Today is the end of an era. Busch begins its' 3-month-long fall in one hour and 16 minutes. This is the place I first visisted probably 25 years ago, perhaps earlier. We would sit in row 23, the highest in the stadium with our jugs of lemonade and water and our Aldi's pretzels. Sometimes it was my dad, Joey, and I, and sometimes the whole family. We sat on the isle, probably so the various toddlers and small kids in the family could run up and down without disturbing the other roof-dwelling fans.
I saw the circus at least twice at Busch, long before anyone told me that circuses are cruel to animals so I enjoyed them guilt-free. One performance included a tightrope walker navigating the width of Busch high above other activities happening in the rings far below. It took the guy probably 20 minutes or more to get across the stadium, and he never wavered.
I saw U2 there once on the Zoo TV Tour, Elton John and Billy Joel together, and New Kids on the Block once. I took two stadium tours and walked on the field several times. I saw probably between 150 and 200 baseball games there, including my first playoff game on October 13, 1987 when the Cardinals beat the Giants in Game 6 and the crowd taunted Jeffrey Leonard with cow bells and "Jeeeffffff-reeeey". I saw Ozzie backflip lots of times, Willie McGee throughout his entire career, a 1-hitter for Jose Jimenez against Randy Johnson, McGwire's homeruns number 61, 66, 69, and 70 and career number 500. I saw Ken Griffey's carreer 500th homerun and about half the home games of the first 5 years of Albert Pujols' legendary career. I saw my first World Series game last year, 2004 against the Red Sox. I saw Jim Edmonds send us into Game 7, then his amazing catch in Game 7 of the NLCS last year. I saw about 14 playoff games total including the one in 1987 and all the rest from 2000-present. I slept outside for playoff tickets at least 6 times, camping out with Mayers, Naumans, and thousands of strangers including once in 2000 with my new puppy, Foster. I got autographs from players and watched them walk to their cars and wave to fans after big games. I went to both Jack Buck's and Darryl Kile's memorial services on hot June days in 2002 and shot the last videotape ever (probably) of Kile on the field after Buck's service. That was the day I met Steve Kline in the stadium, the only time I ever actually met a Cardinal in that stadium.
I've sat in just about every section and probably 10 different luxury boxes over the life of Busch. Playoffs were largely spent in the bleachers. I sat in the seat I had purchased or had purchased for me until I was a teenager and we realized that you did not have to sit where you'd paid to sit when other seats were open! I've legally sat just rows from the field on a handful of occasions, and more times than that illegally including the last home game at Busch on October 2, 2005 when we closed down Busch about 8 rows from the visitor's dugout.
Until the playoffs of 2005, after my teenaged days I never ventured back up to Row 23 in the 300-section because there was always some better seat for me, my family, and friends. We discovered 246 was player seating and since players don't often give out all their seats, this was our surrogate season-ticket section. We also discovered you can come into Busch for free in the 7th inning.
We've finagled free parking (sometimes in the player area!), free soda from Guest Relations, and hordes of givaway items over the years. Sports bags, balls, bobbleheads, pins, hats, t-shirts, and the certificate for being at the last home game. I've been on a couple of dates there, none too memorable, and have been to Busch alone when no one else could go with me and I couldn't stand for tickets to go to waste.
I've probably been inside Busch more times than any other building outside of my own houses, a couple of jobs, and my grade and high school. From Jessi, Joey, and I taunting Giants fans and screaming when Edmonds blasted the homerun and jumped into the crowd at home plate, to writing all over the walls with Sharpees on the last day at the stadium, we've made the most of our time with the old ballpark.
Good night, old Busch.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Monday, October 31, 2005
I fear the disease is incurable.
"A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us. Tour masters, schedules, reservations, brass-bound and inevitable, dash themselves to wreckage on the personality of the trip. Only when this is recognised can the blown-in-the-glass bum relax and go along with it. Only then do the frustrations fall away. In this, a journey is like a marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it. I feel better now, having said this, although only those who have experienced it will understand it."
-John Steinbeck
Why is it that we are never settled, or if not "we" that I am never settled?! Why do I keep looking, keep planning, keep wondering what I am missing? And just when I feel like writing it all down, I find that someone already has. Yes, Charley is a French Poodle which is somehow distasteful to me, but the journey is already recorded adn I wish I'd read it before my own US odessy. I suppose now I'll just have to take another...
-John Steinbeck
Why is it that we are never settled, or if not "we" that I am never settled?! Why do I keep looking, keep planning, keep wondering what I am missing? And just when I feel like writing it all down, I find that someone already has. Yes, Charley is a French Poodle which is somehow distasteful to me, but the journey is already recorded adn I wish I'd read it before my own US odessy. I suppose now I'll just have to take another...
Friday, October 07, 2005
October
The very best month of all!! Humidity in STL is history, the postseason in MLB is in full swing (and I have tickets!), the leaves are changing, and according to the RFT Best in STL poll, October is the best month to visit/stay in St. Louis. I could not agree more.
I've been back from Asia for 3 weeks, the reverse jet lag is gone so I'm again tired in the AM and awake all night long. The difference with the jet lag was that I never got tired at all, and that made me terribly productive. I've unpacked my entire house almost all by myself, while also managing both full and part time jobs and going to all but one of the last 7 home Cards games. The only one I missed (9/28) was their only loss in the last 7, so my record remains excellent. The Cardinals finished the regular season 100-62 and are 2-0 in the postseason. My final number of games attended, which included Cardinals both in and out of STL, was 25, with a 18-7 record. I saw every starter 5 times but my boy Mulder who I saw 4. (Carp and Mulder once each in the NLDS). The remaining start was Eldred vs the Nationals in DC, a bullpen game that we won. With any luck, I will be at 3 more games and maybe more this season.
Finally, there will be a Cardinals game on my birthday for the first time since 1982 (Game 3 of the WS v. Brewers, we won 6-2). Twice in a lifetime- so far. Game 3 of the NLCS and by then, the Cards will be due for a loss so I'm going to have to be satisfied that they are merely playing, and I hope for a Suppan start. He deserves a game 3 start in SOME series, and TLR is obviously delusionally allowing an undeserving Morris the opportunity tomorrow in San Diego. Bad move. We'll likely still win, but bad move.
I think once we win a world series, be it this year, next, or in 4 years, I need to scale back the obsession. Its time consuming and really does no one any good. I should focus my energy on figuring out what I REALLY want to do for a living longterm, or perhaps planning extended travel or working for really important causes. People are suffering, and I spend time memorizing the stats of minor bench players and researching whether the Giles are related (they are brothers). I need to get a grip.
Next year. I swear. Once we win it all and its impossible for me to get/afford tickets at the new Busch, I'll have to divert some energy elsewhere.
Maybe.
Since I returned, there has been another hurricane, a new Chief Supreme Court justice and another nominee to the court. So far, their records are both clear as mud and aside from not being affiliated with any Arabian horse management, very little is known. Bush is either scared of his sliding approval numbers, owing favors, or a friggin genuis for slipping through 2 evangelicals that no one can call evangelicals to legislate us into the 14th century. I doubt he's a genius, so it's either of the first two. Harriet is the kind of woman Bush seems to love- older, very, very well educated, married to her work but no other person, of ambiguous sexual orientation and values, and likes to kiss him. She and Condi could be two of a kind, but we are aware of Condi's fondness for unjust war and unnecessary death so truly its hard to discern how alike they will be. The whole confirmation process will be interesting. Even Repubs these days are Bush-haters, its entirely possible that this woman could end up supported by the Democrats and rejected outright by Bush's own party.
All I know is that my clients are all getting their gas and electric turned off. Its an epidemic. My suspicions are that the agencies they (and we) usually find to help them through lean times are all Katrina-ed out and have nothing left to give my clients who are still poor and sick. Its a vicious cycle, as the poor and homeless of New Orleans need cash too. What can you do?
At least they can live without needing heat or AC in October. This brings me back to another reason why October is the best month of all. Viva octubre!
I've been back from Asia for 3 weeks, the reverse jet lag is gone so I'm again tired in the AM and awake all night long. The difference with the jet lag was that I never got tired at all, and that made me terribly productive. I've unpacked my entire house almost all by myself, while also managing both full and part time jobs and going to all but one of the last 7 home Cards games. The only one I missed (9/28) was their only loss in the last 7, so my record remains excellent. The Cardinals finished the regular season 100-62 and are 2-0 in the postseason. My final number of games attended, which included Cardinals both in and out of STL, was 25, with a 18-7 record. I saw every starter 5 times but my boy Mulder who I saw 4. (Carp and Mulder once each in the NLDS). The remaining start was Eldred vs the Nationals in DC, a bullpen game that we won. With any luck, I will be at 3 more games and maybe more this season.
Finally, there will be a Cardinals game on my birthday for the first time since 1982 (Game 3 of the WS v. Brewers, we won 6-2). Twice in a lifetime- so far. Game 3 of the NLCS and by then, the Cards will be due for a loss so I'm going to have to be satisfied that they are merely playing, and I hope for a Suppan start. He deserves a game 3 start in SOME series, and TLR is obviously delusionally allowing an undeserving Morris the opportunity tomorrow in San Diego. Bad move. We'll likely still win, but bad move.
I think once we win a world series, be it this year, next, or in 4 years, I need to scale back the obsession. Its time consuming and really does no one any good. I should focus my energy on figuring out what I REALLY want to do for a living longterm, or perhaps planning extended travel or working for really important causes. People are suffering, and I spend time memorizing the stats of minor bench players and researching whether the Giles are related (they are brothers). I need to get a grip.
Next year. I swear. Once we win it all and its impossible for me to get/afford tickets at the new Busch, I'll have to divert some energy elsewhere.
Maybe.
Since I returned, there has been another hurricane, a new Chief Supreme Court justice and another nominee to the court. So far, their records are both clear as mud and aside from not being affiliated with any Arabian horse management, very little is known. Bush is either scared of his sliding approval numbers, owing favors, or a friggin genuis for slipping through 2 evangelicals that no one can call evangelicals to legislate us into the 14th century. I doubt he's a genius, so it's either of the first two. Harriet is the kind of woman Bush seems to love- older, very, very well educated, married to her work but no other person, of ambiguous sexual orientation and values, and likes to kiss him. She and Condi could be two of a kind, but we are aware of Condi's fondness for unjust war and unnecessary death so truly its hard to discern how alike they will be. The whole confirmation process will be interesting. Even Repubs these days are Bush-haters, its entirely possible that this woman could end up supported by the Democrats and rejected outright by Bush's own party.
All I know is that my clients are all getting their gas and electric turned off. Its an epidemic. My suspicions are that the agencies they (and we) usually find to help them through lean times are all Katrina-ed out and have nothing left to give my clients who are still poor and sick. Its a vicious cycle, as the poor and homeless of New Orleans need cash too. What can you do?
At least they can live without needing heat or AC in October. This brings me back to another reason why October is the best month of all. Viva octubre!
Friday, September 30, 2005
Eckstein
I'm Eckstein-ed out. I blame the media, not David. I'll explain.
I think David Eckstein is a fantastic human being. He's got a work ethic unparalelled on the Cardinals with the possible exception of Pujols. He seems to enjoy being in St. Louis, working hard and greeting fans. He also gets paid beans next to his underachieveing predecessor Renteria and has been the best investment of the year by team management. I'm happy he's here and wish him all the best.
That said, I am sick of hearing about how short Eckstein is. If I hear one more sports reporter in print, on TV, or radio spit out the phrase, "and he's only 5'7", or as Whitey Eckstein is often quoted, just "5'6" and 3/4", I'm going to vomit. Also words like "scrappy". Thesaurus anyone?
Then there's the family story. It was overtold last year when we signed him, then there are the 4-times-per-night commercials during the game broadcast with David promoting organ donation. Sometimes they run twice in the same commercial break. I think his family is probably filled with other fantastic, hard-working, scrappy people, but I've heard enough. I should not know his siblings' names. Christine, Susan, Rick (the other healthy sibling), and then, who else? One more brother who got a transplant from a stranger, I think it's Steven. Steven appears to be gay from my observations and I'm suprised this has not yet been delved into in a 4-part story on channel 5 as the rest of the kidney saga has. Oh, and then there's Pat the mom who gave Susan her kidney, and Whitey the dad who just got a kidney from Liz, a family friend.
I don't even know if Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, or Scott Rolen HAVE siblings, let alone their first names and life stories!!
I'm very happy all the Ecksteins (who despite the semitic name are in fact, practicing Catholics- thank you St. Louis Review!) are healthy little people. Truly I am happy for them, and also glad that organ donation is probably getting some much-needed attention. But I'm also annoyed by something that is probably a cruel detail to point out. This is congenital kidney disease, a genetic tragedy for this family. They state that already, the next generation of Eckstein offspring already include a number of children with the genetic flaw that will cause a transplant to be necessary later in life. Dad told David and his healthy brother to hang on to their organs in case one of these kids need it down the road. Very admirable. Then Dad goes on... you know, David is getting married soon and his kids might need the organs too.
(pause to ponder this profundity...)
Huh? You carry a genetic flaw that can cause painful, debilitating symptoms that require 4x weekly dialysis treatments, eventual life-threatening surgery and anti-rejection meds for life and more than likely another surgery later to replace your replacement organ? And you have a family in which several people already suffer this fate and will probably require new kidneys in their lifetime? And you STILL plan to bring more people into the world who have a 50% or greater chance of having the same condition?
Is that selfish or is it just me?
There's already a serious organ shortage in the world. I'm sure the publicity has caused more donors to sign up but should ALL of these donors be contributing to the Eckstein family? This is a prolific family, exceptionally fertile from an observer's view and the waiting list for kidneys in California might be populated by Ecksteins in great proportion in the next 20 years. Am I mistaken in thinking that Rick and David can only spare one kidney each? That's one neice or nephew each, and what if David and his little wife pop out 5 or more future kidney recipients? Sorry, young Jimmy, but I promised Dad I'd give my kidney to your cousin Bobby a long time ago, so we're going to put your name on the waiting list and you can just keep having your blood cleaned for another 5-10 years while we wait for your turn.
I'm thinking that vasectomy and adoption might be the way to go here, folks. I realize that the temptation to create another MLB player to keep the organ donation promotion in the news as well as the medical-bill income flowing is great, but Scrappy Dave is about 5'6 and 3/4 and 140 lbs soaking wet and his tiny fiance is probably half that so are we to believe that lighting could strike twice?
I'm probably going to hell for writing this, but maybe others are thinking it. Lord knows we all have enough info on the Eckstein family to have opinions on their situation. Maybe its just time someone talked about a different angle. Hey, here's to David being the MVP of the NLCS, because I'm sure there's an anecdote or two we haven't yet heard about his wee family, and its time ESPN picked up that story.
I think David Eckstein is a fantastic human being. He's got a work ethic unparalelled on the Cardinals with the possible exception of Pujols. He seems to enjoy being in St. Louis, working hard and greeting fans. He also gets paid beans next to his underachieveing predecessor Renteria and has been the best investment of the year by team management. I'm happy he's here and wish him all the best.
That said, I am sick of hearing about how short Eckstein is. If I hear one more sports reporter in print, on TV, or radio spit out the phrase, "and he's only 5'7", or as Whitey Eckstein is often quoted, just "5'6" and 3/4", I'm going to vomit. Also words like "scrappy". Thesaurus anyone?
Then there's the family story. It was overtold last year when we signed him, then there are the 4-times-per-night commercials during the game broadcast with David promoting organ donation. Sometimes they run twice in the same commercial break. I think his family is probably filled with other fantastic, hard-working, scrappy people, but I've heard enough. I should not know his siblings' names. Christine, Susan, Rick (the other healthy sibling), and then, who else? One more brother who got a transplant from a stranger, I think it's Steven. Steven appears to be gay from my observations and I'm suprised this has not yet been delved into in a 4-part story on channel 5 as the rest of the kidney saga has. Oh, and then there's Pat the mom who gave Susan her kidney, and Whitey the dad who just got a kidney from Liz, a family friend.
I don't even know if Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, or Scott Rolen HAVE siblings, let alone their first names and life stories!!
I'm very happy all the Ecksteins (who despite the semitic name are in fact, practicing Catholics- thank you St. Louis Review!) are healthy little people. Truly I am happy for them, and also glad that organ donation is probably getting some much-needed attention. But I'm also annoyed by something that is probably a cruel detail to point out. This is congenital kidney disease, a genetic tragedy for this family. They state that already, the next generation of Eckstein offspring already include a number of children with the genetic flaw that will cause a transplant to be necessary later in life. Dad told David and his healthy brother to hang on to their organs in case one of these kids need it down the road. Very admirable. Then Dad goes on... you know, David is getting married soon and his kids might need the organs too.
(pause to ponder this profundity...)
Huh? You carry a genetic flaw that can cause painful, debilitating symptoms that require 4x weekly dialysis treatments, eventual life-threatening surgery and anti-rejection meds for life and more than likely another surgery later to replace your replacement organ? And you have a family in which several people already suffer this fate and will probably require new kidneys in their lifetime? And you STILL plan to bring more people into the world who have a 50% or greater chance of having the same condition?
Is that selfish or is it just me?
There's already a serious organ shortage in the world. I'm sure the publicity has caused more donors to sign up but should ALL of these donors be contributing to the Eckstein family? This is a prolific family, exceptionally fertile from an observer's view and the waiting list for kidneys in California might be populated by Ecksteins in great proportion in the next 20 years. Am I mistaken in thinking that Rick and David can only spare one kidney each? That's one neice or nephew each, and what if David and his little wife pop out 5 or more future kidney recipients? Sorry, young Jimmy, but I promised Dad I'd give my kidney to your cousin Bobby a long time ago, so we're going to put your name on the waiting list and you can just keep having your blood cleaned for another 5-10 years while we wait for your turn.
I'm thinking that vasectomy and adoption might be the way to go here, folks. I realize that the temptation to create another MLB player to keep the organ donation promotion in the news as well as the medical-bill income flowing is great, but Scrappy Dave is about 5'6 and 3/4 and 140 lbs soaking wet and his tiny fiance is probably half that so are we to believe that lighting could strike twice?
I'm probably going to hell for writing this, but maybe others are thinking it. Lord knows we all have enough info on the Eckstein family to have opinions on their situation. Maybe its just time someone talked about a different angle. Hey, here's to David being the MVP of the NLCS, because I'm sure there's an anecdote or two we haven't yet heard about his wee family, and its time ESPN picked up that story.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Aren't We Courteous?
I'll finish the trip summary even though I'm home and enjoying reverse jet lag here in the Lou. After I left MF in Ko Tao, I went on to Ko Samui. I did not have any motion sickness during my long catamaran commute this time, and spent one night in Charlie's Huts on the Chaweng (schwing!) coast of Samui. It was uneventful, I was attacked by hungry mosquitoes or maybe just one that was stuck with me under my mosquito net in my bungalow. Its a week later and I still look diseased on my lower legs where the Samuin pest left 40+ marks for me to scratch on the duration of my travels. Thank God for the mystery Japanese potion that relieves mosquito itching. I'm all out, Mark said he shipped some home and I plan to use it and perhaps invest in it. Its a miracle!
I went on to Krabi and then to Ko Lanta. All three of these destinations- Samui, Krabi, and Lanta can be summed up with the same adjectives- quiet, beautiful beaches, crystal clear water, picture-perfect scenery, and pretty darned boring beyond that. It was not tourist season in the west so things were very quiet and only a few staff members were around the bungalows I was in. I had a little freakout time as my ATM card was rejected by the machines in Krabi and then in Lanta, and I was down to my last tiny bit of cash. It amounted to about $7 US, credit cards are accepted nowhere in southeast Asia so I was sweating. I planned enough to get to the next city- Trang- and didn't eat for one day. I thought if I could get to the train station in Trang there should be a suitable ATM and if not, at least I'd be in some slightly bigger city where I could attempt to somehow access my bank account.
I got to Trang and the card worked! I filled my pockets with cash, had a big meal and bought some gifts. Then I caught a bus to Hat Yai and from there to Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia. According to Lonely Planet, Hat Yai is where men from Singapore, Malaysia, and other Asian countries go to "get laid". Its a huge male tourist destination despite having no striking scenery or any landmarks. Go figure.
I caught a bus there to KL. I was feeling comfortable with my money, my timing and the fact that I'd finally picked up a few gifts for some friends. We came through customs and all the checkpoints after dark, I had been told this bus reached KL at around 7 AM so I'd have the morning hours to hunt down a place to stay and some food. I fell asleep, and was awakened by all the passengers exiting the bus at 3 AM. THREE IN THE MORNING. I had been chatting with a Malaysian guy at a rest stop and he woke me up. Downtown KL at 3 AM is what the Bronx looked like at 3 AM, only cleaner. Every single thing is closed, dark, and sealed up. I realized in talking to my new Malasian friend that no Thai money is accepted there and the ATMs were all closed for the night. So again, I am stuck with no money in a place where credit cards are as valuable as gum wrappers.
The Malaysian, Siva, told me he lived in the outskirts of KL and was going to just grab a hotel room for a few hours then head out of town. He told me to come with him. So I look at this objectively: new country, unknown city, no money, total stranger telling me to come to a hotel where I know I cannot pay. The guy was friendly, did not assume I'd share a room with him, but still! Then, like an angel, a man walked up with a flier for a guest house!! The guys says, are you two together? Do you need a place to stay- in English! He tells me the house is a block away and is free for the first night as long as you stay at least one more.
I bid Siva goodbye and followed the guest house guy into a hostel in the heart of KL and the perfect location for exploring the city. It also had hot water and AC, my first of the trip. I slept until the morning daylight, then went trekking around KL. I loved it. I know I'm a city person, but this reminded me of that all over again. KL was sort of a clean New York City, a smaller Shanghai, and sort of Chicago-esque. The diversity there, and I assume in most of Malaysia is also unusual for Asia. There are Indians, Middle Easterners, Malays and other natives, lots of Chinese, and many black and white people of all backgrounds. Malaysia is a Muslim country, the first I'd been to. Many of the women wear headscarves, and alcohol is pretty scarce, but this was all I noticed about the Islamic influence. Apparently there is much of that influence over the architecture too, but I'm not well versed in architecture or Islam so it was really lost on me. I went up in the KL Tower, not Petronas which are the highest twin towers in the world and the second highest buildings in the world, and took some great photos. I wandered around all day, seeing Chinatown and some major shopping districts, some beautiful architecture and an urban rain forest (the only one in the world). I saw the stadium where Malaysians proclaimed their independence from Britain, and the home of the royal family who are mostly ceremonial leaders. I enjoyed the city immensely and have never met friendlier people. Many Malays speak Enlish and all signs are in both English and Malay. On the monorail, there was a huge sign on a window over 4 seats that said (in Malay and English), "These seats reserved for elderly, pregnant ladies, and disabled people. Aren't we courteous?"
Indeed.
After a 50 hour journey through KL, Stockholm, Newark, Times Square, Long Island, Chicago, and finally Lambert International in St. Louis, I came home.
I'm unpacking in my new place, very slowly but surely. My Cardinals have clinched and today I somehow squeezed through the online ticket system and ensured that many Fingerhuts will see many playoff games again. My jet "lag" has actually manifested itself in extra hours that I am wide awake. I have not yet used an alarm clock since arriving at home, despite some early morning commitments and I've done crazy, non-Lynn things like waking at 6:30 and walking the dog, washing screens and scrubbing the bathtub before showering and getting ready for the day. Usually that time would be spent sleeping, hitting snooze, then scrambling to brush my teeth and get out of the house in 15 minutes. I wonder if this will last? I don't mind, it'd be nice if the need for sleep remains low until I am completely unpacked and settled in my new place, which I love.
My latest journey is over, the adventure complete and now I'm certain I can handle solo international travel. There were moments of loneliness, and lots of "someone else needs to see this!" times, but it sure beats never going anywhere at all. I'll take solo trips over no trips for the rest of my life. It's kind of empowering. I recommend it.
'Til later...
I went on to Krabi and then to Ko Lanta. All three of these destinations- Samui, Krabi, and Lanta can be summed up with the same adjectives- quiet, beautiful beaches, crystal clear water, picture-perfect scenery, and pretty darned boring beyond that. It was not tourist season in the west so things were very quiet and only a few staff members were around the bungalows I was in. I had a little freakout time as my ATM card was rejected by the machines in Krabi and then in Lanta, and I was down to my last tiny bit of cash. It amounted to about $7 US, credit cards are accepted nowhere in southeast Asia so I was sweating. I planned enough to get to the next city- Trang- and didn't eat for one day. I thought if I could get to the train station in Trang there should be a suitable ATM and if not, at least I'd be in some slightly bigger city where I could attempt to somehow access my bank account.
I got to Trang and the card worked! I filled my pockets with cash, had a big meal and bought some gifts. Then I caught a bus to Hat Yai and from there to Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia. According to Lonely Planet, Hat Yai is where men from Singapore, Malaysia, and other Asian countries go to "get laid". Its a huge male tourist destination despite having no striking scenery or any landmarks. Go figure.
I caught a bus there to KL. I was feeling comfortable with my money, my timing and the fact that I'd finally picked up a few gifts for some friends. We came through customs and all the checkpoints after dark, I had been told this bus reached KL at around 7 AM so I'd have the morning hours to hunt down a place to stay and some food. I fell asleep, and was awakened by all the passengers exiting the bus at 3 AM. THREE IN THE MORNING. I had been chatting with a Malaysian guy at a rest stop and he woke me up. Downtown KL at 3 AM is what the Bronx looked like at 3 AM, only cleaner. Every single thing is closed, dark, and sealed up. I realized in talking to my new Malasian friend that no Thai money is accepted there and the ATMs were all closed for the night. So again, I am stuck with no money in a place where credit cards are as valuable as gum wrappers.
The Malaysian, Siva, told me he lived in the outskirts of KL and was going to just grab a hotel room for a few hours then head out of town. He told me to come with him. So I look at this objectively: new country, unknown city, no money, total stranger telling me to come to a hotel where I know I cannot pay. The guy was friendly, did not assume I'd share a room with him, but still! Then, like an angel, a man walked up with a flier for a guest house!! The guys says, are you two together? Do you need a place to stay- in English! He tells me the house is a block away and is free for the first night as long as you stay at least one more.
I bid Siva goodbye and followed the guest house guy into a hostel in the heart of KL and the perfect location for exploring the city. It also had hot water and AC, my first of the trip. I slept until the morning daylight, then went trekking around KL. I loved it. I know I'm a city person, but this reminded me of that all over again. KL was sort of a clean New York City, a smaller Shanghai, and sort of Chicago-esque. The diversity there, and I assume in most of Malaysia is also unusual for Asia. There are Indians, Middle Easterners, Malays and other natives, lots of Chinese, and many black and white people of all backgrounds. Malaysia is a Muslim country, the first I'd been to. Many of the women wear headscarves, and alcohol is pretty scarce, but this was all I noticed about the Islamic influence. Apparently there is much of that influence over the architecture too, but I'm not well versed in architecture or Islam so it was really lost on me. I went up in the KL Tower, not Petronas which are the highest twin towers in the world and the second highest buildings in the world, and took some great photos. I wandered around all day, seeing Chinatown and some major shopping districts, some beautiful architecture and an urban rain forest (the only one in the world). I saw the stadium where Malaysians proclaimed their independence from Britain, and the home of the royal family who are mostly ceremonial leaders. I enjoyed the city immensely and have never met friendlier people. Many Malays speak Enlish and all signs are in both English and Malay. On the monorail, there was a huge sign on a window over 4 seats that said (in Malay and English), "These seats reserved for elderly, pregnant ladies, and disabled people. Aren't we courteous?"
Indeed.
After a 50 hour journey through KL, Stockholm, Newark, Times Square, Long Island, Chicago, and finally Lambert International in St. Louis, I came home.
I'm unpacking in my new place, very slowly but surely. My Cardinals have clinched and today I somehow squeezed through the online ticket system and ensured that many Fingerhuts will see many playoff games again. My jet "lag" has actually manifested itself in extra hours that I am wide awake. I have not yet used an alarm clock since arriving at home, despite some early morning commitments and I've done crazy, non-Lynn things like waking at 6:30 and walking the dog, washing screens and scrubbing the bathtub before showering and getting ready for the day. Usually that time would be spent sleeping, hitting snooze, then scrambling to brush my teeth and get out of the house in 15 minutes. I wonder if this will last? I don't mind, it'd be nice if the need for sleep remains low until I am completely unpacked and settled in my new place, which I love.
My latest journey is over, the adventure complete and now I'm certain I can handle solo international travel. There were moments of loneliness, and lots of "someone else needs to see this!" times, but it sure beats never going anywhere at all. I'll take solo trips over no trips for the rest of my life. It's kind of empowering. I recommend it.
'Til later...
Friday, September 09, 2005
This is my office
Mark and I are now PADI certified Open Water Divers. We finished two dives yesterday (Thursday) and two today. Its simply amazing, the best thing I've done in a long time. Today we went to 18 meters, saw a big stingray and varieties of smaller fish. No sharks, we hear people see them from time to time but its very rare. Our instructor, Henrik is Danish and a big, round guy around 45 or so with bright blue eyes. He smokes cigarettes in between dives, after dives, on the way to dives- but somehow seems to make a living on something that requires excellent lung capacity. He lives on this island, Ko Tao, one of the only places in the world where weather and conditions allow year-round diving. Most of his students are German and Danish, he says he gets few Americans because "Americans just don't travel that much." He opened up his arms on top of the boat as we rode back to land yesterday and gestured to the water surrounding us and said "This is my office."
I spent 5 days here, several days longer than I expected so I'll get to see less of Thailand but its OK, the diving made it all worthwhile. Tomorrow morning I will catch a boat to Ko Samui, another nearby island with more mainland access. I plan to walk around a little bit, see some sites if someone will allow me to stow my backpack at their store or office. Around the evening, I plan to catch a bus/train/something else to Krabi, or as a second choice, Phuket. I want to see a bit of the west side of Thailand, on the Andaman sea where the tsnami hit and where apparently this is not diving season. I might have made my last dive for a while, so that's sad but I'll try to remember what I learned. Mark is going to stay on here and take another couple of days' diving courses, perhaps get certified a couple of levels above what we have now. I'd love to, but its just as well that I am short on time because each course is around $200 US and that is more than I've spent on all other things combined since I arrived! To add perspective, our overnight bus/boat combo (which were fairly plush!) that took us the 9 hours from Bangkok to Ko Tao was about $20 US. Its hard to burn through your cash here unless you want to dive and dive and dive.
We have met some folks here, no one that we've spent as much time with as each other, but there are Ollie the Brit and an American named Sky who are roommates. I find them a little dull, MF says they are "characters". The other divers are more interesting, we enjoy Mr. Banana Hammock and his wife. Mr. BH wears that thing at meals in case you think we are mocking a man who strolls on the beach in all his glory only. There's the abrupt Danish woman instructor who seems kind of mean, the 80s porn star-looking (blonde feathered near-mullet) instructor who sounds like AH-nold and was in the tsunami last year, sexy Christian who doesn't speak much English and has messy half-dreads, the generic blonde male Dane/Swede/something with an ear infection who's name is probably Sven or Hoyt. He's sitting out today, talking to Mr. BH.
Anyway, Ko Tao has been good to me, very very beautiful both above the water and below it.
I have 6 more days to enjoy Thailand and to make it to KL. I have my confirmation, Joey, so no worries and no trip north to Bangkok necessary. I'm on my way again, will try to write here if I can!
I spent 5 days here, several days longer than I expected so I'll get to see less of Thailand but its OK, the diving made it all worthwhile. Tomorrow morning I will catch a boat to Ko Samui, another nearby island with more mainland access. I plan to walk around a little bit, see some sites if someone will allow me to stow my backpack at their store or office. Around the evening, I plan to catch a bus/train/something else to Krabi, or as a second choice, Phuket. I want to see a bit of the west side of Thailand, on the Andaman sea where the tsnami hit and where apparently this is not diving season. I might have made my last dive for a while, so that's sad but I'll try to remember what I learned. Mark is going to stay on here and take another couple of days' diving courses, perhaps get certified a couple of levels above what we have now. I'd love to, but its just as well that I am short on time because each course is around $200 US and that is more than I've spent on all other things combined since I arrived! To add perspective, our overnight bus/boat combo (which were fairly plush!) that took us the 9 hours from Bangkok to Ko Tao was about $20 US. Its hard to burn through your cash here unless you want to dive and dive and dive.
We have met some folks here, no one that we've spent as much time with as each other, but there are Ollie the Brit and an American named Sky who are roommates. I find them a little dull, MF says they are "characters". The other divers are more interesting, we enjoy Mr. Banana Hammock and his wife. Mr. BH wears that thing at meals in case you think we are mocking a man who strolls on the beach in all his glory only. There's the abrupt Danish woman instructor who seems kind of mean, the 80s porn star-looking (blonde feathered near-mullet) instructor who sounds like AH-nold and was in the tsunami last year, sexy Christian who doesn't speak much English and has messy half-dreads, the generic blonde male Dane/Swede/something with an ear infection who's name is probably Sven or Hoyt. He's sitting out today, talking to Mr. BH.
Anyway, Ko Tao has been good to me, very very beautiful both above the water and below it.
I have 6 more days to enjoy Thailand and to make it to KL. I have my confirmation, Joey, so no worries and no trip north to Bangkok necessary. I'm on my way again, will try to write here if I can!
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Scuba Day 3
I've just finished my first real scuba dive, salt is on my skin and my hair is flying around in some stiff mess. What a rush! Scuba diving here is like visiting the massive aqariums in US zoos (Columbus is the last one I saw), seeing all of the colorful, unusual fish and coral. Then, you are not looking at it from outside of any glass enclosure, you are actually, truly right next to all of it. Its amazingly beautiful and despite the whooshing of air near your face when you breathe out, its also incredibly peaceful. You cannot touch anything, and Mark learned the hard way to really keep your hands tucked in when he cut his finger on some coral 2 days ago. This is day 3 of 4, tomorrow is our final dive, possibly 2 dives. We'll get to go to 18 meters, then be certified to do this again. Mark and I have been the only two in our class, so its one-on-two instruction and quite personal. Mark has bested me on paper (47 of 50 on the final exam as opposed to my 43 of 50) and in the water, as I have had some small balance-while-breathing issues. I need to learn to stay stable and control myself only with breath instead of flippers. Oh, well, I'm learning and its still very exciting.
Mark and I have had several days in our little bungalow on Ko Tao, tomorrow is the last day for me. I plan to catch a boat to Ko Samui Friday morning and then head to the west coast of Thailand via train or bus. I want to see what I can there in the week I have left. I'm trying to arrange to skip the Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur portion of my flight and just get straight to KL on my own after crossing the southern border of Thailand. It makes much more sense logistically, but I have to make sure my flight is not cancelled if I miss the first leg. It is, of course, a POST 9-11 WORLD so we must be super cautious! Plus, being isolated on this island has been lovely but I have not done any souvenir shopping and I owe quitea few people some fun things from thailand- especially Kendyl and Mary minding my zoo (and this is a wonderful gift to me!) and Mindy and Steve for helping me move, getting me to the airport and then of course Tess and Trent, the babies in my life who must have something from travel that I hope they will someday be able to do themselves!
I'm so lucky to have been able to do this! How often does one get to learn to scuba dive in some of the most beautiful waters on earth?
I'm not even reading about New Orleans today, or SC justices or the Cardinals (though I hear Ray lost another one for them in late innings vs the Cubs). Just the open water and my last two evenings having a beer on my porch with my brother and salt water on my skin. Very nice!
Mark and I have had several days in our little bungalow on Ko Tao, tomorrow is the last day for me. I plan to catch a boat to Ko Samui Friday morning and then head to the west coast of Thailand via train or bus. I want to see what I can there in the week I have left. I'm trying to arrange to skip the Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur portion of my flight and just get straight to KL on my own after crossing the southern border of Thailand. It makes much more sense logistically, but I have to make sure my flight is not cancelled if I miss the first leg. It is, of course, a POST 9-11 WORLD so we must be super cautious! Plus, being isolated on this island has been lovely but I have not done any souvenir shopping and I owe quitea few people some fun things from thailand- especially Kendyl and Mary minding my zoo (and this is a wonderful gift to me!) and Mindy and Steve for helping me move, getting me to the airport and then of course Tess and Trent, the babies in my life who must have something from travel that I hope they will someday be able to do themselves!
I'm so lucky to have been able to do this! How often does one get to learn to scuba dive in some of the most beautiful waters on earth?
I'm not even reading about New Orleans today, or SC justices or the Cardinals (though I hear Ray lost another one for them in late innings vs the Cubs). Just the open water and my last two evenings having a beer on my porch with my brother and salt water on my skin. Very nice!
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Real Big Fish
I have been offline for two days and a Supreme dies? Wow, and a quarter of a million are homeless in New Orleans. What a time to be away. I'm on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, quite literally. Mark and I arrived in Ko Tao island this morning, already we are checked into our beachside bungalo and Mark is having a swim with a Brit and another (rare) American. Mark and I are going to get scuba certified, this takes 4 days and we begin today so I'll be here at least through Thursday. Ko Tao is on the Gulf of Thailand, so its the east side of the country. The west is where the tsunami hit, these beaches were completely unaffected. We are at the Big Fish resort, funny because "resort" is usually a spread-many buildings, grassy areas and swimming pools. This resort is a cluster of bungalos and a main office, then an eating area right off the beach. Its absolutely perfect and every angle is a postcard worthy photo. Unbelievable.
Yesterday, Mark arrived in Bangkok and I saw him for the first time in over a year. First thing, we booked our trip to Ko Tao on a bus then a catamaran ferry. We then headed north to a town outside of Bangkok where we went to the Ancient City and a Crocodile Farm. The croc farm was probably unnecessary, but still funny. The crocs seemed to be well cared for which is always my concern, there are just rivers and rivers of them that you walk over on platforms. Some of them are supposed to be breeding lakes, some are meant for tourists to throw food, but all of them looked pretty lazy and half dead to me. I guess that's par for crocodiles, but what do I know? There was crocodile "wrestling" in a pit, which amounted to two young Thai guys takingturns putting their heads and arms into crocodiles' mouths and then picking them up for photo ops. All the while, the crowd was throwing money into the pit for the guys, which seemed dangerous. There are these potentially dangerous animals with their mouths surrounding a man's arm and coins are raining down, hitting man and beast! It was a crowd pleaser, no doubt, but pretty strange.
Ancient city is a really great concept- a huge park that is a scale replica of the country of Thailand. It gave Mark and I the idea to start one of these in the US. We would just need 10 or so square miles, and we could constuct a mini Mississippi River down the center, have some small mountain ranges out west and in the south, build a replica statue of liberty in the northeast, consctruct a scale pond that would be the Gulf of Mexico, etc. This "city" has roads that run all the way through it, so you can rent a bicycle, walk (which could take days), hire a small train, or drive through in your car. Each site had a description, some sick Engrish but not bad for the most part. It was kind of like Lady of the Snows only in the daylight- and featuring Buddhist sites, not Catholic ones. It's a novel idea.
We hitched a minibus back to teh city, gathered up our things and ate our last Bangkok pad thai meal on Khou San Road. The bus to the ferry was a double decker sleeper bus. Mark and I had an exit row with excellent leg room and then the entire row behind us was empty so I laid across all the seats, being the large ugly American and slept all the way. The boat was 7 hours away, then 2 hours on the rocking, swaying catamaran to our island. I'm still sick, I realized I'd never been on a boat in the ocean before today outside of the ferries to staten Island and Alcatraz, and ugh. I did not hold up well. We're here now, though and very happy to begin the next adventure. I'm glad to be separated from the angst at home for SURE. I think Bush might get to appoint even more judges than our worst nightmares could have prepared us for. Oh, Ruth, hold ON! Please.
Yesterday, Mark arrived in Bangkok and I saw him for the first time in over a year. First thing, we booked our trip to Ko Tao on a bus then a catamaran ferry. We then headed north to a town outside of Bangkok where we went to the Ancient City and a Crocodile Farm. The croc farm was probably unnecessary, but still funny. The crocs seemed to be well cared for which is always my concern, there are just rivers and rivers of them that you walk over on platforms. Some of them are supposed to be breeding lakes, some are meant for tourists to throw food, but all of them looked pretty lazy and half dead to me. I guess that's par for crocodiles, but what do I know? There was crocodile "wrestling" in a pit, which amounted to two young Thai guys takingturns putting their heads and arms into crocodiles' mouths and then picking them up for photo ops. All the while, the crowd was throwing money into the pit for the guys, which seemed dangerous. There are these potentially dangerous animals with their mouths surrounding a man's arm and coins are raining down, hitting man and beast! It was a crowd pleaser, no doubt, but pretty strange.
Ancient city is a really great concept- a huge park that is a scale replica of the country of Thailand. It gave Mark and I the idea to start one of these in the US. We would just need 10 or so square miles, and we could constuct a mini Mississippi River down the center, have some small mountain ranges out west and in the south, build a replica statue of liberty in the northeast, consctruct a scale pond that would be the Gulf of Mexico, etc. This "city" has roads that run all the way through it, so you can rent a bicycle, walk (which could take days), hire a small train, or drive through in your car. Each site had a description, some sick Engrish but not bad for the most part. It was kind of like Lady of the Snows only in the daylight- and featuring Buddhist sites, not Catholic ones. It's a novel idea.
We hitched a minibus back to teh city, gathered up our things and ate our last Bangkok pad thai meal on Khou San Road. The bus to the ferry was a double decker sleeper bus. Mark and I had an exit row with excellent leg room and then the entire row behind us was empty so I laid across all the seats, being the large ugly American and slept all the way. The boat was 7 hours away, then 2 hours on the rocking, swaying catamaran to our island. I'm still sick, I realized I'd never been on a boat in the ocean before today outside of the ferries to staten Island and Alcatraz, and ugh. I did not hold up well. We're here now, though and very happy to begin the next adventure. I'm glad to be separated from the angst at home for SURE. I think Bush might get to appoint even more judges than our worst nightmares could have prepared us for. Oh, Ruth, hold ON! Please.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
One night in Bangkok...
Don't ever use Blog Harbor. I unwillingly had my blog migrated there adn this post disappeared in the process. I will attempt to find anyone with a copy of this post but its unlikely. Damn.
Friday, September 02, 2005
While you were sleeping...
I was filling my day #2.5 in Bangkok. I was so proud of myself for filling the whole day with worthwhile sightseeing and even finally making a couple of friends to hang out with, but now I'm in an internet cafe (that I'm patting myself on the back for finding at the bargain price of 30 baht an hour, or about 85 cents, fully 25 cents less than in my guesthouse!) reading about New Orleans and it's just gross. I wonder if it looks so bleak from there, or if you cope with the news in the usual way when you are happy and fat and cozy in the US, as we all do?
What on earth is going to happen? I'm getting just rudimentary bits of info from the internet here. The situation in New Orleans seems so unprecedented in my lifetime. I wonder if what I'm thinking is FAR more dire than what's actually happening, given the little that I know.What I'm wondering if this could erupt into some kind of national meltdown/revolution/war or am I way off base?Its clearly a Racial issue. If there's anything that we Americans like to deny and shove under the rug most, its the big R. Then we involve gas prices and federal aid, which requires goverment intervention and Bush and Co are not well liked by many these days. Are people going to sit around, calmly opposing the war (which over half the country already does), paying $4-5 for gas, and waiting for fat cat politicians to allocate money to people who are literally watching their family members die in front of them, or are people going to DO SOMETHING? And will that something be getting these people food and water and housing or will it be protesting, rioting, and forcing some answers from the powers that be? I wonder.
I'm probably as alarmist as the meteorologists were last Saturday and Sunday, I've never heard anything like that. But then, in the end, were they so wrong?
So since I can't do much from here, back to my day in Bangkok.
I'm about WATed out, Wat being the Thai word for temples. I saw several yesterday, and the big ones today- Wat Po and Wat Arun. Everyone touts Wat Po as the best one, the sights are pretty amazing and also amazing is that there is a massage school on site and there are pro masseuses there who do massage so cheap and apparently so well that people travel to Thailand just for this purpose. I had walked a long way to the temple, and its disgustingly hot here. I was a sweaty mess, and given that I've never had a massage in my life (tactiley [sp?] defensive, remember?!), I could not bring my sweaty self to let some stranger find out how bad I probably smelled and how wiggly I would be. I skipped the biggest attraction to Wat Po, I suppose, but I don't regret it. I'm sure the masseuse would thank me if they knew what they missed.
I got to see the reclining Buddha, which as Lonely Planet says accurately, looks like a huge beached whale with mother of pearl feet. That's about it. I walked through the Grand Palace next door, which is sort of like the Forbidden City in Bejing without the hills and tons of stairs. To go into the actual Palace, women have to cover their shoulders and legs. They will loan you sweaters if you don't have coverage. I could not bring myself to put on a sweater over my tank top in the 97+ degree heat, and it costs about $5 US to enter so I just took in the free sights on the grounds, and then took my naked shoulders to the water taxi to see Wat Arun. I don't regret it, either.
Finding the water taxi was another accomplishment (patting my own back again!), and Wat Arun was quite beautiful. I met this Buddhist monk named Sawat, which is half of the Thai greeting Hi or Good Morning, Sawat Dii. This guy looked like my grandpa Joe, and was interesting. He had lived in California 38 years ago and worked at McDonalds. He still remembered how to make the shakes which, apparently, at some point McCrap made from scratch. This guy was talking about milk and eggs and strawberries and I didn't bother to tell him that today, that stuff comes in a bag and is probably more synthetic liquid than it is anything resembling milk or eggs. He also said he made $.55 an hour and later, as a manager, got a $1 raise. I also didn't tell him that $1.55 is about what McDonalds pays now I think. OK, OK, I realize that's harsh, but with inflation, I'd guess that $1.55 over 38 years ago is pretty good.
After Wat Arun, I decided to conquer the water taxi system. I wanted to take a water tour on the Chao Phraya River, which runs all around Bangkok. I was reading the map, trying to figure out if you could just get in a water taxi and then just not get off at any stop, thereby circumventing the city and paying minimally. Two guys walked up, speaking English and asked me if I wanted to take a boat tour with them. Wary of the tuk tuk scammers, I was not sure if I could trust them. They found a guy who offered us a 1 hour ride for 600 baht, about $15. We split it 3 ways, trusted this guy with our cash, and it all worked out fine. We took a boat taxi that normally holds about 30 people for just the 3 of us and set out around the city. The houses along the river just back up to the water and eventually you leave the urban areas of Bangkok and see these homes that face the river and nothing else. These are the only entrances to many houses, and the families take boats to get to and from their homes. There were some really ornate, beautiful homes and some that were literalliy falling apart. It kind of resembled a flood zone, only all the homes are on stilts and about 3-4 feet above the river. The river is as wide as the Mississippi in some places, about half that width in others, and at least twice as dirty. At several homes, kids were swimming in the river, you could almost see the e.coli floating on the top. Ugh. I hope they have developed a resistance swimming in this muck every day. I thought of Joey and MArk as several of the kids were jumping off self-constructed "diving boards" of planters, plastic chairs, or their own roofs into the water below.
The guys I met, Kfir and Rowi (I think, anyway) are Isreali students, Kfir in Jerusalem and Rowi at Stanford. They met each other today, realizing that they had previoiusly met 2 years ago in Brazil, but never having talked since that time. They are at Jewish prayer right now while I type this and then shower, we are perhaps meeting up later for the evening. I didn't go out last night as I hadn't met anyone and didn't know what bars were safe at night by myself. Plus, my guesthouse was showing Be Cool and Coach Carter in the lobby and a load of travelers were crammed in there watching so I just joined them.
I'm just itching to ask the Isrealis about politics and the situation in their country, I'm afraid of what I will hear but then I'm also certain to learn some things so I hope to have a beer with them tonight.
MF said he is coming tomorrow, possibly the evening, so we're headed out for the islands probably Sunday or Monday. Don't know which ones yet, each Thai I meet has an opinion- Patong, Phuket, Ko Samui, Hui Hin, I've heard that many of them are "can't miss", so we'll see where we end up. I've taken photos of all the temples, but to tell the truth they all begin to look the same after 3 or 4, so I'm ready for a change of scenery.
I think its Thursday in Houston, so the Cards must have the day off? I don't know, I thought Mulder was pitching, but perhaps that's Friday. I'll keep my eyes on the score, but I wonder if more important things in Houston like refugees from our own country should be more important.
What on earth is going to happen? I'm getting just rudimentary bits of info from the internet here. The situation in New Orleans seems so unprecedented in my lifetime. I wonder if what I'm thinking is FAR more dire than what's actually happening, given the little that I know.What I'm wondering if this could erupt into some kind of national meltdown/revolution/war or am I way off base?Its clearly a Racial issue. If there's anything that we Americans like to deny and shove under the rug most, its the big R. Then we involve gas prices and federal aid, which requires goverment intervention and Bush and Co are not well liked by many these days. Are people going to sit around, calmly opposing the war (which over half the country already does), paying $4-5 for gas, and waiting for fat cat politicians to allocate money to people who are literally watching their family members die in front of them, or are people going to DO SOMETHING? And will that something be getting these people food and water and housing or will it be protesting, rioting, and forcing some answers from the powers that be? I wonder.
I'm probably as alarmist as the meteorologists were last Saturday and Sunday, I've never heard anything like that. But then, in the end, were they so wrong?
So since I can't do much from here, back to my day in Bangkok.
I'm about WATed out, Wat being the Thai word for temples. I saw several yesterday, and the big ones today- Wat Po and Wat Arun. Everyone touts Wat Po as the best one, the sights are pretty amazing and also amazing is that there is a massage school on site and there are pro masseuses there who do massage so cheap and apparently so well that people travel to Thailand just for this purpose. I had walked a long way to the temple, and its disgustingly hot here. I was a sweaty mess, and given that I've never had a massage in my life (tactiley [sp?] defensive, remember?!), I could not bring my sweaty self to let some stranger find out how bad I probably smelled and how wiggly I would be. I skipped the biggest attraction to Wat Po, I suppose, but I don't regret it. I'm sure the masseuse would thank me if they knew what they missed.
I got to see the reclining Buddha, which as Lonely Planet says accurately, looks like a huge beached whale with mother of pearl feet. That's about it. I walked through the Grand Palace next door, which is sort of like the Forbidden City in Bejing without the hills and tons of stairs. To go into the actual Palace, women have to cover their shoulders and legs. They will loan you sweaters if you don't have coverage. I could not bring myself to put on a sweater over my tank top in the 97+ degree heat, and it costs about $5 US to enter so I just took in the free sights on the grounds, and then took my naked shoulders to the water taxi to see Wat Arun. I don't regret it, either.
Finding the water taxi was another accomplishment (patting my own back again!), and Wat Arun was quite beautiful. I met this Buddhist monk named Sawat, which is half of the Thai greeting Hi or Good Morning, Sawat Dii. This guy looked like my grandpa Joe, and was interesting. He had lived in California 38 years ago and worked at McDonalds. He still remembered how to make the shakes which, apparently, at some point McCrap made from scratch. This guy was talking about milk and eggs and strawberries and I didn't bother to tell him that today, that stuff comes in a bag and is probably more synthetic liquid than it is anything resembling milk or eggs. He also said he made $.55 an hour and later, as a manager, got a $1 raise. I also didn't tell him that $1.55 is about what McDonalds pays now I think. OK, OK, I realize that's harsh, but with inflation, I'd guess that $1.55 over 38 years ago is pretty good.
After Wat Arun, I decided to conquer the water taxi system. I wanted to take a water tour on the Chao Phraya River, which runs all around Bangkok. I was reading the map, trying to figure out if you could just get in a water taxi and then just not get off at any stop, thereby circumventing the city and paying minimally. Two guys walked up, speaking English and asked me if I wanted to take a boat tour with them. Wary of the tuk tuk scammers, I was not sure if I could trust them. They found a guy who offered us a 1 hour ride for 600 baht, about $15. We split it 3 ways, trusted this guy with our cash, and it all worked out fine. We took a boat taxi that normally holds about 30 people for just the 3 of us and set out around the city. The houses along the river just back up to the water and eventually you leave the urban areas of Bangkok and see these homes that face the river and nothing else. These are the only entrances to many houses, and the families take boats to get to and from their homes. There were some really ornate, beautiful homes and some that were literalliy falling apart. It kind of resembled a flood zone, only all the homes are on stilts and about 3-4 feet above the river. The river is as wide as the Mississippi in some places, about half that width in others, and at least twice as dirty. At several homes, kids were swimming in the river, you could almost see the e.coli floating on the top. Ugh. I hope they have developed a resistance swimming in this muck every day. I thought of Joey and MArk as several of the kids were jumping off self-constructed "diving boards" of planters, plastic chairs, or their own roofs into the water below.
The guys I met, Kfir and Rowi (I think, anyway) are Isreali students, Kfir in Jerusalem and Rowi at Stanford. They met each other today, realizing that they had previoiusly met 2 years ago in Brazil, but never having talked since that time. They are at Jewish prayer right now while I type this and then shower, we are perhaps meeting up later for the evening. I didn't go out last night as I hadn't met anyone and didn't know what bars were safe at night by myself. Plus, my guesthouse was showing Be Cool and Coach Carter in the lobby and a load of travelers were crammed in there watching so I just joined them.
I'm just itching to ask the Isrealis about politics and the situation in their country, I'm afraid of what I will hear but then I'm also certain to learn some things so I hope to have a beer with them tonight.
MF said he is coming tomorrow, possibly the evening, so we're headed out for the islands probably Sunday or Monday. Don't know which ones yet, each Thai I meet has an opinion- Patong, Phuket, Ko Samui, Hui Hin, I've heard that many of them are "can't miss", so we'll see where we end up. I've taken photos of all the temples, but to tell the truth they all begin to look the same after 3 or 4, so I'm ready for a change of scenery.
I think its Thursday in Houston, so the Cards must have the day off? I don't know, I thought Mulder was pitching, but perhaps that's Friday. I'll keep my eyes on the score, but I wonder if more important things in Houston like refugees from our own country should be more important.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Bangkok!
I've been traveling for a week now and have finally arrived in Bangkok, via Hartford and New Haven, CT, Baltimore, DC, NYC and Newark, Stockholm, and finally Kuala Lumpur. On the way I got to see KTF graduate and to meet some really nice nutritionististas and their families (and some whacked out ones too), and to see the Cardinals smack down the Nationals 6-0 in two consecutive games. It was a great stateside portion of my vacation and now begins the southeast Asian portion.
I'm staying just off Khou San road, which is the gajinal infection Mark warned me about. My House Guesthouse is mostly white tourists but not in the middle of things, more off to the side and quiet. I have my own room and shower which is totally unexpected. Its one of those bathrooms where the shower head is above the toilet and the whole floor drains, so its not like you can leave anything you want in the bathroom- especially toilet paper which I had to buy for about 30 cents from the front desk. It's clean and I'm probably likely to switch to a group room when Mark arrives. This was all they had, and while its nice to have privacy and sleep when you want, the group hostel room forces you to be social and right now I'm not being that at all. Mark's blog says he's in Thailand, up north I guess but gives no indication of when he might arrive here.
I slept suprisingly well on my flights, I had a sweet exit row seat, decent food, and some good conversations with Jonathan, a Canadian-educated, Australian-dwelling, Malaysian guy of Chinese descent. He was 23, a frequent traveler and was even taller than me so we were loving the exit row. I caught up on sleep here with a nap when I arrived, but was wide awake at 4 AM to watch a thunderstorm and read until about 6 AM when I fell back asleep for an hour. KTF hooked me up with some good books, I'm almost done with Mystic River so I might have to do some book shopping if my weird jetlag/insomnia continues.
Today I hired a tuk tuk for some sightseeing at the advice of some nice Thai guys. This city has a load of English speakers, at least at a rudimentary level. I've met more people with minimal English today than I did my entire time in China. Its nice, but I'm getting lazy and not learning any Thai yet. This driver takes you in his motorized, three-wheeled cart down side streets and whizzes you through traffic and suddenly you arrive at a hidden temple. I saw several of these, then did a perfunctory tour of a jewelry scam run by the government called the Export Exchange I think. If you spend 20 minutes inside, the tuk tuk driver gets a gas coupon. These things are in demand as gas here is apparently more pricey than in Europe and the US. I spent my 20 minutes admiring rubies and sapphires in the $500-10,000 price range knowing fullly that I'd never fork over almost the whole cost of my plane ticket for some ring. They didn't know this, of course, so I accepted the free tea and oohed and aahed at the (admittedly beautiful) jewelry while keeping an eye on my watch. The tuk tuk ride was 40 bhat, almost exactly $1. I have spent less than $15 US so far on two days of food, lodging, and transportation. This is SWEET.
At each of the temples, you remove your shoes and enter an incense-filled chapel to Buddha. All the shrines had gifts of food and other things near the Buddha statues, quite funny when you are in this ornate temple area and there is tupperware next to the gold statues surrounded by candles. There are also excessive numbers of cats around, some lounging on the ground, some roaming and all looking pretty healthy. I read a description finally in English of one statue and then knew why the lingering kitties- a common sacrifice to the Buddha is fish heads. Little fat cats must LOVE that Buddha.
I"m still new here, haven't explored much yet but I plan to fill the next 2 days with seeing Bangkok inside and out before heading to the islands. I'm also caught up just a bit in reading online about the drama in New Orleans. I wonder if the aid and assistance will pour into these people? I wonder if it matters that most of them are poor and black? I sure hope not, it will be interesting to see how it unfolds. My friend Darren is safe, he's the only person I know living there. He, his girlfriend, and brother evacuated with another person or two and several dogs to Mississippi. They expected to return to their homes and perhaps work at the hospital after the storm, but are now back in St. Louis. The hospital and their whole home area are flooded, perhaps destroyed, and they are weeks or months away from returning but, as Darren said, they are safe and things are just things.
Funny, I'm here where the tsunami wiped out a significant portion of land and population and at home a similar event has occurred. I hope the US is able to rebound at the same level that Thailand has apparently achieved.
I'm staying just off Khou San road, which is the gajinal infection Mark warned me about. My House Guesthouse is mostly white tourists but not in the middle of things, more off to the side and quiet. I have my own room and shower which is totally unexpected. Its one of those bathrooms where the shower head is above the toilet and the whole floor drains, so its not like you can leave anything you want in the bathroom- especially toilet paper which I had to buy for about 30 cents from the front desk. It's clean and I'm probably likely to switch to a group room when Mark arrives. This was all they had, and while its nice to have privacy and sleep when you want, the group hostel room forces you to be social and right now I'm not being that at all. Mark's blog says he's in Thailand, up north I guess but gives no indication of when he might arrive here.
I slept suprisingly well on my flights, I had a sweet exit row seat, decent food, and some good conversations with Jonathan, a Canadian-educated, Australian-dwelling, Malaysian guy of Chinese descent. He was 23, a frequent traveler and was even taller than me so we were loving the exit row. I caught up on sleep here with a nap when I arrived, but was wide awake at 4 AM to watch a thunderstorm and read until about 6 AM when I fell back asleep for an hour. KTF hooked me up with some good books, I'm almost done with Mystic River so I might have to do some book shopping if my weird jetlag/insomnia continues.
Today I hired a tuk tuk for some sightseeing at the advice of some nice Thai guys. This city has a load of English speakers, at least at a rudimentary level. I've met more people with minimal English today than I did my entire time in China. Its nice, but I'm getting lazy and not learning any Thai yet. This driver takes you in his motorized, three-wheeled cart down side streets and whizzes you through traffic and suddenly you arrive at a hidden temple. I saw several of these, then did a perfunctory tour of a jewelry scam run by the government called the Export Exchange I think. If you spend 20 minutes inside, the tuk tuk driver gets a gas coupon. These things are in demand as gas here is apparently more pricey than in Europe and the US. I spent my 20 minutes admiring rubies and sapphires in the $500-10,000 price range knowing fullly that I'd never fork over almost the whole cost of my plane ticket for some ring. They didn't know this, of course, so I accepted the free tea and oohed and aahed at the (admittedly beautiful) jewelry while keeping an eye on my watch. The tuk tuk ride was 40 bhat, almost exactly $1. I have spent less than $15 US so far on two days of food, lodging, and transportation. This is SWEET.
At each of the temples, you remove your shoes and enter an incense-filled chapel to Buddha. All the shrines had gifts of food and other things near the Buddha statues, quite funny when you are in this ornate temple area and there is tupperware next to the gold statues surrounded by candles. There are also excessive numbers of cats around, some lounging on the ground, some roaming and all looking pretty healthy. I read a description finally in English of one statue and then knew why the lingering kitties- a common sacrifice to the Buddha is fish heads. Little fat cats must LOVE that Buddha.
I"m still new here, haven't explored much yet but I plan to fill the next 2 days with seeing Bangkok inside and out before heading to the islands. I'm also caught up just a bit in reading online about the drama in New Orleans. I wonder if the aid and assistance will pour into these people? I wonder if it matters that most of them are poor and black? I sure hope not, it will be interesting to see how it unfolds. My friend Darren is safe, he's the only person I know living there. He, his girlfriend, and brother evacuated with another person or two and several dogs to Mississippi. They expected to return to their homes and perhaps work at the hospital after the storm, but are now back in St. Louis. The hospital and their whole home area are flooded, perhaps destroyed, and they are weeks or months away from returning but, as Darren said, they are safe and things are just things.
Funny, I'm here where the tsunami wiped out a significant portion of land and population and at home a similar event has occurred. I hope the US is able to rebound at the same level that Thailand has apparently achieved.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
fireworks and virginity
So apparently for the second time in as many weeks, the Post Dispatch will be publishing some of my comments this weekend. They are taken from the forums where I post almost every day and the entire exchange is below. I'll post it so I can refer anyone who asks to the context of the comments.
I am sure my parents will be pleased. Sorry, they asked if they could publish it and I said yes.
Perhaps they will notice that I was just quoted on the innocuous topic of fireworks and decide that I am already adequately covered and keep me out of the article.
saucy wrote:
Well, I didn't abstain either...but I was well out of my teens before I 'did it'. I think if I did have a daughter, I'd try to be like Philmore said...explain to her why it's better to wait, the emotional importance of it, all of that...but I'd also try to convey to her that if she wants to, she can come to me about birth control, etc. NO ONE knows the responsibility of raising a child until they have one, and an unwanted pregnancy is a heavy heavy burden to lay on a young girl. I will never advocate abortion, but I'm all for preventing a pregnancy, and I would want my daughter to fully realize her options there.
my response:
I agree. I will also never use that stuff about virginity being some gift to give to the man you married. Never. I don't believe in it and it would be a bunch of hooey coming from me as I am not married and not a virgin. I don't think everyone is destined to get married. I would stress over and over again the resonsibility to be safe and to prevent pregnancy, and encourage with every fiber in my being that a child of mine wait as long as humanly possible to have sex. I don't regret waiting until I was older one bit, and I certainly don't regret NOT holding onto my virginity wistfully hoping Mr. Right comes along so I can award it to him. Life's too short for that, and Mr. (or Mrs.) Right isn't a guarantee. Self respect? Responsibility? Abosolutely! A fairy tale that not everyone experiences? No way.
I am sure my parents will be pleased. Sorry, they asked if they could publish it and I said yes.
Perhaps they will notice that I was just quoted on the innocuous topic of fireworks and decide that I am already adequately covered and keep me out of the article.
saucy wrote:
Well, I didn't abstain either...but I was well out of my teens before I 'did it'. I think if I did have a daughter, I'd try to be like Philmore said...explain to her why it's better to wait, the emotional importance of it, all of that...but I'd also try to convey to her that if she wants to, she can come to me about birth control, etc. NO ONE knows the responsibility of raising a child until they have one, and an unwanted pregnancy is a heavy heavy burden to lay on a young girl. I will never advocate abortion, but I'm all for preventing a pregnancy, and I would want my daughter to fully realize her options there.
my response:
I agree. I will also never use that stuff about virginity being some gift to give to the man you married. Never. I don't believe in it and it would be a bunch of hooey coming from me as I am not married and not a virgin. I don't think everyone is destined to get married. I would stress over and over again the resonsibility to be safe and to prevent pregnancy, and encourage with every fiber in my being that a child of mine wait as long as humanly possible to have sex. I don't regret waiting until I was older one bit, and I certainly don't regret NOT holding onto my virginity wistfully hoping Mr. Right comes along so I can award it to him. Life's too short for that, and Mr. (or Mrs.) Right isn't a guarantee. Self respect? Responsibility? Abosolutely! A fairy tale that not everyone experiences? No way.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
The AL is better
I'll get to the All-Star game in a second, but first here is one sick site:http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=creeve
OK, now the All-Star wrap up: I'll just admit it, ESPN has force-fed me this for the past week and having heard it 392 times, I believe it. The American League is just better. I also believe there were WMDs in Iraq and that's why we went in but now its OK to just have unseated Saddam. I'll believe it if you send it my way enough times. Fine, fine, the AL has the offense and the power and the prestige. We NL fans have to settle for better pitching and, um, Barry Bonds. That's about it. There were 5 Cardinals and the manager and from my vantage point, none of them did any harm. Eckstein's hits could've fallen (but nice play in the 2nd!) and Jimmy could've actually hit the ball but Pujols and Carp did their jobs very satisfactorally. If Peter Gammons' head was any further up Francona's ass he'd need surgical amputation. Why do I listen to these creeps? Its like watching CNN, you just can't turn away!! Yes, the YANKEES rule and have ALL the history! I buy it!! Yes, Michael Jackson and Natalee Holloway are the biggest news of the year! Bring it on! I'm sucking it all in like a vaccuum!
Ugh.
One new lovely thing about my state is that we executed a guy who was innocent of the crime for which he was executed. There is enough evidence for this to have been publicized nationwide, so its a pretty strong possibility that this is exactly what happened. So now we are #1 in syphilis, puppy mills, meth, slacking at work, and while only #3 in executions we get the label of executing the innocent. This is the reason that Illinois instituted a moratoriam. Will Missouri follow suit? With King Blunt in charge of methodically decreasing the chances of poor Missouri infants living to see adulthood, I doubt this is any kind of priority. To top it off, Renquist is about to kick off and Bush will get to throw two proper pro-death judges into the business of amending the constitution so I'm sure the opposite of a moratorium will happen. God Bless America!!
I'm going to Thailand, speaking of leaving the country!! I'm headed out on August 25 (August 26 if you are my supervisor, I feel a cough and headache coming on around 3PM on August 24 requiring a sick day 8/25) for Connecticut, DC, and New York (Cards v. Nationals!) and from there its on to Bangkok for 2 weeks. I have no current plans for the smaller trips within Thailand, probably south to the islands and some beach activities like scuba and snorkeling. I'm very, very excited about the trip and also for the traveling bug to bite again as I know it will about 3 days into the trip. Mark my words, when I get back I will be planning my around the world excursion again. Money be damned, its going to happen! Thailand is like the 4th appetizer course. The first was Mexico, the second my massive road trip, and third China. I'm not certain I'll have the money for a fifth appetizer before the main (8+ country) course, but I got a good deal on this trip so we'll see. I could make a goal of seeing one new country per year, but in the short-term I'll just keep saving for the yearlong jaunt.
That one must include parts of Africa and India, more of southeast Asia, and South America. Europe will be saved for a time when I have more disposable income. Given that I am a social worker with no retirement fund, unless Mark Mulder gets his butt in gear and asks me to travel with him while he foots the bill, I think Europe may not happen. Eh, that's OK. Enough people around me have been to fill in the gaps and my priorities are with the cultures that are SO different from my own that my head spins. It's happened before, I can't WAIT for it to happen again!!!
Mark F. will meet me there. We've never traveled together before without anyone else, should be fun and interesting given his silence. I miss that kid, I'm ready to hang with him again. Before I leave, I have about 120 things to do, the least of which is vacating my apartment. I am overwhelmed by that concept, so overwhelmed that I've so far done not one damned thing about it.
I can live in this country and this ass-backwards state for another month while planning my departure. How nice it will be to be gone for even a short time.
OK, now the All-Star wrap up: I'll just admit it, ESPN has force-fed me this for the past week and having heard it 392 times, I believe it. The American League is just better. I also believe there were WMDs in Iraq and that's why we went in but now its OK to just have unseated Saddam. I'll believe it if you send it my way enough times. Fine, fine, the AL has the offense and the power and the prestige. We NL fans have to settle for better pitching and, um, Barry Bonds. That's about it. There were 5 Cardinals and the manager and from my vantage point, none of them did any harm. Eckstein's hits could've fallen (but nice play in the 2nd!) and Jimmy could've actually hit the ball but Pujols and Carp did their jobs very satisfactorally. If Peter Gammons' head was any further up Francona's ass he'd need surgical amputation. Why do I listen to these creeps? Its like watching CNN, you just can't turn away!! Yes, the YANKEES rule and have ALL the history! I buy it!! Yes, Michael Jackson and Natalee Holloway are the biggest news of the year! Bring it on! I'm sucking it all in like a vaccuum!
Ugh.
One new lovely thing about my state is that we executed a guy who was innocent of the crime for which he was executed. There is enough evidence for this to have been publicized nationwide, so its a pretty strong possibility that this is exactly what happened. So now we are #1 in syphilis, puppy mills, meth, slacking at work, and while only #3 in executions we get the label of executing the innocent. This is the reason that Illinois instituted a moratoriam. Will Missouri follow suit? With King Blunt in charge of methodically decreasing the chances of poor Missouri infants living to see adulthood, I doubt this is any kind of priority. To top it off, Renquist is about to kick off and Bush will get to throw two proper pro-death judges into the business of amending the constitution so I'm sure the opposite of a moratorium will happen. God Bless America!!
I'm going to Thailand, speaking of leaving the country!! I'm headed out on August 25 (August 26 if you are my supervisor, I feel a cough and headache coming on around 3PM on August 24 requiring a sick day 8/25) for Connecticut, DC, and New York (Cards v. Nationals!) and from there its on to Bangkok for 2 weeks. I have no current plans for the smaller trips within Thailand, probably south to the islands and some beach activities like scuba and snorkeling. I'm very, very excited about the trip and also for the traveling bug to bite again as I know it will about 3 days into the trip. Mark my words, when I get back I will be planning my around the world excursion again. Money be damned, its going to happen! Thailand is like the 4th appetizer course. The first was Mexico, the second my massive road trip, and third China. I'm not certain I'll have the money for a fifth appetizer before the main (8+ country) course, but I got a good deal on this trip so we'll see. I could make a goal of seeing one new country per year, but in the short-term I'll just keep saving for the yearlong jaunt.
That one must include parts of Africa and India, more of southeast Asia, and South America. Europe will be saved for a time when I have more disposable income. Given that I am a social worker with no retirement fund, unless Mark Mulder gets his butt in gear and asks me to travel with him while he foots the bill, I think Europe may not happen. Eh, that's OK. Enough people around me have been to fill in the gaps and my priorities are with the cultures that are SO different from my own that my head spins. It's happened before, I can't WAIT for it to happen again!!!
Mark F. will meet me there. We've never traveled together before without anyone else, should be fun and interesting given his silence. I miss that kid, I'm ready to hang with him again. Before I leave, I have about 120 things to do, the least of which is vacating my apartment. I am overwhelmed by that concept, so overwhelmed that I've so far done not one damned thing about it.
I can live in this country and this ass-backwards state for another month while planning my departure. How nice it will be to be gone for even a short time.
Friday, June 17, 2005
#11. Entertainment
I just had this thought today, perhaps some of us exist purely for the entertainment of others. I'll explain. Religious people will say God put each of us here for a reason. Even non-religious people acknowledge to some degree that there has to be some point or meaning to living, even if that point or meaning is unknown. I think that "meaning" for some is that they are born to parent, lead a movement for some kind of change, to save lives, to love someone else, or to create some work or project that inspire or assist others. All very benevolent options, and I'm sure some people are truly born for those noble purposes. Others, I'm not so sure. Perhaps some were born to hurt another person or people so much that it causes that person to make some changes in their direction. In that vain, rethinking the above list of purposes eliminating the "good" that one assumes would mean that some people are just born to do those things badly. I mean, if poor parenting causes a child to grow up and commit horrendous crimes that hurt many people and one of those victims goes on to write a book that inspires others to do good, then does the bad parent exist purely to inspire others, albeit indirectly?
Anyway, the reason I ponder this is that some people will only ever be known for the things they did that entertained others. Not movie or music stars, not artists or dancers, no I mean people that do inexplicable things that purely entertain us. The runaway bride, for example. Sure, she's been alive for twenty-something years and has probably done some interesting or noble things. The bottom line is that everyone outside of her immediate family will only ever remember the 4 or however many days when she was the lead story on CNN, when the report of her death seemed ineveitable and her family issued tearful pleas for her safe return home. Then, suddenly, she was home and she became a joke. She ran away from her massive, expensive, over-the-top wedding just hours before it was to be held. Now she is going to get a movie and book deal. If that's not entertainment, I don't know what is. Her life exists for the public to be entertained. It does not matter if she now cures cancer, she is the runaway bride. Her comical appearance aside, she is pure humor to most. Sure, mental illness plays a role here but none of us have to be realistic about that, we are not caring for her! Similarly, Michael Jackson. Molestation probability aside, he entertains us. We gawk, we laugh, we watch for his next move. His life is entertainment for us, and I do not mean his music!
If a benevolent creater had anything to do with human existence, or heck, even if Mother Nature is the only force greater than ourselves, you have to admit that some being/spirit sure provided us with amusing humans. Anyone can be elevated to the level of existence for entertainment (if you think of it as "elevation"), at any time. We humans do not enjoy being bored. We look for the oddballs or the stupid people or the ones who do something new. We cherish them, talk about them, occasionally imitate them. And for those who believe that they have a higher purpose, bully for them! If that's what keeps you going, then keep on believing that you are going to someday accomplish unprecedented greatness. Until then, I'm going to read about a mother who wants some books banned because she thinks they might make her kid gay. Ahhh, the meaning of life!
Anyway, the reason I ponder this is that some people will only ever be known for the things they did that entertained others. Not movie or music stars, not artists or dancers, no I mean people that do inexplicable things that purely entertain us. The runaway bride, for example. Sure, she's been alive for twenty-something years and has probably done some interesting or noble things. The bottom line is that everyone outside of her immediate family will only ever remember the 4 or however many days when she was the lead story on CNN, when the report of her death seemed ineveitable and her family issued tearful pleas for her safe return home. Then, suddenly, she was home and she became a joke. She ran away from her massive, expensive, over-the-top wedding just hours before it was to be held. Now she is going to get a movie and book deal. If that's not entertainment, I don't know what is. Her life exists for the public to be entertained. It does not matter if she now cures cancer, she is the runaway bride. Her comical appearance aside, she is pure humor to most. Sure, mental illness plays a role here but none of us have to be realistic about that, we are not caring for her! Similarly, Michael Jackson. Molestation probability aside, he entertains us. We gawk, we laugh, we watch for his next move. His life is entertainment for us, and I do not mean his music!
If a benevolent creater had anything to do with human existence, or heck, even if Mother Nature is the only force greater than ourselves, you have to admit that some being/spirit sure provided us with amusing humans. Anyone can be elevated to the level of existence for entertainment (if you think of it as "elevation"), at any time. We humans do not enjoy being bored. We look for the oddballs or the stupid people or the ones who do something new. We cherish them, talk about them, occasionally imitate them. And for those who believe that they have a higher purpose, bully for them! If that's what keeps you going, then keep on believing that you are going to someday accomplish unprecedented greatness. Until then, I'm going to read about a mother who wants some books banned because she thinks they might make her kid gay. Ahhh, the meaning of life!
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
#10 Secrets
http://postsecret.blogspot.com/
What a creepy and revealing website. And how refreshing and yet disturbing, apparently everyone is the SAME. Of course I have a couple of secrets I'd never tell, but they are more embarassing than they are deep, dark, insightful, or evil. I guess the one I held for the longest time was that my parents didn't know that I was pro-choice, neither did some of my friends. I never lied, you could go back and listen to my words and have NEVER heard me say or imply that I am not pro-choice. So I decided to write an op-ed, it got published, my dad read it, and I was outed. Now they don't discuss it with me, its just moot. They know they aren't changing their minds, and the know that if it took me 20+ years to reach my conclusions, my opinion is well-researched and I'm not changing it either.
Now that I think of it, I have very few other secrets. I'm pretty much an open book. Its not that I don't do weird, scary, or embarrassing things, I just tell people about them or don't hide them. My friends know I can be a bit of a stalker, not in a bad way but in a way that I like to know as much as I can. People know I post on some online forums and what I say there is mostly true, occasionally not but just stretching it a bit. I'd tell anyone my username if they wanted to read it. If you asked me about my personal habits, what I do when I'm alone, about my sex life, or whether I've ever cheated or stolen, I'd probably tell you. Why hide? Most people know that I am almost always confident except for when I like a boy or when one likes me. Then I am terribly indecisive and lose all my good sense and can't decide whether to call, write, or leave well enough alone. For that I'll ask advice from even my most inexperienced or good-judgement-challenged peers or friends. In the end, I almost always end up disappointed and that almost always devastates me for days and the devastation just gets deeper the older I get, and I think that could be a secret but probably it is not. People who know me can usually see right through me. Perhaps even people who don't know me can see right through me, I'm not sure.
What a creepy and revealing website. And how refreshing and yet disturbing, apparently everyone is the SAME. Of course I have a couple of secrets I'd never tell, but they are more embarassing than they are deep, dark, insightful, or evil. I guess the one I held for the longest time was that my parents didn't know that I was pro-choice, neither did some of my friends. I never lied, you could go back and listen to my words and have NEVER heard me say or imply that I am not pro-choice. So I decided to write an op-ed, it got published, my dad read it, and I was outed. Now they don't discuss it with me, its just moot. They know they aren't changing their minds, and the know that if it took me 20+ years to reach my conclusions, my opinion is well-researched and I'm not changing it either.
Now that I think of it, I have very few other secrets. I'm pretty much an open book. Its not that I don't do weird, scary, or embarrassing things, I just tell people about them or don't hide them. My friends know I can be a bit of a stalker, not in a bad way but in a way that I like to know as much as I can. People know I post on some online forums and what I say there is mostly true, occasionally not but just stretching it a bit. I'd tell anyone my username if they wanted to read it. If you asked me about my personal habits, what I do when I'm alone, about my sex life, or whether I've ever cheated or stolen, I'd probably tell you. Why hide? Most people know that I am almost always confident except for when I like a boy or when one likes me. Then I am terribly indecisive and lose all my good sense and can't decide whether to call, write, or leave well enough alone. For that I'll ask advice from even my most inexperienced or good-judgement-challenged peers or friends. In the end, I almost always end up disappointed and that almost always devastates me for days and the devastation just gets deeper the older I get, and I think that could be a secret but probably it is not. People who know me can usually see right through me. Perhaps even people who don't know me can see right through me, I'm not sure.
Saturday, May 14, 2005
#9. Another Day, Another Ate
Saturday night and I'm sitting in a clean apartment with clean hair and I'm trying to figure out if Will Ferrell is hosting SNL or if these lame sketches are repeats of past shows. I rarely watch the show and yet every time I turn it on, that stupid segment with the couple that are both named Nuni is on, the one with Maya Rudolph and her Andy Warhol-coiffed husband.
But I did not log in and start a new blog site to complain about SNL. I logged in to complain about how I have been cancelled on yet AGAIN. I'd call it "stood up" but they alway call and have very good reason why they have to cancel our date, our night out, whatever. This happened a lot recently with a man who I shouldn't name so I'll just call him "Harlie". Cancelled on me at least twice, and was just too hard to catch, he had all kinds of business trips, went to bed early, had to work out, etc. Hey, I can take a hint and if I'd have thought he wasn't at all into me, I'd have given up. But he kept calling and attempting to make plans when it finally became clear to me that that wasn't going to ever happen. Even if it did, I''m nearly positive I don't want to date someone that busy. It would have been a quicker decision if he wasn't so damned CUTE! This was one nice lookin' man, maybe too religious but we never got that far in conversation so all I can really say is that he was hot. Oh well.
Then there's the inconsistency of, hmm, I'll call him ay. Ay Ing. He's the MOST inconsistent. This is largely because he spends only approximately 40% of his time in the same city as me. That's OK, I mainly put up with him for inside scoops and free tickets. Now that he's seen Chateau Shenandoah, he's probably not calling again. He laughed at my TV. Not at my Focus, not at the dog hair on my couch, my TV. He said, so that's the big screen, huh? Yeah, buddy. Let's do the math here, genius. I make 1.8% of the salary you collect in one year. You make more in per diem pay than I get in my salary- and that's for max. 6 months of work!! Funny to mock the poor.
But the reason I'm alone watching crappy SNL is contestant #3 who cancelled on me. It's cumulative annoyance, not all "im's" fault, but it still sucks. He seems to like me, I'm pretty sure he's the one doing the pursuing and I'm not much into resisting- until maybe today. Again, cumulative but still highly annoying. It's not his fault others cancelled on me, but I actually let myself think it wouldn't happen again. Not this time, I naively thought, hence the vaccumed floors, clean hair, and effing Will Ferrell as Nuni's son at 11:30 on a Saturday night. Annoying. REALLY annoying.
I can do nearly everything alone, I don't need anyone else for much. The things that have occurred to me this week that I cannot do alone is to clasp the bracelet Michiyo made for me and to fold up my futon.
Needless to say, I had to vaccuum around the unfolded futon today. Oh, well, the dog likes to sleep in it when I am not here. If "im" gets another shot, he's going to have to deal with the dog hair on the couch and my own hair not so clean. And he's going to help me fold up that damned futon. Dating is really stupid. Mostly pointless as well, as far as I can see.
Mark Mulder got a no decision today, his first. Could have been his 6th consecutive win. At least we won, and man is he smokin'. ERA is a little higher, but still he's the man.
But I did not log in and start a new blog site to complain about SNL. I logged in to complain about how I have been cancelled on yet AGAIN. I'd call it "stood up" but they alway call and have very good reason why they have to cancel our date, our night out, whatever. This happened a lot recently with a man who I shouldn't name so I'll just call him "Harlie". Cancelled on me at least twice, and was just too hard to catch, he had all kinds of business trips, went to bed early, had to work out, etc. Hey, I can take a hint and if I'd have thought he wasn't at all into me, I'd have given up. But he kept calling and attempting to make plans when it finally became clear to me that that wasn't going to ever happen. Even if it did, I''m nearly positive I don't want to date someone that busy. It would have been a quicker decision if he wasn't so damned CUTE! This was one nice lookin' man, maybe too religious but we never got that far in conversation so all I can really say is that he was hot. Oh well.
Then there's the inconsistency of, hmm, I'll call him ay. Ay Ing. He's the MOST inconsistent. This is largely because he spends only approximately 40% of his time in the same city as me. That's OK, I mainly put up with him for inside scoops and free tickets. Now that he's seen Chateau Shenandoah, he's probably not calling again. He laughed at my TV. Not at my Focus, not at the dog hair on my couch, my TV. He said, so that's the big screen, huh? Yeah, buddy. Let's do the math here, genius. I make 1.8% of the salary you collect in one year. You make more in per diem pay than I get in my salary- and that's for max. 6 months of work!! Funny to mock the poor.
But the reason I'm alone watching crappy SNL is contestant #3 who cancelled on me. It's cumulative annoyance, not all "im's" fault, but it still sucks. He seems to like me, I'm pretty sure he's the one doing the pursuing and I'm not much into resisting- until maybe today. Again, cumulative but still highly annoying. It's not his fault others cancelled on me, but I actually let myself think it wouldn't happen again. Not this time, I naively thought, hence the vaccumed floors, clean hair, and effing Will Ferrell as Nuni's son at 11:30 on a Saturday night. Annoying. REALLY annoying.
I can do nearly everything alone, I don't need anyone else for much. The things that have occurred to me this week that I cannot do alone is to clasp the bracelet Michiyo made for me and to fold up my futon.
Needless to say, I had to vaccuum around the unfolded futon today. Oh, well, the dog likes to sleep in it when I am not here. If "im" gets another shot, he's going to have to deal with the dog hair on the couch and my own hair not so clean. And he's going to help me fold up that damned futon. Dating is really stupid. Mostly pointless as well, as far as I can see.
Mark Mulder got a no decision today, his first. Could have been his 6th consecutive win. At least we won, and man is he smokin'. ERA is a little higher, but still he's the man.
Monday, May 09, 2005
#8. I caught a ball
I got a foul ball!! I have NEVER had that chance, not until yesterday at the Cards-Padres game on Mother's Day. I always say I repel the fouls, in all my years of baseball games I've never had one come anywhere near my row. Sometimes they hit my section, but nowhere near wherEI'd have a chance to snag it. I owe Katie F a BIG PHAT THANK YOU for going to the bathroom in the 9th inning, because it was her seat tha the ball dropped into and she certainly would have given me a run for my money if she'd been there to try to catch it.
What a game, too. 11 runs and 16 batters in the first inning for the Cardinals. And I caught a ball. A Miguel Ojeda foul ball off Brad Thompson in his major league debut.
Finally.
What a game, too. 11 runs and 16 batters in the first inning for the Cardinals. And I caught a ball. A Miguel Ojeda foul ball off Brad Thompson in his major league debut.
Finally.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
#7. Rick Ankiel: The Next Babe Ruth?
So Ankiel is hanging up the wild curveball. Its a bold move, but are the Cardinal faithful really suprised? I mean, not at the announcement but at anything that Rick Ankiel does? He's nothing if unpredictable. He won't be a Cardinal on April 2, that's for sure. He can't make the team as a fielder at this late date and sending him to AAA is a sure bet for another team. The real question will be if he will try to pitch for the team who claims him off waivers? Who will it be? Good luck, Rick. You've been the next Koufax, maybe you'll be the next Musial- or Ruth. Can I recommend that on the journey to greatness, that you make a stop in some psychotherapy?
Little new on my other fronts. I'm still picking up dog crap, congress is spending time and money to investigate steroid use which is as useful as picking up dog crap. How, in a country with no universal healthcare, with a federal deficit in the kagillions, with a growing crisis of homeless and jobless families, and with constant casualties in Iraq, our government can spend probably millions to investigate whether grown men tried to be better at children's games than others by putting needles in each other's asses?
How does this affect the public again? Who of these players in their right mind would show up for such a farce? Why no congressional hearings into WMDs in Iraq or into Bush's involvement in Enron?
Yes, the world will be a safer place when Rafael Palmeiro tells John McCain that the strongest thing he keeps in his bloodstream is Viagra. And Curt Schilling can bring along 3D diagrams of his temporary surgical procedures that allowed him to help win another World Series- talk about friggin performance enhancement!! What the hell is going on in this country?? Why are my clients getting cut off of utility assistance while milloinaires interview millionaires on their pharmaceutical habits?
Last time I checked, fans just don't care. Everyone loves razzing Barry, everyone who lives outside of the Bay Area anyway. He's our favorite King-domed villian. But honestly, I don't care if he used steroids. I'll be skeptical but I DO NOT CARE. McGwire? Yeah, I'm sure the neckful of pockmarks is a result of normal acne outbreaks in your 30s. Hope I can avoid it, being 30 now. I'm pretty sure I'm safe. IF you strip them of the their records, who gets them? Second place- Sammy Sosa. Sure, he's as clean as a baby's butt too. Canseco? HA. Nomar? A-Rod? Pudge? You never know.
I've spent more time talking about roids in this blog than the damned members of congress should have. PLEASE PEOPLE!!! Can we shift to the cure for breast cancer? Peace in the Middle East? ANYTHING but this. You all make me sad I pay taxes.
Good night, number 66. We'll always remember 2000.
Little new on my other fronts. I'm still picking up dog crap, congress is spending time and money to investigate steroid use which is as useful as picking up dog crap. How, in a country with no universal healthcare, with a federal deficit in the kagillions, with a growing crisis of homeless and jobless families, and with constant casualties in Iraq, our government can spend probably millions to investigate whether grown men tried to be better at children's games than others by putting needles in each other's asses?
How does this affect the public again? Who of these players in their right mind would show up for such a farce? Why no congressional hearings into WMDs in Iraq or into Bush's involvement in Enron?
Yes, the world will be a safer place when Rafael Palmeiro tells John McCain that the strongest thing he keeps in his bloodstream is Viagra. And Curt Schilling can bring along 3D diagrams of his temporary surgical procedures that allowed him to help win another World Series- talk about friggin performance enhancement!! What the hell is going on in this country?? Why are my clients getting cut off of utility assistance while milloinaires interview millionaires on their pharmaceutical habits?
Last time I checked, fans just don't care. Everyone loves razzing Barry, everyone who lives outside of the Bay Area anyway. He's our favorite King-domed villian. But honestly, I don't care if he used steroids. I'll be skeptical but I DO NOT CARE. McGwire? Yeah, I'm sure the neckful of pockmarks is a result of normal acne outbreaks in your 30s. Hope I can avoid it, being 30 now. I'm pretty sure I'm safe. IF you strip them of the their records, who gets them? Second place- Sammy Sosa. Sure, he's as clean as a baby's butt too. Canseco? HA. Nomar? A-Rod? Pudge? You never know.
I've spent more time talking about roids in this blog than the damned members of congress should have. PLEASE PEOPLE!!! Can we shift to the cure for breast cancer? Peace in the Middle East? ANYTHING but this. You all make me sad I pay taxes.
Good night, number 66. We'll always remember 2000.
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
#6. A Post a Day...
I never plan to write every day. Every day writing is for journals, not blogs. Blogs are exhibitionist, journals aren't read until you die so no one else knows how selfish, shallow, and hedonistic you really are.
Still, I'm writing daily now. Well, I wrote yesterday. And being an exhibitionist, I will write about a first date I just had. The date will likely not call, as is my pattern of first dates, so he will never know what I say about him. That said, he could read this because it would be nice. He IS nice. Not nice in a generic, I don't know what else to say about him but NICE, like what exactly is wrong with him??
Normal, nice men are not single at 30 and they certainly aren't being set up with total strangers so there must be something wrong with him. Luckily, we talked extensively and found out we have some mutual friends so I was able to call one of them on my way home to inquire- What is wrong with him?? Amanda, my wonderful friend, suprised to hear I was out with her friend said, "Nothing, in fact we've all had crushes on this guy." Huh?
Now I'm on the hunt. I'm a stalker- what is WRONG with him? There must be something. Amanda and friends were all once attractive, smart, interesting and single. Now they are all of those things but single and yet no one dated this man with no flaws? There must be a reason. Someone must share with me. Perhaps he bites his toenails. Or he's a Republican. He is from Texas, there's a clue. But he's from Austin, which is really a succession from the Great Nation of W. WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM??
We talked about food, friends,families, and Walmart. What else is there, really? He did not know that Walmart is evil, but he does know that George W is so that's OK.
There must be something, besides that he is not Mark Mulder. He played Division 3 basketball in college. I guessed Div. 2, he was insulted that I would not have guessed 1. Oops.
I forgot to thank him for dinner. What an ass. He paid the bill while I was in the bathroom so I never even got to offer to help out. Now I've forgotten to even THANK him for a very nice meal. And he is leaving town for the next 5 days. I wonder if he will call. I'm not holding my breath.
If he doesn't call, I will KNOW what is wrong with him. If he does, I'll still be left to wonder...
Still, I'm writing daily now. Well, I wrote yesterday. And being an exhibitionist, I will write about a first date I just had. The date will likely not call, as is my pattern of first dates, so he will never know what I say about him. That said, he could read this because it would be nice. He IS nice. Not nice in a generic, I don't know what else to say about him but NICE, like what exactly is wrong with him??
Normal, nice men are not single at 30 and they certainly aren't being set up with total strangers so there must be something wrong with him. Luckily, we talked extensively and found out we have some mutual friends so I was able to call one of them on my way home to inquire- What is wrong with him?? Amanda, my wonderful friend, suprised to hear I was out with her friend said, "Nothing, in fact we've all had crushes on this guy." Huh?
Now I'm on the hunt. I'm a stalker- what is WRONG with him? There must be something. Amanda and friends were all once attractive, smart, interesting and single. Now they are all of those things but single and yet no one dated this man with no flaws? There must be a reason. Someone must share with me. Perhaps he bites his toenails. Or he's a Republican. He is from Texas, there's a clue. But he's from Austin, which is really a succession from the Great Nation of W. WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM??
We talked about food, friends,families, and Walmart. What else is there, really? He did not know that Walmart is evil, but he does know that George W is so that's OK.
There must be something, besides that he is not Mark Mulder. He played Division 3 basketball in college. I guessed Div. 2, he was insulted that I would not have guessed 1. Oops.
I forgot to thank him for dinner. What an ass. He paid the bill while I was in the bathroom so I never even got to offer to help out. Now I've forgotten to even THANK him for a very nice meal. And he is leaving town for the next 5 days. I wonder if he will call. I'm not holding my breath.
If he doesn't call, I will KNOW what is wrong with him. If he does, I'll still be left to wonder...
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
#5 My Job is Picking Up
This was the sign on the pooper scooper guy's trash can who followed the mounted police in parades when I was a kid. Now its all coming back to haunt me. My job for a week and 3 days has literally been to shovel poo. Three Great Danes, two of whom outweigh me and the other of which is monstly incontinent, make a lot of poo.
I'm housesitting, of course, I'd never fit three 130+ lb beings in my apartment unless some friends needed a place to crash after a night of drinking. They'd not fit into my apartment. These guys- Samson, Barkley, and Winston are lovely dogs, really sweet and I enjoy the big one s more than the small yappy ones, but this poo thing is a real deterrent to my fully enjoying their sweetness. Have you seen the size of Great Dane poo?? I could post a picture, but I won't.
I digress. Enough Dane poo. In other news today, we joined the rest of the civilzed world by outlawing the juvenile death penalty. First the mentally retarded, now the kids. Now THAT is progress. So proud to be an American!! And even prouder am I to be a Missourian, where after a long and unproductive 18+ month time away from killing our own, we're back to the executions this month. Thank goodness, I can breathe easy again soon. After all, surely the crime rate has skyrocketed and the streets have filled with violent criminals since the DP is such a huge crime deterrent.
Rehnquist was apparently disappointed in the ruling, he said something out of his tracheostomy about life being more valuable as a fetus this big --> . <-- than as a walking, talking, breathing 17-year-old. Of course this living, breathing 17-year-old has killed people and the fetus (.) has not...yet. Still, no one was asking the Court to let the child criminals free, no these kids will never see the light of day, and probably they should not. But at least the Court decided that death is best left up to nature, God, or one's self, not the state or federal government. This is the way it should be.
I just started to type some other horrible joke/smartass comment about the Pope answering Renquist out of his OWN trach... but that's just in bad taste.
Oh! How could I forget the MOST pressing news- Rick Ankiel threw 3 strikes yesterday in BP in Jupiter!! Of course, the threee strikes were just 3 of 26 pitckets he threw, but I was there in the 2000 playoffs, I saw the implosion. Believe me, the Rick Ankiel of the 2000 NLCS could NEVER have thrown 3 strikes. I think things are looking up for ol' number 66. I think he changed the number, but he'll always be our little number 66. Good luck Rick, you'll need it.
I'm housesitting, of course, I'd never fit three 130+ lb beings in my apartment unless some friends needed a place to crash after a night of drinking. They'd not fit into my apartment. These guys- Samson, Barkley, and Winston are lovely dogs, really sweet and I enjoy the big one s more than the small yappy ones, but this poo thing is a real deterrent to my fully enjoying their sweetness. Have you seen the size of Great Dane poo?? I could post a picture, but I won't.
I digress. Enough Dane poo. In other news today, we joined the rest of the civilzed world by outlawing the juvenile death penalty. First the mentally retarded, now the kids. Now THAT is progress. So proud to be an American!! And even prouder am I to be a Missourian, where after a long and unproductive 18+ month time away from killing our own, we're back to the executions this month. Thank goodness, I can breathe easy again soon. After all, surely the crime rate has skyrocketed and the streets have filled with violent criminals since the DP is such a huge crime deterrent.
Rehnquist was apparently disappointed in the ruling, he said something out of his tracheostomy about life being more valuable as a fetus this big --> . <-- than as a walking, talking, breathing 17-year-old. Of course this living, breathing 17-year-old has killed people and the fetus (.) has not...yet. Still, no one was asking the Court to let the child criminals free, no these kids will never see the light of day, and probably they should not. But at least the Court decided that death is best left up to nature, God, or one's self, not the state or federal government. This is the way it should be.
I just started to type some other horrible joke/smartass comment about the Pope answering Renquist out of his OWN trach... but that's just in bad taste.
Oh! How could I forget the MOST pressing news- Rick Ankiel threw 3 strikes yesterday in BP in Jupiter!! Of course, the threee strikes were just 3 of 26 pitckets he threw, but I was there in the 2000 playoffs, I saw the implosion. Believe me, the Rick Ankiel of the 2000 NLCS could NEVER have thrown 3 strikes. I think things are looking up for ol' number 66. I think he changed the number, but he'll always be our little number 66. Good luck Rick, you'll need it.
Monday, February 28, 2005
#4. Ani needs a vacation
Saw Ani this weekend, sadly disappointing. She has lost her edge. Apparently my 12th concert of hers will be my last. She played 5 songs I knew and liked, and at the new and improved ticket pricing for even obscure Ani Difranco shows the way they are, that's about $9 per song. Just so I get my $9 worth, I will list which ones I enjoyed so I can remember:
My IQ
2 Little Girls
Napoleon
Next Bold Move
and finally, the one, the only... the entire encore (which used to be like 4 or 5 rockin' righteous songs in the old happy Ani days):
Little Plastic Castle.
And that's it. How sad to get old and know that she is too. Or to be old enough to know when you need a break and wish she did too. Damn, she used to rock. I'm glad I knew her when. She's one of the people I am so glad I got to be alive at the same time as. If I'd missed her life, I'd be sad and different. Other people who I'm glad are alive right now, the same time as me (besides the obvious, my family and friends!):
George W. (not because I'm really glad, but because who would believe it if you didn't live through it every day!!)
Jon Stewart
Michael Jordan
Ryan White (we overlapped for like 18 years)
REM
Josh Allison
Michael Moore
Ozzie Smith
Chris Rock
Mark Mulder (why not?)
John Malkovich
Am I glad for the lives of any WOMEN?? Apparently not. But this is stream of consciousness, it means nothing and I'll add to it later. Oh, if you are reading this you only HOPE I add to it later. And if you are reading this you have more free time than I do!
My IQ
2 Little Girls
Napoleon
Next Bold Move
and finally, the one, the only... the entire encore (which used to be like 4 or 5 rockin' righteous songs in the old happy Ani days):
Little Plastic Castle.
And that's it. How sad to get old and know that she is too. Or to be old enough to know when you need a break and wish she did too. Damn, she used to rock. I'm glad I knew her when. She's one of the people I am so glad I got to be alive at the same time as. If I'd missed her life, I'd be sad and different. Other people who I'm glad are alive right now, the same time as me (besides the obvious, my family and friends!):
George W. (not because I'm really glad, but because who would believe it if you didn't live through it every day!!)
Jon Stewart
Michael Jordan
Ryan White (we overlapped for like 18 years)
REM
Josh Allison
Michael Moore
Ozzie Smith
Chris Rock
Mark Mulder (why not?)
John Malkovich
Am I glad for the lives of any WOMEN?? Apparently not. But this is stream of consciousness, it means nothing and I'll add to it later. Oh, if you are reading this you only HOPE I add to it later. And if you are reading this you have more free time than I do!
Monday, February 14, 2005
#3. Combating V.D.
Yes, this is my job- combating V.D. Actually it's combating HIV -to clarify -which in 1970s' and 80s' terms is V.D. That V.D. term has evolved to STD and now to the very hip STI. (That's Sexually Transmitted Disease and Infection to you novices.)
So that is my job. That is what I do at work, try to help out people who are already HIV+ and to keep HIV- people negative. It can be a tough job, especially when the funding is cut almost constantly. But hey, there's always free condoms.
Valentines Day is a lot like VD. It sneaks up on you when you think you've successfully ignored it. It will go away but you have to be patient and wait it out. I guess a major difference is that little kids go crazy for Valentines Day but not so much for VD. I outgrew that excitement by turning 11 or 12. When you don't even get the day off, what kind of celebration is it really? Then in high school you have to watch all of the flowers and candy and other garbage delivered for half the school. That continues into college and then the office where, finally, one year I got flowers. It was just once and was the only occasion of flower delivery with my name on it that did not originate from my Aunt Terry. That was nice, that one time, but then I got mad at myself for being hypocritical about combating VD once and for all. Wait! No,I did get flowers this fall- flowers thanking me for sleeping outside for baseball tickets from my friends Maria and Lisa, who benefitted with tickets to two games. That was the best baseball series of my life, the Cards and Astros playing 7 of the best games I'll ever see. It was worth the sleeping out, they didn't have to send flowers. Still, again it was nice.
So if you can't ignore Valentine's Day any more than you can ignore VD, here are a few Valentines from me:
To Alberto Gonzalez, simply because you are not John Ashcroft. You still suck and your administration bites it daily, but you are not Ashcroft. And you do not sing in public so far. Thank you.
To Arthur Miller, you were a literary genius. Also, I thought you were already dead before last Thursday when you in fact died and I feel bad for that. Sorry.
To Barbara Boxer, you rock. See previous entries for reasons.
To Bill O'Reilly for questioning Bush and Co on that request for the $80 billion for Iraq. You, like AG, generally suck but your questioning W. on this lends more credibility to the opposition. Thanks, man. This is the only Valentine you'll ever get from me.
To Tina Fey, just because you are the funniest smart chick I can think of.
To Mark Mulder, welcome to the Lou. I hope you turn out to be the ace we feel we deserve here in Cardinal nation. Also, you are a sexy beast. Call me sometime. Big Ray has my number.
To Grandma Millie, happy birthday and we miss you. I take the Tina Fey compliment back, she's the SECOND funniest smart chick I can think of, you are #1.
To Foster, my live-in love. Thanks for the longest relationship of my life. You are the coolest and I'm sorry I've been so busy lately. I promise to let you run in the park today off the leash. Please stop licking your butt when I have company. It's gross.
To the boy that shall remain nameless because I don't know you nearly well enough to put you in my blog, please do not turn out to be a tool or spineless. Please. Please. The odds are stacked against you (this appears to be my type), but PLEASE! Fight the power. And call me today, I don't give a crap that it's VD. Calling today will help your cause, I will be much more inclined to think you might be crushworthy if you don't care that you call up some woman you've only just met on a fabricated day of significance.
And that's enough love from me. I guess I left some pets and family members out, but these were just the shout outs. You all will get your due on other days not designated for recognition by Hallmark and Walmart.
So that is my job. That is what I do at work, try to help out people who are already HIV+ and to keep HIV- people negative. It can be a tough job, especially when the funding is cut almost constantly. But hey, there's always free condoms.
Valentines Day is a lot like VD. It sneaks up on you when you think you've successfully ignored it. It will go away but you have to be patient and wait it out. I guess a major difference is that little kids go crazy for Valentines Day but not so much for VD. I outgrew that excitement by turning 11 or 12. When you don't even get the day off, what kind of celebration is it really? Then in high school you have to watch all of the flowers and candy and other garbage delivered for half the school. That continues into college and then the office where, finally, one year I got flowers. It was just once and was the only occasion of flower delivery with my name on it that did not originate from my Aunt Terry. That was nice, that one time, but then I got mad at myself for being hypocritical about combating VD once and for all. Wait! No,I did get flowers this fall- flowers thanking me for sleeping outside for baseball tickets from my friends Maria and Lisa, who benefitted with tickets to two games. That was the best baseball series of my life, the Cards and Astros playing 7 of the best games I'll ever see. It was worth the sleeping out, they didn't have to send flowers. Still, again it was nice.
So if you can't ignore Valentine's Day any more than you can ignore VD, here are a few Valentines from me:
To Alberto Gonzalez, simply because you are not John Ashcroft. You still suck and your administration bites it daily, but you are not Ashcroft. And you do not sing in public so far. Thank you.
To Arthur Miller, you were a literary genius. Also, I thought you were already dead before last Thursday when you in fact died and I feel bad for that. Sorry.
To Barbara Boxer, you rock. See previous entries for reasons.
To Bill O'Reilly for questioning Bush and Co on that request for the $80 billion for Iraq. You, like AG, generally suck but your questioning W. on this lends more credibility to the opposition. Thanks, man. This is the only Valentine you'll ever get from me.
To Tina Fey, just because you are the funniest smart chick I can think of.
To Mark Mulder, welcome to the Lou. I hope you turn out to be the ace we feel we deserve here in Cardinal nation. Also, you are a sexy beast. Call me sometime. Big Ray has my number.
To Grandma Millie, happy birthday and we miss you. I take the Tina Fey compliment back, she's the SECOND funniest smart chick I can think of, you are #1.
To Foster, my live-in love. Thanks for the longest relationship of my life. You are the coolest and I'm sorry I've been so busy lately. I promise to let you run in the park today off the leash. Please stop licking your butt when I have company. It's gross.
To the boy that shall remain nameless because I don't know you nearly well enough to put you in my blog, please do not turn out to be a tool or spineless. Please. Please. The odds are stacked against you (this appears to be my type), but PLEASE! Fight the power. And call me today, I don't give a crap that it's VD. Calling today will help your cause, I will be much more inclined to think you might be crushworthy if you don't care that you call up some woman you've only just met on a fabricated day of significance.
And that's enough love from me. I guess I left some pets and family members out, but these were just the shout outs. You all will get your due on other days not designated for recognition by Hallmark and Walmart.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
#2. Its a Hard Job.
The State of the Union is tomorrow! I need to contrive a drinking game for that. Here is a post on the Iraq invasion from a forum I frequent first:
Bush was wrong. There's no going back, no second guessing. It was wrong, will always be a ridiculous waste of life, money, and respect in the world. The election was conveniently held just hours before the State of the Union so all the warm fuzzy instances of liberated, "free" people voting can pop up again and again tomorrow night. Awhhhhhh...
Just wait 'til the votes are counted, the results announced, and the assassinations begin. Then 1000 more troops die, we spend another $200 billion and then we invade Iran using our new $50 billion military bases in Iraq. It will never be the right thing to have done. Ever.
Drinking game for the SOTU:
1 drink for each mention of the following or any variation therein- liberation, democracy, freedom, terror, evil, evildoers, Sept. 11, patriotism, Condi Rice, tsunami, donations, foreign aid, leadership, Social Security crisis, Iran, insurgents, Alberto Gonzalez, $80 billion for Iraq, Saddam Hussein, death tax, Renquist, Pope John Paul II, mandate, North Korea
2 drinks for any obvious bible verses. Usually they are hidden and mean something only to the bible thumpers watching who know W. is speaking in code to them.
2 drinks for every minute spent rationalizing the need to invade Iran.
3 drinks for any mention of Sudan. Very likely won't be mentioned but if it is, drink for the promise of aid to those in peril. Very serious matters, we must help. Two SOTUs from now you can look back and see if any aid made it there. Think that won't happen? See HIV/AIDS for 15 drinks for proof that aid doesn't always arrive when promised in speech that the whole world watches.
3 drinks for any WMD reference. (More than one drink allowed because its not likely to happen- except perhaps in the context of why we need to invade Iran.) In that case you choose the 2 drink per minute explanation or the 3 for WMD mentions.
4 drinks for any reference to baseball or steroids. Not that it belongs in the SOTU, but again, look how successful W. has been in getting that steroid policy in place in MLB. W- he is so good at what he does, so relevant, and so into the Most Important Issues.
5 drinks for the viewer who finds one of the hidden, encoded verses. You need 5 drinks NOW because you need to lighten up! No sane or rational person should be able to get these before the internet or the Nation translates them for you a day later.
6 drinks for any mention of the children in Iraq playing soccer in the now-safe streets on election day. Hello, George. That's because the tanks blocked them off and no cars were parked there. The kids were locked back in the house hours later, you never know when one of those cars might explode.
7 drinks for any mention of HIV or AIDS- domestic or in Africa. That Africa AIDS thing was SO two years ago, dude!! So what if the money never made it there, look how cool we are helping all those poor, innocent tsunami victims. That is the Cause of the Moment, don't you know? So what if the same number of tsumani victims die EVERY DAY of AIDS in the world?
And now for the Really Slim Chances for a Drink:
20 drinks for mentioning the federal deficit. Why kill the buzz that forcing fake democracy on the planet brings?
25 drinks for talk of overturning Roe. Ain't gonna happen, so don't get to pouring too quickly.
25 drinks for talk of the constituional amendment to "sanctify" marraige as a m/f institution. That was a campaign promise, fools! That and Roe- never gonna happen. Thank you, evangelicals, for your support. Now bend over and hand me the KY.
30 drinks for a mention of Osama Bin Laden. This will never happen so don't worry about needing 30 drinks of anything but water after you finish hurling at the sound of this moron defending his useless money- and life- wasting War on Terror.
Bush was wrong. There's no going back, no second guessing. It was wrong, will always be a ridiculous waste of life, money, and respect in the world. The election was conveniently held just hours before the State of the Union so all the warm fuzzy instances of liberated, "free" people voting can pop up again and again tomorrow night. Awhhhhhh...
Just wait 'til the votes are counted, the results announced, and the assassinations begin. Then 1000 more troops die, we spend another $200 billion and then we invade Iran using our new $50 billion military bases in Iraq. It will never be the right thing to have done. Ever.
Drinking game for the SOTU:
1 drink for each mention of the following or any variation therein- liberation, democracy, freedom, terror, evil, evildoers, Sept. 11, patriotism, Condi Rice, tsunami, donations, foreign aid, leadership, Social Security crisis, Iran, insurgents, Alberto Gonzalez, $80 billion for Iraq, Saddam Hussein, death tax, Renquist, Pope John Paul II, mandate, North Korea
2 drinks for any obvious bible verses. Usually they are hidden and mean something only to the bible thumpers watching who know W. is speaking in code to them.
2 drinks for every minute spent rationalizing the need to invade Iran.
3 drinks for any mention of Sudan. Very likely won't be mentioned but if it is, drink for the promise of aid to those in peril. Very serious matters, we must help. Two SOTUs from now you can look back and see if any aid made it there. Think that won't happen? See HIV/AIDS for 15 drinks for proof that aid doesn't always arrive when promised in speech that the whole world watches.
3 drinks for any WMD reference. (More than one drink allowed because its not likely to happen- except perhaps in the context of why we need to invade Iran.) In that case you choose the 2 drink per minute explanation or the 3 for WMD mentions.
4 drinks for any reference to baseball or steroids. Not that it belongs in the SOTU, but again, look how successful W. has been in getting that steroid policy in place in MLB. W- he is so good at what he does, so relevant, and so into the Most Important Issues.
5 drinks for the viewer who finds one of the hidden, encoded verses. You need 5 drinks NOW because you need to lighten up! No sane or rational person should be able to get these before the internet or the Nation translates them for you a day later.
6 drinks for any mention of the children in Iraq playing soccer in the now-safe streets on election day. Hello, George. That's because the tanks blocked them off and no cars were parked there. The kids were locked back in the house hours later, you never know when one of those cars might explode.
7 drinks for any mention of HIV or AIDS- domestic or in Africa. That Africa AIDS thing was SO two years ago, dude!! So what if the money never made it there, look how cool we are helping all those poor, innocent tsunami victims. That is the Cause of the Moment, don't you know? So what if the same number of tsumani victims die EVERY DAY of AIDS in the world?
And now for the Really Slim Chances for a Drink:
20 drinks for mentioning the federal deficit. Why kill the buzz that forcing fake democracy on the planet brings?
25 drinks for talk of overturning Roe. Ain't gonna happen, so don't get to pouring too quickly.
25 drinks for talk of the constituional amendment to "sanctify" marraige as a m/f institution. That was a campaign promise, fools! That and Roe- never gonna happen. Thank you, evangelicals, for your support. Now bend over and hand me the KY.
30 drinks for a mention of Osama Bin Laden. This will never happen so don't worry about needing 30 drinks of anything but water after you finish hurling at the sound of this moron defending his useless money- and life- wasting War on Terror.
Monday, January 31, 2005
#1. Fingerhut-Spooneybarger
This is the first post of a new blog. I had one once, never kept it up. Now you have to pay for that site and so probably my brilliant past thoughts have disappeared. My bro Mark has a blog here, this inspired me to start my own. Check his out at www.champon.blogspot.com. This is Lynn, the oldest of the Fingerhuts, not counting Michiyo (who married in) so I am still the oldest by birth.
Today I want to just pay a little homage to Barbara Boxer. She's the only senator who dared Condi Rice to answer the hard questions in her confirmation hearings on the reasons for invading Iraq. Later, 14 other senators joined her in voting against Rice for Secretary of State, but she was the one giving the heat and now taking it for speaking up. If only others could be so bold as to just say what should be said. If you want the postition of power you need to walk the walk and talk the talk. Hiding does not a leader make.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-carlson27jan27,0,655679.column
Thank you, Barbara.
On a lighter note, Spring Training begins in one month and two days (March 2) and Mark Mulder will be wearing number 30. This will become my new favorite number after Jimmy's #15. This is also my birthdate, so it will remain my favorite even if Mark and declares himself the anti-war, anti-Bush love of my life. (He's already single and 6'6", he's meeting most of my standards already!) If not, there's always Carlos Delgado- now of the National League. I already know HE is anti-war. It could happen.
Why are the MArlins so slow to update their website? I am not sure what number CD will be wearing, he doesn't even appear on the roster. Who DOES appear on the roster that suprised me- Alfonseca. He of 12 fingers and 12 toes. Oh, and Tim Spooneybarger. The REAL test of the hypenated name, Fingerhut-Spooneybarger. Yeah, kids would dig that for a last name. Wonder if he's single...
Today I want to just pay a little homage to Barbara Boxer. She's the only senator who dared Condi Rice to answer the hard questions in her confirmation hearings on the reasons for invading Iraq. Later, 14 other senators joined her in voting against Rice for Secretary of State, but she was the one giving the heat and now taking it for speaking up. If only others could be so bold as to just say what should be said. If you want the postition of power you need to walk the walk and talk the talk. Hiding does not a leader make.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-carlson27jan27,0,655679.column
Thank you, Barbara.
On a lighter note, Spring Training begins in one month and two days (March 2) and Mark Mulder will be wearing number 30. This will become my new favorite number after Jimmy's #15. This is also my birthdate, so it will remain my favorite even if Mark and declares himself the anti-war, anti-Bush love of my life. (He's already single and 6'6", he's meeting most of my standards already!) If not, there's always Carlos Delgado- now of the National League. I already know HE is anti-war. It could happen.
Why are the MArlins so slow to update their website? I am not sure what number CD will be wearing, he doesn't even appear on the roster. Who DOES appear on the roster that suprised me- Alfonseca. He of 12 fingers and 12 toes. Oh, and Tim Spooneybarger. The REAL test of the hypenated name, Fingerhut-Spooneybarger. Yeah, kids would dig that for a last name. Wonder if he's single...
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