I failed to mention that Melissa had her baby the other day. I don't know what gene it is that I'm missing, but I generally consider babies to be ugly and alien looking, but this one is pretty cute. And at least in the time that I was around, extremely well behaved. hehe.
Jason appears to be doing pretty well. He asked me if I had cancer and was going through chemo or something due to my weight loss since he had seen me last. Bastard.
I went clothes shopping the other day. Finally got replacements for most of the winter half of my wardrobe in my new thin sizes. I am hawt! =)
Oh, and I've started learning Japanese. Yay. I have a tentative plan for my next major trip out of the country to be to Japan, in 2-ish years.
Today(yesterday now?) I met someone really spiffy. But alas, the timing is so very wrong, and so I'm afraid nothing will come of it. :( I'm sure there are many alternate universes where things pan out very favorably with her considering how well we clicked. ;) C'est la vie?
I actually just got home from a "night on the town." Happy Birthday Linda! I don't go out like this all that often, but when I do, I definitely seem to make an event out of it. Thankfully, the inebriation had worn off before I made my way home on the very icy snowfilled streets, or my ability to control the top that was my car may have ended unfavourably. My skilled driving turned what could have been a horrible wreck into what instead was a fun little swirl through an intersection and down the street a bit. Wheeee. :) Maybe its time to replace those horribly worn rear tires?
I checked what I consider to be my real email hoping for word from Toby....nothing. Deciding there was a possibility that Toby has still proven unable to change from my old email address to my new one, I went ahead and checked the inbox of hell on my old account. After wading through 240 offers of cum shakes, penis enlargement and wild horny nuns, I was relieved to see that Toby is alive and well.
If you'd like to read about his experiences relating to the bombings, as well as a host of other things, feel free to click below...
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Subject: Never Give Up
Haven't I been an unmtivated blob of late. I always mean to write something, but those DVD's just keep calling. Then there's that new computer game I brought back with me. Of course, there's always the wall to stare at, but that's only when I'm feeling especially contemplative.
It is now the Seker Bayram (Sugar Holiday) here in Turkey. Some of you may be thinking that it's quite common to celebrate this holiday by blowing things up, but that's just been a recent development by a few brainwashed radicals and with any luck it won't catch on. It's been a string of tragedies with those four bombs. Two synagogues, a bank and the British Consulate. More than 60 people killed and more than 800 injured. Everyone here is looking for an answer, and "experts" on TV have been happy to supply them and place blame, but the truth is that only the twisted mind of the terrorists know what they were really trying to do. To us it would make little sense.
Although I was not present at any of the bombings, I did feel more affected by them than I might have otherwise because they occurred in places I had just recently been to. I had taken my history class to the largest synagogue (Neve Shalom) only a day and a half before it was attacked. I have found out that two of the security guards we met died. And there are few weekends when I don't either walk in front of or drive in front of the HSBC bank that got hit. They showed a body with no legs and only one arm lying in the crosswalk where I had crossed only a few days previously. We felt those explosions in school, and I was hopeful it wasn't another bomb because there was no news for about 20 minutes, but then the calls started coming in to turn on the TV and I knew that was it. Having said all that, I can't say that I feel particularly unsafe in Istanbul. If I can walk amongst Hizbullah and the PLO, then I can certainly make it through a few bombs.
Now to my (much needed) break. I had been telling people that I was going to Sivas for our week off. I was looking forward to spending a bit of time in that hotbed of religious and conservative activism where several left wingers met a fiery end in their hotel at the hands of a mob a few years back. The hotel was rebuilt an I was considering a stay just to say I'd done it. Unfortunately, it was not to be. I arrived at the bus station, found my bus and then sat down only to be informed later that I did not actually have a ticket. "What's this thing in my hand?"
"It's a reservation slip, not a ticket."
"So this isn't my seat?"
"No."
"It's that guy's seat."
"Yes. He bought his ticket here, but you bought yours in Besiktas and it wasn't communicated to us here at the main terminal."
The bus was full that night, but they could put me on the bus the next night. No thanks, just give me my bags. Problem. They are already packed and we don't want to unpack them. You can pick them up in Sivas tomorrow night when you arrive. Yeah, like I trust you to do that. I had been philosophical untik that point. I am rarely surprised by stuff like this happening here anymore. It used to really piss me off, and it still does to a point, but I just go with it now. But them not wanting to give back my bags because it might inconvenience them brought Angry Yabanci to the surface and he had a go at them. Needless to say I got my bags back right quick, youbetcha.
It takes two hours or so to get to the school and I wasn't going to go and then come back the next day. So I demanded my money back and got it. Then I checked the other bus companies that went to Sivas but they were all full. So I started to cruise the bus terminal (not what it sounds like) looking for somewhere to go. I considered Bulgaria, I had my passport, but I had to ask myself just how far I was willing to go for a ham sandwich and some decent bacon. I've already been to Bulgaria twice, and although the idea of an all-pork pizza at Pizza Troll (real place-great pizza) was tempting, I didn't want to face the two-hour border crossing in freezing temps while the border guards worked out just how much of a bribe they should take to allow some cigarrettes and beer across. In the end, I walked into some little company I'd never heard of and asked where they went. I worked my way down the list alphabetically, Adana (full), Ankara (full) Antalya. Yes?! I'll take it. I had 45 minutes to kill.
I went to put my bags in the baggage comparment. I was assisted by what I like to call a "Happy Helper." These are guys who don't really seem to have anything to do, but sure as hell try hard to do something. They are ubiqutious in Turkey because labor is so cheap. They're probably lucky to get the equivalent of a few dollars a day. They're at restaurants, grocery stores, anywhere public. This Helper had a pronounced limp and seemed to be responsible for only opening the baggage doors, not actually loading or closing. He was also very concerned with the newspaper covering the steps to protect the carpet. This bus was older than most bottles of wine so I didn't really see the point, but it made him happy, so why not? He soon turned his attention on helping the yabanci feel comfortable. Showing off that Turkish hospitality, he wanted to get me some tea. I refused politely because tea, like Coke, goes through me pretty quick, and I never drink it before I get on a bus. I didn't have the words to tell him that he wouldn't be so happy if he had to clean up a mess on the bus later.
His next ploy was to try to get me to sit down. Unless I wanted to sit in the wad of spit several villagers had just hocked up, there wasn't anywhere to sit. Besides, I was being entertained by the baggage handlers trying to load an entire household and harvest. This is typical of any small bus company going through a rural area. People show up with HUGE canvas bags filled with everything from clothes to potatoes. Last night they even had a window frame and five coat racks. Why? Can't they buy those or make them in their own area? Like I said earlier, I really am not moved much by these questions of logic anymore. You can't create matter from nothing (unless you believe Dan Brown).
When they finally opened the bus for general boarding I found myself sitting next to a man in a long robe, turban and scull cap. He was with his ninja-clad wife. I nodded, and he stared. The guy sitting next to me had only one eye and a guitar. This is not a joke. I'm not sure if he lost the eye in some tragic accident when he tightened a string too much and it popped, or perhaps he was just drunk and tried to brush his teeth. At any rate, he was sitting on the inside, but had to get up three or four times to go and comfort/reassure some equally strange looking woman who kept mouthing words to him through the door. Over the course of the next 13 hours his phone rang at least 6 times. I'm not sure if it was her everytime, but it only strengthened my resolve to never get one of those damn cell phones.
So now I'm in Antalya. Tourist Mecca of Turkey. I'll spend several days visiting villages around the main city. Wish I had my swimming suit, but there are only so many obese British and German women in thongs that you can see before you never want to go near a beach again. Picture that, if you dare.
And on that note I leave you. With any luck I'll be able to find a ninja woman biker bar tonight so I can get new material for another letter.
Tobin
At least 27 killed in Turkish blast...450 wounded...
Hope everyone out there is all right! Be sure to comment/email/etc. if you see this Toby and Hassan!
I was having some backend problems with my page for a few days, thus the lack of updates.
Whats going on? Jason is back from Iraq for two weeks to hopefully be home for the birth of his son. Linda is back from her 2 week jaunt and its her birthday this week. Work is still busy as all get out, I hope to finish catching up over the next two weeks. I dropped out of my classes for this semester to ensure my sanity. And Tommy is sending me Crimson Skies for the X-box to encourage me to spend money on one. ;)
11 days until my thanksgiving visit home, and 37 days until my christmas week off and counting!
Matrix Revolutions was pretty entertaining. It definitely wasn't as good as the original still, but it surpassed the middle movie. In particular, the scene at the docks is probably one of the best action sequences ever. The only downer was the ending. I just couldn't make the ending work for me. It just didn't fit well thematically. 3 stars.
I watched the best episode of Stargate ever yesterday. It was an homage of sorts to Groundhog Day. Absolutely hilarious. It reminded me that not owning that movie is a travesty which I will have to rectify.
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I met my newest next door neighbor yesterday, her name is Lisa and she is only paying half the rent me and chris were. hehe. I guess the rental market has changed a lot since we originally move in.
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Work is busy busy busy! I may have to stay for an extra 8 hours at some point when no one is expecting me to do anything so that I can actually get everything I need to done. hehe.
A few days ago I went ahead and bought a new 27" TV and I have been in movie and gaming bliss since then. Some time after I buy a new house I still intend to buy a widescreen plasma, at which point this will become my "bedroom" TV. :)
In other news, I had my review, and the company agrees with me that I rock, and I got a raise. Hurrah!
Not much else going on at the moment. I'm planning on heading down to Colorado Springs on Friday to watch the new Matrix with Chuck. Oh, and I've made plans to go back to ABQ to visit the family Thanksgiving weekend and from December 24-31st. Wheeee, I can't wait for that week in December! =)
I just watched one of the most beautiful movies ever made. I won't say it is *the* most beautiful, as that would be treading on the cinematography ground of my favorite movie, Lawrence of Arabia.... However, it is definitely the most beautiful movie I have seen in years.
Ying Xiong(Hero) was released in the "East" in 2002. It is the story of a man named "Nameless" played by Jet Li. The story unfolds a tale of how Nameless defeated three powerful assassins that sought to end the life of the most powerful warlord in pre-unified China. The story is fairly simple on the surface, but there is a masterwork of complexity underneath the surface waiting to be uncovered. I really would like to talk more about it, but I don't want to spoil it for those that I hope will see it.
I shouldn't, of course, heartily recommend this movie to everyone as some western viewers might not take to it. Its not exactly mainstream. The best comparison I can make is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. If you can't stand that "style" or are turned off in general by sub-titled movies, then you wouldn't like this movie. And on top of that, its actually not available here in the States at the moment. I read a rumor that it should at least get limited release here this month, but we'll see.
Regardless though, this is now one of my favorite movies. 5 stars. I give this movie my highest possible recommendation, if you have the opportunity to see it, do so.
**Edit** Mad props to Tommy for making me watch this!!! You rock! =)