Author: F C

Martin Luther King was assassinated at the young age of thirty-nine, not much older than I am today. In his famous “I have a dream” speech in 1963, he talks about how the check of freedom issued to all citizens, including African Americans, has come back because of “insufficient funds”.  That is one step ahead of where we Chinese would have been in 1963, because it was neigh impossible to become a citizen then. If I were a contemporary of MLK, I would be waiting two more years in Hong Kong or some other place in the British West Indies for the Immigration Act of 1965, when the quota of 105 Chinese a year was finally lifted. Chances are 1,000 to 1 for being a barrister/solicitor, 10 to 1 a scientist or a teacher, and even money on shopkeeper or restaurant cook. How far the journey has been, such a dream, and how fortunate we are to have it!

Last week I drove down to Red Bank, NJ for the premiere of the movie Camp Woz, which was about the real life youth computer workshops organized by Apple Computer founder Steve Wozniak and Real World Miami participant and social worker Joe Patane. I knew Joe in high school. This is clearly where one person can make a difference in the lives of others. I was impressed.

I would have not known about this event had I not joined Facebook and hooked up with old friends. I’ve refused to hook up with MySpace and some of the other social networks like Twitter, but Facebook is different in two main ways: they allow the users to write or plug in their own applications, and that the installed base is dramatically larger than most of the other networks. While there are some claims that it is a waste of time, I find that it actually saves time by letting me see what all of my friends are doing in a glance.

Scrabulous is Facebook’s killer app. I’m sure Hasbro or Mattel can figure out a deal rather than annoying the hundreds of thousands of people that have been drawn back to Scrabble.

Eateries this week: microwave burrito from the Red Bank 7-11 (sprung for the extra 20 cents for the “hand made” spicy beef filling, exactly the same), Burger King at the curiously named Cheesequake Service Area (weird chicken sandwich). Beef stew at the Borough Hall Crossroads stand (not really that good), buffalo wings at Fraunces Tavern (yes, George Washington’s favorite watering hole is still an excellent fully functioning pub), the new Marriott Eastside for a banquet (crab cakes were soggy, filet mignon and sea bass reasonably ok, huge slices of cheesecake for dessert), Rachel’s Taqueria for Tex-Mex (awesome Chimichanga -recommended).

There are a lot of people out there that can tell a good story. Between the Internet and small publishers, these gems no longer fester in someone’s file cabinet, but can make change (and yes, that includes our teary eyed presidential candidates).

I’ve been following Ron Lopez’s Kensington Stories. His vignettes about the neighborhood where I grew up in Brooklyn ring true – the Buzzarama slot car birthday parties, the old movie theater, Scotto’s, bagels, and more. I went to the local parochial school IHM, so I didn’t have the public school experiences he had, but of course each person has their own takes on things. He comes up with these fantastic hooks – strawberry shortcake and goal setting, sunsets on rooftops and unrequited love, and a happy reason to go to the funeral home on New Year’s Eve (needed some extra seats for the party). Recommended.

Stumbling through some other websites, I find a college friend (actually the very first person I met at orientation in college) running a literary magazine in Park Slope called One Story. Simple concept – the subscription-only zine publishes only one thoroughly vetted story every three weeks. They’re already into issue 100, and have been recently written up in the NYT, Time Out, and the Brooklyn Papers. I’ve signed up!