Well, since leaving Taiwan things have gone pretty much as planned. Since arriving home in good ol’ Cranbrook I’ve:
Shoveled the driveway like nine times
Been subjected to more country music than any living creature should ever be exposed to
Purchased travel insurance and been vaccinated
Helped my friend catch her dog when it ran away
Eaten steak almost day
Seen all of my friends’ children for the first time (and they all have children)
Started reading O’Henry, who is fucking badass, you should totally check him out!
http://www.literaturepage.com/read/thefourmillion.html
Jumped on some redneck who started swinging at my buddy for no reason in the bar and held ’em till the bouncers came
Subsequently went for a drive to smoke a joint in our other buddie’s new $60,000 Ford truck, which, while doing giant fishtails in the snow, he accidentally drove down a steep embankment and through a fence made out of 6′ by 6′ beams. We then spent an hour and a half in the sub zero night getting him unstuck and back up the embankment
Got up after three hours sleep to go snowboarding on a perfect powder day. Was shakey at first, but stuck both front and backside 360’s on the last run
Explained the difference between Taiwan and Thailand like ten million times
Not been asked about Chinese culture once, but was told volumes “’bout them Asians” by scores of people who have never traveled farther than the dump
Watched the new Hunter S. documentary
Drank Jack Daniels with my father, who is having heart surgery again in two weeks
Drank Budweiser and watched hockey with my buddy who lives with his twenty year old girlfriend, and her child, and their child, in a trailer behind the gravel pits
You know, basically everything that you’d expect to do in Cranbrook.
Hi Matt,
I am Jeff, designer of Highway11 mag on the East coast, back in Taiwan.
I got a buddy in Cranbrook. Spent some time there before. He’s a Frenchman and professional photographer named Patrice Halley. Do you know him? Cranbrook’s not that big! Very good fellow if you happen to meet him.
Keep saying we will drop by his place these last few years, but didn’t happen lately… to bad, I miss him, and his family…
Take care and enjoy the shoveling!
Jeff