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The time has passed so quickly. I’m here in Taiwan now, but less than 15 years ago (less but only about 1 or 2 months - I can’t remember if I can in May or June 2005).

Let us reflect. I came here to Asia imagining ultra-gawdy colorful neon lights, dense urban living with culture seething at the pores. Instead, I was, at first, disappointed at the bare concrete structures and bleakly simple life that people live here. No exotic oasis here. At least not in the stereotypical conception of it.

But why am I venturing on this blog writing vehicle again, after pretty much quitting for so many years? Is it for ego’s sake? No doubt, there’s a little bit of that, and I am weak as others, sometimes more, sometimes less. I want to try and paint a picture with words, which are the best I’ve got, as far as my limited talents go (and I’ve met the occasional person who has said my writing talent is exceptionally bad; I’ve also met people who’ve said the opposite). I am sloppy with editing, although I value input on my mistakes and I value the craft of editing. I admit laziness is a fault of mine, as it is for many people.

Anyway, with my return to blogging, I hope to redress my many wrongs. My past tendency to align myself with group ideologies because it seemed edgy or young to do so. My wildly vacillating moral compass. My superficiality. The list goes on.

To tell the truth, however, I value the thing that I have hopefully given myself over to, my love of literature, the pursuit of truth, freedom, a bit of beauty, the appreciation of originality and the transcendent.

I am lucky to live in Taiwan because of the living, breathing, kind, and conducive environment that resides here has bred in me the resolve for self-examination. I have been lonely all my life, so it is not loneliness that has led to this, but the need to recognize that one size does not fit all and that fairness is to pursue the unique value and justice in each particular thing. I’m ending this entry on a catalogue of abstractions, I know, but perhaps some of you will see the value in what I am conveying.

I promise, not every entry will be so abstract. Pictures, autobiographical narratives, and observations will be at the kernel of my future writings here.

Your blogger a handful of years back: