Who could've imagined this blogging thing could be so fun!
Sometime this weekend, we here at LFS will mark the passing of several milestones all at one time. We will see our 5,000th visitor, our 100th post and we will have made $15. Not bad for 10 months worth of work.
We're not even being facetious.
It is pretty fun. We get to vent our spleen on all kinds of topics, as well as tell some of our better travel tales (we promise to finish Road to Marrakesh soon). We also get to comment on just how weird and wonderful life is here on the Far Side.
We are also approaching our third anniversary since arriving here. Back then, everything blew us away! It was all so strange and foreign and just left of normal. Now we have become inculcated into the lifestyle. We wear sandals all the time and take our shoes off at the front door out of habit. We eat with our hands and belch and fart at the table, because that is what one is upposed to do. "Better out than in," as Shrek would say. We have become conversant in five new languages, as well. Not a single one is usable outside Indonesia, but it makes for fun small talk with tourists.
When we came here, we weighed 280 lbs., and had a long, quickly whitening beard (which was begun at puberty and never fully shaved until arriving here). We are now down to 200 lbs. and our face is naked. We call it the Balikpapan diet: eat only Top Ramen and walk 12 kilometers every day for six months. It works!
We now touch our hand to our chest reflexively after shaking hands with someone, as is the custom. We call everyone 'pak' or 'bu,' if they are older than us (which is getting rarer every year), or 'mas' and 'mbak,' if younger. And everyone calls us 'om,' or 'bule kampung,' depending on the crowd.
Iyr closet is now full of batik shirts and short pants (blessedly not Burmuda shorts) and we don't remember the last time we had a hamburger, which we plan to remedy soon with a little home grillin' on the new smoker. In fact, we don't eat much American food at all these days. We do occasional whip up a batch of burritos or our world-famous spaghetti sauce, which draws folks from all over town who want to try the exotic foreign foods. We have now officially celebrated Thanksgiving here and, if the hunt is successful, will enjoy our first Christmas ham in years in two weeks. Won't be inviting the Muslim friends for that feast, we suppose.
Making physical contact with cars and other motorcycles is no longer terrifying, as it happens about five times a day (no exaggeration there). For six months of the year, we carry a change of clothese and rain gear everywhere. We have gotten used to the precisely 12-hour day, and no appreciable change in seasons (just higher or lower humidity). We have learned how to use the 'force field' when crossing streets and know the fair price of all transportation options here.
We love durien and mangosteen and star fruit, and have even developed a taste for chocolate-avocado smoothies. We have eaten things that are illegal in half the world, and unidentifiable in most of that world. We have enjoyed bugs, snakes, dogs, bats, and sea creatures that the WWF has declared extinct. We have even gotten used to having only toilet paper on the table, instead of napkins.
We have gotten used to monkeys in the trees and the idea of wild tigers and rhinos running around. We have seen orangutans in their natural state and Kimoto dragons crossing the road. We have been stung by hornets the size of hummingbirds and stepped on millipedes almost as long as our foot.
We have learned that Indonesian TV is just as inane as American, but we enjoy balancing our news intake between Anglo-American propaganda and Sino-Arabic. We have found some Indo bands and even a few movies that are really good (like "Laskar Pelangi"), but that no one will ever know outside Indonesia. We even stay up on Indonesian politics so we can start a good bar fight when things are too quiet.
And through it all, we have endeavored to report it all, good, bad and indifferent, to you, dear reader. Sometimes it comes out rather incoherently, because there's just so much to say it's hard to compress it all. We have tried to use our unique position to put a little perspective on things 'back home.' We have even managed to squeeze out a little humor in between the rants, though we will concede that is a matter of taste.
We also enjoy the amazingly thoughtful and insightful email we get from readers. That is the most gratifying part of this project (though getting rich and retiring wouldn't get kicked out of bed either). We have made some great contacts, not only in other countries, but right here in Indoland, as well. We hope that our readers will be moved to come back regularly, and pass on the link to others of equally warped mentalities.
Oh, and we'd be remiss if we didn't mention that the eBay experience will be launched soon selling handcrafts from this side of the planet, all hand-made and all direct from the creator/manufacturer to your hot little hands, with only us and FedEx stinding in the middle, of course. So keep an eye out for that one.
In the meantime, thanks for stopping by the Far Side, and we hope to see you around the net.
And to our ex-girlfriend from a loooooong time ago, whose last name was Blog, do you wish you had copyrighted your name now?
We're just wondering...
Showing posts with label the Far Side. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the Far Side. Show all posts
17.12.10
3.8.10
Far Side Waxing
Dengue Fever in Florida
Lazy-ass Do-Nothing CONgress
Fiddling While Rome Burns
More Fiddling About While Pompeii Burns Too
A Trillion Here, A Trillion There...
What's A Little Extinction Among Friends?
Creating the Self-Fulfilling Prophesy
Americans Quittin' n Buggin' Out
The Great and Powerful Oz
The first thing you should notice about the above links is that they are not wild-eyed bloggers (like me), conspiracy nutjobs or 'fringe elements.' These are 'mainstream' media outlets talking about America's long dark tea-time of the soul (sorry Douglas Adams).
In fact, America has been in decline for a long time. I was aware of it somewhere around the Reagan Administration. At that time, I pointed out to my father the old wisdom that the hunter must become the hunted. By extension, America must become like Soviet Russia and vice versa. It would seem that my observation was somewhat precient.
The above articles document Americans changing nationalities (defecting), living conditions devolving to 'third world' standards and a growing revolutionary fever. Does this sound like the richest, most powerful nation on Earth? Or a tin-pot poseur with a microphone and amplifier?
Outbreaks of dengue fever and epidemics of bedbugs sure sound like the kind of conditions we used to point at 'lesser' countries and snigger at how backward they were. We were so proud of our progressive welfare state that turned an entire nation into a bunch of teat-suckers. We had all the latest toys and geegaws, while those 'lesser' nations were still mucking around in the jungle. Hell, just watch any version of King Kong, which all begin with the capture of the beast on Borneo (Indonesia). Notice how the natives are depicted. Now take a clear and serious look at American cutlture and lifestyles. From over here on the Far Side, I don't see much difference. Even has the sacrificial female re: Congresscritter Waters.
When the Financial Times headlines that Americans are bailing out, then you can smell a trend. We're not just talking ex-pat status, but throwing out the citizenship baby with the burdensome-taxes bathwater. Remember all the stories and movies about Russian defectors? Remember how we would point to that as proof that we were better than 'them?' Remember when being anti-government was simply unthinkable? We couldn't imagine someone not liking America or wanting to be an American. The whole world wanted to be American! They all wanted dollars and McDonald's. Well, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who wants dollars now, and gosh, McDonald's is about as healthy as eating raw plastic, except the plastic doesn't come with artery-damming fat. In fact, America's veil of bullsh*t has grown so thin that even the Mexicans are running the other way across the river. The image of rats from a sinking ship comes to mind.
When all you have left is jingoism, then the game is up. Insecure and inwardly weak, the bully boasts loudly and protects his piece of turf against all enemies, both foreign and imagined. The dying power resorts to slogans and invading ill-prepared countries in order to display the tail feathers of past glory. Sadly, America has completely lost sight of what made it great. It wasn't the ability to reduce other nations to rubble. it wasn't the nanny-state welfare system that encouraged sloth. It wasn't even its industrial might. It was one very simple act. So simple, in fact, that it has become almost invisible, yet the implications of this one act are so profound as to be Earth-shaking. The original idea that made America great was that government stepped aside and let people build themselves up. But once regulations and laws and fees and taxes and agencies and authorities (when did they go from servants to authorities?), all was lost. It was only a matter of time before the bloated, rotting carcass would collapse on itself and belch forth streams of maggots.
I am reminded of a famous quote. Who was it? De Tocqueville or Tyler? "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy."
It would seem that dictatorship has decended upon America.
Things don't look good for America from here on the Far Side. We have about the best perspective one can have, whether physically, culturally and psychologically, that can be achieved on the surface of Earth. What we see here doesn't look good for America's future. Oh, sure...you can argue semantics or say that it ain't so bad "'cause ah live here an' things is jes fine." Hard to see the forest through those darned trees.
My father had a sign on his desk when he was in the Texas Legislature. It read, "When you're up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to remember that your first thought was to drain the swamp." When Clinton was in office, people looked fondly back at Bush the First. When Bush the Second was installed, people actually thought Billy wasn't so bad. Now we have Bammy and folks wish that we could have Bush the Second back in there. The line of outrage always moves forward, and the trailing line of nostalgia is in lock-step behind it. Remember Nixon? People beat their breasts and lamented the end of the Republic. Now the Watergate break-in seems insignificant to the level of crap flowing from the Beltway.
Two and a half years ago, I announced to my circle of friends and family that I was moving to The Far Side. The most common response: "Indonesia...is that in Bali?" Most others thought I was just plain crazy moving to the Third World from good ol' Merica. Now, many of those same people want to know how they can move here too. Such is life. A visionary is always considered crazy until he is proven right.
A little perspective goes a long way.
And such is Life on the Far Side.
Lazy-ass Do-Nothing CONgress
Fiddling While Rome Burns
More Fiddling About While Pompeii Burns Too
A Trillion Here, A Trillion There...
What's A Little Extinction Among Friends?
Creating the Self-Fulfilling Prophesy
Americans Quittin' n Buggin' Out
The Great and Powerful Oz
The first thing you should notice about the above links is that they are not wild-eyed bloggers (like me), conspiracy nutjobs or 'fringe elements.' These are 'mainstream' media outlets talking about America's long dark tea-time of the soul (sorry Douglas Adams).
In fact, America has been in decline for a long time. I was aware of it somewhere around the Reagan Administration. At that time, I pointed out to my father the old wisdom that the hunter must become the hunted. By extension, America must become like Soviet Russia and vice versa. It would seem that my observation was somewhat precient.
The above articles document Americans changing nationalities (defecting), living conditions devolving to 'third world' standards and a growing revolutionary fever. Does this sound like the richest, most powerful nation on Earth? Or a tin-pot poseur with a microphone and amplifier?
Outbreaks of dengue fever and epidemics of bedbugs sure sound like the kind of conditions we used to point at 'lesser' countries and snigger at how backward they were. We were so proud of our progressive welfare state that turned an entire nation into a bunch of teat-suckers. We had all the latest toys and geegaws, while those 'lesser' nations were still mucking around in the jungle. Hell, just watch any version of King Kong, which all begin with the capture of the beast on Borneo (Indonesia). Notice how the natives are depicted. Now take a clear and serious look at American cutlture and lifestyles. From over here on the Far Side, I don't see much difference. Even has the sacrificial female re: Congresscritter Waters.
When the Financial Times headlines that Americans are bailing out, then you can smell a trend. We're not just talking ex-pat status, but throwing out the citizenship baby with the burdensome-taxes bathwater. Remember all the stories and movies about Russian defectors? Remember how we would point to that as proof that we were better than 'them?' Remember when being anti-government was simply unthinkable? We couldn't imagine someone not liking America or wanting to be an American. The whole world wanted to be American! They all wanted dollars and McDonald's. Well, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who wants dollars now, and gosh, McDonald's is about as healthy as eating raw plastic, except the plastic doesn't come with artery-damming fat. In fact, America's veil of bullsh*t has grown so thin that even the Mexicans are running the other way across the river. The image of rats from a sinking ship comes to mind.
When all you have left is jingoism, then the game is up. Insecure and inwardly weak, the bully boasts loudly and protects his piece of turf against all enemies, both foreign and imagined. The dying power resorts to slogans and invading ill-prepared countries in order to display the tail feathers of past glory. Sadly, America has completely lost sight of what made it great. It wasn't the ability to reduce other nations to rubble. it wasn't the nanny-state welfare system that encouraged sloth. It wasn't even its industrial might. It was one very simple act. So simple, in fact, that it has become almost invisible, yet the implications of this one act are so profound as to be Earth-shaking. The original idea that made America great was that government stepped aside and let people build themselves up. But once regulations and laws and fees and taxes and agencies and authorities (when did they go from servants to authorities?), all was lost. It was only a matter of time before the bloated, rotting carcass would collapse on itself and belch forth streams of maggots.
I am reminded of a famous quote. Who was it? De Tocqueville or Tyler? "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy."
It would seem that dictatorship has decended upon America.
Things don't look good for America from here on the Far Side. We have about the best perspective one can have, whether physically, culturally and psychologically, that can be achieved on the surface of Earth. What we see here doesn't look good for America's future. Oh, sure...you can argue semantics or say that it ain't so bad "'cause ah live here an' things is jes fine." Hard to see the forest through those darned trees.
My father had a sign on his desk when he was in the Texas Legislature. It read, "When you're up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to remember that your first thought was to drain the swamp." When Clinton was in office, people looked fondly back at Bush the First. When Bush the Second was installed, people actually thought Billy wasn't so bad. Now we have Bammy and folks wish that we could have Bush the Second back in there. The line of outrage always moves forward, and the trailing line of nostalgia is in lock-step behind it. Remember Nixon? People beat their breasts and lamented the end of the Republic. Now the Watergate break-in seems insignificant to the level of crap flowing from the Beltway.
Two and a half years ago, I announced to my circle of friends and family that I was moving to The Far Side. The most common response: "Indonesia...is that in Bali?" Most others thought I was just plain crazy moving to the Third World from good ol' Merica. Now, many of those same people want to know how they can move here too. Such is life. A visionary is always considered crazy until he is proven right.
A little perspective goes a long way.
And such is Life on the Far Side.
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