Màn Màn Zǒu 慢慢走
20th June 2026 (Post-G7 & Pre-Solstice) ;-D
Dearest Ms. 昆明 Kate … 谢谢 (xièxie) for getting goofy w/ me 昨天 (zuótiān) for a super refreshing TGIF 聊天 (liáotiān) !! ;-D I hope my joy was self-evident and I’m very much looking forward to seeing you & other VIAs this summer / fall. ;-D
Show & Tell
Great-Grandma’s Shoes
Cheers for indulging my urge for show & tell !! ;-D Below is a photo of my Great-Grandma’s Ruby Red Slippers and also my aunt’s book about my Maternal Grandmother, both of which I held up for the camera during our chat …

The Ruby Reds were bequeathed to me by my Auntie Dora and the book was gifted to me when I visited my mom’s childhood home in Taiwan … another story for another day !! ;-D I can’t wait to come home for true round-table TGIF w/ you and any other VIAs we can eek out of hiding !! ;-D I’m going to click the heels of my Ruby Reds 3x just like Dorothy. Cuz there ain’t no place like 家 … 是不是 (shì bu shì) ?! ;-D
VIA 家 1995 -97 !! ;-D
Life in the Slow Lane

Let’s please now 慢慢 想想 (mànmàn xiǎngxiǎng)about our VIA 家, shall we ?! ;-D I humbly put forth a few snaps and names here, hoping that we can get more peeps ensnared in our VIA Storytelling Project … I’m in “hot pursuit” !! ;-D

Friendly VIA 家 Pursuit
Ok maybe I’m in friendly pursuit. ;-D I wonder if anyone is in touch w/ VIA 家’s Michael Paganucci (sp? / 青岛 建功 学院 / VIA Vol extradited back home in ’89). Michael had been whisked back home to California a good 6 years before my punk-ass turned up in 青岛. He was one of my favorite penpals. I hope he’s well and I’d be thrilled to interview him if anyone can find him. ;-D
廈門 Xiàmén / 福建 Fújiàn
VIA ’97 ShindiG
Alrighty … now for friendly pursuit of my VIA cohort & barely-younger siblings !! ;-D I’ve no idea who had the guānxì 關係 to organise the early 1997 VIA Vol PRC Shindig but holy smokes that was incredible … many thanx to whoever sussed that gig … Fēicháng gǎnxiè … 非常感谢 !! ;-D

I wonder if VIA could help find any of the peeps above ?! I’m in touch w/ Patty and saw her in the VIA Storytelling DB, which is fab. ;-D Below are some 1st names & (VIA posts). I hope everyone is well and I’d love to see any of these peeps w/ in the realm of this project !! ;-D
VIA PRC ’95 – ’97
- Fiona (Changsha)
- Yuen (Beijing)
- Davina & Alex
- David (Ma AnShan)
- Amy (Xi’an)
- Wendy (Wuhan) – not pictured on this post
VIA PRC ’96 – ’98
- Bill
- Neahga
- Anna-Sophie (Beijing)
Special shout-out to my 青岛 建功 学院 FAO LiuXuMing & Jen !! ;-D

I’d love to add more photos but the process is too time-consuming due to my emotional overdrive. :-0 And I need to get serious about clicking my Ruby Reds !! ;-D
活着 (Huózhe) “To Live”
Finally. Here’s the film (trailer) that I mentioned during my interview. Shout-out to Jim (non-VIA) for getting it into my hands …
… I believe I left that VHS tape in my apartment. I hope it got played enough times that the tape eventually snapped from kindly rewinding … that’d be a venerable retirement. ;-D What an extraordinary film !! ;-D When my pal Jim insisted that I have it, I had no clue what the hell he was on about. Oh To Live. And to learn. Thanx Jim … where ever you may be. ;-D
谢谢 你们的 / 我们的 合作 !! ;-D
Xièxie nǐménde / wǒménde HéZuò !! ;-D
Thank you for y(our) cooperation !! ;-D
Hope to see y’all in the Golden State soon !! ;-D
XXOOXXOO … V! ;-D

– Alanis Morissette
