Confetti Storm of Fish

I got back from Singapore three weeks ago... and I've been sick ever since. It's just a stupid cold -- not BIRD FLEW or anything! My favorite parts of the trip were the zoo and a Hindu temple I visited there.

Singapore's a tropical island and what could be cooler than a zoo built INTO a friggin jungle? I saw things there that I've only seen on TV -- live giraffes licking at the leaves at the tops of trees, baby hippos swimming a graceful ballet through a confetti storm of silver fish, monkeys swinging madly between the branches of exotic trees. I pet the soft fur of a kangaroo, I locked eyes with a white tiger, I narrowly dodged a low-flying flock of candy-apple red birds. Gorgeous.

But the most poignant moment was at the temple. I took my shoes off at the door and ducked inside. In every corner and on every wall were shrines for each of their hundreds of dieties. A man at the door played horn next to a man pounding away on the drum. Incense was thick in the air. Dark-skinned Indian men carried flaming trays of incense and candles, lighting the shrines one by one. They wore wooden malas around their necks, simple diaper-draped shorts and a flaming tongue of red paint on their third eye. Passing devotees bowed at the feet of statues and kissed their foreheads to the ground. I felt humbled by the immense spiritual feeling and devotion that flowed from these people. I wanted to say a prayer myself but felt somehow that it wasn't right.

Everything was wonderful... until I got back to the States. The minute we began our decent, my whole head felt like it swelled up. I couldn't hear, my sinuses hurt, there was coughing and mucus. ... I've gotten better, but the cough is still freakin' LINGERING!

Other than that -- school is back in swing. I'm taking an English Literature Genre Studies class -- SCIFI! How frikkin cool is that?! We're reading so many cool short stories. Of the bunch we've read so far, I high recommend:  "Arena" by Fredric Brown, "Nightfall" by Isaac Asimov and "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" by Lewis Padgett. The last one was the inspiration for "The Last Mimsy" which was a film that came out 1 or 2 years ago.

Also, I've recently discovered some new music that has me swept up. Give them a listen if you like:

Beautiful __ by Me'shell NdegeOcello
Hold on __ by Magnet
Into Dust __ by Ashtar Command
Aqueous Transmission __ by Incubus
I Miss You __ by Incubus
A Bad Dream __ by Keane
3055 __ by Olafur Arnalds

I hope this journal finds you well. Tell me about how fall semester is going for you... or for those of you NOT in school, how is September treating you?

LOVE
PL

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