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With another weekend approaching, I felt it might be necessary to finally post about some activities that we've undertaken during the last few weekends in the past.  I don't want to get too far behind in my blogging que here. These are two separate outings that we took part in lately, and the common connection between each of them was the presence of large amounts of sand and water (both not especially rare commodities when you live in a desert country that's surrounded by the Persian Gulf).

Our first outing was a day spent on a speedboat and on a local beach not far from downtown Doha.  Jane, a friend of ours out here, has a student who regularly takes groups of people out on his speedboat, and he offered to let his teacher and some of her friends spend the day on his boat (for a nominal fee, of course!).

The boat was not especially large or fancy, but it was comfortable and fast!  The owner of the boat (whose name was… any guesses?… that's right: Muhammad) told us that we were averaging about 55-60 km/hr on the water.  That might not sound like much compared to a car, but when you're not buckled in and sitting in the open with the wind in your hair and waves racing by beside you, it feels much faster!

At first Larissa and I were sitting in the front of the boat, where you can really feel each wave as the boat flies over them.  However, as the wind picked up and the waves got a little bigger, we found that our butts were flying a good 6 inches into the air on some of the larger waves, and we decided to come sit in the back of the boat with the rest of our group.

We rode over the sea for a good 15 or 20 minutes, and after taking some sonar readings, Muhammad stopped the boat and handed out some fishing gear.  We were using "squid rings" as bait, which looked like un-breaded onion rings, but I'm sure tasted much worse (unless you're a fish).  You can see Jane in this picture showing off some of the bait.

We didn't use fishing poles, but rather were given some fishing line which had been wrapped around this kinda wooden apparatus.  There were two hooks on each line, and a weight at the end of the line to make sure it fell into the water.  After baiting your hooks with a few chunks of squid, you toss the weight over the side of the boat and lower it until it hits the bottom.  Once it touches, you tug on the line gently to attract the fish and hope that you get a bite.  You can see me holding my fishing line here with all of the enthusiasm of an experienced fisherman.

Up at the front of the boat, Muhammad and his Indian helper (whose name was… yep!  Muhammad!) assisted us with getting our fishing lines ready, and gave us tips on how to catch the fish.  I think I can sum up their fishing advice in one sentence: "Wait for a fish to bite and then pull it out of the water."  In this next picture, you can see Muhammad the boat owner on the far right, with Muhammad the helper beside him.

 I'm sorry to say that I didn't succeed in catching anything, other than a slight case of seasickness.  The boat was rocking quite strongly from side to side (something you can't quite capture in a photograph) and the motion eventually starts to get to your head.  Larissa, on the other hand, was one of the few of us who did catch a fish, although she threw it back into the water (after it was dead).  It was about the size of a hand span. 

One cool thing we saw (but didn't get a picture of) was a water snake slithering along near the surface of the water.  I don't mean an eel or other aquatic animal – I mean an actual snake, who had decided to live in the ocean.  Muhammad #1 told me that there are many such snakes.  The come up every now and then to breathe, and then dive under water again.  I guess they eat small fish.

After 20 minutes of fishing, we were all feeling a little seasick, so Muhammad and Muhammad gathered up the fishing gear, and we took the boat out to "Banana Island".  They call it that because it's shaped like a banana, not because bananas grow there.  In fact, nothing much grows there at all.  It just a huge bunch of sand sitting in the water not far from Doha's harbour (you can see downtown Doha from the beach).  Here is our boat after we got off of it, with the two Muhammads still aboard.

The beach itself was not particularly clean.  Despite the fact that there were garbage bins nearby, many previous visitors had apparently decided that the ground would be just as appropriate a place to throw their garbage.  One of the more socially conscious and motivated members of our group (by the name of Douglas) took it upon himself to do some cleanup while we were there.

We put our picnic stuff under one of the few shade-providing shelters, and spend a few hours eating lunch, sunbathing, and collecting shells.  Larissa actually collected enough shells that she's integrating them into her interior decorating ideas for our apartment.  She's asked me a few times about when we can go out and do some more shell hunting for her collection!

At about 1pm, we got back on the boat and Muhammad gave us a tour of the Doha shoreline from the boat.  It was very beautiful, and a good way to end our fishing/beach trip.  We thanked Muhammad #1 heartily for letting us enjoy his boat for the day, and we gave Muhammad #2 a nice tip for working so hard aboard the boat for us.

Our second trip was to the south of Qatar, right near the Saudi border on the inland sea.  If you click on this picture of a map of southern Qatar, you'll get an idea of where we were.  It was about 1 1/2 hours drive from Doha, and you can see on the map that the road only goes as far as Umm Said.  When you get there, you have to let some air out of the tires of your 4 wheel drive vehicle (to get better traction), and travel the rest of the way across the desert sand.  Luckily, we happened to be traveling with our friends Chris and Heather, who had recently purchased a Jeep and were anxious to try it out on the sand dunes near the inland sea.  

Chris had never been to this place before, but there were two factors working to our advantage to help us find it.  First, he had a GPS system built into his mobile phone.  Second (and more importantly) he had some friends who had lived in Qatar for many years (one of them for over 22 years) who were traveling in the vehicle in front of us and guiding us on our way across the desert.

After traveling across long stretches of dirt and sand, as well as up and down the occasional sand dune, we arrived at our destination: the inland sea.  As you can see on the map above, the inland sea is a bunch of water that works it's way inland from the Persian Gulf.  This "sea" is shared between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and there are strict penalties for crossing the water to reach the other country (i.e. death).  I was careful not to swim too far from the shore.

Chris parked the Jeep on the sand right beside the water along with the other two vehicles that were part of our group (1 belonged to the guys who lead us out there, and the other belonged to some more friends of ours from our building who joined us for the day).

There were a whole lot of other white people who had come out to the beach for the day.  Many of them brought BBQs.  We were jealous as we ate our chips and sandwiches.

Larissa decided to spend most of her day wading in the water or lying in the sun.

Some of the boys (including myself) thought it would be a better idea to put their vehicles through their paces and test them against the sand dunes.  This is called "duning".  It pretty much involves driving up and down sand dunes.  Now, I thought that this would be relatively easy, but it actually takes a good combination of driving skills, tire pressure adjustments, and luck to get your vehicle up some of the larger dunes.  You have to build some speed at the bottom so that you have enough momentum to make it to the top.  

Something else that I hadn't thought of were the dangers involved in duning.  One danger is in getting stuck.  To avoid this, you make sure you let enough air out of your tires, avoid "bowls" of sand, and always, ALWAYS go duning in groups with more than one vehicle, so that someone is always available to go back for help.  It doesn't help much if you get lost or stuck when you call someone on the phone for help all you can tell them is "Well, we're somewhere with a lot of sand".

The other danger is in colliding with another vehicle as you're both approaching the top of a dune from opposite sides.  To avoid this, you must slow down as you approach the top of a dune and stop at the top to make sure others coming up can see you.  I've been told that there are fatalities regularly out on the dunes because of accidents like this.

However, despite the dangers, you can't help but be in awe at the beauty and loneliness of the dunes in the desert.  It's incredibly quiet out there, even when there are other tourists in the area.

As the sun started to set, we thought it might be best to head home.  As you can imagine, it gets very dark in the desert at night, and with no major landmarks to guide you, it's best to find your way back to civilization during the daylight hours.

However, we ended up leaving later than we expected, due to several factors.  First the people in one of the vehicles in our group decided not to follow some of the guidelines for duning that I mentioned above, and went out on their own.  Then they got stuck.  Luckily, there were some Qatari guys who had a winch on their vehicle who came by and pulled them out of the sand.  Then we had to find them, which took some more time.  In the end, the sun was almost down by the time we set off back toward home.

There were many other people we passed or drove alongside as we trekked back across the desert.  Some were Qataris who were camping in the desert for the night.  By the way, as you look at the picture below, don't let the clothes or the beat-up-looking car fool you: These Qataris have much more money than you'll ever see.  This vehicle is probably a 7th or 8th car that they just use as a "beater" for desert trips.

We also passed some other Jeep owners, who waved at us and took our picture, as we took theirs.  Heather told us that Jeep owners feel a special bond with each other, so they always wave at each other.  Like bus drivers or bikers in Hamilton.

As it turned out, we ended up having to drive through the desert in the dark after all, because of another unforeseen incident.  One of the vehicles in our group (not the one that got stuck in the desert, but the one that was leading us) got a flat tire after driving over some rocks.  It took a while to find a properly working jack, and even then the jack couldn't go quite high enough to make it easy.  Jacking something up on sand can be difficult.

Luckily, the tire issues happened within sight of the lights of a nearby industrial area, and we were able to navigate our way back to the highway at Umm Said without further trouble (although I think we had to stop a few more times for pee breaks).

It was actually quite cold (for us) on the way home.  The top of the Jeep was off and could not be re-attached until we got home (since the roof portion of the Jeep had been left in the garage of our building).  The outside temperature said 21 degrees, but to me it felt more like 13 or 14.  Larissa and I snuggled under a towel in the back seat, and by the time we were back in the city, the outside temperature was back up to a more comfortable 26 degrees.  

All in all, we had a great time on both of these excursions, although I feel like I only got a small taste of the dunes out in the desert.  I'd like to take another trip sometime to do some desert photography, or maybe camp overnight so that I can get up early enough to catch some sunrise shots.  Mohammad #1 (the guy with the boat) has invited us to go with him and his Qatari friends to their desert campsite some weekend, so hopefully I'll have more photos and stories of adventure to post for you about the desert in the near future.

These are pictures that I actually took a couple weeks ago.  I was hanging some laundry on the roof of our building, and I was suddenly inspired to take my camera up there and see what I could capture while looking out over the city.  I also wanted the chance to see how well my zoom lens worked.  I was not disappointed.

First of all, let me explain the specifications of my camera, and my standard lens vs. zoom lens.  I'm using a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi (also known as the 450D).  The standard package includes the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens (which I used on the wide-shots), and the zoom lens I am using is the 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS lens (one of the least expensive zooms available for this camera).  Let me stress that these lenses are fairly standard – the zoom lens in particular is nothing too fancy, and zooms that go up to 300mm or more are readily available and affordable.

Having said that, check out these comparison shots between my standard and zoom lenses (click on each photo to see it in actual size) [Editor's note: These pictures have not had extra zoom added using a photo editing program, but several have been cropped to focus on the highlighted elements]

This is a shot of a construction yard across the street, and the commercial area behind it where we walk to do much of our shopping.  

And this is a shot of some workers having a break while leaning against the wall that is more-or-less in the very centre of the previous picture (behind the construction vehicle).  Check out that zoom!

Okay, now look at the first picture again before looking at this one.  This picture is of two of the stores that are over the construction fence.  We eat at Marmara Istanbul semi-regularly.  I can actually read the phone number for the restaurant (4422066) off of its sign!  Freakin' unbelievable!

This one is facing North West from our apartment.  Notice the two men walking in the lower left of the photo?

Here are those men using the zoom.  I know they've been shopping at Family Food Centre because I can see the logo on the shopping bag!  BTW, the "zoomed out" version of this picture was taken with the zoom lens – not the 18-55mm – so this is the range on a single lens.

Here is another view of the same area as shown above, but with the 18-55mm lens.  Notice the bus stop near the right side of the photo?

And here is the bus stop up close.  If you look extra close, you can see on the pole that this is the stop for route 49.  "Hala", by the way, is the name of the prepaid cell phone service here in Qatar.

One last zoom comparison.  Here is the construction area on the North side of our apartment building.  Notice that just above the big empty dirt lot there is a home with a business sign on the front of it.

Here is the sign and the entrance to the house.  You can see that this business is for "men only", and if you can read Chinese you can even make out the characters above the front door.

This is on the South East side of our building.  I think these must be mostly homes for middle-class Qatari people.  Although somebody is doing well enough to have their own private tennis court.

This is on the North East side of our building.  I guess that's where the lower-than-middle class people live – although they seem to have access to satellite TV and air conditioning (the basic essentials of any civilized society).

How could a post about "pictures taken from our roof" be complete without pictures of the roof itself.  The roof of our building is fairly large (larger than this picture shows) and is pretty much covered in A/C units, satellite dishes, and water tanks.

I thought you might want to see our humble clothes line, strung between two water tanks.  Behind our clothes is the doorway that leads back into our building.

Alright, I couldn't help but post one more zoom picture!  This is a picture of the licence plate of a car that was parked down the street, and taken from our roof!  If you think about it, you can probably match up the Arabic numbers with the English ones.  Here's a bonus task: Can you figure out what the word is on this licence plate?  Hint: There are no written vowels in modern Arabic.

Today, when Larissa came home from work, she was in a bit of a… shall we say "amorous" mood?  It was due to a few factors.  One was that I had just finished shaving, and she loves kissing the smooth face.  Another was that I was wearing a pair of jeans she particularly likes.  A third factor was my having my shirt off, which is enough to drive any woman to lustful thoughts.

After some brief small talk about our day, I was kissing Larissa on the couch, when out of nowhere she says:

"Let's split a piece of bread!"

I ask you – has any other man ever heard his wife say these words in the heat of passion?  As soon as she finished saying them, she realized how crazy it sounded as well.  Luckily, we both found it so hilarious that it didn't affect our affectionate feelings.

What really ended the kissing was me saying, "I've got to blog about this!"

If any of you out there have an obsession with camels and are looking to get some solid camel-time in the near future, might I suggest a visit to the Shahhaniya Camel Race Track, out past the Al Rayyan Football Stadium in Doha.  You'll see more camels than the human senses were designed to handle in a single serving.

Our visit to the camel race track happened over a week ago, and while I fully intended to blog about it earlier, I didn't.  However, I knew that some of you were jonesin' for more camel content on this blog, so even though it's late in coming, you're going to get your dose of camels in this post.  [Editor's note: If this post doesn't satisfy your hunger for camel-related content, you can read Larissa's version of this story as well.]

I would have loved to have seen an actual camel race while we were at the track, but we showed up on a Saturday at about 9am, and we were told after we arrived that the races happen at 6am and 2pm.  We weren't about to hang about for 5 hours waiting for the races, so instead we spend a good hour checking out the many camels who were being trained on the track itself.

The camels start their training when they're only a year or two old.  The older, more experienced camels walk with the younger camels and show them what's expected of them when they get out on the track.  So most of the camels we saw were moving in groups, with several gigantic camels walking beside camels that were merely quite large.

Apparently, camels can be very stubborn animals.  We spent a good chunk of our day hanging out with a Lebanese guy named George, who explained to us that it takes a lot of coaxing just to make a camel move, let alone run on a track.  He said that even elephants are much easier to motivate than camels.  I suppose that's why you have to start training the camels so young.

Most of the camels we saw were being ridden by jockeys and trainers who were from Somalia or Pakistan – we didn't see any Qataris riding the camels themselves.  The Qataris (who are the actual owners of the camels) tended to stay in their SUVs and drive alongside their camels as the trainers took them along the track, watching to make sure that the camels were well-managed, and dreaming of winning the next race.  Some Qataris who hadn't hired trainers would ride beside their riderless camels and yell at them while honking their horns to make the camels run.

There were also many camels that were guided by robot jockeys, instead of a human rider.  The robots look like small boxes that sit on the back of the camel, and they have a speaker which relays the commands of the virtual jockeys to the camels.  Most of the camels in the photo below have robot jockeys:

Yes, robots are finally taking over the world, starting with the camel races.  

I took a ton of pictures of the camels and riders while we were there.  What you see on this site (and in my Facebook album) is only a selection from a much wider pool of camel-based images.  Feel free to click on any of the images in this post to see them larger.

At one point, one of the Qataris in his SUV stopped to talk to the group of us who were visiting the track.  He explained to us when the races take place, how the camels are trained, how they breed the camels, how much they cost (up to $15,000), what the prizes were for winning the races (new cars), and how the robot jockeys work.  He also invited us to come visit his camel stables, but he wasn't going to go back there for several more hours, and we didn't want to stick around that long.

We were told that the stable areas are quite closely guarded, since nobody wants to share their secrets of how they raise and feed their camels with the other camel owners.  That way, if someone hits upon the secret combination of foods and verbal abuse that consistently creates prize-winning camels, they can keep all the winners' cars to themselves.

You'd be surprised by how fast a camel can run when it gets going.  I don't think that it could outrun a horse, but it definitely could outrun me, especially when it comes to running in the desert.  The other thing that I never realized about camels was how quiet they are as they walk in the sand.  They are virtually silent.  I have no doubt that a camel could walk right up behind me and spit in my hair before I had any idea he was there.  

After getting our fill of the camels, we decided it was time to get our fill of something else, and the group of us headed over to a small local restaurant that we heard made a mean cheese sandwich.  In fact, since none of us knew the name of the restaurant, we ended up calling it "The Cheese Sandwich Place".  Somehow the name stuck.  Here's a picture of the group of us (all from the Qatar Natural History Club) enjoying our lunch:

Just so you know, the "cheese sandwiches" are not anything like what you're imagining from back in North America.  They're actually made with a cheese spread that's rolled up inside the fresh flat-bread which is so addictive here, and then cut into bite-sized pieces.  Larissa ordered some with honey drizzled on them, while others had falafal or a mix of other ingredients.  There was tea or soft drinks available on the beverage side of things.  

When we were done our sandwiches, we decided to check out this other area that was supposed to be holding a camel beauty pageant.  It took us a bit of exploring to find where it was happening, and by the time we made it there, the competition was over.  We did have the chance to spot the winning camel, however, who was wearing a gold robe that said "first rank" in Arabic.

I heard his talents weren't that amazing, but he really swept the evening gown and swimsuit portions of the competition.

On the way back home after our day at the camel track, we drove by a section of Doha which is called "Education City".  There is a large collection of college and university campuses all in this one area, and several large facilities are still being built.  One such building had the craziest looking architecture I have ever seen:

To me, it looks like trees are growing out of the ground and supporting whatever they're building on top.  I asked George what the deal was with those tree things, and he said that it was "just to look cool".  I have to admit, it does look cool.

The later part of our day was spent watching tennis, but I'll save that for another post.  You can't write about camels and tennis in the same post.  Why not?  Because of that age old proverb: "Camels and Tennis don't mix."  That's why.

I know that it's been a while since the last time I updated the blog.  I wish I could tell you that we've been incredibly busy, and while we have actually done quite a lot, my schedule as a house husband offers me no excuses outside of laziness and/or distraction.  Having said that, here are the things that are rattling around in my brain at the moment.

First, last weekend Larissa and I visited the race track where the camel races are held every Friday (and Saturday?)  While we didn't see an actual race, we did watch many of the camels being trained, and spoke for a while with a Qatari camel owner.  I'll put up a post with photos and more details sometime in the next couple days.

Second, much of last weekend was spent in watching women's tennis at the Women's World Tennis Championships here in Doha.  Neither Larissa nor I have ever been very enthusiastic watchers of any sport, let alone women's tennis, but seeing the sport played live and experiencing the emotion and tension in the stadium was quite an enjoyable experience.  I'll also put up another post with photos and details from the tennis matches sometime soon.

On top of these things, I'm trying to figure out what are the best options for us when it comes to investing our money.  We have a decent chunk of savings right now, and with the stock market so far down, it seems ridiculous not to take advantage of the cheap investing options (buy low, sell high, right?)  So I've been spending time educating myself online (this is a good site) and trying to figure out how to get my money from my bank account into some good investments.  My friend Dan Good (who is a Senior Financial Analyst with a large Canadian corporation, and who loves giving personal finance tips) is helping me to be wise through this process.  If I can just invest long enough to profit off of the market recovery, I'll be happy.

And then there's our plans for the upcoming holidays.  We actually get two holidays in December – a Qatari holiday at the beginning of the month, and the Christmas break provided by CNAQ for the last few weeks of the month.  The first holiday we are planning on spending here in Doha – A classmate of mine from back in St. Catharines who is teaching English in Saudi Arabia is going to be staying with us for a few days while she visits Doha.  We're also going to be (hopefully) taking scuba diving lessons.  I'm in the middle of researching the best option for those as well.

For the Christmas holiday, we're going to be visiting Turkey.  The first week or so will be spent in Istanbul (not Constantinople) where we'll see all of the touristy stuff and sample the delicious local food and culture.  The second week will be spent in Ankara and (I hope) Ephesus, where we'll stay with an old friend of Larissa's (who lives in Ankara) and explore some amazing ruins from New Testament times.  I've heard it's amazing.

In between these plans, I fill my time playing the Wii, watching Jericho online, trying to regularly go to the gym, reading Watership Down (yes, the story about the rabbits), and trying to motivate myself into designing new shirts and writing blog posts.  I'm hoping that after I start work in January, I'll be a little more regular in getting shirts and blogging done (since they'll be my something else). 

If you're looking for "something else" to distract you, I would highly recommend checking out No End In Sight, a documentary about the war in Iraq.  Larissa and I watched it this week, and it was extremely powerful and moving.  I now feel like I have at least a basic grasp on what was (and is) going on in Iraq.  The movie is especially poignant when you watch it in a country that has very similar culture to Iraqi culture.  However, even for those of you who are firmly rooted in North American-ism, I would suggest checking it out.

That's all for now – stay tuned for the camel and tennis posts, and, uh… keep your stick on the ice (?)

It's not a particularly interesting story, how I came to read Lethargic Comics back when I was in high school.  I was working at a catering company at the time (my first job, at 15 years old, when minimum wage was $3.95 per hour).  One of the other employees from this company attended Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, and put out a (nearly) weekly comic strip on a black and white "zine" called "Lethargic Comics, Weakly". 

Lethargic comics was mostly put together by other Sheridan students, and one teacher.  It regularly spoofed early 90s culture (and especially other comic books), and featured such heroes as Lethargic Lad, Walrus Boy, and The Zit.  At the time, I found it absolutely hilarious, and I still have all of my issues back home in storage at my parents' place.

It's funny how certain things that you read end up sticking in your brain for years and years.  I remember a particularly good Walrus Boy story, when Walrus boy was being stalked by a werewolf on the way home from a babysitting gig, and in order to defend himself, he raises his hand and utters this phrase: "I call upon Ronco the Wonder Lizard!"  After saying these words, a gigantic bolt of lightning strikes his hand, and a rubber lizard appears, being grasped by the tail.  Walrus Boy smacks the werewolf with the rubber lizard, and the day is saved.

To this day, the concept of calling forth a rubber lizard from a bolt of lightning (alla "Shazam!") still strikes me as hilarious.  It is one of my wishes in this life that the phrase "I call upon Ronco the Wonder Lizard!" somehow makes it into popular mainstream parlance.  

Tonight, as I was thinking about this phrase, I decided to do a quick search for it on Google.  I discovered that, when searched for as a single phrase (in quotes), there are no results whatsoever, and that makes me sad.  However, for some crazy reason, there are "about 1,350" results for "the wonder lizard" (in quotes).  Though none of the results list the name "Ronco", there are "wonder lizards" named "Skizzy", "Franklin", "Teddy", "Artimus", "Bobo", "Eddie", and "Nuknuk", and that's just on the first page of results!

So, in honour of the genious that is Ronco the Wonder Lizard, and in order to put up at least one search result on Google for people searching that exact phrase, I am putting up this post.  I hope you've enjoyed it, and if you have, please make an effort to insert the words "I call upon Ronco the Wonder Lizard" into your daily conversations.  I can't popularize it on my own, folks.  But together, we can make it happen.

All day today, I have been asking myself "does something in here smell like French onion soup?"  It was only within the last hour that I figured out what was going on.

Yesterday, I helped Larissa make a stir-fry, and I took care of chopping up half an onion.  The onion was extremely tasty in the stir-fry, but potent during the preparation.  I had tears streaming down my face from the fumes as I was cutting it.  I felt like someone from the military was testing my resistance to a new form of gas weaponry.  

Since preparing that meal, I have showered at least once, washed my hands several times, and touched many other things.  However, due to the potency of the onion, my fingers still retain a lingering fragrance of yesterday's cooking session.  It's frustrating, and it's making me hungry.

So if you're one of my few readers who lives in Qatar, and if you see me sometime soon and think to yourself "that guy smells like onion soup", keep in mind that it's not my fault.  It's just the lingering aroma of my encounter with a particularly potent Allium cepa.

I have a problem.  Well, maybe not a problem, but a potential problem, depending on the situation.  My potential problem is this: I always want to be working on something else. 

What I mean is, whatever I'm doing, unless it's related to entertainment somehow (watching a movie, playing a game, etc.) I find that my mind wanders and I want to be focusing on something other than what is in front of me.  Let me give you some examples.

When I was in highschool, I was notorious for not doing my homework, and not taking notes in class.  I knew that taking notes was a good idea, and that doing homework would help me learn, but the "something else" was always more interesting.  At home, there were friends to be talked to, and games to be played.  At school, I would spend my class time drawing crazy-looking creatures, or creating new writing systems.  I took art class so that my drawing could get some focus, but then I just wanted to talk to the pretty girl sitting beside me, or draw something that was not related to the assignments.

I constantly find the same situation at my places of employment.  When I worked at the Bell store, customers would interrupt my otherwise wonderful pastimes of chatting with my coworkers, using the internet, or surfing the satellite TV channels.  When I was teaching at Brock, I found it difficult to do any actual planning or marking during my office hours.  I spent much more time dreaming up website ideas, coming up with T-shirt slogans, or trying to learn Arabic.  Even when I was meter-reading, my mind rarely focused on the job – in fact, most of my best ideas for other projects came to me during the tedium of walking all day between people's houses.

The problem for me now, waiting until I start work in January, is that I have no "something" to which I can attach a "something else".  What I mean is, I have all the time in the world to design T-shirts, create internet projects, or learn a language, but because those are all "something", I can't properly focus on them.  I need to work on those things as the "something else", and that can't happen unless I'm being required to do "something" first.

It really is funny how so many people say that they envy my situation, being free all day to do whatever they want, but I think that most would find that, if they were left with so much free time, they would spend their days playing games and watching TV, like I often do.  I'm so thankful that Larissa is able to find interesting things for us to do around the city and that she is always making plans for us to go out with people.  

It's easy for her, because she's working, and finding interesting things to do is her "something else".