after many months, i recently finished making





and over the weekend i attended



this festival is organized around the story of bredo, a norwegian man who was shipped to the u.s. by his grandson who then had him cryogenically frozen. the grandson was deported and amidst the controversy that ensued with the locals upon discovering that there was a frozen dead body hanging around, the company tuff shed stepped in to house bredo, while his family still spends quite a bit of money to keep him on dry ice. now a local festival sponsored by tuff shed is organized around this story. i went saturday, and the highlights were the hearse parade, polar plunge, and the coffin races. an actor from belgium was there, entering in all the races while being taped for a tv show.



i did not get to tour bredo's home ($25!) or drink the dead guy ale. but i did get some postcards, caught a snippet of the film made about it, and saw my future pet, a super grey alpaca.



i'm leaving for baltimore in the morning. i'll be there from wednesday night until saturday morning, then in new york till the following saturday. i'll have some work and some play to do, but mostly play. any suggestions on events of interest? i'll probably have little access to a computer on this trip, so i'll post my cell phone number in my journal if anyone feels like calling.

I am late on posting this, but since I don't share very often, I thought you might forgive me.

I went to Taiwan in January for 2 and a half weeks with my my mom, sister, two nephews and niece. I hadn’t been in 11 years.

Sounds: The rooster nearby would crow at all times of the day, the sound of the well running, my nephews and niece crying, firecrackers in the middle of the day for five days (for new years), loud siamese cats next door yowling constantly.

Smells: Incredible food everywhere you go. Tons of outdoor cafes/eateries and open air markets with piles of fresh vegetables/meat and prepared food for sale. Alleyways reek. At least there are less stray dogs than there used to be.

Sights: I'll let the pictures tell you. (Thanks to my sister for letting me use some of her pictures too). As hard as I tried and as many pictures as I took, there are many images in my head that I was not able to capture on my camera. Like all the different fashions amongst people and dogs. And the true craziness of Taipei.

My Taiwanese improved, and for the first time, I was mistaken for a native.

My temperature was taken every time I entered a government building. They have fancy devices that they just point at your head and it says the temperature.

The first several days were full of sickness for the kids. I escaped to the busy city of Taipei for a day. Then came four days where we rode a different train to a different city every day. Included in that was my cousin's wedding, a mini-vacation in the mountains, and new years. Then back to Taichung to cram in multiple trips to the night market and to eat certain foods.

Favorite foods eaten there: Mochi (with peanut or taro), taro ice cream, fresh dates, persimmons, clam soup, bubble tea, passion fruit smoothies, dim sum, pork buns, cactus fruit, all different soups, Taichung Bah-Wonh (a mochi textured bun w/pork, vegetables, and sauce), and roasted chestnuts from the market. It's funny, these are mostly foods I eat here anyway, I just ate them in excessive amounts there. Excess was key in all the meals there. Often there would be 2 or 3 different soups. Sometimes I would find myself with 3 cups full of tea, wine, and juice.

I could go on and on. The trip was awesome. I am excited about travelling again. I've taken a few weekend trips since I've been back. And I have several more small trips in the works for the next five months that will end with some major movement, and I'm not talking about bowels here. See pictures for toilets.

Two of my relatives own bidet toilets with fancy lighted buttons. Lots of toilets. Lots of non-stop action.

I need to shut up now.

Please give this man some money. It's his birthday today. Look. . .the money. . . it makes him so happy!

This is one of the pieces I made earlier this year. It's silkscreened, stuffed, sewn, and goes all the way around my neck.

Last night I was woken from sleep by cold water that was poured onto my stomach. As the water quickly seeped onto the bed and under my back, I yelped and opened my eyes for signs of a culprit. Only an empty glass clutched by my right hand was visible.

I told my co-worker this story, and she shared with me her experience of moving a dresser in her sleep. What was especially odd was that she had tried to move the dresser the day before, but was unable to because of the heaviness of it. But somehow, she had the strength to do it in her sleep.

What odd things have you done while you were asleep?