amazing things
today has been a day of learning.

have you heard about the guy whose son has cerebral palsy. now past middle age, the father runs in races and other competitions with his son in tow because he likes the feel of running and competing and particpating. they competed in the ironman this year. can you imagine? the father who puts his body through the toughest challenges out of love for his son.

in the same ironman race, a belgian who once came in 6th in an event was soon after paralyzed in an accident. two years later, he completed the race, well over 100 miles, using his arms only.

have you heard about the christmas truce in world war one, when german and british soldiers put the fighting on hold to play soccer using balls of hay tied with string?

how can this world be so full of amazing stories that we never hear of?

revolutions
i am SO out of touch with reality. the matrix: revolutions is opening tonight and i didn't know! it's going to be like ages before i go see it, because i have no friends, whereas once upon a time i used to be on top of the matrix films. wah!

next stop: madison, wisconsin!?!??!!!??!?!?!

plod plod plod
still teaching taekwondo, still being mad in a scientific way. have now started cashiering on weekends at my rents' club, from 11-5am. good money, bad for my sleep habits and social life. altho' i think i like to use it as an excuse to not have one.

next stop: boston! i'll be there by next fall. and you?

will it work?
apple launched its itunes for windows today. would you pay 99cents per song? i suppose i would if it meant keeping those evil record execs off my ass, litigiously speaking.

unrelated
BROKEN HEART MAY CAUSE AS MUCH DISTRESS IN BRAIN AS PHYSICAL INJURY, STUDY SAYS
from Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A rejected lover's broken heart may cause as much distress in a pain center of the brain as an actual physical injury,
according to new research.

California researchers have found a physiological basis for social pain by monitoring the brains of people who thought they had been maliciously excluded from a computer game by other players.

Naomi I. Eisenberger, a scientist at the University of California, Los
Angeles and the first author of the study published Friday in the journal Science, said the study suggests that the need for social inclusiveness is a deep-seated part of what it means to be human.

not that this is related to my travels, but it's an interesting thought, so to speak. who hasn't experienced rejection or emotions that cut to your core, as if you were physically hit.

still have no idea what i'm doing with my life. i feel like it'd take a lot of courage to up and go to new zealand or anywhere else for that matter, but i think it would take even more courage to stay and find a real job.

sick again
i have had two colds in two weeks. it's all those dirty, germy little kids i hang out with all the time.

failed red dot specialist
i quit my job at target. well, not really. i just haven't show up in two days. working 6-2 at target and then 3-8:30 at my other job was killing me. something had to give, and it was target. not only was the work pointless (moving and rearranging shelves, with no apparent reason or pattern) but my coworkers were so...slow! (uh-oh, here i go again badmouthing people...) besides, i found another job (or two) and four jobs at once would have been S-I-L-L-Y!

whoosh
the sound hurricane/tropical storm isabel is making outside my window...
...and the sound my brain makes when scanning barcodes all day long.

red polo hell
monday: orientation at target. my life in retail begins. what do i do when i run into an old acquaintance/classmate? say: i'm doing research for a book. life at just above minimum wage.

mental powers
about half an hour ago, while i was taking a wee, i mentally made myself accept that i had to take this job search seriously. no more applying for jobs like being a cashier at target. the reason? i had just found this job opening that's relatively perfect. exactly one of the 14,000 things i want to do. unfortunately, the job is in boston, but that's a city i'm totally open to living in.

what does this mean and why am i posting this here? because it's the start of my acceptance of the fact that i may not go back to new zealand. despite all the grief and misery and carnage i have wreaked in that country, i loved it there (most of the time) and it was great and most importantly, it's better than living here (here being with my parents and in new jersey and the united states) in so many ways.

but maybe with all this money i'm going to save (as soon as i get my first paycheck), i'll just have a really nice vacation down under instead.