Birds. Found a nice site that has let me identify some of the birds we've seen around Singapore. About seventy-five percent of the birds you see are mynahs, and twenty percent are crows, sparrows, or pigeons. It's the remaining five percent that make you sit up and take notice.

Our seventeenth floor apartment affords us a nice view of some tree canopies. In fact, what got me on this today is that I just spotted a large black and yellow bird, that we had seen a few times, which I now know is a black-naped oriole. A few minutes back while out jogging I saw a yellow-bellied sunbird. And a few weeks back I saw two yellow-vented bulbuls. And last year while we were visiting here I'm pretty sure we saw a common kingfisher.

I have a knack for reading books that, unbeknownst to me, are about to be turned into movies, or have just been turned into movies. In the past few years it happened with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and The Quiet American. More obscurely, it happened with A Beautiful Mind, which I somehow didn't hate after first seeing, but have since decided it a big stinker. I strongly encourage reading the book; the movie left out so much about the fascinating character of John Nash that you'd hardly recognize him.

Now they're making a movie treatment Master and Commander, a rather obscure book I've just about finished. Unfortunately, it stars the same crew as played in A Beautiful Mind: the annoying Russell Crowe, and the annoying Paul Bettany. On the other hand, it's directed by Peter Weir, who did one of my favorite movies, Fearless. I'm still inclined to think it will suck.

What possesses me to use big showy words like "triumvirate" and "unbeknownst" when I write? I don't talk that way. Rather ostentatious of me. Oops, there I go again.

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!! Today is the first day of the Year of The Goat. So far Mark and I have not participated in any of the festivities, but today we might have more luck. Luckily, the New Year is celebrated over a series of days, so we have multiple opportunities to get involved. This very nice Singaporean gentleman I met on the plane ride home told me that Lunar New Year is similar to the American Thanksgiving in that it's an occasion when people generally spend time with their families and visit their extended families, and not so similar to the Western New Year's Eve. So, unfortunately there may be fewer activities to view then I initially thought, but I'm sure there are still plenty of things going on around town to celebrate the occasion.
Have I mentioned how much I like Singaporean's yet? The guy I met on the plane was so nice, and generally the people we encounter on the streets are really charming as well. Singapore is a very friendly country. Perhaps because there is so little crime, people aren't as guarded as they are at home.
I'm up at 5:00am again today. Gotta love jet lag! There are some perks to it though, as I'm not generally a morning person, it gives me a chance to view the world at a time when I'm normally unconscious. I predict I'll get over this bout pretty easily though as I never fully acclimated to the time change when I went back to the States.

I'm Here! Sorry I haven't written lately. I've had an awful lot on my mind the last few days. I'm glad to be back in Singapore, and very grateful to be off the plane. I wish the weather today was a little better though. It's been raining all day, which has prevented us from going out and participating in any New Year's activities. But we did get to do something new today, we ordered home delivered beer from a local microbrew (Brewerks). Can't do that in Georgia.

Yay, Marjorie's home! 'Bout time, too, as the dishes were really starting to pile up. I kid.

It's one in the afternoon, and she's fast asleep. No surprise there. If the rain lets up, we're going to maybe hit the Hong Bao tonight.

Things Marjorie brought from home:

A triumvirate of my favorite candies: Sour Patch Kids, Swedish Fish, and Haribo Gummi Bears. The only real gummi bears are hard gummi bears. Only heathens eat the soft variety.

DVDs: Rushmore, Bottle Rocket, Pulp Fiction, for our as-yet nonexistent DVD player. I've actually never seen Bottle Rocket, it just came as part of a deal with Rushmore.

Most of our wedding dishes and flatware, and my favorite bowls.

Two packets Shake and Bake chicken recipe.

Two big fluffy towels.

Various other clothes and knickknacks.

My guitar tuner.

Coffee table coasters, and a shower curtain, designed to hold photographs.

My X-Arcade Joystick. Not! I forgot to remind her. That's her story, at any rate.

Sorry about the lack of updates. I've just been passing time in this training class all week. I'm ready for Marjorie to be home. She's ready to come home. She's not ready for the long flight. Like, REALLY not ready for it. Be strong, my cherub.

Sign spotted in the bus today:

Fly Thai Air to Thailand.

So many things to see, you'll want to come back.

I guess when you're Thailand, you don't have to work that hard on your slogans.

I'm not the worst player on the team, I think, and for that I'm thankful. I had a bear of a time finding cleats (er, boots) that fit me today. I went to a mall that at least a dozen stores that sold them, and there were TWO pairs that fit me in the whole place. I gots big feets by American standards, huge by Asian standards.

Anyway, we had at least ten extra players show up, so I didn't even think I was going to play. And the weather was a balmy eight thousand degrees. I told myself I wasn't going to try to volley the ball out of the air today, because that's the easiest way to make yourself look really stupid if you're out of practice. But during warmup I cranked a booming volley perfectly into the side of the net, that I think the coach saw, so I got some play time in. I was nothing too spectacular on the field (er, pitch), but there were no major miscues. Because of Chinese New Year, I have two weeks to get in shape for the next game, which should help.

I scuffed both knees up pretty good, and an ankle, but not too major. The kind of injury your mom used to spray Bactine on, that only causes you a lot of pain when you get in the shower and the water trickles down onto them... Ouchy. So I decided to jump in the pool instead. I stick both legs in, and it stings. I start to swim, and start shivering, thinking "Man, this water must be cold..." Then I remember.

I am Mr. Shocks Aplenty. For some reason, I go into shock at the drop of a hat. Shivering, jaw clenching, goose bumps, spasms... Even for extremely minor injuries like scraping your knee, twisted ankles... probably even paper cuts. It usually happens at night, just as I settle into bed. The worst time was when I dreamt I was in a car accident, and woke up in shock.

I decide that maybe the pool isn't the best place for this to happen, so I get out, thinking that I'm probably the only person in this tropical city who's shivering right now. It'll probably happen again tonight, as I said, when I go to bed. I've mentioned this to doctors, but none have ever heard of this... condition, or whatever you'd call it. It's not a big deal, just annoying.

Tomorrow, and for the next four days, I have a training class. Joy! (That's sarcasm.) I never want to be trained, I just want to have training.