Hey there,
Kind of a short one today, but explosive in parts.
This weeks archive submission comes form a college friend's Facebook posting of a page from our yearbook. Unbeknownst to us at the time, future fixer to the Prez Michael Cohen was in our class at (The) American University (center square).
Call out to longtime buddy Paul in the upper left. Don't remember selling Michael any weed and he seems the type that was doing blow anyway, so we didn't travel in the same circles. Have read articles that Cohen went on to law school at the lowest ranked institution for that degree. Just the type of place 4 (or 6) years of undergraduate work at AU prepares you for.
Have steered away from the politics lately just cause it feels pointless to rail. I consider putting something down every week and even bang out a few sentences but ultimately delete them as I figure that no one that reads this thing is on board with 'that guy' and you don't need any more hot takes from me. There is one thing that sickens me to no end that is a characteristic of certain people in leadership positions, and that is responsibility. I can't remember where it got into my brain, but it was an early job where I had some supervisory authority. Someone said that when your team does something well, it is always "we" did this, but if a mistake was made or the outcome was not satisfactory, that is when the leader/coach says "I". Pretty simple philosophy, the buck stops here and all and was something I thought all good people agreed upon. That this guy still get support from anyone not getting his pockets completely lined directly by him is really astounding.
As much as I have veered away from talking politics, I have directed that energy to talking poop. I trust you heard about the woman at Timmy Ho's who was not allowed to use the toilet, so she took a dump on the floor and threw it at the staff. If not, you really, seriously, gotta check it out.
Not really surprising, but there are dozens of YouTube videos of cameras catching people in the act of taking dumps in stores. Not as violently aggressive with the feces as post-pinch as Timmy Ho lady, but just as eruptive. And mostly women with many unloading as they walk like it was nothing. One more thing that makes me love you girls. OK, one more video to share...
Hilarious. Must say that crapping in a refrigerated environment has a certain appeal and am adding to my bucket list.
Three is a magic number, so one more...my favorite.
Our last Coffee Morning of the year happened a week ago and it was one I had been excited about having for years. The metro (MRT) system here is amazing and has been voted best in the world many times over the last few decades. Clean, efficient, and goes everywhere, was interested in having someone come in and tell us about it. Was fortunate to get hooked up with a guy that came to Taipei at the planning stage in 1981 and has been involved with it ever since. A Scotsman from Glasgow, he was a big deal in the London underground offices when he was tapped to come and work on the British bid to design and construct Taipei's system. Didn't know what to expect from him but was told that he had a heavy Scottish accent and told a good story.
The dude did not disappoint. He walks in and has these eyebrows that looked like caterpillars from the Jurassic period and proceeds to tell us hilarious and insightful anecdotes about how the MRT came to be. I hesitate to start recounting them here cause they are involved and could go on for a long while, but they involve feats of ingenious engineering, insane local politics and international intrigue that surpass simple transportation and involved arms dealing and geopolitics at the highest level. Absolutely perfect. Was talking to him knowing that he had so much more to tell and said that he has to get this slice of history that changed the face and destiny of Taiwan down for posterity. He said he is not a writer and asked if I knew someone that could help him with it. As much as I'd like to think I could do so, know it would be above my experience and am on the look out for someone to help him as it is essential this stuff gets on the record.
What was frustrating was that even with a heavy blitz of advertising, the audience was small and was nearly all male. There were a few ladies but nearly all of them were dragged along by their husbands. In the days leading up to the chat, tried to encourage my lady friends to come and asked them after why they didn't and they uniformly said that it sounded boring. The one thing that every expat can agree on is how amazing the MRT is and that we had a totally connected guy that was an interesting presenter to tell us about it, that they could not muster the intellectual curiosity to learn more about an essential part of life in their adopted city speaks volumes. You know I love the ladies and think I have been more than clear in my opinion that they should be equal partners in leading us the world over. I also understand that I am a bit more of a history buff than average, that this is small sample size and am loathe to cast aspersions on an entire gender, but damn, you (females) disappoint me sometimes. Nothing that watching you shit in the bulk items section of the Safeway wouldn't cure, but still.
Getting close to the summer break...I hit the tarmac on May 30 and hope to see you soon. Saying I was excited to go to the States and see my exquisite plan come to fruition would be an understatement as I'm out of my mind in anticipation. This is the time of year I get antsy to go and the double shot of annual Spring bummers give me this persistent feeling of ennui that even watching an hours worth of women shitting in public can't fix. There is the annual exodus of friends leaving the island...not too bad this year, but some faces that I am always glad to see that won't be around anymore. The thing that really saps the spirit though is the heat. Officially 6 years in and am as miserable as day 1. It turned from uncomfortable to blistering hot a week or so ago and looking at my phone weather app the other day and it says the 'heatwave will continue through Monday', but what they don't add is that Monday is September 29th (Update...weather app extended the heatwave to Tuesday). I just looked at it again before hitting publish and the forecast says that it will be a pleasant Saturday, with a high of 106 degrees! Pleasant if you are a monitor lizard I suppose. Another example, it was so hot the other night, Babydoll was baking cookies and after the second batch, even the oven had had enough and shut itself off. You know it is too hot when even your oven says 'fuck it'.
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