At last!

The weather is wonderful!

After two months of the most oppressive heat I’ve ever experienced, worsened by my body’s diminishing ability to cool itself, I am delighted to report that I can walk around and do what I have to do without feeling like I’m about to explode. Quin plaer!

Even Japan has had to adapt to the heat.  The salary men were instructed to wear, instead of the traditional long black pants and white dress shirts, shorts and short-sleeved shirts. However, it seems that some Japanese women complained that seeing hairy legs was a form of sexual harassment.

Ah, mysterious Asia.

Speaking of Asia, I’ve been watching a new (to me) genre of Thai action series in which all the major male characters are extremely handsome and gay. In one episode, two competing race car drivers, whose angry, macho banter is worthy of Fast and Furious, decided to compete in an illegal race to determine who was better.  If the hero won, the bad guy would have to pay him lots of money; if the bad guy won, the prize was the good guy’s boyfriend.

You know, just like in American shows.

The shows are not porn, although in a very few there’s full on sex, but the film style is rather whimsical, as only the Thai can be. In the middle of a scene, animated white birds appear and fly through the trees. And the titles’ translations are unintentionally hilarious: One gritty horror/murder series translates to “May the Goddess Protect You from Harm” and another to “This love has no long beans.”

Anyone who knows me knows that I love this stuff. My friend Linda and I always used to delight in sharing examples of fractured English found in our travels.

I’ll be starting next level Catalan classes next week. As with my Spanish, my speaking is better than my comprehension. After 10 years, I understand 90% of the Spanish I hear. I’m at 60% with Catalan, but I’m actually trying to speak it in public.

I have to have a complex surgery on my left foot, so I need to decide in which country to have it. I’d like to get back to the US, but I can’t make that decision yet.

My health is good, and I’m getting stronger.  I go to the gym three times per week, but I’d prefer a gym with a pool so I could swim. There is one pretty near me, but it’s a much longer walk than my current gym, which is a block away.  That proximity helps me to go even when I’m not in the mood; I fear that I would be less motivated with the farther gym.

Oh, and a recommendation to see the film K-Pop Demon Hunters (on Netflix), which won for best animated feature. The key selling point is the proof that boy bands really are demons in disguise.

As for books, I really liked Alan Moore’s The Great When and its sequel I Hear a New World. Extremely imaginative, but might be a chore for those who prefer narratives of a less fantastical sort.

That’s it for now.

Remember to tell the young people in your life to look up once in a while.