LittleBuddhaTW

So, Christmas was alright, I suppose. I haven't really celebrated Christmas for the past 5 years or so, since I was overseas for so long. It definitely isn't the same as when I was a kid. I got a new watch, which is pretty cool, a sweater, a kitchen table, and that's about it. My grandmother came in from out of town, and it was nice to see her again. The nicest part, though, was having yesterday off work. I wish I'd had more time off, especially since the situation with this Farsi translation project just keeps getting worse. Ugh. I don't know what got into me yesterday, but I started trying to look up people online that I haven't spoken to in years and years. I looked up the real "Ryan" (from SOOTB), who I haven't talked to in almost 10 years, and sent him an e-mail. He hasn't replied yet. I'm not sure if I want him to or not ... if I find out that he's married and has a kid now or something, I'd probably be pretty bummed. He was so gosh darned cute. And then I looked up the namesake of "Toby" (even though they're nothing alike, except for the name). I went to camp with him back when I was in middle school. He was totally adorable too (at least back then), and was one of my first crushes. I sent him an e-mail too, but got an automated response that he's out of his office until January 2nd, so I guess I'll have to wait until then to see if he replies (or even remembers me). The cute boy that I've been seeing is on vacation with his parents, so it's kind of boring around here ... not that I get to see him all that often anyway, because he's in school and works part-time. Hopefully we can work on that. I don't really mind all that much, though, cause I don't really want anything too intense or time-consuming at the moment. Anywho, that's about it for now. Merry Belated Christmas to everyone, and Happy New Year!

Have you ever just had one of *those* days? Ugh ... today was one of those. Every problem or annoying situation that could have come up at work did ... and we had one really annoying problem with a Farsi translation job that we're working on. My boss underestimated the word count by 2,000 words, and promised a much faster turnaround time than was at all reasonable. It's not exactly easy to get Farsi translators, and the ones that we do have live on the other side of the world, so you have to count on at least a 12 hour delay in communicating with them ... the boss didn't think to take that into account, yet still expected me to get it done based on the original turnaround time. I bitched him out and told him that he screwed it up, so he had to call the client and tell them that they're going to end up paying for 2,000 more words (twice, since they wanted a translation AND back translation -- which is a silly thing to do anyway), and that we would have to deliver late. I stood my ground and he did. I live about 6 miles from work, but traffic here is always a pain in the ass. So, it usually takes me about 20-25 minutes to get to work and back in the evening. Tonight, it took me 2 hours to drive 6 friggin' miles! I couldn't believe it. I still have no idea what the deal was. I saw a bunch of cop cars, and a chunk of the road that I take (and that's always backed up) was blocked off with flares and stuff, but I didn't see any sort of problem. It was a royal pain in the ass and left me in a none-too-good mood. At any rate, I'm finally home, and now I can relax for a few hours before I have to go to bed, then get up in the morning and do it all over again. I've also been working on a translation project in my spare time. It's not that big, only about 5,000 words, and I've had tons of time, but it's highly technical stuff. I only have about one more page to go, and I'll be sooo glad when it's finished. I'll end up making about $400 extra for doing this, so that'll be nice.

In principle, I agree. If hitting is the absolute last resort to defend yourself (or someone else who can't defend themselves), then I don't think gender matters. However, I think actually striking someone is an absolute last resort. One thing 11+ years of martial arts has taught me is that there are many ways to diffuse a conflict without hitting someone, some physical, others non-physical. As for the physical methods, there are many methods to subdue someone who is trying to hurt you without hitting them (i.e. arm bars, pressure points, joint locks, etc.) Anywho ... Nick, I sure hope your dad isn't still hitting people, whether it's you or your step mom. In reading "What's the Difference Between Me and You," there was some behavior on the part of your father that was extremely disturbing, and hearing this makes it even more so. If he's still hitting people, pulling hair (as he did to you in your story), or whatever, that is absolutely inexcusable. So is hitting Taylor. So cut it out, and find a more mature way to deal with whatever problems you're dealing with.

I kind of forgot what cold weather was like since I spent the last 10 years in Taiwan and Florida. I'm thinking I should probably invest in some gloves and a scarf. I like the cold weather as long as I don't have to be out in it for very long. Fortunately, the heat in my apartment works well. I wish I could say the same for my office. Last night was our holiday party at work. It was pretty fun. We had our "Secret Holiday Friend" gift exchange, and somehow no one got my name, so I was the only person who didn't get a gift. It was kind of depressing. Oh well. We ended work at 3:30 yesterday and played Pictionary. My team won, and we got $50 gift certificates to Target. Then we all went to a nice restaurant for dinner. The prime rib was really good, but I was still hungry afterward. Fortunately, I still had some pumpkin pie left at home. Last weekend was a great weekend for college football. I was totally psyched when UCLA beat USC, which was totally unexpected. UCLA's quarterback, Cowan, was really impressive. The loss for USC, and Florida's big win over Arkansas in the SEC championship opened the door for Florida to get into the BCS championship game. It was either going to be Florida or Michigan versus Ohio State, and since Florida and Michigan are my two favorite teams, I would have been happy either way -- although a little happier with Florida. Anyway, Florida is in, and I hope they beat the pants off of Ohio State on January 8th. I 'm sad that the season is over now, though. I'm still seeing that Taiwanese-American boy. Since he's in school and works part-time, I don't get to see him that much, but I don't really mind, since I've gotten used to being by myself. I'll see him tonight, and then once or twice more this weekend. He lives literally right around the corner from me, so it's pretty convenient when I do want to see him. Anywho, that's about it for now. I woke up obscenely early this morning. But alas, now it's time to get ready for work. I need some coffee ... or Red Bull ... I wonder what it tastes like to mix coffee and Red Bull???

Well ... the velcro thing didn't work. And now they've figured out how to open drawers. They've gone totally nuts. :wacko: I've tried leaving the TV on before, too ... doesn't help.

My cats are absolutely incorrigible, and I'm about at my wits' end. Every morning when I wake up, and every evening when I get home from work, they have somehow managed to open all of the lower level cabinets in the kitchen and strewn everything (including cat food) all over the kitchen floor. I can't leave toilet paper or paper towels around anywhere, because they shred them and scatter the shreds all over my apartment. They also tip over the trash can and strew the contents (including kitty litter -- ugh!) all over the place. Are anyone else's cats as bad as mine? They keep getting into more and more things, and getting naughtier and naughtier. They weren't like this back in Taiwan or at my parents' house. Unfortunately, cats aren't trainable like dogs, and I have no idea what to do, short of having to go out and buy friggin' baby locks for all of my cabinets. It's no fun having to clean my whole friggin' apartment TWICE every day, when I'm tired, because they get into anything and everything they can possibly get in to, even things I never would have guessed they would be interested in! On a brighter note ... I met a boy! He's a Taiwanese-American, born in the States, but grew up in Taiwan, and came back to the States for school about a year ago. He's VERY cute, and for some strange reason (probably because I can speak Chinese, and his English is pretty bad) he's really into me. The only concern I have, though, is that he's a bit too young, 18 years old (although he doesn't seem to think so). We went on a romantic walk around a lake nearby last night and ended up kissing behind some bushes. I haven't kissed anyone since February when I was still overseas. I definitely missed it. We'll probably have another date on Friday evening, and hopefully more on the weekend. So, we'll see how that goes ... Thanksgiving was pretty boring, except for the excellent college football games last Saturday. I was pleased that Florida defeated Florida State, but Florida's kicker has issues, and he needs to get his act together if Florida is going to beat Arkansas this week, and maintain their slim chance at the BCS title. I was disappointed that Notre Dame got totally creamed by USC, because that lessens Michigan and Florida's chances for winning the national championship. Also, I think Notre Dame's quarterback, Brady Quinn, is really hot! I don't think the rankings are very fair. USC should not have jumped ahead of Michigan to the #2 spot. The SEC championship game is this Saturday, and that'll be a big one. I can't wait to watch it! Anyway, that's about it for now. Anyone want to adopt a couple of really naughty cats? :wacko:

So, I went to see "Borat" last night ... that has to be one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. I'm a big fan of "Da Ali G Show," and always thought it was pretty outrageous, but this really took the cake. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, but ... whew, it was TOTALLY off the chain! I also ran into my boss at this little Thai restaurant near the movie theater which was kind of creepy, but it's all good. One of my best friends from high school is crashing on my living room floor for a couple of weeks until he finds a new place. He's going through a divorce right now. It makes me feel sooo old that two of my good friends from high school have already been married and are going through divorces, and a bunch of my old high school classmates have kids now, too. Seeing all the high school kids at the movie last night made me feel really old, too. Ugh!!!!! I've had a bunch of ideas for my new story, and feel a bit inspired. Hopefully I can force myself to actually sit down and start writing soon. I need something to do other than working and watching TV. Nevertheless, I've been enjoying getting reacclimated to American TV again. I've become addicted to that reality show, "Little People, Big World." I don't know what it is I like about that show, but I can't stop watching it. I need to go to the grocery store and do laundry today, two of my least favorite activities. We'll see if I actually end up getting anything done. I also need to get the oil changed in my car pretty soon. *sigh*

Well, I finally made it to my new apartment! It was quite an ordeal, with lots and lots of problems, but I'm pretty much all settled in and have my internet service now. My cable/internet provider was a pain in the ass to deal with, because the previous tenant here never cancelled their account before moving out, and they had an outstanding balance, so they wouldn't set up my account. That was totally stupid, because it's not like that was my problem, and I shouldn't be made to suffer for some other idiot's problems. Anyway, it finally got all settled by the technician who services the particular apartment complex I live in, several trips out here, and lots of bitching on my part to the cable company. All's well that ends well. It's really nice not having to make that commute to work every day. Work has been rough this week, though. Today, one of our translators missed their deadline, which pissed off our client (they've had two late jobs in as many weeks). Also, the boss is out of town for the next few days, so I've been left in charge to deal with all kinds of issues, like the government deciding that they wanted to subpoena one of our translators to testify as an expert witness at a trial, which they didn't notify us of until after the fact. I'll still be dealing with those issues tomorrow when I go in to work. I have to go pick up my cats this weekend. They've stayed with my parents this week because they would have gotten in the way with my unpacking and stuff. Now that I'm settled in (somewhat), I can go get them. Hopefully when things get under control at work and I'm totally settled in, I can get back to writing. I'll have to wait and see. It's been a rough few weeks. I haven't even been on MSN or chatted with any of my friends in weeks. Things have just been so hectic. Anyway, that's it for now. I just wanted to check in and let everyone know that I'm still alive.

Sounds like you got about 18 inches of snow out there already. Try to keep warm!

The government thing sounds like a good idea. The pay isn't that great, but the benefits are incredible and like you said, the experience will be excellent for later on. Sorry to hear about your parents. I know how it is to not get along with parents, so I can definitely sympathize. I would've moved out at 14 or 15 if I could have. Good luck!

I'm counting down the days until I can move out of here and get my own place. It's only three weeks away, and I called some apartment places today at work and will go check them out on Saturday. It'll be sooo nice to have my own place again and won't have to listen to my parents complaining about every little nonsensical thing. Since all I brought back from overseas with me were boxes and boxes of books, I'll have to buy all new furniture. I love buying furniture and decorating the places where I live, but it's so gosh darn expensive. I had a really comfy IKEA bed when I was in Taiwan, and would like to get the same one again. Right now, I'm sleeping on a really awful twin bed, and I can't stand it. Work is still going fine. I think I'm going to start doing some freelance translation on the side to make a little extra money and hopefully keep up my foreign language abilities. 'Diego' is doing well, too. We went outside together for a cigarette last Friday ... I didn't even know he smokes. He's such a sweetheart, and it really sucks that so many of the good guys are straight. Straight women often seem to say that all the good ones are gay, but I think they're mistaken. *sigh* Last night was the "Chat with LittleBuddhaTW" night in the chatroom, and I was surprised that so many people showed up. Even Dan, Dio and Luc stopped by. I was very flattered and enjoyed chatting with everyone. It also gave me some encouragement to get working on my new stories. So, once I get the heck out of here and get my own place, and if the new translation assignments I take on aren't too time-consuming, I'll try to start getting some chapters written and posted. I'd really like to re-design my site, too, so I guess I'll have to talk with Rhawes about that, since I'm pretty computer illiterate when it comes to stuff like that. My best friend (and ex-girlfriend) from high school called me this evening, and she's back in town this week to visit her parents, so hopefully we'll get together with a few other high school friends and go out to dinner or something. Anytime that I can get out of the house and away from my parents is much appreciated. Anyway, that's about it for now.

Just a reminder that the live chat with yours truly is tonight, Sunday, October 8th at 9 PM here in the chatroom at Gay Authors. Everyone is welcome to ask anything they like (whether I answer is another matter entirely ), and I'll also be talking a bit about the new writing projects I have in the works. I hope to see lots of you there! *Hugz* LB

I haven't been to a good old fashioned fair in a long time. Now that you brought it up, I need to find one to go to. I LOVE funnel cakes and corn dogs and all that other good fair food. Now that I've lost most of the weight that I've wanted to lose, I think it'd be okay to have a few treats ... BTW, Sam got a Toyota RAV4, just like mine! WOO-HOO!!!

It's now officially Fall, my favorite season. My third week of work went pretty well. Our boss wanted us to get out by 4 o'clock on Friday, but we got a big French and Italian translation job right when we were getting ready to go, and the client wanted it early next week, so we had to find translators who could do it and it took a loooong time. I thought I'd learned my lesson a long time ago about falling for straight guys, but this guy I work with, we'll call him 'Diego,' is just too hot for his own good. He's got a baby face and the most disarming smile. He's a year older than me and I don't think he has a girlfriend (he lives with his brother), but I just don't get the 'gay vibe' from him, unfortunately. He's really sweet, though. *sigh* I've read a few more new books. 'Desert Sons' and the sequel, 'Into This World We're Thrown' by Mark Kendrick weren't especially well-written, but they were fun to read. I really liked 'Dream Boy' by Jim Grimsley, though. That one, and 'Leave Myself Behind' by Bart Yates, are definitely worth taking the time to read. 'Dream Boy' is really short, I finished it in one day. Next on my list is 'Common Sons' (which Vance didn't like because it didn't have any graphic sex in it! ) The weekends are really boring, just sitting around my parents' house doing nothing. I haven't really tried to make any friends, 'cause I'm embarrassed that I'm living at home. Hopefully that will change once I get out of here. I'll probably start looking at apartments in mid-October. The cost of living here is soooo expensive, though. It really sucks. Anyway, that's about it for now. Just checking in.

Hmmm ... I thought the hypothetical "friend" insisted he was BI and not gay ...

If Adam isn't interested in that, then he needs to have his gay boy membership card revoked immediately. I'm not kidding.

Can anyone say S-T-U-D?!?!?! Yowzers!

Go for it ... you have nothing to lose (except maybe a little of your pride), and potentially lots to gain.

Ben Franklin and James Madison were smart guys. I don't think they'd be happy with the state of the Union right now. But, that doesn't mean that we should give up on it. We are as much to blame for the problems we're complaining about because of our apathy as a whole. Democracy isn't a spectator sport. And Nicko ... chill ... don't let yourself get so riled up so easily all the time.

Well, Vance mentioned that I haven't done a blog in a while, so I figured maybe I should write something. Work is going pretty good. We had a pot luck yesterday, and I stuffed myself on all kinds of good food. I brought a pasta salad with feta cheese, pepperoni, broccoli, and cherry tomatoes. They usually do that kind of thing about once a month, and we'll be having a chili cook-off next month. I LOVE chili, so that should be pretty fun. I bought Elton John's new album, The Captain and the Kid, the other day. It's really incredible. It's the sequel to his 1975 autobiographical album, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirty Cowboy, which was about his early days with his songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin, before they became famous, and all of the trials and tribulations they faced together back in the late sixties. This one covers the rest of their 30+ year career together. My favorite song on the album is 'Blues Never Fade Away,' and Elton has said that he thinks it's his best vocal performance ever. It's an incredible song. I've been reading a lot of books lately. I really enjoyed Leave Myself Behind by Bart Yates, and just finished Desert Sons by Mark Kendrick last night. I tried reading Mark Roeder's A Better Place, but it was absolutely horrid. It's really a hit-or-miss thing when you buy self-published books. The book by Bart Yates is worth checking out, though. He's no J.D. Salinger, but it's not bad to read for fun if you're bored. There hasn't been much else going on ... just working and counting the days until I have enough money to get the heck out of my parents' place. It should only be another month before I have enough money. I could go right now if I wanted to, but I'd like to have a little extra money saved up first. I haven't started writing 'My Elusive Drug' yet, but have been spending some time getting the characters and story line worked out, and I think it'll be a pretty good story. Anyway, that's about it for now.

Well, today was my first day at my new job. The commute is about an hour each way, which really sucks, but I only have to tough it out for a month or two until I can get my own place. That should cut the commute down to 20-30 minutes. The work is actually quite complicated and there's tons of stuff to remember, a complex computer system and series of databases to learn, etc. I'm very familiar with the translation industry and linguistics (which is important for quality control and just knowing how the business operates), but the management and technical side of it is going to take some time to learn. Oh well ... at least I'm getting paid pretty decently. I found out, though, that my health insurance doesn't include dental, which kinda sucks. I also have a ton of forms that I have to fill out tonight, and then even more to do tomorrow. I HATE paperwork ... A good thing, though, is there's this really HOT Latino guy who works in our office. I don't think he's gay (my gaydar is VERY accurate), but at least he's a nice piece of eye candy, and I have been known to be able to convert cute guys if I really put my mind to it ... Chapter 26 is now posted. Writing SOOTB has been a lot of fun, as well as a great learning experience. It's also given me a chance to meet some really great people, and I've learned quite a bit about editing along the way, which will actually be a big help in my job. I hope everyone enjoys it! I'm not sure when the next story will start posting ... my job is going to keep me quite busy, and I'll be even busier when I start getting ready to find my own place and move out (I can't wait!!! Living with my parents, albeit briefly, is driving me absolutely nuts! Anyway, that's it for now. Enjoy the last chapter of SOOTB!

I just got a call from the translation company I interviewed at about a month ago, the first interview I went on. They called me last week to tell me that they were about ready to bring me on board, but just needed to check out my references. Today, they called me with the official offer to be their new project manager, and will be paying me $40K a year, plus benefits, free parking, etc., etc. I'll be starting next Monday, and I'm VERY relieved to finally have something. It's not what I want to be doing for the rest of my life, but at least it's in an industry that I'm familiar with and enjoy. He also said that if any Chinese-English translation projects come through that I'd be interested in, I'm welcome to do those myself and make some extra money. The company seems very laid-back and casual, and the work will be interesting. So ... YAY ... I'm really happy about that! And now I can also start officially counting down the days until I can get my own place! It'll probably be a month or two, because I need to save up a little money, but at least now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! For those of you who have been patiently waiting for the last chapter of SOOTB, I'm VERY sorry that it's taken so long. The good news is that I'm almost finished, and the last chapter (+ epilogue) should be ready to send off for editing this week. I did a lot of writing last night, and now that I'm feeling all happy and stuff about the job, I'll be in a better mood to write. So, thanks a bunch for being so patient, and I'll do my best not to disappoint!

The answer is "4" ... where's my prize?

You really need to demand a raise, Sweet Pea ... you deserve it!!! Oh, and don't forget about my advice on adding the EVOO to your turkey!

Since we already did the "What kind of English do you speak?" thing, I thought this was pretty interesting, especially since we have a few N'awlins (New Orleans) people here ... Ya know ya from N'awlins when ... Ya know that a Zephyr is an old rollercoaster and a baseball team! You proudly claim that Monkey Hill is the highest point in Louisiana. (You know it's not but you'll fight anyone who don't believe ya.) You drive your car up onto the neutral ground if it rains steadily and heavily for more than two hours. You have flood insurance. Someone asks for an address by compass directions and you say it's Uptown, downtown, backatown, riverside or lakeside. Your idea of a cruise ship is the Canal Street ferry, and your idea of a foreign cruise ship is the Chalmette ferry. Your burial plot is six feet over rather than six feet under. You know the Irish Channel is not Gaelic-language programming on cable. You can pronounce `Chop-a-tool-is' but can't spell it. You don't worry when you see ships riding higher in the river than your house. You get on a bus marked `cemeteries' without a second thought. You have no idea what a turn signal is or how to properly use it. You can cross two lanes of heavy traffic and U-turn through a neutral ground while avoiding two joggers and a streetcar, then fit into the oncoming traffic flow while never touching the brake. You can consistently be the second or third person to run a red stop light. You know how long you have to run to a store, get what you need and get back to your car before you get a parking ticket. You got rear-ended 10 times by people with no insurance. You make a `right-hand turn' instead of a right turn. You get off the stoop, walk down the banquette and cross the neutral ground to go get a sno-ball in the summertime. You judge a restaurant by its bread. The white stuff on your face is powdered sugar. You visit another city and they "claim" to have Cajun food -- but you know better. You have the opening date of any sno-ball stand in your Daytimer. You know that a po-boy is not a guy who has no money, but a great-tasting French bread sandwich. The major topics of conversation when you go out to eat are restaurant meals that you have had in the past and restaurant meals that you plan to have in the future. You judge a po-boy by the number of napkins used. You consider having a good meal as your birthright. The four seasons of your year are crawfish, shrimp, crab and erster. A seven-course meal is a pizza and a six-pack of Dixie beer. The waitress at your local sandwich shop tells you a fried oyster po-boy dressed is healthier than a Caesar salad. You know the definition of `dressed.' You put Tabasco sauce on your Hershey bar. You can eat Popeyes original chicken, Haydel's kingcake and Zapp's while waiting for Zulu. Then you go to Jackson Square for a Central Grocery muffaletta with a Barq's while sucking hot crawfish and cold Acme oysters, hurricanes and several Abitas. Then you can ride the St. Charles Avenue streetcar home past Camellia Grill for a chili/cheese omelette ... without losing it all on your front stoop. You have gained 10 or 15 pounds permanently, but you don't care anymore. Ya stood yaselfs in da line by Galatoire's. You think `drinking water' when you look at the Mississippi River. You know better than to drink hurricanes or eat Lucky Dogs. Someone at a crawfish boil says, `Don't eat the dead ones