“Love of a father to his child in his special way”

Strong emotions when watching those paintings “Love of a father to  his child in his special way” .

These paintings from Doctor in psychology Nguyen Hoang Khac Hieu bring a lot of comments among the online community due to its high values in human behaviors.

“Love of a father to his child in his special way” is composed of 10 small paintings with simple sketches, but the contents have a strong meaningful message: "The love of the father to his children is difficult to detect but it does not mean that this love is non-existant. Father loves his children in his own way. We can say that this is a subtle way to remind every young person about his father ‘s treatment and love for his children.

Mother loves children  by feeding them.

Father loves children through toiling.

When mother misses the children, she calls them

When father misses their children, he works harder.

When a child  misbehaves , mother was sad and cried.

When father punishes a child, he is aching inside. 

Mother teaches their children through the love and the flexibility of her heart.

Father loves their children through discipline.

Mother loves their children through hugging.

Father loves their children by lending a strong shoulder.

Mother loves their children through care for security.

Father loves their children by helping them grow through the experience of life.

The love of the mother is like the sunshine, it is warm, sweet and visible.       

The love of the father is like  the darkness of the sky, it is silent but extremely deep

.

 

We paste posters of our idols everywhere on the wall

But do we see an idol right in front of our eyes, 

we did not even see his hair is turning white?

 

Did we ever use words that hurt him? (Wish you were not my father?)

                         

Do not wait for the excuses that can no longer come up to Him.

Do not wait for the words of love to become too late…

web reference :http://ihay.thanhnien.com.vn/pages/default.aspx

Goodies from my garden

Since I am in the show off "spree" mode, here are some of the flowers of my garden. When it 's hot, many kinds of birds come over for water. Humming birds often fly around sucking nectar from flowers.
We have red, white and pink epiphyllum, this is the season when they start to bloom and they are gorgeous. In the front door, we have wisteria flowers, they bloom around april or may.

           

Epiphyllum - white	Epiphyllum - white
Epiphyllum - Red	Epiphyllum - Red
bougainvilleas  pink	bougainvilleas orange
Mandevillea - Red	Mandevilla at garden entrance
Wisteria	Wisterias at the front door
Peach tree - Very sweet	Grape fruits - 1st year
front yard roses	roses again
Pnk Epiphyllum blooming	Backyard

New Experience with charcoal painting

If you live in the Orange County area, you have a chance to take part in lots of activities especially for seniors. Two weeks ago, we took a still-life course. Here are my second week drawings. Painting with charcoal is fascinating, you got charcoal everywhere on your body, and on your clothes, even on your face if you are not careful. But the most fascinating part is shading and perspective. My first drawing "Bananas for ever" is inspired from an existing drawing on the internet. The second one is live drawing : the magnolia flowers came from the tree of my neighbor who decided that he no longer wanted magnolia tree near his house, so he cut it down. We took the branches with the flowers still on but not blooming yet. We put the branches in a vase, filled it up with water and put a pill of "aspirine"in the water. The next day, the flowers started to bloom. They are fragrant flowers, so the house was perfumed with the fragrance  and the flowers are really huge. So I also show the pictures of the flowers together with my painting.

Magnolia in bloom	My Painting " Bananas for ever"  painted with charcoal
The Magnolia flowers turned orange when getting old	My Painting with charcoal " Magnolia for ever"

Water Color Painting

These paintings were done in 2009, when I started to learn water color painting. Just want to show off on my blog.

Water & Mountain - Vietnam scenes	Multi-level culture
Halloween inspiration	Longevity cranes
fruits and flowers	orchids? violets? Just forgot what it was
Flowers again	In order not to waste papers , I just painted on the strips

Mother and Son

Miki was 5 years old. He loved to go to the Jardin du Luxembourg to play with other kids of his age pushing with a stick the model sailing boats under the fountain splashing water.

He was playing in the garden when his mother called out to him: "Miki, let's get ready. I'll take you to the Jardin du Luxembourg.".  Miki ran inside the house, washed his hands and got ready to go but he did not look as happy as usual. Something bothered him and his mother could tell by looking at him. His mother also had something in mind and she also wanted to take this opportunity to tell him. So both mother and son got in the car and started on the way. "Son, something bothers you?" asked the mother. Miki just shaked his head without saying anything. "I have something to tell you, son. Next week, I will have to go to the hospital for an operation. Mom will be absent for a week or so. It won't last very long and I will be back home in no time. Be good to Daddy ok?". Miki looked at his mother and asked sadly : "Mom, are you going to die?" "Why do you ask me that question, son?" asked his mother. "Dad told me that you will have a heart operation and that you could die." Miki said in a trembling voice.
 "Son, do I look like I am going to die?. I will have my operation, everything will be ok! I promise you that I will be back home very soon, and I will be able to play tennis with you every day if you want to."
Miki felt reassured, his mother always kept her promise to him and he felt relieved. Now he could enjoy pushing the model sailing boats with his friends at the fountain.

My experience with Miss Universe 2012 pageant

I have never considered Miss Universe like a fantastic event. I sometimes watched on TV but did not care much. This time, we got two tickets to see Miss Universe pageant 2012 at Planet Hollywood on December 19, 2012 in  Las Vegas. Since Vietnam had a contestant so we thought we should go. Of course we voted for her even though we knew she would have a very light chance to win..

I must confess that I am impressed by the ambiance outside and inside the theater. It seems to me every Miss something was there: so many beauties in one place! Almost everyone around me is a crowned Miss.

Inside the theater, the ambiance was terrific. People came all over the world to defend their color. Flags of different countries were waving in the air with slogan to hope to win. The most beautiful part is the national custom show. Click on the picture or the link to go to you tube.

Miss Mexico - Miss Universe 2012 National Custom Show

Some of the dress are fancy beyond imagination. I am not so sure that it is their true national customs but they were quite attractive to look at.

The loudest groups to defend their countries are the Filipinos and the Mexicans. I guess somewhat they had influenced the judges. I am glad I was at that event, this is something that it is worth attending for once in a life time.

Miss Vietnam in National Custom.

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Xuân Quý Tỵ - Cung chúc Tân Xuân

Xuân Quý Tỵ  - The Year of the Snake - Année du Serpent

Happy New Lunar Year!

Click to play the youtube

Happy Holidays'Seasons

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Latino Concert, Wow!

If you live in the Orange County & Los Angeles area, you will have a chance to assist to many shows and concerts. From June till September, the Hollywood Bowl has a wide range of variety shows in the open air. The Disney Land area and the Universal Studio area, the Knot Berry Farm area, the Anaheim convention and Entertainment Center regularly offer American, International as well as Vietnamese shows not counting the free public concerts in the different parks of the region. In addition to all the shows, the San Diego and Escondido Casinos have regular concerts from country legend Willie Nelson to rapper extraordinaire LL Cool J. We had a chance to attend a latino concert and we must say that the ambiance was terrific and hot! The concert was performed by Marco Antonio Solis and was done entirely in Spanish, we do not have a lot of Spanish to understand everything but we know most of the songs and their meanings.

Marco Antonio Solís is a Mexican romantic musician, composer, and record producer. Throughout his career, he has sold over 80 million records and written over 300 songs, arguably making him one of the most successful singer-songwriters in Latin America. (Wikipedia)
The show took place in the open air. There were at least 3000 attendees :young and old. The reaction of the public was just unbelievable. Most of the music were salsa, cha cha cha, bolero, waltz. While the singer performed his songs with the go go dancers, the public sang along and some young people just danced around on the platform. We have a feeling of living again the period of the 6o's with the Beatles when young girls shouted out loud and sang and danced. The show lasted 2 hours and we were enthralled by the great ambiance of the latin rhythm. After the show, the salsa music continued in the garden and old and young generation moved to the rhythm of the salsa dance. This is my favorite song from Solis: "Si no te Hubieras ido - if you had not gone." - Click on the arrow to play! You can find on you tube a playlist of the 100 most popular songs.

When I die!

Two opposite ideas but yet the two poems evoke lots of emotions : one, the nostalgia of the mother land and the other, the nostalgia of the glorious military life. I just want to translate both of them in English for the younger generations who were born outside of the mother land to remind them that no matter what nationality they have adopted, they are still Vietnamese and that their great grand parents, their grand parents and their parents had fought for many years and even centuries to keep the mother land from foreign invasion.

Khi Tôi Chết, Hãy Đem Tôi Ra Biển

Du Tử Lê

khi tôi chết hãy đem tôi ra biển

đời lưu vong không cả một ngôi mồ
vùi đất lạ thịt xương e khó rã
hồn không đi, sao trở lại quê nhà

khi tôi chết hãy đem tôi ra biển
nước ngược dòng sẽ đẩy xác trôi đi
bên kia biển là quê hương tôi đó
rặng tre xưa muôn tuổi vẫn xanh rì

khi tôi chết hãy đem tôi ra biển
và nhớ đừng vội vuốt mắt cho tôi
cho tôi hướng vọng quê tôi lần cuối
biết đâu chừng xác tôi chẳng đến nơi

khi tôi chết hãy đem tôi ra biển
đừng ngập ngừng vì ái ngại cho tôi
những năm trước bao người ngon miệng cá
thì sá gì thêm một xác cong queo

khi tôi chết hãy đem tôi ra biển
cho tôi về gặp lại các con tôi
cho tôi về nhìn thấy lệ chúng rơi
từ những mắt đã buồn hơn bóng tối

khi tôi chết hãy đem tôi ra biển
và trên đường hãy nhớ hát quốc ca
ôi lâu quá không còn ai hát nữa
(bài hát giờ cũng như một hồn ma)

khi tôi chết nỗi buồn kia cũng hết
đời lưu vong tận huyệt với linh hồn.

Translation

When I die, bring me to the sea!

When I die, bring me to the sea

My exile life does not need a tomb
Buried in foreign land, my body might not decay

My soul cannot fly away, how can I get back to my native land?

When I die bring me to the sea
The upstream will wash my body away
The other side of the sea is my native land
Where the bamboo hedge though ageless remains as green as ever.

When I die, bring me to the sea
And remember not to close my eyes.
Let me look at my native land for the last time
May be my body will never reach its shore.

When I die, bring me to the sea
Don’t ever hesitate! don’t worry about me!
Years ago, lots of folks were good prey for fishes
Why should I care for my dead body?

When I die, bring me to the sea
Let me go back to see my children!
Let me see them shed their tears
From their shadowy eyes darker than the night.

When I die, bring me to the sea
On the way, remember to sing the national anthem,
Alas! Nobody had ever sung it for a long time.
Even the song turned into the shadow of a ghost.

When I die, all sadness will disappear.

My exile life will be buried with my soul.

Translated by llequang

The Second poem

Khi Tôi Chết, Đừng Đưa Tôi Ra Biển 

Nguyễn Văn Phán

Khi tôi chết, đừng đưa tôi ra biển

Đưa tôi về Lao Bảo, Khe Sanh
Để đêm nghe vang dội khúc quân hành

Ôi ! Lính chiến một thời kiêu hãnh quá

Khi tôi chết, đừng đưa tôi ra biển
Đưa tôi về Ben-Hét, Đắc-Tô

Nơi bạn bè tôi, xây mộng sông hồ

Nguyện trấn giữ dãy Trường Sơn yêu quý.

Khi tôi chết, đừng đưa tôi ra biển
Đưa tôi về Bình Giả, Chiến Khu Đ

Cho hồn tôi siêu thoát với lời thề

Thân chiến sĩ, nguyện xin đền nợ nước.

Khi tôi chết, đừng đưa tôi ra biển
Đưa tôi về Cái Nước, Đầm Dơi
Đêm U Minh, nghe tiếng thét vang trời

Mừng chiến thắng để dâng về tổ quốc.

Khi tôi chết, đừng đưa tôi ra biển
Trả tôi về với dân tộc Việt Nam

Gói thân tôi ba sọc đỏ màu vàng

Xin liệm kín với hồn thiêng sông núi. 

Translation

When I die, do not take me to the sea!

When I die, do not take me to the sea

Bring me back to Lao Bao, Khe Sanh

So that night after night, I could hear the marching song

Alas! Soldiers at war! What a glorious life

When I die, do not take me to the sea

Bring me back to Ben Het, Dac To

To the place where with my friends, I had great dreams
Trying to defend the beloved Truong Son mountain range.

When I die, do not take me to the sea

Bring me back to Binh Gia, Chien Khu D
Let my soul transcend with my vows
As a soldier, to die for the country.

When I die, do not take me to the sea

Bring me back to Cai Nuoc, Dam Doi

At night in the U Minh forest, when  the air was filled with a great explosion of joy
To celebrate victory brought to the country

When I die, do not take me to the sea

Return me over  to the Vietnamese people
Wrapped me with the yellow red bi-colored Vietnamese flag

Buried me together with the soul of my mountain and river native land.

Translated by llequang