Medley

Okay settle in for a long one. I have a tendency to jot down random things in my calendar for future entries in either my blog or personal journal. So I'm gonna tackle a bunch of the disconnected blog notes in a two posts. The second post is gonna be a tad techy so you've been forewarned. Move your mouse over italicized sections for more gory details.

Up first, I suppose anyone following the political situation in Sri Lanka heard about the shootings. That was south of here, and aside from a few photos, I haven't gleaned much from the newspapers. After doing this post I'll be reading online articles to find out what's been going on exactly. But the part that hit home is that there's still a war going on. The ceasefire really lulls you. You don't recognize the signs until events like this take place. So many layers simply standing on a beach; a paradise ravaged by nature and devastated by war. Soldiers becoming rescue workers & then back again. I don't know that it changes my timeline at all though.

Anyway, onwards and upwards I always say. My Tamil is improving at a terribly slow rate so there are numerous halting conversations that I've had. I had a tendency to talk a lot before I came here; I hated dead air so I would often fill it will inane banter that I'm sure many of you have borne witness to. Now I just save that witty little repertoire for my inner monologue. Externally I just kinda turn my head and stare off into space. I'm sure the pauses are awkward, but I can't even notice it anymore as it happens so frequently.

Oh I've put on some weight, dunno how much cause there's no scale here. And every morning I've been doing pushups, crunches and chinups. I'm working a plyometrics routine in, but a recent run aggravated my calves again. Here is my chinup bar:

I have my core stability muscles exercises under control but I need some tips for working out arms, legs, back. And let's say for arguments sake that the chinup bar is extremely huge and I can't quite grip it, so I can't do pull ups for lats. Any input will be extremely helpful, although now that I think about it, I won't get them till next week. Still email/comments on the matter would be appreciated.

The most exciting music news before I left (no, not Game's album...although I heard Dre's production was really good) was the possible Fugees reunion. Anyone hear anything more about that? I've been listening to Miseducation every now and then (one of the few albums on my laptop) and I miss Lauryn. The old non-crazy Lauryn.

No promises but this'll be my last BM-related comment (barring anything significant along the way of course). So I just wanted to give a shout out to Dr. Jane Wilson-Howarth for her awesome book. Very funny & informative, I highly recommend it to anyone intending to travel for extended periods of time (to Asia especially).

Peace out

Sri Lanka