Blog updates and the return of the beard...

Hey, blogger has a new interface. You can now expect visually dynamic masterpieces full of pictures and keen insight into daily happenings in Taipei, starting with this one.

I also decided to rename my blog. Unlike the new interface, it probably won't make me a better writer, but I do feel it has given me a clear theme to draw ideas from. It also represents an approach to the world that I would like to embrace. I feel that I often become very narrowly focused on one thing, and in the process proceed to ignore so much of what's going on around me. Coming to Taiwan to teach is a perfect example. I convinced myself that I merely needed to idle away my time until I left, and missed out on a lot of opportunities to make life more interesting while wrapping up my time in Portland (and perhaps more financially stable).

A narrow focus is also something I would like to avoid while having such an amazing opportunity here in Taipei. Already I've caught myself falling into too much of a routine, and putting up the blinders while on my commute to and from work. There's a lot here to absorb and experience, and it would be a pity if I closed myself off to it.

I'm also growing back my beard. It has inspired this haiku:

Oh beard, you were missed
How naked my face had felt
Make me whole again

Wow, that's terrible! If I had more sense I would just erase it now...