17.10.2016 Being Led A-stray

Hello all,

So, although it has been a very long time since my last post, I find this a pertinent time to make a post, with all the events that have recently happened.

As much of the worlds had become aware, His Majesty Bhumibol Adulyadej, passed away on the 13th of this month, and it has cast a dark, dark cloud over this wonderful county. you can see masses of people adorned in black, white, or other solemn colors as you walk about the city of Bangkok, or even the local Tesco Lotus.
Now, I'm sure many people are aware of the role the King had in Thailand, but really don't understand the extent of how important he was to the people. Myself being a foreigner, I am not as knowledgeable about the history, but I do know that in the eyes of the people, he was and is the emblem of Thailand. Living here for three years and counting has given me a bit more perspective on
the live and respect held for him. And with the respect, when the news made its announcement, I did not feel nothing. In fact, the best way I could describe the feeling would be as if something stole the breath from you.

As for the effects of his passing, the country of Thailand is holding a 30-day mourning period. What this means, as many have read, is that activities in Thailand have quieted down, especially the party scene. Many events that were scheduled to the 13th of November have been either cancelled or postponed. Since I had bought tickets to two separate events, I can feel that effect, but I didn't feel as disappointed as quite a few foreigners coming to Thailand.  
In fact, quite a few seem to be quite disgruntled about the situation, claiming it ruined their holiday. Article can be found here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3838673/Western-tourists-complain-death-Thai-king-spoilt-holidays-nightlife-shut-month.html

As much as I understand the disappointment of coming to a country for holiday and plans being cancelled, that kind of response to this situation is utterly disrespectful. Life is not all about parties and getting drunk. That, and there will always be another party. 

Besides the hushing of nightlife, and sea of black, there hasn't been too much change in this country. So, for any foreigners planning to visit in the next year, don't be too worried, just be respectful. You may see people wearing black ribbons or armbands as well as their clothing, and it just means they are in mourning, but life will be normal.

With this going on in Thailand, there also have been misfortunes back home. One of my college friends lost her youngest sister just days before the the King of Thailand. Losing one of your family is always hard, and even more difficult if they are younger then you, or your progeny. One quote resonates within my memory:

They say when a parent dies, a child feels his own mortality. But when a child dies, it's immortality that a parent loses. 

Yes, I did pull the quote from American Horror Story, but that does not make it any less relevant or powerful. In this case, many of the people in Thailand probably feel their own mortality as the Father of Thailand has passed on, and the mother of my friend losing one of her own,

In other news, of last week, on Tuesday, the 11th, was my first encounter with a dog behind my home. At first, I was terrified because he was blocking my way home, but then I saw that he wasn't walking well, and he did not seem okay, overall. Possible victim of a car accident. I did manage to contact a dog rescue group to come help him and was fortunate to have them come pick him up to get the medical care he needs. I even made public posts to Facebook and Instagram to garner attention and, hopefully, some donations. Oddly enough, out of all my Instagram posts, this one definitely gained the most attention. I am not one familiar with having more than 20 or so likes, but here, I got over 100. Weird things. Maybe I should start posting more pictures of dogs I see everywhere.

For those interested in seeing the post, and possibly giving a donation, here you go!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLpjSl8BKDX/

In all honesty, many unfortunate things have happened last week, one has to hope that there will be a shift in balance of the world's fortunes.

But for now, I will see what the future has in store. 

Until next time,

K.

25.3.2014-3.4.2014 Not all cracks are bad.

Hello, all.
I hope this fares you well. Today, I received news that will change my future. Surprisingly enough, when I heard the news, as negative as it may have been, I released a sigh of relief. Why?
Because I have been given a major green light to something I have been needing to do for a while: Moving out.

To make the long story shorter, it's been something on my mind for a while. I hadn't been in the healthiest environment for my development, so I was looking for a way to move forward. By not being the "healthiest," I mean that I wasn't feeling progressive, really just stuck in an "in-between" kind of stage. My friend put it in such good words

"It gives me a so-called excuse not to fully engage with the present moment, and I find myself looking more so ahead to the future. Putting all of my eggs into the basket of the future, which is made of smoke and mirrors."

In reality, this is exactly what I had been doing, with my social life. I inform people that I cannot go out on most nights because if have an "obligation," being that I have been playing nanny and babysitter to my cousin, teaching him to prepare himself for bed, reading to him every night, and waking him on on school days. Albeit, it is a legitimate excuse...to an extent. The extent is that this is not my child, and he is not truly my responsibility. The background reason of my efforts had been focused on not getting verbally mauled by an abrasively clueless egoist, while also trying to alleviate the woman putting up with him. Children should never be used as blame. They really shouldn't because they aren't cognitively developed enough to fully understand dynamics: social, consequential, etc. Back to the topic, I have been halting my person agenda of progressive development in business, in addition self-discovery, in order to appease someone who lost my respect after a month of my stay with them. I had been doing this to survive, but I felt far from living.
Although I am waiting for the moment for things to fall in place, I am feeling more motivated to work on the goals I had originally set; I'm going to need to commit in order to truly learn self-sufficiency and what I'm made of.
Now, to the nitty gritty of it, there is still the fear of leaving the unfamiliar because this will be the first time that I will officially be living on my own: no roommates, no family, no animals. For a (hopefully) short time, I may actually be the only tenant in my building. The hardest part, I think, about living on my own will be that I have to take on full responsibility for everything: rent, water and electric charges, maintenance (of self and of my living space), activities that I would like to partake in, and work. Luckily, I have a head start about taking on my work as a responsibility

                  The Communication....

The Transportation

The Work itself

While I had been typing this, I just received pictures, check them out!

A Walk-in View

All in all, it is pretty awesome. Even if there isn't a kitchen in the apartment. If you look at the window, that building is my workplace. I am sold. 

Now, all I need to do is make my list of "homie" things:

• desk lamp
• welcome mat
• table chair (or stool)
• alarm clock
• linens

Not too shabby, sir, not too shabby.

Until next time (aka my post that will hopefully be made in the next couple of hours...),

K.