Month: May 2007

On the Road 2007 (Part 1)

Ten days ago, we set off on a road trip.

The rainy season had not yet really started, but it was giving us a nice preview. Wherever we went, the fields were green.

The basic idea of any successful road trip is that you just go where the road takes you. On the first day, it led us to the muddy back roads of a garish temple erected by one of the largest Buddhist sects in Thailand. The temple interested me much less than the hidden pond guarded by water buffalo and spirit houses just off the temple grounds.

Although the main sanctuary was in good condition, the surrounding buildings left much to be desired – such as walls.

The crematorium was in rough shape, too.

Finding a lost shoe always sets my mind to thinking about its story. I’m pretty sure this baby flip flop was abandoned by its parents at the temple because they couldn’t afford to feed it.

This was just our first stop on a long journey.

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All links for the On the Road 2007 series:
On the Road 2007 (Part 1)
On the Road 2007 (Part 2)
On the Road 2007 (Part 3) – Koh Chang
On the Road 2007 (Part 4) – Overloaded
On the Road 2007 (Part 5) – Tamnanpar
On the Road 2007 (Part 6) – The Animatronic Chicken Roasters of Rayong, Thailand

momentous – 999999999


This was the entire point of that other post.
Some might wonder why I choose to commemorate 99999 999.9 instead of 100000 000.0. Well, I can’t really explain it; that’s just not how it’s done – we follows the little voice in our headses and it leads us on grand adventures… Right, Preeeciousss?
What a grand occasion this is.
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In honor of this momentous accomplishment, Nam and I have decided to go on a road trip from tomorrow. Where we go shall not be decided beforehand. We will pack for a few days, hop in the car, and see where the road takes us.
Be back soon!

Studio Six Productions

The title says it all: How the CIA used a fake science fiction film to sneak six Americans out of revolutionary Iran
That’s the best Wired article I’ve read in ages.
It’s hard to believe that my all-time favorite Wired article is already over ten years old: Mother Earth Mother Board
It’s by Neal Stephenson, who’s one of my favorite authors (even though I can’t get through his post-Cryptonomicon works). His other articles for Wired are great, too: LINK

Beautiful

1. The sunset we saw a few days ago standing on our balcony at our house out in the sticks

2. The hot pizza (double pepperoni / tom yum) that I ordered online and was delivered in the pouring rain to our house out in the sticks. That’s the definition of a killer online app! I would have given the guy a bigger tip if he’d delivered it on a water buffalo, though.
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I have some updates about the little girl, but I don’t feel like writing about it just yet. Her parents sure are creeps, though.

Stripes

I totally just smoked this guy who wanted to race, on the way home. I’ve been a really good boy and not given into temptation until today, but this guy was a total asshole and cut me off. He was in a fast VW hatchback, so I gave him the lead for a while and let him eat my xenons. Then I passed him in the outside lane and that was that, because there was no way he could keep up. Not much to it, but it felt really good. This sleeper car of mine has earned its stripes. Someone has contacted me with an offer to install a custom Y-pipe without the 2 pre-cats I have on the stock system now. Don’t need it, though. It felt really good to smoke that guy; brought back the way I used to feel driving the Silvia at night on the coastal highway back home.

Note to self: Don’t race with wife in car. It still upsets her for some reason.