tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63495453318232908142012-01-29T10:00:10.709-08:00Nguyên Ðúc MînhKMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.comBlogger1471100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-63227497025893110352008-03-09T16:01:00.000-07:002008-03-09T16:09:27.330-07:00

Hello readers and bloggers, and everyone in between who just happens to be walking/stalking/skulking by.Borrowed Notes has moved to WordPress!!If you have placed a link to Borrowed Notes in your blogroll, please change the URL to:http://borrowednotes.wordpress.com/Onwards and forwards, my friends!

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com169tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-78107869105030428622008-03-08T10:22:00.000-08:002008-03-08T10:29:59.743-08:00

Well I was born in a small townAnd I can breathe in a small townGonna die in this small townAnd that’s prob’ly where they’ll bury me- Small Town, John Mellencamp -American soldiers nicknamed the country of my birth ‘The Nam’. As far as the average joe was concerned, it was a country filled with VC, free fire zones, kill ratios and POW/MIAs. As far as a Vietnamese adoptee like myself was concerned

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-21571062156753800452008-03-03T15:40:00.000-08:002008-03-03T16:33:57.655-08:00

While cruising around the adoptee blogosphere, I made a pit stop at living, laughing, whining...as a korean adoptee's blog and mine eyes fell upon a table listing in ascending order the salaries of top officials at some popular "non-profit" adoption agencies. This table originally appeared in a blog called Pound Pup Legacy.Let's see:In 2005, the CEO at The Children's Aid Society made $387,683. [

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-40283744241978556192008-02-29T11:27:00.000-08:002008-02-29T12:11:21.660-08:00

So, I was looking over my review of Katy Robinson's book and came to the realization that I was out of line on one main, very important, thing:I've never conducted a search for my first parents and I haven't even been back to my country of birth, Vietnam, let alone with any intention of searching for them. So, what the fuck am I doing presuming what and how Katy should have felt or done while she

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-35369179995733547422008-02-27T07:43:00.000-08:002008-02-27T07:54:52.410-08:00

This has been bothering me since Sunday afternoon when I had lunch with three other TRAs. Reliably, the talk turned to race. The guy sitting to my left turned to me and said, “Then you have ‘Mr. White Guy’ here.” I gave him a perplexed look and quickly retorted, “I’m not White.”I felt as if he were typecasting me right off the bat without even knowing me, much like many White people I’ve come in

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-1237622063361347752008-02-26T16:19:00.000-08:002008-02-26T16:36:44.986-08:00

A Single Square Picture is Katy Robinson’s attempt at teasing out tendrils of truth from the tangled yarns of faded memories of her Korean mother whom she had known as her only mother until the age of seven. The book represents what thousands of adoptees already known or will eventually come to realize about their lives: there is always a story behind the story of their origins. It is usually a

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-64189224941408005262008-02-22T09:43:00.000-08:002008-02-22T12:43:01.705-08:00

Back in November, I commented on the news about the attempted kidnapping of a group of Chadian children by a French "humanitarian" organization for the purpose of adoption: They Don't Need Your Help, Zoe's Ark, Thank You Very Much.Since then, I have heard and read about two other cases of people having been kidnapped, [sarcasm on] ostensibly for the purposes of saving them from their wretched

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-81809164337027891352008-02-22T08:51:00.000-08:002008-02-22T09:02:15.808-08:00

....don't act pissed when you're standing in line a mere five inches behind a person who is clearly a foot shorter than you and he turns around after paying the cashier and knocks into you.You knew what could happen and you stood there anyway.Just remember this: you may have longer limbs than the shorter guy, but he has the lower center of gravity and quicker reflexes, and he's not afraid to use

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-66292029747307704062008-02-20T16:34:00.000-08:002008-02-20T16:44:24.703-08:00

My uncle from Montana was drunk again when he pointed at the poster of Malcolm X on my bedroom wall and declared in a puff of hot alcoholic air, “You know, that guy was a racist. Yeah, he didn’t like people like us.” When he said “us”, he jabbed his bony, reddish thumb at his chest and then at mine.My uncle looked at me with his glassy, blood-shot eyes, seeing if I comprehended what he’d just

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-28584197340862284052008-02-14T09:10:00.000-08:002008-02-14T09:12:27.993-08:00

A car filled with Italian luggage,souvenirs and drunk Italian touristscollides with an old Volkswagen van drivingin the opposite direction under another Arizona sun.Imagine, if you will, two best friends,an aunt and a grandmother on their wayto that overused, gouged-out tourist trap in the sand,always ready to swallow up any unattended moneyand countless family snapshots.The desert is no one’s

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-75935160222328707962008-02-11T06:51:00.000-08:002008-02-11T06:58:48.092-08:00

“i don’t want to waste my time,” i told her. “you will,” she said and sighed. “my parents will decide for me,” she repeated. “you have no say, i have no choice,” she whispered.“falling for a girl like me is very hard,” she stated matter-of-factly. “i will break your heart. just you wait and see, anh. it happened before, and it will happen to you.”when she looked up at me, her eyes were filled

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-1494977733025300732008-02-07T13:23:00.000-08:002008-02-11T07:07:11.001-08:00

Linh Song, the Executive Director of Ethica, has informed the larger adoption community of a very important initiative started by Ethica to protect the identities of Vietnamese children being adopted abroad, Operation Identity: Cooperating to Protect the Identity of Vietnamese Orphans.This initiative is in response to a disturbing trend reported by the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam: “…approximately 85%

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-29218235096327989392008-02-04T14:37:00.000-08:002008-02-04T16:36:12.436-08:00

VAN Excited About Vietnam Adoptions Resumingby Bree SibbelThe Vietnamese Adoptee Network, or VAN, is excited that adoptions are re-opening in Vietnam. Many of VAN’s families have at least one child from Vietnam and are hoping to extend their family. VAN looks forward to welcoming new families and adoptees to the network. For those adoptees from the 60s and 70s it is invigorating to see young

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-47594452211056867512008-02-04T11:31:00.000-08:002008-02-04T11:36:16.630-08:00

This weekend I was pulling books off my bookshelves to put into boxes, and I found dozens of independent chapbooks and zines that I’ve collected over the years. One of them was Kim So Yung’s “I was abducted by white people”.Ironically, I bought it when I was still working at the nonprofit adoption agency.Kim’s political tract is full of enlightened, vengeful and humorous short essays on, mainly,

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-52327445490354871222008-02-02T09:00:00.000-08:002008-02-01T14:21:27.695-08:00

When Hollywood and politics mix, the barrier between reality and imagination becomes a chalk outline around the corpse of rational thought.So, I thought I was going insane when I saw the video clip of Sylvester Stallone endorsing John McCain for president:“There’s something about matching the character with the script.”Which reminded me of an essay I wrote a couple years back called “McCain & The

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-40872589432817786172008-02-01T14:22:00.000-08:002008-02-19T10:32:56.927-08:00

Trouble Telling The Enemythe chink. the spook. the raghead.the monkey. the dog. the rat.the insect. the scourge. the virus.never through these gates.illiterate. incoherent. opaque.too many of them, too few of us.uppity. angry. scornful.they are not human until we say they are.you are not human until I say you are.

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-88606644688698284822008-02-01T08:49:00.000-08:002008-02-01T10:55:22.528-08:00

Though many a tortured night prevailsThy exorcisms shall but failThy crucifix doth burn my fleshI shall not yield to you, unless I die– Venom, Possessed –“The world has become a smaller place since I started out in Vietnam and then opened up in Phnom Penh Cambodia, you who were abandoned; injured, abused children of war are adults now with lives and some with families of your own. Now it is time

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-2972223451697464272008-01-28T09:27:00.000-08:002008-01-28T09:47:47.514-08:00

I envision a much younger version of myself hiding behind an ornate folding screen watching and listening to my parents have sex. I don’t really know how to feel about it, but I know for certain these are the two people who conceived me. I can’t see their faces, but my dad’s long, pale body is covering my mom’s slim, tan body, and they’re both panting and sweating, clinging to the bedsheets for

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-82679121162676081592008-01-28T09:22:00.000-08:002008-01-28T09:27:01.946-08:00

My two mothers are arguing again right over me. I’ve awoken to their bickering. I lie here waiting for them to stop. My first mother is to my right and my second mother is to my left. They’re annoying me with the same old argument.My first mother questions my second mother as to why I smell like potatoes and butter all the time. My second mother accuses my first mother of wanting me to smell like

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-36544893360647534042008-01-22T08:14:00.000-08:002008-01-22T08:21:38.271-08:00

Yes, my laptop was officially pronounced dead at 8:10pm PST.Any suggestions on a replacement?

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-64449965637173153102008-01-22T07:54:00.000-08:002008-01-22T08:13:20.072-08:00

I found this piece while searching for articles on adult Vietnamese adoptees in the media:The Drive Towards Peace and MeaningfulnessIt consists of interviews back in 2005 of seven Vietnamese adoptees who made the move to Vietnam. They discuss their reasons for moving back to the homeland, their experiences so far, their adjustment to the country and what it means to them to return after all these

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-6895373190699621022008-01-20T10:44:00.000-08:002008-01-20T12:40:28.498-08:00

Always Her Favorite One of the lucky ones, but still one of the ugly ones. Sat up and burned in my crib. Mother, unmistakably, hissed through the bedroom door that my fire burned the brightest. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dear Mama-Tupac Shakur- Cause when I was low you was there for me And never left me alone because you cared for me And I could see you comin’ home after work

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-35612246425400118912008-01-19T23:40:00.000-08:002008-01-19T23:49:19.893-08:00

After I finished reading “growing girls” by Jeanne Marie Laskas, a memoir about the acquisition of farm animals and two Chinese daughters, all of whom are overseen by a a self-assured, self-doubting woman who fancies herself to be a mother, I still couldn’t believe that the author included my poem (p.148), Tourist Trap: Middle-class wives can’t get enough of these infants. So adoptable,

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-74618927357416497892008-01-19T23:36:00.000-08:002008-01-20T00:29:14.997-08:00

Laskas’ self-introspection is really an act of self-congratulation. It as if she is using this book to remind her daughters that a great debt of gratitude is owed to her, the one who made the unusual sacrifice to parent children born to two different mothers whom she denigrates as “ghost mothers”: p.121 I don’t want to apologize to my girls for taking them out of China, a homeland that

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-31613388536326006312008-01-19T23:32:00.000-08:002008-01-19T23:35:50.471-08:00

Reading “growing girls” provided me with a chance to open myself up to literature produced by an adoptive parent. I didn’t go into this thinking that Laskas’ memoir is representative of all adoptive parents. That would be ridiculous. As ridiculous as it is for Laskas to believe that the contributors at Transracial Abductees represent all adult adoptees. The impression I got from the book is

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-31608338053363180672008-01-19T23:04:00.000-08:002008-01-19T23:10:44.066-08:00

Jenny Na asked a very good, and devastating, question in her article about the continued adopting out of Korean children: Why does South Korea keep exporting babies?Substitue “South Korea” with any other country whose name has been in the adoption headlines and an important, radical, theme pops up, a theme that should give pause to both those who make their living off the institution of adoption

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-39430665125858645752008-01-19T22:41:00.000-08:002008-01-19T23:19:57.678-08:00

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-23632403172185536242008-01-18T16:16:00.000-08:002008-01-18T16:23:03.354-08:00

If I could, I'd just eat chicken nuggets and baloney sandwiches each and every day. And, maybe an apple here and there. :))

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-39750510708385899702008-01-13T10:20:00.000-08:002008-01-13T12:18:19.798-08:00

I know this is a propaganda film about South Vietnam's military forces. You can tell it's propaganda because of the authoritative narrator, martial music and continuous shots of self-assured guys with guns.I wish I knew Vietnamese, so I could understand what the narrator is saying. So I could understand where (and what) the hell I came from.If there are people out there who are thinking of

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-79669478715263844222008-01-13T09:49:00.000-08:002008-01-13T10:03:41.127-08:00

Looking back through the history of the Republic of South Vietnam has been an act of looking both beyond and within myself. It was at about the age of 6 months that my little, scrawny body was taken out of a country that I don’t remember but that I can’t easily forget. Some would question my desire (and sanity) to reclaim the history of a land that I barely have any connection to, given the fact

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-71531659240555817942008-01-13T09:25:00.000-08:002008-01-13T09:41:29.666-08:00

“You Americans feel you have been fighting this war for seven years. You have not. You have been fighting it for one year, seven times.”

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-16997250165648884582008-01-11T07:55:00.000-08:002008-01-11T07:58:47.590-08:00

Today's Facebook Status:Kev Minh wants to save APs from languishing in the system of their own ignorance.

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-64979116705201458622008-01-05T18:23:00.000-08:002008-01-05T18:24:51.137-08:00

Separated from the wounds of war to be raised among the spoils of war where I learned to play war in order to forget war.

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-64325507526108468342008-01-05T18:15:00.000-08:002008-01-05T18:22:44.463-08:00

He draws tanks and bombs. He draws bombs landing on tanks – “Boom.” He draws helicopters with rockets mounted on their sides – “Ka-boom.” He draws grenades as pretty as pineapples – “Blam.” He also draws stick figures wearing helmets shooting at other stick figures wearing helmets – “Bang, bang, you’re dead!” But, he isn’t taught how to draw dismemberment, nor flesh melting off bone. He isn’t

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-73102911069201122162008-01-05T18:13:00.000-08:002008-01-05T18:15:22.753-08:00

In the dark, someone grabbed me by the wrists and tugged at my limp body trying to sit me upright. It felt like my head weighed a thousand pounds. Someone crouched in front of me and pushed my eyelids open to make sure I was seeing what they were seeing. Underneath me the ground shook and I heard two voices shouting, coming from both near and far, “Wake up, wake up, be our witness, son!” Up above

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-58244695781391352792008-01-03T21:46:00.000-08:002008-01-03T23:44:03.350-08:00

When is an orphan not an orphan?when...she's a VAMPIRE!Playing with the cliché of the killer orphan or the haunted orphanage seems to be a regular storyline in horror films. It feeds into the public's perception of orphans as ahistorical basket cases just waiting to take revenge for their sorry plight, first, on their caretakers, and, secondly, on anyone else who gets in the way.Thinking of going

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-92217777919128078672008-01-01T12:25:00.000-08:002008-01-01T12:57:44.532-08:00

The past 7 months have been a hayride, a joyride, a slowride in this fast-moving chain of events we call the bump-n-grind of doin' time. It wasn't long ago that I had no idea blogs existed cuz I was holed up in my paperweight room printing out drafts of indeterminate thoughts I stashed in the back broom closet of my mind.I thought I knew what poetry was; I thought I knew who writers were; I

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-24026234113706888762007-12-30T21:14:00.000-08:002007-12-30T21:22:31.672-08:00

When you're a young adoptee, you take what you're given.When you get older, you learn to take what you deserve.

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-53475879925502506472007-12-30T20:13:00.001-08:002007-12-30T20:13:45.452-08:00

Wise quote from Sarah Kim Randolph: I'll have adoptive parents with young kids now say to me, "Things are really different than when you were growing up." And, that's true that things are very different. But, at the same time, that doesn't mean they're not going to have their own struggles.

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-35273332437183665752007-12-26T20:00:00.000-08:002007-12-26T20:16:35.732-08:00

We knew a couple who had bought a cute Rottweiler puppy, a couple months old, and named it Justice. We watched it gleefully run around the couple’s small backyard, going up to everyone and rolling over to be petted. It was the cutest thing, just a big ball of energy, all black and tan, looking like a purebred through and through. One time it was running at full speed toward the patio, it

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-81763642868789130322007-12-25T23:48:00.000-08:002007-12-26T08:34:21.861-08:00

Recently, I replied to a post on an adult adoptee listserve concerning a series about adoption from Vietnam on the Nguoi Viet2 website.A New FamilyHere's my reply:So, I understand this to be a four-part series about adoption from Vietnam in this online journal. Have any adult Vietnamese adoptees been contacted by Nguoi Viet2 in order to give their stories, opinions or perspectives on adoption

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-44811190453874048212007-12-25T23:47:00.000-08:002007-12-25T23:55:13.333-08:00

I can tell you the license plate numbers of all six cars outside. I can tell you that our waitress is left-handed and the guy sitting up at the counter weighs 215 pounds and knows how to handle himself. I know the best place to look for a gun is the cab of the gray truck outside and at this altitude I can run flat out for a half mile before my hands start shaking. Now, why would I know

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-37757658553007800622007-12-18T12:14:00.001-08:002007-12-18T12:14:39.263-08:00

An excerpt from The Sacred Willow by Duong Van Mai Elliott: Of all the American bombs, Trung thought the huge Daisy Cutters, which contained 15,000 pounds of explosives each, were the most dangerous. Not only could they blow people to bits, but the shock waves they created could asphyxiate, or simply crush the life out of you. When Trung helped pick up victims for burial, he found the corpses

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-34366286423035849402007-12-18T00:00:00.000-08:002007-12-18T07:33:53.020-08:00

We wish you a Merry Christmas; We wish you a Merry Christmas; We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Good tidings we bring to you and your kin; Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year. Oh, bring us a figgy pudding; Oh, bring us a figgy pudding; Oh, bring us a figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer We won't go until we get some; We won't go until we get some; We won't go until

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-38225396987259230622007-12-16T16:18:00.000-08:002007-12-16T20:15:47.258-08:00

No one can really foretell the future, no matter how much you pay him. But, a person can make an educated guess about what the future may hold based on accurate information, historical precedent and a clear understanding of the way the world works. The resulting predictions may prove strikingly accurate to those future generations looking back in hindsight. A feeling of redemption naturally

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-1181633926289211222007-12-15T09:23:00.000-08:002007-12-15T09:45:30.541-08:00

Uncle suffered for our sins.Absorbed every grenade on his thinning scalp,and still had time to do his daily exercisesout in the courtyard, hunger at his feet.The cross he bore was unimaginably heavy:Two bazookas tied together with a burning American flag.Hill upon hill, the people cried and implored himto heave the weight upon them; let them carry this burdensome load:“Rest, Uncle, rest!!” they

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-5442435206447400422007-12-14T10:45:00.000-08:002007-12-14T10:59:49.964-08:00

Mann's song Ghost World off her album Bachelor #2 is a favorite of mine to listen to when I'm writing. It brings me back to those days right after school closed for summer break.If you have the time, take a listen:Finals blew, I barely knewmy graduation speechand with college out of reachif I can't find a job I'm left with Dad and MyrtleBeachSo, I'm bailing this town--ortearing it down--

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-24262979393903600332007-12-08T01:03:00.001-08:002007-12-08T01:04:49.087-08:00

Seymour Hersch: "Do I think he saw what he did as betrayal of the peace process or the move by Johnson to stop the bombing halt? I really think this guy doesn't see it that way. He saw it as a means to an end, which is why he's such a good appartchik. His end was getting that job."

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-33075732199020886452007-12-08T00:52:00.001-08:002007-12-08T01:04:22.946-08:00

Narrator: "Kissinger's critics charge that his worldview blinded him to the human cost of the Cold War...where Kissinger may have needlessly sacrificed human lives to pursue strategic goals..."

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-62651351323861420032007-12-05T18:00:00.000-08:002007-12-05T07:47:07.868-08:00

In the documentary The Trials of Henry Kissinger, based on Christopher Hitchens’ 2001 article in Harper’s Magazine, The Case Against Henry Kissinger, a curious episode caught my eye in relation to the Vietnam War. Something I never heard of, which is nothing new in light of the star-spangled American education I received. As the Johnson administration was winding down in 1968, and several months

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-60144319591179177472007-12-04T23:11:00.000-08:002007-12-04T23:11:33.270-08:00

In my house, the Vietnam War was never discussed. Vietnam wasn’t even a recognizable country on the map to me. I grew up knowing only one identity: “Kevin Keith Allen”, eldest son to “Robert” and “Evalyn”. I had been convinced that I was just some kind of gift under a global Christmas tree that my parents had the good sense of plucking out of the teeming mass of humanity.Like a lone conch shell,

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-30831530521701208712007-12-03T20:41:00.000-08:002007-12-03T20:49:17.670-08:00

Tomorrow is my youngest sister’s birthday. I started thinking a lot about our relationship now and how we grew up together under the same roof and how I shouldn’t be too surprised at the twists and turns that have woven us together, even though we’re both irrevocably separated.After many attempts, my mom couldn’t get pregnant, so my parents decided to adopt, first me and then my middle sister,

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-14076692287488398422007-12-01T15:17:00.000-08:002007-12-01T16:15:08.848-08:00

Something weird happened to me on the way to Infamy.I wrote this poem called Tourist Trap a few years ago and the good people at the Transracial Abductees website put it up.Last year, the personal assistant of an author named Jeanne Marie Laskas sent me an email saying that Ms. Laskas would like to reprint my Tourist Trap poem in her upcoming book about her adopted daughters from China. Yes, I

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-41167270311376096412007-12-01T13:52:00.000-08:002007-12-01T15:15:45.296-08:00

On the Relative Choices blog in The New York Times, Sumeia from Ethnically Incorrect Daughter confronts the language and the attitudes behind the language that aim to stigmatize critical voices among the adult adoptee community.In fact, from my estimation, Sumeia has written the most enlightening posts among the adoptee bloggers featured on Relative Choices. I don't mean this as a knock on the

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-27183735885821800992007-11-29T19:15:00.000-08:002007-11-29T19:21:13.642-08:00

Listen - It takes practice, patience, time. You must stop what you’re doing, what you were in a hurry to do, what you thought you needed to do at that moment, and pay attention to the way your breath skips over your teeth, how energetically a puppy sniffs a flower, the difference between a pigeon’s wings and a seagull’s wings. You will find that people and things will try to speak to you all at

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-59506316531274619252007-11-21T04:11:00.000-08:002007-11-21T04:23:45.573-08:00

Question #1: Can an organization started by adult adoptees to serve the interests of adult adoptees survive if it’s “open to anyone and everyone”?Question #2: Can an organization started by adult adoptees to serve the interests of adult adoptees survive if its sole source of funding is adoption agencies/adoptive parents?Question #3: Can an organization started by adult adoptees to serve the

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-60056064220716121612007-11-20T18:44:00.000-08:002007-11-21T11:44:40.963-08:00

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KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-24305327419340080552007-11-20T07:08:00.000-08:002007-11-20T07:18:03.299-08:00

If you haven't already, check out the two insightful posts below by Sumeia Williams:I Am Not A BridgeReclaiming Ownership of My History She'll also be on NPR/Talk of the Nation today at 3:00-3:40 PM EST!

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-87282331185366125062007-11-19T20:44:00.000-08:002007-11-19T21:01:18.111-08:00

I grew up in Norway and was raised well, with family-values and music as the foundation. But deep inside I have always been a frightened little girl. I have struggled with anxiety and a feeling of not being safe all my life. I've been told that this may very well be the "scars" left from Vietnam. And it would perhaps make sense that the incident when I was found helpless on the street did

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-21134854783689292682007-11-17T07:59:00.000-08:002007-11-17T08:58:02.951-08:00

As a way to pass the time, and to get ready for a major shift in my own blogging focus next month, I've become acquainted with many more blogs written by adult adoptees. I'm still in awe with this act of self-expression and its growing power in the adoption debate(s).A testament to that fact is a post by Heart, Mind and Seoul that brought me back to my (unspoken) thoughts as a child about the

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-43308245447895612332007-11-14T03:48:00.000-08:002007-11-14T04:04:46.035-08:00

My comment to the Janowitz post:When I first saw the word “Mongolian”, I thought to myself, “Janowitz can’t seriously be using that word to describe her daughter’s features!” It’s just as demeaning as the word “Oriental”.As I read further, Janowitz managed to be even more extreme with her steamrolling attempt to flatten the differences between her and her adopted daughter. It’s one thing to

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-15200402178461159772007-11-13T19:43:00.000-08:002007-11-14T04:06:08.157-08:00

Tama Janowitz is apparently raising a "Mongolian" daughter named 'Willow' along with six poodles and a husband in Brooklyn.What am I talking about and who is Tama Janowitz, you ask?Well, today in the NYT's "Relative Choices" blog she had her first post published and, boy, is it insulting in so many ways.Not only does she characterize her daughter's ethnicity as "Mongolian", but she disqualifies

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-42056672311657868342007-11-13T08:59:00.001-08:002007-11-13T08:59:49.683-08:00

Sometimes you throw up your hands and you gotta laugh at the world.

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-68317494103681494942007-11-12T18:40:00.000-08:002007-11-12T21:33:36.550-08:00

Ever since the NYT set up the blog “Relative Choices” on its website and invited a select group of affected people to post about their various experiences with/about/on adoption, I’ve been anticipating reading two bloggers in particular: Huong Sutliff and Sumeia Williams, both adopted from Vietnam.Yeah, I’m ethnocentric when it comes to this stuff. Sue me.Anyway, the obvious comes to the fore

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-55877389449750661422007-11-11T10:55:00.000-08:002007-11-11T11:18:54.344-08:00

Chinese AstrologyCompatability[excerpt]"The Ox and the Rooster make a nearly perfect pair, whether their relationship is romantic or platonic. They're quite similar in temperament and values and their differences are complementary. Both the Ox and the Rooster are rather conservative in their approach to life: Both prefer practical, tried-and-true methods to anything risky; the Rooster's

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-74583850317425369672007-11-11T00:53:00.001-08:002007-11-11T00:53:11.470-08:00

It's time for me to start including domestic adoptees when I think and talk about adoption. This video goes a long way in doing so.Saw it while perusing Mia's Saving Grace blog.

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-23434497978823872192007-11-09T19:56:00.000-08:002007-11-09T21:29:31.363-08:00

Thwarted!The kidnapping of Black children by White adultsHaven’t we seen this movie for the upteenth time?![Voiceover: “The Western pioneer lands in what appears to him a dark and chaotic continent, searching for riches and adventure. He soon falls in love with an indigenous daughter, and wishing to show her his motherland's industrial utopia, pays her father with some gold and potato seeds and

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-31394229652227158302007-11-09T07:03:00.000-08:002007-11-09T21:33:40.828-08:00

if they were to ask us ‘why now?’ ‘what could we be thinking?’our answers would appear too shallow for their lofty earsand our reasons are to be locked in a box kept high on the closet shelf.if we were to turn and ask each other ‘why us?’ ‘why now?’the vast field we lie upon would answer,‘because it is now or never.’receiving, incredulous, life’s little tantrumswe set them by the side of the road

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-66173725445159145842007-11-08T07:44:00.000-08:002007-11-08T07:53:08.282-08:00

Yesterday I got a scattershot email from Susan Soon-keum Cox, Vice President Public Policy & External Affairs, Holt International Children’s Services, in regard to the U.S. Embassy in South Korea wanting photos of Korean adoptees to plaster all over their walls in order to celebrate National Adoption Month.Now, I know there are many academics out there who contend that transracial adoptees’

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-11197933912436301782007-11-08T07:00:00.000-08:002007-11-08T07:02:49.744-08:00

Three days ago I got an email from the CEO of the nonprofit adoption agency I used to work for. Guess what they got for National Adoption Month? A brand spankin’ new license to practice the art of adoption in a new country: Ethiopia!{grumble, grumble…glare}Yes, this agency is branching out into new markets and asking old and new customers alike to take a look around the little boutique and

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-43421237708857657732007-11-05T20:25:00.000-08:002007-11-05T21:29:38.987-08:00

Big props go to my fellow TRA blogger and countrywoman, Sumeia, at Ethnically Incorrect Daughter for being chosen as one of several contributors to The New York Times "Relative Choices" blog, subtitled "Adoption and the American Family".It's yet another big step for one of us to get heard and be taken seriously in both the conversations and debates that are swirling around the word/act "adoption"

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-66810200793870207632007-11-04T20:50:00.000-08:002007-11-04T20:53:52.013-08:00

Throughout my life my haircuts have been all over the place: from the bad to the worst. My parents favored the ubiquitous comb-down, no-frills “bowl cut” when I was a wee one; as a budding teenager I wanted the “feathered” look, so my mom took me to her salon to get it done, and the end result was a wilting hair helmet; in my rebellious metalhead phase between junior high and my freshman year of

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-5679680635517122642007-11-04T09:33:00.000-08:002007-11-04T09:35:35.858-08:00

Shrouded in rumor, your secrets were unraveling,and the swelling underneath your blousewas no longer a question of if but when.Away you were sent to lie in a bed of lice and dried shrimpin a village less hostile to yet another bastardwho would beg for forgiveness.But, here I stand,miles from the covered well they tried to drown me in.I am here to disarm the landmines buried in your field of

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-14351389615278267442007-11-03T17:30:00.001-07:002007-11-03T17:30:45.775-07:00

Forget TV, give me YouTube! Searching around YouTube for videos related to to the former South Vietnam is much like rooting around in some dead relative's attic. You find bits and pieces that appear familiar, but will always remain foreign to you. So it is with this footage of SVN's armed forces and military anthem background music. Also, the date given to this video is the year in which I was

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-70675791070214734222007-09-23T14:01:00.000-07:002007-09-23T14:23:34.645-07:00

Yes, I'm prying myself away from the keyboard for a while, so I can face the Devil's Tower of books that is currently taunting me to climb it.Hopefully, by the end of December I will have reached the summit, prepared to come down and write like the demon spawn I've always aspired to be.I'll have a full book report ready for you next year!

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-34306945824670034622007-09-23T11:30:00.000-07:002007-09-23T11:35:50.245-07:00

I don’t know about you, but I’m hooked on Feist’s song in the iPod nano commercial - “1, 2, 3, 4”. There’s just something about her voice. I’ve gotten this feeling before when I first heard Emm Gryner, Aimee Mann and Macy Gray. It’s that feeling that makes me want to slip away from everyone’s view, become invisible, just so I can take all the time in the world to savor the melody of eons. Each of

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-39134636581464796852007-09-23T10:09:00.000-07:002007-09-23T11:36:49.478-07:00

Currently reading and analyzing these two papers on international adoption. As you can tell, the authors are tackling what few in the adoption industry want to see or hear.THE CHINESE BABY TRADE: International Adoption and the Commodification of Baby Girls. Ward, Katherine B., 04/01/07.Chinese Laundering: How the Intercountry Adoption System Legitimizes and Incentivizes the Practices of Buying,

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-19557288766305389372007-09-16T15:38:00.000-07:002007-09-16T15:45:16.798-07:00

Hey, Daniel Radcliffe shows some range! Check out the synopsis:In the late 1960s four orphans, the December Boys, leave their orphanage for a holiday by the sea on the South Australian coast. When rumor gets out that two of the seaside residents are looking to adopt one of the orphans, friendships are tested and new alliances are made. In the end each boy learns something about himself and his

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-84793903379904752302007-09-16T15:08:00.000-07:002007-09-16T15:46:56.475-07:00

...this is the story of a married silkworm smuggler, Herve Joncour, in 19th Century France who travels to Japan to collect his clandestine cargo. While there he spots a beautiful Japanese woman, the concubine of a local baron, with whom he becomes obsessed. Without speaking the same language, they communicate through letters until war intervenes. Their unrequited love persists however, and

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-62675471662185234562007-09-16T12:18:00.000-07:002007-09-16T12:54:42.525-07:00

Last night for almost four hours I watched grown men pound on each other inside "the octagon" until one of them "submits". Yes, I'm referring to the UFC, Ultimate Fighting Championship, series on Spike TV. I'm fascinated by this blood sport because it takes one of our worst fears (getting beat up) and turns it into a competitive enterprise wherein you're allowed, and blatantly encouraged, to

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-24795129688048401802007-09-11T09:38:00.000-07:002007-09-11T09:58:01.754-07:00

The following is an intriguing article published in April 1966 in Michigan State University's student organ, Ramparts ("The University on the Make"). It recounts how the university administration decided that to make a quick buck it could help the U.S. government set up the Diem regime in South Vietnam. Eventually, the CIA created a front department within the university to carry out its own

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-84423827822353609882007-09-09T10:12:00.000-07:002007-09-09T10:23:52.643-07:00

Betty Tisdale didn’t really want to talk to me as soon as I told her I wasn’t one of her “babies”, and that I was adopted about eight months prior to Operation Babylift. A similar scenario occurred when I was talking to one of the former flight attendants who had been on board the Pan Am flight out of Saigon, carrying hundreds of Vietnamese babies and children. She recounted her vivid memories of

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-68999041267303651852007-09-02T10:07:00.000-07:002007-09-02T11:28:57.175-07:00

Back in college, while I was talking with some friends after lunch, a young black woman started flirting with me, saying she liked the way my calves looked. Being the nitwit I was back then, her advances completely went over my head simply because I couldn't fathom a black woman being attracted to me.After grad school, I had a part time job at a UPS warehouse to supplement my main income for a

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-49833843746464139842007-09-02T09:41:00.000-07:002007-09-02T10:00:09.114-07:00

Just read this post from 3 Generations of Adoption:The Marketing of AdoptionHe echoes many of my sentiments and criticisms about the "adoption industry".The following quote resonated with me because of my previous experience working at a non-profit adoption agency:Adoption cannot be treated with money as the motive. Adoption needs attention after the placement, far more than the placement itself.

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-69794648467936288342007-08-29T17:17:00.000-07:002007-08-29T19:44:17.229-07:00

Today's adoptive parents both scare and humor me. There's such a push to normalize and publicize international adoption, especially their own prerogative to adopt from overseas, that they end up looking like a bunch of clueless hicks dressing up their hogs for show at the state fair. The thing that makes their attempts at celebrating their children's adoption and acknowledging their birth culture

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-1373851336541988722007-08-29T16:49:00.000-07:002007-08-29T19:45:52.186-07:00

I've a lot of books at home and my wife is getting on my case about reading at least half of them before I buy even more books just to lovingly stow them away for later years. So, I've come up with a list of books on my shelves that I want to read to the exclusion of all my other books; books that focus on a topic that has consumed me up to this point.It will be no surprise to anyone who's read

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-6158542584349538912007-08-26T16:34:00.001-07:002007-08-26T16:34:27.385-07:00

This video proves more interesting than the previous video I posted, even though the image of the flag never changes. By rapping in both English and Vietnamese, the group members are reflecting back to a mass audience their feelings of alienation, isolation and striving for understanding within a majority culture that is usually ignorant and hostile toward them. The symbolism of the South

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-78654541291010912562007-08-26T16:09:00.001-07:002007-08-26T16:09:07.337-07:00

When we speak of "Viet pride" what do we mean and what connotations are we envisioning and wish to pass on to the public?

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-75867969327035480122007-08-26T08:44:00.000-07:002007-08-26T08:57:49.542-07:00

Harlow Monkey wrote a post about a photo exhibit called "Daddy and I", and vietK broke down both her post and the photo exhibit into enlightened and revealing bite-sized morsels.I left a comment on vietK's blog and I'm just going to re-publish it here. Please read Harlow Monkey's post and then vietK's post before digesting my comment. Otherwise, what I wrote will probably seem out of left field:

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-64991736558675097572007-08-26T08:04:00.000-07:002007-08-26T08:43:09.674-07:00

On August 22nd, President Bush gave a speech before a chapter of the VFW in Kansas City, equating the situation in Iraq with the war against the Japanese in WWII, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.With his comments, Mr. Bush tried something that few leading politicians of either party have tried in a generation: Reopening the national argument over the Vietnam War, a conflict that ended more

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-36210142818228761852007-08-19T16:24:00.000-07:002007-08-19T16:33:24.067-07:00

"...it would be prudent for us to increasingly let Iraqis take center stage in all matters, to come up with a nuanced policy in which we assist them from the margins but let them resolve their differences as they see fit. This suggestion is not meant to be defeatist, but rather to highlight our pursuit of incompatible policies to absurd ends without recognizing the incongruities."An editorial in

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-8654514776973227742007-08-19T08:33:00.000-07:002007-08-19T08:47:50.882-07:00

Chao-Vietnam picked up on an interesting story of a very wealthy American woman who is searching for a boy, now a man, whom she tried to adopt from Da Nang at the end of the war.A program called "Thanh Nhien" was chosen to search for this "boy" and has probably whittled down the prospects to one person who still remains missing, even though his sister came in contact with him in 2000 many years

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-11539452534422167702007-08-19T06:56:00.000-07:002007-08-19T08:04:13.069-07:00

It continually amazes me the bunk that people believe in which colors their thoughts and actions in the real world.Take for instance Norway's princess Maertha Louise. In Yahoo! News I read an article about the opening of a school for people who wish to "get in contact with (their) angels", which was created by the princess. According to the article, people who want to attend the school will have

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-47313178672787975812007-08-14T09:48:00.001-07:002007-08-14T09:48:44.826-07:00

Although some of us adoptees may be satisfied with how our lives have turned out now, sometimes it's necessary to stand back and ask why.

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-72310606365708496442007-08-12T15:32:00.000-07:002007-08-12T15:33:21.198-07:00

You’ve probably seen me before: at a party, in the classroom, at a wedding, at a family reunion. I’m one of those guys who usually keeps to himself, sits or stands in the same place without making much of an attempt to mingle, looks uncomfortable among a group of people and leaves with no explanation.You’ve probably told me that I should talk more, that I’m too quiet and that I should come out of

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-28694293015248202142007-08-12T13:15:00.000-07:002007-08-12T13:20:27.674-07:00

When is soon too soon for an international adoptee to go back to the country of his birth and confront the people and the circumstances behind his adoption? When does an adoptee decide that it’s time to puzzle together the pieces of his life pre-adoption and consider the possibility of a reunion with his birthparents and/or relatives?The biggest, and most problematic, question, though, is should

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-86643108976411484792007-08-12T07:32:00.000-07:002007-08-12T08:52:14.706-07:00

Something weird happened on my way to the electronic void.In my email inbox was a message entitled "Matt & Kristi Chatfield have sent you an Evite Invitation". I don't know any "Matt & Kristi Chatfield"! But, I was curious since this seemed like a legitimate Evite message and because I felt a little flattered to be included in an event and by people unknown to me. Anything's possible on the Web

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-70027666538808696842007-08-10T09:20:00.000-07:002007-08-10T09:48:02.759-07:00

vietK ponders the world of the unknowable when considering his adopted Self.&Ethnically Incorrect Daughter's Sume differentiates between "blind rage" and, what I call, righteous anger.I never thought I would be blogging about my experiences and truths as an adopted person born in Vietnam and raised here in the U.S., let alone virtually connecting and getting to know two other bloggers, who can

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-38404424913131767372007-08-07T09:32:00.000-07:002007-08-07T09:35:37.456-07:00

the sun set on the lakeand she turned to ask me howto overcome her silence.I told her to read what we have written,listen to how we talk,shadow our speaking gestures.learn to love us and learn to scorn us.I left her for goodwhen her tongue tripped over consonants and vowels,over past and present tense,over she he it I you and me.I asked her what language she was speakingand she looked at me with

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6349545331823290814.post-5102745755450180272007-08-07T09:28:00.000-07:002007-08-07T09:30:28.024-07:00

Am I dressed weird?

KMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12639347975321406876noreply@blogger.com2