This is a quick note to share two recent eye-opening experiences that I have had in the past two days.

1. I work on Tuesday and Thursday at 1:00. So if I need to photocopy on those days I go into the office at 12:45 and like any good teacher, I prepare ahead of time. Yesterday I was told not to do that anymore because the noise of the photocopier interrupts nap time.

I'll say it again: Yesterday I was told not to do that anymore because the noise of the photocopier interrupts nap time. NAP TIME!!

I will remind you now where the photocopier is. In the teachers office. It is not the students' whose naps I am interrupting. Nope. It's the 28 - 50 year old teachers'.

Seriously? Nap time? I mean c'mon! You aren't in pre-school anymore.

The second is more shocking.

I was watching a South Park episode the other day, and what I thought was a running gag turned out to be real.

See, in this episode Cartman decides to hang out with more mature people, and he ends up meeting some men from a group called NAMBLA. I thought it was just a joke, and decided to see what I could find about NAMBLA on the internet.

So, I went to yahoo.ca and typed in NAMBLA. I found their official site, a site called ACLU Represents NAMBLA's Freedom of Speech, and Queer Resources Directory: NAMBLA. Turns out that the North American Man Boy Love Association is real.

MAN/BOY LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????????????????

What the hell is going on when a group of psycho sick-o fucks have an officially recognized organization? I cannot believe this. Who are these people? And the funniest part is you can get memberships for under 50 bucks a year.

My next question is who the hell would buy a membership? I mean sure there are freaks out there who want to make love to pre-adolescent boys, but why be a member of a group? And once you got your membership card (and I am sure that you also get a free t-shirt) would you show it to your friends and family?

"Hey Bob, how was your weekend?"

"Not bad Bill, hey you'll never guess what I got in the mail this morning."

"What? Your sports illustrated football phone from 1984?"

"No. My NAMBLA membership."

"Seriously? Can I see it? Wow! This is so cool. Maybe I'll get myself one."

"Really?"

"No, you sick fuck! Get away from me and never talk to me again!"

What is going on in the world?

It�s been a long time since I have written anything, so please excuse my waning English proficiency.

A lot�s happened since I got back from Thailand.

The first major event was my 25th birthday. All my life I have always considered 25 as �old.� When I was 12 it was so far away. When I was 16 it was far away.When I was 18 it still seemed like 25 was when I had to become more like an adult. Anytime before that I was still fancy free and had no responsibilities, but at 25 I had to be more of an adult.

For my 25th, Louise took me for a vacation. We headed north to a place called Tamshui (Dan-Shway). It is a nice little place and has a nice spot to watch the sunset. So Saturday we went to a hot spring and then watched the sunset and ate a great dinner. Sunday was a nice day. We ate lunch at a great Thai restaurant. After that we had to take a bus ride to our next destination. While on the bus I talked with my family and tried to stay upright. I had my phone in my left hand, and my right hand was gripping the plastic handle with all my life. With each corner I had to flex every muscle and try with all of my might not to fall over. After a couple of hours we made it to . . .

Wan Li.

Wan Li is a nice spot. It was a resort and since it was the off-season, barely anyone was there. The hotel was really nice and the room was great. We went to the shore and walked along the beach dodging the trash that floated onto shore. It really wasn�t too bad, but sometimes there would be a piece of plastic. The only drawback was that there were onlt two restaurants, and one was freaking expensive. The other one was moderate in price. At the hotel was a pool and we decided to go for a swim. To go for a swim, I had to buy a really ugly and gay swimcap. It was baby blue. But you can�t go swimming in Taiwan without one, so I had no choice. L

After a relaxing night we headed back to Chung Li on Monday. The weekend was great and a nice relaxing break from teaching.