LittleBuddhaTW

Of course! Because despite the frustration that Taiwan has occasionally caused me, I've also had some very good times here, learned a lot, and met some wonderful people. Taiwan will always be a part of me, and hold a very special place in my heart. And, I'm sure that I will return, not to live, but certainly to visit. While I'm anxious to go back to the States and start my new life, I will miss it here.

I think you have to probably be the most absolutely cheerful person on the face of the earth ... hehe

Today, I took Simba (my youngest cat) to get the first of his preventative vaccines. He can be really sweet when he wants to, and also really evil. This afternoon, he decided to be evil, and clawed a chunk of skin out of my hand when I went to pick him up to go to the vet -- he must have sensed that he was going to get a shot. Anyway, that was the first step to going back to the States. I have so many silly hoops to jump through to take my cats back to the States that it's not even funny. First, I have to get a document from my regular vet that certifies that they've had all of the necessary vaccines (basic preventative vaccines, plus rabies), then I have to take that to another "government-authorized" vet to have them examined and have another form filled out and micro-chips implanted. Then, I have to take that form, plus the three cats, plus my passport and airline ticket to the Taipei Bureau of Commodity Inspection & Quarantine to have the prior form certified, another form filled out, and final confirmation that the cats are healthy. Finally, they have to be given another inspection at the airport the day I leave. And that's just to get them out of the friggin' country! To get into the US, guess what I need? Nothing -- just the one form from the government bureau here ... cats aren't even required by the US side to have micro-chips or rabies shots (only dogs are). So, Taiwan is totally insane, and just has to have one final jab at me before I get out of it's clutches! Grrrrrr! Anyway, now I have to wait a month for Simba to get his booster shot, and once that's done, I need to wait until June to get the other stuff done. In the meantime, it's time to start boxing up books and other crap that I'm going to ship home, and take the boxes one by one to the post office. That's going to be a pain in the butt, too. I also will have to try and sell as much of my furniture as I can, and then find out how to get rid of what I can't sell. I have no idea how to do that, however, and neither does anyone else. I'd leave sooner, but I need to wait until after July 5th so I can pick up the last of my scholarship money and my final month's paycheck from work, which will total about US$1,000 ... I'm not going to give up that much money just to get out of here a week or two sooner ... that's going to be the down-payment on my new car. I'm also hoping my landlord doesn't try to cheat me on returning my deposit, which is about another US$1,000 ... unfortunately, Taiwanese landlords have a tendency to try to find any little reason to not return the deposit, and since I'll be leaving the country, there's not much I can do if she just decides on a whim to not return it. I really hope she does, because 1) it's my money (and the apartment is in perfect condition, and 2) I really need it so I don't have to rely on my parents at all when I get back (other than a roof over my head until I get a job offer -- although if that takes more than a month, I'll probably get my own place anyway because my parents will drive me insane). I also still have to take the oral exam for my M.A. I'm not worried about that, though. I'm still waiting for my professor to finish going over it, and I'll probably have to make a few minor corrections, but nothing major since my classmates (my professor's #1 student who is going to study for her Ph.D. at Tokyo University now) went over it three times already. As for writing stuff ... Kitty has already finished the first edit of "Seeking Nirvana," and should have the final edit back to me soon. So expect that to be posted within a few days. I'm not sure when Ch. 10 of "Someday Out Of the Blue" will be done, but hopefully not too long (hint, hint ). But I'm sure reading the new story will make up for any minor delay ... I think it's pretty good, and will give everyone a little better insight into my philosophies on life and why my name is "LittleBuddha" (the "TW" part means "Taiwan," if you hadn't figured that out already). And ... this blog entry is dedicated to Ben's bum (BoyNeedsTherapy) ... and such a beautiful bum it is! lol Finally ... *gasping for air* ... since everyone seems to be listing a song of the day or whatever, I'll jump on that little bandwagon, too, and recommend "A Love That Will Never Grow Old," sung by Emmylou Harris, from the film "Brokeback Mountain." It won a Grammy (as I hope everyone here knows), and the guy who wrote the lyrics, Bernie Taupin, is the guy who writes the lyrics for all of Elton John's songs.

Congratulations on becoming an author! Your story is definitely on my list of things to read! Good luck! *Hugz*

Norfolk.

I've finally made my decision, with a little help from my parents (I still look for their approval ... can't help it! lol) So ... anyway ... I'm moving back to the States, probably in early July. I've decided not to take the Ph.D. entrance exam. I've been here for five years now, and the past year and a half has made me realize that I would be better off back home. I want to get a real job, settle down, and begin the rest of my life. The whole moving thing is gonna be a major pain in the butt, but at least I have three months to prepare, and nothing else much to do during that time, other than take the oral exam for my M.A. thesis, which won't be a big deal at all. So, now I just need to figure out what to do first! I'll probably start packing up books and shipping them home soon, and make sure my cats are all caught up on their vaccinnations. Once I get home and recover from the jet lag, my first priorities are getting a cell phone, buying a new car (Toyota RAZ4 mini-SUV, baby! hehe), and sending in my online job applications. Once that's taken care of, there's a certain somebody in Virginia that I need to go pay a little visit to ... if he's not being to stubborn! That is NOT my reason for moving back to the States, though ... this has been a long time coming, and I'm ready. So, anyway ... yeah ... I guess I need to get busy. It's nice to not have the stress of that stupid Ph.D. entrance exam on my mind now. As for my story, Kitty has already done the first set of revisions on Ch. 9, so hopefully I'll have the final edit back from her soon. I've also sent her the rough draft of "Seeking Nirvana." So there should be new stuff up on my website and GA this week ... probably in a few days. That's about it for now ...

*Sigh* I remember my high school trip to France ... a one-eyed homeless guy tried to steal my gyro sandwich from me at about 1 a.m. in the Greek section of Paris, so I squealed and hid behind my French teacher ... Madame Clem ... with fiery red hair ... fun times ... Anyway, welcome aboard GA, and I look forward to reading your story!

Happy B-day, Lugh! **1,000 kisses from the Buddha**

If you're into horror flicks, definitely check out some Japanese and Hong Kong horror movies ... I've been hooked on them for a few years now, and they always scare the sh*t out of me. Hollywood has tried to jump on that bandwagon and done remakes of "The Ring" and "The Grudge," but the originals are still much scarier. You just might have trouble sleeping for a while ... although that's nothing a cute guy in bed next to you can't take care of ...

It's great to have you joining us! I've loved both of your stories and recommend them to people all the time. And one of my cats is named 'Kitty', too.

I don't think I've ever written two blog entries in as many days ... but it probably has to due with the fact that I'm procrastinating for a few more minutes before I get back to my translation project ... ugh!!! I was up at 4 a.m. this morning, after getting to sleep at around 1:30 a.m., and it's now 5:00 a.m. as I'm writing this ... while listening to the "Brokeback Mountain" soundtrack which I bought yesterday (along with Billy Joel's "Millenium Concert" and the latest Eurythmics greatest hits collection -- which has two new songs, by the way). Anywho, I jumped through all of the stupid little hoops yesterday to get that stupid form so I could pick up my scholarship money next month, but when I got to the Office of International Scholarly Exchanges to actually pick up the form, they informed me that I no longer needed to do any of that stuff (even though they harrassed me last week via e-mail like three times to come into the office to do it). I was about ready to drop kick all those stupid giggling office girls yesterday. GRRRRR!!!! I also had to sit in the office at the Graduate Institute for Taiwanese Literature for like an hour until my graduate advisor got out of a meeting ... fortunately, there was a really HOT student-worker there, and my eyes were totally glued to his ass every time he had to get up and go answer the telephone. He was sooo gorgeous. There are definitely some really hot boys here, and that'll be the one downside of leaving Taiwan. I just have to keep reminding myself that most of them are incredibly immature and way too closeted to have a serious relationship with. At any rate, I finally got to give the final draft of my thesis to my advisor (after she told me I looked like I'd put on weight ... ) It really annoys me sometimes how Taiwanese are so direct when it comes to things like telling you you look fatter, or pointing out that you have a pimple on your face, or asking you how much money you make ... but when it comes to other things, they're just so vague, or tell you what they think you want to hear, while meaning something entirely different (like how the Taiwanese president basically pulled a fast one on the U.S. regarding the 'abolition' of the National Unification Council). I finally finished the first draft of "Seeking Nirvana" and sent it off to Kitty, although I told her that SOOTB still takes precedence. So I don't know how long it will take to get it back (and we always go through two revisions to make sure we catch everything). The story is quite long, about 75KB, which translates to about thirty pages or so (I'm just guess-timating). I haven't received the first set of revisions for Ch. 9 back yet, so I'm not sure when it'll be posted ... I'm hoping it will be ready by the middle of next week, but no promises. And the only thing I'll say is that you'll get to see a lot more of Cody starting in Ch. 9. The character of his mom is loosely based on someone I actually knew ... and yes, people like that do exist! haha Anyway, back to my translating ... the most boring work in the whole world ... **sigh** BTW, Dan's comment in my last blog totally made my day! hehe

Sounds like a potentially good scene for "Service" ... but, of course, after Jarred seduces the youth pastor (following an interesting back-and-forth debate on Mormonism), Jarred introduces him to the wonders of gay sex, forcing him to verbally foresake his "God," cum on the Book of Mormon, and then when that's over, tear his throat out with his fangs (since he doesn't have the potential to be a familiar). Or would that be too risque???

Sweet, sweet Dan ... now is that the kind of example we want to be setting for our younger readers? hehe Everyone knows that the best way to overcome a bad case of the blues is to have a nice cup of tea and read the Bible.

Hmmm ... mine said: "LittleBuddhaTW is 63% Gay! Careful! You're not a gay clich yet, but well on your way. Bet all the girlie girls just adore you!" Ok ... so whatever that means ...

You're lucky, Dom ... I'm in that kind of mood almost every day ...

I have had the weirdest sleeping habits lately. I get to bed at a normal time, usually between midnight and 1 a.m., but then only sleep for a couple hours. Then I'm up for the day, then go to sleep again in the late afternoon and sleep until around 8 or 9 p.m., then repeat the cycle. I've tried forcing myself to stay awake to reset my internal clock, as well as sleeping medication from my doctor, but it doesn't work. One benefit of this, though, is that I do my best work in the early hours of the morning. Speaking of work, I'm finally forcing myself to do this stupid translation project that I got assigned. It's a bunch of translators, actually, translating this bilingual guide book of Taiwan. I got assigned the section on some place that I've never heard of called Wuri Township in Taichung County. None of my friends have heard of it either. For such an unknown place, they've certainly written enough about it, which I have to go and translate. There's stuff like the kinds of orchids they cultivate there, some beer factory that's supposedly famous, some old textile mills that represent the early days of Taiwan's industrialization, and then some not-so-famous people who were early settlers of the area. Very, very boring stuff. The pay's not too shabby, though ... about US$400. Today is going to be an annoying day (besides working on this stupid translation) because I have to drag my butt all the way to my school just because they've come up with new regulations for picking up our scholarship money. First, I have to go to the cashier's office and pay NT$20 to get a copy of my transcript, then go to the Office of Graduate Student Affairs to actually pick up the transcript. After that, I have to go to the Office for International Scholarly Exchange in an entirely different building, give them the copy of my transcript, then pick up another form from them, and finally, come back again to the cashier the following week to pick up my money ... and I have to do this every month! When it comes to bureaucracy and red tape, the Chinese and Taiwanese are the worst ... GRRRR!!!! Fortunately, my graduate advisor has a meeting at the school today at noon, so I can drop off my completed M.A. thesis to her to go over for the last time while I'm there, as well as return some books at the library (even though it's all the way on the other side of the campus). Unfortunately, this will all be during my new "sleep time," so I'll be dead tired and in a pissy mood, and school administrators here are so incompetent, I just know I'm gonna go off on someone. As for my story(ies), I posted Ch. 8 of SOOTB early, since I didn't see the point in waiting until later in the week when it was already done and edited. It was my first time writing a 'sex scene,' although no one has commented yet as to how well that part was written. Kitty said she liked it, but that's only one person's perspective. Also, I'm almost finished writing my short story "Seeking Nirvana." It's ended up being longer than I'd planned, and it's also a bit "philosophical," so I'm not sure if everyone's gonna like it, or even get it. But I've spent A LOT of time working on it, re-writing parts, tweaking other parts, so I'd might as well finish it and post it. Also, since my alias is "LittleBuddhaTW," I figured I should write at least one thing with a bit of a Buddhist slant to it. Anyway, that's it for now ... it's 3:14 a.m. here in Taiwan, and I shouldn't even be awake, but I am ... and now I have to get back to this stupid translation project. **sigh**

I find it interesting to see that Nick believes that the adjective 'gay' can have positive connotations when not used directly to refer to someone's sexual orientation. I have never seen it used that way. Not to pick on Nick, but I have seen him use 'gay' in a negative context numerous times in his blog and on the message boards, and I haven't found one where it is used in a positive connotation. If the usage of the term has indeed evolved, to where you can point to something (abstract or concrete) as 'gay' (when it's not directly used in reference to someone's sexuality, as in "Elton John is gay," i.e. a homosexual) in a positive way, then I would certainly be interested to see a few examples. Everyone has their own linguistic quirks, and Nick is certainly entitled to his, and it doesn't really offend me, although I don't find his explanation to be accurate or logical. But whatever floats your boat ... it's not something to get too riled up about ... although Nick has never been one to shy away from controversy ... hehe

Good God no, I could never stand working as a translator ... I'm thinking something more along the lines of analysis ... like political or foreign media analysis. That would still involve research, and I've always been interested in Taiwanese politics ... it's certainly never dull, with Taiwanese legislators throwing things at each other during legislative sessions, coming dressed in Tae-kwon-do uniforms or police riot gear, and politicians who contradict themselves every day (even worse than they do in the US!) The whole dynamic in the Taiwan-China-US relationship is changing, and could change big-time in 2008 when Taiwan holds its next presidential election, so it's a very exciting time. As for the story(ies), that's about the only fun thing I have in my life, so I don't think I'll stop writing anytime soon, otherwise I might be lynched.

I don't remember the last sunny day we had here in Taipei. It's been raining pretty much non-stop for a while now, and while it's good (we've had water shortages the past couple of summers), it's not helpful to my mood. I'm leaning more and more towards moving back to the States this summer. The benefits seem to far outweigh staying here in Taiwan, even if I were to get into the Ph.D. program. For example, foreign professors here don't qualify for pensions, foreigners can't get loans for cars or homes, and the price of housing is even more expensive than in the US (because land is at such a premium here ... Taiwan is the second most densely populated country on Earth). The drawback to moving back, though, is the logistics (and cost) of getting all of my stuff shipped back to the States, including my cats (who I would never think of giving away -- they go where I go), plus I'd most likely have to live with my parents for a month or two when I first get back, something I haven't done in ten years. I'm not looking forward to that, but I'll need to wait until I have a job before I can have a place of my own, not really because of the money, but so I can live in reasonaby close proximity to where I'll be working. I'm so used to living on my own, that I'm dreading the thought of having to live in my parents' house again ... even though I'm 28, they still tend to treat me like I'm a teenager ... one of the problems of being an only child, I suppose. They know I'm gay and all, so that's not a problem, but they just nag me about really annoying things. Plus, all my friends from high school have moved away, so I'll be lonely for a while, and it'll be kind of hard to start dating or anything while living with my parents and doing the whole job search thing. There are tons of jobs that require Chinese language ability, so I'm not worried about finding work ... I just don't like going on a bunch of interviews, and I'd like to find someone that I'll enjoy and that has a good salary, good benefits (although nothing can beat the nationalized health insurance they have here in Taiwan), and will be exciting. I have a good idea about what I'd really like to do, but that's not something I'm going to share ... hehe Anyway, I've received the final edit of Chapter 8 from Kitty, so it should be posted on my website on Wedneday evening, then a day or so later on GayAuthors and Nifty. I had forgotten a lot of what I had written in this chapter until I went through the revisions that Kitty sent me, and after re-reading it, I think it's a pretty good chapter. It's not as long as Chapter 7, but it's not short either. So far, the only "short" chapter (as in under 45 KB) is Chapter 11. I'll probably start working on Chapter 13 this week, too.

Nope. Sorry!

As Kitty mentioned to me in an e-mail (along with the final edit of Ch. 7), "the natives are getting restless." So I'll be posting Ch. 7 on Wednesday evening (which would be Thursday morning for me, Taiwan time ... hehe) It's the longest chapter so far, and I hope everyone enjoys it. It'll be up on my own web site first, and then probably a day or so later on my GA shared member hosting page. I'm also working on a (long) short story right now. I'm about halfway finished (I think). I'm already way ahead on chapters of SOOTB, so it won't interfere with that, so y'all don't need to get on the next flight to Taipei and lynch me or anything. I've actually been really surprised at all of the positive feedback I've gotten on the story. I never thought it would get much exposure, let alone receive so many e-mails, PMs, and even a certain someone mention it in his blog TWICE! hehe {hi nick!} My thesis editor sent back the final two chapters of my thesis today, so now I'm just waiting to get my research proposal back from her, as well as a couple of quotes that I needed her to help me translate into Chinese. It's not a good idea to translate from your first language into your second language, so I only do Chinese to English translation ... otherwise it won't look like a native speaker wrote it, and my thesis has to be totally professional and all. I'm hoping to get it published in book form at some point, maybe later this year ... unfortunately it will be in Chinese, so I doubt any of y'all will be reading it ... *sigh* I have a stomach ache right now because I ate too much. I should move back to the States for the simple reason that I've put on too much weight since I came to Taiwan ... mostly because of eating so much damn white rice, which is chock full of carbohydrates. I'm not "fat" or anything ... I've always been really thin, but I've definitely put on a few pounds and it shows, mostly in my tummy because I'm lazy when it comes to exercising. But once all of this crap with the Ph.D. entrance exam and stuff is over, I've vowed to lose about 10 lbs., start exercising more (I should really get back into martial arts training ... I don't want all the time I spent into getting a second-degree black belt go to waste), and I *really* need to quit smoking. Ugh! Another thing I need to get back into is my Zen Buddhist training. Mentally and spiritually, I really need it. I need to get myself centered and balanced, especially since I'm going to have to be making some really important decisions within the next few months about where my future is going ... either working in academia here in Taiwan or going back to the States to work in the private sector. Two very different paths. As people can probably guess from my nickname, Buddhism has been a particularly influential philosophy in my life, and it's actually going to play a major part in the new short story I'm working on. I'm curious to see if I get the same kind of reaction I've been getting from SOOTB. Oh, and for anyone who isn't happy, but wants to learn how to be happy (I think very few people are truly "happy" ... I think we just content ourselves with "ordinary unhappiness"), I strongly suggest reading the Dalai Lama's book "The Art of Happiness" ... he knows what it takes to put you on the path to finding true happiness ... one day I'll get around to trying to put what he says into practice ... haha

Definitely drink lots of O.J. ... the best way to nip a cold in the bud when it's just getting started is to overflow your system with Vitamin C (my mom's a pharmacist, so trust me! hehe) As for the "only 18 chapters" of WT, I have to admit that I'm a wee bit disappointed ... I could definitely see it ending up as long as DD ... but I'm sure no matter how long it is, it will still be excellent, as usual. As for the "sex" in Ch. 7 (which wasn't really sex, IMO), I thought it was one of your best sex scenes yet ... extremely erotic ... actually, Chs. 6 & 7 seemed like one long kiss scene, and it was definitely the hottest description of kissing I've ever read. I've certainly never experienced a kiss like that! So I think I'm gonna call up this cute 18 y/o Taiwanese boy I know (who I haven't seen in months), and get him to come over and practice some Nels/Milo-style kissing with me ... *blush* Take care of yourself, stud ... you're the greatest!

WOO-HOO! I finally finished the rough draft of my Ph.D. research proposal, and have sent it on to my thesis editor. Now everything (including the last few chapters of my thesis) are in her hands, so now I just have to sit back and wait for her to send me the corrections. I still have to start doing some reading to prepare for the written exam, but that only counts for about 30% of the score for the entrance exam. The other 70% or so is based on your oral exam (discussing your M.A. thesis, research plan, etc. -- all in Chinese, of course). At least I don't have to do any more damn writing! **breathes deep sigh of relief** I still have a lot of other crap to get together, though, like applications, letters of recommendations, transcripts, four passport-sized photographs, etc. The whole registration and application process is extremely complicated. They should just let you into the program based on being able to jump through all of those hoops. Even if I do get accepted, though (which I'm not too sure about, since I don't really have the same "drive" I had before), I will still consider moving back to the States and going into some other kind of work where I can still make use of my Chinese skills (and NO, I don't plan on working in a Chinese restaurant! ). I've been isolating myself too much here over the past few months, mostly because of trying to get my thesis done, and am really worn out. I'm thinking I need a change ... or at least a long vacation. Any suggestions about how to make my life a little more meaningful? *sigh* Hopefully now I can spend some more time doing what I really like -- namely, writing. I'm currently working on Ch. 12 of "Someday Out Of the Blue," and I just finished making the corrections on the first edit of Ch. 7 from Kitty, so everything's on schedule for the next update. Ch. 7 is the longest chapter so far, so I think that should please everyone. I just hope any future stories will get as good of a response as my first one. Also, I'm now officially hosted at GayAuthors in the "Shared Member Hosting" section, so if you get the chance, go check out my page: http://members.gayauthors.org/littlebuddhatw/index.html

Unfortunately, I don't have a boyfriend to nag me ... and my graduate advisor doesn't even nag me either. In fact, when I need her help on something, she's next to impossible to find ... *sigh*

Today was probably the most eventful day I've had in a while ... I went to see my doctor this morning to get a refill on my sleeping pills (I have really bad insomnia sometimes). It's 2:23 AM now and I'm still not ready to sleep, but I have to wake up at 6:30 to get ready for work ... so apparently the medication isn't helping very much. I also managed to trek over to the supermarket, Carrefour (a French supermarket chain, although it's unfortunately been "Taiwan-ified"). I had to go because my cats needed food, but I also got some of my favorite ice cream, Haagen-Daaz (Strawberry Shortcake ... YUMMY!) Chapter 6 of "Someday Out Of the Blue" should be posted sometime this week, hopefully by Thursday or Friday (on my web page and Yahoo! Group first, and on Nifty a day or two later). I've also added a poll to the Yahoo! Group where you can vote on your favorite character from the story so far, so go add your vote, and if you're not already a member, go ahead and join! I've made a little more progress on my research proposal. I need to try to get that, and the translation project that I'm supposed to be working on finished by this weekend. I've been so lazy that I've been putting it off in favor of long naps (several a day) ... I need someone to kick me in the butt and get me into gear!