It's nice to be able to stay in, relax and listen to music on a sunny afternoon.

The weather in Bangkok has been much more mild lately as well, so there's usually a nice breeze when I open my window and balcony door. 

Edit.

It's amazing how walking home can be transformed by simply journeying down the opposite side of the street that one usually takes.

"Drive fast---I can almost taste it now.
L.A.---I don't even have to fake it now."

From the song American by Lana Del Rey.

You can't make people care...

"She's an ugly girl, does it make you want to kill her?
She's an ugly girl, do you want to kick in her face?
She's an ugly girl, she doesn't pose a threat.
She's an ugly girl, does she make you feel safe?
Ugly girl. Ugly girl. 
Do you hate her?
'Cause she's pieces of you."

From the song Pieces of You by Jewel.

"'We are moving from despair to hope,' he [Michael Sidibe, the executive director of the U.N.AIDS] said."

From the November 21, 2012 New York Time's article, New H.I.V. Cases Falling in Some Poor Nations, but Treatment Still Lags, by Donald G. McNeil Jr..

Words can't describe how nice it feels to take motorcycle-taxis through the busy streets of Bangkok. My favorite is when the weather is really beautiful, and I just stare up into the picture-perfect sky to see the city pass by in my peripheral vision.

Sure, sometimes they can feel pretty dangerous and like you're literally inches away from something going terribly wrong---but their speed and convenient ability to weave in and out through jam packed traffic is definitely worth it.

Here are some more pictures I took while riding them.

Thailand's rainy season has finally ended, and sudden downpours and rainstorms are becoming a lot more less frequent and far in between. On top of that, the temperature is no longer unbearably hot, making simple tasks such as getting around Bangkok and walking solo around the city much more pleasant.

Even though it's Thanksgiving week, it's easy to feel disconnected from it all while alone here in Thailand. I'm still trying to figure out what I should do to celebrate, but it'll most likely be a regular Thursday for me here. Going to some special restaurant or buffet to enjoy some traditional Thanksgiving dishes doesn't sound all that particularly interesting since I'd be unaccompanied. It would be nice to have some American friends here (or friends at all for that matter) to observe the holiday together, but alas, that's not my current reality.

Overall, things are still good for me here. I think I vacillate between appreciating/needing my time alone and wanting to be social every now and then, but I've sort of come to value not having to deal with anybody but myself. I know that sounds like an immodest statement, but I mean it in the most unassuming and complication-free way.

To all the countless Americans who are preparing for a busy week ahead of travel, cooking, and family time, I'd like to wish you all safe travels and a very warm and loving Thanksgiving.

As for me, I am thankful for my health, friends and family back home, and the fact that all is well and uneventful here for me in Thailand.

Happy Thanksgiving, America!

There's nothing better than going through an entire issue of a magazine in one sitting, getting completely transported into the world of its content.

It lasted a good three years, but my earring phase is officially over.

"If you can figure out who you are, you can find other people who are the same."

From the book, Far From the Tree, by Andrew Solomon. Page 24 (e-book edition).

Peel away the layers.

It's such a nice and relaxing Friday here in Bangkok.

Life in Bangkok.

Holy shit, I can't believe it will already be Thanksgiving next week.

"Not one of New York's great cultural institutions looks today the way it did half a century ago. Since the 1970s the Metropolitan Museum has been pushing its galleries into Central Park with new glass facades; the Museum of Modern Art seems in a state of constant construction, with two towers added to West 53rd Street and another on tap; the Morgan Library gave itself a new front door into a glass atrium; and Lincoln Center has just finished a thorough makeover and expansion. Every one of these transformations has come in the bigger name of accommodating crowds that seem to grow even bigger, and while most of these new buildings and additions are visually spectacular, each of these institutions has been accused at one time or another, sometimes justifiably, of selling its soul for a mess of architectural pottage.

The one exception to the architectural deeding frenzy has long seemed to be the New York Public Library, whose great 101-year-old Carrere and Hastings palace of white marble on Fifth Avenue, arguably the city's greatest cultural building of all and sure its most beloved, looks almost exactly as it always has. It's true that the library has modernized a lot of its innards, restored the main reading room, and slipped an addition discreetly into an interior courtyard. It also dug down under Bryant Park, its backyard, to create extra storage space for books in 1991. But almost every change the library made, like the underground bookstacks, was intended to be invisible---you weren't supposed to think the library looked different, just better taken care of."

From the article, Firestorm on Fifth Avenue, by Paul Goldberger in the December 2012 issue of Vanity Fair.

Sometimes, I just don't feel like making small talk.

"Spinning like a girl in a brand new dress..."

From the song Holy Ground by Taylor Swift.

Fishbones. 

"You and me on the hood of my car.
Saturday night.
Watching the stars.
You and me on the hood of my car.
Saturday night. 
Watching the stars."

From the song Stars 4-Ever by Robyn.

"Even if we aren't physically together, we are connected, as one. We create the story, and at the same time the story is what sets us in motion. Right?"

From 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. Page 745 (e-book edition).

After taking my time to read through it for over a year, I finally finished this book last night. Whew.

Subsequent to purchasing the hardcover when it was first released last fall, I realized 1Q84 was way too heavy to carry around on a daily basis---and so I purchased the e-book edition in addition to read on my iPad. Whether it's through the news, magazines, or books, I read on a daily basis so I would normally never take this long to go through a book. I think I went through 1Q84 at such a comfortable pace because on top of it being my first electronic book purchase and experience ever, the story's over 800 pages always seemed to just conveniently be there for me---like a good reliable friend---and so I took my time and read the book at my leisure, turning to it in those moments of need while here in Bangkok.

The story itself is pretty epic, and Haruki Murakami did a great job of making 1Q84 into something that only he could (and ever would) write. And I'm not sure if this was due to just having a larger number of pages---and therefore more content---but it seemed to me like this is the most sexual book of his so far as well.

In terms of reading books electronically, there were a few things about the experience which I found to be pretty convenient. It's nice to be able to simply just double-tap a word to find out its definition, or to be ale to do a word search of all 800 pages to refresh my memory on some characters or different parts of the storyline. And while my reluctance to try e-books has somewhat changed, I think I'll stick to the old fashioned way of turning pages with my fingers or underlining words and sentences with a good old pen instead if I can.

"Bill Clinton---who always had girlfriends---looked at Hilary and said, 'I've never had a girlfriend like that. I can't believe that somebody as smart and as virtuous as Hilary---that she wants to be with me.' Hilary looked at Bill Clinton---outgoing, popular, successful---and thinks 'I can't believe somebody like that wants to be with me.' And I think they're both kind of mystified that the other person was attracted to them."

Said by the journalist John Harris in the PBS American Series called CLINTON.

I really enjoyed the first episode of this 4-part series which is currently available to download for free on iTunes. Learning about Bill and Hilary's relationship and journey through politics together was really interesting. I have so much more respect for Hilary than ever before, and really admire all the work that was put in in order to make their symbiotic union work. And while I know their marriage isn't perfect and has had a lot issues, there's still something very special and loving about how they've worked together as partners to achieve so many of their common goals in life. That sort of commitment is something I too strive for with a loving partner some day.

Hearing Christmas music in early November at a small random Bangkok coffee shop while sweating my balls off is incredibly annoying.

Maybe it was all the cold medicine and antibiotics my body was on last night, but I fell asleep pretty early and was able to experience a deep and hearty sleep that I haven't had in a while. And the weird thing is that, I woke up this morning feeling so off because of all the dreams that occurred during this hibernation. There were a lot of different parts and chapters to them, but my favorite was when I was alone. I remember that I was sitting on an old mattress on a beach, and I could feel sand underneath my palms as I rested my hands behind me while propping up my body. Then a large majestic humpback whale swam close to the shore and breached, showing off its beautiful wonder and fluke, and I can remember feeling so content by it all.

We're not all going to like each other, and that's okay.

I'm not sure what people who might've never been to Bangkok might think of the city, but there's really a comfortable mixture of old tradition and modern capitalism here.

Here I am enjoying a cold tea from the inside of the Dean & Deluca at Phleon Chit, my BTS Skytrain stop.

It's been longer than usual since I last had a haircut, so I went first thing this morning after washing up. The weather was really nice when I left my place, resulting in me deciding to take a motorcycle taxi all the way to the salon from my soi.

The stylist I have been going to for the past year here in Bangkok is around the same age as me. Sometimes we'll make small talk, and we've even hung outside his workplace once or twice in the time I've been going to him.

Earlier this morning when he was doing his thing, he suddenly asked me if I've been more stressed than usual as of late. The question seemed a bit off to me, because we don't usually talk at that depth. I had to think about my answer and how invested I wanted to become in the conversation.

I responded with something vaguely generic before asking him why.

Then he told me that on the right side of my head, there were small patches where my hair had fallen out due to stress. He said that he's good at recognizing them, and that while I sometimes would have a patch here and there on most days, that there appeared to be more than usual today.

Yikes.

Never look back.

"If he went on like this, he would probably die a miserable death."

From 1Q84 by Haruki Murkami. Page 667 (e-book edition).

Sometimes, I just don't have the patience to deal with people's inane behavior... especially when I'm minding my own damn business and just trying to walk down the street to where I need to get to.

Will I be a loser forever?