Skywatch No. 21 and Other News

Because my lens is shiny and it reflects the trees and the sunlight and the sky which is somewhere beyond those trees:

This could be my last Skywatch for a bit... this time next week, I'll be in the sky and with a camera, but little chance of internet. I'll be in Taiwan for the next month (tropical location? check. height of summer? check. air conditioning? dubious.) on a sort of volunteer/camp program. We teach schoolchildren English, they pay for everything but your plane ticket. It's a pretty good deal.

Their website is here. I personally find it rather poorly organized, but it's decent and serviceable.

Vaccines 1, Andunie 0.

Today, I went out to get immunized for a couple of things I'd like not to kill me. So I drop by the local health department. What transpires is as follows:

NURSE: Have you ever passed out while getting your shots?

ME: Nope!

NURSE: Do you feel dizzy?

ME: ...no.

NURSE: Because this frequently happens to adolecents.

ME: I feel fine.

NURSE: They say they feel fine and then they pass out.

ME: (apprehensively) Really, I feel fine.

NURSE: Well, all right. (jabs a couple of needles in Andunie's arm)

ME: (winces)

NURSE: How do you feel?

ME: (okay) I'm okay.

NURSE: Either way, you should stay in the waiting room fifteen minutes afterwards...

ME: (beginning to feel increasingly lightheaded) Um...

NURSE: ...in case you start feeling a little faint.

ME: (vision starts disappearing; concedes defeat) Actually, I think I'm going to pass out now. (loses conciousness)

And so I spend the next ten minutes lying on the floor of the clinic, and end up stumbling out with a pounding headache. I mean, wtf. It's okay though, because the health dept. girl was really very nice about the whole thing. Not even a single "I told you so" look, to boot.

Skywatch No. 20

A dramatic sweep of sky is like a verbal flourish sometimes. Like the well-executed snatch of prose, the grandeur of a beautiful sky can make a bold statement. The vertebrae of clouds snakes errantly overhead, dispersing little twists and knots here and there, the way we might scatter words like "extravagant," "decadent," or "verdant," amongst the others.

Yet the others are by no means bland- they're all unfurled against a jewel-toned backdrop, deep and vivid. It's shot through with such treasures as "electric," "silky," and "brilliant." Everything blends and weaves together such a grand way that sometimes, you just need to sit back and enjoy the show.

Why Wallpapers Are Not "In"

After walking through my place of residence and counting a grand total of 11 different wallpapers, I have concluded that this house is Special.

After walking through said house photographing wallpaper, I have concluded that I must also be Special.

Either way, have a gander at this eye-offending array.

Thankfully, Numbers 1, 2, 5, 9, and 11 are located in the basement where they belong. Number 12, the Standard White Wall, exists, but would perhaps be put to better use if it multiplied and usurped the more ostentatious ones. Just saying.

Summer Sun

The careless summer of our childhoods. Warm sunlight filtered through the trees. Long shadows across the grass. Laughter drifting on the breeze. Tendrils of smoke from the barbecue, spiraling upwards. The distinctive scent of cut grass, which is also the scent of summer. For a moment, life is good.

Look, I Iz All Gradumicated.

I'll try not to make this too long. I promise.

Here's the deal. A couple days ago, I was suffering from the so-called seasonal allergy like none other. (They're year-round though, so I guess there's one for every season. Liars.) I mean, they were so bad I don't know if I went one continuous minute without my nose in a tissue. All day. It was not pretty. Especially irritating, because we'd a commencement ceremony to sit through the next day.

The problem with doing well in school is that when you graduate, they make you talk, and sit on the stage when you're not talking. Which would be perfectly fine, if I wanted to show off my snivelling and snot-dripping skills and keep my composure at the same time. After some negotiation I was told I could leave my bag under my chair, so I'd have tissues up there.

It ended up being that the chairs were all squashed together, so when I tried to reach under my chair, it probably looked like I was groping my neighbour or vomiting or a combination of both. Sometimes life is special like that.

Making my valedictory speech. I suppose there's a reason I write instead of talk: