There's the world up top and the world outside. What I mean is, behind the eyes there's the suspicion that I'm capable of doing anything I want, that only humble obstacles stand in my way. Outside the skin there's the reality that everything back inside is ticking and tumbling down in a very much not-endless slide. The batteries will run down, the engine will grind to a halt, and the lights behind the eyes will go out.
I don't have enough time to do it all. I can do anything, but I only have enough time to do some things.
How on Earth do I even begin to decide what's worth my time?
I suppose I should start with what brings me fulfillment. So that's my task for now: figure out what fulfills me. Perhaps I should set a deadline. Say, by the end of the year? That's a good chunk of time for me to paw through my memories and build a solid set of new experiences. In that time I'd like to lay out a foundation for the things I already find fulfilling, as well as a set of options for discovering new things.
If at the end of the year I decide that I have not had enough time, I will give myself a little more. But alas, things like grad school will not shape themselves to my own schedules. One must be accommodating of the "real" world.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Bragging rights
I swam a mile today in under 40 minutes. Not exactly Olympic speed, and I've still got my spare tire around the middle, but I feel like I'm in pretty decent shape now.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Whew!
Wow! What a whirlwind of a week! Lots of traveling, lots of sightseeing, a little bit of mood-roller-coastering, and tons of great times. Travel companions included the ever-popular Kaitlin, her brother Dean (see photo below), Ali, and Liz. A lovely time was had by many.
To wit:
On Saturday we grabbed a train at the crack of 11:30. High speed rail south at 300 kph got us to Tainan in about an hour and a half. In Tainan we found a somewhat overpriced hotel (or so we initially concluded). Checked in, sorted out rooms, then decided to go hit up the town in search of culture, enlightenment, and cream cheese. As we were leaving the hotel, we discovered that our "overpriced" hotel came with the following perks: free bicycle use (slightly ghetto bikes), free snacks, unlimited cola, unlimited ice tea, and unlimited beer. Hot damn.
So we sallied forth, we fortunate few, and we scoured the town for cream cheese to go on our bagels, eventually compromising on cheese spread from Carrefour. From there we boogied on over to a local park for a late lunch/snack. See photo below for a concise summary of the most awesome feature of the park.
After our digression, we went and saw some cultural shit, including a couple of temples and an old fort. I could bore you with more detail, but suffice to say it was all quite pretty and impressive and it led to the phrase, "the Jade Emperor has 99 problems, but a bitch ain't one."
Later in the evening we hit up Tainan's impressively large night market for snacks and small sundry purchases, and to give Dean an idea of how awesome such things are here.
After Tainan we trained our way down to Gaoxiong. We stayed in a hotel close to the train station, and spent the afternoon and evening out on Qijin Island, in the harbor, playing frisbee on the sand and chillin' on top of the old Dutch gun battery. Good times.
The next morning we took a bus down to Donggang, and then a ferry out to Liuqiu Island. We camped overnight at the same campground I visited last time, and it was fantastic. The five of us worked our way through a fifth of vodka and then some and had a grand old time playing drunken frisbee in the fields above the cliffs we were camped beside. This is not as stupid as it sounds, re-reading it: the cliffs were a good distance from the fields.
We spent the next morning at the beach, enjoying the warm, clear water, before taking the ferry back to Donggang, and then a bus down to Kenting. We spent three nights in Kenting, and it was fantastic. Unfortunately, Liz bailed on us after the first night so that she could go "work", but I guess that's "understandable". We saw many a cool sight, including but not limited to endlessly burning natural gas fires, giant sand dunes, paradisaical beaches, and signs warning us about snakes.
After that it was a harsh, harsh bus ride back to Gaoxiong, a brief but delicious dinner at a vegetarian restaurant, and then a much longer (but much more comfortable) bus ride back to Taipei.
And that, as they say, was that.
To wit:
On Saturday we grabbed a train at the crack of 11:30. High speed rail south at 300 kph got us to Tainan in about an hour and a half. In Tainan we found a somewhat overpriced hotel (or so we initially concluded). Checked in, sorted out rooms, then decided to go hit up the town in search of culture, enlightenment, and cream cheese. As we were leaving the hotel, we discovered that our "overpriced" hotel came with the following perks: free bicycle use (slightly ghetto bikes), free snacks, unlimited cola, unlimited ice tea, and unlimited beer. Hot damn.
So we sallied forth, we fortunate few, and we scoured the town for cream cheese to go on our bagels, eventually compromising on cheese spread from Carrefour. From there we boogied on over to a local park for a late lunch/snack. See photo below for a concise summary of the most awesome feature of the park.
After our digression, we went and saw some cultural shit, including a couple of temples and an old fort. I could bore you with more detail, but suffice to say it was all quite pretty and impressive and it led to the phrase, "the Jade Emperor has 99 problems, but a bitch ain't one."
Later in the evening we hit up Tainan's impressively large night market for snacks and small sundry purchases, and to give Dean an idea of how awesome such things are here.
After Tainan we trained our way down to Gaoxiong. We stayed in a hotel close to the train station, and spent the afternoon and evening out on Qijin Island, in the harbor, playing frisbee on the sand and chillin' on top of the old Dutch gun battery. Good times.
The next morning we took a bus down to Donggang, and then a ferry out to Liuqiu Island. We camped overnight at the same campground I visited last time, and it was fantastic. The five of us worked our way through a fifth of vodka and then some and had a grand old time playing drunken frisbee in the fields above the cliffs we were camped beside. This is not as stupid as it sounds, re-reading it: the cliffs were a good distance from the fields.
We spent the next morning at the beach, enjoying the warm, clear water, before taking the ferry back to Donggang, and then a bus down to Kenting. We spent three nights in Kenting, and it was fantastic. Unfortunately, Liz bailed on us after the first night so that she could go "work", but I guess that's "understandable". We saw many a cool sight, including but not limited to endlessly burning natural gas fires, giant sand dunes, paradisaical beaches, and signs warning us about snakes.
After that it was a harsh, harsh bus ride back to Gaoxiong, a brief but delicious dinner at a vegetarian restaurant, and then a much longer (but much more comfortable) bus ride back to Taipei.
And that, as they say, was that.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Hittin' the road
Tomorrow is the first day of my week of paid vacation. I'll be taking the High Speed Rail (woooooooooo!) south to Tainan with Kaitlin, Dean (Kaitlin's brother), and Ali. We'll chill there for a day, checking out temples and history, before continuing south to Gaoxiong via Express Train (not quite HSR, but still pretty zippy). In Gaoxiong we'll look for the magnificent water park that's supposed to be somewhere around there. We'll also catch a sunset from beautiful Cijin Island. The next day we'll bus to Donggang, from which we'll ferry to Liuqiu Island. Spend a night there, ferry back to Donggang, bus to Kenting. Spend a night (or two) in Sail Rock, bus back to Fangliao, train to Taidong, ferry to Lanyu (Orchid Island). A night or two there, and then it's back to Taipei.
Whirlwinds are us! Pictures and reports to come post facto. Godspeed and tallyho!
Whirlwinds are us! Pictures and reports to come post facto. Godspeed and tallyho!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Dullness
Well, yeah, it's mid-April (happy belated, Chris!), and things continue on about the same as ever. Swimming when I can (3-5 times a week), hanging out with friends, building robots, playing video games. Lots of these things, and not much of anything else. Very little exploration, very little "excitement", per se.
It's cool, though. I captured a giant fucking spider last night in our "catch and release and not die in the process" program. It was epic. Katherine took video. It all went down with to strains of the truly excellent new Flogging Molly album, Float. We'll see if it shows up on flickr or YouTube sometime.
This is my last week of work before spring break. The plan for spring break is to take the high speed train south, hit up a couple of islands, a couple of beaches, a city or two. Spend a week kicking around with Liz and Kaitlin and Kaitlin's brother Dean and maybe Ali too. Write some run ons. Take some pictures. The usual awesome fare.
Two final notes: I got new glasses, and they're funky; the weather lately has been lovely: thunderstorms, blustery days, gnarly cloudscapes. Good times.
It's cool, though. I captured a giant fucking spider last night in our "catch and release and not die in the process" program. It was epic. Katherine took video. It all went down with to strains of the truly excellent new Flogging Molly album, Float. We'll see if it shows up on flickr or YouTube sometime.
This is my last week of work before spring break. The plan for spring break is to take the high speed train south, hit up a couple of islands, a couple of beaches, a city or two. Spend a week kicking around with Liz and Kaitlin and Kaitlin's brother Dean and maybe Ali too. Write some run ons. Take some pictures. The usual awesome fare.
Two final notes: I got new glasses, and they're funky; the weather lately has been lovely: thunderstorms, blustery days, gnarly cloudscapes. Good times.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Sad math
Hours per day: 24
Hours per day spent working: 9
Hours per day spent sleeping: 8
Hours per day spent eating: 2 (not counting lunch, which I often work through)
Hours per day spent walking to and from work: .5
Hours per day spent dressing/undressing for work: .5
Free hours remaining: 4
Number of hours I would like to spend . . . (each day)
Writing: 1.5
Swimming: 2 (including travel to and from pool)
Building robots: .5
Playing video games: 1
Chatting online/surfing the internet: 1
Hanging out with friends/watching anime with Martin and Katherine: 2
Free hours remaining: -4
Conclusion: I need a 28 hour day.
Hours per day spent working: 9
Hours per day spent sleeping: 8
Hours per day spent eating: 2 (not counting lunch, which I often work through)
Hours per day spent walking to and from work: .5
Hours per day spent dressing/undressing for work: .5
Free hours remaining: 4
Number of hours I would like to spend . . . (each day)
Writing: 1.5
Swimming: 2 (including travel to and from pool)
Building robots: .5
Playing video games: 1
Chatting online/surfing the internet: 1
Hanging out with friends/watching anime with Martin and Katherine: 2
Free hours remaining: -4
Conclusion: I need a 28 hour day.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Rain
No news is good news, right? I swim, I build robots, I go out from time to time, I stay in from time to time. I write lots and lots, and that's good. I'm learning all sorts of good things that I don't know how to put into words. It's raining out now, after a day of dark skies and heavy air. It was hard to breathe, and tense. The rain snaps and patters on the tin awnings of the nearest building. This city is very relaxing in its way. Maybe I'll go for a walk.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
