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.

Hypocrite with a Cushy Job

Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress was hilarious. I seriously recommend picking it up at your local library. (Here I'm being hypocritical--I haven't even set foot in the Suji dosagwan, and it's right across the street from my apartment building.)

I've been putting some thought into the kind of work I might hope to start when I'm through with my contract in August. So far, I see three clear options:

1. Food service. I loved catering, so that might be a good option. Though I doubt any job will ever be as cake as that one was. I've also been thinking about how important it is to me to learn how to cook more varied dishes... I might look for a job in the kitchen of some vegetarian restaurant.

2. Customer service. I'm incredibly patient, I have a wide vocabulary of subservience, and I love being behind-the-scenes.

3. Tutoring. Frankly, I'm kind of hoping to pick up some tutoring work no matter what other work I do.

The big issue is balancing my wish to live in Buffalo with my wish to support myself. Are there jobs in Buffalo? For what am I qualified? What can I get that I won't just quit after a few days?

The second biggest issue is my desire not to own a car. It would be a serious conflict of my general life philosophy if I started guzzling gas. Particularly since I think the best way to cut a lot of the impetus for war in the Middle East would be to severely reduce our dependency on gasoline.

Abalone Alimone

If you're against alimony entirely, that's one thing. (And keep in mind, alimony is completely different from child support.) But if you're not against it for the woman...can you be against it for the man?

Check out this article from the Wall Street Journal.

She gets a little snide there at the end, with her suggestion that men only use alimony to support a lavish lifestyle, aka owning lots of muscle cars. Nonetheless, it does make you think.

Is this an issue I care a lot about? No. It does, however, seem to tie into the previous conversation about abortion in some way.

I love the quote from the one woman-- "I don't understand why someone becomes your financial responsibility just because you married them..."

Even the Subtitles have Subtitles: A list of my to-be-read pile

I've been out of the USA for 7 months now. If the situation were a lot different and instead of a plane, I had taken a pregnancy test all those days ago, right now I would be a lot heavier, a lot scareder, and probably a lot more excited for the 9-month mark.

As it is, the only one that counts is the 12 month mark, when I'll be returning to the US. But in what state will the States be?

In related news, still trying to figure out who I'll vote for come November. Damn, now it looks like I'm going to have to focus on more than one issue. I haven't finished Fiasco: The American military adventure in Iraq, by Thomas E. Ricks (reference the fact that the book's dimensions are something like 1ft X 6in X 450pg), but that's not the problem. It's this economy issue. I mean, I don't really believe in the economy, but if I did, I hear I'd have to be worried. So I guess I'll go along with it, same as I went along with kneeling and eating the wafer back when my family was "Catholic."

Fiasco has intrigued me enough that I recently bought another nonfiction about war, America's Splendid Little Wars: A short histoy of U.S. engagements from the fall of Saigon to Baghdad, by Peter Huchthausen. Looks interesting--and more importantly, short.

I also bought Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress: Tales of growing up groovy and clueless, by Susan Jane Gilman. This one came highly recommended by Laurie Notaro, author of The Idiot Girl's Action Adventure Club (which I've never read). Obviously, a few interim reading projects are going to be put on hold while I digest these.

Above all, I finally got my shipment of used, cheap books from www.powells.com. I suggest you check them out--free shipping! (Not to Asia, but oh well.) Among the riches: You Are The Message by Roger Ailes, Relativity: The Special and General Theory, by Albert Einstein, and The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time, by Douglas Adams. Sadly, no explanation book for the Einstein, so I'm going to have to try to struggle through it alone first.

So I'm pretty much drowning in unread books, and I therefore can't be spending any more time listing them.

Down The Drain

When I think hard about money (which happens about twice a month, first when I wire money home and then again when I'm dolling that money out to pay my debts), I sometimes wonder how all this work I'm doing is going to look, down the line. Will I be able to buy a house with greater ease, all because I paid off my college debt quickly? Or am I going to be SOL because of that one time I made a late payment on my credit card?

It's times like those that I really appreciate Liz Pulliam Weston, MSN's money blogger.

Actually, I'll be honest--I never think about her at those times. I never think about the future either, unless it's to bask in the idea of being debt-free in a few months. (Only with hopes to go back to school and get that debt right back... I mean, it's been my constant companion for almost five years now, who wouldn't miss it?) When I do think about Liz Pulliam Weston is when I'm considering my credit score, which is usually just after I've logged out of hotmail and one of her articles catches my eye. I keep meaning to check my own credit score for free, because I really would like to know how much that late payment set me back. I've had credit cards for five years, so have I been developing good credit? One of my friends told me that you have to mess up your credit before they start keeping score--sounds stupid, but who am I to say?

The point is, if you've somehow missed out on Liz Pulliam Weston before this, I think she's pretty helpful. Not that I know whether she's full of it or not--she's just a handy resource to do that first bit of learning you need to get you moving.