I'm in the Philippines. Many things stay the same (like the music). Many things change (like new stringent smoking laws, friends no longer living here, my grandmother dying). It's always odd, but perhaps underscored by only being here for 4 days with 2 days of travel. Before I left SF, I came up with a new goal: to spend 7 days in a row in SF. It's a big one, but I'm going to try...

Elvis was on my plane. He's fat and wears a tacky red jacket.

The president of the Philippines sent flowers to my grandmother's memorial. Am I really part of this family?

Currently I'm really hungry so this will be short. Time for some food I can only get here, like a banana cue from a street vendor.

Been a long time since I've posted.

I've realized an odd thing: I'm having difficulty getting things into my hands which are actually mine. I've ordered a new mattress to replace the one I have, but they won't give it to me until I manage to get a spot of dye off the old mattress. Through some idiotic sales behavior, the laptop I thought was ordered and on its way actually wasn't... I hear there's one coming now. A large paycheck was to be delivered to me by a friend, but it seems to have gone through 3 other friends' hands (who were being helpful messengers) on its way to mine; tomorrow I'm supposed to get it.

This is all feels odd and fairly frustrating.