# Soulparking

> Soulparking.com is the blogs, stories and poetry of GS Jackson: non-fiction dispatches, serialised stories, short fiction and poems written from a life lived in Hong Kong, Cebu, Tokyo, Cape Town, Knoxville and everywhere between. "Don't let a tombstone be the only proof you were alive."

Author: GS Jackson (Gary Jackson) — data scientist, comedian, TEDx speaker. This site is a flat-file, plain-HTML archive: no CMS backend, no paywalled content, every piece readable directly from static files. (Some Stories/Short Stories/Poetry pieces are guest works by Aquil Esteban.)

## Site
- [Home](https://soulparking.com/index.html): landing page, "In Real Life" video gallery, and introduction to the site
- [Library](https://soulparking.com/library.html): full index of every blog post, story, short story and poem
- [About](https://soulparking.com/index.html#about): about GS Jackson

## Blog
- [New Year's Eve 2020 (USA)](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-new-years-eve-2020): A margarita at Gringo’s, a countdown, and a New Year’s Eve none of them would forget. (2019-12-31 — USA)
- [Maximum Withdrawal Exceeded (Hong Kong)](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-maximum-withdrawal): An HSBC ATM, a 16 HKD balance, and a flight to Tokyo to catch. (2015-05-31 — Hong Kong)
- [Other People's Stories (Phillippines)](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-other-peoples-stories): Collecting lives that are not yours to keep. (2014-10-20 — Cebu)
- [Pollution (Hong Kong)](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-pollution): The harbour disappears and nobody mentions it. (2010-10-21 — Hong Kong)
- [How It Was Supposed To Be](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-supposed): Sometime in the early 1970s, a sexy, young, blonde, blue eyed Alabama woman named Cathy from Alabama sold everything that she had and bought a single plane t... (2010-03-02)
- [“What’s For You, Won’t Pass You.” Said Irish](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-irish): I SMS’d Isra before showing up at Cicada to drop Daisy’s stuff there. (2010-03-01 — Hong Kong)
- [Reverse](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-reverse): “I want you to go to MTR with me tonight,” Daisy said. (2010-02-03 — Hong Kong)
- [Perverse](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-perverse): “There is something wrong with her.” Daisy said matter-of-factly. (2010-02-02 — Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
- [Inverse](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-inverse): I was on one of the sidewalks of Taipei, Taiwan pacing with my Blackberry sweating against my ear and Eve being silent. (2010-02-01 — Taipei, Taiwan)
- [Bite Sized Bits](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-bitesized): I boarded my flight from Kathmandu at nearly midnight. (2010-01-05 — Hong Kong)
- [The Phone Call](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-phonecall): I woke up looking at the phone beside my bed. (2010-01-04 — Kathmandu, Nepal)
- [Fighting Shiva](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-fightingshiva): I first learned what real love was from a gay man. (2010-01-03 — Kathmandu, Nepal)
- [Burn the Ships](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-burntheships): As the day got closer and closer it got harder and harder to sleep because a million thoughts were going through my mind – and the details f (2010-01-02 — Sydney, Australia)
- [Confirmation](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-confirmation): I had been sending emails to John Daryl the owner and head comedian of The Laugh (2010-01-01 — Sydney, Australia)
- [Sinking](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-sinking): Zen and I stood by her bus stop at the airport waiting for it to arrive. (2009-12-04 — Dee Why Beach, Sydney, Australia)
- [The Island of Misfit Toys](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-misfittoys): So it was after our show was finished at TakeOut Comedy and many drinks at Fat (2009-12-03 — Mui Wo)
- [Escape of Captain Jackson from Chaos Island](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-chaosisland): There were going to be no surprises when I went into my performance review with my boss. (2009-12-02 — Hong Kong)
- [Love Part Two](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-love2): It just hit me and I stopped walking. (2009-12-01 — Hong Kong)
- [A Writer Without A Word](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-writerword): I was at work when I got the message on Facebook from Mark Peter congratulating me on a fantastic set during the Jazz Poetry. (2009-11-02 — Hong Kong)
- [The Inbetweeners](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-inbetweeners): “I am running late,” she said and she pulled the phone away and spoke in Cantonese to her cab driver. (2009-11-01 — Hong Kong)
- [Lonely Hearts Rub](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-lonelyheartsrub): All of the comedians were hiding in the darkness near the back nervously pacing, arms crossed, and waiting. (2009-10-03 — Hong Kong)
- [International Fear of Sunday Nights](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-sundaynights): I walked out of the Urban Chic Hotel onto Long Street and nearly got knocked down by the wind boomeranging off of Table Mountain and gusting into the City Bo... (2009-10-02 — Cape Town. Singapore. Hong Kong)
- [Killing Mrs. Jones](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-mrsjones): I looked in the mirror to see how the Mrs. (2009-10-01 — Hong Kong)
- [Talking Kak](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-kak): I found that Mrs. (2009-09-03 — Cape Town, South Africa)
- [The Mars Effect](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-mars): When I was eleven, in the hot Alabama summers, I would wake up before dawn – around 5 or 6 am – and take my telescope to the driveway. (2009-09-02 — Johannesburg, South Africa)
- [Normalcy](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-normalcy): Eddie and I were waiting for our order to come at Ruby Tuesday’s and making small talk I asked him if he had a domestic. (2009-09-01 — Hong Kong)
- [The Bird with No Legs](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-birdnolegs): My colleague introduced me to the lady who was wearing a black business suit. (2009-08-01 — Macau)
- [The Door that Jackson Bought](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-doorjacksonbought): I got an SMS while sleeping late at the Renaissance Hotel, “Do you want to meet for lunch? (2009-07-04 — Manila, Philippines)
- [Your Destiny Lies](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-yourdestinylies): The three hour drive from Mumbai to Pune during the monsoon had proved to be anti- climatic. (2009-07-03 — Pune, India)
- [Gone Too Soon](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-gone2soon): KUALA LUMPUR (2009-07-02 — Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Hong Kong)
- [Cougar Baited](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-cougarbaited): My boss and I spent Friday evening watching the Typhoon Signal 3 weather come and (2009-07-01 — Hong Kong)
- [Isolation](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-isolation): “The ambulance will be there soon to pick you up,” my local company’s HR (2009-06-04 — San Juan De Dios Hospital, Metro Manila, Philippines)
- [Positive](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-positive): As the airplane touched down in Manila, my cough was tickling harder but I tried to swallow it down – especially as I was filling out the Health Form. (2009-06-03 — Manila, Philippines)
- [Quarantined](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-quarantined): When the Dragon Air flight touched down, we were instructed to stay in our seats (2009-06-02 — Shanghai)
- [Destiny Now](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-destinynow): We wanted to celebrate the prohibition of drinking Red Bull in Hong Kong by partaking in Vodka and Red Bull. (2009-06-01 — Mumbai, India)
- [Sacrifice](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-sacrifice): Sophia and I walked fast hand in hand to the IFC. (2009-05-02 — Hong Kong)
- [Debut](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-debut): I sat uncomfortably in the waiting room holding the 600 HKD x-ray of my foot in my hand. (2009-05-01 — Hong Kong)
- [Save the Last Dance for Me](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-lastdance): I met with Joey early on a Sunday morning at Starbucks in the IFC. (2009-04-02 — Hong Kong)
- [Engagements of the Rule](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-erule): As the stitches began to take root in my scalp, I slept. (2009-04-01 — Hong Kong)
- [Rules of Engagement](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-rengagement): So while wearing the shirt she bought for me, I called her and told her that we should break up. (2009-03-01 — Hong Kong)
- [The Big Easy](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-bigeasy): I got an SMS while waiting in the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport saying, “I remember the first time you got drunk. (2009-02-03 — New Orleans)
- [Standup](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-standup): “It’s eight minutes of glory,” as Jami Gong, the owner and proprietor of Take Out Comedy says. (2009-02-02 — Raleigh, North Carolina)
- [Techniques to Avoid Valentine’s](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-avoid-valentines): So Buckhead was a mad house. (2009-02-01 — Atlanta, Georgia)
- [Central Park](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-centralpark): New York City was tittering on 27 degrees Fahrenheit and -3 Celsius in late January but the sky was cobalt blue and the sun was shining. (2009-01-03 — New York City)
- [The New Rule](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-newrule): And I found myself sitting in the parking lot of Caribou Coffee in North Raleigh and my palms were sweating. (2009-01-02 — Hong Kong)
- [Deformed Ear Holes](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-deformed-ear-holes): It was August. (2009-01-01 — Hong Kong)
- [Free Market](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-free-market): Sounds like an economic lesson and maybe it is. (2006-09-02 — South Africa)
- [European Film Noir Big Shot Blog Site](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-film-noir-blog): I just visited a European Film Noir Big Shot Blog Site (called soulparking.com), you know where everyone is either from South Africa, Australia or Hong Kong. (2006-07-16 — South Africa)
- [Good To Be Home](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-good-to-be-home): One of the biggest pet peeves Africans or especially South Africans have is when an African- American super star arrives in South Africa for a concert or a p... (2006-07-15 — South Africa)
- [Growth](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-growth): About an hour ago, as I was perusing the news on the internet I read about the death of (2006-03-07 — South Africa)
- [Breaking My Nose](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-breaking-my-nose): The funny thing is during the week as I let my mind wander in a corporate training session and I realized I had never had a bloody nose. (2005-07-16 — South Africa)
- [Car Break-In & Reflection](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-car-break-in): My car was broken into a week back. (2005-05-20 — South Africa)
- [Butcher Knife](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-butcher-knife): So my friends and I had gone out on the town for a disappointing time. (2005-02-26 — South Africa)
- [Fire](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-fire): And just like then, it was a beautiful night. (2005-02-19 — South Africa)

## Stories
- [The Rigil Kent Transmission](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-rigil-kent-transmission): A homeless man beyond the wall, the son he left behind, and a message meant for the stars. (2016-08-20 — Alpha Centauri) — 2 chapters

## Short Stories
- [On My Greenlight](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-on-my-greenlight): A morning after, a stalled relationship, and a green light he keeps running. (2016-05-07)
- [Girl In The Sky](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-girl-in-the-sky): Tonight is the night, Michael Jeffs thought — an oxygen day, a girl on a patio, and a sky that isn’t a sky. (2016-05-07)

## Poetry
- [Womb](https://soulparking.com/library.html#read-womb): I heard the ruckus through my mother’s lining — a poem for a mother, and a love that came too late. (2016-06-02)

## Optional
- [Facebook](https://facebook.com/soulparking)
- [Instagram](https://instagram.com/gweilojackson)
- [X](https://x.com/soulparking)