Looking Good

I'd rather be smarter than I look than look smater than I am. I just got laser eye surgery...Quite the miracle of modern science. They gave me a video tape of the procedure if anyone wants to be grossed out.

Hamlet translated into American

The question is: is it better to be alive or dead? Is it nobler to put up with all the nasty things that luck throws your way, or to fight against all those troubles by simply putting an end to them once and for all? Dying, sleeping—that’s all dying is—a sleep that ends all the heartache and shocks that life on earth gives us—that’s an achievement to wish for. To die, to sleep—to sleep, maybe to dream. Ah, but there’s the catch: in death’s sleep who knows what kind of dreams might come, after we’ve shaken off the flesh from our souls. That’s certainly something to worry about. That’s the consideration that makes us stretch out our sufferings so long. After all, who would put up with all life’s humiliations —the abuse from superiors, the insults of arrogant men, the pangs of unrequited love, the inefficiency of the legal system, the rudeness of people in office, and the mistreatment good people have to take from bad—when you could simply take out your knife and call it quits? Who would choose to grunt and sweat through an exhausting life, unless they were afraid of something dreadful after death, the undiscovered country from which no visitor returns, which we wonder about without getting any answers from and which makes us stick to the evils we know rather than rush off to seek the ones we don’t? Fear of death makes us all cowards, and our natural boldness becomes weak with too much thinking. Actions that should be carried out at once get misdirected, and stop being actions at all. But shh, here comes the beautiful Ophelia. Pretty lady, please remember me when you pray.

Hiroshima

Mr. Osamu Kataoka. Age: 45; occupation: university professor; family: wife. At that time -- age: 13; at school (800 meters from the hypocenter); father and elder brother died; mother and two elder sisters injured.

"I ran to the edge of the pool. What did I see there? A drowned classmate, who was burned all over. Another classmate was trying to put out a fire on a friend's clothes with his own spouting blood." (written at age 17)

Itinerary

Itinerary

08-29-05 Long Beach to Tokyo:
MS Yellow Sea

09-12-05 Tokyo Accommodations:
Ryokan Kangetsu, Tokyo


09-13-05 Osaka Accommodations:
Kaneyoshi Ryokan, Osaka

09-16-05 Osaka to Shanghai :
Ferry # 1298: depart Osaka : 09/16 (12:00 noon) arrive Shanghai : 09/18(11:00 am)

09-18-05 Shanghai Accommodations:
Shanghai Metropole Hotel, Shanghai, China
No.180, Jiang Xi Zhong Road,, China.

09-20-05 Shanghai to Nanning Train:
Train K181
Departs Shanghai: 20:06 Arrives Nanning: 00:56 Travel Time: 1 day 4 hours 50 min
K181 from SHANGHAI to NANNING Upper berth

09-23-05 Nanning to Hanoi Train:
depart Nanning: 21:15 Friday
arrive Hanoi: 08:10 Saturday


09-24-05 Hanoi Accommodations:
Anh Dao, Hanoi, Vietnam
37 Ma May street, Vietnam.

09-26-05 Hanoi to Saigon Train:
Hanoi - Saigon   (1,726 km)

09-28-05 Saigon Accommodations:
PALACE HOTEL - HO CHI MINH CITY - VIETNAM 
56-66 Nguyen Hue Street, District 1, Ho chi minh city  Saigon, Vietnam


09-30-05 Saigon to Phnom Penh:
Boat

Best worst start to fake novel award

As he stared at her ample bosom, he daydreamed of the dual Stromberg carburetors in his vintage Triumph Spitfire, highly functional yet pleasingly formed, perched prominently on top of the intake manifold, aching for experienced hands, the small knurled caps of the oil dampeners begging to be inspected and adjusted as described in chapter seven of the shop manual.