Bad News. Again.

Running in the snow w/ my running group this morning. An American woman joined us late, visibly distressed, and she informed us about the Newtown shooting. There was some awkward dialogue about other shootings and schoolhouse killings, and one oddly timed joke about gun laws, but then we kept running and talked about other things. 

Now at home, i read a bit more and the gravity hits a bit more. Yes, there's tragedy across the globe everyday of every magnitude, but somehow this particular narrative hits a bit harder. The Connecticut governor said the #1 way to help right now is to pray, so i did. In fact, i believe him. I believe that there's a global connectedness concerning this tragedy, and i felt tapped into that for a few minutes. 

Soon, i'll head out to a Christmas fair, and go about my preplanned weekend entertainments. And maybe you will too. 

Thanks for reading and participating in all the stuff that humans do, menial and otherwise. 

Condolences to all affected. 

Peace,

wiL

Day 9: National Congress MADNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well i really should say something  to welcome Xi Jinping, China's new Party Secretary and President. 

Well, the climate around Beijing is totally not hype. Everyone's like whatEVerrr. 

It ain't no democrat party. 

"Yoyo, what do you think about Xijinping?"

"I don't think anything."

"Does anybody in your office care?"

"No. Hu Jintao, Xi Jinping… they're all communists."

Ok fine, that's a magazine office, even if it's one that does focus on politics. 

But i work at a govt national news agency. Even the people who are covering it are uninterested, describing it as a lot of writing about nothing. Yes it's happening, yes it's important, no it's not interesting, and no there's nothing regular Chinese folk can do about it. 

It's bigger impact on the lives of Beijingers is that taxi drivers have been refusing to go near Changan Avenue to avoid security hold ups around Tiannanmen Square.

But of course, it is still a change. Xi Jinping seems more personable and confident than Mr Blendintothewallpaper, Hu Jintao. He's kept a clean slate (purportedly) in terms of staying out of corruption, and pressing the party to fight it. He's reasonably young to become the head of state, and presumably brings modern ideas w/ him. Even his wife was a starlet herself, belting out the commie hits, before hubby started squeezing into the upper echelons of the Party. 

Even Hu Jintao talked about the need for China to reform, more transparency, etc. No, China's not about to tumble into democracy, nor should it. But it can clean up it's act and work towards a more prosperous and harmonious phuture. 

Day 8: Bloody Hell

So the rumours have gathered weight: My Bloody Valentine is coming out with a new album, more than 20 years after their momentous album Loveless was released. They helped define what shoegaze was back in the day, paring violent assaults on audience ear drums with total indifference (years before "hipster" had even entered the popular lexicon.)

Ok, you can skip the first minute of the vid, which really is just all-out noise, but fuck, look at the way these alt-rock kids are totally stunned into silence by MBV's aural attack. Totally hilarious. 

Day 7: Dems de Breaks, Mitt!

Well Mayor Bloomberg was less than glowing in his support for Obama. Yes, he may have let bankers get away w/ robbery, failed to shut down Guantanamo, let life worsen for black America, gave Hope a rest, yadda yadda…

And maybe he also refrained from even mentioning the environment during the debates… 

But at least he's not a climate change denier!!!  

Woohoo! For the sake of all living beings in all countries and bodies of water, thank goodness Romney didn't take office today. 

Those who know me should know that the environment should be the top issue of any candidate, and frankly it's sad when nobody wants to even address it (publicly). Well, let's just hope that MR PRESIDENT will continue to admit that environmental problems exist, and that understand what an inconvenience they pose to all living things and corporations. 

Well, i haven't been losing any sleep over it, but i am definitely relieved that Obama took it. i think he's a pretty decent man, intelligent and w/ his heart in the right place. i suspect he's as disappointed as anyone else is about his first term, but things are surely complicated when yr trying to run a world power w/ a team of financial advisors from Wall Street. 

This song isn't totally current, but i still love it:

Gutter Oil: It's Fucking Epidemic

I heard a long time ago from Q not to eat in cheap restaurants 'cause they use gutter oil. That's oil taken out of the sewers. But i didn't really believe her. And the cheap restaurants are too tasty to stay away from.
But then gutter oil started getting more and more press.
And one reporter even got lynched for covering it. Cause gutter oil across this massive country is worth millions of rmb to the gangs who run the operations.
But recently my friend and i stopped outside of any alley cafe to sip some wine, when along comes this guy. He yanks the manhole cover off of the whole and proceeds to scoop ladles of fucking sick-ass lumpy fat discarded by restaurant into a bucket. Of course, i whipped out my always dependable iPod, and shot some low quality footage. My friend asks him, "what are you doing? What are you going to do with that?" But she couldn't really understand his provincial accent.
One: gutter oil is disgusting. Two: gutter oil is carcinogenic. Three: after it's filtered and processed, gutter oil looks like normal oil. Four: don't expect the police to stop gutter oil.
And then just two days later, my co-host's co-host saw someone by our workplace collecting gutter oil.
Yuck.
But i admit that sometimes i still eat at the totally dirt-cheap place.

Going Home

So i've been thinking. 'Cause my parents are getting older. My dad likes to say he's in his sunset years, and it won't be too long before he hits his 8th decade.

And my parents came out last fall, which was great, and quite nice of them to take that trip on their own shoulders. i think i should be a better son and spend more time w/ them, despite my own enviro efforts to avoid flying.

Well the iching never lies. (Really, if you ever have an unsolvable problem, the iching is your inexorable connection w/ the Universe. So i asked it if i should visit my parents this year. It said:

13. People Together

People together in the open country.
Progressing.
It is beneficial to cross the big river.
Benefiting the noble one's persistence.

Together with people in a neutral place (not a passionate connection with someone). There is progress. This is a good time for big undertakings. It benefits one's objectives.

(No changing lines.)

She don't get more clear than that. So i guess i'll be heading back to Canada sometime before 2013.

Success!

i can ride my bike to work in the same period of time as it takes to ride the subway. That's great. Because now that i know i can do it, i don't need to risk life and limb crossing intersections like an idiot.

Also.

i did an alley cat bike race last weekend. Unsanctioned racing through downtown Beijing with my friends. Pretty darn fun. i already blogged about it for WORK, ha.

Video and article are HERE. But the archaic piece of shit CRI website may make videos impossible to view from modern computers. Capital L Lame.

Got My Fix

So I finally got a fixed gear bike. And found one (in a moped store) that was so dirt cheap that there wasn't any excuse not to get it. (About $150).

On the one hand: does buying another bike fit into my life goal of minimalism? Answer: if i give away my other bike, then Sure Why Not?

After a week on Beijing's uberflat roads, it feels really natural. No less safe than my other bikes. Except that it definitely is faster.

i hesitated to get it, 'cause the fixie scene here seems all about color coordination and green tires or whatever. And doubtless i look like more of a stereotypical hipster now, but who the hell cares when i ride 75 minutes by myself to work in the morning? i love it.

And coincidentally, it does match my bag and helmet. You gotta problem with that?


Note to Joe: the handlebar is a rusted drop bar, sawed off. The perfect bar, imo.

The "Environment Expert"

Apparently, not separated at birth

After being promised that i'd get off of copy editing duty and bk into reporting, i'm stuck for another month copy editing.True, there's times when i get an hour or 2 (or 3) to fuck the dog, but this week (being one copy editor short) has been pretty bloody busy. 

i correct grammar all day, and (unlike the other copy editors) offer concise bits of advice like   "You need to do more research" to ensure journalistic integrity.  It's alright, but  I'm worry that too much copy editing will lead to what i call Repetitive Brain Injury. 

So, i offered to help out w/ this one radio show, and I now have the title "environmental expert" for a weekly 10 minute segment.  It's ok, but a bit intense being on live radio and trying to suss out how to time everything. i need to calm down.

Last week we discussed the cadmium spill in the Longjiang River, China's refusal to pay the EU's airflight carbon tax, and global warming and the f'ing cold BJ winter. It was alright. I know the one host wanted to censor out my personal 2cents about the EU tax, but i squeezed it in there:.

"Well after Kyoto, Copenhagen and Durban climate talks, i think the EU knows that multilateral discussions just aren't productive. There's a need for leadership in this. It's like they think they're telling everyone to eat their vegetables whether they like it or not. But the EU isn't a parent, so maybe they have no right to tell people what to do." i added in that last sentence specifically to please my employer. Ha.

This week, i'll talk about how electric cars in China create more pollution than regular cars, how whales legally can't be "enslaved" like people.

Anyhow, that's the exciting news for CRI. Oh, plus a guy asked me to host a music show. And i might be a regular on a game show. 

Day 14- Officially Working For China State Media

First day on the new job. Reporting in the travel section for 2 weeks before getting switched over to copy editing. Which everyone says i gotta get out of.

Already got one article up online.

And now researching/writing a piece on Beijing hot springs. As of Wed, i'll be out to interview people and have a hot tub.

And assigned to attend a lecture and interview a photographer/blogger on Saturday.

All things considered, a pretty sweet intro to the new job.

And after work, came downtown w/ a handful of coworkers for 2 for 1 burgers (mine was portobello) and beers.

Welcome to China state media.

Day 11 - Single's Day

'11-11-11!!!
That many single digits of singular value can only mean one thing: today is SINGLE'S DAY. You poor suckers in North America have no day to celebrate a life which hasn't tossed a partner onto your pathway. So. Why don't you guy find some other lonely souls and have dinner together. Ironically, Singles Day is to help people hook up.

News: CRI called me today to ask me to start up on Monday. Sure ok, can do.

Sorry to the Chinese school. i went in today, and they gave me another free 3 hrs of trial lesson, and i promised them to be back on Mon. But now i'll have to stand them up.

i guess now i really need to exploit my last few hours of free time. Speak of the devil. i got me a deadline. Who's an [artist's] best friend?


pic from http://makergo.com/shutup/index.php?s=Dirt+Balls

Day 8 - Being a Model Citizen

Models always say that being a model is hard work. That's bullshit.

(Kind of).

Okay, I was on site for 9 hours. But most of it was waiting around. Got well- fed, including booze for dinner.

3 boy models, 3 girls, and about 20 other people onsite, about 1/2 flown in from Shanghai.

The hard work part was acting like an energetic teenager, repeatedly swinging from the light system, climbing over shaky scaffolding, clamboring over rusty fences, or jumping off dangerously high speaker stacks. Now my thighs are sore, and i ripped a toenail somehow.

I dug how the first thing that happened for each shoot was someone would take the shiny shoes, take them outside, and return w/ dirt and grease all over them. Later they'd stomp on your feet a few times for good measure.

At one point, me and the girl model were sitting in a graffiti'd up van from the dump, and the producer, director, photographer and videographer were directing us. "Ok Kyla. Now get behind him. Look him in the eyes. Walk up. Good, now straddle him. Wil. Put your hands on her legs. No not her bum, her legs!" They all seemed to think that was pretty hilarious. Looking into my eyes, she said, "It's ok. Just pretend I'm your girlfriend." We both had a smoke after that shoot.

Many outfits later, and bearing freezing temperatures in t-shirts, me and everyone else was happy to call it a day. i got paid a lot more than i'd expected, which is great. Yes, you can make a living for looking pretty, but i sure as hell wouldn't want to do this regularly: having photographers ask you to look more excited, and then being told by producers to stop making faces, and then being told by photographers to look more excited again. And then the producers laughing at the faces you make when the chick is practically giving you a lap dance.

Apparently the footage may end up in videos shown in taxis across the country. If so, i'll post it for ya.

Day 6 - In Space Noone Can Hear You Yawn

So these 5 Europeans and 1 Chinese dude spent over EIGHTEEN MONTHS in a fake space station, simulating a trip to Mars and back.

1.5 years of airplane food.
Windowless rooms.
Sobriety.
Man to Man bonding.

Talks with family members and mission control included 20 minute delays to mimic the distance.

But don't worry, they had books and DVDs.
Time to wax philosophical.

Why no women? Many volunteered, none chosen. Because shit went down the last time that a woman was on a 110 day simulated mission, when a Russian forcibly tried to stick his tongue down her throat a couple times, and Mission Control didn't think it was a big deal. This prompted the departure of a disgusted Japanese crew member.

Russia's RIA Novosti news agency: "After all, women are fragile and delicate creatures; that is why men should lead the way to distant planets and carry women there in their strong hands."

No comment.

Anyhow, wouldn't it feel great to play a pivotal role in enabling humanity to survive on Mars after we fuck over Mother Earth? Yes! But is it worth 520 days that could otherwise be spent procreating? Maybe...

Day 4 - Greenpeace

Well, when yr barely working, you have time for things like... surfing the internet! And... reading books! But more likely surfing the internet!

But also, I've been hanging out at the Greenpeace South Asia office a bit. It's alright. Volunteering in China for an enviro organization has been on my list of things to do for a long time, and some woman in a club who worked there totally said it would be useful for me to do so. So i did.

And it's true, they put me to work. i do internet research on Google Analytics. i write media guides to tell new employees about social networking media and how to take good digital photos, and how to write for a digital audience. i choose photos to create thematic and artistic essays.

In some ways, i admit it would feel better if i were actually getting paid for it, but that's just how it rolls sometimes.

Anyhow it's cool to know that there's other enviro heads in China (inc lots of locals), and they all seem pretty caj.

The Foshan Girl - Hit and Run

Warning: the video below is pretty disturbing. Not exactly graphic, but you can get the gist of everything happening.



I just watched the above video, having avoided it for some time. I post it here because it's one of those things (like the twin towers) where visually there's an impact that affects you in a rather different way than reading all about it.

In a nutshell, a 2 year old girl was hit twice by a van, and then hit by another. And too many pedestrians turned a blind eye to the girl. This certainly made headlines across the planet, not necessarily because it's important news but because it's certainly the kind of story that resonates with people and with people's impression of China.

Not that that's wrong. Chinese media's also been all over this thing. I think this Guardian article's got it right (by a Chinese writer) who connects the event w/ a population still struggling to get over the survivalist mentality of the cultural revolution. And embarrassingly, the courts here have in the past attacked rather than praised good Samaritans.

Personally, i was surprised at my reaction to watching the vid above. Often, in fact, when i see stuff like that my get craves for retribution. Where's the culprit? Where's their shameful apology? i don't know why i want to see that stuff so bad, but i do. So much for forgiveness. i might forgive after i see the tears of shame and guilt.

Forget About Education

A while ago, i had an interview w/ China Radio International. I hyped my time blogging for Beyond Robson, said some charming stuff, whipped out some photos of Japan to impress the guy, spent 1hr+ proving my salt as an editor (rewriting a disgustingly badly written article about internet dating in China), and did a voice test in the studio. I was told i'd get a call in a few days. Which i didn't.

About a week later i called CRI and was informed that i got the job. Well sort of. I got offered the package. The boss guy said it could be January before i actually start working. Because there's all this documentation required that i need to gather. Health check, letter of reference, Canadian criminal record check (which is a HUGE mof'ing hassle to get done from here)... and then apparently after documentation's provided, things're still slow on that end.

Anyhow: the job is for a Copy Editor with some journalist duties, and also i'll likely do some radio production and even photography for them. Articles to be written about arts, culture, and travel. In fact, there's no job for me to fill, but after looking at my credentials, the guy thinks there's room in the budget to take me on in order to improve the product of CRI's English program and website.

Hard to ask for a sweeter intro into the world of media. It won't pay much, but it's livable for China. Shit, i'm really exiting my former chosen career in education! Oh baby. We had our times, kids.

Oh, and also this is state-owned media, but produced for people outside of China. This gives us a bit more freedom, but there's no denying the hilarious fact that I'll be employed by the CHINESE GOVERNMENT! Well, there ya go, kids. Whodathunkit.

The Hits of Yesterday

I remember before I'd left Canada for China, I asked a Chinese (from China) girl about biking in China. Is it dangerous? I'll need to get a helmet... She informed me, "If you wear a helmet in China, people will think you're... special." But it didn't take long on the roads of Beijing to realize that a helmet's not a bad idea.

I've witnessed numerous collisions involving bikes (only one involving a head injury), and had a few instances of forgettable contact myself.

Yesterday was my first real accident. Chill. I got off scot-free. Zero employment of my helmet.

It wasn't yet late, but the sky was already black. I was finishing up a rare recreational bike ride, and was 1 minute from arriving home.

I raced ahead to catch the green turning light, noting the approaching taxi who was turning into my lane. No problem, he'll see me. Generally speaking drivers somehow manage to find the brake pedal in time, regardless of the unpredictable shit that foggy drivers and pedestrians thrust in their path.

But this time he didn't see me. I yelled at him at full volume, thinking that my left leg could be on the brink of some serious pain. Then he hit, slamming on the brakes milliseconds later than preferable. I found myself amazingly having landed on my feet, completely unscathed. But the adrenalin at least got me to start yelling at this guy in broken chinese. "I have a green light! You are wrong!" He apologetically concurred that he was busy looking the other way.

A few people stopped to watch, before puttering on. This wasn't serious enough to garner a proper crowd.

I made a show of whipping out a red pen and writing down his license number on my arm. The driver was worried. But elated that I wasn't hurt. And that even the bike seemed alright. It did seem to be strangely untouched. The way things are handled in China, you could call the cops, but both parties usually prefer to take of their own business with one party passing cash to the other.

So i contemplated: 200rmb maybe? 100? But as the adrenaline receded I started to think about the life of the average cabby, the 14-24 hr shifts, dealing w/ drunks and idiots, relentless traffic and ubiquitous bonehead drivers...

Ok, ok, ok. You go. He smiled and pumped my hand with both of his. "Xiexie xiexie xiexie!" Yeah yeah, no problem.

I hopped on my bike and realized that it wasn't exactly riding properly. Eventually i realized the car had struck exactly one place on my bike: the side of the pedal. Thus warping the crank and/or bottom bracket. I groaned wondering if this was gonna cost me some coin. In the end it did: 5 kuai. Or 80cents to get it bent back into shape.

The end.

Lesson: use your front light. It's not useful sitting (conveniently) in your bag, you lazy punk.

More about The Uj

So that fight last Fri.
Monday i was totally surprised to see kid S walk into class as per normal.
Turns out the after the cops were called in, the Chinese school was in touch w/ the kid S's rather powerful dad, and decided to concertedly sweep the fight under the carpet.

My coworker C was so pissed off about the event he announced to his class that he didn't want to work in a school where people weren't willing to deal with or even talk about problems. Got everyone to write down what they saw about the incident, and even he was surprised to see how readily and extensively kids put pens to the paper.

Here's what i think happened.

The delivered lunch: inadequate.
Kid S complains disrespectfully to the unpleasant worker.
Worker turns out to b a 15 yr old migrant worker.
Working illegally.
For less than $1/hr.
Serving food to a bunch of rich kids who take their privilege for granted.
Kid S throws a bunch of food trays into the box, making a mess.
By "accident."
Said employee stabs kid X w/ chopsticks.
Kid S punches employee in head, causing swelling.
2 other students rush the employee.
To "break up" the fight.
Slamming his head against the wall.
By accident.
Kid S kicks the box of trays, making a major f'ing mess.
And announces, "nobody saw that."
Worker kid calls the cops and takes himself to a hospital.
But he and the company are threatened with calls to some govt labour office.
That's the end.
Done.

Except us teachers think 3 kids ganged up on some 15 yr old punk is pretty f'ing uncool, and it is clear that a reasonable # of students are also upset by this situation. 5 day suspensions, we decide.

But the chinese school disagrees. We say tough luck, this is a BC school, and those 3 kids can't come in our classes.

Then the 3 kids eventually accept their consequences.

But then the chinese school calls the kids back and tries to FORCE them into my coworker's class in front of a crowd of students. Coworker and Chinese staff member argue. Kid S eventually comes to me (looking quite pathetic at this point) saying he has nowhere to go. He knows he's not supposed to be in C's class, and he doesn't want the chinese staff to find him and make a show of forcing him in. So i let him hide in my class as i teach gr 10s.

He heavily says to me, "i think the teachers have a wrong idea about what happened the other day."
"I'm sure that's true. But i know that people haven't been telling the whole truth." i gave the little liar a bit of a stare-down. Everything this guy says makes himself sound like a gossamer-winged angel.

The 3 students are now feeling pretty shit, not about the fighting necessarily, but about the fact that they're somewhat responsible for a major schism between the 2 "cooperating" schools, teacher and admin stressed out, and Mr R sincerely saying he'll quit or be fired if this stuff can't get settled.

Bottom line: we do what we can to make our school work. The Chinese school does what it can to have power struggles with us, regardless of impact on students. We are disappointed, but not surprised about anything.

Side note: this condensed version somehow doesn't sound quite right, and i'm not sure why.

Also, the pic is just from the internet.

Bad News for A.W.W., and Friends

A couple days ago, the news report below was released from a Chinese news source, however, any time it was released, it was blocked shortly afterwards. Like sometimes within minutes of posting. So people repost it, and then it gets blocked again.

I've been following the situation w/ A.W. reasonably closely as A.W. and Qianqian are friends (she worked under him for a time, and went Germany w/ him as part of a project).

Anyhow, A.W.'s been captured by police, and then AFTERWARDS they went to his house to come up with charges and evidence to prosecute him with. Now the news piece below was released, which talks about a rather horrific torturing method, and i really really hope it didn't come to that w/ A.W..

This story in general certainly affects the amount of respect i can give the government here. Yeah, shit happens in America, and no doubt Canadians have also done sickening things in Iraq or other places, but this is the issue that's occupying my mind more these days.

Important Note: i assume this piece of news hasn't surfaced on any major western news sources because the source pbly isn't verifiable. So perhaps i'm guilty of hearsay. i hope i am.

Side Note: it kinda makes me feel nervous to post about the artist A.W. now, so have taken his name off the page. Q reminds me and my brother when we use the phone, not to use his name when using Skype. Creepy times.

Chinese artist A.W. , disappeared by the authorities on April 3, is reported to have confessed to charges of tax evasion after being tortured in custody, according to an article published in aChinese human rights journal. 

The details of the case, said to have been leaked by “an official with conscience in the Ministry of Public Security,” were published on April 21 EST in a text titled “The Alarming Conspiracy Behind A.W's Torture and Confession,” dated April 19, in the biweekly journal of the NGO Human Rights in China (HRIC). The article claims to be written by an anonymous Xinhua journalist and was in the “Letters from China” section.

The text says that Fu Zhenghua, Director of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, instructed A.W.'s captors to show him the video of the torture of Gao Zhisheng, a human rights lawyer who was targeted by the authorities after writing letters in protest of the persecution of Falun Gong. 

The video showing Gao being tortured, “included electric batons being inserted into Gao’s anus, and his blood, semen, feces, and urine draining out,” a translation of the first paragraph of the article says. 

Fu Zhenghua ordered that security forces do the same things to A.W., to “make him do what we want him to do.” The text says that, after being tortured for several days, A.W. signed a confession.

A.W.'s case is being handled by the Economic Investigation General Unit and the Domestic Security Team of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, the article says.

He Qinglian, a commentator on Chinese social and political issues, believes the reports of torture are credible. “I had thought about that when he was first detained,” she told Radio Free Asia inan interview. “You have to realize that he is the only one who dares to mock the authoritarian regime.”
When A.W.'s older sister Gao Ge saw the news, RFA reports, she said “I cannot let my mother see.”
She had no way of knowing the truth of the report, she said; they are going to ask the authorities to clarify the matter.

The journal's editorial policy says that they welcome submissions from a wide variety of sources. HRIC did not comment to The Epoch Times on whether they believe the article by the alleged Xinhua reporter to be credible or not.

Sit On It

So for... a couple... years maybe, i've wanted to have a meditation group in BJ. Since i've kinda missed my meditation gang DIY Dharma in Vancouver, which basically amounted to the best gang of people to meet up w/ and sit around with in silence.

So, i searched around town, but only found 1 meditation group offered. But i rather didn't dig it. It was just me and the host (a young Chinese woman) and we listened to some guided meditation track which (ironically enough) i detested so much i could barely keep from cringing throughout.

How un-detached of me.

So i've recently put out my own call out on a local expat-driven website, and had a few responses. The first official meeting one British woman came out, plus my brother (who announced that he'd have to leave after 20 min). Anyhow, no prob.

The nxt wk a young woman came who brought 2 friends plus 2 roommates. Plus a few others. 3 were meditation newbies, and afterwards it appeared that none of them found any great love for meditation.

Ah well, Q's never been a big fan either. Hey, diff strokes for diff folks. Although it is a shame that i'm not able to share this with her.

Anyhow, after a few weeks, it seems to have potential to grow, (which i don't care about much), and stabilize (which will be great).

and hopefully i can attract more experienced mediators who can take a turn at leading now and again.

Instructions and surrounding conversation bits tend to be ... about 1/2 English, 1/2 mandarin. which is a bit odd, but everyone seems to scrape by w/ minimal translations.

Anyhow, last night 5 of us were pretty darn focused, and after i finally rang the last bell (xylophone, actually), i started getting bored waiting for everyone to snap out of it. Stop blissing out, folks, it's almost my bedtime!

Well, that's my Tues night agenda for the next indeterminate length of time. i definitely feel its benefit, and hope that benefit can stretch out into the surrounding days and nights before long.

Be happy.

And quit wasting so much time online.