Raising a family in Thailand // Documenting Issan food, culture, music, and people
It was somewhat of an unwelcome surprise to find out that part of my brain needs Mr. T. Watching his new show while making dinner, I kept telling myself how stupid it was the first 20 minutes, and ended up smiling when it finished… For what it’s worth, he’s actually a much better host than Tosh.
(awesome graphic via)
It was nice being able to sleep in a tent for a few nights this past year; I like camping and look forward to taking Max and Mina…
There are a couple of nice outdoors themed links I’ve been wanting to post, so:
Unforgettable Vacation In Karelia – Nice photo set from Finland or Russia, can’t tell which. (It’s hosted on English Russia, so watch for pop-ups.)
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Then there’s this clip from a film called Alone in the Wilderness:
This kind of stuff just fascinates me – I often wonder if I’d be able to handle a month or two of solitude.
The guy’s homepage is here.
I’m acquiring the full video as I type this, so I may write about it again.
Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong. Except for people who can’t admit they’re wrong.
A couple weeks ago I was engaged in the never-ending battle to figure out why my Crown hates running cold so much (Next step: Replace coil pack and plug cables, plus various tweaking with components expensive to replace but cheap to check/clean). I took her out on the Sarakham bypass that’s close to our house and runs for a couple unimpeded kilos in a straight line. It was a glorious sunny day, dry and hot, and I was running with all four windows open.
As I started up the bypass, it suddenly started raining, though there was hardly a cloud in the sky (weather like this always reminds me of Hawaii for some reason). Luckily, I was headed into the wind, so not much rain got inside the car. By the time I was halfway through the run, something curious happened. The rain hitting the hot asphalt started steaming and the entire highway was enveloped in a dense fog. The thing is, I was completely alone on the road and I savored that moment of having it all to myself. As I cruised with windows open and wipers on, the wind blew the fog into dancing spirals that parted as we passed through. When I got to the end of the bypass, it suddenly stopped raining. When I got to school, the janitor sweeping out the parking lot saw my car and asked if it was raining.
I said yes and thought, just for me.
So we just saw the new Karate Kid movie. It was total crap (and a great reason for China to hate us even more), but it was a surprise to see my pal Taro Machino starring in it:
It’s kind of hard to believe that grunge can still sound sooooo good. Soundgarden recently got back together for performances and are now releasing B-sides from the Badmotorfinger era: Black Rain
Walking in on an ugly guy making out with an ugly girl in a public restroom is not just horrible, it’s enough to make you regret having to pee at all.
I think I’ve finally got this blog up and running the way it should be, so I feel great.
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Woke up this morning, went to buy a traditional Isan breakfast of sticky rice and skewered BBQ pork, as well as some fried doughballs and a bag of rice porridge. Brought it all back home, got Max ready, and took him to school. Found a roadside vendor selling fresh durian and had him break down a small (~.75 kgs whole) one for Nam – she loves them (I merely tolerate them). Came home again to Mina babbling and scooting around madly on her baby walker. It’s been a perfect start for the day.
Mina and I are sitting in our house with all the lights off, watching headlights go by. It’s funny how in your own house, darkness and shadows can be so wonderful.