BangBoo!

Had a lovely interesting dinner last night. A whole fried fish at Bangboo Halal Seafood across the street from my hotel.

It's a little difficult to tell that is a whole fried fish on my plate. Fried so much that even the fins, the bones, and the head were crunchy. There were a few soft delicacies, especially behind the gills (cheeks?). I'd like to see them serve this at a Jonah Club Fish Fry!

I went there after sitting on my balcony watching the moonrise in punumbral eclipse. This type of eclipse doesn't completely block out the moon, but it changes its color dramatically. It's hard as the dickens to get a good picture of, though.

So those were the big exciting events of the day. Except... Bang! Boo!

There is a television in my room and since I was spending the afternoon lounging in the air conditioned space while it was 96 outside, I thought I'd turn it on and see what Thai television was like just for kicks. Of course, the first thing I saw on the TV was an English-speaking news station talking about the terrorist bombing of the airport and a metro station in Brussels. No wonder I haven't watched television in three years. What a crock of shit.

A  terrorist set off some bombs. Truly, I'm sorry for the people who were affected and I'm sorry for the nation that reels under this type of blow. But after five minutes, I'd heard everything the television had to say on the subject. They simply kept repeating themselves and switching to different reporters who only had the previous reporter's words to go by and had to amp it up a notch. The real terrorists are television reporters. We should put them all on trial. The sicko who planted a bomb? He's nothing. He's not really even a human being.

Am I terrorized? Fuck, no. I stand as good a chance of being run over by a Tuk-Tuk the next time I leave the hotel as I do being caught in a terrorist act. A traffic accident. I could get eaten by a tiger. I could drown in the Indian Ocean. I think of myself as being at the top of the food chain, but a stupid mosquito could infect me with a deadly disease. A terrorist? That's like being afraid of mosquitoes.

And everybody wants to do something to stop terrorism. How do you think you are going to do that? You can't even fix the potholes in the highway. Terrorists are just another road hazard. Want to stop terrorism? Shut off the TV. Hang the fucking reporters. Put them next to the lawyers. Right next to the politicians.

There is absolutely no action you can take against a religion, nation, or refugee that will stop terrorism. What you can do is cower, terrorized, beneath the sheets while you shout out clever slogans and hatred toward the mosquito that bit again.

Or you can go out and travel. Actually meet people who are a different color or religion than you are. Cross a national boundary and find out what it is like to wander around a country where you don't understand a word that is being spoken or a single sign that you see. Eat a fried whole fish. Walk down the beach during the international bikini parade and stare. Then dip your feet into an ocean that you've only ever heard of in a romance novel and watch the sunset.

And decide this isn't the day to be afraid.

What I want in a President

Don’t panic. This is not a political endorsement. I won’t even mention any names. Probably no issues. And I’ll include lots of pictures of Thai cooking!

I’ve been watching the results of political primaries as they come in this spring, sometimes with amusement, and sometimes with disbelief. Everyone seems to be arguing about issues! Calling names! Hiding behind soundbites! In other words, a typical U.S. presidential campaign. I look at all the characters running for our highest political office and I think, “Well, there goes the whole idea of being the most powerful person in the world.” (Used to be most powerful man, but I’m not ruling out Margaret Thatcher.)

I have to ask myself, “What do I want in a President?”

I am traveling around the world. I wish I had done this fifty years ago, forty years ago, thirty years ago, twenty years ago, and ten years ago. I didn’t start traveling seriously until I was in college. And then it took me twenty more years before I got out of the country. It’s hard to look out the window and see this and not think, “I’m not in Indiana anymore.” At the same time, I think, “It’s just like Indiana.”

So, as I meet people from The Netherlands, England, China, Thailand, New Zealand, and who knows where next, they inevitably ask about what is really going on in the presidential race. All I really want to be able to tell them is that I’m proud of my President. I don’t want to have to apologize about what he said about them. I don’t want to say, “He did this, but otherwise he’s a good leader.” I want to look at the person who is in office and say, “I’m really proud of the way he/she leads my country.” Did you know that every evening at exactly 6:00 here in Thailand, loud speakers click on throughout the country and people stand to sing the national anthem? Then the local village headman makes announcements about what is happening locally. “Someone took Han’s pants off the clothesline. Wherever you took them, please wash them and bring them back.” “The Thai military has declared that during the Water Festival (April 15 ff.) no sexy muscles will be allowed.” “Chicken boxing will commence at seven o’clock.”

Yes, I’d like to be proud of simple things in my country, like my president.

I’d also like the president to be honest. It’s been a long, long time since we had a truly honest president. I think it was Jimmy Carter. I don’t mean that he “says what he thinks.” I don’t mean that he’s “just saying what everyone believes.” And I certainly don’t mean “he’s a God-fearing Christian.” I don’t consider any of those to be particularly indicative of him being honest. I mean a person who pays his taxes, deals with people in a way that is fair, and doesn’t spread fabrications about races, nationalities, ethnic minorities (or majorities). When he or she talks about finance, it is with plain language and not mathematical magic. When reforming the budget, I want to know how it affects people currently employed by the government. People employed by the military, by the environmental protection agency, by the members of congress, and by the National Parks, are not inherently evil people who deserve the punishment of unemployment. Any more than 5,000 loyal workers at Microsoft deserved to be laid off. I want to know how we are going to get apples off the trees and avocados out of the fields if we don’t have illegal aliens to do the shit work that good Americans won’t do. I want to know how the employers of those illegals are going to pay reparations to them when they are ‘shipped back to where they came from.’ Do you think they’d be here if we didn’t need cheap labor?

I figured that after the actual cost of food and a little for marketing (printing brochures), the cooking class I took yesterday netted the five people who worked for six hours about $4.00 an hour. That’s assuming the master chef and the dishwasher and the owner all got paid the same amount.

I would like a president who has individual integrity. That certainly doesn’t mean he or she never makes mistakes, but that decisions are made based on the consideration of facts rather than opinions, and that mistakes are admitted when realized (rather than waiting until they are discovered). Even if he or she has had multiple spouses, lovers, and affairs, have those mates been treated fairly and with respect? If so, then whatever your religious feeling about sex is, it doesn’t count. Is my president abusive toward spouse, children, or employees? That is not the sign of a person with individual integrity.

I was impressed with the street market the other day. Hundreds of people selling thousands of goods in little booths that both lined the street and ran down its center for miles! I bought a shirt and a pair of pants. A westerner argued that I paid too much. The whole outfit cost fifteen dollars. But I should have bargained with “these people” who expect it. But as I talked that over with Janie (my activities host here) we said we’d never even consider going into 7-Eleven (the major grocery and necessities outlet here) and arguing about the price of a bag of potato chips or a pair of nail clippers. And that is just a faceless corporation that runs based on a specific profit margin. The guy I bought the pants from and the one I bought the shirt from, are feeding their families on the five or six dollars I paid them. Why should I ‘bargain’ for a better price? Even if it “expected”, I’m not going to abuse these shopkeepers.

I guess, finally, that the thing I’m looking for most in a leader of the free world is a person who has a profound respect and concern for other people. All of us have that to some extent. Most of us would do anything to care for and defend our families. Some of us would stand by friends like that. We can be excused for our little bit of caring and respect. Our frame of reference is limited to the people we see each day. We can’t have that limited a sense of responsibility in our national leader. The person we elect as president has to have that care and concern for EVERY SINGLE CITIZEN of the United States. He or she must have that respect and concern for EVERY SINGLE PERSON within our protective borders. He or she must he or she must respect and care for the people of other nations who depend on us, trade with us, compete with us, and even who would war against us. Every decision must be made for the greater good, even if the greater good is not the best for me or my family.

I don’t care where a candidate gets campaign money from. It could come from a million little people who believe in him, it could come from banks, political action committees, or even Monsanto. It could come from wily dealings with competitors and using United States Bankruptcy protections to his advantage. I don’t care where it comes from because I am not interested in a president who uses what people think of him or who donated to her as the standard by which he or she makes decisions.

Our next president needs to show that THE WORLD is a better place after his or her presidency. Anything that makes America better, greater, more prosperous, or safer must be weighed against whether it makes the world a better place. Any other gain is temporary.

I don’t think that is too much to ask of a man or woman who becomes the President of the United States and the Leader of the Free World. Sadly, what I doubt is that the people who will vote will care what kind of a ‘character’ they elect as long as they can see their personal pet project supported, can find money in their pockets, and can have a person who agrees with their religion. The President of the United States needs to be a bigger person than all our petty slogans, snappy comebacks, clever memes, and personal prejudices. Unfortunately, the people of America aren’t.

Location Scouting

You’d never know it by how infrequently I post to my blog, but I’m a writer. “Author,” I say confidently. That’s a writer who has actually published books. I have sixteen of them on Amazon under two different author names. Nineteen of them if I count correctly. And four more to be released within the next month.

But my writing has changed some over the past few years. I last published a book under my own name almost two years ago. All ten people who will ever buy The Volunteer have already done so. But in that same time, I’ve published eight books under the name Devon Layne that are racy, erotic romance and adventures. I’ve written many more that were published for free at an adult story site.

I hate to say that my writing was sidetracked, but I just didn’t have the interest in publishing a mystery that would sell a hundred copies max when my latest erotic serial has been downloaded 1.5 million times. For free. I just wasn’t getting the same kind of response to my ‘serious’ writing. That’s about to change.

Well, the response might not change, but the interest in writing the next Dag Hamar mystery is certainly changing. I plan to write it during Camp NaNoWriMo in April while I’m visiting sites in Greece and Turkey that I’ve written about but have never seen. I love writing on trains! The new mystery, For Mayhem or Madness is a sandwich filling, meaning I’m writing a book that comes between For Money or Mayhem and For Blood or Money.

My temporary cover.

The brief synopsis is this:

Computer forensics detective Dag Hamar is back and this time his elusive nemesis is a hacker who is creating havoc on the international scene. The worst part is that no one wants him stopped, but if he isn't war could be the next option.

Dag's contract takes him away from his peaceful office on the Seattle waterfront where he and his dog Maizie recover hard drives and missing passwords, to a jungle in Hawaii where Internet service is at a premium, to a tiny bungalow in northern Thailand where a beautiful young backpacker is hiding a dangerous secret.

Dag is at his forensic best as he tracks down the hacker and then has to decide if he really wants to stop him.

 The bungalow

Well, one of the things I needed to get me off dead center was a good interesting location for Dag to have to chase down his prey. I found it. The little bungalows where I’m currently sitting and writing my next serial is providing some fantastic fuel for the mystery. Not only the location, which includes dense foliage surrounding tiny cabins, bubbling fountains, a pristine swimming pool, and great food, but also has a ready-made cast of characters to fill out the story. And several exciting locations in and around Chiang Mai where the ancient Buddhist temples vie for attention with the lure of a fast Internet connection at this retreat for digital nomads. Here are a few of the possible locations for Dag to practice his craft and search out his quarry.

In addition to simply relaxing in cool water during the heat of the day, I’m working. Really.

If you are interested in a bit of racy erotica with a great storyline and characters you can care about, visit Devon Layne’s page at http://www.amazon.com/Devon-Layne/e/B009L4XMP6

For the full series of Dag Hamar books and other more mainstream offerings, try Nathan Everett’s page at http://www.amazon.com/Nathan-Everett/e/B004QVVE1S/

Planning a great trip

My friend, Denene, made this comment to one of my Facebook posts: “Loving it. So, how did you plan all of this that you’re doing? I mean for places to stay (which btw have been awesome)... did you spend like a year pre-planning it all? It just blows my mind that you are doing all of this... and having a great success with not having much trouble along the way.” I thought that merited a bigger response than a Facebook post.

The answer is that most of my plans are made the day before they are executed. That might sound flippant, but it is fairly true. Let’s start at the beginning.

I woke up one morning three years ago and had this epiphany: I’m an author. I could do this anywhere. So why am I doing it from a basement in Bellevue?

I had no idea at the time how to go about it or what ‘it’ even was. I went to RV shows and truck dealers for three months before I selected my rig. It took three more months to get things together. I left Bellevue on August 10, 2013. I had two weeks of travel planned, as in places that I was going to go and stay. I’ve been gone 32 months. While traveling the country, I visited 44 states and 3 Canadian provinces and drove 55,000 miles.

After three months in Florida last year, which was a solid month too long, I decided to plan to spend the next winter in Hawaii. I shopped around for a while to find a place to stay because Hawaii is a favored winter vacation spot, but I found the Eco-Cabin on the Big Island through VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner). I booked it for four months. I bought a one-way ticket to Hawaii because I had no idea where I would go from there.

After the first of the year, I got serious about deciding where to go next. I figured I was this far west and it was silly to turn around, so why not go around the world. I’d often dreamed of doing that and had visions of Tahiti, New Zealand, and a dozen more places to go to. It was very expensive. Rather than give up, I started prioritizing places I really wanted to see. Thailand was one. Greece and Turkey, where I’ve set stories in the past but never visited, Central Europe, Berlin. I found an agent that specialized in booking round the world travel. We tossed things back and forth by email and finally decided that I could make a good trip of it by flying from Hawaii to Thailand, Thailand to Greece, Eurail around Europe, and Amsterdam to Seattle. And, by the way, I could have a three-day layover in Reykjavik, Iceland over Summer Solstice at no additional charge. I bought the ticket.

I still had no idea where I was going to go or stay. I made a couple reservations at different places and then canceled them. About three days before I left, I made a five-night reservation in Bangkok near the airport at a ‘luxury resort’. The pictures looked good and the reviews were good. And at $30 a night, I figured I could afford five nights while I adjusted to the time zone.

I’d been at the Vismaya Luxury Resort for three days before I started thinking about where I’d go next. I’d thought I would go south to the beaches, but everyone I knew told me I simply couldn’t miss Chiang Mai. I had two screens open on my computer. One with Airbnb and one with airfares. The match came with the Enchanted Garden Bungalows and Air Asia. I booked them both based on the availability here. I figured that even if the bungalows were primitive, I’d just spent four months in a tiny cabin where the shower was in the jungle and the toilet was out the back door. I booked ten days and am thrilled. People here have been great and both the staff and other guests are friendly and helpful. Got a lift to go get groceries. Had dinner with a group of eleven last night and am scheduled for a group dinner again tonight. Thai massage scheduled this afternoon. Tomorrow, some of the people are going on a tour to the white temple and I think I’ll join them. I guess that’s in Laos! Who knows what the next day will bring.

I have to leave this little corner of paradise in about eight days. Sometime during that time, I need to decide where I’m going next. Those beaches down south are sounding awfully good again. Several other guests here have been down near Krabi town and I’m collecting the names of different beaches and resorts. I’ll probably stay in Bangkok a couple days again before I head south. My flight out of Thailand is on March 29.

I will spend some time this week finding a place to stay for a few days in Athens. It’s always helpful to have a location when you arrive after several hours of flight time. Fortunately, I arrive about 1:00 in the afternoon, so at least it will be daylight when I arrive there. I have a list of places in Greece, Turkey, and Central Europe that I’d like to visit, but so far no schedule. My daughter is planning to meet me in Berlin the first week of June.

Years of planning? Hardly. I literally don’t have any idea where I’m going. The good part about that is that I’m never lost!

Why Republicans Cannot Launch an Effective Campaign Against Trump

I try—very hard—to remain cut off from all things political in the U.S. and abroad. It’s not that I particularly enjoy being in ignorance, but rather that I don’t trust any of the sources of ‘news’ with which we try to remedy our ignorance. We live in a world of personal choices. We don’t know truth. We can only act on what we believe.

So, it is with great hesitance that I launch this, not as a political discussion so much as an analysis of what has brought us to the point of believing that a man who has been the brunt of our scorn and derision for over two decades can be considered a viable candidate for President of the United States. And it has to do with why there are no effective Republican campaigns against him in the nominating process.

It's an old Biblical adage: You reap what you sow.

For the past twenty years—maybe more—the U.S. political system has systematically focused on the sowing of fear. I do not hold Democrats blameless in this any more than Republicans. Whether we spread the fear of Muslims, gays, climate change, economic disaster, terrorism, the one percent, Wall Street, Mexicans, women’s rights, the loss of our guns, Syrians, or of someone simply taking advantage of our generosity, our modus operandi in the political sphere is fear.

For years, Republicans have fought against anything that threatened their power structure. They have promoted the denial of scientific evidence that the climate is changing, supported the building of a ‘Berlin Wall’ between the U.S. and Mexico (but only in Arizona), painted gay rights as a threat to non-gay marriage, and called for a religious state based on scriptural beliefs—exactly the same message that Muslim states declare.

Now there is Donald Trump. Donald Trump is the embodiment of all we fear.

“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is...fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” So said Franklin D. Roosevelt in his inaugural address of 1933. In an odd twist, we have imbued Donald Trump with the title of “Fear”. We fear fear itself. Democrats are futilely combatting the Republican Party with dire predictions of what will happen if someone like Trump is elected. What makes us think that Canada will accept the flood of American refugees that is predicted? When President Obama has been thwarted in every effort to launch progressive legislature by an obstructionist Republican Congress, why do we believe that Trump would be more effective if we placed an equally obstructionist Democratic Congress in office with him? Fear.

And Republicans cannot effectively campaign against Trump because he embodies the very fears they have promoted for two decades. How can they speak out on Trump’s stand on immigration? On women’s rights? On welfare? On a corporate state? On racial equality? On social services? On healthcare? His stance is perfectly in keeping with the established party stance that has so carefully been built by the party.

And imbued with that special touch of hatred and anger.

For fear is only a breath away from those two emotions.

Republicans cannot launch an effective campaign against Trump’s nomination without denying what they have worked so hard to achieve. In for a penny, in for a pound, so to speak. We can’t back out of our stance, so the only thing to do is invest more in our failing endeavor. The only way to keep a murder from being discovered is to murder all who might discover it, and all who might discover them, and all…

Paralyzing our efforts to convert retreat into advance.

I have less interest in the presidential campaigns this year than in the congressional campaigns. The presidency of Barack Obama has shown that Congress can completely prevent the effectiveness of a president’s leadership. Repeatedly dragging the same tired arguments forward that have been tried time and again, refusing to act on such fundamental constitutional issues as affirming a Supreme Court justice, acting with impunity to usurp the power of the President in dealing with foreign powers… If the most idealistic of our presidential candidates is elected without a congress to back him, he will fail just as Barack Obama has failed. If the most horrific of our presidential candidates is elected without a congress to back him, he will fail as well.

I live every day in fear. I am traveling the world alone, an American fluent in only one language traveling where I don’t understand anyone and depend on their understanding of me. I’m traveling to places that are Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, and Secular. I am traveling to where there are volcanoes, terrorists, immigrants and refugees, economic upheaval, and social unrest. I am afraid. But I refuse to let my fears control my actions any longer. I’m sick and tired of being afraid all the time.

Republicans cannot launch an effective campaign against Trump. It is doubtful that Democrats can, simply because they are prey to all the same fears.

And in fearing them, we bring our fears to pass.

Now, here's a pretty picture of my bungalow retreat in Chiang Mai, Thailand where I'm listening to the fountains outside my door and allowing this fear to pass.

Relaxing in Thailand

I left Hilo about 8:30 a.m. on March 1 and arrived in Bangkok about 11:30 p.m. on March 2. In doing so, I crossed the International Date Line so only 22 hours had elapsed but I lost an entire day. On the other hand, I filled out a complete set of Boeing aircraft. Flew a 777 from Honolulu to Tokyo and a 787 from Tokyo to Bangkok. I guess I haven't flown a 717, but I'm not sure a commercial carrier ever put one in service. I did fly a 707 on my first plane trip in 1970. A lot has happened since then, none of which has made flying more comfortable. Nearly broke the screen on my laptop when the dude in front of me slammed his seat back. I swear, the next time someone drops their head in my lap like that, I'd better be getting a blowjob!

I spent all day the third just lounging by the pool at the Vismaya Luxury Resort.

The hotel is kind of in the boondocks about fifteen minutes from the airport by shuttle. But the facility itself is quite lovely. Nice, comfortable room. Quiet. About a fifteen minute walk to the nearest Tesco and an open market where I intend to eat lunch today.

 Large, comfortable, and cool room.

View of the fields from my window. Looking south.

It was so relaxing that I decided to spend a second day by the pool while I made sure I was over jetlag. Well, that didn't work so well. I went up to my room for a little nap before dinner about 4:00 and woke up at half past midnight.

Decided to make a day of it anyway and took a little nap after breakfast, then caught the shuttle to the airport and took the SRT train into the heart of Bangkok. I did a lot of walking around the commercial downtown near Siam Square. Mostly high-end luxury shops. All I had to do was follow the signs.

Of course, this one pointed directly at the river. I managed, however, and ended up window shopping through all the primarily European designer shops. I had a nice sushi lunch.

I took the train back to the airport and decided to just take a taxi to the hotel. The driver told me it would be 200 Baht. I started to object to the high cost. Then I did a little mental calculation and figured out that was about $6.50. I agreed and he got me right to the hotel.

I've eaten several meals at the hotel restaurant and not much elsewhere. I bought instant noodles that I had for breakfast this morning. I'm definitely going to try some of the food vendors in the open market this noon. I have realized that Thai curry and Tom Yum are very spicy--enough to make my brow sweat and give me hiccups. But the food has been very good and all in the under $10 range.

I managed to complete a new story yesterday and get started on the next. I'm a couple thousand words behind goal for the 1 Million Word Challenge, but I think I'll make it up today as I'm working on the new story. I also believe that my next lodging where I'm moving tomorrow will be the long-sought setting for my next Dag Hamar mystery. I'll show you that when I get there. For now, it is 9:15 in the morning, 86 degrees and mostly sunny. Time for another cup of coffee and a trip to the pool!