FRIDAY, 6 NOVEMBER 2026
I was speaking to a student this morning about Classical music and Heavy Metal, and why I prefer the latter.
Classical music says: It’s sad what happened to you. Here’s a melancholic melody to remind you of it.
Heavy metal says: What happened to you sucks. But you don’t have to be a victim. Here are some thundering guitars and pounding drums to remind you of that.
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SATURDAY, 14 FEBRUARY 2026
Deep gratitude as defiance, a form of “Fuck you” to anyone or anything that wants to keep you down.
“What if you are diagnosed with cancer, or even worse, you’ve been suffering from cancer for months?”
Deep gratitude that I’m still alive. I still have a chance to beat it.
“What if you have terminal cancer, with mere weeks to live?”
Deep gratitude that I still have time to get my affairs in order.
“What if you have actually died from the cancer?”
Deep gratitude that the pain is over.
“Okay, what if you’re a man and you’re in a fight and it’s not going well?”
Deep gratitude that I’m still standing.
“What if you’ve actually lost the fight?”
Deep gratitude that I’m still alive.
“What if the other guy actually killed you?”
Deep gratitude that I don’t have to deal with assholes like him anymore.
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MONDAY, 24 MARCH 2025
I was printing material tonight on the 7-Eleven printer in the far corner from the cashier counter, next to the storage room. As I walk to the cashier, I see a large guy standing with his back to me at the counter. Between the shelves that run toward the counter, a woman is standing, waiting to pay. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the large guy motioning to her to go ahead and pay. I assume he’s waiting for food to come out of the microwave. Another man walks in. I figure I have to go stand behind the woman or the new guy will assume that’s where the line is and take a position behind the woman himself. When the woman finished paying, I wait for confirmation from the large guy that he’s either about to pay or that he’s still waiting. No movement from him. The cashier doesn’t say anything either. I step forward, and put my slip from the printer and my NT$12 on the counter.
The next moment the guy goes off – in Chinese. In short: “What the fuck do you think you’re doing… you fucking … It was my turn! Fuck your mother…”
I ignore him. The cashier is startled.
He shouts again. Loudly.
I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say the roof lifted and the refrigerator doors shook in their frames. My ears ring.
Of course, I realize he’s out of his mind, and that the fact that I stepped forward when he thought it was his turn has caused a shitload of emotions to spill out. And now the two-ton load of cow dung is lying on the floor, stinking up the place.
My receipt can’t come fast enough. I expect a fatal attack any moment.
I slip out the door the moment the nervous cashier gives me my receipt.
On the way home I glance over my shoulder me every few meters to make sure I’m not being followed.
Of course, this reminded me of the woman from a few years back when I also had to run for my life when my path unexpectedly crossed with that of an unstable person.
Lesson learned for not the first time in my life: The world is not necessarily full of them, but it’s definitely wise to always be on the lookout for Crazy Bitches and Psycho Muthafuckers. Your life may just depend on it.
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TUESDAY, 5 MARCH 2024
You’re here.
Try your best to make it worth the trouble.
Try not to cause too much damage.
Try to comfort – if you can.
Try to lighten someone else’s load – if you can.
Try to stay healthy.
Try to stay strong.
Look out for big and small breakthroughs that can take you to a higher level, or just to a better place.
Be grateful for the good things in your life. Be grateful when you’ve survived something bad.
And remember: We are not born into the same circumstances, or with the same abilities or talents. And yet, your life remains, to a significant extent, the result of how you play with the cards you were dealt.
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FRIDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 2023
Once again, what is life about? It’s a struggle for survival, and for some degree of happiness to make the struggle worth it. And at the end, you hope you don’t die a painful death. And when you are dead, a few people will miss you for a period of time, but the rest of the world will continue as if you were never alive.
These are cold, hard facts.
But one is tempted to wonder if the pill is not a little too black to swallow.
The key is in the degree of luck.
There are also different degrees of survival. If you are optimistic and you believe in the wide range of possibilities available to lead a good life, your survival can be relatively comfortable – from the food you feast on three to five times a day, to the drinks you pour down your throat, to the bedding you sleep under, and the amount of time you spend exploring the world and with your loved ones and friends.
The quality of your survival also contributes to your sense of happiness.
And if you assist other people in their struggle for survival and their efforts to make life worth living, it increases your own awareness of a life worth living.
However, the ending is usually not your choice.
Which makes it that much more important to be happy before the end comes – slow and gruelling, or mercifully quick.
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