In Taiwan, Everything is Easy

Cabbage Prices Shock Taiwanese Citizens Island-Wide In news that shocked Taiwan, the price of Cabbage  nearly doubled this past Monday... In news that should have shocked the rest of the world, the price of cabbage made the news in Taiwan.... The E-mail That Nearly Broke Herman The Expat Reporter Hello Herman The Expat Reporter. I have an assignment for you this week.  The cabbage prices went up last night.  As you already know,  this means that retired people all over the island   will  be going to  Family Marts, Temples, 7-11's,  and  anywhere they can think  to find s omeone to listen to them complain  about this.     As you probably remember, this happens every year in May. I want 3000 words by Friday. You're my guy.  Go get 'em Hermie. Your Bosss, Ms. Wu The lead reporter at Bullshit News in Taiwan , Herman The Expat Reporter ,  bashed  his forehead against his desk after reading this e-mail from his supervisor. His p

Finding My Artist's Way I'm currently reading an old self-help book called  the Artist's Way. The author maps out  a sixteen week program for her readers  to lead them towards a more creative lifestyle.  The writer takes a much broader than usual definition for the idea of creatives. She doesn't only mean  people wanting to become artists, writers, rock & roll stars,etc. She goes into great detail how being more creative can help individuals in all areas of life. She puts a heavy focus on three main activities to help participants achieve their goals.  1.) Morning Pages- She requires participants to wake up 30-50 minutes early every morning for some free wriitng. It sounds overwhelming to most people at first. I usually spend the full fifty minutes on my Morning Pages. I try not to use any prompts in an effort to clear the clutter in my mind. My progress has been great so far. I have only missed three days in three and a half weeks. 2 .Artist's Date-This

Ever since I started the Southern Taiwan Hiking group, I have always said that I wanted to start a blog about hiking, or other outdoor activities in Taiwan. My hunch is fear of success kept me from doing it. I think it's a fear of success, because my top five favorite things to do are: 1.) Writing 2.) Hiking 3.) Photography 4.)  Cycling 5.) Reading With those five interests in life, it should have been pretty obvious to me to start writing some of the adventures out. But, better late than never! But, I have recently been reading a book called The Artist's Way .  It is about the tenth time I have made an attempt to read, and work through the exercises that the author provides her readers. The material focuses on providing strategies for increased creativity. Every time I spend time working on this piece of work,  it always seems to give me the courage to try some new things while I am going through the suggested activities. So, with the list I made above, I took not

Riding my bike through Douliou. "Damn it! Nothing sounds good." Even my eyes twinged, with hate. "Jesus. I can't wait for vacation." Then, I saw a picture of a boiling pot of eggs and noodles, and a big number fifty on it. "Must be the Ramen Noodle place. But, at least it's cheap. " I stood in front of the door for a longggg minute as I remembered back to a simpler, and somewhat less hateful time. I was dating a girl who insisted one day that we go for Ramen Noodles in the Taipei Train Station. I recalled thinking before we went, “What a stupid idea. Food is always more expensive at the train station, but not better. And, you want to pay good money for Ramen Noodles? How moronic can you get?” I had a somewhat happier thought. “Ramen Noodles – Adrian Kulp, and his blog Dad or Alive . “ “Why the hell do I think of Adrian, my college friend every time I see Ramens? I literally never saw him,

Psycho said, "You have to call me when you get out of work today. " I reached for my phone at 5:01. "Well, it is so nice to hear your voice finally." "You too, especially after all this talk about making out in your jet. " "You sound even hotter than you look on your Myspace pic, by the way." "Focus, Josh." "Uh.. Yeah.. By the way.. My boss launched a campaign today.” “Operation get Josh Dent fired." "Wait. What?"" "I gotta pick up my kid now. But, I wanted to let you know." “Be careful.” "Hold on…" "Sorry. We'll chat more tomorrow." After Psycho dropped the call, I shook up my protein shake, and headed for the gym. I thought through my workout and into the night about our conversation. “Man. That voice sounded so sweet.” “I can’t wait to meet her.” “I wanted to talk longer.” What an enigma. I thought not