RamblingDyna

My family and I last saw my father alive on Wednesday, May 17, 2008 at 8:00pm as he laid in his hospital bed at the San Francisco Veteran’s Administration Medical Center awake, his eyes closed. His breathing was shallow but he looked relaxed and at ease. Unlike the day before, his silver hair was combed and his face was clean shaven but his cheeks were no longer rosy. They were sunken and pale and his lips were dry. His team of doctors told us 2 hours before that he could die anytime. Last week they said it could be days, weeks or months but on May 17, it was imminent. His blood count was dropping fast, a sign that his cancer caused him to internally bleed. His doctors told us he had lung cancer the third day after he was admitted to the hospital. Well, they believe it’s cancer due to the symptoms of high levels of calcium, chronic sleepiness and emphysema, a byproduct of his 50 plus years of smoking cigarettes. They could have done a cat-scan to look for the lung cancer but the pro...

I usually don't think twice about Veteran's Day. I see the parades of retired military veterans on television, most wearing their uniforms proudly and offering a interview or two about sacrifice, remembrance and honor of the soldiers who fought and died for freedom. My only connection to Veteran's Day is my father, John Villegas Lopez. He served in WWII when he was drafted as a Philippine Scout and fought alongside United States serviceman against the Japanese when they invaded the Philippines. He escaped from the Bataan Death March and suffered from Malaria for a month before returning to serve again. It's shocking to know that 700 WWII veterans die every day. Only 2,530 are still alive. It was of course sobering for my parents to see the numbers shrink every year as a majority of my dad's fellow comrades have passed away. He outlived most of them until this past May. My father of 88 years joined them when he lost his courageous battle to lung cancer. The last...

A week later, I'm still pinching myself of images of cries and smiles worldwide congratulating Obama and the United States for several deep reasons: The first and obvious of course is that he's making history as the first African American to live in the White House, the house that was built mostly by the hands of slaves. Second, it's generational. Obama is 46 years old, between the Baby Boomer and Gen X (like myself), he can relate to the My Space, Twitter, Facebook and Blackberry generation. Remember when he announced his VP, Joe Biden, running mate via text messages? That was cool! He even has an account on LinkedIn, a free professional and international online networking tool that connects people. He has 500+ contacts in his network. He's probably tilt the scale as his rolodex entries continue to multiply by the week. In online interviews in China, 2 men of different backgrounds were asked why they were happy about Obama being president. They both said he looked lik...

November 2, 2008 was an amazing, emotional and unforgettable ride for this country and the world. From Barack Obama's lead in the afternoon polling hours to his mesmerizing yet somber acceptance speech, I couldn’t keep my eyes off all the media news stations until I forced myself to walk away at 1:00am. The buzz continued the next morning from Honolulu , Jakarta, Japan, Kenya and the White House. Obama's transformation reads like a rags to riches, Rocky story: growing up with a single parent to becoming the first African American president of Harvard Review, then his quick rise to Senator, to his historic win for the most powerful seat in the country - is a true testament of adversity in the making. Even if you don’t agree with his policies you can’t help but be in awe of his struggle, hope and determination to make it to the mountaintop while staying cool. I’ve never heard of Barack Obama until I saw him speak on national television at the 2004 Democratic National Conventi...

Marnee Thai restaurant was only 5 years old when I first stepped into their simple, small and quaint Irving Street location in 1990. Back then a majority of Southeast Asian eateries were in the Inner Sunset and Richmond districts of San Francisco. 15 years later, increasing competition has spread to the Mission, Tenderloin and Polk Gulch, but old school Marnee Thai continues to make savory, fresh and affordable Thai dishes. Chef Chai Siriyarn opened the Irving street restaurant in 1986. It’s won 16 local, national and international awards and about a dozen rave reviews including Zagat’s Top Ten Thai Restaurants for 15 years. He opened a second restaurant on 9 th Avenue a couple of years later. Their signature Spic y Angel Wings was the first dish to pop in my mind the minute I walked in the door. My friend Mags hadn’t been to Marnee Thai in about 10 years and said that’s the only dish that stood out from the pack. From Oakland and Redwood City to San Jose, I have yet to fin...

I went to the Doctors Without Borders/Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) campsite on the coldest and cloudiest day of the week and I was impressed with the people who stood in line and braved the Golden Gate winds for 1.5 hours of the outdoor walking tour. I’m glad the MSF camped in San Francisco's backyard, although its ironic the Marina backyard is known for its yachts, yuppy cars and ginormous apartment rentals . Dolores Park would have been more appropriate or in front of City Hall where they recently had a vegetable garden display. MSF is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that provides humanitarian assistance (medical treatment, disease prevention, sanitation treatment, counseling, food and shelter) to the 42 million refugees and displaced persons in more than 60 countries. Instead of reading the statistics or watching the brief TV news reports (if any), MSF setup the site to showcase real life situations of a refugee. M...