Like the strip says, it has been a really long, continuous run for Secret Asian Man. Sometimes I can't believe how long I've been doing this. On the other hand I can't imagine NOT doing this ever again. So consider this a bit a a break from my once monthly, once weekly, once daily, then weekly again schedule.
This is definitely not the end of SAM. I'm going to be doing a lot more with him in the future.
Now is the time to switch gears, think of new approaches, and tackle some long-neglected projects. I'm sure a combination of experiences in my life recently (like my father passing away) has lit a new fire under my ass to not find myself in a situation where it will become too late to branch out and try different things.
I want to thank everyone who has supported the strip over the years and hope you will continue to follow me through this blog, Facebook, and Twitter as I'm still going to have a lot to say and have plenty of surprises in the coming months.
Today amid the absolutely terrifying and, in the end, exuberant chain of events involving the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, I was having a much quieter and more personal experience that had far greater implications than any act of terrorism. This morning I found out that my father passed away.
My family and I were coming down to NYC to visit my dad in hospice care. I was awoken by a phone call from my brother. Both of us still half asleep, he broke the news to me. My dad had been battling cancer for the past couple of years and finally succumbed some time during the night. I was fortunate enough to have had come down a couple of weeks earlier when my dad insisted that we have a birthday party for me and my brother. We both have April birthdays.
As we finished packing for the trip down, and after I broke the news to my wife and two sons, I began to read the reports of the gun and bomb battle that took place also during the night in Cambridge between law enforcement and the bombing suspects. After an already tense week following the Monday bombings this news did not sit well.
As we made our way down I-95, I took to social media only to find post after post from friends in the Cambridge and Watertown areas writing about hearing gunshots, explosions, and posting photos of SWAT teams outside their homes. In between checking posts I drifted back to thoughts of my dad and of my mom who apparently was also fighting off high blood pressure and a bout of vertigo.
We get to NYC, check into our hotel and make our way to my parents' house in lower Manhattan.
Later that evening as my mom cues up a vacation video of when my parents went to Hawaii, a quick flash of the news flickered and I read the words, "Suspect captured alive." I felt a sudden sense of relief and gratitude and then an instant later I was watching footage my dad shot of Hawaii. Meanwhile I can hear cars honking horns and the occasional celebratory yelp. They're celebrating in NYC too.
So as I sit here typing this, now just past midnight and technically the next day, I can only take a deep breath and look back at April 19, 2013 with the strangest sense of sadness, sentimentality, and elation. Thank you Boston and I love you Papa.
I've always had this problem with Dora the Explorer (and Go, Diego, Go too). These guys are always rescuing animals from the evil jaws of other animals. Animals that need to eat meat in order to survive. It's at this point that my mind always wanders to an alternate version of the show where we follow the animal denied a nutritious meal and watch as it slowly starves and plots its revenge on the do-gooder duo.
To say that we live in a post-racial society is pretty ridiculous. But at the same time we are making strides in social attitudes at an amazing pace. But with all the specialized support and awareness groups focused on eliminating these social imbalances, it makes me wonder if in some way we NEED things to be unfair. That without injustice, those with the genetic impulse to fight for justice will suddenly lose their identity. Basically, can an activist ever truly be at peace?
Taking a quick note of the movie landscape it suddenly occurred to me how many are about the U.S. somehow being attacked or invaded. I realize G.I. Joe: Retaliation and Red Dawn were both delayed releases but add Olympus Has Fallen to the mix and it we're suddenly giving the world all sorts of creative ideas. Maybe this isn't such a hot idea.
It all seems like some sick game of "I Dare You to Invade Us."
