[CHRYSANTHEMUM] Chrysanthemum Literary Society --- a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit charitable corporation in the evergreen state of Washington to promote literature, education, and world peace. You can submit work for review here by email to koonwoon@gmail.com
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Taking it as it comes
Can’t
afford anything this night but the streets, walking by Foster’s I see a man
prone and motionless on the sidewalk. I go next door to alert the hotel clerk
that possibly someone is dead. He hurries out. Upon shaking the man by his
ankles, the clerk has this to say, “Don’t worry about him; he is just in a
drunken stupor.” I then keep on walking on Market Street. San Francisco at
night is neon. I still have not claimed my baggage at the Greyhound Depot. I
need to find Fred and Alex. They are a gay couple I knew in Seattle. But now it
is three in the morning. I impulsively come down to San Francisco, and although
I have relatives here, I don’t feel like I can meet them like this. I need to
walk some more hours until it is dawn in North Beach. I have only a twenty bill
in my wallet, a choice between breaking it on a pack of Marlboro or a cup of
coffee and a donut at Foster’s. I could not make decisions like these and that
is the reason they reject me from the Army. Sally says that I have to measure a
sandwich with a ruler before I cut it in half.
Friday, April 4, 2014
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Jose in Our Kitchen
Jose in our kitchen
It isn’t
kind to call your older brother Jose. It is definitely lack of respect. Yet
that was what my mother called my oldest uncle, her brother. Jose had the misfortune
of being stuck in Peru for 40 years before my dad sponsored him over. I never
forget going to see Mr. Sanderson, the attorney who also arranged for my
immigration to the US. I came from China at age 11. I had to memorize a bunch
of “facts” about “my village” and which direction my front door faced and who
was my closest neighbor in the village and what were the surnames. That was a
trick question, for everyone in the same village had the same surname. China is
a patriarchal setup. And I was even born the leader of my village of my
generation. Tough luck, Gary Locke, you are not it.
The first
time I saw my eldest uncle Jose I was living at Albert Yu’s rooming house. Hank
had driven my book to pick up Jose at the airport and then they brought Jose to
see me. I am the oldest of all my siblings. The duty to help Jose adjust to
American life fell on me. That’s the way it works. My mother had a grimace the
whole time we were together with Jose at the Tai Tung Restaurant in Seattle
Chinatown. Hank had dropped us off at the café while he went to purchase
Chinese restaurant food stuff for our café in Aberdeen, and so he did not have
dinner with Jose and my mom and me. My mom arranged that private meeting. Jose
had two wives. A legal but an unfaithful one in Hong Kong and a non-legal one
and also later proved to be unfaithful and she was in Lima, Peru. Later I was
to learn her name to be Carmen.
Jose was a storyteller and
a good gossip. He read the Chinese newspaper from cover to cover and had
brought with him a set of cookbooks from Peru. He had worked in large chifas
that catered to Japanese in Peru. They were good businessmen, but Jose said
that they always designed the toilets next to the kitchen of the chifas. Chifas
is a Spanish word for “cooking rice.” It is a transliteration. Jose said if he
weren’t number one cook he certainly was number two. Later we got to know that
Jose is a good storyteller. All his life he missed his fortune or luck by a
nanosecond or a micrometer. It is bad to be born in the year of the goat. Seems
like everyone is getting the better of you.
(More later…).
Jose in our
kitchen (part 2)
Whenever
Jose works in the kitchen, he leaves a trail of vegetables and water on the
floor. My father always say of Jose, he is not a man of planning or vision,
when he dies, he will just drop dead somewhere and others will have to take
care of his body. My father is not very charitable. He has known very little of
charity his life. Jose goes home to his apartment that we own at two in the
morning when we close the restaurant. My dad and I stay to clean up and to have
our wee morning meal together. That’s the only time my dad tells me of his
oppression and humiliation.
He
was interned at Angel Island and he was interrogated there. His immigration would
in some sense be deemed criminal, but that is because the criminals were making
the laws. Suffices now to say that if he was a criminal, he was in crime for
other reasons, not because of the circumstances of his immigration. Because our
name was changed to Woon, I am a paper son. But the crime was that my
great-grandfather had already come as an indentured servant in the town of
Hoquiam in 1880 and his son was in all likelihood murdered. We never found the
body or the reason he was missing. So my father had to purchased an immigration
paper – somebody else’s and for those who don’t know this story and others,
Google “paper son.” And/ or the Chinese Exclusion Act. No, it was not drama. It
was how an entire nation was banned from entry to the USA.
My
father seldom ate vegetables. His big meal of the day, and the only time he
could eat it too, was when we sat together in the wee morn and the freight
trains would blow their lonely whistles a few blocks away. His grandfather came
when the rails were young and he did laundry and cooked for the loggers. North
of Hoquiam, in Humptulips, you can go into the woods and find abandoned rails
tracks, when over a century ago, these tracks transported lumber out of the
woods. My great-grandmother was in China. They were separated by the Pacific
Ocean and by American immigration laws. My great-grandfather had a solitary
teapot in the backroom of his laundry shop and
he had a solitary teacup.
My
great-grandfather’s name was Locke Li, meaning a man from the Locke villages
and possess of great strength. He acted as a labor contractor and the mayor of
Hoquiam went with him to his village to conscript 500 men for the logging industry.
One of the men that came over from China was Gary Locke’s grandfather.
My
father used to say to me in the lonely hours of the café at night, “I used to
think that we can be president in one generation, but now I know it takes three
generations to grow a president. He didn’t like Gary Locke very much because my
father despised Beijing. And Gary Locke went to Beijing to be the US
Ambassador. My father and I are peasants. We distrust officials. If you come in
to our restaurant through our front door and you are a relative, we then know
that you have forgotten the old ways. Relatives and close friends come through
the back door. That way, any secret business is unobserved.
(End
of part 2, to be continued…)
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Early Years in Aberdeen
Untitled
The
time my father arrived in Aberdeen was 1951. He didn’t want his sons grow up to
be gang members in SF Chinatown. He had been one and decided he rather chase
the American dream in a small town on the West Coast. Hank, his first son in
America was born in a taxi on the way to the hospital. That’s why Hank was
always in a hurry all his life. My father worked for his Uncle Benny at the
Canton Café. My dad was the strongest and so he had to stay after closing time to
clean the stoves and the grill, while the other cooks were taking a shower.
Benny otherwise overworked my dad and my dad had one kind after another for
several years. Though my dad complained about his low wages, Benny would say to
others, “He’s got so many kids hanging onto him like grapes on a vine, where is
he going to go?” And so one Christmas they had a dinner party at the café and
my dad had to cook all the steaks. Benny picked out the smallest one and gave
it to my dad. My father handed it over to the waitress and walked out into the
night.
He
then worked at Ocean Shores Inn and later at the Smoke Shop Café owned by the
Aberdeen Mayor Walt Failor. That’s when I arrived from China in 1960. We lived
in the Aberdeen housing projects. Then there were 9 of us in a small
three-bedroom duplex. Then my dad worked for Sally in Montesano. She was the
madam of a whorehouse. I helped my dad with kitchen work at the China Doll
Café, the cover for the house of ill repute. The real business was upstairs. I
was confused at age 14, and got more confused when the cops started coming in
because the girls were in trouble. When the madam was run out of town, she
stayed with us at our housing project on Oak Street for a week or two until she
came up with the money to pay the sheriff in order to leave town. She claimed
to be giving work to troubled girls who could not otherwise find work. And she
gave me a tape recorder that was hardly used. Years later I figured out that
she was taping and blackmailing her “johns.” It was OK to run a clean house of
prostitution if she paid off the mayor and the sheriff. But it was not OK to
blackmail people. She was always telling me to ask the old lonely men to give
me quarters for the juke box on slow Sundays. She told me her favorite fruit
was blueberries. I went out to the foothills of the Olympics to pick a pint of
it for her and I put it in the walk-in fridge for her. She never ate a single
one.
Sally
was always saying it is too cold in here or it is too hot in here. My dad tells
me she is on too much drugs. After Sally left town, somehow my father got all
the restaurant equipment and managed to transport them 10 miles to Aberdeen and
started his own little Hong Kong Café right there on Simpson Avenue. He put his
sons to work and when we made a go of it, his Uncle Benny finally came to visit
us, and my parents cannot show ingratitude and they were solicitous to Benny
about his health. I knew what to do though. I brought Benny his cup of
obligatory tea. I asked, “Does grandfather Benny need some sugar in his tea?” I
knew full well he had diabetes though.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Friday, December 20, 2013
Christmas -- time for collaboration and cooperation
For those who believe in Christmas, please be generous and kind to those who don't. The Tao Te Ching says that a bad man is a good man's charge.
It is not necessarily the case that those who don't believe in Christmas are bad, just as it is the case that those who believe in Christmas are not necessarily good.
The mirror was invented for this reason.
Thank you and Merry Christmas to you and all those you love and care about.
It is not necessarily the case that those who don't believe in Christmas are bad, just as it is the case that those who believe in Christmas are not necessarily good.
The mirror was invented for this reason.
Thank you and Merry Christmas to you and all those you love and care about.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
OPEN LETTERS TO PRESIDENT XI OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
President Xi,
As an Overseas Chinese person, I beseech you not to make deals with the United States on anything that would put China in a disadvantageous position, presently or in the future.
China has the will and the power to do what is right for the world in the long-term perspective of history. Your job, Mr. President, is to carry out the will of the entire world's people to be free and being able to pursue plans of their own according to their situation without coercion or threats from anyone.
China has always advocated for a multi-polar world and that should continue to be China's goal - - to be an equal among equals -- to walk proudly and freely.
I can tell you that the American people do not have faith in the government that rules them at this time.
You have their blessing and my blessing to be strong and just.
As an Overseas Chinese person, I beseech you not to make deals with the United States on anything that would put China in a disadvantageous position, presently or in the future.
China has the will and the power to do what is right for the world in the long-term perspective of history. Your job, Mr. President, is to carry out the will of the entire world's people to be free and being able to pursue plans of their own according to their situation without coercion or threats from anyone.
China has always advocated for a multi-polar world and that should continue to be China's goal - - to be an equal among equals -- to walk proudly and freely.
I can tell you that the American people do not have faith in the government that rules them at this time.
You have their blessing and my blessing to be strong and just.
Friday, November 15, 2013
A Quintessential Literary Review --- Five Willows Literary Review
This is a quality literary review in the spirit of Tao Yuanming,
the ancient Chinese statesman poet, also known as
Mr. Five Willows, for the trees that surround his impoverished
living quarters
This review is actively soliciting the best of your work in any genre as long as it is not ungodly lengthy, for that will delay Mr. Five Willows from his appointment with a cask of wine
Please go to this link: http://fivewillowsliterarysociety.blogspot.com/
the ancient Chinese statesman poet, also known as
Mr. Five Willows, for the trees that surround his impoverished
living quarters
This review is actively soliciting the best of your work in any genre as long as it is not ungodly lengthy, for that will delay Mr. Five Willows from his appointment with a cask of wine
Please go to this link: http://fivewillowsliterarysociety.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
A True Scholar in the Secular Age
This is Dr. Michael F. Meade of the English Department of Fort Hays State University in Kansas.
I am very proud to have studied with Dr. Meade in a variety of topics ancient and modern in the various genres of English literature. Currently I am off on a private literary investigation but you can bet your last dollar that I shall not return empty-handed. Every course I had with Professor Meade was value-added. He teaches "who travels lighter travels farther."
And whoever travels lighter travels faster, and so I am leaving today in a relative way and I shall return the previous day.
Friday, November 8, 2013
Chrysanthemum Publications, Inc video 1
http://www.youtube.com/v/HQUA3Tt1mmo?version=3&autohide=1&autohide=1&feature=share&showinfo=1&autoplay=1&attribution_tag=saTQCTbO_JMv7RN__nnS2A
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Goldfish Press begin movie
http://www.youtube.com/v/uNhQZlUEwog?autohide=1&version=3&autoplay=1&attribution_tag=g4JBb1_vYCwwAuxzbNhRsg&showinfo=1&feature=share&autohide=1
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Not Confined Anymore
- News
Politics
US can no longer contain China within First Island Chain: Duowei
The Guangzhou, a Type 052B guided-missile destroyer, passes through the Bashi Channel to participate in the Mobile 5 exercise on Oct. 23. (Photo/Xinhua)
China's Mobile 5 naval exercise in the Western Pacific between Oct. 18 and Nov. 1 has shown that the United States can no longer contain the Chinese maritime power within the First Island Chain — which extends from Alaska, South Korea, Japan, Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines, according to Duowei News, an outlet run by overseas Chinese.
Under the request of Admiral Wu Shengli, commander of the People's Liberation Army Navy, the Mobile 5 naval exercise deployed vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft from China's North Sea Fleet, East Sea Fleet and South Sea Fleet to compete against each other in an environment closest to real combat. The exercise was launched to prove that Chinese vessels have the ability to hold exercises beyond the First Island Chain by penetrating the Miyako waterway between the Japanese islands of Miyako and Okinawa.
State-run China Central Television (CCTV) reported that Japanese aircraft closely monitored the Chinese naval fleet during the exercise. During a press conference held on Oct. 31, Chinese defense ministry spokesperson Yang Yujun said the Japan Maritime Self Sefense Force sent the Ikazuchi — a Murasame-class destroyer — into the area of exercise on Oct. 25 and claimed that the intrusion was a act of provocation. Yang said that China demands a promise from the Japanese government to never interrupt Chinese naval exercises in the future.
Tensions between the two countries continue to mount after the Japanese government nationalized the disputed Diaoyu (Senkaku or Diaoyutai) islands last September. The Diaoyu islands, known in Japan as the Senkaku islands and in Taiwan as the Diaoyutai islands, are an island chain in the East China Sea claimed by the three parties but controlled by Japan.
China has begun to launch routine naval exercises near the disputed waters, while Chinese vessels penetrate the Miyako waterway at least once every two months for exercises in the Western Pacific, according to the London-based Jane's Defense Weekly.
Du Wenlong, a military analyst from Beijing told Duowei News that the First Island Chain was established by the United States and its allies during the Cold War to contain the maritime expansion of China. The PLA Navy has made several attempts to break through the line over the years, proving its ability to launch military drills beyond the makeshift barrier, Du said.
Another military expert Chen Hu said the PLA Navy has no intention of challenging the position of the US Navy as a global maritime superpower, but China has a legal right to conduct exercises like any of other nation in the open sea.
Article Tools
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Getting dangerous out there!
- News
Politics
PLA ballistic submarine can reach US cities with JL-2 missiles
A Type 094 PLA Navy submarine. (Internet Photo)
China's nuclear-powered ballistic submarine is capable of conducting combat patrol missions around the Second Island Chain, according to military expert Li Li in an interview with the Party-run People's Daily online.
The Second Island Chain extends from Honshu on the Japanese island chain southward to New Guinea.
Only a few nations around the world are able to construct their own ballistic submarines because of the sheer difficulty, said Li. Larger pressurized water reactors are suitable for surface combat vessels, but cannot be used for submarines. It is extremely difficult for most nations around the world to build a properly sized pressurized water reactor in their submarines. Then there is building a nuclear reactor.
The PLA Navy have solved these major problems through years of development. The earlier Chinese submarines designed during the Cold War were small, noisy and had a short attack range. China's new generation Type 094 Jin-class submarines are able to reach the Second Island Chain. Equipped with 16 JL-2 missiles, their attack range extends 8,000km.
The JL-2 could hit Los Angeles from the waters east of the Kurile islands in the northern Pacific, Peter Howarth points out in his work China's Rising Sea Power: The Pla Navy's Submarine Challenge. When launched from the East China Sea, the JL-2 can reach Guam, Hawaii and Alaska. The JL-2 intercontinental submarine-launched ballistic missiles can also be equipped with a nuclear warhead, posing a considerable threat to US national
-
Beef tomato diary After work, I took a few tokes before I ate my beef tomatoes in the Bay Avenue house. Sometimes I listened to ...
-
Sometimes the Window is International Beer can on rooftop, restaurant garbage bins, sexy woman on billboard with petrodollar veins, whils...
