe me? I suppose I appreciate him most for taking me seriously – so I can, in turn, take myself seriously. 

Ulrik Lund tolerates an elevator in Hollywood shopping center

I volunteered on an impulse to hang with a couchsurfer from Germany, Marco. We met up in downtown LA where he was soon shown that there wasn’t alllll that much to see there. I found it oddly adorable, even as I should be used to this by now – of visitors from other countries that may like to see actual city’s “landmarks”. Marco was one of those, completely and purely excited by all. I now call this an “East German Thing”.  We went to Griffith Park Observatory to see the sunset, looked for path to get to the Hollywood sign. In additional days of his staying in town (he was hosted in Orange County – and consequentially became quite tight with the Orange County couchsurfing bunch), we went to the walk of fame, Chinese Theatre, drove in and away from the Hollywood Cemetery. All the while he would translate his German guidebook of the history of my own city. It was quite fun in the non-expected, expected way. Maybe because I never feel so inclined to do such things myself. That was our first batch of meetings. He left for the Bay Area but later drove back down to spend more time with Los Angeles/Orange County people whom he found more friendly.

Always smiling, I attempted over a handful of times that we hung out together and dove our talk into more of his stories maybe not commonly shared. After many conversations at many different settings, I did get a good sense over all and I ended up quite fond of him. He’s so sincere. On a search of his own to identify himself, making his way for a 2 year stay in Canada – He’s now getting into all kinds of things he wants to be doing, like working at the Winter Olympics. He’s quite capable, another computer person and with an equivalent to an MBA, he was still down to do whatever jobs it takes to support his traveling lifestyle.

I’m keeping in touch with him even as I doubt I’d ever make it into the winter of Canada. That’s where we differ most obviously, he’s into the cold, and I’m very much not.

couchsurfers Marco Junghans and Ulrik Lund in Hollywood

Marco Junghans - surprised

Funny. I want to just say it. Life is funny.

I received an out of ordinary phone call from a restricted number. I picked it up, which was unusual. On the other side was a sound of a young woman, obviously struggling to find words, combining Thai and English – “This is May, I’m calling about our father…”

And the story started from there. Father was in the hospital, and just in case I was curious or inclined – information was being given to me to do whatever I wish to it. Within 20 minutes, I left the house. The hospital was near Hollywood where my father and his family had been living in for the past 5 years, It’s about less than 7 miles from my place. This was the first time I heard about him in years, before I told him I was no longer interested in talking to him. 

It took me awhile to convince the staff that I was a relative. No big deal. Once I got inside, I stood there in a hospital mask for about a half an hour. I still didn’t have any words. He wasn’t conscious. So it was perfect. No one knew exactly what was wrong with him – to be expected from the Kaiser hospital. All they knew was that he was in a coma, in a serious condition.

The next morning, about 10 hours after my visit he was done. May, my half sister called later in the morning. They (May and her mother), decided against resuscitating. That was that. But the finalization of things I knew was yet to come.

Oh, right, the funny part : Father died on January 30, my mother’s birthday. 

last day

last time

hospital wall

Mike Watt brings in the new year

 Mike came by to do another radio show on new year’s eve. It was an interesting evening, to say the least. He brought with him a bottle of Jim Beam, plus a six pack of beer. Only just a few days back from Japan, Mike was running on some kind of an exhaustion high. He downed bottles of beer impressively while nursing the Jim Beam. The recording was a little rough because the microphone he brought was … shitty. We had to retake some stuff. By 1 am, after ring in the new year, Mike was pretty much done and out. Still he woke up at the crack of dawn fully ready to go to his Polar Bear annual jumping in the ice water event in Pedro.

Mike Watt with Cat 1 New Years Eve 2008>2009

Kid A – Jaden Rochanayon

A few days after the twins were born, I got a chance to meet them. I was told that premies are normal for twins. The pair were born about a month early… Jaden and Aiden. 

The father, Ked and I are first cousins. I often tell people that we are more like siblings, almost twin-like in the way we were brought up. We both were relocated from the US at a toddler age to be raised by our grandparents in a small town of Bangmulnak, Pichit province, Thailand. Ked is 6 weeks older. We both together then got pushed off into all the same classrooms from kindergarten on to 6th grade. We would get drafted for many annual school dance performances. The 2 of us made a 3 person school ‘band’, consisted of 3 kids playing daily morning national anthem over a microphone on our sassy melodicas….  in front of a captive audience of a few hundred kids. Gone were the day of us being in the spotlight.

Ked is probably one of the main sources of how I became who I am for my reaction to him. He is what I am not; reserved, focused, punctual, peaceful, kind, and later disciplined, hard working, (positively) religious, (slightly) nationalistic, etc. For sure, growing up with him made me eat a LOT more fruits and vegetables because he was a picky eater since very young. I guess that could have initiated me to be more adventurous in general, setting out to take on the world on his behalf, or in compensation of. Curiously, however, his memory of our childhood is exactly the other side of the same coin.

Actually, his nostalgia recently became a point of my fascination in a case of objective comparison regarding cross cultural immigration. He was plugged out from where he was in Thailand at the age of 14, sent to Los Angeles for better chance of education/survival skills. That was a year before it was my turn to get a new similar path handed to me. He persevered through a series of difficult situation, and now is settled in his life he carved for himself, happily married with a stable job in his desired field. Comparing my feeling with him over what Thailand is or isn’t, I keep in mind always of the significant point of transition. The teenage ideals and impressions were kept to help us move forward as we struggled to redefine our identities. In my view, he turned out a little bit (Thai) conservative and nationalistic. His romanticism highlights the greatest part about being Thai, and his childhood that made him so. He holds high a lot of values our family believes in, the Buddhism guided social harmony, honesty, modesty, and humbleness.

I, on the other hand, somehow turned out non religious with heavy mistrust of any social and political systems on BOTH cultures. I sense that the gender difference is also a significant issue. I don’t know where I picked up the cynicism streak from, seeing no trace of that in Ked. All that is still unexplored entirely.

Speaking of the unshakable cynicism streak… Oh yes, babies … How can one be a cynic around babies? I’m not really, but I can’t help to wonder why are babies so off-limits in rational discussions. I mean, rationally, the world has way tooooooo many humans living on earth, lots of babies are still being born at a faster and faster rate, taking up spaces and resources. I truly believe that a lot of frictions, warfare, social, and international issues stem from the fact that there are TOO MANY humans in relation to the resources to support the species’ sustainability. Rationally…. people should look into population control, making it an individual responsibility to care for the bigger issue, the world, which has the full implication of its relation to the quality of life 

The opposite from rational is the emotional context of being humans. There is really no need nor a perfect way to explain LOVE, the ultimate of all emotions. Love’s one of those things no one has pinned down yet. Same as consciousness or time. It gives everyone a chance to learn, grow, experiment, regret, and forgive, a coming together as a collective entity. It is the irrational drive that help us maneuver around different stages of our lives. And babies… babies are a physical manifestation of love, or that connectivity. In a way, a rational mind can’t really deny that.

As I visited the helpless little beings struggling to survive, but not without medical aide, I can’t help but notice how fragile they are. Years and years from now, these little beings will grow, and learn, and form thoughts and opinions on their own. All the transfer of Ked’s whole life’s worth of stories, feelings, impressions, world view will influence them. I personally have my own agenda, by sheer proximity, to infuse them with cultural awareness along with art appreciation, and maybe some Muay Thai if I can steal them from time to time. Yes, I’m excited to see what these blank slates will turn into.

Ked and Jaden

Jaden

Jaden

Jaden open eyes

Nurse says new borns can see black objects. My camera is very black.

to the right, an x-ray monitor

Kid B - Aiden designation

Doctor advising procedural options for nourishment at Aiden's stage

Ked and Aiden

Aiden is taken care of by a nurse

Ked signing a consent release for a routine but optional procedure

Aiden

Ked looks at Aiden

Aiden

Ingo Harzheim, Las Vegas NV

A snapshot of a crucial moment : Sweats breaking down my temples, sitting next to a traveling German…. at a Thai restaurant in Los Angeles – my turf within my turf – we were. After a diligent assessment into how hot they should make the food for him, I ended up with a spice burn when he felt NOTHING. I couldn’t believe all the words of explanation mislead me of how insanely much hotter he prefers his food than I do. • I failed twice in one shot.• This was the evening before he departed for Mexico.

I met up with Ingo Harzheim in Las Vegas. It was unbelievable how fast we befriended. Talking with him was easy and in short time I found so much in common. One main difference – his obsession over Cirque du Soleil which I found adorable…. up to a certain point. I’m still on the fence over his having Cirque du Soleil’s music in his itune collection… The day we met was my birthday, so he treated me to a “Mystere” show, ended up with quite an experience watching the massive live entertainment production, not to mention the unbelievable super human strengths and their acrobatic skills.

The one activity that was quite uniquely memorable was actually the one I can only enjoy thinking about after the fact. We rode out on the motorcycle towards the Red Rocks, few miles outside of Las Vegas. It sounds awesome now, but then, I believed my hands and face were going to fall off (I’m sure his were, too). I don’t know how cold it was, maybe in the low 40s. It was the week after they got their “biggest snow storm since 1979″. So, yes, it was still – way cold. 

Overall, hanging around in Las Vegas usually depresses me with all the bells, jingles, whistles, and crap jumbotrons. All that seemed secondary when taking a long walk on the strip with a good company. 

I invited him back to Los Angeles for a few days to get over the christmas time. He also fast befriended my shy cat … however inadvertently, by having beef jerky or yogurt in his possession. Amongst other things, Ingo prefers a perfect cup of cappuccino (setting off a daily adventure in itself), and all his food to be ‘real’ (high suspicion of the ‘health’ trend). He’s an avid jogger, rock climber, hiker, an all around outdoors person, who happens to have a profession doing something software/computer related. 

Every person that comes into your life and ended up reflecting the meaning of it is the greatest gift I cherish. It wasn’t the case that I was lost, but in one of our many many long conversations, Ingo said something that struck me deeply. It was quite a simple statement said in passing, but it pointed me to my new appreciation, then a sense of urgency for completing my project – THIS BLOG. (It may seem like just another blog on the web, but I hope it will prove other wise.) Just several days after he departed, having left behind a significant impression, I finished hand processing the 100 rolls of film sitting around for the past year. What I learned from talking to him is that what I’ve seen and what I’ve done is something worthwhile. For nothing else is the passion I put into it, the intrinsic value of having something I own, that I created, and produced. 

Truly – truly appreciated the chance to meet him. I think it definitely changed a pace of my life in an important part I didn’t know I needed to change.
 

Ingo with cappuccino

Ingo

iphone endorsement

at Rockreation

during a conversation

dinner

drive

Mychelle and Anita

It’s actually not that usual for me to photograph our group – my favorite people of all – the F girls or the Aggro girls, or any number of names we are called. This is because I would be too busy laughing my head off. There’s Ninja, Samurai,  .. the German Farm Girl (still mulling over the most suitable nickname for her giggly deadly jabs), and I’m called Ong Bak (the Thai Warrior from the boonies of Thailand.)

F is for Fight, mainly, but probably other words too, depend on our activities of choice. We met at Krav Maga. In the course of a short 2008 year, we became a tight pack that infuse each others’ lives with each of our contrasting positive attributes. Over our bond of fight commitment and disciplines, we see to it that each of us grow into our best potential. Phebbie (Ninja), takes the arts of pain tolerance, precise striking, and perfect reflects into her career pursuit in the field of media. Mychelle (Samurai) overlook fears and intimidations and incorporate working hard while having fun in her field of production. (German Farm Girl) Anita’s recognizing her natural strengths and quick grasps (and execution) for techniques in preparation for… hmmmm.. her work with the kindergardeners.

This little gathering was billed ahead as a little hang. It wasn’t made into what it actually was until we all were there. A combination of holidays, new year, and my birthday celebrations – would have been too extravagant sounding to plan ahead. Instead Phebbie just called for a ‘stop by to pick up a present’. A couple bottles of wines later, we were giving headlocks and having cupcakes until the night was concluded.

Even for my cynic view over the ‘excuse for a season’s greetings’, I can’t help but put this group as ‘worth it’. Worth it for putting the silly christmas light necklaces and exchange gifts (well, I don’t do xmas gifts, so I only selfishly took). This is because these girls are above average exceptional personally and generally.

We’re looking forward to converge in New Orleans next summer at a music festival, and all other future events.
 

Anita "The Jury" Martin

Mychelle "Samurai" Flynt

Phebbie "Ninja" Pasquera

Phebbie doing the Ninja dance

Mychelle and Anita laughed at and with Phebbie

digital summary of the evening

Yet another girl that can punch me silly sparring, Paula Moore. She’s another one of my favorite friends I happened to meet from Krav Maga. The past 2 years of my knowing her has only amaze me more over time of what she can and has done. Her incredible track record in the music business as an A&R executive is more than impressive. On a personal level, she’s incredibly supportive and giving. Her cooking is also outrageous. Amazing.