sawadee ka!

got back from Thailand on Saturday. it was a good trip, though I'm not sure I feel Thailand is worth a second visit. I bet its a nice place to live. but tourism is a booming business, bringing with it some inevitable annoyances and the invasions into the "authenticity". the food is still authentic though, and delicious. and the Thai people themselves are charming and friendly; in no other country have people just come up to us for no reason other than to say hello, offer suggestions of good places to see and the directions thereto, or simply to practice their English, as they did in Thailand. and Thai massages, sigh...how I miss them. the Thai massage is a wonderful mix of of pain and pleasure that turns you into a limp noodle under the hands (and feet, elbows, knees) of a tiny Thai lady who stretches and twists and kneads your tired and sore body, forcing you into positions you did not know you were capable of and finding every painful place you were and weren't aware of, all the while smiling and nodding to you while chatting to her fellow masseurs. on second thought, perhaps a second visit would not be unwelcome.

while there I finished "Of Human Bondage" (Somerset Maughaun...any suggestions on how to pronounce that?). I feel I know Phillip, who spends almost thirty years trying to find the meaning to life and where he fits in it all, fighting toward wonderful goals only to be disappointed when reached, finding life and himself to be other than what he had expected and rationally defined, and eventually figuring out that what he really wanted was so much simpler than anything he had dreamed up beforehand. his story gives me hope.

time to finish up those errands and chores I planned to do today. next up, vaccuum the car. it's a blemish on the fine face of our street. I hate to be the trashy ones in the neighborhood; must keep up appearances!