Things to do in the South Bay, Taipei, and Guadalajara...

     I'm proud to be a minimalist, except when I need something. Like now, as I prepare to careen wildly to the Far East, Mexico, and back within five days. So off I traipsed after basics.

     I usually use my cellphone as a clock, but that won't help me on the plane, nor will it be useful in Taipei or Guadalajara. It automatically updates to local time, and it's important to stay tethered to L.A. time in a sure-to-be futile attempt to combat jet-lag through so many miles in such a short time. Calculating the number of hours between time zones may be fun if one is only recently learning how to count, but it's best just to stare at one's wrist.

     So I needed to buy a watch. I know what kind of watch I suppose I like, but I'm not going to spend hours looking for it, so I bought one that is as basic and utilitarian as I could find in the 15 minutes that I set aside to find it. Not digital, one time zone, shows the date. Sold.

     Then I decided that I needed a camera. I took maybe a dozen pictures in Russia with a borrowed camera, and--I'm told--all were of poor quality. I told the Russians that I'd keep my memories in my heart and in my head---and I will, at least until one, the other, or both give out. I probably should have bought a camera before I went there.

     So now I have a Nikon Coolpix, which will fit in my pocket and has a rather large display to peer through prior to snapping the photo; perfect for me, as some of you have seen the outcome which results from me squinting through a tiny peephole. (See, "pictures/Russia"). How those wisps of shutter shadowed around the edges of some of my best work I'll never know.

     Buying the camera, of course, required that I return today for that little something they forgot to tell me about: a memory card. Thanks to Bruce "Francisco Scavullo" Bean, I found out in time to get hooked up this afternoon. I was bound and determined to look at the camera store staff with "Betty's eyes" when I got there; I wasn't thrilled that they hadn't mentioned the memory card yesterday, especially after I asked the little rave girl to make it "idiot-proof". So I weakly mentioned it to today's crew and when they asked me who sold me the camera, I didn't have the heart to describe her. I told them that I didn't want to get her in trouble and changed the subject.

     In Taipei, I hope to visit the world's tallest "completed" skyscraper and freak myself out by taking the really fast elevator and hanging out on the observation deck. I'm scared of heights, so this should work out quite nicely. It's referred to as the tallest "completed" skyscraper because those opulent, dripping-in-petro-dollar rascals in Dubai are in the midst of building an escalator to Venus or something. But for now, Taipei's is top dog.

     Then in Guadalajara, I'll walk this box through Customs and meet the owner and staff of the courier company. I asked them to be gentle with me, as I'm sure I'll be hallucinating by the time I get there. At least, I hope that I am.

     I'll have the World's First Laptop with me, so I'll try to update the blog from my hotel in Taiwan before I depart for that observation tower and vomit.

     Thanks for making it with me this far...