Tag: tribute

Doraemon Girl: HBD!

~ Swisa A ~ Leave a comment

It’s Thanksgiving weekend and with it comes turkey, stuffing, cranberry and pumpkin pie.  Yes, I miss Thanksgiving in the US.  Here in Thailand, it’s just not the same.  We don’t get the “feeling” of Thanksgiving and families reuniting, or the felling that the weekend kickstarts the festive season and Christmas mad shopping with Black Friday.  This week of Thanksgiving is also a week when two good friends of mine were born many years ago and so I want to also take the opportunity to say “Thank you” to you my friends.  Tonight, in particular I want to write about a lovely friend who was born on the 21st.  You know who you are WD 🙂
Yes, we’ve known each other since primary school days in Bangkok when we still had to dress in uniforms with white shirts and a turquoise blue skirts.  That’s how I remember you dear friend.  In uniform.  We were all in uniform and together we’d be there walking around school with a few of our other friends. To this day, I still think you look the same.  You do not seem to have aged at all and one can always count on you if we need to hear some fun stories about film or other superstitious stories.

I still remember when we were both in college in the US.  Phone calls and ICQ were how we kept in touch and I’d be there calling you sometimes in the midst of the night.  Yes, our conversations ranged from anything from movies to heartache and other things girls talked about. You were the one knocking some sense into my sometimes nonsensical brain.  During long weekends like Thanksgiving I remember you coming to dear old Philly for a visit.

It was always good to see you.  It’d be our chance to have a little reunion with RIS friends.  We went for dimsum at Chinatown, visited the old city, Independence hall, Liberty Bell and explored South Street.  During the night, we’d sit and chat and yes, talk about superstition.  You were always the one who knew all this stuff.  You even brought along Tarot cards one trip and we had fun looking at them.  I don’t remember what my reading said, but I hope it was good.  I remember thinking how accurate it was. We even went around New York City together during my first trip there. Together we took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and walked from Battery park up to Central Park.  We saw almost everything New York had to offer.

After graduation, you stayed and worked in the US and I came back. We still kept in touch though and whenever you were in Bangkok, we’d meet up.  A few years ago you finally decided to come back and since then we have been seeing each other more often.  You still have this fascination for film and movies and know so much about them it always astounds me.  You are still the same passionate person who knows exactly what she wants and isn’t afraid to do it.  A person so sincere and without any negative thoughts or motives.  You are always just you.  A wonderfully reliable friend.

I thank you for being a friend who has always been there no matter how near or far.  We grew up together and will continue to do so.  It’s been great knowing you all these years, and of course for many more years to come. Thank you dear friend.  Happy Birthday!

Steve Jobs: Not just any man

~ Swisa A ~ Leave a comment

The past two days the hot topic on everyone’s lips has been “Steve Jobs has died.”  It’s strange that I should find out about this on my iPhone, a few  minutes after waking up.
When talking to others the first reaction is a little ‘gasp.’  Everyone knows him. Even those who are not Apple fans.  He’s dead and millions worldwide mourn his death.  Millions who have not seen nor spoken to him in person, yet we all hold a part of him in our lives.  We use his inventions to contact those dearest to us and as research even suggests, what we feel for our smart phones may not be merely addiction, but in fact ‘love.’

Yes, we have grown to ‘love’ our iPhones, iPads, iPods, Macs and many things Apple related.

For me, the iPhone has become so much of life that it is the last thing I look at before I go to bed at night, and it is the first thing I wake up to in the morning.  It is my alarm clock, my organizer, my camera, my newspaper, and my source of contact to the virtual world of social networking.    I no longer have to carry around newspapers, books, notebooks, agendas, games, or other things when I travel.  It’s all in one.

Before the iPhone, a phone was a phone.  I used it to call people, answer calls and do a little bit of email here and there.  That was it.  There were no androids back then.  We had symbians and blackberry.  Functional phones.  When I was in highschool in Poland, we still used those telephones with round dials and operators to call international.  Now we use Skype and internet on our iPhones.  Amazing how fast technology has changed.

Now many lives have forever changed.  Children now play with iPads and iPhones as if it were the most natural thing on earth.  They play with it without any hesitation. It is intuitive and responsive to the human touch.  Looking back at my own childhood, I still remember playing summer and winter olympics on the Commodore 64.  Then we had Atari.  That was considered amazing.  5 inch flopping disks coupled with green and black screens. No Windows. No coloured screens. No internet. Computers were still not so approachable.  We feared it a little.  No longer.

Steve Jobs changed the technology world, but what do we mean by this?  I think what we mean is that his creativity and his visions have allowed us to experience what once could only be found in science fiction.  He let us believe that dreams can be accomplished, that anything was possible.  You just had to find it inside of you.

No longer do we have to settle for boring functional telephones and animations whose stories were targeted only for children.  Steve let you enjoy a bit of art and design in the iPhone, iPad and anything Apple.  Every curve, ever corner well considered, well thought out.  Crafted with love.

He affects us because his creations helped take the drudgery out of everyday worklife, where many seem to work without souls.  Steve worked with his soul.  Steve worked with his heart. He ‘created.’

If only we could all put our hearts and our souls into doing something we love, the world would indeed be a different place.  If only we could all find our ‘passion.’

Yes, we will all miss Steve Jobs and his visions.  The world will and has already remembered him. Good bye Steve Jobs. We’ll miss you.