🐯 Welcome to the Jungle: The Official Den of Johnny (Tiger) Tai

Before we talk about professional begging in China, let me start with a story my father once told me—one that’s completely true, a little grim, and very revealing. Because I’ve been blind since childhood, my father always had a soft spot for disabled beggars. Back in the 1980s, he was extremely wealthy, powerful, and well-connected—let’s just say not the kind of man most people argued with. Still, whenever he saw a disabled person struggling, he would stop his car to help them cross the street. If a beggar was visibly disabled, he always gave money. One night at a Taiwanese night market, he noticed a beggar sitting by the roadside. The man appeared to have no arms—empty sleeves hanging at his sides. My father didn’t have much cash on him at the time, so he gave the man $50. Later, feeling it wasn’t enough, he went to the bank, withdrew more money, and returned to give the beggar more. But just as he reached the nearby parking lot, he saw the same man walking away from...

Image: A good looking Asian man with medium black hair, closed eyes, wearing a black T-shirt, illuminated by bright flash. [ ] This post? Not a review, not a fight breakdown, not a poem. Just a moment of raw, gritty accessibility awareness —with a touch of sass, of course. So I was uploading some photos to my blog, feeling all proud of myself... Image: Two vibrant blue macaws perched on a wooden branch. The macaws have striking blue feathers with yellow rings around their eyes and large, curved black beaks. [ ] Until my screen reader purred: “No description. Graphic.” Over. And over. And over. And I thought: I’m a blind guy. Running a blog. With images. That other blind folks can’t access. The irony? Thicker than a steak fresh off the grill. Let’s Fix That Image: A mystical forest scene. In the center, there is a young woman with long, flowing hair, sitting on a large, twisted tree branch. She is wearing a dress made of leaves and natural materials. [ ] If you’re ...

Before I became a professional artist, before COVID sucker-punched my therapy practice and pushed me toward creative rebirth, I was already wrestling with the challenges of being a blind shopper in a very sighted world. This story—dug out of the vault from 2011—is more than just a bad review. It’s a real, sad, and frustrating reminder of how difficult online shopping can be for people with disabilities. So here it is, exactly as it happened. One Valentine’s season. One hopeful order. One absolute trainwreck. Like many modern folks, I’ve long done most of my shopping online. Over the years, I’ve found great sites, terrible ones—and then… there was WeaponMasters.com . The site sold everything from swords and knives to fantasy jewelry and clothing. Their prices were low, their inventory flashy, and they even offered engraving (at a ridiculous price: $20+ for a few letters). Shipping, though? Nearly $35 USD—more than the cost of the items combined. Still, I bit the bullet. I ordered: ...