Stateless and Aimless

2010-03-02T22:39:00.001-08:00

while looking through the annals of my old CVs, which - God help my CV-writing skills - had an entry from fifth grade --

"Tutor, Alhambra, CA

Tutored a student with severe ADHD. "

ezra

2010-03-01T22:38:00.000-08:00

it's always nice, in times of mental dysfunction and preoccupation, to have someone who has the ability to mirror back what you're saying, but in a more concise and grammatically-correct way. it is also only that very friend who will unashamedly admit that he would never date anyone wearing sketchers.

รู้สึกเหมือนกัน

2010-02-28T01:30:00.001-08:00

ยินดีที่ได้รู้จัก

ดีใจที่เรานั้นเคยได้ใกล้ชิด ชีวิตฉันเคยมีเธอ

มีวันที่เป็นพิเศษ

มีคืนที่ได้ฝันดีอยู่เสมอ จนถึงนาทีสุดท้าย

** หมดเวลาแล้ว(หมดเวลาแล้ว) ฉันรู้ฉันเข้าใจ
ไม่มีเธอแล้ว(ไม่มีเธอแล้ว) ฉันอาจจะต้องเหงาใจ
อาจจะเดียวดาย ไม่ดีเหมือนเดิม อย่างตอนที่ฉันมีเธอ
จะไม่มีใคร คนอื่นมาแทนที่เธอ ก็ไม่เสียใจ

ยินดีที่ได้รู้จัก

ดีใจที่เคยรักเธอกว่าคนไหน และฉันก็ยังจะรัก

อย่างน้อยก็มีครั้งหนึ่ง ที่เราได้เคยซึ้งใจ ได้มีวันวานที่สวยงามให้จดจำ

you can't deny her..

2009-11-05T09:22:00.000-08:00

this outfit is one of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen.

vacation is... your mother commenting on your "tummy"

2009-10-30T09:27:00.000-07:00

Taiwan: a hesitant 2-star rating?

From whatever I've learned about Taiwan from my recent visit, I'd have very little to say. People are nice -- absurdly so. walking 30 minutes out of their way to get you somewhere while holding your hand -so. And things are cheap. but I live in Thailand, and if I'm not getting a meal for a dollar or less, things are not getting eaten.

but the cultural divide is bridged by things like mcdonalds, and slutty short skirts and tour groups, which i firmly believe are for people who don't like walking, asking others for directions, and places without air-con, and for those who like visiting factories and itineraries dictated by the commission your tour leader will receive per location. these people: my family. --are group tours an asian thing?

not a lot to show. which is my opinion so far of the whole country -- from the mouth of a local, Taiwan is not much more than "provincial" -- but what i have, i offer to you:

the geopark:

and self-timer mastery:

a restaurant in taipei:

and a singular airport waiting room:

and yet, i'm considering going back. canadian and US-born chinese kids get an opportunity to join 'the love boat', a PRC program for kids to study their language and culture for cheap! i'm not opposed to coming back if i get to study chinese and the price is right, and if i've learned anything at all, it's that traveling is much, much better when you actually know someone from the place, and aren't following your mother the whole way.

guest starring: ahhnold

2009-10-29T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hilarious things happen when your governor is the former mr. universe:

Schwarzenegger Flips Off Lawmakers in Hidden Message

"kicks the can down the alley?" really?

but i guess he's saving the world

2009-10-29T09:01:00.001-07:00

Did anyone else read the NYTimes mag article on the first marriage?

maybe i'm jaded, but for the "unconventional, modern first couple", it feels a lot like the usual story: she sacrifices a lot for him and his ambitions...

so when do we get to say, "and vice versa?"

if only English had an equivalent of the jewish wail

2009-10-10T06:58:00.000-07:00

yes, i've had "one of those days."

you know, where you do all this filming in 90+ degree weather, unsuccessfully, without breaking for eating while dealing with that water that's been stuck in your ears for days, come home exhausted with the realization that you're not really an artist and hollywood really isn't waiting for you, only to find that red ants have invaded the bags you have been packing for weeks for your trip to hong kong, which you're leaving for tomorrow.

o-ee vae.

2009-10-06T05:21:00.001-07:00

remember those days when we were blogging on melodramatic with other lesbian suicidal girls with wet hair and tight black clothing?

oh, ha ha -- when suburban prep academy life was bad enough to be called "melo."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*line of transition~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

okay, i dont' know why or how i even came to be on a site called popeater, but i really really now want to see jude law in RAGE-- grrrr-- for no reasons other than that he's wearing drag, it features judy dench the DAME, and that i don't recognize him in the photos provided, something i really appreciate recognizable actors pulling off successfully.

i understand -- from what i've read -- that it has the whole super-hyper-mixing genre thing, which i'm often hesitant about, but i am, inevitably, intrigued and won over by the man-looking-sexy-as-a-woman thing. i really feel that if they gave the lips a bit more curve on the top, it'd be 100% successful.

"i really feel": i've been trying to use this hyper-sensitive, self-concious, non-violent lingo for a while now..

apparently, what articles are saying is that the biggest draw of the movie is that the real jude law has had his fourth child out of wedlock.

[insert edit] I just asked courtney s. from marlborough who she thought was the person in the picture:

"is it that blair girl? bishop?" lolz.

speaking of movies, i wanna do a post featuring and recommending thai movies. working on it.

*like the letter 'A', with a dip-thong

2009-10-01T03:33:00.001-07:00

it's official: Ae* has now won a video contest popular vote. Waiting on the announcement for official, un-popular winner.

i'm not included in this winning team, because i'm on withdrawal from university. apparently, kids in Ae's department refer to him as "Brother Year 6", for his dedication to extended study. withdrawal did him well, and gained him loads of respect.

winner gets 5000 Baht prize money -- and then uses it toward paying for his first out-of-country experience to Hong Kong! Current source of his trip excitement: riding a boat. Trip includes me and quality time with father who still refers to him as 'your friend'.

this made me laugh. crappy boats for rich people:
aquaLuna junk rides
[click 'hong kong', then 'aqualuna']

and check out the video we made:

in other news,
today we bought two sleeping bags and proceeded to have a worm fight, and tried to push each other off the beds while wrapped in our bags. Ae wiggled his way to victory.

Will be impulsively buying a matching tent soon, though I don't know yet how it will factor into the game.

the end, the beginning, that circle-of-life stuff

2009-09-30T07:23:00.000-07:00

i've decided that not writing in this blog is a shame; i could've had a record of a year in thailand, the thoughts, feelings, ups and downs, and i could've made it a blockbuster movie.

so i'm going to start writing again -- i am going to start writing again -- but i've gotta start small, because big paragraphs, i find, are horribly intimidating. related note: i'm reading a virginia woolf book -- who thought that was a good idea? (it's been a week, on page 60.)

but the general goings-on is that tomorrow is my last contracted day of work. it is not, however, my last day of guilt-trip work, extra catch-up work, this-job-never-ends work -- but i'm only doing what i wanna do, and i'm gonna stick it up to the man - yeah! - because that's my style: say fuck you when it's all over and everyone's gone and no one's there to hear it.

more on that: later.

Shameless Promotion

2009-02-11T10:59:00.001-08:00

Should you ever be in Khon Kaen, swing by Wongnamcha, in front of Cheewatip Spa, at the south end of Bueng Kaen Nakhon.

We are a cooperative, with everyone who works there working there for free; We serve Khon Kaen's only natural tea free of charge, in hopes of sharing knowledge of tea with everyone.

We have cool things, like art exhibits:

with our art education kids who play ska:

and tea.

my thoughts re: your facebook behavior

2009-02-11T10:47:00.000-08:00

-- just because you are now studying abroad in a different country, does not mean that you are a part of that country, or its culture, its people, or its network. because you have now embarked on what is a 3 month tour of spain in which you visit france and africa on weekends with all your white college pals, does not mean that your are actually living in the country. suggestion: don't join networks of the country you are studying abroad in. no one cares. you don't look more cultured.

--when you write the 13432432nd happy birthday post on someone's walls, extending the "a"s (see: haaaaappy birthday) or writing in all caps (HAPPY BIRTHDAY) does not make your post more unique, nor does it mean that your post is any more meaningful than everyone else's insignificant message.

--you should tag photos.

2008-12-24T09:18:00.000-08:00

the smooth-talker's biggest failure:

hey, what's your email?

not my medium.

2008-11-25T07:48:00.000-08:00

phone call to my grandmother.

grandma: hello?
me: hey! it's liz!
grandma: wow, elizabeth ------- when are you coming back? you're wasting your time over there, you know.

we don't talk often.

2008-11-25T05:09:00.000-08:00

a phone call to my mother:

mom: hello?
me: hey!
mom: who is this?
me: liz.
mom: why are you calling?
me: um, okay. how are you?
mom: what do you want?

little post

2008-11-15T20:11:00.001-08:00

when leez talks to tuk tuk drivers, she says things like, first we go bhokasaw and then i say to friends bye bye and then i come to house another time do you understand? when she talks to her landlady about flooding in the bathroom, she says, bathroom has problem. water a lot do you understand? when she talks to children at her school, she says, what are you saying speak louder what louder what oh i don't understand ask teacher aom. when she talks to cool thai people who are cool because they are thai and have fros she has to eventually say, haha, i'm sorry ka, i speak thai little bit.

leez was talking to the driver to sunset bar and started laughing when he was talking about the national two days of mourning for the king's sister's cremation service. leez said i'm sorry ka but could not stop laughing.

leez is at the 6 month mark where she wants thai friends who only speak thai but cannot have thai friends who only speak thai because leez speak thai little bit. leez realizes she has seen met more cool people in thai than she normally ever does in u.s.a., but does not matter because she speak thai little bit.

and i threw ninja stars with passive-aggressive insults on them at people all night.

2008-11-04T05:58:00.000-08:00

for halloween at sunset bar, there were three ninjas:

but not all of them were PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE NINJA.

but it's okay, not everyone can be creative.

Leez speak thai gang maak.

2008-11-02T23:51:00.000-08:00

Leez is teacher. Teaches English language. Teaches English at Municipality. Teaches with Sister Aom, Sister Nok, and Mother Dtew. Today, first day school. Meet people a lot. Forget a lot names. Today, confused very little bit.

Liz speaks thai can a little bit, but speaks english language can a lot. Comes from the States. She is Chinese. Yes, Chinese. Really. Not person liar. One hundred percent, yes.

Excited! Friends of Leez will come to Khon Kaen! When? Still does not know. Leez does not know want go where with friends foreigners. Leez not know a lot. But, Leez knows, friends foreigners of Leez will think, "Leez speak Thai skilled very." Leez think yes. Right?

second post.

2008-10-30T05:33:00.000-07:00

speaking botched thai and looking foreign (where are you from? america? but------you look asia!) can get one only so far in thailand. it's necessary to note, that, at times, it can take one far from where one wants to be.

there are two types of farangs with shitty thai:

the passive listener
the active listener

THE PASSIVE/ACTIVE LISTENER DIVIDE: A FARANG SITTING AT A BAR SURROUNDED BY THAIS:

while the passive listener lets the foreign sounds flow into the background, the active listener not only listens attentively, to see what little she can understand, but runs in place while attempting to make conversation. passive listener sips a leo/tsang/beer-that-has-ice-in-it while others speak thai; mind wanders and starts thinking about how there's ice in the beer.

A L listens and orders something 'authentically thai.' gets excited when understands the word "want."
starts laughing when everyone else is laughing. was something funny? maybe, but more importantly the girl across from her has a shirt on that says "what - are you gonna steal my boyfriend HUH?" on it. haha.

P L hears thai music playing in background. music perfectly facilitates contemplative mood of the uninvolved and disengaged. thinks about her personal affairs: wishes she spoke thai, thinks about how thailand is cool, how it was good of her to come to thailand. concludes she's a risktaker. good for her.
P L eats with friends and always sits at the end of the table. she practices her english a lot when she's thinking. uses the language divide as a means to stay disengaged. she drinks beer with ice in it. bee-ah.

active listener eats som tham. mmm!

first post

2008-10-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

first order of business: as to state, i'm in thailand for the undetermined short, medium, or long haul, but no, i am not, as you thais ask me 3 times daily, japanese.
level of aimlessness? moderate.

when in blank, do like they do in blank, right? Apparently, in Ho Chi Minh City, the thing that hochiminers do -- or what the 1/100th of the HCM Vietnamese-American population I met last night do -- is blog.

so, i blog.