LaosLover

Just a paltry strip of shacks off of the night market. Some real grannies in the mix too. Law of Thai Gravity: If they were hot, they'd have moved to where the money is.

I'd toss it in a mail box. Then I've done my good deed, it's someone else's problem, and I'm not wasting my time down at the Police Station

Def miss the seasons. Appalachian Spring was so dramatic, it had its own symphony. Rainy season here is my fave since the days at least do vary a bit. I like the mix 'n match iconography of the temples, the way everything combines and overlaps, influenced by local taste and who the patron was. They are meant to be read (interpreted), not just looked at. Thai wats are both broad-based Buddhist and very much site-specific. It was likely built on top of an animist power spot. And some of that old belief will be in the ornamentation (partic Naga/snakes). The mix of decorative elements gives you a shorthand into the old beliefs of that area, all still in place to some extent to this day. Whereas churches and mosques are much more restrictive in their visual style and much less localized in its representation.

We like the cultural anthropology aspect. The little shrines in stores, the orange and green color combo everywhere, the so many diff cuisine variants. Chiang Mai reminds me of New Orleans (without the crime). It's still very local-feeling while at the same time serving up tons of hedonistic tourists. Lanna hospitality is not just a tourist office slogan. This place is uniquely welcoming and gracious.

We decided just to demote him. He was a weekly meetup and an email every other day. Than we went to every other week and answering Line messages only. Now I think it be more like every 3 weeks and taking our time getting back to him on Line. If he asks me for macrame money, he's toast.

If he's remembered at all in the states, it's for his mutually hostile Meg Ryan interview https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/flashback/michael-parkinsons-infamous-meg-ryan-interview-resurfaces/news-story/100daf86f9a8750c323ad112a34dbaf3

-And the 50% that stayed married don't look so happy either. I see mostly couples who eat in silence in a restaurant. Among my older married friends, maybe 10% should even bother to stagger on together.

A crude, conehead-like attempt at flattery -like actually thinking that calling me sexy papa will get me to pay them for sex.

-based on this review, I was gagging to go. But I couldn't find it on Google. I'm going to do a minimum 1 riverside restaurant a week until I exhaust this list, no matter how long it may go. The collection of specialist, upscale N. Thai restaurants along a very pretty river is very unique. The only comparable such place I can think of is The French Quarter in New Orleans. Leaning towards Paak Dang next, due to archectural interest, tho Rim Na Tee keeps calling to me, being well off of the main river restaurant strip . I'm guessing if I show up right at 6 PM, I can have my pick of tables (no biggie if I can't). I'd forgotten how beautiful that part of town is in terms of old teak houses. Any soi near a restaurant worth a wander for that?

Soi 13, next to The Miami Hotel. Nice old little shop. 300 baht. Solid brit pub down the soi too. You can order in a curry from next door.

Any champagne low grade enough to be given away is usually very missable. See also: unlimited mimosa's at brunch. Sober Curious is worth a look for you because it handles social drinking with a 'just have one (and only one) approach.

Lemme get some inter-cultural advice from experts here: A western guy was talking to his (30 years younger) Thai wife on speaker phone. She knew we could hear her. She called him "foolish" for getting the wrong take away food order. And then reminded him of his error 3 more times. How doomed is that guy?

We're more in the ask the other person not to do X-zone. And then we grade on curve. If X-annoying thing decreases by 60% or better, that minor problem is declared SOLVED. And never, ever would we criticize each other in front of a third party.

The big joke around the time was that they were invited to play Disneyland. The Disney people thought they were portraying super-hero's. What kind of super-hero was the leatherman supposed to be? The Indian was my neighbor -obviously free to walk among us unmolested by fans if he wasn't wearing his head dress.

Take a look at the Sober-Curious approach. It helped me. I agree, drinking in the UK is insidiously pleasurable. I drank more there in 8 years than the rest of my life combined. Def agree that a good way to excuse yourself from drinking is claiming you're on medication, or just simply say, "it doesn't agree with me anymore".

I saw BoneyM and Status Quo together. It was like Chav-apalooza,

Ruined by Trump forever.

Two of my wife's cousins in Appalachia scored former Phillipa maids from such meet 'n greets. Both made a second trip where they went back to the village after intro. Neither had sex on the first go-round. Very lovely women, a little fat in the can. Basically waiting for Homer and Jethro to die so they can cash out on the trailer and finally go back home.

I recall in England they had to memorize the entire city, down to most arcane semi-circle dead ends. It was called The Knowledge. But surely GPS has killed that. It's been 30 years since a salt of the earth white person has been seen driving a cab in either place. I'm sort of glad that Uber ect. killed them dead. If you've ever tried to hail a cab with a black friend, you know why.

On my answering machine for decades

The Smiths always remind me of Bart Simpson's assessment of Nirvana: "Depressing Teenagers? That's like shooting fish in a barrel".

Went to Deck1. Beautiful new building resembling an old teak house in a minimalist way. More like a Bangkok menu than a CM one. Best crab and betal leaf to date. Would go again. Def like the location of Rim Na Tee, that one will be next. Prob been to Riverside 3 times in 20 years; it was always a Stickman/Lonely Planet recco. But a lot of such places aren't open for lunch, so Deck1 was semi-full.

Slow build, Killer ending:

Like Bruce channeling Bob Seger: