Little Shop of Treasures

Almost finished now, the Little Shop of Treasures, a few more things to do but close enough is good enough, as my accounting professor used to say. Ready for the reveal.

The penny in foreground shows scale. 1:12.

When I'm...84

On my 84th birthday I plan to take up smoking again.

No attribution unfortunately for this photo - sent to me in an email.

Malaise

I was talking to a friend of mine today about blogs and I was saying that I haven't been writing much lately and wasn't sure if either of my readers had noticed yet.

I have been busy these past couple of weeks in research and preparation mode for a talk I had agreed to give. That's done now and it feels like I'm out of school again - no commitments in sight other than catching the next flight. But now that I'm free I have time to think (not always a good idea) about my state of mind.

Malaise, I'd call it.

According to the definition  that I got from some site or other on the intertube, malaise means:

A vague feeling of discomfort, one that cannot be pinned down but is often sensed as "just not right."

From  the French  "mal" (bad or ill) + "aise" (ease) = ill at ease.
 

Oh dear. This is what happens when you google "malaise" on Google Image Search.

I was about to talk about  how I've been in Manila  for two months now, since the last trip to Thailand, and I'm restless. Life in the Philippines is not sitting right at the moment. We're in the middle of an election so the usual politician-up-for-election-bullshit is going on (the same no matter where you are, just a different flavor). Big Important World Organizations report that guess what, poverty is getting worse in the Philippines. The current President Gloria is releasing major bad guys from jail, suspected of masterminding the slaughter of 57 journalists and other bystanders, because they, the bad guys, are political allies. Also, said President travels to Spain with an entourage of 50 to receive an award from the King of Spain for "promoting Spanish language and culture in the education system". Is he nuts? What education system? And on and on.

However Jimmy Carter has put me off my feed, so need to rethink this malaise thing. Hard to keep it up when you're laughing.

Jimmy Carter from http://www.zazzle.com/obama_poster_hope posters. Worth a look.

Fish Spa

In Chiang Mai, the world's capital of massage, a new (I'm told) business has sprung up, with lots and lots of these "spas" along the streets in town.

The Fish Spa

Here's how it works. You pay your money and then you sit on benches and stick your feet into a fish tank. Filled with fish. Hungry fish. You sit there for half an hour or so while the toothless fish eat the dead skin off your feet.

This is NOT an April Fool's joke, but you may not believe that.

Patron photos from Smiling Albino 
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