Mikes Writing

Daily Blur

Since a lot of my writing crosses over days, it’s always interesting to start something with no real idea where it goes. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how my days become this blur. Like I could begin a thing now. Have some or no idea what it is I want to write and just see where things go. I never have tried creating a file of ideas. Or drafts. There’s no point. When the app opens on my iPhone or Tue MacBook it’s time. Words sometimes come from the right now space. Listening to some guys Bluetooth speaker with the repetitive beat of some Cambodian song. I don’t own a Bluetooth device and I would never play foo fighters that loud. Except that one time when I was pissed off at something here. Then I commandeered some speaker. Found some foo. Let it rip. Somehow then I felt better. Like I had listened to their things sometimes starting at 6am. Sometimes not ending until 10pm.

It was the same in Hanoi. My friend David once remarked that,

Vietnamese are the nicest people ever until they find their portable speaker.

So yeah. No different here. There’s some innate need to play the sounds at a level that makes everyone aware. My wife dutifully ignores it. I wait. Sometimes I foo privately. Or I Rush. Or I Who.

Perhaps the worst thing in this is to have the song on repeat. Just let it go like 5 times. It’s ok. Four times isn’t enough. We all need to hear it one more time.

This is a thing wherever I have been in Asia. I don’t get mad. Or irritated any more. I just hide away with my earbuds. Let them have their day.

There are probably more things. Another is people driving cars like they are motos here. Wrong side of road? Hey no problem. Drive halfway through red light and decide it’s all ok. Let’s go.

If these things truly bother someone better take a deep breath and then let it go. Do some meditation or visit a Buddhist temple. They are quiet places where you can introspect and lose.

It all really makes me see we barang will never adjust. We will never just accept. Instead of being openly bothered we maybe sometimes are silently frustrated. Or in awe of just how big that guys Bluetooth speaker must be.

Now that I started this and I can see it’s going nowhere, I’ll park it and see how I feel on a walk and coffee adventure tomorrow.

Thanks for getting this far.

It’s Thursday morning and coffee in the room. I love writing mornings. I have played around with different apps for journaling and enjoy them all but they all have this same issue. None of them I have tried fit what it is I want so I always end up back writing it all in markdown files and using a basic apple shortcut that iA Writer provided to create a new entry. It works very well and when I wake up, I have a new diary file ready for my day. I have tried the single text file thing and perhaps it works for others. I would rather just write in a daily blur. I mean file.

I like leaving for a walk around 730am. There is a Khmer woman down the street that makes the wonderful fresh pastries so I always desire to see her as I go. They all sell the same things but she cooks them fresh. Having them warm and crispy as I go. Heaven!

So anyways, I will walk until I stop somewhere for a morning coffee. And some writing. This will wait patiently until I get back to it wherever I go this morning. In our neighborhood I have my places. Many know my order so I just go and sit and feel the need to write a little more. Always a little more I guess.

See you then. When I reach some place that I can sit and do my coffee.

My day is the walk in the morning. My wife makes Khmer food for me today. I guess she loves doing for me. There’s this dedication level I’ve never felt before. Khmer women become partners in life too. I waited a stretch with no one. Believing I never would have a woman I loved around me again. Cambodia has lots of things and I took some. Thankful that it gave me this. It makes life interesting and livable. Even if frustrating sometimes.

Back to my day. My coffee. My Summer Coffee.