There’s a bit in Silver Linings Playbook when Bradley Cooper walks into his analyst’s office and hears Stevie Wonder‘s “My Cherie Amour” — a “trigger” song that he danced to with his estranged wife on their wedding day — and he solemnly asks the receptionist, “Is that song really playing?” I’ve been saying almost the same thing to myself since I’ve been in Vietnam: “This is real…I’m here. Not a dream, not a Travel Channel doc…snap out of it!”

I do this in Los Angeles also. I’ll be lost in a thought while driving on Pico Blvd. or walking around the Farmer’s Market or inside a food court and I’ll tell myself, “hello…green light!” or “you’re looking for a table to sit down at…wake up!” My thoughts take me away to such an extent that I half-forget that I’m doing what I’m doing. Which is why I lose stuff sometimes. It’s why I lost my iPhone 4S a few weeks ago. I zone out.