August 18th, 2017

So hot.  Please remind me when I fall into the "Taiwan is a good place to live" trope, usually around January/February when the weather has been tolerable, that this place totally sucks from May to October?

This past week was all about Midnight Oil.  As a refresher...they haven't toured since 2002 and their run through the States this go around missed our visit by that much, so was delighted when they announced an Asian date on their world tour.  Of course Taiwan wasn't on the agenda, but Singapore is only 5 hours away by plane and not too pricey with budget airlines, so this became a top priority for the annual rock and roll pilgrimage.

Since Betty and the Boy are in Charlottesville, had to make it quick as Babydoll is in school.  We have a 22 year old cousin of Betty's living with us this summer, so there was adult supervision.  Wanted to fly in that day, see the show and bail out as soon as possible.  The flight out of Singapore the next day was 9am, so not too bad, but the only one to get me there before show time was a plane that left at 10 past midnight.  Apparently, budget airlines aren't so hot at updating delays, and when I arrived promptly 2 hours before the flight, learned that it was delayed and wouldn't leave until 2:40AM.

Quick tangent...why do people have so many kids then suck at parenting?  Waiting in the (long) line to check in, am near this family (not Chinese), and they are a swirling mass of chaos.  First noticed them when the mom, complete with huge ass, cuts perpendicular through the line, which had turned snake like on itself four times, to get to her brood.  The next 30 minutes, all of the clan, their total number still unknown cause they were a blur, but at least 5 kids, were in and out of line in all directions, crashing into people and things while on their phones, talking nonsense, while the parents were either pretending not to notice, or were just oblivious.  It culminates with one of their precious offspring crashing into one of those line dividers, the kind that will unzip like an evil tape measure when undone, and whacks the frailest of old Taiwanese ladies.  Not even an acknowledgment or apology from any of them.  We're all on the same plane and when they get on board (at 2:30am mind you), every single one of them bangs the other passengers with their gear as they go down the aisle like the stewardess with her guitar from Airplane

What are you gonna do?  Vasectomy's are painless and cheap...

One more tip for the airport for ya.  When you get your boarding pass, put it in your passport in the page with your picture and info.  At every security checkpoint, I get behind the guy who hands it over like he is Sir Walter Raleigh and it takes several  precious seconds while the checker dude/chick has to find the page.  Multiply that by 150 passengers and we'd all get to where we want to go that much faster no?  Go one step further and had it over to them open.  Why does this kinda stuff bug me so much?  And who the hell is Sir Walter Raleigh?

Hit Singapore at 7am and the show is at 8pm.  Luckily, Singapore has a great airport which has a couple of decent transit hotels you can book to stay for a few hours to freshen up/snooze between flights.  Got one for 7 hours, took a long sleep and even jumped in their pool.  Very nice.

The show was on the other side of town, but the metro went directly from the airport to the venue. What hits you as you engage with the population is the racial diversity.  Tons of Asians, Indians and westerners, hijabs and sideways baseball caps, all sharing the same spaces equally.   Had been to Singapore before so didn't need to sight see, and am sure I detailed how great the place is on that visit, but the place really is fantastic.  Extremely well planned and clean, interesting architecture,  food options galore, and everyone speaks English.  The venue was in a new development where the theatre was on the 5th floor of a mall that had cuisine of all kinds.  And nice shopping...like a converse store and super hip musical instrument shop.  Stepped into that to touch the guitars, and of course, the guitar players from Midnight Oil were in there checking it out too.  Now am obviously a huge fanboy and so cannot approach them cause I'd be all 'love you man'.

The venue, called the Star Theatre, was 5000 seats and very tasteful for a new facility.  Was on-line to get tix at the opening bell and found a seat in the second row.  A handicapped one so there was no one between me and the stage.  Pretty happy with myself at this point

Another solo attendee sits next to me and we share Oils stories...she was about my age from Australia and we talked about our kids and travels.  Even for one that hates talking to strangers, it was quite nice.  We both shared a love of Sri Lanka as being a hidden gem to visit.  She is planning to retire there.

We also talk about Singapore and specifically...will the crowd get up and rush the stage?  Even though it is almost exclusively Aussies in attendance, the reputation of Singaporean authorities love of order may rule the day.

Forgive me if I repeat myself for a minute, but I love Midnight Oil.  They were massive in Australia suring my exchange student year there in 1983 (Men At Work had taken over the world at the time, but they were a bit of a joke 'Down Under')  Their best album (in my and many people's opinion) 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 came out late in '82 and they were playing stadiums in Australia at the time.  Fell in love with that disc at first listen and our love for each other has only grown since.   Still the best show I ever saw was them in DC in the Spring of '84 at the tiny Bayou in Georgetown, and have seen them every chance I got since...so at least a dozen times.  Still, I know of no one in my circle that is even remotely in love with them as I.  Would talk folks into going to the shows with me, but have found it hard to convert or even talk about them without people  either rolling their eyes or saying that they are too political.

Political is an understatement.  9 out of 10 political songs is not fair.  They have 5 tunes out of a couple hundred that aren't protesting something or other.  And not just protesting...hardcore name checking racism or corporate greed.  They famously drove a flatbed tractor trailer in front of Exxon HQ in NYC after the Valdez and rocked 5th Ave.  Whatever...I never come to music for lyrics anyway.  It is the power and fury of the music that drew me in.  Most people identify the singer as the huge bald guy that dances unlike anyone you've ever seen.  The bass player is rock solid and the drummer is as frenetic and driving as they make 'em, but it is the twin guitar assault that is the signature sound for me and I bought my seat to be in front of the one (Jim Moginie) that is the genius (in my opinion) of the band. 

They sound like no one else, and I was thinking of who to compare them to and came up with U2.  The predate them and bet that U2 wishes they could not only rock as hard as the Oils, but that they had the cajones to take a stand without fear of alienating their base.  I like U2, they put on a pretty show and girls seem to like them, but in this seasoned observers view, Midnight Oil is on another level.

So they come out and launch into Redneck Wonderland.  Blistering, and no one moves from their seat.  I am literally on the edge of mine ready to pounce and see the bouncers in front with arms folded.  C'mon people.  Peter Garret (the vocalist and chief provocateur) says that "we're a dance band", and we all make our move.  I step right up in front to Jim's monitor and pedals and get my ears (face/mind/soul) blown for the next two hours.

A great set (you can see the song list here).  Took some snaps...such an amazing night.

That's my water bottle...posed it for context.  Such an auteur...

Not that I need to defend my rock bona fides, but after the show, metro-ed it back to the airport, found some quiet corner and slept on the floor until it was time to board the plane back to TPE. 

One more airport observation...is it just me, or does every arriving flight disembark at the gate furthest from customs?

August 13th, 2017

Quick drop to weigh in on Charlottesville.  Have received several notes voicing concern on the Boy heading there to go to school, and Betty said my mom, dedicated Fox News devotee that she is, called her freaking out about it. 

While the deaths that happened today are alarming, have no fear for him.  I don't recall everything I put in this space, and rarely go back cause I'd guess some of it is cringe worthy, but know that a detailing of the thought process that went into his going there was discussed.  It came down to a coin flip between a school in Boston and UVA, and while UVA was a superior choice, Northeastern had some very appealing pros.  Their work study year and that he had a few friends going to NE were big draws.

In my mind, and in much of the advice from the people he sought out in the process, the fact that UVA is located on the southern side of the Mason-Dixon line and Virginia is a swing state offers an opportunity to be part of the real discussion (and hopefully the real solution) as to what is dividing the country.  That it would soon, like the next week, become ground zero in the fight for the soul of America was just happenstance.

I don't fear for his safety.  Well maybe a little.  But I truly hope he gets out there and lends his voice and presence to the right side of history.  That he engages in discussions around the lunch table to share his experiences of living in a foreign culture, of knowing Muslims and people of color so as to lessen the demonization of the "other" and to encourage others by example to search out the good while looking for ways to narrow our divide.

 My university years were spent living in Washington DC entirely under the Reagan administration, and while it was hardly as divisive a time as it is now, the lines were clear.  We stood outside the South African embassy to protest apartheid and we debated long into the night/morning the merits of trickle down economics.  We thought we were changing the world and maybe in some ways we did.

That Boy-o is walking into this space at this time in history is so fortuitous.  Not to put too much pressure, but we're all counting on you.

August 11th, 2017

Hey there.

Some of us made it back to Taipei this week.  Babydoll started her Freshman year of High School on Thursday and I brought her back.  The Boy and Betty stayed in the States as she is gonna take him back to move into his dorm in a week or so.

This is the start of our 6th year in Taiwan.  Funny that no one asks us about it anymore on our visits, and have nothing much new to say about it anyway.  Most of the conversations when meeting up with friends took the same track; before we delved into whatever happened in the past year, there would be a feeling out about how fucked up the current administration is.  Realized this was so we could determine if anyone was an (insert your term here), and once it was found to be safe harbor, we could move on to playing 'do you remember?" and hear about the status of our lives.

After 5 years of posting in this space, felt that I have exhausted every euphemism and description as to how miserably hot it is.  Nothing can prepare one for stepping into this shit in August after being away for a couple months.  The heat followed us unrelentingly on our trip to the States. Will go into some events in later posts, but we (literally) burnt our asses at a baseball game in Oakland, cursed my father-in-law for not having a tree near his plot for shade as we visited his grave site in LA, hid as best we could from triple digit temps for a week straight in the DMV (DC/Maryland/Virginia), and Seattle experienced some of their highest temps on record along with air quality that prevented us from seeing Rainer even once.  Some massive brush fires in British Colombia made the air a choking soup.  Still, at no point did  any of the heat we felt this summer compare to what is going on here.  Two days before we got here, they recorded the highest temperature ever, and it has barely lowered since.  Official temps in the low hundreds, but the "real feel" each day has hit 115 for the better part of the afternoon.  And the nights "feel" never goes below 90.  Looking ahead, the same is predicted as far as the forecast allows.  Miserable and painful.  

Add the inevitable brain scramble a complete flip of the clock has on circadian rhythms, and am simply not capable of rational thought, so am anticipating this space will be a bit disjointed for the next few weeks.  Enjoy the train wreck that ensues.

Will try to disseminate the funny things that happened last couple of months later on, and next week will be all about Midnight Oil, who I am going to see in Singapore next Wednesday, but want to share one thing today.

This trip, we spent most of it in SF watching my mom, and the dog that I mentioned last time, so we had limited Seattle time.  We were able to see (almost) everyone precisely one time, usually for some fabulous food.  Since our time with folks was limited to a few hours, got to tell my stories over and over in almost performance art style.  Near the end of our time, I went to Portland for a couple of days/nights of rock and roll at a festival there called Pickathon (where they naturally had searing temps).  The Boy has a "special" friend living down there and he took the opportunity to go see her by driving down with me.  The family he visited  just moved back to the States from Taiwan and we arranged to all have brunch on Sunday before I headed out to the shows.  We had a great meal (at the Screen Door...if you're in PDX, check it out).  But at the end of the meal, realized that I was not gonna see Paul again before he starts university and wouldn't get together again until Christmas.

We hugged it out and said 'smell you later'.  If you know me at all, am not an overly emotional character.  But as I was driving away, felt kinda weird.  Not sad or weepy, but more confused.  When we reconvened with friends in Seattle and I was telling my tales, tried to add the 'saying goodbye to your eldest' into the routine.  I couldn't get a sentence out before getting choked up and bailing on the premise.  As I write this, am getting that same feeling in the back of my throat.  Am totally jealous of him...he seems smart, has an attitude towards life that I envy, and is embarking on an experience where the world is open to him.  I do not say this cause he is my boy, nor do I take any credit for his character, but he is simply a good guy.  

June 30th, 2017

Wasn't planning on posting for the summer, but need to share.  As you recall, came to Palo Alto this summer and we're staying here for a month.  My sister had plans to take a trip to South Africa for several weeks and we came to watch her dog (Ollie) and keep an eye on my mom.  Pretty uneventful so far...first took mom to Vegas for a couple nights and then settled into a routine with the dog and house siting.  Must say that apartment life has its advantages.  Watering plants, taking out the many trash bins and all the other pleasantries of home responsibility are overrated.

Walking the dog has been fun though and makes me want one.  His hour and a half walk in the morning fits with my routine and other than a taste for cat poop, he is a pleasure.  Having a dog that loves to eat cat poop is like having a close (male) friend that loves Coldplay.  You still love them unconditionally, but it throws into question every personal decision they make cause ultimately, it's shit.   Even don't mind the 30 minute evening stroll as the weather is so delightful.  Yesterday, took my mom, Babydoll and her friend from Seattle that is visiting this week to the Korean chicken wing place (BonChon) to scratch that itch.  I got the spicy and everyone else had the glazed.  No one was injured this year.  The last time I took my mom there, her nose started bleeding in the car ride home.  The sign of a truly great wing.  We got home, fed Ollie and the girls took him out for his nightly constitutional.  They went to the park and threw the ball a few times...they reported that someone asked how old Ollie was and when they said he was 10, they were surprised as they thought he was a puppy.  They took some videos of him running and wagging and drinking from the water fountain that are classic, but can't figure out to share them at this point as this isn't my normal computer and will try when we get home.  Suffice to say, they are joyous.

We all settled into our nightly wind down activities with the girls cackling at K-Pop videos, me watching TV (the new Gong Show is fantastic) and Ollie stretched out beside me.

I got up in the morning and Ollie was downstairs when I went to start the coffee pot.  As I hit the kitchen, I stepped in something wet and saw Ollie had massively puked.  The amount of poop he produces in a day makes me envious, but paled when compared to the amount he threw up.  He was lying nearby and didn't think much of it cause he is old and am told he pukes often (I mentioned his affinity for cat poop/Coldplay, yes?)  So I cleaned up the sick and then opened the door so he could take a pee...and he didn't move.  He sorta tried but didn't.  Tried to cajole him and could then tell something was seriously wrong with his leg cause he struggled to get up and couldn't.  Again...he had a limp the other day and heard that was not uncommon, and thought maybe he pulled something.  When I tried to help him up, his back legs just wouldn't work.

I got out the house instruction sheet and looked up the vet they use.  They were to open in 10 minutes, so lifted him up fireman style and put him in the back of the SUV.  He is a big lab, would guess he is about 90 pounds, and getting them there was not easy and my respect for firemen was enhanced.

Got to the vet and they take a look at him.  The Doggie Doc threw out some possibilities (a type of canine stroke called FCE and tick paralysis) and said they would run some blood and other tests for a couple hours.  When they called back, they were still thinking it was doggy stroke but that I had to take him to a neurologist cause they just didn't know..

All the while, am communicating/talking to my sister and brother-in-law, who are in some camp in a game preserve in South Africa, via WhatsApp.  They keep saying they are sorry I have to deal and I feel awful cause I broke their dog.

We get to the specialist and their prognosis is not good.  This new doctor thinks it is something to do with his spine...an injury or tumor...as his back legs are paralyzed.  They wouldn't say it, but if I read people's faces well at all, they don't look encouraged.  They say that just to take and evaluate the MRI, it is gonna be $4000.  Not only $3000 for the MRI, but an $686 estimate for the neurologist to review the images.  Then, depending on the prognosis, it would be about $1000 a day to hospitalize him, and any procedure needed would be on top of that.  I've had similar personal experiences with a pooch, when you are looking at age, prognosis and the costs, and it is just a brutal conversation.  One of the hardest ones anyone will ever have and that you will turn over in your mind forever.  I have my sister on the phone with the doctor and the call is made to put him to sleep.

After some paperwork, they put me in a room and then brought Ollie in.  By this point, they had doped him up and he was lying there glassy eyed.  Held his head while they gave him the drugs and it was over in about 30 seconds.  In all of this, he did not cry nor did it seem that he was in pain or distress.  The same cannot be said for me and am sure that my sister and brother are feeling it.  Cannot stand being maudlin, nor is existentialism in my DNA, but I have never seen something die in front of me.  Holding his head while they pumped him first with a sedative, and then with the stuff that stopped his heart...soul crushing. 

We've no idea what happened.  He was his usual self last night and incapacitated completely by morning.  I keep running through all of the events and cannot think of anything happened that would have caused injury, but suspect that I will revisit this day in my mind forever looking for an answer.   I feel so awful.  He was a good boy...

June 3rd, 2017

Gabba Gabba Hey,

I got the video of a red/light/red traffic light.  I only took video of one light sequence and caught this gem.

Showed this to a couple people and they were not as outraged as I, but to be fair they usually aren't.  While the focus was on the light, unsurprisingly caught three traffic violations that are not immediately noticeable.  First, a truck barrels through a red light without slowing down.  Hard to tell from the angle but he doesn't even tap the brakes as he goes through the light.  To be honest, as this occurs at almost every light every time, not sure if it'd count as an infraction, but have to hope so.  The other two illegal moves are the cars that he almost hits.  They are coming out the wrong way of a one  way connector spur as they make an illegal U-turn instead of taking a minute to go down the road to the proper place to do so. .  I know I complain a lot about the drivers here, but I could take a 30 second video of any intersection and would be able to find something you'd consider road rageable in easily 1 out of 3 of them.

This is gonna be the last entry for a couple months as I head to the States on Thursday.  First to the Bay area to house/dog sit for my sister/take Mom to Vegas, then a week in the DMV (DC/Maryland/Virginia) for UVA orientation and some baseball, then a couple weeks in Seattle.  If you're not on the calendar, better reach out soon.

Am equal parts intrigued and apprehensive about this trip.  Just from watching stuff on-line, the discourse in the States these days feels toxic.  Insulated here as most expats are world wise and therefore, incredulous at the current administration, and think that my peer group in the States is overwhelmingly the same, but know that we're gonna hit some pockets of Fox News devotees along the way.  What will be different is when we take in the daily nuttiness.  As we are the complete opposite time wise from the East coast and that the scandalous reveal of the day happens while we are sleeping, every morning is like Twisted Christmas.

Not much going on around here other than Spring cleaning, getting The Boy ready for school (and prepping our new guest room...come visit), and saying so long to departing friends. Year 5 of this stupid dance and in addition to the annual migration of a  bunch of good ones, we are losing our best friends this year.  We had our last dinner with them last night, and while it was crude levity as usual, their departure, along with The Boy heading off for a life of his own, makes the prospects of life here less appealing.  That is too soft...fucking grim is what it feels like.  I know we will see them again and will fall in like so many old friends that we live far from but see every so often, but it'll never be the same.  I love those guys and my soul hurts.  Ugh.

It was Dragon Boat Festival this week and it is quite a big deal apparently.  A 4-day weekend, events all around town and caught me totally unawares.  5 years in and how have I completely missed this thing?  The answer is, and it is always the answer, the dumb ass lunar calendar.  This is as early as it gets and as we typically bug out at the end of school/first sign of flying cockroaches, have missed it previously, The Dragon Boat Festival is on the 5th pagan day of the 5th pagan month and is said to celebrate fealty and filial piety.  Had to look both those words up...fealty is subservience from vassal to lord, and filial piety is respect for ones parents/elders.  I have mixed feelings on both.

Follow-up to last weeks money talk...looked up the definition of spondulix as a slang for money, and it is an old English term that refers to a shell that used to be used as currency. Used it on a British couple the other day and while it took them a second, they knew the term.   While it is a bit clunky to say, and sounds better in an English accent, I like it and gonna try to work it in.

Follow-up on last weeks note about Paul's testimonial in the yearbook to his lunch table.  Took this at graduation...here is the table along with all his J-O buddies that called it home the last four years.

Graduation was a nice ceremony but was not an emotional roller coaster as expected/feared, mainly cause there was a 30 minute speech at the beginning that took the air out of the room.  In the original Total Recall movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger, near the end he gets deposited on the surface of Mars without his space suit and his eyes start popping out.  For those of you that love that movie, you know what I'm talking about...for the rest of you, about 55 seconds in.

It's been good times with you Boy-o...and you look really tall in these photos.

An article from HuffPo popped up in my FB this week feed about why it is hard to talk to people about our travels.  No surprises here, but reading this article makes me understand how pompous it can sound and I promise not to share unless asked. 

Finally for this semester, did you take the Myers/Briggs test I shared last week?

As for me, my measurables include being 61% extrovert to 39% introvert and  80/20 observant to intuitive, which both feel about right.  The one that hurt the most, but is both telling and obvious is that I rated as 88% judgmental against 12% "prospecting".  They make it sound better than it is..."Judging individuals are decisive, thorough and highly organized. They value clarity, predictability and closure, preferring structure and planning to spontaneity." 

You can dig really deep in the analysis and there were no surprises for me.  Where I see value is seeing other people's results as it gives insight as to how to accommodate them in ways that could be beneficial to all concerned.  If I was a boss, I'd want to have all my employees take this, but have a feeling it would be considered illegal.  For instance, knowing how I like order in my life above almost all else, you could easily play along so as to not aggravate me unnecessarily.  A good example is kitchen towels.  I have a system as to how they are put in the closet and rotated by color so that they are all used equally over time.  I have tried to explain this to Betty but can see immediately that she tunes out immediately.  It is unimportant, and ridiculous with a dusting of OCD, but it is almost a religious rite for me.  How hard would it be to humor me on kitchen towels?  Once you do, we can move onto sponge etiquette.  Knowing a person's hard wired obsessions should make it easier to understand and relate to them, and if they really rubbed you the wrong way, you could back away slowly.

For the record, I am an ESTJ personality type, which they call the Executive.  There is a lot of things in here, but will share the strengths and weaknesses below.  Tell me this doesn't describe me perfectly...

The Good?

Dedicated – Seeing things to completion borders on an ethical obligation for ESTJs. Tasks aren’t simply abandoned because they’ve become difficult or boring – people with the ESTJ personality type take them up when they are the right thing to do, and they will be finished so long as they remain the right thing to do.

Strong-willed – A strong will makes this dedication possible, and ESTJs don’t give up their beliefs because of simple opposition. ESTJs defend their ideas and principles relentlessly, and must be proven clearly and conclusively wrong for their stance to budge.

Direct and Honest – ESTJs trust facts far more than abstract ideas or opinions. Straightforward statements and information are king, and ESTJ personalities return the honesty (whether it’s wanted or not).

Loyal, Patient and Reliable – ESTJs work to exemplify truthfulness and reliability, considering stability and security very important. When ESTJs say they’ll do something, they keep their word, making them very responsible members of their families, companies and communities.

Enjoy Creating Order – Chaos makes things unpredictable, and unpredictable things can’t be trusted when they are needed most – with this in mind, ESTJs strive to create order and security in their environments by establishing rules, structures and clear roles.

Excellent Organizers – This commitment to truth and clear standards makes ESTJs capable and confident leaders. People with this personality type have no problem distributing tasks and responsibilities to others fairly and objectively, making them excellent administrators.

And the Bad...

Inflexible and Stubborn – The problem with being so fixated on what works is that ESTJs too often dismiss what might work better. Everything is opinion until proven, and ESTJ personalities are reluctant to trust an opinion long enough for it to have that chance.

Uncomfortable with Unconventional Situations – ESTJs are strong adherents to tradition and when suddenly forced to try unvetted solutions, they become uncomfortable and stressed. New ideas suggest that their methods weren’t good enough, and abandoning what has always worked before in favor of something that may yet fail risks their image of reliability.

Judgmental – ESTJs have strong convictions about what is right, wrong, and socially acceptable. ESTJs’ compulsion to create order often extends to all things and everyone, ignoring the possibility that there are two right ways to get things done. ESTJs do not hesitate to let these "deviants" know what they think, considering it their duty to set things right.

Too Focused on Social Status – ESTJs take pride in the respect of their friends, colleagues and community and while difficult to admit, are very concerned with public opinion. ESTJs (especially Turbulent ones) can get so caught up in meeting others’ expectations that they fail to address their own needs.

Difficult to Relax – This need for respect fosters a need to maintain their dignity, which can make it difficult to cut loose and relax for risk of looking the fool, even in good fun.

Difficulty Expressing Emotion – This is all evidence of ESTJs’ greatest weakness: expressing emotions and feeling empathy. People with the ESTJ personality type get so caught up in the facts and most effective methods that they forget to think of what makes others happy, or of their sensitivity. A detour can be breathtakingly beautiful, a joy for the family, but ESTJs may only see the consequence of arriving at their destination an hour late, hurting their loved ones by rejecting the notion too harshly.

Would love to read about you "Deviants".  

Talk soon.

May 27th, 2017

Hey there,

The massive news in Taiwan this week was the high court ruling that same sex marriage was legal.  That Taiwan is the first Asian country that has gone this route speaks volumes.  Cheers.

In other potentially massive local news on a personal level, the heat has not been as consistently bad as feared a couple weeks back, but we are still having those days of triple digits.  While that isn't news in itself, on Wednesday, we had one of the stifling ones and everyone was bitching, but I didn't feel it as I usually do (i.e. schweaty balls and angry demeanor).  They've been telling me for years that you get used to this weather, and the down jacket in summer wearing types would be an indicator that is true, but is it finally happening to me?  Should I be happy about it, or fear that my Ph balance has been changed at the DNA level?

One of my current WTFT? (What the Fuck Taiwan?) items has to do with traffic signals.  There are a couple on my daily commute that do this weird thing where the light is a solid red, and as you're sitting there, it turns yellow for maybe a second/second and a half and then goes back to solid red.  I know you aren't supposed to go through the intersection, but it seems weird and feels completely dangerous.  Few people  seem to know what I'm talking about and no one has an explanation other than it is a technical glitch.  Have been trying to get a video of it to show people (and you), but like the Sasquatch or our President telling a joke that is not horrifyingly apocalyptic, have not been able to capture it on film.  More to follow on this.

In another preview of an upcoming entry, was talking to the folks at the Center where I work about the many postings on my Facebook page about being an introvert.  I mention the Center often, mainly in regards to the outreach they do to the expat community, but their main function is to provide counseling services to that community, so many of the people that are there are therapists or are ancillarily engaged in that vocation.  As I was wondering if Facebook knew more about me than I know myself, they suggested I take an on-line Myers-Briggs personality test.  If you read this space with any regularity, you'll know that I have an affinity for astrology (both Greek and Chinese) and am fascinated by how they describe our personalities so accurately.  I took this test and felt it was scary true.  Perhaps I am projecting (as one is wont to do with astrological things), but the level of detail on how I view others, society and myself was eye opening.

Also learned in our Center discussions that the kids take an even more detailed version of this test at school and am after those results.  In a future post, will share my results and it'd be fun to talk to you about yours. Take 5 minutes and take this on-line test...I would bet that you will find it enlightening.

In the 'Doing shit that entertains only me' file for today, this week I decided to give the local currency a nickname.  Officially, they are NTD (New Taiwan Dollars), but I've yet to hear a single slang term.  Obviously, in the States we have a ton of them and know you could easily come up with several off the top of your head...but according to Wikipedia...bucks, dough, bread, tamales, scratch, moolah, cheddar Cheese, guap, lettuce, paper, scrilla, scrill, stash, chips, cake, cabbage, Benjamin, Benji, loot^[10] smackers, simoleons, ducats, and spondulix.  What the hell is spondulix?  Anyhoo, I rolled out my first attempt the other day to near unanimous looks of 'what's wrong with you'.  Sun Yat Sens!  Yes I put an exclamation point in there.  I love it...he is on the most common bill, is universally regarded as a heroic revolutionary figure both here and on the mainland (much in the vein of George Washington), and it kinda rolls off the tongue.  I know they don't go for the changing of the language slang here much, but this seems fun and harmless.  You got gay marriage Taiwan, so I know you can loosen up a little.

In the local area social media chat club, someone posted about a new Peruvian chicken place in town.  I was all, since when did anyone ever say, "let's go for Peruvian chicken."  and was shamed for not knowing that it is apparently all the rage.  Being away from the States, there is always the potential that we are missing out on some cultural trend, and totally felt that way on previous extended time outside of the country, but with the Web, have not felt that way the last 5 years.   In fact, feel I was on the vanguard of the Korean chicken revolution.  But this Peruvian chicken thing caught me totally unaware and the shame I was dealt  was totally justified.

OK...it is final week of High School for the boy and have a couple of observances to share for this official record.   First off, the Yearbook came out and it is a tome.  Double the size of mine from '83.  The quality and cleverness of it befits a school that considers itself one of the finest 'prep' schools on the planet.  Am not comfortable with that description being the humble blue collar type that I think of myself as, but it is not wholly unjustified.  All of the seniors get a half page for their picture and are given 150 words to write a note for posterity.  I started reading them and all of the kids notes thanked either/all their parents, friends and teachers.  While a couple had some humor, most were heartfelt odes to the people and places that defined their school years.  My eyes were starting to hurt as there are a lot of names that start with the letter C (there is truth in the  gag 'that guy is so fat, he has more Chins than a Chinese High School yearbook') that I was a little loopy when I got to the Imbrogulio page.

 The Boy wrote a love letter to the lunch table he sat at in the four years of High School.  Maybe should have been a touch disappointed he didn't mention his folks, but felt it was absolutely perfect and love the humor in it.   So much potential.

The other event this week was the High School awards ceremony.  It started out with the Superintendent giving opening remarks that were a defense for having an awards ceremony in the first place.  The gist of the speech was the program was to highlight the exceptionalism of the students and a middle finger to the 'everyone gets a trophy' ethic.  I thought we had all agreed that was a bullshit Baby Boomer feel good thing and I had no problem with it other than having to listen to a defense of the event for 5 minutes.

The program was almost two hours long and in listening to the accomplishments of these students, was floored by the level of everything these kids did.  Simply stunning young people.

Quick side note...want to share a couple things I learned from my years working at Nordstrom.  This is mainly for my kids in hopes they read this one day, but feel this is just good policy for anyone.  Hope they will say to themselves that they do these things and that they learned it from me.  First, write Thank You notes.  Doing them on the computer is OK I suppose (not gonna be old man Grumpy and say these newfangled idiot boxes ruined everything), but a hand written note to someone that did something for you is probably the least you could do and it means the world to the person that receives it.  Old man Grumpy says to never give up some of the etiquette of yore.  I encouraged the Boy (he would say I made him do it but know that he did it willingly) to go see a couple of his old Middle School teachers that made a dent on his life in a positive way just to say hello/goodbye/thanks.  The level of their appreciation that he reached out to them made their day.  I'd think that after cash and prizes, seeing the impact a teacher has on a couple of kids has to be the most satisfying thing for them.  To the kiddies, to myself and to anyone out there, make a conscious effort to thank someone in a truly meaningful way.  It feels good for everyone concerned.

The other Nordstrom tip I give to you today I saw from watching the Nordstrom boys themselves when they came to the quarterly awards ceremonies.  They would always...always...sit in the front and be clapping the loudest for the winners.  You could hear their claps over the other 100's of people applauding.  I was always taken by that and resolved to do the same whenever I had the opportunity.  Not only are the optics good, but you get into the emotion of the event more and I know that the people getting their recognition see and feel it.  It's just the right thing to do.  A couple of people came up to me after this ceremony the other day commenting that I clap really loud, so I felt that I accomplished this goal (although my hands were truly sore afterward).  While I saw a lot of enthusiasm amongst some of the other attendees, both Betty and I were disgusted watching a bunch of others barely clap and worse, have their heads down in their phones the entire fucking time.  Hey...Old man Grumpy here again.  What the hell is the wrong with you?  Why come?  Yuck.


So here is the proud parent portion of today's piece...and I am not proud of me.  I don't like the word pride in general for some messed up reason that I've never understood, but there you go.  The Boy was honored a couple of times during the event.  First, he received the Spirit of Science award, which is given to "the student who achieves well in multiple disciplines in higher level classes, demonstrates a great passion for science, and has shown a genuine appreciation for science that goes beyond grades."  Not sure about the "beyond grades" thing but very nice and a $65 Amazon gift card.

He also received the last award of the day.  The Roger Castiglioni Memorial Scholarship.  Contrary to popular belief, it is not given to the student with the most Italian sounding last name (and in looking at the yearbook, he has the only Italian last name).  And the name Roger Castiglioni made me think of Tony Taglioni from the "A Trip To The Movies" trailer.

Per the program, the Castiglioni scholarship is "given to a grade 12 student who best demonstrates a love of learning rather than a focus on just receiving good grades.  The award recipient's enthusiastic attitude is evinced by active participation in class and in other opportunities around the school; the student must have made a positive impact on practicing the TAS values of honesty, respect, responsibility, kindness and courage."

First, 'evinced' is a cool word.  Second, and am not sure this is great, but he totally cornered the 'beyond grades' angle at this place.  I remember writing in this diary at the very start that one of the most surprising things between his Seattle  and Taipei schools  was that in the States, speaking up in class, perhaps not always in a constructive way, was a disruption and it was called out in every parent/teacher conference as a negative.  In Taiwan, speaking up in class was in rare supply and it has always been a characteristic that was appreciated by the teachers.  They encouraged it while helping him smooth off the edges.  That that quality would result in recognition by this award, which comes with US$3,000 in money to his school of choice, should give all parents with the kid that won't shut up some hope (although we've known it is a good thing all along)

The cash prize winners...

We go to his graduation ceremony this afternoon and know that it is gonna be a bit emotional.  Am kinda choked up just writing about it at this point.  I remember one of the first things I said about him when he was an annoying crying blob of shitting awfulness, was that you always love your kids, but sometimes, you don't like them.  And that is OK.  Well, I can say with total honesty that today, I like you Boy.

There was an article on yahoo or somewhere this week about Mister Rogers.  Must be some anniversary of his and they told his story through some quotations from his show.  While this sentiment has been said many times and many ways, I love the simplicity of Mister Rogers

Often when you think you're at the end of something, you're at the beginning of something else.

May 20th, 2017

What is up?  Looking over the bullet points collected, there are a bunch concerning the Boy.  Makes sense as it was his b-day, has finished all of his exams and is in the midst of ending his High School years, and will (sadly) soon be a distant member of the family.  But first...

As a man of habit, I do all of our white laundry on Wednesday and all day long I sing an ode to it in honor of Billy Idol.  White Wednesday

It's a...nice day to...start a LOAD.

In this weeks installment of getting older discoveries, I woke up at 4am-ish the other morning to pee.  In my haze, thought it was a decent output, but as soon as I climbed back into the sack, felt an immediate need to go pee again.  That feels like some old guy shit to me, and also feel like I've related this story in this space before, which is equally unsettling.

My love/hate relationship with Facebook continues.  Have been noticing a lot of postings from FB into my feed about what it is like to be an introvert.  Things like 'why they don't like small talk', or 'prefer to have a night home alone'.  What did I click on that makes them think I am an introvert, or is it because they feel I am one?  Or am I one and they have correctly analyzed me as such?

It was Mother's Day last Sunday and a memory from Little League days came back as I reflected upon mine.  While not a massive baseball fan, she was a fan of me and can't remember her ever missing a game.  While not well versed in baseball lingo, she did like to cheer (loudly) and somehow landed on the perfect thing to say in all circumstances.  Whether we were on defense or at bat, she would yell "Double Double".  I can hear it in her tone clear as a bell.  It works on defense as she wanted a double play, or at bat asking me to hit a double.  It was so perfect a cheer that even in the post-game breakdown, she could say it as we drove to In-n-Out burger. 

It was annual air raid siren week.  Have learned to plan ahead to be indoors when it goes off.  A reminder that while we live in a place that feels completely safe, that the place lives under constant threat is not far below the surface. 

The Taipei City government has announced that an air defense exercise (Wan An No. 40) will be held from 1:30 p.m.-2:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 18, 2017. 

During the 30 minute exercise, the trains will be operating as usual.  However, passengers will not be able to exit the MRT station after they arrive on the train.  Please also note that vehicles cannot be driven on Taipei streets during the exercise (highways are not restricted).  If you happen to be outdoors when the alarm sounds, you (and your vehicle) will be required to pull to the side of the road and/or take cover nearby.  Please plan accordingly.

Was talking to my brother-in law and recommending he check out the Midnight Oil show in his town in a few days.  He said that he'd like to go but can't as he and his "buddies are getting together to sample single malt scotch and some of California's finest artisinal hydroponic grows."  I think he phrased it that way to entertain me cause he knows I am a fan of coastal elite superiority speak.

To put a bow on the last couple weeks postings regarding the Italian restaurant up the street, we honored our reservation on Tuesday and had a delightful meal.  They had a special appetizer of eggplant parmigiana that was as good as I've ever had.  While the furor around their alleged racism against Chinese was proven to be just the opposite, we learned that there is a whistle blower industry here that is quite interesting.  Have long observed that there is little government presence on the streets and that it doesn't feel that the authorities are aggressive in monitoring businesses.  The way they keep tabs on scofflaws is to pay citizens to rat on businesses that are breaking the rules.  A buddy is involved with an organization here and he spent a few days last week with investigators going through his books.  They found a ticky-tack violation and that there will be fines involved, but they were apologizing at the time cause it was so minor.  They went on to detail that the reason he was called to their attention is that someone alerted them and that if they find something, that person receives an NT$70,000 (about US$2,300) reward.  Many people make their living doing this.  While my initial reaction was one of disgust that your neighbor would be secretly watching you in a Stalinesque manner, maybe this is more efficient than paying tons of officials to go on hunting expeditions.  Can see this being abused, but that this place feels totally safe yet free, maybe they are onto something? 

On our commute to work, we drive by a hospital and see some weird shit from time to time.  While stopped at the traffic light yesterday, was able to catch this image of a patient, freshly bandaged and hooked up to an IV,  breaking out to grab a smoke.  Classic Taiwan.

Last weekend was the High School's sports awards banquet.  We had never gone but they told us the Boy was getting an award.  Was a fun night, we went out for a cocktail with friends afterwards and Boy-o received the baseball teams MVP award.

A motley crew.  Very deserving cause he was one of the couple of kids that know how to play.  Was also a decent opportunity put on a jacket and get our photo taken.

Gawdamn...my hair looks totally white

I made reservations for dinner at the Italian place (I don't say the name cause anyone that searched for it would be given this diary as a search result, and just don't need the local community being a regular reader) so the family could have one of our last dinners together.  Betty was working with his friends to give him a surprise b-day party and this was the only night where it worked for them.  I'm not proud of this, but I have this thing where I don't recognize birthdays.  For me, I don't want a party and would just assume no one knows.  One day, think it'd be interesting to find out the underlying reason for that, but what I'm not proud of is to not make other people's birthday a big deal too.  I gather that Betty is still peeved that I didn't do a big thing for her 50th.  Boy-o turned 18 this year, which is pretty big obviously, and I barely remembered.  Fortunately, Betty stepped up and arranged to get all his local buddies together for a dinner. 

Clockwise from the Boy (I think): Joe, Evan, Carmel, Fred, Ethan, Oscar. Mike, Chad, Catherine and Katie.  OK, I totally made up at least three of those names as I have never seen them before.  He was surprised and it sounded like a good time.  I told him not to be like me with regards to birthdays and that he can't tell his future therapist that his parents never gave him a birthday party.  Hey wait a minute, I never had a birthday party growing up.  Could that be the source of my hang-up?

That was Tuesday.  Last night was senior prom.  As I write this, it is Saturday morning and he has not come home.  He asked the young lady next to him in the above picture to be his date...her family lives in the building across the street from us, so we had the opportunity to get the obligatory photos.

Here is a question that needs answering but I won't spend researching.  I know the boy is responsible to get a corsage for the girl. but who is responsible for the boutonniere?  Betty says the girl, but others say the boy gets his own. 

Anyhoo, we had a friend who was a chaperone at the prom and said she'd spy in him for us.  Haven't had a full download with her, but she reported some slow dancing and got this photo at some point.  

Am looking at Facebook this AM, and one of his buddy's moms posts that she went down to pick up her son at 2AM after a post-prom clubbing session.  She puts some pics of that group up on-line, and there is Boy-o hamming it up with a different girl. 

Doubt he's gonna do any sharing, but definitely a story that I'd like to hear one day.  Regardless, from what I know of him, he seems like a gentleman when it comes to the opposite sex.  I know I have spent his first 18 years subtly infusing a respect for girls into his mind.  A consistent message is to make sure that they look out for those that are in danger of being taken advantage of.  For Babydoll, always keep your girlfriends close and never leave without them.  For the Boy, was able to run through the details of the Penn State frat numbskulls that abused some freshman and ended up killing him.  It is fine to have some drinks, but when the goal is to get you as drunk as possible, those are not the types of people you want to throw down with.  And they are also the ones that won't think twice about trying that trick on some girl.  There will be a time when he is going to have to put himself in danger to protect someone else and pray that this muscle twitches naturally.

Finally in Boy-o related news, this week saw the news out of Charlottesville, which is the town where UVA is located.  They got in the news as the town was taking down a statue of Robert E Lee (it is up for sale, not to be scrapped), and a couple of dozen of America's finest went to the Pier One imports, got tiki torches and went out to declare that they didn't want their "heritage" taken down, and then littered their chants with "Russia is good" and some thinly veiled Nazi slogans.  Happen to listen to Ezra Klein's podcast this week, which had on a Black author who gave an impassioned and powerful interview about why these monuments are so offensive.  That one is so worth your time.  Anyway, for those racist white bread pieces of shit, you should strive for something better.

May 13th, 2017

No unifying theme this week, just randomness..   

First up, a screenshot from the temperature app we use from Thursday night. 

Note that the time is 7:31pm, which is a good hour or so after sunset, and the Real Feel is 110 brutally humid degrees.  15 kph winds are no better than a juicy fart, but it's the UV Index being 'Very High' an hour after dark that seems scientifically impossible.  Betty says that the app must have been wrong, but with my mind addled by the heat, it is absolutely believable. 

Question...should I get on Twitter?  I hear a ton of people that talk about it...people I like to listen to on podcasts receive and share info on it and that it is the outlet of choice for policies of all kinds.  But no one sounds happy having to do it.  They go into rabbit holes, obsess over it from the time they wake up till they go to bed, and end up hating a good portion of humanity.  Am I missing something here or should I just take a pass?

One of my longtime/all-time favorite bands is Midnight Oil.  They are touring for the first time in 15 years and have been bummed to be missing them on our travels by a week here or two.  They announced a show in Singapore on August 16th and just snatched up a seat in a beautiful spot and now just have to figure out how to get there.  Frequent flyer miles...do your worst.  I've seen them a bunch and they have never disappointed, The greatest live music show I ever saw was them playing at the long gone Bayou in Georgetown in 1984.  They were touring on their masterpiece 10,9,8... album and the Bayou was a tiny club.  They just tore it up.  Am currently riding a high of anticipation

In a brief follow up to the racism post from a week or so back, we went out to dinner with friends and some of their friends last weekend.   Five couples.  Was funny as one of the ladies was a decently close acquaintance of Bettys from DC and I know that I met her in LA in the early 90's as Betty hooked her up with another friend that I did remember.    As they say in Argentina...el mundo es un panuelo (the world is a handkerchief...never understood that)  Anyhoo, it was a lovely evening, but the racial demographic was that all of the men were whitey white Americans, and all of the women were Asian.  Other than it being a cliché, not sure what I want to/should say about that.

In the latest installment of 'As Seen At Costco'...this guy.

Not only was he totally out, but if you look closely, he brought a book to help him nod off.  And he was snoring like you read about on sleepapnea.com.  To be fair, that chair does look buttery and comfortable.

And then there were these animals.

                                  

All three of them had boxes of kiwis opened and they were handling each one, squeezing them to see which ones they liked and then mixing and matching to get their perfect box.  This is not OK behavior...I gave them the international 'WTF' gesture and walked away in disgust. 

Finally in Costco news, here is a Buzzfeed quiz that asks you to take a trip to Costco and we'll tell you how good you are in bed.  Good luck.  And call me if you order the Supreme pizza.

Here is a photo of my favorite place in our apartment.  We've been collecting magnets from our travels and going to the fridge gives me a run through memory lane every time I need a snack.

Here is a photo from the BBQ of the girls soccer team I helped start and ran for a few years.  Have moved on, but they still invite me out and find it one of the more satisfying accomplishments of our time here.  The girls are so fun (way better than boys) and is a great way to have social time with a great group of adults. 

Another thing that I have time to do here is coordinate the monthly Coffee Morning talks at the Community Center.  Am sure I mentioned them before, but it is great to find a speaker that I not only have interest in, but seeing others get so much benefit from them.  This week, we had Dr. Jerome Keating come in to talk about his book The Mapping of Taiwan.  Am a huge map aficionado/junkie and Jerome has been in Taiwan for 30 years (originally coming to work on the local subway), and has written 8 books on life and politics in Taiwan.  The book tells the story of Taiwan through the maps that were made of it since its discovery by the west in the 1500's.  Something I found interesting was that while the west was aware of Asia, and their spices had become essential, getting them via the sea was not critical.  With the rise of the Ottoman Empire, who could cut off the spice supply at will, the need to be able to go to the Spice Islands, and have bases in the region, became necessary for their survival, which is why the Portuguese were in Macau, Spain in the Philippines and so on.  He had a ton of stuff like that and am excited to read the book.  Betty brought her work team out to attend (three girls all of Taiwan origin) and while they went in thinking it was gonna be boring, their eyes were opened to stories and history that they never learned in school.  The fact that Japan was the first nation to unify the island under one government, something that everyone should know in the discussion of what Taiwan is, really struck them and they are now curious to know more.

Finally, the Boy (aka Smelly) turned 18 on Thursday.  In Taiwan, he can drink, drive and join the army (hopefully not at the same time).  Always found it odd as to why there are three different ages for those in the states.  Anyhoo, he went last weekend to the finals of the IPPF debates.  The final 8 teams (from well over 300 high schools world wide ) get an all expense paid trip to NYC to compete.  His team also went when he was a Freshman, so a return 3 years later is quite an accomplishment, especially since the two girls that were the brains on that team left after Sophomore year. 

They bowed out in the first round, but a fine effort to get that far.  For posterity, here is an article about it from the school newspaper.


Starting early in the school year, TAS’ International Public Policy Forum (IPPF) team wrote and submitted their qualification essay, in which they could choose either to affirm or oppose an official resolution. The team, composed of Aaron Gould (12), Alan Tsai (12), Cherice Tsai (12), Jeremiah Hsu (12), Katie Fong (12), Paul Imbrogulio (12), qualified and was selected to enter the “Round of 64,” where teams are paired up and debate against each other. HOW MANY TEAMS SUBMITTED AND THEN WERE CHOSEN? The TAS IPPF team won in both the rounds of 64 and 32 and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. Currently the team is waiting for results for entering the “Elite 8.” The teams that make it to the “Elite 8” get to travel to New York, New York to compete in a spoken debate on the same issues.
According to senior team member, Cherice Tsai, “each debate consists of four papers: Affirmative Constructive, Negative Constructive, Affirmative Rebuttal, Negative Rebuttal.” Each Constructive essay is approximately 2800 words and the rebuttal essays are written in a similar process. When the Affirmative finishes their essay, it is sent to the Negative so that they can write their rebuttal essay. There is one week between each of the competition essays; in total, each round of debate takes approximately a month.
This year’s topic is about the refugee crisis: Resolved: The obligation to provide safe haven for refugees should outweigh a government’s right to control its borders. Cherice explains that “the debate is centered around which, between border control and obligation to provide safe haven, takes precedence given considerations for national security, global welfare, ethics, international law, and social, economic and political interests of countries.”
Collaborating on an essay can be “a little messy with six people all working on one document at once,” comments Paul Imbrogulio (12), “but since we have been doing this for three years, we are normally good at dividing workloads so they overlap less”. The TAS team generally assigns three to four writers to work on different arguments. One person is responsible for editing and fixing grammar, another one to two people in charge of fact checking and research. One of the struggles in writing one collaborative essay is maintaining one single voice throughout. “Even though everyone has different tones and styles when writing, we always come back together towards the end to make sure our team has a single voice [in the essay] before it’s submitted,” says Paul. “Dr. Nelson is also hugely helpful in the process: he tirelessly offers us feedback for each of the essays we write,” adds Cherice.
“The lion’s share of the work lies in getting our point across within [the word limit of 2800],” says Katie Fong (12). Paul reveals that their essay’s first draft is usually around 5000 words or more. “Sometimes cutting down our arguments is harder than actually writing them in the first place,” remarks Paul. “Word economizing and being concise” is always difficult when writing,” states Cherice. Katie agrees and adds that “trying to hit a word limit when you already feel like there is nothing more to be cut is like chopping off a limb.”
Katie elaborates that while she does not “look forward to editing [the] essay once a first draft [is] made, she does look forward to their work sessions that “are basically just alternating blocks of silent, frenzied typing and short bursts of joking around”. Paul concurs, “I look forward to hanging with Dr. Nelson and my teammates, [arguing] over which cuisine is the best or just talk about existential questions”. “For our rebuttal essays, we back check our opponent’s sources. We check that the other side’s source actually support what they claim those sources do. A lot of the times, we find that the other side’s sources conclude in opposition to their case, or they use quotes from sources but place them out of context to misconstrue an author’s argument. We point out these inconsistencies in our essays, and take advantage of this to argue in favor of our side,” says Cherice. Despite their strong argumentative skills, “our weakness would have to be spelling words like trafficking [or] using fake words like thalassic,” states Paul. Katie rebuts that “thalassic is a word. Stop roasting me for using fancy words. They make our essays sound smarter and this is literally just how I talk.”
Best of luck to the TAS IPPF team, the last time they went to New York was 3 years ago.

May 6th, 2017

Hey there,

Remember when I bitched about the weather a couple weeks ago?  That was nothing.  It really kicked in this week with official temps in the mid-90's, but with the dead air and high humidity, the "Real Feel" is well over 100.  I saw it at 106 or more for 4 straight days.  All I can do to keep sane is look at the calendar and see that in two more days, it'll be a month before heading to the States.

A couple of follow-ups on last weeks post about the local Italian restaurant making the news because of discrimination, where a lady claimed she was denied a certain wine because she was Chinese and the maître d felt she "didn't deserve it".  I have it on good authority from several sources that the woman is a known crank about town who has claimed discrimination at least three times previously.  I could see the restaurant staff denying her wine based on her shitty attitude and not due to the color of her skin.  Regardless, the place remains packed nightly and will be happily honoring our  reservation next week.

Secondly, I wrote that I felt that the locals look upon foreigners with a ratio of 10% that likes us, and 90% want us dead (someone clever sent me a note that said that for me, it was 99.9% hate).  I neglected to clarify that that 90/10 breakdown only refers to the men.  As for the local ladies...I'd say it is 48/52.  48% of them are intrigued about my hairy body and 52% are secretly down for whatever...

A lot of racism in my news bubble this week.  First was the n-word taunts and peanuts being thrown at the black guy on the Orioles in their visit to Boston.  Have written in this space more than once that this has  been my experience with many Boston fans, so found this hardly surprising.  Of course not all Boston fans are racist, but all racists are Boston fans. 

And my old alma mater, The American University, was in the news this week as some joker thought it would be hilarious to string up bananas in nooses around campus as he was miffed that the school elected a black woman to be President of the student government.  I know this shit isn't limited to AU, but this is what gets in the news from that place and it made it all the way here.  Seriously, all the news I've seen coming out of that dump since we went has been a string of school Presidents resigning in disgrace and fraternities being disbanded for being all rapey.  And Judge Judy was an alum.  Stay classy AU.

In the final segment on cross cultural relations is this advertisement we see on our commute to work.

Betty is the one that noticed this ad that we think is one for a high end car seat.  First of all, nice dress Mommy.  Second, while the 'Baby In Car' bumper stickers are ubiquitous about town, usually on cars whose drivers careen from lane to lane indiscriminately, car seats are not seen.   It is hard to even buy a stroller for babies, but finding one for snack dogs is no problemo.  And you would find the amount of infants being toted around on scooters with no protection hard to believe.

But what we found hilarious about this add is that the baby is as blond and blue-eyed as they could find, but the mom is as Chinese as they make 'em.  She obviously isn't the Amah cause she is not Filipina.  I suppose the dad could be Thor or something.  And this ad has led to some conspiracy theories as the driver looks eerily similar to Kim Jong-Un's father Kim Jong-Il.  They claimed he died in 2011, but is apparently living in anonymity here in Taiwan.  While I don't believe that, would not be surprised if it were true.

Will leave you with something positive.  Saw the below list posted somewhere of 26 psychological traits that are "always true" and there are some in here that are nice to keep in mind as one goes about their day.   I agree with 25 of them...see if you can tell which one I didn't (my comments in italics)

1. Any friendship that was born in the period between 16 and 28 years of age is more likely to be robust and long lasting. Cause friendships after 28 don't last as long as people start dying.
2. Women generally prefer men with deep husky voices because they seem more confident and not aggressive. Oh yeah they do
3. The people who give the best advice are usually the ones with the most problems. Best?  Would you listen to a person that has a ton of problems?
4. The smarter the person is, the faster he thinks, and the sloppier his handwriting is.  100% true
5. Our emotions don’t affect the way we communicate. In fact, the very opposite is true: the way we communicate has an influence on our mood. This makes total sense and feel that I am guilty of this at times.  Will try to do better
6. The way a person treats restaurant staff reveals a lot about their character. Not just a lot, but everything.
7. People who have a strong sense of guilt are better at understanding other people’s thoughts and feelings.  Is guilt the right word? 
8. Men are not funnier than women: they just make more jokes, not caring whether other people like their humor or not. Hmmmmm...
9. Shy people talk little about themselves, but they do this in a way that makes other people feel that they know them very well.  Wouldn't know
10. Women have twice as many pain receptors on their bodies than men, but they have a much higher pain tolerance. I call total bullshit on this one.   Obviously this was written by a woman.
11. Listening to high-frequency music makes you feel calm, relaxed, and happy.  Does for me but from experience, certainly not a majority.
12. If you can’t stop your stream of thoughts at night, get up and write them down. This will set your mind at ease so you can sleep.  Will have to take your word for it...
13. Good morning and good night text messages activate the part of the brain responsible for happiness. Not only written by a woman, but a millennial
14. Doing things that scare you will make you happier.  OK
15. The average amount of time a woman can keep a secret is 47 hours and 15 minutes.  Will take the under
16. People who try to keep everyone happy often end up feeling the loneliest.  Funny how I never feel lonely
17. The happier we are, the less sleep we require. I wake up at 5am regardless as to when I went to bed or what I ate/drank the night before.  What does that say?
18. When you hold the hand of a loved one, you feel pain less keenly and worry less.   Should do this more...
19. Intelligent people tend to have less friends than the average person. The smarter the person is, the more selective they become. My two friends will agree.
20. Marrying your best friend eliminates the risk of divorce by over 70%, and this marriage is more likely to last a lifetime.  Did you know Harry Nilsson wrote the theme to Courtship of Eddie's Father?
21. Women who have mostly male friends stay in a good mood more often. Duh
22. People who speak two languages may unconsciously shift their personalities when they switch from one language to another. From my observations, probably the truest one of these.  As Betty speaks three languages, it's like living with Sybil
23. Being alone for a long time is as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Cough
24. Travel boosts brain health and also decreases a person’s risk of heart attack and depression.  Hope so
25. People look more attractive when they speak about the things they are really interested in.  Lesson # 2 from 'How To Pick Up Chicks'
26. When two persons talk to each other and one of them turns their feet slightly away or repeatedly moves one foot in an outward direction, this is a strong sign of disagreement, and they want to leave. Lesson # 1 from "How To Pick Up Chicks'