Pez Garfield

No se como se llama, para mi es el Pez Garfield, por lo torpe, gracioso y gordo.

Estaban en Chatuchak, mercado de fin de semana de Bangkok. Uno de los mayores laberintos en los que he estado. Fui testigo de unas cuantas peleas de gallos...

Libros que me leo

BEYOND THE FALL OF NIGHT de Arthur C Clarke y Gregory Benford.
Un poquito de ciencia ficcion para amenizar.
La vida dentro de unos cuantos millones de siglos. Incluye dos novelas, la primera de Arthur C. Clarke y la segunda de Gregory Benford, continuacion de la primera.






THE DAMAGE DONE por Warren Fellows
Warren es un ex traficante de heroina al que pillaron en Thailandia con mercancia y al cual le condenaron a la pena capital, en vez de matarle, se paso una buena temporada paseando por unas de las peores carceles del mundo en Bangkok.
Relata lo sucedido dentro de los muros de las prisiones en las que estuvo.
Te tiene atrapadito y te pone los pelos de gallina. Espeluznante.
Se lee en un par de tardes.



PREY de Michael Crichton, creador entre otros exitos de Parque Jurasico, Congo...
No tenia ninguna gana de leer nada de este hombre, pero despues de leerme 'Viajes' me picaba el gusanillo y me he comprado Prey.
No recuerdo un libro que me atrapase tanto de principio a fin como este.
Trata de nanotecnologia, virus, bacterias y programacion. Muy recomendable para pasar un rato entretenido.
Impresiona en trabajo de investigacion desarrollado para escribir el libro.


SEX SLAVES the trafficking of women in ASIA de Louise Brown
Ensayo espeluznante y sobrecogedor de esta intrepida periodista que se recorre los mas sordidos prostibulos de las mas importantes ciudades asiaticas en busca de testimonios de las mismas prostitutas.
Las cuales, en muchos casos, viven en las peores condiciones imaginables en las que se ven esclavizadas desde antes de alcanzar la pubertad.
Desde Tokyo hasta Phom Phen, pasando por Dehli.
Esclarecedor y que da mucho que hablar.





TRAVELS de Michael Crichton
Agradable ensayo separado en tres partes en cuya promera parte que el autor narra sus experiencias como estudiante de medicina en Harvard, en la segunda haba de sus viajes por el mundo y en la tercera habla de sus relacciones con el mundo de los mediums, el plano espiritual...
Bastante facil de leer y que trata temas poco conocidos de manera muy natural, casi cotidiana.

En un par de dias me voy para Singapur

Un gatito con ojos de dos colores

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Unos de los sitios mas bonitos que he visto en este viaje y en mi vida es Halong Bay, al norte de Vietnam.





Una vista de Halong Bay.
La Bahia de Halong son unas mil islas situadas al norte de Vietnam. Muy lindas.
Haces noche en un barquito mu majete.




Yo :P

Angkor, Camboya

Unas fotitos de los templos de Angkor, en Camboya.
Un lugar bastante impresionante.
Se le considera el segundo mayor descubrimiento arqueologico despues de las piramides.



El templo de las caras



Unos grabados.
Cubrian toda la parte exterior de unos de los templos.



Unos guardianes.



El mas famoso de todos, el templo de Angkor Wat.
La iluminacion de la foto es penosa, sorry!








Unas raices.







Un monje por ahi pululando...










El nene delante de unas escaleras.

Mi cumple, tigrecitos

Ayer fue mi cumple...
Mucho desfase.
Estoy en Phi Phi, Thailandia, donde se rodaron las escenas de playa de la peli La Playa.



He metido unas fotitos, por fin...



Un lindo gatito en un templo de Tailandia donde los cuidan.



Que me muerde!



Que de gente.
A mi lado esta el monje que lo ha organizado todo... Muy majete.



Este si que es peque...

a countercultural valentine's day

I've been reading Shane Claiborne's book The Irresistible Revolution and it's got me thinking about what love is all about. I don't know for sure, but I have a feeling St. Valentine would be unhappy with the way his holiday has turned out. When did we turn it into a one-dimensional celebration of eros? Not that there's anything wrong with romantic love--but I'm sad about the poverty of our language that forces us to use one word for love where the Greeks had several. There's brotherly (and sisterly) love too - why don't we have a holiday for that? And then there's agape love, the love that loves because love is its nature just as the sun shines because it is its nature to shine.

So, friends, brothers, sisters, parents, children, and fellow lovers, I invite you to join me in a daring countercultural protest. If you are in a romantic relationship, by all means celebrate that. But go a step further. Be an equal opportunity lover. Do something to show you love your brothers, your sisters, your friends. Call up your mom. Put change in parking meters that have expired. Love strangers, refugees, sick people, homeless people, orphans, people of other races, alcoholics, people with AIDS, Iraqis. Instead of going out to dinner tonight, Bryan and I are making a donation to Holt for Korean orphans who aren't being adopted. (But we are still going out for dessert.)

As Shane Claiborne says: Another world is possible.

gotta love two year olds

Yesterday I put Alex in bed for her usual afternoon nap and went to read on the couch. An hour went by, during which I heard her chattering to herself as she often does. I figured she just wasn't tired and went to get her up. When I walked in, I found her buck naked, jumping up and down on the bed and singing Jingle Bells at the top of her lungs. :-)

There is just nothing like living with a two year old. Every day brings fresh surprises!

Phuket, putas turistas y sexo

He volado desde Hanoi a Bangkok y desde Bangkok a Phuket.
Thailandia es bastante amigable, pero pese a que l@s Thais se vanaglorian de que nunca han sido colonizados como la mayoria de sus vecinos, Tailandia esta completamente tomada por el turismo.
El pais ha perdido sus señas de identidad para rendirse al negocio.
No es facil salirse de ciertos circuitos o de ciertas rutas, y aun estoy por ver una zona sino virgen, al menos no invadida de hoteles, tiendas de suvenires, restaurantes con cartas en Ingles...
Imagino que en ciertas zonas de España estara pasando algo parecido.


Anoche salimos de marcha por discotecas de la playa y no habia mas que occidentales rodeados de guapas y jovenes tailandesas. Una relaccion de unas 5 chicas por chico, quiza mas. Me temo que la mayoria prostitutas y la mayoria de ellos clientes asiduos.
He visto muchos hombres dados de la mano de mujeres, o chicas, tailandesas entre los que habia una diferencia de edad abismal, pero en Phuket esto es mas exagerado todavia. Se ven literalmente viejos con niñas.
Esto no quiere decir que los unicos clientes sean occidentales, ni mucho menos, ni que sean occidentales quienes han hecho que tantas mujeres se dediquen al negocio del sexo. Lo que pasa es que a los occidentales les gusta mostrar a sus conquistas con orgullo, mientras que los asiaticos intentan ocultarlo. Las mujeres van bastante mas tapadas que las turistas, de echo nos ha pasado que una amiga en minifalda ha recibido mas de una mirada de desaprovacion por parte de las propias tailandesas. Muchas occidentales tienen fama de faciles por el simple hecho de llevar ropa que enseña mas o por peliculas en las que se muestra su independencia sexual al poderse acostar con quien quieran.
Se vislumbra un cierto grado de hipocresia en todo esto...

Ya seguire hablando de todo esto, y en breve: FOTOS!!!!
Es que no he podido subirlas desde los ordenadores en Vietnam, tengo un monton.

Abrazo

adoption - the search

My cousin and his wife are looking to adopt a baby. I knew they had been wanting to become parents for some time, so I was thrilled to hear about their decision. I pray their journey to their baby is mercifully swift. I know how cruel infertility can be, and how heartbreaking it is to wait year after year while all your friends already have kids. I don't know this cousin particularly well - we didn't grow up in the same part of the country - but I've always liked him. Anyone who features Oreo cookies at his wedding reception is automatically dear to my heart.

They are currently spreading the word, hoping that in their extended networks of family and friends they will find someone who knows someone who is pregnant and needs to find an adoptive family for her baby. I'm putting this out there just in case...you never know how a connection will be made, but I'm willing to use my blog as a vehicle if it could help bring a baby to his or her "forever family." Let me know if you know anyone, and keep your eyes open.

The adoption world is full of twists and turns. A weird thing happened to us just a couple of months ago. Back in 2003 we had given our profile to a local attorney friend who does adoptions, and when nothing came of it after a year, we decided to go ahead with international adoption. Three years and two adoptions later, we got a call saying a pregnant woman had seen our profile and was interested in us; would we be willing to adopt her baby? Eek. I was POSITIVE we had removed our profile from the attorney's office when we applied to adopt from Korea. It felt awful to feel we had actually misled anyone, even unintentionally, and to have to say "no" - the timing now would be impossible - Sam's adoption isn't even final yet. May the mom and baby find the family they were meant to be with.

Speaking of adoption, my friend and fellow blogger - who is also mom to a Korean adoptee - recently cancelled her subscription to Parenting magazine. They published a pretty stupid and offensive piece in their "Mom Debate" feature this month: Should singles be allowed to adopt? For more see

http://mommavia.blogspot.com/

I'm cancelling my subscription too, out of protest. But I can't help pointing out an ironic twist: Korean adoption agencies do not allow their babies to go to single parent homes. Ah, what a world we live in.

The Human Condition

I was standing around at the general post office in dublin, waiting to get a postal order for my visa renewal application, when I overheard a conversation.

Person 1: A young-ish man, in his late 20s to mid 30s. Tall, well built and with multiple old scars on different areas of his face. His eyes look dull, a bit like he's seen more shit than a person should see in one lifetime (outside of major warfare). Kind of like the eyes of all the impoverished young adults living in Dublin's slums. Life heading towards one of three directions: prison, alcoholism or a violent death at a young age.

Person 2: A middle-aged woman of around mid 40s to early 50s. She stinks of stale smoke. Its the kind of smell you get in your clothes and your hair when you've been smoking heavily for around 20 years and are constantly surrounded by those who are just like you. Her voice is gravely, her laugh is akin to a cackle. Vocal chords have taken a severe pounding at this point. I hope she's not into karaoke.

P1: *inaudible mumbling*.. fuck's sake!
P2: *cackle, cackle*

P1: Why are all the people coming at this time, it makes it so much busier! *looking around menacingly at senior citizens in queue*
P2: *nervous cackle*

P2: You know, you should get your lotto tickets today. The jackpot is around 110 million euros.
P1: *inaudible mumbling*.. here, hold my welfare certs for a minute, will you?
P2: *cackle cackle*

P2: What would you do with 110 million?
P1: I'd lose it all in 2 days.
P2. *cackle* and how would you that? Its hard to drink that much in 2 days.
P1: *serious look* Las Vegas.
P2: *nodding in agreement, thinking of next cigarette*

I really hope he doesn't win the lotto.

community food co-op

I was surfing the net and came across this Community Food Co-op of Utah.

http://www.crossroads-u-c.org/cfc/index.html

I've been griping about grocery stores and their prices (and shameless marketing ploys) for a while, so this looks pretty cool. People are banding together to outwit the grocery stores and buy directly from wholesalers. Volunteers collect the food, bag it, and distribute it. You sign up for a measly one-time $5, and order from a list of options once a month. Then you pick up your food once a month at your local distribution center. The only requirement is that you do 2 hours of community service (anything you do for free, like volunteering for your church, counts).

We're going to try it. If we don't like the food we don't have to keep doing it, but it looks like some good stuff...lean sirloin beef tips, chicken stir-fry tenderloins, fresh fruits and veggies, whole wheat bread, and more. You can get Chicken Cordon Bleu - eight 6 oz breaded chicken breasts stuffed with ham and swiss - for $10.50. And I'm happy to see they have Fair Trade coffee and locally bottled jam.

Beware evil grocery store conspiracy, we are on to you now!

role reversal

Last night I woke up with an earache. That hasn't happened in a long time. Just when we thought we were all healthy, too. I feel fine except my ear hurts.

I went in to the PA who covers my regular doctor. It's always kind of weird being a patient when I'm used to being the one with the stethoscope. I was happy to see my blood pressure was low and my resting heart rate was 56. Guess the exercisin' is paying off :-)

The nursing student asked me to "describe the pain." This is the thing now - "pain as the fifth vital sign" - but all I could think of was "it's an ACHE" (as in EAR ACHE, duh, but I resisted making smart remarks). Both the nurse and the PA agreed - I have a rip-roarin' case of otitis. I wish I could see it myself. They need to make a little flexible scope for that. I would buy one.

Pain does funny things to people. The nurse asked me my allergies and I told her, but in the back of my mind it seemed like I was forgetting something. Oh well. Then when the PA handed me the prescription, I remembered. Oh yeah, I'm allergic to that too. Write me another one please. The guy probably wrote "patient is a poor historian" in his notes. Oh well, I deserve it. Next time I have a patient in pain (which happens every clinic), I should remember to go easy on him.

Cerca de Hanoi

Me estoy acercando a Hanoi, capital de Vietnam.
Ahora mismo estoy en Hue, donde hay una bonita fortaleza convarios fosos bastante chulos.

Para quien no lo sepa he dejado mi curro y me estoy dando la vuelta al mundo.
Me quedan unos cuantos meses, tengo intencion de ir a Singapur, Indonesia, Nepal, China, Corea, Taiwan, Japon (doinde tengo intencion de pararme a buscar trabajo), Australia, Nueva Zelanda, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Brasil... Esto son solo planes ya que estoy seguro que las cosas iran cambiando segun conozca gente o me apetezcan cosas distintas.

Si vives en alguno de estos sitios o vas a pasar y te apetece quedar enviame un comentario y hablamos.

Besotes...

brrrrr

On January 31, our furnace breathed its last. Cracked heat exchanger, or something like that. It's 20 years old. In our prior house, which was built in 1926, the furnace was from the 1940s and still going strong. They really don't make 'em like they used to.

We thought we had it all figured out. We put space heaters in both kids' rooms. The unforeseen problem was that when both are on, they tend to trip the circuit breaker. Great huh?

We got 3 bids on new furnaces. The "friend of a friend" saved us about $900, so we'll go with him. I'm looking forward to more efficiency and lower heating bills, and Bryan's looking forward to the new air cleaner/dust filter.

The joys of home ownership!