LittleBuddhaTW

My gaydar has been known to be highly accurate. Actually, it's all about knowing how to read people in general. Like, I could tell from the first time that I chatted with BoyNeedsTherapy that he was a TOTAL poofter!!! *Smoochies for Benny* Buddha

I suppose I should feel lucky that I've managed to survive five years in Taiwan without being involved in a single traffic accident (although I've seen my share of dead bodies lying in the street), considering how Taiwanese DRIVE LIKE FRIGGIN' INSANE MANIACS WITH NO CONCERN FOR ANYONE ... and that may sound like a broad generalization or stereotype or whatever, but it's not ... every single Taiwanese person who operates a motor vehicle drives like a reckless lunatic with no regard for safety, the law, or anything else. I've seen a mom, dad, four small children, and a dog on one 500cc scooter before -- on more than one occasion -- with only the mom and dad wearing safety helmets. That's just one small example of the INSANITY here. Anyway, so tonight as I was walking home from buying my dinner of fried rice, pork dumplings, and stir-fried veggies, I was standing ON THE CURB waiting to cross the street, and got hit by some idiot on a scooter. I'm surprised that my whole left arm didn't get ripped off ... although I've got a huge bruise running up my left arm now. Once I'd realized what happened, realized that my left arm was going to be out of commission for a counter-attack, and chose to attempt to knock the helmet off his head with a side kick, the jerk had sped off with a weak "dui bu qi" (sorry) ... he didn't even stop. I was most disappointed that I wasn't fast enough to enact my revenge, or even shout off a series of nasty Taiwanese slurs about his mother. So, yeah, I was mad ... and am still mad. And I'm going to be angry at Taiwan for the next 30 days until I get out of here. I just got the first edit of Chapter 19 back from Kitty. Usually I make the corrections and send it back for the second edit right away, but my arm really hurts, and I'm in a pissy mood, so I'll do it later. Oh ... and the school's library finally accepted the electronic version of my thesis after rejecting it once because they're idiots, requiring me to call them and be not so nice. I've learned that being nice here doesn't get you very far. Taiwan is a dog eat dog world, and no one cares about anyone else. Anyway, my fried rice is getting cold. *sticks up middle finger at Ihla Formosa and stomps off angrily*

So my blog has become a place for discussing computer technology? lol

I'm honored and humbled that I managed to get TWO awards in the Nickolasjames monthly awards! Thank you so much, that's very sweet of you! I haven't gotten a chance to read your new story yet, but it's on my list. Now that most of the previous "Shared Member Hosting" authors have moved up to full hosted author status, you might want to consider sending a PM to Myr and asking if you could be hosted in the "Shared Member Hosting" area. *Hugz* Buddha

Well, I expected today (Monday morning here in Taiwan) to be yet another day from hell, but it actually wasn't. I got everything I needed to do completed in only two hours (including commute time), which included picking up my scholarship money, stopping by the Chinese department office to make sure my thesis wasn't missing anything before I took it to the printer, then off to the Computing & Networking Center to get my account # and password so I can upload my thesis onto the school library's server, taking my thesis to the printer (and it's only gonna cost about US$75 to get five hard-bound and five soft-bound copies printed!), and finally to the bank to deposit my scholarship money. Not a single hitch or problem either. So, I was definitely happy. On to other stuff ... I'm really excited that I'm now a full Hosted Author at GA now. It's a really great honor to be listed with such fabulous authors as Dom Luka, dkstories, Comicality, and VLista. I hope everyone checks the new site often, as I've got lots of plans and projects/stories in the works. http://littlebuddhatw.gayauthors.org I'll be posting any news or updates on story stuff in the "News & Updates" section of my website instead of here in the future, which you can access from the main page. So if you want to know what I'm working on, or what's been posted recently, or anything else to do with the progress of my stories, you can check there. I'd like to leave my blog for other stuff, and maybe sometime soon I'll have something more interesting to post than my whole moving process and anxieties about my impending job search! :wacko: But anyway, Chapter 18 is posted, and Kitty is already working on Chapter 19. Chapter 20 is also finished, and I've gotten a good start on Chapter 21. Then I'll be focusing on my Summer Anthology entry and the first chapter of "When I See You Again" for a couple weeks. Tomorrow is going to be another busy day ... work in the morning, and then a dentist appointment at 3:30 pm. Then Wednesday and Thursday will be rest days, and hopefully I can pitch some more stuff, do some cleaning, and get some more writing done. I'd like to have Chapter 21 done in the next few days so that I can get to work on the other stuff I mentioned. Anywho, that's it for now!

I can honestly say I've never been so flattered in my life ... :: Just one little thing, though ... Nicko's link is to the old site. The new address is as follows: http://littlebuddhatw.gayauthors.org/SOOTB/index.html *Hugz* Buddha P.S. And I can't wait for Ch. 12 of WT either!

Elton John released a song back in 1981 called "Elton's Song" (from the album The Fox), as well as a very controversial music video to go along with it. The song is about a young boy who falls in love with an older boy at school, although the theme is much more clear in the video than it is in the lyrics to the song itself. I was too young back then to even remember it (I was only three!), but from what I've read, it caused a bit of a stir. Anyway, it's a really beautiful song, and the video is as well. I had the privilege of hearing him perform it live at a solo concert (just Elton and his piano) back in 1999 in Florida. Very, very moving. The lyrics happen to be written by a famous gay activist, Tom Robinson. Staring all alone At your grace and style Cut me to the bone With your razor blade smile I watched you playing pool It's all around the school that I love you I love your gypsy hair And dark brown eyes Always unprepared For your pointed replies Cynical and lean I lie awake and dream about you If you only knew What I'm going through Time and again I get ashamed To say your name It's hard to grin and bear When you're standing there My lips are dry I catch your eye and look away Sitting in my room I've got it bad Crying for the moon They think I'm mad They say it isn't real But I know what I feel and I love you But I would give my life For a single night beside you

I've gotta remind myself not to read your blogs in the morning when I just wake up and am cranky ... you're waaaaaay to cheerful and optimistic for me sometimes! hehe *Hugz* Buddha

You might not want to mention running around naked around some of the folks around here! It's good to see you back at GA, though, Robbee ... I always enjoy reading your blog entries. And best of luck on the boyfriend hunt! *Hugz* Buddha

I'd been totally lazy for the past few days, but that all changed today. This morning, I had to go to the hospital to get a refill on my sleeping medication prescription (they don't have normal pharmacies here like in the States, so you have to go to the hospital or clinic where you see your doctor to get any medications, which is kind of inconvenient), then I stopped by work to have one of my co-workers convert the .doc file of my M.A. thesis into .pdf format, and it WORKED! Woo-hoo! It looks really good, too! I also ended up working for half an hour, which means I only have to work 2.5 hours on Friday. Then, I had a dentist appointment. Unfortunately, I've got a bunch of small cavities. I'd never had cavities before I came to Taiwan, and then BOOM ... I got a bunch of them. I jokingly said to my dentist once that it must be something in the water, and he said that it actually is ... they put flouride in the water in the States, but not here. Anyway, my dentist is really cool. It took me a while to find him, but it's just like a dentist's office back in the States ... the dentists there were all educated and licensed in the States, so they're much better than the tiny, dingy, dirty "hole-in-the-wall" dentists that you find on every street corner here. But, because of weird regulations the National Health Insurance program has, you can only get two cavities filled at a time, so I'll have to go back one or two more times to get the rest done. I've never minded the dentist, as long as they give me plenty of novacaine. He said I didn't need it because the cavities were very small and shallow, but I still made him give it to me ... and I didn't feel a thing! YAY! Monday will be another big day, because I have to take my thesis to the printer to get printed and bound, pick up my scholarship money, go to some office on campus that I've never been to before to get my ID and password so I can access the Digital Theses & Dissertation System, so I can upload the .pdf version of my thesis, go to the bank ... and I think that's it ... but it's still a lot to do in one morning! Then I have to work on Tuesday, and another dentist appointment on Tuesday afternoon. Busy, busy, busy! Story stuff ... Chapter 18 may be a couple days late this week. There *may* be some changes going on with my website this weekend, but once that's taken care of (hopefully), Chapter 18 should be posted. I've done a re-write of Chapter 19, because I wanted to stretch this particular part of the story out a little longer, so the story as a whole will probably end up being at least one chapter longer than I'd originally planned. So, the new version of Chapter 19 is already off to Kitty, and I've already started on both Chs. 20 & 21. Then I can focus on my Summer Anthology story, and getting the first "pilot" chapter of "When I See You Again" ready. Anywho, that's enough rambling for one day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROB!!! If I had your address, I'd send you a copy of Elton John's album "Ice On Fire," your namesake, but since I don't, you'll just have to get it from Amazon.com or something ... but be sure to get the remastered & enhanced version ... there are two live bonus tracks on there! *Hugz* Buddha-pest

Hehe ... that's sweet of you, James ... but fortunately that won't be a problem, as Kitty did manage to send me the final revisions for the chapter, and it should be posted sometime this weekend.

Okay ... so now you're probably asking, "Who in the hell is Ma Ying-jeou?" Well, he is the current mayor of Taipei city, the chairman of the Nationalist Party (KMT), and is expected by most people to win the presidency in Taiwan in 2008. He's a very charismatic and down-to-earth guy, and you just can't help but like him. He's also Harvard-educated (Ph.D. in law), was a professor for a number of years before going into politics. He was the justice minister during the latter years of the KMT's hold on power, but was fired for doing too good a job at going after corrupt officials. Anyway, I have a lot of respect for him, and if anyone can fix the many social and political problems Taiwan is facing, he's the one. So, anyway, he gave a speech this morning at the National Central Library, where my office is, and I got to shake his hand and say a few words with him as he was leaving. It was quite an experience ... you can just "feel" that he has that quality. The only other person I've experienced that "feeling" with is when I met Elton John back in 1999. OK, story stuff ... I haven't gotten the final edit of Ch. 17 back from Kitty yet, but she's been busy and is taking care of her father back in Texas, so if for some reason it's a few days late, please be patient and don't send any hate mail or anything. It should be up by the end of the weekend or early next week ... although it could also be up by Saturday ... it all depends. Ch. 19 is finished and has been sent to Kitty, and I've started working on a couple new projects. I've posted a "sneak peak" of a story I started working on in the forum, so you can go check it out and leave comments. At first, it was supposed to be a short story, but now I'm thinking of making it into a "writer's block serial" (kind of like what Dom's 'Desert Dropping' was originally supposed to be). Anyway, we'll see. I've got lots of writing to do, and lots planned. Besides finishing SOOTB, I have to get to work on my entry for the Summer Anthology. I've scrapped my original idea for that and am going to try something different. I'm also working on another short story, which is my first attempt at writing something in the third person. It's not something I'm sure everyone will like, so it may never see the light of day, but we'll see ... BTW, I got the health certificates for all three cats from my vet, and they're all taken care of with their rabies shots, microchips, and check-ups. I also shipped another box off this week, and will get the last (I hope) box packed up this weekend. I also need to make a dentist's appointment, since I have excellent health care here, and won't when I first get back to the States. So, lots of these little things to remember to do and get taken care of in the last month that I'm here. Anyway, that's about it for today.

Demetz, Please, for the sake of our sanity, do NOT get Nickolasjames started on politics!!! *sitting as serene as a mountain* Buddha

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATE!!! *Hugz* Buddha

I've missed you so much, Kevin! I'm glad you survived the move and are getting settled in. You're definitely much better at making friends than me, and it sounds like you're off to a good start. And hopefully now you'll have more time for some of your insightful comments on the last couple chapters of SOOTB! hehe *Hugz & Smooches* Buddha

I'm sorry to hear about the e-mail you got ... that is really petty and low. If you know how sent it to you, I'd report it to one of the GACs. IMO, that should be a bannable (sp?) offense. I've also had people intentionally give me low ratings on my stories in the Story Archive just out of spite. It sucks, but some people are just that way, and you have to let it go. It's not worth it. Your stories will speak for themselves. Perhaps they're just jealous? As for your blog, that's another thing. And I don't think a 4 out of 5 star rating is bad at all ... in fact, isn't that considered good? The hateful and cruel e-mails and purposely low ratings on your stories are most definitely uncalled for ... however, when you post such controversial stuff in your blog, you have to be willing to take the heat/responsibility for that, methinks. I enjoyed the last chapter of "My Jump Off." I'm looking forward to reading the next one.

You definitely don't blog enough, Vancey-pooh! I have some ideas on how to occupy yourself during your four-day weekend, at least while Sam isn't around ... you'll need to get a few yards of plastic hose, some duct tape, and spackel from your local hardware store ... I'll fill you in on the rest on MSN! And I hope your evening work doesn't cut into our chat time ... I'd cry if that happened! *Hugz & SMOOCHES* Buddha

I can't really remember the last time I've had so much to do ... I've gotten so used to being bored, but now that my big move is looming closer and closer, I've got tons to get done. This week is going to be a killer, and I'm not off to a good start, since I got ZERO hours of sleep last night. I have the worst case of insomnia, and even the sleeping pills my doctor gave me don't do a damn thing except make me feel woozy and a little groggy ... but not enough to put me to sleep. Anyway, I have to work three days this week instead of two, so that's gonna suck, although I do need the money, since the move (mostly shipping stuff) is costing me much more than I had anticipated. After work on Monday, I need to mail the revised copy of my thesis back to my graduate advisor so she can take one final look at it before I send it to the printer. Then on Monday afternoon, provided I don't collapse from exhaustion by then, I'm taking all three cats to the vet for their final check-up and shots. That'll be pretty expensive, too, but once that's done, I just have to get the one final check-up from the government the week before I leave. I've also got several boxes of stuff to ship home this week, and need to finish getting my CDs organized. Once these boxes are shipped, that should be the last of them (hopefully). Then comes the time to start pitching the last of the stuff I can throw away, and try to sell the rest. I'd like to get all of this stuff done this week so that when my professor is done with the final check of my thesis, I can concentrate on getting all of that mess taken care of. I finally finished Chapter 18 of SOOTB and sent it off to Kitty. I've also started working on Chapter 19 and am about a third of the way finished. After Chapter 20 is posted, I may take a short break for a couple of weeks to deal with some of this moving stuff, as well as try to finish my entry for the Summer Anthology. Also, I'm happy to announce that CRVBOY and AwesomeDude have both asked to host my story. Chapter 1 is now up on CRVBOY, and it should be posted on AwesomeDude next weekend. GA, however, will always remain my official site, and will have new chapters and stories posted before anyone else. I'm glad that other sites are interested in my story, and I want as many people to have the chance to read it as possible, but I also owe a big debt of gratitude to Myr for hosting my stories here first, letting me have my own "official" web site, as well as the discussion forum. So, for me, GA is my home, and that won't change.

I can't get the page numbers in the PDF file to match up with the original ... the PDF file ends up having more pages than the original .doc file, and that's not allowed. I also just found out that I have to stick the "National Taiwan University" watermark into the background of each page ... being the computer idiot that I am, none of this is going to be pleasant ... and I have to have an ID number and password to get into the system to upload it ... hello?!?! No one ever gave me one! So now I have to find out how to get that ... it's all a huge nightmare ... and after having put all of my separate files into one big file, I have to go back and manually reset all of the footnotes so each chapter begins at "1" ... again, not fun. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MYR! One more year to go until you hit the big 3-0 ... Oh, and by the way ... will you marry me??? *Hugz* Buddha

So, I got to the Chinese department office about a half hour early and chatted with one of the secretaries for a while, and she gave me all of the information I need to get through the gazillions of procedures I have to follow once the final draft of my thesis is completed, which includes converting my MS Word document into PDF format (which I have no clue how to do), get three hardcover and one softcover copies of my thesis made, upload the PDF file of my thesis to the library's electronic thesis system, wait 2-3 days for them to send me a e-mail confirmation that it has been successfully uploaded, then go and hand in the copies of my thesis to the library and Chinese department, go to four different places to get "official" stamps on some form, and finally, go to pick up my final transcript and diploma. Why does it have to be so complicated, you ask? Answer: this is Taiwan. *sigh* Anyway, so the test was ... interesting. It lasted about two hours, starting out with me giving about a 15 minute presentation on what my thesis topic is about, my main points/theories, how I went about collecting my materials, etc. Then all three professors gave me their opinions, suggested some points that I might want to revise, etc. The atmosphere was very friendly and cordial, even though discussion on a couple of points got slightly heated, although always polite. So, it wasn't bad at all. So, how did I do? ::drum roll:: I got a 91% on my thesis, which counts for 50% of my final grade. The other 50% is the average grade from my coursework, which was 89.12% ... so my final grade at graduation is 90.06%, the equivalent of an "A" in the American system. Needless to say, I was quite happy, since I expected to only get 80+% on my thesis. So, I'm very happy with that, but not happy with all the crap I still have left to do, especially converting all of my MS Word files into one big ass PDF file, upload it, and then have to wait 2-3 days to find out if it even worked ... ugh. Taiwan is definitely the world capital of "red tape." But anyway ... I am now officially "LittleBuddhaTW, M.A.," with a 90% average from the top university in the Republic of China, and a top tier international school. Oh ... and Chapter 16 of SOOTB should be posted sometime on Saturday morning (US Eastern time).

I wonder how many people would really make that connection, though. I think the average movie-goer isn't going to spend a lot of time "thinking" about any sort of social message in an X-Men movie ... I think most of them are just going to see a good action movie. In that respect, I don't see it as having more of an impact than "Brokeback Mountain."

Just got back from clothes shopping ... definitely not fun. First of all, it's hard enough to shop for clothes here since Chinese are built very differently from Westerners, with us 'big noses' (that's what they call us foreigners) having bigger frames ... not to mention that I've put on a little extra weight over the past couple of years, so it ended up being a case of buying what would fit me rather than what I actually liked the best. Even though I'm not "fat," I'm still a pretty big guy (6 feet, 180 lbs., although ten of that is coming off before I go home, Buddha willing). *sigh* But at least I have something to wear tomorrow for my exam!

There's a big ass typhoon that's hitting Hong Kong and southern China now, and we're getting hit by the outer bands of rain. It's nothing serious, but it's raining hard enough to keep me from going clothes shopping ... not that I wouldn't have found another excuse not to get off my lazy butt ... but I've definitely got to go tomorrow, because I have to have something nice to wear (that fits!) for my exam on Friday. Good news on the landlord front! I just spent two hours helping her to file her taxes online, since she doesn't have a computer, and her friend that was helping her didn't have a floppy disk drive on her computer. So ... after going through that nightmare and helping her add things up, figuring out how the system works, etc., there's no way she can't return my deposit ... and she also said that any furniture that I can't sell, she'll take care of it. That's a good thing, since I wasn't sure how I was gonna handle that. She's also letting me stay the first week of July for free, and we worked out the utility payments and stuff, too. So, that's another load off my mind, unless she goes back on what we agreed on ... although after helping her with this tax mess, she'd better not! Chapter 16 has already been through the first edit ... lots of red "ink" on this one ... but I think it'll be pretty good. I'm almost halfway finished with Chapter 18. And my exam is this Friday afternoon at 2 o'clock. It'll be just me and the three professors who are grading my exam (one of which is my graduate advisor) sitting in the massive conference room in the Chinese department. The good thing is that I'll get my score right away, so I can report back on Friday evening (Friday morning US time) on my score ... not that anyone really cares ... lol And last but not least, BIG *hugz* to Kitty, Vance, and Benny for all being such wonderful friends ... and Joey, because his nose is just so gosh darned cute! And also to Nicko, who I hope is feeling better after his surgery!