Caught You Wishing You Were Here

I stumble, uncommitted, up to the Italian Eatery to ponder the menu and mysterious 95B pizza offer and slowly notice the gentle amber waves of Comfortably Numb drifting over the airwaves. I smile.

The song ends, I close the menu, but I don't leave, for I detect the unmistakable guitar riff, followed by the lyrics...

Into the distance, a ribbon of black
Stretched to the point of no turning back
A flight of fancy on a windswept field
Standing alone my senses reeled
A fatal attraction holding me fast, how
Can I escape this irresistible grasp?

Learning to Fly. I sit down, leaving a seat open for a bronze skinned, red-eyed companion who may just show up. Absorbing pizza and a comforting flow of Pink Floyd, I ponder the previous night:

The last of the Spanish dames had just retired to her quarters, the rest of us carrying on our conversations heavy in feeling but low in real meaning. A hookah was the center point of our circle, the fluidity of the discussion lubricated by beer and rum.

The barman sat with a short, stubby branch in his hand, training his rhino beetle for its next vicious battle. It had been victorious that day, and shagged the female trophy over the carcass of his dead opponent. I listen and watch in minor amusement, neither over- nor underwhelmed.

I zone back in to The Musician sharing his uneducated mother's worldly wisdom, "You know what shit looks like, so don't put your finger in it."

He doesn't dabble in politics. I continue sipping the rum the aged man had bought for the young girl...

Le Cambodge

In Cambodia, a persistent and mild euphoria turns days into weeks until you ask What did I just do for the past 7 days? and ever so slowly realize you need to GTFO. Undiscovered and Untouched often adorn descriptions of this place, but for now I'd rather go with undistinguished.

Tomorrow: Thailand Navidad! (Insha'allah)

Business Class

Thailand is rad, but I'm getting too comfortable, i.e. the party is dead.

It used to be one of the most adventurous border-crossing journeys out there, but now it rests mostly tame. Either way, I embark a mere 17 hours from now, at 5am.

Will they allow shisha on the bus? Let's find out. Cambodia Navidad!

Want a postcard?

Use the subject line "postcard address" and drop me an email.

Last night, finally, I was, with great concern, asked if I wanted "The Boom Boom." Plus, I watched I, Robot.

During a moment of breath

September the 3rd at 4:58pm in an empty food shop with a ton of flies.

He sets down a Pepsi and fails to acknowledge that I ordered a Coke; I decide to do the same.

The Pad Thai looks unlike any other Pad Thai I've ever eaten (and I WAS just here a month ago), but approval morphing into Fandom takes only as long as the 1st bite.

Buses nonchalantly roll by and I wonder if that English drag queen was on any of them. She found me just as I was losing her to ethnic confusion. But of course, she was British; they always are. Anyone over 35 dragging a suitcase in a 3rd world country is always British, in my experience. I shouldn't be surprised anymore.

Her accent was neither comforting nor agitating as she replayed her perilous tale of requesting the bus station but receiving a travel agency as the driver's destination of choice. The F-bomb is dropped at least once, quietly, aggressively, and not by me.

I forget that I've only just arrived and tell her Yes, I'm pretty sure you just take a left down there and within a block or two should see what looks like a bus station.

To the right? Not sure, but I know I saw a bus to the left.

She pulls her suitcase left.

Within the next 10 minutes, three buses come from the right.

The Pepsi is delicious. The man is nice...

don't trust the bus ferries

I lost my towel on the 1st day. Might have been a sign.

I'm up near the Mekong River where the pace is a little different and you can view Laos from your desk chair. I have some funny stories to share.

Still alive, still optimistic, and still moving. Surya converges soon.

Why we travel

On the eve, I feel what was reality begin slipping into memory, where it shall reside until the end of infinitum. Stumbling out of bed, exhausted from racing thoughts, I wonder, why wander?

Somewhere, somehow, for some reason; we travel.

We seek the awe of monuments from ages past, and bask in the hustle, bustle, and hope of the cities of tomorrow. As we discover the size of the world at large, we realize the sanctity of the tiny place we call home. And when we're lucky we ingest the wisdom of the seasoned, and reflect the playful glee of the young.

We search for those single fleeting moments when hearts connect, and then realize we'll remember it forever. We travel to gaze the vast open sea, looking out and asking, what, exactly, is the key to unlocking the confines of a closed mind?

Sometimes we go seeking the Truth of it all, to "see it ourselves," only to realize how many of our own lies we brought along. So we carry on, our bags light but our loads heavy in responsibility; armed yourself with a pen, can you really disarm another?

The short term relationship ends with the long distance train, just as the bright golden rays arrive to illuminate the gloom of departure. Had we not just found ourselves lost in the rain?

Together we left, but separately we continue on. Million-dollar smiles greet you from poverty-stricken curbs, unknown strangers sharing knowing nods; we can do this. You went to inspire, but it all comes back with you.

This Song is over. The party's dead. Let's go to the Hills.

Thailand Navidad!

2 Year Anny

It was just over 2 years ago that my illustrious laptop was taken right out from under me, never to return again. It was unanticipated and unappreciated at the time, but now I look back and see the humor in it all.

I wonder if I will look back and see the humor of such an event happening again, like it did about 3 days ago. Apparently locking your locker and leaving it alone for 10 minutes isn't enough these days. Good bye Malaysia Photos, our relationship was short, but we cherished every moment together.

I have 2 weekends left in this joint. My life as of late has been lacking any real source of mental and physical stimulation, and it is my hope that 2 weekends from now I begin reversing that trend. A feeling of restlessness hangs around my neck and refuses to get shagged.

3 things

If I were at the helm, I would be spending most of my time investigating how to be more different, nor more similar to everything else out there. Re-Find what it is I'd want to stand for, and stand for it.

The next order of business would be eliminating the stunningly slow motion, "my bare hands are stiff from 6 hours in the snow way" that it operates. It is not an 8000 pound elephant, so don't act like one.

Sure, easier said than done.

And lastly, the idea and entire organization as a whole is a distributed network of hubs. No reason you can't create a distributed network of evangelists to push the growth forward. At its heart, this is a human to human, one by one organization. I think that was temporarily forgotten.

Let's not forget it again. In fact, let's embrace it.

Stogies? Why Not?

One more blog? Why not?

This time it's porn for email marketing and copywriting. Going to keep it real niche.