Flying Dogs

Still Here

I've been neglecting this blog for a while. Stuff has been happening as usual, but I just haven't felt like writing about it.

I went to a cool concert in Kenting Park on Taiwan's South coast, and I had an awesome time (pictures soon.) I've been trying to come up with some supplementary work after Hess basically left me high and dry in some ways, and I've been feeling pretty healthy now that the weather has gotten warmer.

Also, there's a lot of internet buzz about Yahoo! Live, a web app that lets you have video conference style chats with anyone with a webcam and a Yahoo account. No Skype or other software necessary. It might be a cool way to chat with people back home. I'll see if I can get it up and running and then post my username here.

Taiwan Gets Nuclear Weapons Parts. Guess Who Sent Them.

From the China Post:

WASHINGTON -- The Defense Department announced Tuesday that the United States mistakenly shipped to Taiwan four electrical fuses designed for use on intercontinental ballistic missiles but has since recovered them.

Awesome. We spend billions upon billions every year on defense, and this is what we get. Not only are we just shipping out DIY nuke hobby kits to people who don't even want them, but we're sending them to nations whose sovereignty and well being are already at stake (and where I incidentally live, also.)

The error is particularly disturbing, officials said, because of its indirect link to nuclear weaponry and because of the sensitivity of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, which China regularly denounces as provocative. The Defense Department said an investigation of the incident is under way.

And this is hot on the heels of another fuck up:

Last August an Air Force B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and flown across several states. At the time, the pilot and crew were unaware they had nuclear arms aboard.

How does this happen? I can understand a clerical error that results in a crate of red pens being delivered to a DOD office instead of a crate of blue pens, but nuclear weapons?! I'm not crazy about my tax dollars being spent on nukes in the first place, but now that I see how wasteful and careless the government is with them, I'm becoming especially opposed to the idea.

Jasper

Why don't you like me,
when all I do is hug you?
You poop in a box.

Springtime

It's been a while since my last update. I just didn't have anything to write about, and I didn't feel like writing just for its own sake. I;ve been feeling a bit more peppy now that the weather's gotten nicer. I've been trying to get outdoors more, so I've been taking a lot of long walks and the occasional scooter ride.

I've been doing a bit of traveling as well. Ariel has been showing me around Taichung and the surrounding areas, and this weekend we're visiting Hsinchu and Mioli, pretty close to Taipei, but I've never been there.

Luke has been spending time with some friends of Crystal. They are art students in Taipei, and they've been his connection to a lot of cool events and happenings. He's going to help them set up for the Spring Scream festival in Kenting (the lowest point of the southern peninsula of the island.)

This festival promises to be an awesome way to celebrate the good weather arriving. There will be three days of live bands, film, arts, and food. I hope to attend, but I need to find a place to stay, as I waited to long to book a hotel room, and now they're all full. Worst case scenario is that I have to sleep in the tent that our friend Jerry gave us.

I hope everyone in Ohio is surviving the last of the winter blizzards. My heart goes out to you. The very thought of getting my car out of a snow bank makes me cringe.

A Little Fun...Just a Bit ;)

The last couple of weeks have been a bit rough on me, as you can tell by my last post. Things have not been going my way with work or with my health. I've been frustrated.

Fortunately I've got a good group of friends that can help me forget my worries and relax. I'm feeling mostly better now, so I can share some of the good stuff that's happened in the past couple of weeks.

Right after I got back from Thailand, Luke and Ariel and I met with Luke's friend Tony and his wife Crystal.

Tony, Crystal, and I

We ended up going to a restaurant with a big pool in the middle. You are handed rods and you can fish for your own prawns. Actually, 'restaurant' is not quite the right word, as there was just a grill in the back and a picnic table in the front, no service, no drinks other than a cooler of beer and tea in the front. Very DIY. Much like a camping trip, only in the middle of the city.

Ariel trying to catch her dinner.

Tony and Luke fishing.

So relaxing. I feel like I'm out in a fan boat on the Everglades.

Showing off the catch.

We didn't catch many shrimp, but the guy spared us a few more, and we had a nice snack of grilled creepies before heading off for a real dinner.

Mmmmm...

Last weekend, we went to a combination going away party for our friend Jerry and birthday party for our friend Melanie.

Luke and Mel

Me, Ariel, and Luke at Citizen Kane restaurant

Luke and Jerry

Me looking very zen in front of a fake Japanese garden in a department store

Ariel preparing tea, the traditional way, at a teahouse

If I didn't have friends, or these little excursions, I don't know what I'd do to keep my sanity. I'm grateful.