Here are a couple of photos from the party for Thao’s niece, Bao Ngan’s one-month birthday party a few weeks ago (iPhone only b/c my Canon “disappeared” at that same party):

(I think I posted this first one directly from my iPhone earlier – sorry for the repeat):

It’s just not an infant’s birthday party until someone breaks out the Johnnie Walker Red Label.

And below are some iPhone shots of the wedding party we went to the very next day (this time in Hoc Song, not Long An).

Here’s the table of loud drunk men you see at every party in Vietnam – I’m almost convinced it’s the same guys – they just circulate from party to party getting drunk and being loud:

The aftermath:

Holy shit! Noodles in Vietnam!

It’s Friday night here and I am bored. I should be at the gym, but in addition to being bored, I am also lazy. And fat. I went out to dinner the past two nights, and I know I’m going to have a big week with James and Erin here, so I’m just taking it easy tonight. Thao is at her English class until 9:30pm. I am screwing around on the internet.

Do you want to see how bored I am? I created my second creature using Spore Creature Creator. My goal was to make a creature that looked like my old basset hound, Hannah. See? That’s bored – sitting around on a Friday night trying to create an animated computer character that looks like your dog that died six years ago! Actually more pathetic than bored, but here you go:

It looks a little bit like Hannah – if Hannah had been an alien platypus. But you get the idea.

So tomorrow I have to teach – covering for another law teacher who’s out of town – and he’s covering for me while I’m in Phu Quoc with James, Erin, and Thao next week. One class at 10:30am, another at 12:00pm tomorrow. After that: to the gym! (Maybe.) Then Thao and I will go out to dinner and then go to the airport to welcome our weary travelers to the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam. I’m getting very fired up about them coming!

I haven’t been to the gym as much as I hoped/planned, but I have been doing this pushups program with my friend Bart: One Hundred Pushups Program. The idea is you can get up to doing 100 pushups in six weeks. Let me rephrase that: Within six weeks you will be able to do 100 straight pushups – not 100 pushups over the course of six weeks, which is slightly less impressive (but probably more realistic for Bart and me!).

The first week has proven to be a little harder than either of us expected. Day 1 we did sets of 10, 10, 8, 6, and 9. Day 2: 12, 12, 10, 10, 8 (so you can see we’re already falling off the program as we’re supposed to max out that last set and do at least 15). Day 3 (today – you skip one day between each pushup day): 15, 13, 10, 10, 10 (last set supposed to be 15 – couldn’t do it).

I’m using those Perfect Pushup things that I got back in the U.S. last December. They really isolate your muscles – by the time I hit that last set, my muscles are failing completely. I literally can’t physically push myself back up. I sit there straining and flailing for a while (a very short while, I assure you – I’m not really big on either straining or flailing), and then I collapse to the floor in a sweating heap of middle agedness.

So we had so much trouble this week that Bart and I collectively decided to repeat the first week’s program next week to see if we can at least build our strength up to that of average 80-year-old women.

Also tonight I am downloading the software to crack my iPhone so that I can download applications from Apple’s new App Store. There are some pretty cool applications out there and I can’t wait to try some of them. Of course what will probably happen is I will completely fry my iPhone, but we’ll see.

I’m trying to think if I have any other news. I don’t think so. My law students have their first midterm next Saturday. I keep telling them that I’m going to Phu Quoc on Wednesday and won’t be back before their test on Saturday, so if they have any questions they better ask me before Tuesday. I get some sick satisfaction out of saying to them: “So next Saturday, I will be drinking beer on Phu Quoc Island while you guys are taking your first midterm.” I think they might be plotting to kill me.

We finished our review of negligence today. It’s hard for them, but I think I’m doing a better job than I did last semester, and I also think I have some sharper kids (on average – no offense to any of the brainiacs in my class last semester). I’m going to do an experiment by not being involved in the grading of the first midterm. Two of the other law teachers will grade it and then I and the fourth teacher will grade the second midterm. I want to see if my kids do better this semester than they did last semester – without me being tempted to score my kids higher, etc. So we’ll see.

I’m getting very excited about my trip home in October. This is the longest – by far – that I’ve ever been out of the country. About 9 months and some change. I’m not really homesick – and not really missing anything specific – like a certain food or whatever – but it will just be nice to be home and to see my family and friends. It will also be nice to have some cool weather! The last couple of weeks here it’s gotten hot as hell and we’re in the midst of full-blown rainy season. (I haven’t mentioned that to this point because I didn’t want James and Erin to realize that they’re coming right as rainy season is fully upon us – but as of right now they’re at the airport waiting on their flight out of Atlanta, so I think it’s safe to mention!) It’s really not bad – just rains for a couple of hours every day.

Okay, that’s enough rambling. I’m still waiting on my iPhone software to download. Maybe I will go create another Spore creature. I wonder if I can come up with anything more depressing than my dead dog. I’ll give it some thought.

Hope everyone on that end is doing well!