a day in the life of piano monkey

as i was running errands in pouring rain, i got stalled by the dyke march 2015 toronto.  waiting for a gap to cross, i thought how nice it is to see a big body of happy people.  lots of noise. lots of cheering. many kids and families, despite of the grey clouds that just opened up today. then it stuck me hard: all these people, in a different place, could be fined, imprisoned and even sentenced to death, as they are right now, just marching, having a great time, because of their sexual identity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_by_country_or_territory#LGBT-related_laws_by_country_or_territory quickly scanning through the list, there are nations that has death penalty for gays. here's a few i just read: sudan (3rd offence for man, 4th for woman) mauritania (last public execution on 1987) nigeria (death for man, whipping/jail for woman) qatar (for muslims) saudi arabia (2nd offence merits execution) yemen (married man to be stoned) afganistan (death of l...

a good friend told me that i quote my dad all the time. i laughed and said 'probably.'  i think about that once in awhile, as it seems that we are quite close in my mind, though we rarely do things together. my dad was brought up by single mom, post-korean war. he was too bright, i think, and too sensitive to grow straight as a child - bit like the way that vines grow, they are resilient and they grab onto things, wrapping around, rather than shoot straight into the sky. he's demanding and curious. he can be quite adamant and inflexible.  as a vine plant, one would not let its end go so easily from (whatever it may be climbing on), and the plants, though easy to cut with a blade, they are so difficult to rip with bare hands. the vines go into places and holds on. dad never had an easy thought. everything had been thought through, and the decisions, they add up into this whole being of who he is. i have never seen him make sweeping decisions or change opinions easily...