Why I don't update my blog

Because I'm lazy!!

Naw, my beautiful daughter has been visiting me over the summer, and I just don't feel like spending so much time on the Internet. Next week summer classes start, so I'll be very busy for a few weeks.

If anyone does read this blog, have patience. I'll update it (hopefully) soon.


Amanda and I at Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall (國立中正紀念堂)

Amanda with a couple of cute students

Mahjong madness

Where are the updates?

OK, I promise to update this blog soon, hopefully this weekend.

In the meantime, feast your eyes on this handsome hunk and gorgeous Taiwanese beauty--truly a stunning couple!

Gettin' busy

Summer classes started this week, so I'm busier than I've ever been since arriving in Taiwan. My blog entries have always been sporadic, but they may become even more so during the next six weeks.

I started seeing a Chinese tutor last Wednesday. The class is only for one hour, once a week, but with this hectic summer teaching schedule, it's just as well. Fortunately, the class is enough of an incentive to get my butt in gear and start seriously learning Chinese (isn't that one of the main reasons I came here?!)

As of today I have a new favorite Taiwanese food, 鴨肉麵(ya1 rou4 mian4), Duck Meat Noodles. OMG, it is so delicious! Anyone who knows me is aware that I hate pickles, but this dish has some kind of pickled vegetable in it, and its crunchy, tangy taste compliments the soup perfectly. What's next, me eating nasty cottage cheese?!

The place I got it at was recommended by a couple of students, and it's located just down the road from my work...how convenient! The restaurant is called 宜蘭滷之鄉 (yi2 lan2 lu3 zhi1 xiang1) which, when I looked up the characters, is literally "Yilan Gravy Village" or something like that. I'm guessing that Yilan is known for a particular style of sauce. The Duck Meat Noodles were so delicious that I'll be adventurous and try the Duck Feet and Duck Heads soon.

It's a beautiful Sunday--sunny and 86F--so I'm headed to Taipei to visit friends.

Spank me

Yeah, spank me for not making any entries since I've been in Taiwan. It seems that whenever I think about doing it, I'm not at my pc, or I'm busy doing something else on the computer like chatting with my kids. Or, most likely, I'm stuffing my face again. Here you see Marc, Zenny, me, and the woman who runs this shop, where I ate duck for the first time.

Even right now, I could write what I've been doing for the past few days, but I'd rather go out and explore. If any of my friends are reading this, please be patient and I'll get around to the sordid details of my time here so far.

The View from Taiwan: Fox Paws and Snafus

The last couple of days have put me in such a good mood that I thought I'd stop talking about myself, and instead point to an interesting article by Taiwan-guru Michael Turton: The View from Taiwan: Fox Paws and Snafus.

Even if you're like me and not much a political person, read the story about the US's nuclear fuse snafu, and the 'dam' follow-up article. Guaranteed to tickle your funny bone.

Stuff people like

Found these two blogs today. Some people love 'em, some hate 'em, but everyone, it seems, has an opinion about 'em.

Stuff White People Like
and
Stuff Educated Black People Like

Taiwan Update: I will be leaving in the next 3-4 weeks. I'll post more details as I know them.

Finally decided on a title for this blog

Lorem Ipsum? That's the name of the dummy text used by typesetters for centuries, the standard passage being Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. I chose this title because:

  1. It's in a foreign language

  2. Since I couldn't come up with a profound title to describe this blog, I figured I might as well use meaningless dummy text

  3.It's obscure and weird.

Actually, the original text of Lorem Ipsum is not meaningless. It comes from a piece of classical literature written by Cicero in 45 BC:

"Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit..."

"There is no one who loves pain itself, who seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain..."

Sometimes I can be such a nerd.

My First Time

First blog entries are always a pain. I mean, you have all these visions of a glorious online journal that readers will find fascinating--readers who will hang on every word, who will scramble to comment on your daily musings.

And then reality sets in.

You really have no idea what to write, and when you finally do come up with a topic, well, it reads as dry and bland as a stale communion wafer.

And yet, as you can see, I've managed to fill in some of the white space on this page. With actual English sentences. Well, sentence fragments anyway ( generous paragraphing and font sizes help too). I feel accomplished, if not somewhat smug.

If you have read this far (by "you" I mean my one sympathetic friend who will reluctantly visit my blog just to humor me), I'll take it to mean that my blog has some potential.

Potential for what? Hell if I know. Let's find out together!