well hello there brothermen and sisterwoman.  it sure seems as if a few
moons have passed since we tickled the keyboard and thought about all y'all
for a spell, and that is not how it ought to be.  so stop your grinnin' and
drop your linen (not sure what that means but i dig it) and let us repair to
the chat room.

started a new job just last week and by all means it is a Godsend.
(blasphemous?)  would that i had found this school a couple of years back,
as it is well-run and full of good folks.  by the latter i mean folks who
are here for the long run or at least a good while, and not fresh off the
boat.  perhaps the best aspect of it is a 25 hr workweek, while the most
abominable is twofold:  i gots to sport a nametag and a wristwatch, and i
reckon the former is the lesser evil even though it is as goofy as Bill
Morris.  the only times i have voluntarily donned a watch were deb parties
back in the day - got a black running watch to go with the tux and showed it
off something fierce.  back in the idol-worship days of namu and ricardo and
stevo.

at any rate, that is the good news and i can feel y'all waiting with bated
breath for the bad stuff.  here goes:  last month had a weeklong hiking trip
to the japanese alps - a big ol' hunk of honshu virtually unknown and
unexplored by the japanese as they cordoned it off as an abode for their
shinto psuedo-deities - planned and set off with a native lady friend guide.
  on our first day of hiking she sees fit to slip off a log bridge and
faceplant some two meters down onto a rock with nary a limb or digit to
break the fall.  can you say ouch?   she couldn't - knocked out cold with a
visibly growing pool of blood about her noggin and limbs splayed in a most
unnatural Deliverance-type manner.

enter the hero rolland, you say?  well not really.  ran over there and did
all the things one knows not to do to a potential head/neck injury and
checked her out.  skull was not in pieces and after cleaning up the mess we
discovered a smashed face instead.  had to hike back several kilometers to a
hut and thence to an ambulance.  hospital revealed a broken nose, severely
lacerated lips and two teeth knocked out.  poor girl, hey?  but hey - i was
the one escorting leon spinks back to osaka on the train with alpine dreams
in the rubbish bin.

what is the bottom line, you ask?  as always:  better her than me!
that was probably more than y'all wanted to know about that, but it really
spooked me  - even more than being privy to the intimate details of the
condition of susan's overworked nipple.  how is that nipple, susan?

and that was a good move blowing off elizabeth for emily, y'all.

and concerning kudos, how about our basque following in my very own
ubersuccesful footsteps and putting her nose to the grindstone to become a
teacher?  good on you!  just the thought of it makes us want to jump for
joy, get some oxygen and repeat "oh happy day" over and over.  and it brings
us to take a moment and reflect about our various occupations and their
contributions to society, which could well be graded as follows:

1. John (the Healer):  the guy actually saves lives, a tough act to top.
2. Julie (the Developer):  enables young people - aka the future - to form
their little craniums and warns them against going to law school.
3. Doug (the Facilitator):  helps doctors help patients.
4. Moi (the Ambassador):  doing my part to further international
understanding by means of instruction and exchanges of culture as well as
bodily fluids.
5. Stevo (the Wheeler-Dealer): not really sure what he does, but a reliable
and consistent contributor to the national GNP.  also sires chilluns easy on
the eye, so gets an honorable mention for that.
6. Danna, Susan, Jean Helen, Yvonne (the Mamas):  doing a guten job but for
the purposes of this list, y'all represent neutrality.
7. Maury (the Beltway Insider):  'nuff said.  only your professed desire to
escape and recover some semblence of sanity puts you above
8. Richard (the Suit):  doesn't chase ambulances but as Enron is a big mofo
company, you can bet that he is an integral part of the energy-procuring
wing of the military-industrial complex, and as such is one of Them.
probably knows who killed JFK and is rumored to be the Grand Poobah of the
Masonic Lodge.  the list goes on, but then we come to....
9. Camille (the Investor Extraordinaire):  not exactly a negative
contribution to society, but still sold crystal and brazos riverfront
property.  lost moi a whole heap of cashish, so brings up the bottom.

on the whole a rather notable family, more inclined to give than to take for
the most part.  almost chokes us up to think about it.  truth be known i
have been thinking about y'all as of late and might be close to setting a
date to come on back to hallowed soil.  no reason to set any dates as chisel
is far from stone at this point, but it shan't be too long methinks.

john the eldest and danna the nappiest, y'all should have received letters
by now.  let us know if that is not the case.

well i just scrolled up and found to my dismay this is not as funny as i had
intended.  oh well.  it is better than nothing - i think - as nothing (in
regard to correspondence) is something with which i am well acquainted.
(exception: stevo!)  someone give a holler -

hope all y'all are well and lording over all you survey in your pure
unadulterated Aryan splendour.  i remain

chillin', never illin'
(in my mouth i gots 4 fillin's)


the Ralai Lama



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