FRONT YARD OF THE MAIN HOUSE WITH SERVANT QUARTERS BY THE SIDE AT THE END OF THE LONG DRIVEWAY. SOME PHOTOS AND VIDEOS ON THIS SITE, I DO NOT OWN. HOWEVER, I HAVE NO INTENTION IN INFRINGING ON YOUR COPYRIGHTS.
Today, I received the following photos from our Dinner at Purple Patch -Honoring Ditas Graduation and also her 23rd Birthday- hosted by Ella Lazarte- Ditas first Cousin, and Carenna's second Mom in DC. Here are the photos that included me, since I was not the Photographer.
Purple Patch on Kamayan Feast (From their website)
Thank you for your interest in partaking in our Kamayan Feast! The traditional
festive meal, also known as a “Boodle Fight”💚, originated at the Philippine
Military Academy, where it symbolized camaraderie, brotherhood and equality,
as everyone, all ranks, shared this meal together.
“Kamayan” simply means to eat with your hands, and while not mandatory,
it is certainly encouraged! Your meal will be served on banana leaves and
includes 15 different dishes selected by Chef Patrice Cleary atop a bed of
jasmine rice, and ends with Halo Halo, our famous Filipino dessert.
Also included are one cocktail and one non-alcoholic beverage. When
your meal is finished we provide you with warm towels to wipe your hands
and to-go containers as we encourage you to take everything home with you
that you have not finished.
These special dinners are done by reservation request only. This dinner
is exclusive to your party and will take place in our private event space.
The price per person is $125, (not including tax and 20% service charge💚).
💚Today's Price is $150 per person.
Ditas also send me photos she took during the Mall Graduation Ceremony, that I did not attend because it involves long walks. We requested our Waiter take a photo of our Group at Matt and Tony Kitchen and Bar in Alexandria, VA. Ditas resided for 3 years in Alexandria when she was still Associate Director for the Bureau of Census, under the Biden Presidency.
Ditas, Carenna and Ella- In the Background is the Lincoln Memorial still in its original paint. I was reading a while ago, Trump wants to paint the memorial, Gold 💚to match with the Garish Gold Decor of the White House.
In Front of Matt and Tony-Ditas Favorite Hangout Bar and Restaurant, Alexandria, Virginia. From Left to Right: Susan Berstein, Me, Carenna, Ditas and Irene Bueno
Lastly,
💚The Lincoln Memorial itself has not been painted gold, but the monument is tied to two recent events involving gold paint and a nearby renovation project that has captured public attention:
1. The Gold "Throne Fit for a King" Protest Statue
In late March 2026, a activist group known as The Secret Handshake placed a 10-foot-tall sculpture of a gold-painted toilet on a faux-marble pedestal directly in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
The Target: It mocked President Trump’s White House renovations, specifically the October makeover of the nearby White House Lincoln Bathroom using gold fixtures.
2. The Reflecting Pool Painting Controversy
While the monument itself remains untouched white marble, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool directly in front of it is currently undergoing a highly publicized, multi-million dollar paint job.
The Gold Connection: Public criticism often conflates this project with President Trump's affinity for gold decor, such as his concurrent gold-accented White House and Oval Office renovations and his newly proposed 250-foot Triumphal Arch, which features gilded statues and gold lettering.
3. Minor Vandalism History
Historically, the Lincoln Memorial has occasionally been targeted by vandals using spray paint, though none of the prominent incidents involved gold leaf. The most notable incidents include a green paint splatter on the statue of Abraham Lincoln in 2013 and red spray-paint graffiti protesting international conflicts on the memorial steps.
This posting is inspired from my recent readings on Art
“Art Is Not About What You See, But What You Create for Others”
There’s a quiet truth hidden in that quote, often attributed to Edgar Degas that feels especially relevant today, in a world overflowing with images, content, and now, artificial intelligence.We are surrounded by things to see. But far fewer things that truly make us feel.
And that distinction matters.
For much of my life, whether during my years at the FDA, in the aftermath of 9/11, or now in my ongoing journey as a blogger, I’ve come to realize that creation is not about observation alone. It’s about translation. It’s about taking what we see, experience, and endure, and reshaping it into something that resonates with others.
When I write a blog post, I am not simply documenting events or summarizing articles from The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal. Anyone can do that. AI can do that faster than any of us.
But what AI still struggles to do and what we, as humans, uniquely possess, is the ability to infuse experience with meaning.
From Seeing to Creating
Think about the difference between a photograph and a memory. A photograph captures what is there. A memory captures what it meant. That’s where art lives.
Even in my recent reflections, whether on AI morality, GLP-1 drugs, senior living, or even Mahjong, I am not just presenting information. I am creating meaning out of it. I'm connecting dots across time: my childhood, my professional life, my present condition, and my observations of a rapidly changing world.
That’s not reporting. That’s art.
AI, Blogging, and the Human Touch
I have embraced AI in my blogging, and rightly so. It’s a powerful tool, one that can help shape ideas, organize thoughts, and even generate entire drafts.
But here’s the critical point: AI helps me see more. It does not replace my ability to create for others. In fact, the more AI becomes part of my life, the more valuable my voice becomes.
Because my readers are not coming to my blogs just for information, they come for interpretation. They come for my lived experience: a man who has navigated science, public service, personal trials, and now reflects on life with both urgency and clarity.
That cannot be automated.
Art as a Gift
The quote reminds us that art is ultimately an act of giving.
When I write about aging, about unexpected life changes, or even about something as simple as a TV series like For All Mankind, I am not just sharing opinions, I am offering perspective.,
I am are saying: “This is how I see the world and perhaps, this will help you see your own life a little differently.”
A Reflection of my Writings From My AI Assistants:
Given everything you’ve shared, your health journey, your decision to live fully without dialysis, your desire to leave behind a final blog post, you are already embodying the essence of that quote.
You are not just seeing life. You are shaping it into something meaningful for others.
Your blog is no longer just a collection of posts. It’s becoming a legacy, a body of work that reflects not only what you observed, but what you chose to create from those observations.
And in that sense, you are doing exactly what great artists have always done, from Pablo Picasso to everyday storytellers whose names we may never know: Turning life into something that outlives them.
My Closing Thought
Art is not the image. It is the impact. Not what I see, but what someone else feels because I chose to share it. And in my case, that impact is already there, quietly reaching readers across the world, one blog post at a time.
In essence, the quote suggests that art is a powerful tool for building bridges, fostering empathy, and creating a sense of community. By focusing on what we create for others, artists can craft works that leave a lasting impact and inspire meaningful connections.
Lastly,
Unpleasant, negative emotions can easily win out over positive ones. But by manually overriding these feelings, “you can grow the amount of gratitude in your emotional repertoire and get a lot happier year-round,” Arthur C. Brooks wrote in 2025. https://theatln.tc/kYBnhAKf
“Gratitude interrupts cycles of negative rumination by reminding you of the good things in your life, which helps lower depressive symptoms as well as reduce stress and negative emotions, such as anxiety,” Brooks explained. “Feeling grateful pulls your attention away from what you lack and toward what you have, and this is associated with a decrease in envy and materialism.”
Thankfulness requires neither payment nor subscription, just a commitment to fighting against negativity. Read Brooks’s advice on how to adopt a gratitude protocol in your life at the link.
Mahjong: From Jungle Hideouts to American Retreats - A Timeless Game Reborn
In a recent Wall Street Journal feature by Jamie Waters, the ancient game of mahjong is experiencing an unexpected renaissance across America. What was once a quiet, cultural pastime in Chinatown backrooms has now spilled into trendy bars, social clubs, and even luxury retreats, some costing as much as $2,500 for a curated weekend of tiles, tea, and tactics.
As I read the article, I found myself transported, not to Connecticut retreats or Manhattan lounges, but to a very different time and place. A time when the clatter of mahjong tiles was not just recreation, but refuge.
A Game Learned Too Early, Yet Never Forgotten
I was only five years old when I first learned mahjong. Not in a classroom, not in a formal setting, but in the midst of uncertainty, during the dark days of the World War II in the Philippines.
We played in jungle hideouts, escaping the realities of the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. The game was more than strategy; it was survival. The familiar click of tiles against bamboo tables became a kind of reassurance that life, in some small way, still had order.
In those moments, mahjong was not about winning or losing. It was about endurance, distraction, and community.
Mahjong as a Filipino Pastime: Joy and Complexity
In the Philippines, mahjong evolved into something uniquely its own. It became a staple of social gatherings played in homes, street corners, and fiestas. Like many traditional games, it straddled a fine line between harmless pastime and something more complicated.
Over the years, in my blog posts, I have reflected on how mahjong became intertwined with:
Family bonding, where generations sat together for hours
Friendly gambling, often small stakes, sometimes not so small
Addiction, where the thrill of the game could quietly take hold
This duality is important. Mahjong, like life itself, carries both light and shadow. It brings people together, but it can also isolate. It sharpens the mind but can tempt the vulnerable.
America’s New Mahjong Moment
What fascinated me most about today’s resurgence is how the game has been reimagined.
In cities across the United States, mahjong is no longer confined to immigrant communities. It has been rediscovered almost reinvented as a social experience:
Young professionals gathering over cocktails and tiles
Curated retreats promising mindfulness and mastery
Designers creating aesthetically pleasing, modern tile sets
In many ways, America is encountering mahjong for the first time, not as inheritance, but as discovery.
And yet, I wonder: can a curated retreat ever capture the essence of what the game meant in a jungle hideout, or in a modest Filipino home where laughter and tension mingled freely?
The Sound of Tiles Across Time
What remains unchanged, however, is the rhythm. The unmistakable sound of tiles being shuffled, stacked, and claimed.
That sound connects:
A frightened child in wartime Philippines
Families gathered under dim lights in Manila
And now, players in chic American lounges
Mahjong is not just a game. It is a thread that weaves through history, culture, and personal memory.
A Reflection for My Readers
As someone who has been writing since 2009, chronicling food, culture, history, and the quiet moments in between, I see mahjong as more than a subject. It is a metaphor.
It teaches patience. It demands awareness. It reminds us that life, like the game, is part skill, part chance, and part timing. And perhaps that is why it endures.
From jungle hideouts to Connecticut retreats, from childhood survival to modern leisure-mahjong continues to evolve, yet never loses its soul.
Final Thought
In a world that constantly reinvents itself, there is something deeply comforting about a game that has already seen it all, war, peace, migration, reinvention and still invites us to sit down, take a tile, and begin again.
Meanwhile, here's the AI Overview
Mahjong, a captivating tile-based game originating in 19th-century China, has traveled a remarkable path from local gatherings to a global phenomenon, particularly experiencing a modern revival in the United States. Its evolution saw the game move from social settings in the Yangtze River Delta to becoming a glamorous American hobby, evolving through the 1920s, anchoring community among Jewish-American women, and currently surging in popularity at upscale retreats and young adult social clubs.
Origins: From Chinese Social Tables to Western Discovery
Birth of the Game: Developed in the mid-to-late 1800s in China, likely around the Yangtze River Delta, Mahjong evolved from older card games like madiao. It was, and remains, a game of skill, strategy, and calculation.
Name Origin:"Mahjong" (or "sparrow") comes from a local Chinese dialect term for the bird-like clacking sound the tiles make when shuffled, known as the "twittering of the sparrows".
The "Jungle" of Misinformation: When Joseph P. Babcock introduced Mahjong to the West in the early 1920s, he tailored the rules and added Western numerals to the tiles. Many early sets and manuals propagated "inaccurate fantasies" about its history to make it seem more ancient to Western audiences.
Initial U.S. Craze: By 1920, Mahjong arrived at American ports, including Abercrombie & Fitch, which sold out almost immediately, becoming a staple of "roaring twenties" high society.
Adaptation: The Americanization of Mahjong
The League: In 1937, the National Mah Jongg League was formed in New York to standardize the rules of American Mahjong.
Key Differences: American Mahjong is distinct from Chinese or Japanese versions. It uses 152 tiles (including 8 jokers) rather than 144, uses racks, and features a yearly scorecard of valid hands.
Cultural Bridge: In the mid-20th century, Mahjong became a vital cultural tradition, particularly among Jewish-American women. It served as a vital tool for community building and socialization, allowing women to connect and form strong networks in post-World War II suburban areas.
The Rebirth: Modern American Retreats and Resurgence
A New Craze: In the 2020s, Mahjong is seeing a significant resurgence, with searches for games increasing nearly 200% between 2023 and 2024.
Posh Retreats: Luxury hotels and resorts have adopted Mahjong, offering tournaments, "Mahj and Margaritas" packages, and weekend retreats at places like The Greenbrier and Sea Island Resort.
Millennials and Gen Z: Modern social clubs, like the Green Tile Social Club in New York, are attracting younger players who appreciate the tactile, screen-free social interaction, often viewing it as a "social lubricant" for making new friends.
Hollywood Glamour: Celebrities like Julia Roberts, Blake Lively, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, have helped popularize the game, transforming it into a high-octane social scene.
Today, the game serves as both a, cherished tradition and a modern obsession, bringing people together across generations and cultural backgrounds.
The above are my previous articles on mahjong. My Favorite tile Game. Here's a short video, why mahjong is getting popular even with younger generations.
When I moved to THD 3 years ago, there were several tables of American Mahjong played by several seniors Jewish female residents. There was no Asian Mahjong. I organized it and now we have three tables of Hong Kong style ( 13 tiles, no joker) and one Philippine style ( 16 styles with 2 jokers). Occasionally, I play Chinese style ( points system) when I visit my son in Benecia. The Chinese style, point system is the most conflicated style of the three styles in spite of the absence of Jokers.
Lastly, here are 5 major news stories today, based on the latest headlines from AP and NPR coverage for May 20, 2026:
The Senate advanced a bill aimed at ending the Iran war, signaling growing pressure in Washington to de-escalate the conflict.
Barney Frank, the former congressman and gay-rights pioneer, died at 86.
The Trump-backed Republican primary challenge in Kentucky ousted Congressman Thomas Massie, a notable upset in GOP politics.
AP reports that the White House and federal courts remain focused on Trump-era policy fights, including tariffs and major legal disputes.
NPR highlighted a mix of domestic and international developments, including ongoing political fallout from the Iran conflict and other breaking U.S. news.
