Destination Unknown

I shaved my head, and I have an Amish-style beard. There's proof. Sweet, huh?

I hope that everyone had a great weekend. Mine's been alright. I did something on Saturday night that I haven't done in a long time: I took a hot bath. This involved actually cleaning my tub before hand, but it was worth it. I ended up listening to China Radio International - I'm not a fan, but apparently nobody else could be bothered to broadcast a tangible signal.

On Saturday, I saw a series of seven videos by a Canadian journalist named Graeme Smith, who's a correspondent for the Daily Globe and Mail. He recorded the videos earlier this year in Afghanistan, and while I don't agree with a number of his conclusions, the videos are pretty informative. If you're at all interested in the topic, and have some time to kill (even if you just watch one a day), I highly recommend them. Here's the first.



Apparently there are more Roman ruins in Libya. Good to know.

My Wal Mart futon bit the final bit of dust this weekend, so I disassembled it and began binning it today. Given that I don't have that much furniture to begin with, I've replaced it for now with a piece of furniture I had to leave behind at Zoo Station, and that I've wanted to replace ever since: a papasan chair, with ottoman. They've gotten fancier since I bought my first one during my second or third year of college. There are a couple more items I want to purchase, mainly the aforementioned bentwood chair and ottoman from Target. I may put that order in this week. There are several things that I want to just go ahead and acquire while I have a little bit of money, and then they can sit for the time being. I'll need them soon enough.

I also spent a bit of time Sunday evening doing some planning for things I want to accomplish while I'm living here in Virginia, and a possible return to Engaland when I've run my course here. My entire time at Zoo Station was characterized by an attitude of nomadism and wanderlust, and as soon as I was able, I followed a scorched earth policy and left with extreme prejudice. I'm less able to do that here, mainly because one of my career goals here is to put in a longer duration at this job than the fourteen months I got out of the last one. Even so, now that I've been here for almost a year, it's time to start evaluating where I want to go if I can't land my dream job at some point. Between my goals for Van Dieman's Station, and my plans and financial needs for a theoretical stint in Engaland, the tab is pretty large. That's going to take some serious saving and some serious financial discipline - more hot baths, bottled beer out of the fridge, and home cooked meals, and less dinners at the Boston Market and impulse trips to Barnes and Noble.

Okay, time for me to get moving on a few more things that need to be accomplished at the moment. Let not your heart be troubled, and stop back in tomorrow.