Don’t ask me how I find this stuff:
Cuarenta is played in Ecuador, mostly by people from the mountains, including the cities of Cuenca and Quito (the capital). Cuarenta means “40” in Spanish; this is the number of cards in the deck as well as the points required to win. The play is supposed to be full of bravado, loud, exciting, even silly.
So it comes down, for most of us, to a decision: We can work like hell to try to take activities in intersection 2 and move them to intersection 3 — though it’s really tough to create a need, or even get an unrecognized need recognized (that’s where I’m at right now). And opportunities in intersection 4 are even tougher (and take courage) to find, though they’re probably easier to move to intersection 3 (practice, practice, practice). As a result, too many of us spend our lives doing jobs we hate in intersection 5, and we fill the empty place inside with hobbies in intersection 1 or (if we’re good) intersection 2.
My sense is that it’s easier to keep searching for opportunities in intersection 3, and, if that proves fruitless for too long, finding something in intersection 4 and working hard at it. This is hard work that requires great courage and enterprise, but books about people who have found great happiness in their lives are almost all stories of this type of journey. You have nothing to lose but your chains.
“I’m Going to Teach English in Japan, but I’ve Never Been to Asia. Any Tips?”
Rolf Potts — with input from yours truly — provides some feedback over on the new World Hum.
File under: Something I Could Seriously Envision My Dad Building in His Backyard. How cool would it be to kick back on the chia-couch?
My buddy Peter H. is the Master of All Things Internet Research-Releated. So when I mentioned to him that I collect metro cards from around the world, and that I’d considered trolling ebay for ’em, he sent me this amusing, meticulously-researched guide:
You shouldn’t get them on eBay. Thats not collecting, its buying. But then again, when are you going to get on Chelyabinsk metro? Maybe you should have friends collect them for you on their trips. Its more fun that way. And free.
I don’t think that any of us will be getting on the Tehran Metro http://www.tehranmetro.com/schedules/maps/index.asp anytime soon.
Surprsingly, they have a map in English. I don’t see the Kill the Christian-Zionisit Crusader station, but the nexus of all their lines, which could just be blandly named “Metro Center” like ours is Imam Khomeni.Here you can actually buy them direct http://www.city.sapporo.jp/st/doni-chika/donichika.htm from the system in Sapporo, it seems. But only if you can figure out the process in the graphic at the bottom of the page. It seems you start from home, consult the frowning monkey, have a bowl of nail polish soup, buy a gift, and then return home. Got it? Where’s the part where you buy a fare card?
There’s Montreal http://www.stcum.qc.ca/English/metro/a-mapmet.htm, which seems to say come ride beneath, away from the charred, barren landcape of Southern Quebec. Actually, my experience confirms this. Its got a very sad kind of overbuilt a generation ago fell (67 expo and 76 olympics). Christy and I came to one ticket booth a couple of years ago and the ticket agent was so lethargic they didn’t even want to deal with taking our money and waived us through. I asked somone, “Is it free today.” They said, “No, sometimes they just don’t feel like dealing with tourists and their questions.” Merci, I say!
Look at this kooky subway in http://subway.city.fukuoka.jp/index.html
Japan. Each stop has got a little symbol id’ing it. I’d like to go the the deer droppings station
http://subway.city.fukuoka.jp/eki/stations/sakurazaka.html please! Thankfully there’s a little bear-dog to direct you.Then, there’s other nifty things. On the Seoul Subway you can apply to perform on one of the three “Subway Cultural Stages” http://www.subwayworld.co.kr/english/index.htm> And, only the Seoul Subway has Oh!zemidong. Sorry, its in frames. You have to find the button on the left side of the Subway Cultural Stage page.
I could go on…
UPDATE: An addendum from Peter:
And, the winner of the worst subway map —
The Deagu Metropolitan Subway Corpration
http://www.daegusubway.co.kr/english/dream/index.htmlBut, their moto quite candidly says “Towards the Subway Era”. Not there yet, but headed in the right direction.
I like their Andromeda Strain-Running Man type graphic.
http://www.daegusubway.co.kr/english/index.html
Just had a breakfast meeting with some colleagues at the Bethesda Pancake House. Juan Dixon, the ex-Maryland basketball star and current Washington Wizard, was sitting at the booth next to our table.
He consumed approximately 10 eggs (only the yolks) and a large waffle with strawberries. He received about 10 calls on his cell phone within 30 minutes. (You’ll recall that I spotted Clinton’s Secretary of Defense, Bill Cohen, at Starbucks back in May.)
*Only in DC would Bill Cohen be considered a celeb.
Erik at the travel blog Gadling has selected one of my Vietnam pics, below, as his Photo of the Day. It’s one of my favorite images from what was a fabulous trip that Jill and I took there last March; in Erik’s words, the image captures “the sun simmering in a saffron haze.”
Here’s a cool gallery of worldwide metro logos.
(Full disclosure: I collect only one thing: metro cards. I’ve got all the major US ones — NY, DC, SF, etc. — as well as Taipei, Bangkok, Hong Kong, and one or two more. So this link was particularly interesting to me. I am a dork. A public transportation dork.)
Here’re my pics. Enjoy. The photo below is, from left to right, me, David Z., and the lucky groom, Benny C. A good time was had by all.
Update: Sorry, this image is no longer available on Flickr.
Yes, it’s another weekend of traveling for your faithful scribe. I’m off early tomorrow morning to Westchester County, NY, for Benny C. and Ange G.’s wedding. I’ll be back and blogging on Monday.
I leave you with this, which Jill so thoughfully sent along. This fine specimen is the winner of the 2005 World’s Ugliest Dog contest. They say pets resemble their owners; I’d hate to lay eyes the master of this abominable creature.