good to be me

Yesterday I received a quick’n’rough edit of our Taiwan film which we are sending to the client in advance of the final cut, and I spend the morning writing the subtitles in Chinese and English for all my live chattering, which was surprisingly rewarding, as I had only made one mistake!
It isn’t ALL me making silly faces, promise

Just MOSTLY me making silly faces…

Then once I had sent my translation spreadsheet off to Alberto, I started on my work for David. There were a few issues with synching the progress we had done, so in the end we decided to meet face to face at the office. 40 minutes later, we were off to Apple to purchase the promised MacBook Air (on which I am currently writing this — it is a DREAM MACHINE). We had to spend several hours waiting for the people at Apple to set up the laptop, and talked so much about — well, everything, philosophy and psychology and productivity, which are all key aspects of this project. I am really lucky to be getting paid to do this.

Additionally, I may have a free place to stay in Koh Samui when I go to Thailand this June. How awesome is that? Told you I am lucky. I just cannot bring myself to worry about anything anymore, because everything comes together so much better than I could ever plan…

Today the China Hash is in Neihu, which I think won’t be too strenuous, but I am not sure I can walk the Hash today as I have so much to do before I leave for Hong Kong tomorrow. Will have to get on with things instead of blabbing on my blog now…

journey

I went round to Catherine and Nikki’s for an evening of bingeing on popcorn watching Studio Ghibli films and girl talk. Upon arrival, I was immediately presented with Nikki’s Where’s Wally puzzle and instructed to find the last missing object, a key. After years of hunting down rogue trees on my Photoshop golf course drawings*, I am now an expert at Where’s Wally and I am proud to say I found every single item within minutes. YES, THAT IS MY GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT TODAY, WHAT OF IT?
Behold the puzzle, framed by Nikki’s thalidomide flipper of a hand and my own witchy features

Whilst I am promoting my friends and their extraordinary talents, if you are interested in what I am going to be doing in this week’s up-coming filming, check out the pilot episode Maria presented in Thailand. I am hideously jealous of her Beijing accent and of the fact that she got to go to Thailand instead of rainy old Taiwan. I encourage you all to watch it, if only for Maria’s breath-taking acting skills when she gets attacked by a shark.

http://player.youku.com/player.php/sid/XMzYzMTM2Mzg0/v.swf
CLICK ME FOR THE LINK IF THE ABOVE DOESN’T WORK
(I wanted to embed it but it won’t work on my iPad, sadly. So follow the above link! Watch it! Laugh! Like it!)
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*yes, I know, that makes no sense to anyone who hasn’t worked in the golf course design industry. So, pretty much everyone.

silent

Today was mostly spent walking across Taipei — I covered around 15km sorting out paperwork and then getting to Zhengda for my much-awaited Catherine time. My knees feel pretty good despite all the walkling; I am currently icing them, and I have put myself back onto a course of anti-inflamatories which I am following religiously this time. There’s hope for me yet!

Anyway, Catherine was telling me about her Thai housemate, Beebee (just realised I have no idea how to spell her name), who just came back from her second meditation retreat (in Thailand of course). It’s something that my darling Rebecca has often talked to me about, but which I always found utterly terrifying, until recently… I’ve been toying with the idea of going to Thailand for a couple of weeks after Taiwan, and the notion of a 10-day silent retreat is an increasingly attractive challenge.

Anyone who knows me is probably laughing at the idea of me being silent for 10 minutes, let alone 10 days, and I know my mother is thinking of my father’s historical fascination (and inevitable failures) with meditation and zen. I am kind of scared at how on earth I could survive for 10 days without talking, reading, WRITING?! But I feel that it would make me such a stronger person if I could accomplish this. It might even go some way to learning how to fake that whole soul thing…

Anyway, that is my thought for today. Thailand wouldn’t be till June, so there’s some time for me to mull it over. Oh yes, and this idea coincides hilariously with my rediscovery of coffee. I know I will crash and burn soon, but I am always THRILLED with the first 12 hours of my first coffee after an extended break. Ah well, it won’t last!