May 2006- Bowling with Hello Kitty

Some would say that a new post is in order. In fact as I recall, some or at least one has said that. So here it is. I'm not going to fill you in on one day shy of two months of news because that'd take two full sentences. I will tell you this: I just got back from bowling or as I like to call it: rollin'. That may sound lame to those of you who don't understand my new obsession to "rollin" but if you do understand my new obsession with bowling, it may still sound lame. If you "get it" than you will of course understand that it is smooth and cool and hip in the world of big-time bowlers as I imagine that world to be. I will also sadly admit that I just unbuttoned my pants while I am sitting here at my module due to my progressive gut which is a fitting accompaniment to my progressive interest in bowling. I've entertained the notion of getting a job at a bowling alley upon my return to the land of promise. I figure I might be able to get a free nacho and bowling hook up if I do. I could quickly begin building my repore with the big wigs by occasionally divvying out free games when my manager wasn't around. At least I could get in with my fellow wanna be's and eventually work my way up the ranks until I successfully infiltrate the big business of the bowling infastructure. Aside from bowling, I manage to concentrate a decent amount of my energy into collecting hello kitty pins. In short, nothing has changed, pretty standard fare. For those of you not familiar with the hello kitty/7-11 empire here in Taiwan, let me explain. The 7-11 corporation is a co-owner of Taiwan. It's partner in ownership is none other than the able bodied hello kitty corporation. Together, they have successfully gained a monopoly over Taiwan's consumerism, or at least mine. When you purchase anything at 7-11 equaling the amount of 77 qui (about $2.50 US), you receive a nicely pink wrapped hello kitty pin that could be any of 50 different pins featuring hello kitty herself among a variety of country's flowers or other catchy scenarios painted out on a square, round, flower, or butterfly shaped pin that could be easily pinned on any lapel. I have successfully collected each of the 38 country and their flower pins as well as the next set of five highlighting random hello kitty-ness. The masterminds at 7-hello kitty-11 have recently announced the addition of 7 "new" collectible pins to the pot. I have only been able to secure 3 of them as yet. I really don't know why I have developed this obsession, I only know that I have and when this thing grabs hold of me, I can only go with it. While I am relating my current totally normal time takers, I should also mention the drum game. It is a sort of arcade game in which one drums to music on the big "I can't remember what exactly they are called traditional Taiwanese" drums with two large plastic or wooden sticks. This and the ring toss (whereby many beverages can be won) at the night market have taken about 50 percent of my earnings while here. I'd say it's been a pretty good investment. I haven't done as much movie watching this past month as I had been doing for a while but it's still probably as much or more than most. A few of us saw mission impossible 3 last night and I will admit that I did like it. Phillip Seymour Hoffman made a pretty good bad guy. That's a role I've never seen him in before. It was definitely a good action flick and surprisingly low on cheesiness. On the subject of movies, I actually have four to return that are a couple days late. The sad thing is that I haven't even watched two of them. I really am slacking. I need to raise the bar. I'm letting bowling, hello kitty pin collecting, and drum gaming cut into my movie time. Don't you worry, running has not been a distraction for quite some time. Thurm cannot say the same. He's stuck with it pretty consistently and I'm proud of him. I might even do it with him some time. In the mean time I'll just be depressed that for the first time in years my gut is bigger than his. I'm thinking about planning to do something to change that. Well, I suppose this is more than sufficient. As it stands, we have just under two more months left here in Taiwan. This is exciting and a bit saddening. There'll be a lot to miss. However, there is also plenty to look forward to. Plenty of decisions are not really some of those things that I'm looking forward to. It's been said that one can't put them off an entire lifetime but I am currently challenging that notion. Pictures and or another post are soon to come at least in relation to the time that has elapsed between this and the last post.