Passage
for Nguyễn Quí Đức
“The world is filled with countless books, movies, and songs — so many that one person cannot possibly hope to experience them all. Consequently, I place tremendous significance upon the media I encounter within the limits of my lifetime. Such encounters are acts of happenstance; they can seem like a product of fate. I have no idea what will connect with me, or where, or what kind of connection will form. And so, rather than wait in a passive haze, I desire to act with purpose and to cherish the encounters that result from my choices. I feel the same way about meeting people.” — Hideo Kojima
On the right wall, at the entrance of Tadioto, Đức had a chalkboard where he scribed quips from his avatars: Joe and Jane.
“Part of growing older is mourning the person you could have been.”
Joe and Jane wanted you to drink.
“A life, Jimmy, you know what that is? It’s the shit that happens while you’re waiting for moments that never come.”
Joe and Jane wanted you to drink.
I’m an asshole, I still haven’t read any of Đức’s work, just his Facebook posts. The only comment I posted on every single one of Đức’s Facebook posts: “Attaboy Joe,” which he always (Facebook) *liked.*
I do remember one thing Đức said to me. Bruce, a friend, was verbally processing the briefness of life in the wake of a friend’s passing. To comfort him, I channeled Đức: “Life is long.”
The friends, my cousin Hoang, twilight alleyways, Anthony Bourdain, Nguyễn Quí Đức, the Bánh Mì Hội An, the high Savings rate — all made me want to stay, for as long as I did.
In a dream, I’m rolling up to Tadioto, my hair at my shoulders, when I was cool. Đức is propped at the bar top, writing in his Wabi-sabi-ass journal. Without a word, he pours me a glass and pushes it towards me, peering over his glasses resting on his bridge, half-smiling.
Attaboy Joe.
