Condolences

Moons in Inglewood, California

Sunrise in San Jose

Cuties

Dreams

Life is tasty dreams

Sweet dream, bitter dream

Tender dream, whacked dream

Fruity dream, rotten dream

Tasting the dessert first

Life is diverse sleeps

Complete sleep, fragment sleep

Consistent sleep, cripple sleep

Daydreamed sleep, nightmarish sleep

Pursuing the creativity first

            On September 13, 2015, at the Ojai Foundation in Ojai, California, Doctor Deborah Conway de Prieto, a Professor of English specializing in Mythology at California State University Los Angeles shared with her audience her journey to the study of Mythology on a peaceful afternoon, on a mountain in a warm, domed atmosphere. Doctor Conway said that when she taught at California State University Hayward, once she had a chance to watch the six-part video series The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, about the interaction of human choice and human lives. The Power of Myth made Doctor Conway cry, and she then knew her fate—to marry Mythology. During the journey toward the PhD degree in Mythology, she met Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, O.S.H., a Spanish Catholic nun, poet and writer from the seventeenth century. Sor Juana’s life was Doctor Conway’s staple that urged her to read Sor Juana’s original work in Spanish, paint many paintings about Sor Juana, and write a book about Sor Juana with the hope to spread the word of Sor Juana’s intellectual power to the world, to help the young generation (especially women) to gain the power to succeed.

            Sor Juana read voluminously on a variety of subjects in her early age. She lusted for learning, so she chose to be a Catholic nun to imprison herself in a small room in a convent to read throughout her life. There she wrote the long poem El Sueño (The Dream), about a woman who sleeps at night and writes about her dream during the days. Sor Juana’s The Dream is a valuable piece, a unique multiple-faceted diamond that she generously offered to readers from generation to generation. Sor Juana’s The Dream attracts many scholars to study, research, and write about its diverse faces: philosophy, education, politics, religion, society, science, and intellect. The Dream has been translated into several languages.

            Albert Einstein states, “Learn yesterday, live today, and dream tomorrow.” Sor Juana’s shared learning was the infinite power of her determination to overcome female educational restriction in the seventeenth century. She sacrificed her freedom, her ordinary female life, to live for herself, and devoted her life to education that empowered females. Sor Juana’s life is the token of female rights in an early time. She indirectly advocated and encouraged women’s’ equal rights to learn, and proved that women possess the same intelligence of men. Although Sor Juana’s physical body was in darkness, her soul was a shooting star with brilliant rays launching to the sky. The Dream is a reflection of Sor Juana’s spirit, like a nocturne brought to bright reality. The Dream is a perception of the human psyche and experiences. She wrote poetic fiction derived from her knowledge and her subconscious, inspiring the title of Doctor Conway’s concentration of the presentation in the narrow frame of two hours: “The Dream as Dream Text: Sor Juana as Creature of Fiction or Creature of Reality.”

            Sor Juana’s self-education is the extreme power to go far beyond self-perfection and self-imposition and is the unlimited margin of gender. Sor Juana’s reading was the enlightenment to connect her with the outside society. She did not fear execution to defend a woman’s right to receive an education, when an archbishop condemned her writing. Sor Juana is considered the pioneer of early Mexican literature. The Dream is poetic, full of imagery, conceives feminine expression, political construction and historical transformation. Doctor Conway showed the audience a picture of the convent where Sor Juana lived, which became a university, and her image on the 200-peso bill.  Sor Juana’s The Dream passes her estate to future generations from century to century. Sor Juana is the first woman to practice and prove woman’s rights in the world. She is the pride of the Mexicans.

Doctor Conway’s eyes sparkled while talking about Sor Juan’s The Dream. Doctor Conway has studied Sor Juana’s work for many years, and it took her almost two years to complete the manuscript. Doctor Conway’s dream is for the American people to know and learn about Sor Juana’s The Dream.  

Learn, live, and lift are the three golden keys that the audience learned from Doctor Conway’s presentation.

Union--The Fourth of July in 2015

We celebrated the United States’ 239^th birthday anniversary in Huntington Beach to see the annual parade.  The Huntington Beach Independence Day traditional celebration started over one hundred years ago (1904), when the first electric train passenger went from Long Beach to Los Angeles. Besides the politicians, other famous people joined the parades, such as, movie stars Jane Mansfield, Natalie Wood, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Dorothy Lamour, Mickey Rooney (and Mickey Mouse), as well as astronaut Buzz Aldin” (The Huntington Beach Fourth of July Parade website, http://hb4thofjuly.org/). This year, the theme of the parade was “The Sound of Freedom.”

          The American Liberty Bell echoed over the world and urged me to leave behind my beloved motherland Vietnam to come to the United States, under the protection of Uncle Sam. The fragrance of freedom lured me to Southern California to sip passionate nectar in our cozy nest. This July Fourth Birthday marked the union between Dan and me. Over six years of struggling with hardships, obstacles, and traveling back and forth to Los Angeles and San Jose, finally we ended the separation between the North and the South. We borrowed Abraham Lincoln’s quote on the United States’ 87^th birthday on July 7^th, 1863 to glorify God and express our appreciation to the United States: “But I do most sincerely thank Almighty God for the occasion on which you have called. How long ago is it? Eighty odd years since, upon the Fourth day of July, for the first time in the world, a union body of representatives was assembled to declare as a self-evident truth that all men were created equal” (Abraham Lincoln's Independence Day Address of July 7, 1863, Researched by James R. Heintze, http://gurukul.american.edu/heintze/Lincoln.htm). Our union was similar to the end of the Civil War as we saw the soldiers dressed in nineteenth-century uniforms marching in the parade. They stopped at our viewing station. The represented Northern soldiers, who turned to face the men representing the Southern soldiers; they shot each other (the guns fired blanks and faced the sky, so no one got hurt.)  After that, they shook hands and became a union to continue marching.

 

          We woke up early. Dan wore a new, white Arizona T-shirt with the United States flag in front that we received in the mail from our friend Helen the day before. I wore a long, summer blue dress. Both of us wore a white hat with the red, white, and blue ribbon around the brims. We parked the car at the Huntington Beach public transportation station. A shuttle took us to the Huntington Beach City Hall to mingle with the patriotic crowd. As usual, I took many photos. Dan urged me, “Honey, hurry up! We will take photos of the parade first. We are late!”

 

          We went toward the parade. Many canopies were set up alongside the street. The family members sat in chairs and enjoyed foods while watching the parade, like a summer picnic. People dressed up in the red, white and blue color theme. Toys, jewelry, and pets were also adorned with the American flag motif. Each time the car or float passed, they waved their flags, clapped their hands, and shouted out, “Happy Fourth!” I was ready to cry loudly to express my patriotism, but the crowd was much quieter than I expected. I told Dan, “This is the first time I have seen a live parade.”

          Dan was surprised: “Really? How do you feel?”

          I smiled and replied, “It is okay. I like to learn new things and express and show off my love for the United States.”

          Dan said, “I know, Honey!”

          Dan was excited to see the Star Wars float and some famous people. Dan told me, “Honey, that lady reports the daily weather forecast on ABC TV channel seven. That man is Dallas Rains, who also reports the weather on ABC TV.”

          Dan pointed to a man and talked to a lady next to him, “That man is famous; he is Rafer Johnson, an Olympic athlete.”

          The lady looked at information on her smart phone and told Dan, “I found it! I see! He won the Triathlon.”

 

          After the parade, we went to the Huntington Beach. On the way to the Beach, near to the Beach, we passed by the crowded area where every single house was decorated for the Fourth of July. Each household family celebrated the Nation Birthday. We drove slowly to find the parking space, but all the parking garages were full and the fee was 27 dollars per car. I uttered, “Wow! I didn’t know the Huntington Beach is so popular. Dan we don’t need to go to the Huntington Beach. We can go home and find any beach that is close to our nest.”

          Dan laughed and said, “Honey, I know you don’t want to pay $27 for the parking permit, right Honey?”

 

          We decided to take the Pacific Coast Highway home. We stopped at Seal Beach near to Long Beach. Dan sat on the sand. I came to the sea water. I swam in the sea. The water was warm, not too cold like the ocean water in the North of California. I thought out loud, “The daughter of the Sea is reunion with the Ocean.” I recalled our childhood house in Nha Trang, the beautiful beach in Vietnam. In summer and on weekends, we often walked to the beach in the mornings. Coincidently, our nest was closed to the beaches. It took about twenty or thirty minutes to a beach. Dan often took me to the beach on weekends to bath in the ocean air that heals my chronicled sinuses problem.

 

Los Angeles July 12, 2015

         

 

Anhthao's Bui's Corner