Fluke? What Fluke?

We'd all heard it before. The win in Austin last year was a fluke. The Aggies got lucky because Colt McCoy was injured. There was no way that t.u. could have lost the game if McCoy was healthy. The Aggies just happened to catch t.u. when their starting quarterback was injured and that's the only reason that they won on a beautiful day after Thanksgiving in Austin in 2006.

Well, I wonder what the excuses are going to be this time around?

I think that the folks over in Austin need to wake up and smell some of that tea that they are sipping because it's time to realize that they are in trouble when they play Texas A&M. A convincing 38-30 win in College Station on Friday, following last year's 12-7 win in Austin, showed that the Aggies bring out their best stuff against their arch rival texas longhorns. For those of you reading who don't think it's been domination time for the Aggies consider this; this is the third year in a row that the Aggies have out gained the vaunted and high scoring texas offense. That seems like domination to me. The Aggies jumped out to leads of 17-0 and 38-21 before allowing two late touchdowns in the fourth quarter to make the game look closer on the scoreboard than it was on the field. A&M ranked 101st in passing offense racked up 362 yards passing and a career day for Stephen McGee and a usually option happy offense. Need I go on?

But the win on Friday was much more than Texas A&M beating t.u. The win on Friday was vindication for all the Aggie faithful who had to hear about last year's win being a fluke. For all you Aggie faithful, you can proudly say......Poor longhorns!

The win was especially great for me to experience because I was able to be with my brothers and got a chance to see the joy and excitement on Scott and Josh's faces as they relished in the glory of the domination. They finally got their release and their own inner vindication. They finally got to see the pot at the end of the rainbow. And it was great for me to see that and to see them enjoy something that means so much to them. Still for all the joy in my heart at the victory and the chance to spend time with my family, I couldn't help but feel a bit hollow. There wasn't the special someone who I waited for so long to share that special day. It was a great day, but also a tough day.

More later.....

Man, I know what that guy was thinking?!

It's cold here in the city
It always seems that way
And I've been thinking about you almost everyday
Thinking about the good times
Thinking about the rain
Thinking about how bad it feels alone again

I'm sorry for the way things are in China
I'm sorry things ain't what they used to be
But more than anything elseI'm sorry for myself
'Cause you're not here with me

Our friends all ask about youI say you're doing fine
And I expect to hear from you almost anytime
But they all know I'm crying
And I can't sleep at night
They all know I'm dying down deep inside

I'm sorry for all the lies I told you
I'm sorry for the things I didn't say
But more than anything else
I'm sorry for myself
I can't believe you went away

I'm sorry if I took some things for granted
I'm sorry for the chains I put on you
But more than anything else
I'm sorry for myself
For living without you

Homeward Bound

When I get back to the States and to my family it will have been exactly five months since I left. On June 5th, I left Houston bound for Cairo with my younger brother and was full of excitement and a great bit of sorrow for leaving Carolyn in DC. I wasn't sure what effect the trip would have on me and I was kind of foolish to think that I wouldn't change as a person. Well, five months have passed and I can tell you that the trip has had a tremendous impact on me.

More later.....

Trust

When you are a traveller, you have to have a certain amount of blind trust. You trust that the bus/train will arrive on time and get you to your destination, or you trust that you will be taken to the right hotel by the motobike driver/tuk-tuk driver who just got you into their vehicle. If that trust is broken, it's not the end of the world. But that's not the case in the real world. If you break the trust of someone you love, it's damn near impossible to get it back. You can try and try, but no matter what happens one person doesn't trust the other. It's the beginning of the end really.

Trust is one of those amazing things in this world. When you have it, you have the world, but disrespect it and do something stupid and you've lost the world. And that's what I feel like today.......I feel that I've lost my world. I've lost my harbour in the tempest, my rock which I stand upon, and my future.

I'm such a fool.

Scary realization

While I let my mouth recover from the noodles with chicken, thai chilis and basil leaves that I had for lunch, I had a scary realization.......I have less than three weeks left on my travels. For so long I've thought, 'I've got all the time in the world,' but now it seems that is not so. Damn, what a downer!

More later......

Love, peace, and soul.

The Flying Gepeto?

So, after a few days of exploring the sites of Bangkok, John and I decided to get traditional Thai massages. So, we found a swanky place not too far from our swanky hotel. We showed up and were greeted with Thai tea and asked for an hour long Thai massage. We had a dual massage, which meant that we would be in the same room for our massages. What followed would be a rollicking hour full of laughs from all of us and groans from John.



Since I had already had a massage or two I knew what was involved with the stretching and twisting. It had been awhile for John and he was clearly struggling. Towards the end of the massage, the woman put him in a 'special position,' which John called the 'flying gepeto' as he felt like a rag doll of sorts being twisted and turned around. He was groaning so much that he made all of us in the room crack up laughing.



More later.......



Love, peace, and soul.

A Millionaire?

I knew it was going to be a great week when John and I met up in Bangkok's airport and before we reached passport control John was already cracking me up. After clearing passport control and customs John got some cash change out and must have thought he was a millionaire as he had more bills than he knew what to do with! A few hours later we were out and about on the streets of Bangkok with too much time and too much money!

Until later.......

Love, peace, and soul.

The Faces of Bayon

It's safe to say that I loved the faces of Bayon the most. So, I thought I would share some of the pictures that I took with all of you out there.

Enjoy!

Love, peace, and soul.

Cambodia: A Review

If you are planning on visiting Cambodia and you are American, it's extremely easy. You don't even need to change any currency. That's right, everyone takes U.S. Dollars, with change being given in a combination of U.S. Dollars and Cambodian Riel. Even the ATM machines pump out U.S. Dollars. It's the most surreal thing to be in a foreign country using your own currency. I guess the Cambodians feel it's safer to have their wealth in U.S. Dollars than in Cambodian Riel.

The Cambodian people are extremely nice and friendly. I felt that they were much less aggressive about making a buck as the Vietnamese and generally willing to help out a foreign tourist. Most speak the universal languages of English and U.S. Dollars, so getting around is not a problem.

It's possible to see the best and worst in the human species in Cambodia. From the beauty of Angkor Wat to the horrors of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge regime, they amaze and humble almost everyone who visits Cambodia.

Until later......

Love, peace, and soul.

Random Thoughts from Siem Reap

Do I look stressed? I must look stressed because all of the motobike guys and tuk-tuk drivers keep asking me "you want massage?" Surely I don't look that stressed, do I?

Can we talk about money belts and fanny packs for a second? First off, fanny packs must go. Don't ever wear one, they are seriously stupid looking on anyone. I've never seen anyone who looks good with one. And don't use a fanny pack as a money belt. Just don't ever use a fanny pack. That's right, you know who you are.......stop it now!

Okay, money belts......lots of people don't understand the purpose of these things. The purpose of the money belt is to hold your valuables that you don't want people to see. I see so many people wear their money belts outside of their clothing and I want to go shake them or better yet, steal it off them. When people were their money belts outside their clothes, they are basically saying: "Hey, I keep my money and credit cards RIGHT HERE!!"

Secondly, it's okay to carry cash in your pockets, that way you can pay for things easily. I was at a bar last night with a group of travellers who were on their 4th day of a year long journey. Sure enough, the bill comes and they all start digging in their pants for their money belts. Thus showing everyone exactly where they keep their valuables. A bit counter intuitive to the whole money belt concept, don't you think?

Surprisingly, I've adjusted to fan rooms in Southeast Asia. Yeah, I'll admit, at first I thought I needed the A/C, but after a while I've adjusted. Don't get me wrong, the A/C is nice to have and nice to come back to after a long, hot day exploring around, but it's not a necessity. And really, all it makes you do is sweat even more as your body has to adjust to an even greater temperature change with A/C than with a fan room. As long as the fan is blowing on you, it's not that bad.

Okay, those are my random thoughts for the day. More to come......

Love, peace, and soul.