Train ride

I would like to take a long train ride, moving from one new place to another...

...in the fall...

...which, incidentally, is my busiest time. (darn!)

But seriously, where would be a good place to go for a long train ride?

Europe?

Japan?

Or, elsewhere?

Any suggestions?

Coming up for air

Nothing much has been up.

There was the disastrous business trip to a small city on the other side of the US. A city so small that the nearest airport is one hour away. My return flight was at 6:10 am, which meant that I had to leave the hotel at 3:30 am, giving me some time to get lost for I was sure of that. I left the hotel promptly at 3:40 am which irked me because I had planned for 3:30 am. What I don't understand is that how could I be late when I never even went to bed. Anyway, I left the hotel at 3:40 am in the midst of rain and heavy fog, not to mention total darkness. I knew the drive to the airport was going to be interesting, if not fatal. I just knew.

Driving on a thickly wooded rural road in a total darkness was surreal. Cue in the fog and total lack of sleep, and at some point I wasn't sure if I was awake or dreaming. Heck, I wasn't even sure if I was dead or alive. Like I said, it was surreal.

Miraculously, I arrived at the airport without getting lost and on time. It was the highlight of the whole trip.

Incidentally, what I have realized is how much I like the Chicago airport. The funny thing is that I have never been to Chicago, but I have been to its airport multiple times. Every time I end up in the airport, I notice how much I enjoy being in there as compared to other airports. It's airy, light, roomy, and, most importantly, easy to maneuver. I saw posters there Chicago campaigning for 2016 Olympics. I don't think the Chicago airport will have any problem handling large crowds--even Olympics crowds.

I also met a frail looking Chinese woman who I first mistook to be a homeless woman. (Sorry!) Turns out, she was just lost. In the airport crowds she somehow found me and made a mad dash to me. I must have stuck out like a sore thumb, being Asian and all. She started speaking to me in Chinese, which was a problem for me since I didn't speak it. When she realized that we didn't speak the same language, she showed me the paper she was holding. On it was scribbled her flight number. Showing me the paper, she said, "Beijing." Well that I understood. I checked the departure screens and wrote down the gate number for her flight on her paper and circled it. I also pointed to her where her gate was. She smiled, relieved. She umm umm'ed, seemed to be searching for a word. Then she said, "Thank you."

I have been obsessing over Michael Jackson ever since he died. What I find crazy weird is that I was never a fan. I couldn't name any of his songs. I just didn't care for the man. When everybody was busy debating about whether he was guilty or innocent during his child molestation trials, I didn't have a word to say about the matter. As far as I was concerned, it wasn't my problem.

Now, I can't get enough of Michael Jackson. I saw his performance during a concert on YouTube and that was it. Why is it that no one had told me what an incredible entertainer he was? Why? What an incredible human being he was. I miss him. I hope he's resting in peace. I really do.

Him being childlike, I can sympathize with that because I have more than a healthy dose of arrested development in me as well.

Him appearing to be asexual, I can also sympathize with that because I also have a little bit of that in me. With my regular uniform of jeans, birkenstock sandals, and American Apparel Unisex T-shirt on a face with the faintest hint of make up, I emit no feminine scent.

I think Michael Jackson was largely misunderstood because he was different and he was simply an easy target for the media. A shame that the world never got to know him as an artist because we were so busy misunderstanding him as a strange man.

Middle management

Vitamin Water commercial.

Sometimes I feel like Mother Nature in the commercial.  *Sigh*

I have somehow found myself in the middle management hell, and I like it 

as much as I like open heart sugery ...

... without anesthesia.

Husband or bust

Source:  The Japan Times Online

You can't make this up.

The list

I have a list (thankfully, a short one) of people on whom I harbor irrational dislike.

I say "irrational" because I dislike them "for no particular reason."  These are the people who just grate me in the wrong way by just being themselves.

Susan Sontag 

Gertrude Stein

Julian Schnabel (periodically he comes off the list because he makes beautiful films)

And now, Alain de Botton.

De Botton is, of course, the writer of such books as "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work", "The Architecture of Happiness", and "On Love".

I have only attempted to read The Architecture of Happiness out of all of his books, but soon dropped it and dismissed it as "nonsense".

I don't get de Botton.  Is he genuine or is he messing with our heads?  Is there any substance to his books and ideas or is he an impostor?

In any case, he's definitely on the list because he annoys me like no other. 

Rejection hurts

Should I try again or give up?

Beauty