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The pursuit of happYness

nangphuongdong — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:10:27 GMT

The pursuit of happYness

Just a wonderful movie. It's astonishing, touching, and inspiring. And moreover, it's real. This is a story about a man named Chris Gardner, about his past homeless life, a long time before his new life as a millionaire, an entrepreneur, a speaker and a philanthropist.

Just in the dark time of his life when he didn't have any place to live and need to sleep wherever he and his son can be safe, he was trying to understand the meaning of the word happiness. Why Thomas Jefferson used the phrase "pursuit of happiness". Happiness, what is that? Although everyone has their own definitions for this abstract concept, all of us needs to pursue for it, run after it. No one is an exception. Because happiness is not born together with us. There are some people seem to be born with a gold spoon, but it does't mean they are happy. In my opinion, just when we struggle for the happiness, we reach it. But how many people can really touch it? We plan, we hope, we have faith and we lose faith. And then we have another plan, we begin all of that circle again, again, and once again. HOW MANY PEOPLE can touch the true happiness? To me, the happiness is a journey, well, non-stop. Happiness is a journey not just a destination.

Recently, I have read a blog entry, she wrote in great literature voice, and I feel what she wrote is true, so true. I just want to quote a part from her writing.

Trong suốt cuộc đời dài và rộng này, chúng ta gặp tổng cộng bao nhiêu người? Có những con người bước qua nhau không để lại chút dấu ấn. Có những con người đã từng ở bên nhau trong suốt một thời gian rất dài, để rồi cuối cùng chỉ ước giá như có thể xóa sạch những ký ức về nhau. Dù muốn hay không muốn, sẽ luôn có những người ta chỉ gặp một vài ngày rồi phải lưu luyến chia xa, cũng lại có người sẽ theo ta cả đời dù trong lòng chẳng chút thoải mái… Có những người mờ nhạt bước qua cuộc đời ta, và có những người sẽ mãi ở lại trong tim dù cho nhiều năm sau này có bị lớp bụi thời gian che phủ…

During this long and wide life, how many people have we met? There are some people who pass by us then leaving without a sign. There are people who live together during a long long time, just finally end up hoping to erase all the memories they had together. Although want or not want, there will be someone we met for a while but felt so close, or someone who will follow us the whole life but still feel distant. There will be people who just pass by our lives dully, and there will be people stay forever in our hearts through many years, long distance, and far apart. (I translated it into English though still have a lot mistakes, pardon me :)

swinging

nangphuongdong — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 14:12:31 GMT

swinging

I just watched a TV show yesterday. The name is ``Secret lives of woman´´. And that show specialized in Swinger. So, what is swinger. Honestly, that time is the first time I realized that there is somewhat a shocking definition like that existing. Of course, just only shocking to me, cause I am not a maybe modern girl, and I am not American, or any English natives. Therefore, that definition is so strange to me. And I guess in my country, that kind of thing is also too new.

To me, from that show, I learnt that swinging can be somehow understood like changing partner, straightly, that means your spouse will have sexual intimacy with the spouse from another partner, and vice versa. Of course, understanding in my easy way, it is like that. It's not the official definition, and I don't know what it exactly the official definition for this concept. But to figure out more, you can go to wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swinging. They have a very full content, which I even don't read all and don't want to know all, about swinging there. Honestly, it's not the definition shocking me, but the fact. The fact is in America there is 1.5 million couples swinging regularly as a basic need. I guess it more and more becomes a lifestyle there. The swinging couples have a very copious lives. They hunt new couples, organize swinging party, even find swingers online. Their neighbors who are not swingers think that they are normal and happy families. Yes, in general, they are nearly like that, yet have little secret lives at night.

The interesting point when you are a swinger is that you don't need to stand your husband or your wife till death. I mean stand the boring sexual life, having sex with just only one person for tens years. It could be very good at the beginning, but later, it became tepid and finally, dead. Ok, I don't mean that having sex is like tasting a food that you need to change dishes all the time, and trying new food is always encouraging and inspiring, but not the same with trying sexual intercourse. But think twice, is there anything you don't need to change for a new one. You change your age, change your house, change your mobile phone, change boyfriends, even change your personalities. That makes the entertaining point of life.

I'm not yet a woman, but I think that it will be so bored if just try the same thing and same thing again with just only one person. And out there, definitely, many people share the same thought, just they don't yell for the whole world to know. Of course, we are now in the 21st century, and a legal relationship (marriage) just regards the joint of emotional and economical life between one wife and one husband. And cheating on your partner will ruin the marriage. But the fact is swinging is changing partner according to the agreement between both parties. And each couple has their own rule in this game to keep the relationship in control. Like in that TV show, they have the rule kind of can stop the other partner whenever one begins to feel irritated or they will always have sex together at the beginning and the end of the intimacy course with another partner. They also can have a talk after the swing to tell about their experience and their feeling for the other couple. The fact is that most swingers have quite stable marriage than the normal couples. They can enjoy the sex lives legally without cheating on their partners and knowing the same time that your partner feel satisfied also. Like every other things, at first, it seemed new and people have nearly no experience of it; but later people will gain experience with it gradually. Swing cannot be like a lifestyle now, but to some minority, it is undeniably the inevitable thing in their living. They make it by various ways like swing party, surfing online to find a partner couple.

And last but not least, I don't encourage anyone to try it out. I just want to say that to me the fact that you are over 50 (all couples in that interview are over 50), and you still enjoy your sexual lives together with your partners, it sounds quite cool. I am an Asian, specifically, a Vietnamese, I know that I will marry and live faithfully with my partner (because here even just thinking about swinging is forbidden by the community rational thinking), and I don't have the desire to overcome that bias.

Taste of my music

nangphuongdong — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 07:03:55 GMT

Taste of my music

Now, I’m sitting on the chair listening to the music. Beyond the window ledge, I can see a wide-stretch azure. There are two gulls flying across the landscape as fast as the wind, let behind the graceful sky in a tranquil Sunday afternoon. I imagine that just open the glass windows and there blows into the room sweet of spring air in April. I am lazy let my mind sunk in the music of Full House Ost. These are such dulcet music to my ears. Currently, I change my music taste to Koran drama ost. Needless to say, I was a fervent fan of Korean drama. There was once a time, I just watched and watched Korean dramas, regardless of the other countries. Now of course time changes and so does my taste. I watch some from America, some from Japan. But still I am a fan and a loyal one. To tell the truth, my taste of music changes rapidly rather than of films. I remember as if last week I ‘ve just liked to listen to only instrumental music. Before that I was a fan of Enja, and Yiruma. And before that maybe Delta Goodrem, James Blunt, and many many. Of course when I was in my teenage, I liked Britney, and some hot boy bands at that time. It also depends in my mood. When I am sad, I prefer some delightful one to wipe my sorrow out. Meanwhile when I am in calm mood, I like to listen to some mellow ones. I am not a picky person. I can listen up to many kinds of music, from modern to classic, just except some heavy rocks. Punk rock is quite so-so, but not so heavy. I get sick when facing with that kind of clamor. I mean strong bass and monotonous melody. I have a bad habit that I want to make my friends follow my taste of music. It just derives from my positive thought of sharing and giving. But it just failed many times. And I need to accept that anyone has different taste of music, and not just only and simply music, but many others. Accept willingly and respectably.

Learning language

nangphuongdong — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:12:37 GMT

Learning language

Sometimes, one idea comes up to my mind that why I need to learn English everyday like this. Actually, I always have an itch to push my English to advanced level. And I struggle very hard and spend much money learning. I wonder if I were an English native-speaker, I could spend my time learning the other things. For example, I can learn other language such as Chinese. I need to spend so much time to learn foreign language meanwhile the others have already owned that.

To me, I really like learning Chinese. Suffice to say that Chinese is nearer to my language. And my language and Chinese maybe have the same language family or my language more or less be affected by Chinese. Evidently, we face the most advantageous problem in learning Chinese in writing. Because Chinese language using the characters which not familiar to my language writing using the latin alphabet. But the characters also have strong appeal to me. Don’t know why. Maybe because I have the very uncanny way of holding pen when I write, look like the way of a Confucian scholar. To a certain extent, maybe just simply because I like it. I don’t know. Surely, maybe it will cost me at least 10 years more to read books in China. But whatever, I will set plan.

I remember in a morning class when I was still in high school. My teacher told me, she was really humorous, that there were 3 things that we cannot choose. Those are our names, our family, and our nation. The thing we can change is just our attitude to the life. And now every time, I have the tired feeling, wanna give up whilst learning language. I remember that the only thing I can change is my attitude. So, I keep moving on and go ahead.

Love letter 1995

nangphuongdong — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 17:41:55 GMT

Love letter 1995

The feeling left when I watched “Love letter” is something unclear, cannot explicit express, but so nostalgia and evocative. By using the very gorgeous cinematography that wrenches my heart, together with a plot based on a successful novel, the film really deserves to stand among the best romance movies of all time. There’s some really striking landscape like the white snow field at the beginning. And I read some others’ comments about this movie, they also thought that the music is also one score. To me, I was not impressive much in the music, but I like the “love story” and “small happiness” piano playing. The last scene keeps lasting in my mind for a long time. Every time, I close my eyes and try to imagine how that scene happened, it comes vigorously and vividly and the small happiness melody comes so magic. That also the scene makes me cry. I cried when the female lead realized how much her past classmate loved her, and she suddenly burst into tears. Some people think that this movie has many contrived coincidences, such as the two female protagonists look like each other or the lead male and female has the same name. But even though I admit that fact, the story is still so so moving and depict a very touching love story without the need of using any sexual action, even no kiss. ( actually there’s one kiss scene, but it belongs to the sub-pilot ) But though lacking all of the normal elements for a romance, this movie still proves how beauty a real platonic love is and wrenches the watchers’ hearts by just simple but not boring love.

The female lead needs to perform dual characters, and she did in an amazing way that makes me so admired. Furthermore, as I read in some documents that she was not a professional actor but a pop star, that makes I adore her more.

In conclusion, I give this movie 10 out of 10 scale, because I cannot find any reason to give less. It’s really an aesthetic and unforgettable movie about the love and its untainted meaning.