Met a gorgeous Kenyan tiger-tamer. She's quite smitten with me. Body from a rap video. The more we talk, I think she's my dream woman. I'm moving in with her tonight, near the zoo. More updates to come. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Just some random thoughts in this one... I've noticed as I've been travelling that a LOT of people speak English throughout the world. It's the first language of the U.K., Canada, Australia, Singapore, and New Zealand. It's also the major language of the U.S. (though not many of us are abroad), and an important official language in many other countries, including the super-populous India. English is spoken pretty-much anywhere there are tourists, in diplomatic settings, and anywhere where there is a lot of international business going on. But, we don't all speak the same English. In fact, the dialects of English [View Full Entry]

---

---

Ranting So, I've been doing quite a bit of ranting today. The first one I remember was about the genius behind Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb." Then there was an even longer rant about Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and his career of staggeringly brilliant black comedy/science fiction novelettes. Then there was an extensively detailed rant about my passionate belief in many old-fashioned American values: like the Native American ways of life and their spirituality; like the spirit of revolution, independence, and classical liberalism that spawned our nation and our constitution; like the [View Full Entry]

---

---

I'm writing this particular entry because myself and an Englishman named Rob decided that this place has to make it into the guidebooks or something. I've been all over Bangkok and the suburbs and through the North and through Laos. It sounds like Rob's been to this area a few more times than i and seen quite a bit more. We both agree that this is the best internet cafe we've been able to find. The place is quietly tucked-away on Soi Rambuttri, a block or two away from the bustling Khao San Road. So, it's never too busy and the [View Full Entry]

---

---

The clouds move very fast over Bangkok, but the red on the inside of my eyes is nicer to look at. I've spent the day recovering from a hangover after the big sendoff we gave my friend Mike last night on the Khao San Road. (He's on his way to Australia.) Most of the day was done lying in bed or sitting in the bottom of the pool, with a fair share of it on this computer typing about what I've thought. Maybe it's just the effects of too many buckets of Thai whiskey, but most of these thoughts have been [View Full Entry]

---

---

So, I guess the projects in Thailand are pretty much the same as project homes anywhere else. I learned first-hand last night. Suvarnabhumi After my epic, culture-shocking day and night, I arrived at the new Suvarnabhumi Airport north of Bangkok around 8:00am. I'd taken seven taxis and four buses to get there, over a 22-hour period. Best part was, I had no idea what time of day my friend was getting in to the airport, didn't know her flight number, or even the airport name and departure city. So what? I was doing all this by the seat of my pants [View Full Entry]

---

---

"Laos", add this to your list of offences commited by the French around the world. The place is really called Lao (pronounced like shower, like when you take a shower at the end of a long day of drinking and tubing down a muddy river...), but under french colonization, the silent S was added to the end. This has led to generations of Europeans and Africans and North and South Americans calling the place "Laos" (like "louse", like a bug you get in your hair when you share hats or a person who drinks too much). It's a real shame when [View Full Entry]

---

---

"Culture Shock". Before today, I never really understood what the term meant. I've spent my entire life trying to experience and learn about new cultures, and I've tried to go into everything with an open mind. Consequently, I've always had open eyes. At the start of my trip, I was on familiar territory. However--as early San Francisco--I quickly found myself thrust into many strange places and situations. I wouldn't have said that any of these were "shocking". Although they they were often unusual and crazy and confusing and frustrating and--in a few cases--bizzarely beautiful, I was always able to clearly see [View Full Entry]

---

---

The last city I visited in Laos was called Vang Vieng. I don't know what it translates to, but it should be something like "Backpackers' Paradise". Vang Vieng is a little boom-town on Route 13 that pretty much exists only to be a travel destination for foreigners and somewhat-wealthy Laotians. There are lovely mountains, beautiful sunsets, plentiful jungles, and a slow, winding river lined with bamboo-hut bars. The restaurants serve good western food and play American DVDs (mostly episodes of "Friends"). The bars serve a variety of Marijuana, Opium, and Magic Mushroom joints, foods, and drinks (as well as $1 Beer [View Full Entry]

---

---

Well, it's been awhile since I've written. I do have a good excuse, however. I've been in northern Laos (pronounced 'Lao'), and there's hardly anywhere with internet here and it is always very slow. I promise you that I will be catching everyone up on the adventures that I've had over the last 10 days or so, but in the meantime, here are a couple highlights: + I took the bus from Bangkok to a town called Ayuthaya, checked out ancient Thai ruins and discovered a band that plays what the Thai's call "Life Music", which is really fun. + From [View Full Entry]

---

---