Government touches everything and processes are very serial, hierarchial, heavily bureaucratic, and corrupt of course. The common distribution of wealth idea does not work based on the buddy systems I have seen – people revert to bribes and having good contacts to get things done and from what I have noticed, that makes lower class people even more disadvantaged. Socialism is hard to implement with even distribution and minimal defects.

On the bright side making sustenance Men, women, and children here have convinced me that the Vietnamese are people of strong will, hard work, and relentless determination. They will make the impossible happen; if you just watch people you can catch their energy in their hustle and flow. People in Southwern Vietnam are very business-minded always trying to make an extra buck or two. As soon as your pockets give, smiles dissolve and the predator’s eyes lock-and-load on the next target. These soldiers have the soujurn swagger of a famished fighter on a battlefield fighting for a pinch of life. The energy is infectious. A bit like the ambitious “can do” bug you get by visiting New York City and seeing small people in a big city get by.

Wheeling it to Danang to get a visa extension. There better not be rain there or I’m going to kick somebody fat and ugly. Come ye Sun!

Oh yeah, no more temples. What a scam. I feel like they’ve built all these temples in Southeast Asia to boost tourism and steal backpackers’ lunch money. Nobody’s even using them for religious purposes – common folks never visit them. They’re even reconstructed without regard to the original structures. I rather watch the Discovery channel for high quality footage than riding a boat and hiking for 3 hours each. There’s just way too many to see and not enough time!

It is cartoons, abstract art, and surrealist art that boosts my thinking and squeeze my creative juices to the max. It also happens when I witness psychedelic art from the 60s or if I look at the stars, planets, or think about sci-fi lifeforms that may exist in outer space. These abstract art forms (think funky screensavers here) let my mind soar beyond the (t)reason of worldly constraint. When experiencing such pieces of art, for a moment I feel like I am gravitating upwards; in those very moments I have clarity and superhero vision! It’s a transcending inspiration of the soul. I see what’s right and what should be. It helps me get out of this world and focus on my inner best intentions.

For me, it’s important to keep my mind active and critical of visually splendid things. It stimulates my senses and keeps my brain jogging full speed. It can even be small math puzzles, like Mad Minute. So when I wake up I tell myself this every day: “Think, count, process, and dream a world of your own rules, Basim! Don’t let yourself accept without appreciating the world around you for exactly what it is.”

Sometimes I have to get away from the hustle and bustle of public life and go to a place where I can meditate to my own tune. Nobody seems to understand this, and it annoys me. They think I’m depressed or something’s wrong. I have to do this because of the influx of data processing happening in my brain – complex multi-threading in my head creates massive overheat and I have to get away to keep the supercomputer intel inside in sound function and repair. We must get back to square 1, numero uno, the unit self. This is the craziest post I have ever written. If I read it again, it will probably not make sense but it felt great writing it.