Tong Family

A very good friend said to, my god, Rich, you’ve stopped blogging what is wrong? Well sometimes, when something has a name and you name, it then you realize you can’t do it anymore. In my case, tapping away at 2AM on various techie things is really all about running away from reality. So, rather than doing that, I’d rather stop the obsession or turn it into something truer.

I know page rank will fall and Alexa ratings too, but sometimes I think this idea of journalling in public was designed for me. I have journals too, but sometimes, it is nice to share with everyone what I really care about. So if you want the latest techie hints on the latest Macbook you should buy (definitely the cheapest $1200 MacBook btw), then you’ll see those, but in the mean time, here’s more of the true me. And before I had pen pals that I would text or email things to, but those pals can disappear and then if you don’t share with somebody, then it is like the moment doesn’t exist. Sharing with a zillion anonymous people on the web may seem strange, but somehow it feels Ok to me. Like leaving a flyer on a telephone poll.

We have fallen into a great void. The stock market is way down and isn’t coming back for years. Most importantly, the American consumer finally realizes that jobs are not certain and neither is their retirement nor are holding on to all the gadgets they are used to. American business has been in easy times because of consumer demand and now the best companies have become spoiled and will have to get tough. The worst companies are already dead and they don’t know it yet.

China another country I love and watch is at the threshold of a great boom. The human capital there is simply amazing and I want to be a part of that too. Individuals there are tasting freedom in everyway. From being able to save for two years and buy a Mercedes (congratulations William!) to being able to live and love whoever they want without worrying about others. And the optimism is contagious because debt is low, savings are high, but most importantly the Reagan optimism lives there. That things will be better tomorrow.

Finally, we are today in a great election. I personally believe that it is the defining moment of our times I personally think. Just like 2000 was, although no one knew it then. In troubled times, do we turn to nationalism/patriotism leading to trade wars and then the inevitable like the 1930s or do we turn away from that view and realize that this is the very best thing that could happen to the world. A reality check.

I went to my polling place for the first time in 15 years. Absentee ballots are great (believe me I wish I could find my mail in), but somehow the idea that 300M people wokeup today and are up and out voting and doing the same thing in the most humble ways is awesome to me. The same way that I feel when I wake up in Shanghai and realize that 1.3B people are waking up with the same idea. That today is a better day.

Collective action is kind of amazing when you look at it. Here are some photos of the first votes taken in the morning in Seattle. You can find beauty in the most ordinary places. A fire station in Seattle at 7:15 AM as the first votes leave. I have a huge collection of photos that are in hidden files, but you’ll see more of them on the main site now. I can’t paint, but I can wield a camera 🙂 Click on the images and you’ll go to the photo gallery of all the shots. The new way this blog works.