I Never Quite Realized Just How Tall I Am!

if you know me well and have the imagination to put yourself in my shoes, you'll understand when i say that though Taipei is an easily grasped concept of a chaotic asian metropolis, China is an entirely different planet. granted, i'm not spending any time on this trip in the major (we're talking a country with 1.4 BILLION people here, so major and minor have entirely different meanings, if you catch my drift) cities, but it truly does redefine civilization. take all the concepts about urban life and culture that our western world has ingrained in us and chuck them out the window. the only common element is that this city i'm in is also populated primarily by a bipedal mammalian species akin to homo sapiens. to say i'm loving it is an understatement.
i haven't eaten a single thing i recognize yet, and this is taking into account my adventurous but seldom documented forays into chinatown as well as Cray Ton's father's imperial cooking. i haven't had a guinness or western meal in a week, and i actually feel much much healthier than i have back home. actually, the dietary contrast has really brought to my attention just how terribly we tend to eat, and the utterly unhealthy food that surrounds us on a daily basis. they have no concept of batter or gravy here, and were steam technologies cease to be, they would instantly starve to death.
a couple more items of amusement: the only other round eye that i have seen since departing vancouver was a solitary and skittish black (!) guy in Taipei. apart from that, for the first time in my life, I am the odd looking foreigner who attracts extremely overt and puzzled/curious stares from people on an hourly basis. as i mentioned to Ali (I MISS YOU, BABY), the attention i am gathering is exactly as if i were to dress in FABULOUS birdcage type drag and strut down blvd jean-talon in saint-leonard on a sunday afternoon, minus the homicide-bound angry mob that would be chasing me...
well, business-wise, there are some very attractive things in the future, not the least of which is the sledgehammer i intend to take to my organization in montreal after observing the far more pleasant operation out here. may God help anyone who stands in my way, amen.
oh, and i will have to make a serious go at learning this language. night classes, here i come!
until next time, true believers!
ps: bab5 when i return, though it feels like i'm living in a combination of the Zocolo and down below (brown sector, right baby?) right now...

fun quiz

What is your favorite word?
tasty


What is your least favorite word?

stress


What turns you on?

talent


What turns you off?

blatant and unaware stupidity/ignorance

What sound or noise do you love?

the sea. all of it.


What sound or noise do you hate?

telephone rings


What is your favorite curse word?

Cristo Santo!


What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?

historian


What profession other than yours would absolutely not like to attempt?

dentist


If heaven exists, what would you like to hear god say when you arrive at the gates?

have I got a library for you, my friend!

What's today again?

but seriously, folks, it staggers me how little people really know about what went down.
we live in very (or totally) individually determined lives now, so it is difficult for most of us to put ourselves in the shoes of people who went far far away to fight some other people waaay the hell over in europe. i'm not talking about my grandfather. he was italian, and had a vested interest in toeing the line, such that it was. i'm talking about volunteer divisions from newfoundland et al, for crying out loud. and our government didn't even have the obvious economic benefits to enter those wars that our scum-sucking bottom feeding worm munching neighbours to the south did...


on a brighter note, we have dinner with bolga tonight, which is always a very very relaxing treat for me.

last night, we had dinner at v and maria's, and the night before with marcmarcmarc...
i think i live somewhere in little italy, but i can't really recall...

tomorrow evening we prep the living room, and then paintzors on saturday. sunday morning i'll pack, and then i leave on a jet plane, and i actually don't know when i'll be back again. oh babe, i hate to go.
well, i LOVE to go, and i can't wait to bury myself in the work over there, but i shall be unable to shake the "how awesome would this be if marc were here, or clay, etc", stacked on top of the constant awareness of the lack of Ali-ness...

boy, am i glad i brought my coat!

enough with the unseasonal brrrr...

snow indeed, and me with my suicide summer tires still firmly clutching their rims for dear life...

more vaccination fun today, and i must remember to pass by home and pick up bab5 season 5 for marc whilst i am upside down on the other side of the planet.

i'm >< this close to putting together a framework for a half decent story/novel? i've been hankering to write. y'know, ego aside, i could really really care less if it got published or not. in fact, too many opinions would probably sour the whole thrill for me...

my thoughts keep drifting back to that other one that i got about 4 or 5 chapters into. it's kinda amateurish, but it's pretty far along and maybe i should finish it just for posterity.

ooooooooooooooooooooh, doom3 toniiiiiiiiight.
:D
er, i mean
>_<

neat-o

okies, so the weekend was quite amusing, we finished painting the kitchen (a very tasty orange colour), Ali made one of her delicious and ODD soups.
basically, it was good and relaxing.
today i've got the toronto salespeople in town for group hugs and such, and if i don't have to entertain them for dinner, i intend to blitz some more bab5. after all, i must remember to give the season 5 back to marc while i'm in the orient, since i might very well be gone an awefully long time...
i'm sleepy.
time to go.
ps: i must remember to stop eating my lunch before 9:30 in the morning, which is especially difficult when it's tasty tasty salami sandwiches...





You Are a "Don't Tread On Me" Libertarian
Religion and politics should never mix, in your opinion... and you feel opressed by both.

You don't want the government to cramp your self made style. Or anyone else's for that matter.

You're proud to say that you're pro-choice on absolutely everything!

my Spoon is too big!

Son of a bitch!
i posted a nice long one yesterday and it appears to have been swallowed up by that S.O.B. that haunts every one of my computers.
here's the summary:
1-post innoculation side effects almost completely nonexistent
2-i have hired 2 (fingers crossed) very decent people for two sorely vacant positions.
3-i need a break.
4-yup. still stressed.
5-slammed down 3 episodes of bab5 last night. opinion: enghhh...
6-gonna try to skip school this afternoon, having been at it till late last night, starting early this morning, and probably again late tonight. stupid "always reachable carlo" (tm).

oh, thanks, Xtien for the depressing update. i never knew he was latvian, actually...

> last night in Riga, Latvia NHL player Sergei Zholtok died of heart failure at the age of 31. He >is also a former Montreal Canadien, having his best career year in 1999-2000, here in >Montreal. He and friend/teammate goaltender A. Irbe were very well known for gathering >player/hockey memorabilia for different Latvian charities involving children.

actually, i've heard very nice stories about many latvian pro athletes who make money abroad.
the latvian strongest man dude makes a relative ton of money on the circuit, and always returns home (one of his jobs is presidential bodyguard type) the happy philanthropist.

if ali's any indication (and she is, i can attest to that), that country is hoarding too large a share of really really nice people, and WAAAAAY too many hot blonde types (m and f, depending on your fancy) for me to ever forget my sunglasses...

c'mon, post, don't you get lost out there in hyperspace too! i betcha there's a shadow vessel or two hanging out there intercepting my emails and posts from time to time...

arrivaderci roma!
carlo

crap

interesting weekend, filled with drama and such, and incompetently transcribed for your reading pleasure.
things appear to be heading on the right track, which of course fills me with dread.

i've got to zip over to the doctor's again this afternoon to get the first of many injections required to immunize myself against the apparent plagues of disease that are just waiting for me in the orient.
crap.
that means i'll feel all wonky tomorrow...

i can't WAIT to get on that plane, settle down, and arrive in Taipei. Then I can get started on organizing and implementing the tools for the future of this Great Company of Ours.

we have a single limiting factor: manpower. I cannot seem to find enough good, qualified, and talented people who wish to earn (read: EARN) a very very good living...

doom3 tomorrow night. i hope.
steady, boys...steady...