if this is paradise, why does it rain so much?
i forgot about you, dear blog. for better or worse. i am here in rarotonga, the edge of the world, the last time zone of the day, the middle of nowhere, a rainy paradise. this is my second fully day on the island and my third rainstorm. it was quaint yesterday when i was on my push bike, touring the island. (it's about 20 miles and my bum hurts a lot.) today, not so cute. but still, it's amazing here.
i'm in avarua, the main town in rarotonga, though if you were on a highway in kentucky, this place would be a blink-of-an-eye village. the mosquitoes are fierce, as is the sun. i'm quite burned even tho' it was thoroughly overcast yesterday. monday, i'm off to aitutaki, what i suspect from pictures to be an even more idyllic place. i love swimming in warm, clear waters, though it's a little freaky to do it by myself. it's not hard to find a lonesome swimming place, and then i worry about sharks and random spiky poisonous creatures. in reality, i don't have much to worry about, but sometimes standing on the beach, thinking about how vast the pacific is and then how small this blot of land is ... well, it's just a little scary.
my voyage to rarotonga was a long one. from newark airport to LA for five days or so, then a 13 hour flight to auckland. then the next day, a four hour flight BACK EAST and over the dateline to the Cook Islands. It was Wednesday then it was Thursday, then I woke up and it was Friday and I hopped back on a plane to Thursday and woke up on Friday again. There really isn't much jet-lag because the hours are so close, but it's just plain weird, damn it.
So ta ta for now.
Saturday, March 06, 2004
Monday, January 26, 2004
i am reading al franken's new book -- lies and the lying liars who tell them -- and i am getting REALLY INFURIATED. i already knew g.w. bush was a hack. his theft of the presidential office was supported by the media, left and right wings of it. and it seems that every time he's in the news, he's on vacation at his ranch in texas. now i'm learning that almost all of his actions after 9/11 were based on recommendations and plans that were basically started during the last days of the clinton administration. and bush's white house tries to blame everything on clinton, as if it were bill who was so damn busy giving tax cuts to rich people and giant companies instead of his own damn skinny big-eared goofy and somewhat stupid self. GRR! oh but i'm sorry, i'm getting this out of a LEFT-WING LIBERAL'S (well researched and documented) BOOK! maybe for the truth i should consult ann coulter...
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
rocks rocks and more rocks
i interned at jpl one summer in college and what did i do? i counted rocks. i didn't just count them, i had to locate all the coordinates of the rocks in these images. countless rocks...and so when i see the new images from the spirit rover, i just think, gee, there's going to be some poor sap who has to count all those!
i interned at jpl one summer in college and what did i do? i counted rocks. i didn't just count them, i had to locate all the coordinates of the rocks in these images. countless rocks...and so when i see the new images from the spirit rover, i just think, gee, there's going to be some poor sap who has to count all those!
Friday, January 02, 2004
Sunday, December 07, 2003
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?
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?
Wednesday, November 05, 2003
Thursday, October 30, 2003
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?
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?
Thursday, October 16, 2003
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.
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.
Monday, October 13, 2003
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.
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.
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