I've been too damn busy!

Its true. The end of my semester was extremely stressful. And after it was over, I didn't feel the relief I was expecting. In fact, I took on more work and it was rough. I just finished this 12 page translation job that was just awful. It must have taken me nearly 20 hours over the course of 3 days. The 2 papers were for this guys doctorate course in Bangkok. Philosophy and theory of Thai music. It was not well-written in the least and extremely confusing. I got plenty of good vocab out of it though.

ปรัชญา (bpràt-yaa) - philosophy

My computer died yesterday. This isn't good. I gave it to Gateaux who is going to attempt to recover my data. It would suck to lose the endless hours I put in to my language program.

In the meantime, I have been studying Korean a lot lately. 3-4 days a week. This Tuesday I'm starting up a Business Chinese course. So with my other course I'll be studying Chinese 5 nights a week for a total of 10 hours. No luck with Japanese classes lately. I also rarely get the chance to speak to anybody with J'nese.

Awesome - Trifigulous even...

By far the coolest thing I've ever read about Italy since last October when they began to implement Vietato fumare laws (no smoking). And before that, I suppose it would have to be stuff I read about the Roman empire. Good stuff. Having been a smoker and a meat-eater due to peer-societal-familial pressures/ignorance for a large portion of my life, I am aware of the ignorance that brings us to do these things. However, being drunk is a pretty crappy excuse and ignorance is pretty much intolerable. While the shortening of my lifespan and my daily suffering from second-hand smoke is frustrating when I can't breathe during relatively aerobic activity and I often spend hours of my day hacking up little bits of other people's poison, I am perfectly happy to slightly de-prioritize the global banning of smoking in public places to recognize a greater problem in this world, the systematic torture of animals for profit. I am unable to sympathize with people who are so oblivious of the horrors they allow/support/inflict by buying/eating/wearing/toruturing/killing life. Maybe you think I'm odd. I am. As for those of you are stubborn because of your upbringing/scared to investigate or learn something that may affect the way you view the world, I disdain you. Salute to the Italians for making such gi-normous steps in the right direction. As for the rest of you, I offer up my whatever phlegm I bring up today and promises of the best food in the world which involves absolutely no animals. Good luck and good night.

Restaurant Fined for "Cruel" Lobster Display
Reuters
ROME (April 28) - An Italian restaurant was fined 688 euros, or $855, for displaying live lobsters on ice to attract patrons, in an innovative application of an anti-cruelty law usually affecting to household pets.

A court in the northeastern city of Vicenza ruled the display was a form of abuse dooming the crustaceans to a slow death by suffocation.

"We're appealing," said Giuseppe Scalesia, who runs La Conchiglia D'Oro, or "Golden Shell," restaurant along with his brother Camillo.

"They said that the lobsters, laying on the ice, suffer... They compared them in court to other animals, like cats and dogs."

The case was brought by Gianpaolo Cecchetto, a former environmental activist, who took his two young children to the Vicenza restaurant in May 2002.

"They were shocked by the display," Cecchetto told Reuters, adding he immediately got in touch with the ENPA national animal protection entity. "ENPA took care of the lawyers and legal proceedings."

Italy has some of the world's toughest animal rights laws. The city of Rome in October banned goldfish bowls, seen as cruel, while Turin passed a law last year that would fine dog owners 500 euros unless they walked their canine friends at least three times a day.