Adventures in Zombie Lizards...

Early this morning, (well, to be accurate, it was only early-ish) I was preparing a nice cup of oolong tea and unwrapping the remains of last night's calzone.  My plan was to sit out on my balcony and enjoy the leisurely pace of a holiday morning breakfast before hunkering down with my phonology.

As I approached my patio door, I saw a lifeless lizard with only 1/2 a face on my balcony.  I thought to myself, 'poor lizard', 'oh gross that's going to spoil my calzone', and 'where's it's face?' all at the same time.  I put my calzone and tea cup back on the counter and went to fetch my broom.  Moments later, I returned with the broom ready to sweep the poor critter up; the poor critter was gone!  I opened the door and looked all over the balcony - walls, floor, ceiling - there was no faceless lizard to be seen.  I figured a bird must have swooped in and picked up an early morning happy meal to go.  I returned the broom to the cupboard, returned my tea and calzone to my hands, opened the balcony door...and nearly stepped on the faceless lizard!  It was back, and in a different location.  Slightly creeped out, I went for the broom again, only to discover that the lizard was gone: again.  

Honestly - how far and how fast can a lifeless faceless lizard move!!??  I was starting to think I may have been mistaken about the lifeless, but the faceless part was tough to miss.  I finally concluded that I had a zombie lizard on my balcony, and if s/he wanted to stay there, that was fine with me - but I was going to have my breakfast indoors.

During the course of the day, I'd peek out and sometimes I'd see the zombie lizard and sometimes I wouldn't.  I never did  see it move.  Eventually, late in the afternoon, I did see it, surrounded by a gathering swarm of industrious ants.  That time, when I went for the broom, s/he didn't disappear.  

I learned two things today.  1. Dead things, even little lizards, make me sad.  2. The only way to crush a zombie rebellion is with ants - lots and lots of ants.

Adventures in S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y...

Since today is Saturday, neither school nor church was going to get me out of my house, so I had to come up with another plan. With no scheduled demands on my time, I was free to fill my day as I saw fit.

I spent the morning cleaning my apartment and doing laundry. Most of my laundry I take to have washed and ironed by a young woman down the street. Some things I prefer to wash on my own, so I take them to the laundromat downstairs. It's not the kind of laundromat we have in Canada. As you can see from the photo, it's just a row of washing machines lined up outside a cell-phone store.

After everything was clean and tidy,


I headed off to my favourite coffee shop to get some more school work done. I hunkered down in there for two hours, until my laptop battery died.



At that point, I packed up and tried out the Fish Foot Spa.

My plan was to read/study while little fishies were working hard to make my feet soft and smooooooth. The first five minutes were ticklish and prickly and squirmy and terrible. Eventually my frightened little nerve endings calmed down and I was able to relax for the rest of the hour. I did get some reading done, but I was facing a plate glass window that looked out onto the market street. Eventually, I put my book down and watched the street come to life as vendors arrived and set up their stalls.

The fish finished their work around 6pm, just in time for me to head out into the market and find myself some dinner. This is where I usually forage for my food on Friday and Saturday nights. Tonight, I opted for some of the Pad Thai and a bit of Northern Thai sausage.

I brought everything home and sat out on my balcony watching the clouds roll in over the mountain as I enjoyed my dinner. There are some lovely sunset views from this vantage point when it's not overcast. Oh, and that's the roof of the laundromat you can see in the foreground.

Adventures in Good Days...

Today was a good day. After class, I spent a couple of hours in a lovely coffee shop sipping hot chocolate and diving into an assignment that's interesting, but challenging. It's a phonological examination of S'gaw Karen, a Tibeto-Burman language. Most of what I did on it today went smoothly, but I did come across a few sounds that were unrecognizable to my ears, and I just couldn't figure out how to transcribe them. I'll have another go at it tomorrow.

After tucking my work away for the day, I hopped on my bike and headed out on the open road to run a few errands. By the time I got home, the sun was just thinking about setting behind the mountain, and the night market near my place was in full swing. I wandered through and found some new (and deliciously spicy) things to try for dinner, AND a vendor selling my Korean snacky nemesis: the fiendishly deceptive red-bean fish. It's a little cake shaped like a fish, and the cake is hot and delicious, and the aroma is divine...but when you bite into it, it's full of nasty, purple, thick red-bean paste. However, the vendor here at my market didn't just stop at bean paste - he offered chocolate, vanilla, blueberry and strawberry fillings!! What a sweet surprise.

After making my way home with dinner (and chocolate fish) in tow, I settled in to catch up on some new videos posted to BoingBoing.net and laughed out loud at the Swedish Chef (of muppet fame) making popcorn shrimp. While I was watching the videos, Thai and Prairie time zones eventually came into propitious alignment and I called my folks. I had a nice chat with Mom, Dad and Gramma, and now that I've told you all about my day, it's bedtime.

G'night.

Adventures in Little House on the Prairie...


I'm now back in Korea after a lovely vacation, and should be back to my semi-regular musings soon. I thought I should take a moment though and wish Little House on the Prairie a happy 34th birthday! That's right - on September 11th, 1974, viewers were introduced to the TV versions of Ma, Pa, Laura and Mary Ingalls...and endured (ahem...loved) the sappy, drippy, wholesome storylines for many years.

Adventures in Purple Party Poopers...

When my sister and I were young, we used to watch Battle of the Planets: a Japanese animated series. In one episode, I remember one of the characters calling Zoltar, the villain, a "Purple Party Pooper". Being 6 years old, I thought it was absolutely hilarious. Maybe it was because I heard someone say "poop" on TV. Still, to this day, I remember that line. (To think that that brain space could have been used to remember things like birthdays or multiplication tables.)

Even though it's painted in blue, white and red, today's "Purple Party Pooper of the Week" award goes to Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay. The mayor has chastised Montreal firefighters for painting their fire stations blue, white and red in support of the Canadiens as they head into the playoffs. The mayor seems to have confused team spirit, morale boosting, patriotic enthusiasm and artistic expression with vandalism and defacing public property. Now, I'm sure that according to the letter of the law, he's right. According to the same letter of the same law, he could also probably start hauling little kids in to the precinct for drawing hop-scotch boards on the sidewalks with chalk. The firemen used temporary water-based paint to show support for their home-town team playing Canada's favourite sport. Get a grip, Mr.Mayor!!

I'm not even a hockey fan, but I do recognize a giant Party Pooper when I see one!

Adventures in Fine Dining...

While taking some time to poke around the internet this afternoon, I came across an article detailing the newest trends in tableware. What possessed me to actually click on the link, I'll never know. Against my better judgment, I did find myself skimming the article, and soon discovered the six hottest things in tableware since the invention of the fork. These trends are condensed below:

- Asian influences
- Wildlife motifs
- Neutral shades
- Designer patterns
- Victorian charm

The list itself wasn't very interesting. What got me thinking was, "What's NOT on that list?" In my opinion, those 6 categories cover every plate, saucer and gravy boat in every cupboard, cottage and cabinet. It seems to me that the article could more accurately have been titled "Put anything you want on your table. It's all good." Actually, there is one category that's not on the list. The author of the article failed to mention "Ugly Things Janice Made in Pottery Class." And so, in utter rebellion, I'm going to go make a sandwich, and put it on the ugliest pottery mishap I can find. The sandwich will still taste just as good, and my unfashionable table will never know the difference.

Adventures in Fools of April...

While I don't usually do much for April Fool's Day myself, I read this morning of possibly one of the most successful and well executed pranks of all time. I'm just glad I'm not the guy that got pranked.

You can read the article here: http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=955#more-955

Adventures in Mirth...

What a day this is turning out to be. I woke up chuckling from an odd dream I had, and soon sat down with coffee and toast in hand to peruse my morning websites. I spent a few minutes on Damn Interesting which my friend Jen introduced me to. I came across an article entitled "Humoring the Gelotologists" by Alan Bellows. I spent the next 10 minutes reading all about theories of why we laugh, and the healthy benefits of laughter. By the end of the article, I was sure I had laughed enough to add a few days to my life expectancy. I wasn't finished yet. At the bottom of the article were links to various funny sites. That's when I found it. It was a little creepy, a whole lot bizarre, and frighteningly contagious. Since laughter is so good for you, and I want all my readers to be happy and healthy, I'm sharing this for your own good. Be sure to turn your speakers on, and enjoy.