Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in situationnormal's LiveJournal:

Friday, July 13th, 2007
6:35 pm	Arles! Arles! Where is my ear! I just remembered I actually have an account so I probably should use it occassionally.  I even remembered my password.  Currently doing a bit of a Europe tour with J___.  London was almost a blast.  Too bad J___ couldn't see Phantom on Haymarket Street, but glad we avoided the trouble the night before.  Saw half a dozen other shows.  Then it was a week in Verbier thanks to Les Elfes International.  Let's hear it for grand prize raffle winners.  (On somewhat unrelated news I won the grand cash prize at the company X-Mas party for the second year in a row.  They like me!  They really like me!)  Now we're touring around France.  Same direction as the cyclists, but we do have a bit of a headstart.  We'll see them in Paris.  Internet access in Europe is dreadfully expensive so I'm going to sign off before they claim our firstborn child. (Hey this LJ stuff isn't that hard.  I should do it more often.) (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, January 29th, 2006
9:38 pm	Fireworks Xinnian kuaile! Fireworks have been blanketing the sky for well over 24 hours now. The new year itself came about eighteen hours ago, and I marked it while deep in slumber. I probably would have been more festive if I hadn't just missed two days of work with a fever and viral bronchitis. I still feel pretty lousy and my voice is only returning now, but the weather: now that's beautiful. Didn't even need the heat on today. It seems I only post when I have something to complain about. I guess that's true to a certain extent, but I think I do an ok job of posting upbeat entries as well; still, there's always room to improve. Let's see if I can be a better blogger in the year of the dog. I hope all of you have a good lunar new year and I miss all of you guys who are right in the middle of VeriCon right now. I'll need stories and pictures. Current Mood: sick Current Music: "Life" - Our Lady Peace (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, December 29th, 2005
4:31 pm	62: Vietnamese Education System II That was both random and annoying. I think I'll just finish up the DMZ tour by saying that although the driver was laughably horrid, the trip was well worth it. That night I had dinner with TLC as is my wont at the Stop & Go Cafe, which is owned and operated by this gorgeous 61 year-old Vietnamese Man, who is a cross between UnderSiege-era Steven Seagal and Pat Morita. Among the specialties sampled were make-your-own spring rolls and rice pancakes. After dinner, I taught them how to play the card game 64. Aside: 64 is a trick-based card game similar to Spades or Bridge only there is no trump suite and you play without a partner. The scoring system brutally smacks you for four whenever your bid is off, while only rewarding you with twice your bid when it is correct. Hand size cycles from three to thirteen and then back down. The game ends when someone reaches 64 points. My Mom has gotten both the highest (forty-something) and lowest (minus fifty-something) scores I've seen, and I've never played a game to completion. The "winner" normally has around fifteen points. The game wound up taking the normal course that evening with L___ claiming victory. When I was typing yesterday I was fairly drenched because that morning I had just returned from a motor-bike tour through the country-side around Hue. It rained the whole time. It was still bloody cool. Minh was leading the group and he knew his stuff; he led us around and showed us where all the best shots were; he even told us that we shouldn't pay to go into one of the royal tomb sites because there was nothing inside other than the outside of the tomb (he took us to a good vantage point so we could take pictures of that); he also had a strange (unhealthy) fixation with banana and coconut jokes (but then his sister often attracts brain-dead tourists by facetiously offering free men and women). We went back to Stop & Go for a similar dinner and game of cards. Good stuff. L___ wound up with -56 this time (she lost hard). Then we stopped by a local discotheque - wait you want to know who won? T__ did. Guess what he scored. No further comment. The discotheque was notable for two reasons: first, the DJ was surprisingly good; second, there were about 30 security guards watching over 60 patrons max. The bus ride to Hoi An this morning was even more painful than the DMZ car trip. Vietnamese apparently are very good at driving motor bikes but can't handle four wheels. And, in closing I would like to sing the praises of the Vietnamese education system. Its children are truly blessed to have such a plethora of opportunities to practice filing out of school. During our cross country DMZ trip we saw countless schools of all shapes and sizes (far more than one would think), and the only time we saw the students doing anything other than leaving the school was the one time we passed a school and the students were at recess. I've approximated their schedule to be the following: 09:00 - Time to leave school by bike and foot. 09:30 - Time to leave school by bike and foot. 10:25 - Time to leave school by bike and foot. 11:00 - Time to leave school by bike and foot. 12:20 - Recess. 13:40 - Time to leave school by bike and foot. 14:30 - Time to leave school by bike and foot. The only thing that still puzzles me is when they arrive at school so that they can leave again. If anyone has any ideas let me know. Current Mood: curious Current Music: "Slither" - Velvet Revolver (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 28th, 2005
2:22 am	Vietnamese Education System Just as last winter in Thailand I waited too long to book one of my overnight trips, I waited too long to reserve a spot on a soft sleeper and so I wound up on a dreaded coach. Sure it's cheaper, but anyone who has traveled in Southeast Asia can tell you that the savings are rarely worth it. Still, I survived. Hue is an old capital city, but within the city limits only the "citadel" (the old imperial palace) is a real draw, and I saw it the same day I arrived. Not that they didn't have more important things to worry about, but the palace is ridiculously run down and mildew-y (the second is forgivable I suppose, since it seems true of even the newest buildings). The Cafe on Thu Wheels is located right across the alley from where I'm staying and I have to say I feel pretty lucky as it is the quintecential back-packers' haunt with all the best deals on food and travel. Thu runs the cafe and her brother Minh handles the tours. Yesterday I traveled with T__, C_____, and L___ (I'm just going to call them TLC for the rest of this trip.) to the DMZ, which is to the north of Dong Ha. The trip took forever (literally) because our driver was incompetent; the speedometer barely made it over 60 km/h the entire trip and most of the time it was under 40 km/h (everyone was passing him); he didn't really know where he was going (good thing there was another car with an experienced driver in it); he had a tendency to slow down as he tried to pass cars (on the flip side, he won every game of chicken he played); he didn't speak any English. It was one of the most amusing car rides I've ever taken. We wound up visiting the Truong Son National Cemetary, which everybody should visit yet it isn't even on the standard bus tours for Westerners; then we crossed the Ben Hai River, which is the middle of the DMZ; then we took a tour through the Vin Mohk tunnels; and finally saw a blasted church. I'm being kicked out of the hole-in-the-wall internet cafe I'm in, so I'll be back to finish this later. Current Mood: wet Current Music: "Sympathy for the Devil" - Rolling Stones (Comment on this)
Sunday, December 25th, 2005
1:03 pm	Warm Winter Wishes Merry Christmas everyone! Kayaking in Ha Long ("Descending Dragon") Bay was incredible; although I will admit that it would have been even better if it was a little warmer. I wound up going with a Handspan group (Bloody expensive, but they actually provide spray skirts and the like.) and stayed in bungalows on an island beach. The coolest place we went was through a cave that led into a small lagoon. Strangely, I managed to bump into T__ and C____ again - they were on a different (lesser) tour - and I think we'll hook up in Hue to tour the old DMZ; I'm catching an overnight bus down tonight (I waited too long to get a soft-sleeper berth on a train). I need to go find food. Current Mood: festive Current Music: "Dirty Harry" - Gorillaz (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 21st, 2005
5:44 pm	Hanoi Star II Singapore was a success. It was good to see eclectician again (and having him as a tour guide was a definite plus). The food was pretty spectacular all around; particularly the scrumptious feast his mom whipped up for me my first night there. As for the sights, I think the coolest thing I saw was actually a temporary exhibit hosted in the lobby of the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). It documented all the major building projects since independence (1965) in a variety of sectors including public housing. Also the game of Space Hulk we played yesterday was cool. My genestealers would surely have obliterated his space marine terminators if our conflict hadn't been cut short prematurely. Curses. Vietnam is something else. As I was cabbing it into the old quarter, I saw quite a few farmers working the fields right on the outskirts of the city; the fields ran smack-dab into the it. I'm not sure whether it was my trip to the URA yesterday or not, but I found the standard building plan in Hanoi to be really cool. Almost all of the buildings are two to four stories tall and ridiculously thin, they often have covered patios on the roof, and they are right next to each other. C____, who I bumped into (along with T__ and L___ of course), filled me in that property taxes were solely determined by the width of the lot along the street. I'm sure the result wasn't intended, but in terms of relatively modern architecture, it is the most distinctive regional style that I've come across. I just signed up for a kayaking trip around part of Ha Long Bay for Friday and Saturday, but I'm still debating a Sapa excursion. I went with the premier trekking group for the kayaking, since it's been universally recommended. However, it's bloody expensive relative to everyone else. So, I've already spent a wad of cash, plus temperatures are dropping rapidly and the trip I really want to take can only be booked privately by groups; should I just wait on Sapa until next time? I'm going to sleep on it. I've finished Memoirs of a Geisha and Dinner for Two; I'm holding off on reports until I get back to unlimited internet in Shanghai. Current Mood: mellow Current Music: "Mr. Brightside" - The Killers (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, December 17th, 2005
10:07 pm	Blind Writers Oh, hey! Haven’t seen you in a while. Yeah, well you know how it is. Yeah, yeah; I’m busy; you’re busy; I’ve learned to love the semicolon; you’re wearing one ugly tie; I’m never going to use a period again… (Apparently I’m fine with ellipses though; I wonder what that means?) Ok, I give up. I’m no Virginia Woolf; I have too much Hemingway in me to stop using full-stops period. As always, these things seem to work like switching from manual to short burst to full automatic; I’m going to try to delay the last transition indefinitely. Chakka-chakka-chakka. ( Books: I read them; I talk about them: here. ) I was going to talk about winning 8000RMB at the company winter party last Saturday (it doubled as the 10th anniversary party) or maybe how I need to get up insanely early to catch a flight to Singapore tomorrow to hang out with eclectician for a few days before jetting off to Hanoi, but – oh yeah – I need to get up insanely early. Sorry, I’m weak. Current Mood: excited Current Music: "Gone Daddy Gone" - Violent Femmes (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, November 18th, 2005
6:43 pm	The Reverse Blade I wasn't feeling so hot after work, so I decided to skip the gym and just go home after running a few errands. By chance, I stopped by the local crackhou...erm...DVD shop to check to see if there were good copies of Serenity, Good Night, and Good Luck, Capote, A History of Violence etc. in yet. There weren't. I was about to leave even more down than I arrived, when my a couple of new anime box sets caught my eye. Could it be? Kenshin? After all this time? I still didn't let myself get too excited, because often anime DVDs in China are bad make-shift bootlegs or bootlegs of exclusively Chinese releases, either way their wouldn't be English. I was hopeful as I reached up because the boxes actually had heft to them and there was a unified design aesthetic, including asymmetrical slip cases. There was no English on the box, but there was also no Japanese, other than on the title, so that's another good sign that it wasn't a Photoshop hack-job, but actually a second of a Chinese release. Now I just had to build up the courage to scan down the slip case to the subtitle portion and check to see if..."zhong ying zimu"! And he shoots....and scores! The case claimed that it had both Chinese and English subtitles, and since the case actually looked legit...Still I double-checked with the attendant. He quickly confirmed what I already knew and then asked whether I liked the series (I must have been glowing like a giddy school girl). I told him that in my opinion the second season was excellent while the first was merely very good. I bounced home. I'm going to some gardens in Suzhou tomorrow with some friends, and then hopefully I'll catch a Polish production of "Taming of the Shrew" if I get back in time. Although, I'm still not sure if they're going to use a Polish translation or whether they'll stick with Billy's original script. The former would be amusing. Anyway, early day tomorrow and all that, what. But...but...Kenshin. Current Mood: bouncy Current Music: "All in the Suit That You Wear" - Stone Temple Pilots (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, November 6th, 2005
5:53 pm	The butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker ( This one is way too long ) Current Mood: groggy Current Music: "Welcome to the Jungle" - Guns N' Roses (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 18th, 2005
9:24 pm	That's pathetic, son... Stationary Bike June 2005: 40 mins at resistance level 14; 5 mins to build to 120 RPM October 2005 - Today: 30 mins at resistance level 6; 20 mins to build to 90 RPM I'm not even going to mention what I was lifting. Too embarrassing. On the bright side, I haven't gained that much fat, so at least I won't have to deal with extra stress on my frame until I build back up to it. I do look like a skeleton in the mirror. I can count ribs. Also, I'm still on a killer endorphin high. Current Mood: determined Current Music: "Not an Addict" - Fiona Apple (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, October 16th, 2005
11:05 am	Four little books were jumping on the bed… I’ll attempt to keep spoilers to a minimum. ( Book Reports ) Current Mood: peaceful Current Music: "I Love Rock and Roll" - Joan Jett (Comment on this)
Monday, October 10th, 2005
10:49 am	School Report Why I love to travel. By situationnormal, Grade 18 Smeared against a bus window I witness the last drops of rain shake from the clouds. Next stop Kyoto Botanical Gardens. Hopping off the bus I jam the ill-fitting stereo buds back into my ears (The right one still hurts and the left one still falls out.). Confirm that my sense of direction is still impeccable and head off under a tree covered lane. The place is empty like a cookie tray at a kindergarten party, but I buy my entrance ticket and begin my counterclockwise circumnavigation. The camera bounces in and out of my jeans, playing chicken with water from the pregnant overgrowth, while stealing photos of blushing roses. After the last chord of the Cake cover of “I Will Survive” fades into kicked up dew, Trent starts whispering in my ear about how he hurt himself the other day. He hits the right groove for a melancholy lunch hour on a rain soaked “capital city” day. A couple of septuagenarian natives stroll by arm in arm. Over sixty - get in free. I don’t think I was singing along; at least not out loud. Crazy gaijin. ******* There’re more words here, just not tonight. Vacation was good and wet. Just about every reading of the last sentence applies. Got through Things Fall Apart and Of Love and Other Demons - enjoyed both a great deal - book reports on those two, as well as I am Legend and The Snow Queen, to follow. Recently returned home from a huge Japanese birthday feast for one of the coolest bosses ever. This, the day after celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving in style with buddies in Hongqiao. Clearly, I go where the food is. I have to supervise the first student council meeting of the year tomorrow morning so that means getting to school thirty minutes early. Only reason I’m still up is the cake in the oven for J___’s birthday party at Zapata’s tomorrow. It would suck to burn it now - so sleep waits. Current Mood: contemplative Current Music: "Voodoo Child" - Jimi Hendrix (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, September 24th, 2005
11:08 am	Control their minds, control their bodies... I'm in a weird place right now. I was up until four or five this morning hanging out. The first time I've been able to do that since the house party earlier this year. My folks called at 10:30 local time, which is about when they normally track me down. Usually I'm up far before that. Truth is I was up today, otherwise I wouldn't have even heard the phone, which is clear across my apartment. Light rather than sound is the most effective way of depriving me of sleep and I went all last year without finding some way to cover the portal window I have in my bedroom, so it's rare that I sleep past 9:00. I was trying today, but no such luck, and my parents' call drove the point home. So, I'm up. I feel pretty awake. I'm definitely sleep deprived. Need to take a nap later. Turns out I finished off a cold pizza this morning when I got home. Explains the rancid morning breath. Still in my white oxford, glad to see I managed to kick the jeans off. A couple days ago, sandmantv sent me a couple of emails in short succession. The first was about normal day-to-day stuff. Then he felt the need to send a one-line follow-up: Btw, you heard the badnews re: catholicism? No, I hadn't. I just know everyone waits with baited breath for news from the new guy, or maybe that's just me. Think I already mentioned how funny it was that he chose the menace of Harry Potter to target as his first major news-cycle push. I'm being unfair, because it was more an issue of what was picked up stateside. Now for an encore he dives right in. On one hand I have to hand it to him. He is apparently ambitious. Very ambitious. I'm curious as to what he thinks he will accomplish. I haven't read up on the subject, and I certainly haven't seen the document in question since it has yet to be released. I have to think this is being used as an attempt to answer the sexual abuse question. I'm listening to Who's Next right now, and "Behind Blue Eyes" just came on. From "Teenage Wasteland" to this, one would think I picked the album on purpose, but I wasn't even planning to write when I put it on. The Who were remarkable. I was listening to London Calling yesterday and thinking the same thing about The Clash. And Duran Duran, later, for that matter. So, he clearly didn't get the best advice on the issue if that was his intent. Or, he just didn't listen. I feel fairly certain, that being gay does not make you a pedophile. Could be wrong, but it just hasn't been the case with any of the gay men I know. Purely anecdotal evidence, mind you. My man Benedict does have the insider info, the fast track. Then again, there have certainly been a significant number of members of his country club that have thrown that whole infallible-by-office thing out the window. Sad and tired. Don’t know what I can or should say about it. I am normally in favor of sticking to principles, but I’m not sure if I can stand idly by as the good Bishop of Rome shoots himself in the foot and then starts helping everyone else in the room lose their feet, too. But, my dreams - they aren’t as empty, as my conscience seems to be. Current Mood: awake Current Music: "Teenage Wasteland" - The Who (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 20th, 2005
10:28 pm	Jack be nimble Forsooth, in olden days of yore, when men were men, and alfalfa sprouts were carrots. A young man made a solemn vow to uphold the law, protect and serve, make cheese pastries and update a Living Journal every week. The young man shortly forswore himself and ran himself upon the pike of sloth and bootleg DVDs. He died. We're going to go with bullet points here, otherwise I'm going to be completely screwed. However, I'm also delusional, so I shall consider each of these to be a full post and there is little you can do to convince me otherwise. Fools. ( ”Six-shooter" ) Current Mood: tired Current Music: "Last Living Souls" - Gorillaz (Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 31st, 2005
1:55 pm	D&D Confusion Yeah, yeah, I need to update. Well, guess what else I need to do? Set up my bloody classroom. Write lesson plans. Buy groceries. Get my IC hooked up. Find an Endocrinologist. I'll stop there. The reason I'm posting is because that D&D meme Kaitlin posted has me confused, and as I promised earlier I shall evaluate all memes I see, or at least those that interest me. ( Read more... ) So let me know if my confusion is justified... Current Mood: shocked Current Music: "Machine Head" - Bush (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, August 22nd, 2005
2:39 pm	Straight Up Nostalgia So I was cruising with my girlfriends the other day, and who came on the radio? Why Miss Paula Abdul. I was like "Oh My Gawd!" and my girlfriends were like "Oh My Gawd!" And then a huge semi ran us over and the lamer didn't even stop. And a fly landed on my nose and I couldn't flick it away because my hand was flat as a panca- Gah! That's why nostalgia is so damn dangerous, but I don't care. I'm man enough to admit both that I know very little about 80's girl-talk other than what I learned from HEATHERS and FAST TIMES, and that when I was an 8 year-old roller rink aficionado, Miss Paula's admonishment to "Straight up now tell me do you really want to love me forever?" was the soundtrack to my roller skating soul. Well, along with such knock-out hits as the B-52's "Love Shack," which promised that the titular abode was just "a little old place where we can get to-ge-e-e-ther." Oh how those post-disco devils played games with my poor little adolescent heart. Fortunately I have been able to put most of that behind me. At this point all I remember of Paula is the hair. Oh God, the hair! But, then while I was driving home late Saturday night, what did I hear, but the opening cords of "Straight Up." I thought I had put it behind me but apparently I am actually still a little girl inside just as lowellboyslash always suspected. Also, I should mention that I haven't forgotten the Q&A meme, I've just been extremely lazy. I actually have a series of posts to make in order to catch up, but I'm going to do them separately, or at least separately from this. I fear that the taint would be too great otherwise. Current Mood: nostalgic Current Music: "Straight Up" - Paula Abdul (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, August 13th, 2005
3:04 pm	A new career as a critic... Now I can start doing all these stupid meme quizzes. Yay. ( Tasty meme ) Current Mood: mellow Current Music: "Brian Wilson" - Barenaked Ladies (Comment on this)
Friday, August 12th, 2005
5:05 pm	Dudley Moore and Hugh Grant were walking in a park... So, my hair has been becoming increasingly unruly and I couldn't put off the barber any longer. I asked for something that would still be longish and something that would wear well over the course of several months, since one of the few things Shanghai still lacks is a hairdresser who can deal with curly hair. I wound up with what appears to be a fop. Current Mood: bemused Current Music: "Faith" - George Michael (Comment on this)
1:44 pm	Days Late, Dollars Short Meme time. My one concern is that I won't have enough peanut butter, what? Actually, this is a little house-warming exercise to introduce people to my LJ so they know it's here. That means pass the word. I'm stuck in Naples for two extra weeks so I need something to do. ( meme ) Current Mood: thoughtful Current Music: "Jesus of Suburbia" - Green Day (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 10th, 2005
11:47 am	OMFG!!!! First!!! So, I was planning on starting this formally when I arrived in China next week, but something has come up that might delay that so I figured I might as well go ahead and share the message that I sent to my boss. And just because I know how my folks are acting right now, I want to stress that I really am fine - It was a weird, potentially dangerous, experience that I wouldn't want to repeat anytime soon - but I really am fine. Anyway, here it is: ( Missive ) As you can see, it's just a little thyroid issue. It is the first time I can remember that I had an IV so that was a really interesting situation. And by "interesting" I want to make clear that I mean "Annoying as Hell." It obviously didn't hurt, but I hate being tied to that bloody pump. On the plus side, hospital beds are awesome. Since I've started this now, I figure I'll stick up that meme that's been going around later today. Only fair after all. Current Mood: recumbent Current Music: "Open Road Song" - Eve6 (8 Comments |Comment on this)