Photos and the past.
http://photobucket.com/albums/v232/alexmkg/
Because I don't know how to create that nifty link thing on the side of the page.
It confuses me how unspired I've been to talk about India, and yet how much I want people to know about it. I think I genuinely wish that I could just put the entire experience into your mind without having to talk, or at least that talking would make you understand what it was like.
The problem is, I'm not sure anyone can get it unless they've done something similar. At least not completely. I'm sure you can come close, especially if you look at pictures, read travel sites and see the documentary Born Into Brothels. A very close friend of mine started off saying that he thought he'd never be able to handle it; I think he decided the experience of seeing that much poverty and disease and emotional brokenness would be heartbreaking. Now he's pretty much turned around; he wants to go.
It is heartbeaking; I met people there who had had some of the most horrendous experiences, stuff most Americans seem to think is limited to ER, soaps and murder novels. But they have this light in them...that sounds kind of woo woo, but it's true...I think the general spiritual enlightenment of the population of India is significantly higher than ours (Americans by a long shot...I'll have to see about the others if I ever get around to spending a lifetime in each individual country).
I have so many stories to tell; on my first trip I kept a diary every day except for the day I was vomiting (funny story, the one meal that made me throw up all night was also the one I watched as it was prepared. ironic, no?), and filled about 80 pages. OK, some of it was cornily emotional crap, but there's substance in there...and stories, and a few odd recipes. I managed to put the first 3 pages online, then got bored. Maybe someday.
I guess the hitch is that every time someone asks how it was, I want someththing I can tell them that will really help them get it, in less than 2 hours. It frustrates me that that's not really possible...it's easier not to talk about it, and (even worse) to gloss it over by saying, "it was cool". Oh, random list time!
Most Annoying and Overfuckingused Adjectives:
Cool
Hella (actually an adverb, but it's so annoying it gets to be on the list)
Awesome
Great
Gay (as an insult. this should be reserved only for naming a sexual orientation. call someone gay when you're trying to insult them and my respect for you will lower by several notches.)
Tight
Retarded (see "gay")
Cute (I confess, I'm guilty of abusing this one)
Underused adjectives:
Splendid
Shitacular (property of Will Trimble, patent probably not pending)
Sidenote: I am overly in love with puncuation, especially parentheses, semicolons and ellipses (sp?).
I think I was talking about India...oh well, check out the pictures, if you describe/name one of the pics for me I'll tell you a story (that probably goes for any one in there)...and eventually I'll stick in some other stuff, like maybe Adrian's new ferret (Anubis, super cute damn, there it is again! as ferrets tend to be, but not warmly welcomed by his cagemate, dominant male and veteran of our household, Link).
Because I don't know how to create that nifty link thing on the side of the page.
It confuses me how unspired I've been to talk about India, and yet how much I want people to know about it. I think I genuinely wish that I could just put the entire experience into your mind without having to talk, or at least that talking would make you understand what it was like.
The problem is, I'm not sure anyone can get it unless they've done something similar. At least not completely. I'm sure you can come close, especially if you look at pictures, read travel sites and see the documentary Born Into Brothels. A very close friend of mine started off saying that he thought he'd never be able to handle it; I think he decided the experience of seeing that much poverty and disease and emotional brokenness would be heartbreaking. Now he's pretty much turned around; he wants to go.
It is heartbeaking; I met people there who had had some of the most horrendous experiences, stuff most Americans seem to think is limited to ER, soaps and murder novels. But they have this light in them...that sounds kind of woo woo, but it's true...I think the general spiritual enlightenment of the population of India is significantly higher than ours (Americans by a long shot...I'll have to see about the others if I ever get around to spending a lifetime in each individual country).
I have so many stories to tell; on my first trip I kept a diary every day except for the day I was vomiting (funny story, the one meal that made me throw up all night was also the one I watched as it was prepared. ironic, no?), and filled about 80 pages. OK, some of it was cornily emotional crap, but there's substance in there...and stories, and a few odd recipes. I managed to put the first 3 pages online, then got bored. Maybe someday.
I guess the hitch is that every time someone asks how it was, I want someththing I can tell them that will really help them get it, in less than 2 hours. It frustrates me that that's not really possible...it's easier not to talk about it, and (even worse) to gloss it over by saying, "it was cool". Oh, random list time!
Most Annoying and Overfuckingused Adjectives:
Cool
Hella (actually an adverb, but it's so annoying it gets to be on the list)
Awesome
Great
Gay (as an insult. this should be reserved only for naming a sexual orientation. call someone gay when you're trying to insult them and my respect for you will lower by several notches.)
Tight
Retarded (see "gay")
Cute (I confess, I'm guilty of abusing this one)
Underused adjectives:
Splendid
Shitacular (property of Will Trimble, patent probably not pending)
Sidenote: I am overly in love with puncuation, especially parentheses, semicolons and ellipses (sp?).
I think I was talking about India...oh well, check out the pictures, if you describe/name one of the pics for me I'll tell you a story (that probably goes for any one in there)...and eventually I'll stick in some other stuff, like maybe Adrian's new ferret (Anubis, super cute damn, there it is again! as ferrets tend to be, but not warmly welcomed by his cagemate, dominant male and veteran of our household, Link).
posted by Alex at 7:05 PM
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