I'm that guy that says he doesn't like them

People are stupid and it's screwing up the world--I think about that all the time (which I contend: cannot be controlled--thoughts are thoughts). It doesn't mean I'm gonna tell everyone how stupid they are. But it's very simple. When thoughts cross my mind, I sometimes write them. Are all of everyones' thoughts pure and kind? Twould would be naive to think so. Some peoples' negativity is expended on judging their co-workers; mine are commonly about the way I observe the world working.

Don't take it so seriously. The only difference from me and the next guy in this situation is that I wrote mine down and shared.

I'm sick of the bullshit. When i'm abroad, emailing back and forth with Americans, I say something simple like: "things are good," and I get a response from half a dozen people that reads like this: "I'm glad things are good and that you are....."

STOP! None of this really means anything. You people all love me--I know this--ur my friends and family. i used to think my Pops was sorta lazy about emailin me when i was away cuz he never responded to my update emails. But no, he just gets it. He knows that i know how he feels. If he does have something substantial to say, and not just that predictable, meaningless response, he'll say it. I'm just sayin, I get a lot of these emails that say the same fuckin thing and I'm that guy that says he doesn't like them.

Life isn't always an ice cold Gatorade when you're hungover, ya know? Why should writing be so?

talk/write purely

I don't know if I've ever been so content with shit i know is so underachieving. I'm notorious for not realizing how awesome things are til after I leave, and then conveniently forgetting the negativity involved in what I think I miss so much. So now, even knowing all that, I don't want to be anywhere else right now than here. This could be so much better than is, but I seriously don't see it improving a whole lot more than it already has. Learning Chinese a bit can only take me so far here. I'm not really that deprived with not knowing Chinese. I went to see some sights a couple days ago, just around Shanghai, and I'm glad I went, but it kind of sucked--that's the first time I've actually said that outside of my head--feels good. Cool new experience, but I wouldn't go back.

Shit's just not......THAT awesome. But as a whole, it's certainly satisfying and providing the stimulation I was seeking. I don't really know if others would understand this--perhaps just me. Maybe you think you hear me, but you probably don't--don't feel bad about that. I mean......it's not really that cool here, but I don't wanna leave. If you're rating shit 1 - 10, nothing would really get above a 6. There's not really a better way to say that. And you will read these words and say: "Oh, he's not really happy--I'm sorry things aren't so great, but I'm glad you don't wanna leave and that ur satisfied." Save it. Don't say shit just cuz that's what the "normal" response should be. In fact, whatever your cookie cutter instinctive response might be, organize it in your head, and then fuckin save it for the cookie monster, cuz I already know that shit and it's pointless to mention. Take my advice: don't talk/write purely for the sake of talking/writing in life. I say: have something profound to say or just keep it. Don't cry like a bitch when someone is painfully honest or u think they're being rude. Listen to what the message actually is--it's probably helpful in gettin to the next level.

Rant over.

whatever the f*ck

I just got home from dinner with some students. We had hotpot, which is basically these boiling big pots of spicy as hell, oily water/chicken stock concoction with all types of spices, which are placed at the center of the table. Then you order all of these various things from thin slices of beef, pork, lamb, turtle, various vegetables, tofu, seafood, or whatever, and you drop it in at will and let it cook as long as you'd like. Then it's free for all community eating. We had like 9 people and you just grab what u want w/ ur chopsticks and/or your personal slotted spoon. Let's get something straight--it was okay. The experience was worth more than the taste of the food as a whole. Various bites were good--but I wouldn't go as far as calling any of it necessarily great. Situations like this might cause one (a newcomer like myself) to rant and rave about how good it is. I am maintaining my high standards here and not calling something merely pretty decent: "incred." It wasn't bad at all, but as a whole, the food here has not impressed me like we had all anticipated. Some things have been off the charts, but the daily "I'm gonna grab some lunch" type food just simply lacks the quality that I am accustomed to.

Some of my co-workers commonly go to this one trashy restaurant because it's close and they call it value for money. Today, this chinese girl, Maggie (she's nuts by the way) and I ate there. My food was crap and hers was basically mediocre pepper steak, which we know as "#5" on most Chinese takeout menus in America. She was quite satisfied, which sort of discourages me. Perhaps it's just Shanghai. I know there is great food here, and I've eaten some of it, but I am not a fan of pre-prepared food that is served cold, like the duck i had the other day. We take food standards for granted being where we're from. I believe you have to judge a place's food on the daily average place that satisfies a local. Kind of like us being satisfied with the most common places we would frequent at home--the cheaper, convenient places. We love the vietnamese places, and mexican food (don't get me started), and Hong Kong Chef in Bellaire, and fuckin Central Market, which provides us with wondrous ingredients to eat whatever the fuck we want. We like Chuy's and Istanbul Grill. They are convenient, amazing, not too expensive, quite different from one another, and they maintain quality.

My advice to whomever gives a crap is to try new places--find more places, hidden right in front of you everyday on your way home. If you don't like some place, consider it a positive that you forever know that place isn't on the level. Don't be satisfied with mediocrity. Chances are, one out of three or four places you try will pleasantly surprise you. Keep the search alive. Go to my place, Salento, and try a chicken empenada--INSANELY GOOD, and they have the best coffee and ambiance in the city if you ask me.

This place is good, with plenty of shit to stimulate my soul, but as you know, it takes a lot to impress me. It better come at me with a little more than some hot pot.

I had maybe double this written and somehow it erased and I'm really pissed off about it and refuse to attempt to rewrite it. Fuck! Google's stupid!

I taught some students that can barely speak English how to say "Fuckin A!"

Enter life without Mexican food

Moving to China means deprivation from one of my absolute favorite things on earth.


Mexican food, as it's most commonly known (although technically it's Tex-Mex of which I speak), has but one equal--(MJ + dollar beer night + a glass of water in the desert + shelter, a lucky machete, and fire in the wilderness + perhaps Jebebus).  Its seductively addictive aromas and flavors would unmistakably hit 3rd in a stout lineup.  I have had the pleasure of being away from home for long periods of time--far away, multiple times.  There is something to be said for the first meal that is pre-decided for me when I return.  I don't believe that man has the capacity to make such decisions.  Assuming absolute honesty with thyself, the first meal back is something commonly........no, perpetually......... sulked over its absence while away.  It's something you know the taste of so well, and yet, upon eating it again (even without an extended absence of it) you seemed to have forgotten just how ridiculous it tastes.  It can't actually be that good--how could anything?  It's fuckin big time; thus, that decision is not anyone's to make.  Airport-------> baggage claim-------> parking garage-------> taqueria = inevitability. Obviously this varies among people/regions of the world.  

In Texas, the Tex-Mex is too strong to resist.  What's more, it's annoying how the nominal simplicity is what gets you.  "Hell, it's all good," (Bubba Tidwell, 2008)!  This is truth at its finest, but the rice, beans, chips, salsa, guacamole, pico de gallo, jalepeños, and an ice cold Dos Equis just has no business being that good.  These are merely the compliments of the cuisine; the humble plate-fillers and table-crowders and stomach-joy-makers.  So simple that you almost think you can make it at home, but I seriously doubt it. These side items are infuriating when you can't eat another bite and they're still staring you in the face.  I don't even wanna get into the entrees because let's be honest: if you don't already know what I'm talking about then anything i say could never do it justice.  Just go to Texas........and bring your stomach.

Manny

I'm respectful of fundamentals in sport. Athletes that perform their art the "right way" are nothing to sneeze at. I always learned and often practiced fundamentally sound play, but I'm super proud of my own spins and approaches to my individual game(s). Manny Ramirez might be the greatest right-handed hitter to ever play ball. That's what the common consensus is of late. He is, and forever will be, heavily ridiculed for his continuous tomfoolery in(and out)side the lines. The media has over-influenced everyone to consistently chalk his free thinking attitude up to just "Manny being Manny." I'm so sick of hearing it. I don't agree with all of his alleged antics, but he is certainly a different and/yet a special, special ball player.

I will preface the next sentence with this: obviously I have not seen every, nor even most, play(s) in the history of sport. In the 2008 season, before being traded away from the Boston Red Sox, Manny spontaneously orchestrated what I think is the coolest, if not the greatest, play in the history of sports. He made a tremendous catch running full speed and awkwardly stretching backwards at the wall in left field in Baltimore. In bracing himself for the inevitable post-snag wall collision, he climbed up the wall like vintage Junior Griffey, high-fived a Red Sox fan in the front row above the wall (again: in Baltimore), before abruptly turning around and firing to the cutoff man to double off the untagged-up runner at first base. Who else would have even thought about that? Imagine the criticism he would have endured (though surely wouldn't have cared about) had the runner been just barely safe by an eye lash. Not getting that out would have been directly attributed to the extra second/effort expended in attempting to do something potentially legendarily awesome. Critics can say it may have been selfish or irresponsible all they want. It's one of those things where someone is revered if it goes right and shunned if it goes wrong. Right or wrong, seeing shit like that makes me proud to be alive.