Lost: ipod, sunglasses, self esteem, etc.

So I'm in a foreign country, right? And guess what I did on Friday. Drunkenly left my passport in a taxi (I think). Brilliant move, right? I know what you're thinking. "What a dumbass," you're thinking. Maybe, if you're a better friend, you follow that up with, "Is he going to get kicked out of Korea? Oh, no!"

Well, put your fears to rest. I'll have a new passport on Monday, thanks to the speedy US embassy (and $100). Faster service abroad than in the states, strangely.

"But what about your upcoming trip to China?" you say. "Don't you need to get another visa? Getting your passport on Monday and flying out on Friday doesn't leave much time in between for that.."

You're right. Nevertheless, the travel agent (and $150) is getting me a sweet deal on an express replacement visa, and I'll have it by Wednesday or Thursday. Plenty o' time!

Hallelujah. Which is a particularly appropriate sentiment, since I was feeling so wretched Sunday night that I actually prayed to a God in whom I'm not sure I believe. The prayer ended up being "Help me not to drink," which was a surprise to both of us, I think. We'll see how that goes.

Happy Teacher's Day!

Yesterday was Teacher's Day. Presents, sweet! Chocolate, flowers, mouth freshening spray.. Hey, it's a foreign land. (And I drink coffee right before class. Don't worry, I'll take the hint.)

Today I got an additional present in my google news aggregator. California legalized gay marriage. I probably don't know enough about the legality issues to know what that really means, but I still like it.

So..have a good day. Happy weekend! Have a beer on me.

Tetris is REAL!

I'm currently in recovery, but there was a time when I could honestly say that I was addicted to TETRIS.



Now I just make my students play Human Tetris. I think it's pretty great but I get mad when they don't blink and disappear when I make lines.

In the midst of all the hours we spent playing the Super Nintendo version in college, I remember convincing Jenna to cut class so we could keep playing Tetris and Dr. Mario. Good times.

If you want to see a youtube video that represents the most common game show on South Korean television, check out this next video.



...Actually, that's a little less silly than most of the ones we see. Also, is that a pool of honey they're falling into?

This marks weekend #2 sans alcohol. Have a great one!

The earth not the Earth. To be not to Be.

I'll find a new topic soon, but just a couple more things about our one and only home, the earth:

1. You don't have to capitalize "earth" if you use "the" before it. Also, you don't generally have to capitalize it unless you also mention another, capitalized, celestial body in the same sentence, such as "Earth and Jupiter." Don't worry about it too much, though--most of us are clueless.

2. Plastic does suck. Recycle. An albatross' stomach was cut open to reveal about a pound of plastic, including a cigarette lighter. Buy refillable ones!

3. You can always find something new to implement in your life, even when you feel like you're just hearing the same thing again and again. I mean, how many times have we all heard that batteries simply aren't landfillable, and how many of us take the trouble to find out how to recycle them? (I've heard Staples will recycle them.)

4. How do you pass the time here on earth? Any ideas that don't include drugs will be welcome--I believe compiling a list of such activities is going to be one of the new big crusades in my life. (I'm not knocking drugs, I just don't require any suggestions in that arena.)

Trash Vortex Update

Not really that surprising that Greenpeace has something to say about this.

Not really surprising that I don't know what more to say.

Recycle!

On to a new topic. I've finished The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene, both in book form and in the Nova made-for-TV movie form that's available on the internet.

My conclusion: while it did serve to get me interested in physics (reference my anticipated shipment of Einstein's paper on his theory of relativity--and another book to explain the Einstein) it's kinda lame and really cursory. Though maybe that's as it must be. The book was about 400 pages and the movie, three hours. Who could even start if either were longer?

Reminding me of resolution #7. Be less verbose.

Guess I recently notched it up to 8--no alcohol this year.

Reminds me of a great friend from college who'd always give up Bud Light for Lent.

There's a Limit to my Universe

Being on vacation for six days sounded like just what we all needed. And it didn't seem too ludicrous to whip up a fresh to-do list out of all those things I've been putting off. Some things ended up getting accomplished, and some didn't.

Still To Do:
-Planning of a trip to Thailand (I did buy Fodor's Guide, though).
-Planning of another two years at SUNY Oswego.

DONE:
-Planning of a trip to the Adirondacks (Top 4 High Peaks, here I(we?) come).
-Major weeding of my "Currently Reading" list. Now I'm actually reading one.
-Quitting drinking alcohol.

It's not that I feel the need to purge myself of all my vices this year (reference resolutions), it's just that some things are important and some people matter enough to forget about your own Charlie-Browning.

The book I'm currently reading: The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene. Pretty wild.

Boil blog for 20 days in skull of witch (Roald Dahl, anyone?)

Resolution #7: Be less verbose. (Aka post shorter blogs.)

Sorry about this recent trend of mine not to do so..

My last blog entry boils down to thinking men should be able to bow out of a fetus's life, and then not have to pay child support, as long as they make it clear that they would prefer an abortion while there's still time.

The entry before that boils down to Resolution #6: No sex this year.

It turns out, the past few "relationships" (and there I'm being kind to myself) I've been in weren't all that useful. I'm hereby renewing my effort to become friends with a potential sig-o before hooking up with said potential sig-o, because all too often I gradually realize they're actually sickoes. Not all that bad--just not all that good.

Also--here's to making positive decisions while drunk. For example, one such positive decision would be to NOT have another beer.

Poet Busted with a Giant Coffee

Feeling down? Need a quick pick me up? Try the fabulous, world-famous taste sensation, COFFEE. Wonderful feelings will course through your veins soon after imbibing of this sweet energy nectar. Just one sip will have you licking your lips. Just one cup will have you...heading for the bathroom?

Sorry, I was searching for a rhyme there and I failed miserably.

I'm back on the coffee, though. That's right, "on" "the" coffee. It's a drug, and I'm making no bones about it.

I didn't drink it for a while, but then I decided that I love it and there's no good reason to stop drinking it. I'm great at rationalizing things like that. It's how I always finish abstaining.

Feeling down emotionally? Need a quick eye-opener? Maybe a better perspective? Check out Brian Andreas' website, or better yet, one of his books. He reminds me of Damian Webber, that famous Buffalo poet who wrote such classics as:

The Microwave

How does that thing not give you cancer?

and:

Look Down

You're not going
to talk to
any of them,
anyway.

I do like short poems like that. Easier than a long poem to understand, easier than a long poem to subject your friends to.

One more thing I wanted to mention in this random collection of thoughs for the day: I'm a huge fan of facebook's new bookshelf application. Normally I think facebook is mostly stupid, but I love books and I love knowing what my friends are reading.

I also love the sticker application, which I suppose ties in with loving short, easy-to-understand poems. Check out bustedtees.com to a bunch of funny t-shirts, akin to the funny stickers.

Revolving Resolve

I've already shot ahead on resolution #3 (though I'm seriously lacking in resolution #1). Today I asked a few coworkers if they'd like to go to a jazz bar tonight after work. Fun! Social! Instigated by yours truly!

Actually, I'm pretty pumped about it. I like jazz (it was pretty much the only good music you could go out to hear in Oswego, and though I'd like to debate myself on that, [reference Thursdays? at Old City], I'm not going to--reference the guy who was good at Old City playing jazz on Wednesdays at King Arthurs) , and I like bars--it seems a perfect combination.

So I'm doing well on resolution 3, but not so well on 1. As a matter of fact, I'm failing dismally. Today I'm being callous about a sick coworker, and I've only let that abate because I don't have to cover her class after all. I was about to start teaching it when Matt walked into the room and said, Why are you teaching this, I'm her sub... So we rock-paper-scissored and he got stuck with it. Sweet!

And I'm being additionally callous about some friends that I'm trying to drop here because I just don't like them that much and no matter how often I say something isn't appropriate, they don't adjust or even filter themselves when around me, so forget that. I think I'm doing the right thing but that's pretty much the definition of callous.

I do have one more New Year's Resolution to make. Resolution #5: Buy friends things. I have plenty of money, I have generous impulses, but I end up spending a lot of money at the bar and I don't even know where it goes. So I'm going to make some headway on that as soon as possible. Maybe you'll be the next to feel the benefit!

Right now, I'm going to get another cup of coffee (which tends to assist me in all of my resolutions), then either prep for my classes--yeah right-- or go to the paper store--probably not-- or look up a couple books that my friends might like receiving.

Peace!

Teacher? Student?

One of the good things about teaching that they don't really tell you about beforehand is that you actually learn a lot. I'm here to teach English but I'm learning about:
-the history of soccer (there didn't used to be rules and whole towns would play, throughout the whole town--sometimes, people died, so it was banned by 3 different monarchs. Unsuccessfully. And we think we have sports that surpass it).
-continental drift through reading units with the kids.
-incentives and how to manipulate the will of others through communing with the authoritarian within myself.

Mostly, I've learned more than I want to about that last one, and I have pretty good classes this semester so I'm getting back to focusing on things like the first two. This semester is making me feel like, yeah, I might want to have kids some day, after all.

That's this semester so far, anyway. Here's to sweet kids who turn into devils when they realize I'm a pretty nice guy.