It's not your fault.

I am Shawn Liu. I weigh about 145 pounds.
I co-founded Harvest. I update this blog sometimes.
@mrshawnliu

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  In the morning at Columbus Park, old ladies exercise while old men play chess.  There are several chess tables, three of them for Chinese chess.  Each game involves two players, and there are usually a handful of men surrounding them.  The men stare and point and talk.  Sometimes you hear a collective groan.  I think that happens when someone makes a bad or illegal move. Some of these old men smoke.
  
  My grandma taught me how to play chess, and my dad smokes a lot.  My dad knows how to play chess as well, and I have vague memory of playing with him - he did not smoke when he played chess with me.  I think of my dad and I see an image of him, puffing smoke with a cigarette dangling between his fingers.  Sometimes I think of him and wonder what would be like if he were my age, living in Brooklyn as I am now.  I think he would be a journalist writing fiction on the side, maybe a regular McSweeney’s contributor.  I think he would not be smoking as much.
  
  My dad studied history in college, and he likes to chat with older folks, especially those who were in the military.  He’d offer them a cigarette and talk to them about the old times, their troops and where they fought.  Maybe my dad would enjoy chatting with the old folks at the park.  I have nothing to say to these men I take pictures of, and I wish I can speak to them in their native tongue and listen to their stories.

  20 Aug 2008