To Know Who Needs Help...

I know it's past the season for Christmas songs, but I am thinking today (while I avoid the political) of a line by Trans Siberian Orchestra:

"To know who needs help, you need only just ask."

My mom would have been 70 yesterday. She had her life cut short by cancer, and most of us know someone who they have lost or someone who is suffering from this disease now.

So, right now, three people that either I know or whose loved ones I am friends or family with, are in their own battles with cancer.

My mom was fortunate enough to have excellent health insurance through the union she'd been a member of for many years. She got the best care in available in the world. Many others are not so fortunate. So I'm contributing small donations to fundraising efforts for these three individuals.


Here are the three appeals I am donating to.

For Sabrina Chick, a friend of a family member of mine.

For Duane Nelson, the husband of a friend.

For friend and longtime SF convention attendee, Hugh Casey, who has a benefit convention being held next Sunday (Jan 29) in Philadelphia PA USA to fundraise for his expenses.

I would urge those with the funds to help out somehow, to do the same. For one of these three people, for someone else you know who is in their own battle with cancer, or for a stranger whose fundraising appeal you've found out about.

To know who needs help, you need only just ask.

Review Recap For December 25 2016 To January 14 2017

Most of late December and early January was spent traveling.

We had an overland trip to Cambodia to finish up 2016, and then immediately started 2017 by adding a new countries to our list of nations visited with our trip to Bangkok, Thailand. I was there for the International Schools Services Job Fair, and got 8 interviews, but have not yet received a job offer. Several places I interviewed with are still considering candidates, so I may still hear from them, and I've had another interview over Skype since the fair.

We also managed some sightseeing in Bangkok, and there will be pictures and reviews from both trips coming soon.

Not many new reviews since the last recap, as we've been busy with travel and recovery-from-travel.

On Goodreads

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood: Atwood's dystopian classic.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling: I read this fairy tale collection from the Harry Potter universe to the Kiddo.

On Comic A Day

Fisso's World in Cambodia: Living in a Kingdom of Wonders by Sophie Lizeray: A collection of cartoons that I bought in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Also reviewed on Goodreads).

Also This Week

I'm supporting the Alzheimers Association's efforts to combat a disease that has affected my family among so many others.

I am also supporting the efforts to raise money in support of SCAdian Duane Nelson's medical treatment and expenses.

Over on Comic A Day, I posted two more quick entries today: A 2016 recap, and a quick look at a couple of Thai language graphic novels I picked up in Bangkok.

Upcoming

I've added a goal of reviewing 150 comics in 2017 to my other goals for the year.

No immediate travel plans on the horizon. We are hoping to get to the north of Vietnam in the Spring, but nothing definite has been planned. At the moment, we're planning to stay in Saigon during the Tet break, but we might possibly book a last-minute trip somewhere if finances work out.

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2017!

We spent New Year's Eve in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and got a nice view of the Phnom Penh fireworks from the rooftop garden of the hotel we were staying in.

2017 begins with uncertainty. I didn't sign a contract with my current day job, so we're moving on at the end of the school year. I was hoping to have some definite news on the job front by now, but I've had two verbal offers that fell through for various reasons, so off I go to the job fair in Bangkok, Thailand this week. We'll see if I have something by the end of the weekend. Either way, I'm looking forward to my first time in Thailand.

Looking Back At 2016

Traveling: We traveled to Phu Quoc Island and Vung Tau (twice!) in Vietnam. I also had two trips to Cambodia: One work trip to Phnom Penh, and the vacation trip to Phnom Penh and Kep that we just got back from. We went to Singapore in the Fall, the one new country we added to our list in 2016. We had our trip home to the US in the Summer, including the annual father/son road trip, which took myself and the Kiddo to Ithaca NY. Other places we visited in the US included Newark NJ, New York City, Rhode Island, New Hampshire (including a family event on Hampton Beach). I went back to the US for a few days in November for less happy reasons when my Grandmother passed away.

Writing: This was a slow year, writing-wise, but I did achieve my goals of 1) writing 50,000 words as part of Nanowrimo, and 2) writing a complete story for Nanowrimo.

Reviews: I've kept up pretty well with reviews in 2016, reviewing over 50 books on goodreads, as well as posting my ongoing comic reviews on my comic blog, dailycomicreview.blogspot.com.

Reading: It's been a good year for reading. For the second year in a row, I beat my 50-book goal on Goodreads. My last book read in 2016 was Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, which seemed an appropriate end to the year's reading. My complete recap of the year's reading on Goodreads is here. My five favorite books read in 2016 (not in a specific order) were:

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
A Short Ride in the Jungle by Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent
Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas R. Hofstadter
Finding George Orwell In Burma by Emma Larkin
Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Movies: I'm not as much of a movie buff as they typical nerd, so I only tend to see a few per year. The 2016 releases that I got to see were (with my one-word assessment):

The Jungle Book (Good)
Captain America: Civil War (Excellent)
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Meh)
Ghostbusters (Good)
Independence Day: Resurgence (Awful)
Star Trek Beyond (Good)
Doctor Strange (Good)
Moana (Excellent)
Arrival (Excellent)
Rogue One (Excellent) 

2016 In Pictures

Here are some collages I put together of pictures I took in 2016. First of all, a set of highlights of the four countries that we spent time in during 2016.

Vietnam

 USA

Singapore

 

 Cambodia

And I also put together a set of wildlife collages by country.

Vietnam Wildlife

 

 USA Wildlife

 Singapore Wildlife

 Cambodia Wildlife

Here's the Kiddo's suitcase at the end of 2016. More flags hopefully coming soon!

And finally, here's a collage of my favorite 9 pictures that I took in 2016.

 

Looking Ahead: Resolutions for 2017

Secure employment! Outside of the US if possible. I'd love for our overseas adventures to continue.

Edit! Edit the Nano novel. Edit the previous novel I was working on.

Play more boardgames. I fell out of the habit of this in the second half of 2016. Need to do more tabletop gaming.

Read 55 books. Having made the goal of 50 for two years in a row, I'm upping the challenge slightly. My 2017 Goodreads challenge is here.

Keep up with this blog and try to expand it and add more content. Keep up with my other social media.

Lastly, I've decided to make a serious attempt at a weekly donation, each week to a different cause I support. 

Hope everyone reading this has a safe and happy 2017! Chuc mung nam moi 2017!

Review Recap For December 19-24 2016

Christmas festivities are underway at the Silva household. We had a lovely traditional Christmas dinner tonight at Scott & Jeremy's in Ho Chi Minh City's District 1.

Tomorrow we cook breakfast, open gifts, and head for Cambodia by bus!

Between finishing up with day-job stuff and Christmas shopping/wrapping, I did manage to write a couple of reviews this week.

On Goodreads

Trapped in the Overworld by Winter Morgan: An unofficial Minecraft tie-in novel that I read with the Kiddo.

On Comic A Day

Snakes: A horror minicomic by Benjamin Wright-Heuman from 2014.

Upcoming

Two trips coming up! We leave tomorrow for Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We spend one full day in Phnom Penh, then head to Kep, Cambodia for the rest of the week. New Year's Eve back in Phnom Penh, followed by the bus trip back to Ho Chi Minh City on New Year's Day.

A few days after that, we fly to Bangkok, Thailand, for about five days there.

I'm not bringing comics to read on our trips, so Comic A Day will not have much going on until January. In the meantime, though, keep an eye on @dandelionstudios on Instagram for lots of photo updates from our travels!

Review Recap for December 11-18, 2016

This was exam week at the day job, so things have been hectic. Today was also the second of two Saturdays in a row when I had to work (exam review last week, Model UN training session this week).

I am back to reviewing comics somewhat steadily, though not quite at the comic-a-day rate that my blog's title implies. For prose reading, I've started a couple of longer works which I will probably finish on the upcoming school vacation. In other reading news, my Year in Books on Goodreads is now available!

Here's what I reviewed this week.

On Comic A Day:

Jessica Jones #2: Second issue of the new series from Marvel Comics. This was the last of the small stack of comics I brought back from my short trip home in November.


Darth Vader #21: Also from Marvel, I bought this Star Wars comic for the fun cover variant!

Terminal Velocity Book 1: An autobiographical comic by indy cartoonist Barry Corbett that I picked up from him at Massive Comic Con in Worcester MA.

Upcoming

The two trips for Christmas break are now booked. First up, we'll be heading to Cambodia by bus: Two nights in Phnom Penh, then four nights in Kep, and then New Year's Eve in Phnom Penh before we head back to Saigon for two days.

Then it's off to Bangkok, Thailand. This was scheduled to be a business trip, but if circumstances work out in the next week or so, I am hoping it will be turned into a purely fun trip. Either way, I'm excited to see Bangkok for the first time.

On the Road: Phnom Penh, Cambodia, October 2016

As we're planning a family trip to Cambodia coming up in a few weeks, here's a quick recap of my business trip to Cambodia at the end of October.

I took 11 students (plus one support staff and a small group that shared our bus from another school) to ISPPMUN, a Model United Nations conference at the International School of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Leaving bright and early from District 1 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, the bus trip takes about six hours if traffic conditions are good. We got lucky in that respect heading out of Saigon. Heading into Phnom Penh, not so much.

Ho Chi Minh City sprawls almost to the Cambodian border, but eventually the urban landscape gives way to farms and cows...

Water buffalo...

And the occasional motorbike carrying a hay bale.

We got through the border crossing smoothly in spite of the main immigration/customs building on the Vietnam side being closed for renovation. We were shunted into a converted warehouse, but traffic was light enough that we went through with almost no wait. The Cambodia side went smoothly as well.

We had lunch at a small rest stop. I got a nice bowl of beef stew with vermicelli noodles.
 

Then we headed on toward Phnom Penh, crossing the Mekong on the recently-finished Tsubasa Bridge.

We hit bad traffic in a construction zone just as we were getting into Phnom Penh and had a bit of a scramble to get checked in and then to make it to the conference in time to just catch the tail end of the opening ceremonies. Our hotel was the Balconitel Boutique Hotel, which I reviewed here.

The conference got off to a good start, and there were fireworks (I'm not sure for what occasion) visible from our hotel when we got back that evening.

The conference itself involved students from schools all over Southeast Asia. Model United Nations, for those not familiar, is a debate activity in which students simulate the debates that take place in the actual UN. Students are assigned countries whose point of view they are to represent, and they play out those roles while debating on resolutions put before UN committees such as the Human Rights Council, Security Council, and General Assembly. It's a great activity for students as it fosters public speaking and leadership skills while teaching current events.

Our setting was the International School of Phnom Penh, who were gracious and well-organized hosts for the event.

The conference occupied all of Saturday, and went through Sunday morning, so there wasn't really time for much sightseeing. This was my third time in Phnom Penh, and I have a family trip to Cambodia coming up in a few weeks, so we'll get in more tourism then.

I did have some fun taking some more pictures from the bus heading home on Sunday, including this one, which is one of my favorite unintentional pictures I've gotten. These monuments, showing the traditional multi-headed nagas of Cambodian mythology, are common features in town squares and traffic circles, and I was taking the picture of the monument, without actually noticing the kids climbing on it until I went to process the photos after the trip.

Cambodia has fascinating sights at every turn, and I can't wait to get back there on our upcoming Christmas break.

Review Recap For December 4-10, 2016

Another busy work week as we head into midterm exams. Only two reviews this week. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid book was actually crossposted to Comic A Day, as I consider it a graphic novel (and as usual, my book reviews on Goodreads are also crossposted to Amazon).

On Goodreads

Wake by Robert J Sawyer: The first book of Robert J. Sawyer's WWW trilogy of YA cyberpunk novels.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School by Greg Kinney: The Kiddo picked this one out, skipping all the way to #10 in this series.

Upcoming

Trip to Cambodia in December has been booked. We're leaving Christmas Day by bus from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We get one full day in Phnom Penh, then we head by Cambodian Postal Service Passenger Van (No, really! This is a thing!) to Kep, Cambodia, for four days. Back to Phnom Penh for New Year's eve, and back to Saigon on January 1.

It looks like we will then be turning around and heading to Bangkok, Thailand, a few days after that, so there should be lots of travel photos forthcoming!

Still working on plans for next school year, and possible travel plans for Tet break and for Spring of 2017, plus our trip back to the US in summer 2017.