I’m back on Koh Tao and really maximizing the island lifestyle.  The last four days have been filled with Scuba stuff, but I’ve had a little bit of downtime to compose my thoughts.

At the coffee shop/corner cafe I’m at – the following phrase was on the packaging of my sugar.  “Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.”  For about 5 minutes I was trying to figure out how anybody’s ‘junk’ was God’s opportunity and then gave up.

I keep seeing three legged dogs around town and wonder if they still have the sensation of lifting their leg to pee.

Over the last few weeks I’ve had conversations and the same book has been referenced or talked about with various people.  The book is called “Vagabonding” – so you can get an idea of how its come up in conversation.  A few days ago it came up as I was talking with the girl in the bunk bed below me here on the island.  It turns out she has a copy on her that she’s been trying to read but hasn’t put much effort into.  I borrowed it and read through half in one day and hope to finish the other part today.  There’s a lot of interesting stuff in the book, but I found the following quote to be really interesting and I’ve read it about 10 times.  I want to find my own copy of the book and go through it with a notebook – there are so many other quotes that I would like to write down that are very similar.

The act of quitting, “means not giving up, but moving on; changing direction not because something doesn’t agree with you, but because you don’t agree with something.  It’s not a complain, in other words, but a positive choice, and not a stop in one’s journey, but a step in a better direction.  Quitting-whether a job or a habit-means taking a turn so as to be sure you’re still moving in the direction of your dreams.”

After 2.5 months of traveling I still haven’t had to use a bum-gun, but I’ve had some close calls.  Part of the boy scout  motto is “BE PREPARED”, and while I was really never a boy scout I do try to always be prepared when it comes to TP.  In addition to always carrying an extra roll around with me, whenever I find a bathroom with a large TP roll – I’ll usually roll off a bunch and stuff it into my backpack.  I’ve got a roll in my camera bag, one in my day bag, and if I’m just walking around with a plastic bag (like today) I’ll stuff some in there too.

The girl in the bunk below me, who was also in my advanced diving course, is one of the most annoying and “American”-like travelers I’ve met in a while.  Everything she says is loud, she laughs every five seconds, and constantly talks about things the people here.  It’s annoying in that she represents the very stereotypes of American backpackers.  Similarly I’ve been annoyed with a girl who was in my open water and advanced diving class – but with her it’s because every time I forget about her underwater she comes crashing into me again, or is holding up the group because she can’t control her buoyancy and needs to be brought back down to the group.  …I’ve met some very nice people too along the way.

I’m nearly 98% certain that ‘Choke’ by Chuck Palahniuk was a precursor to ’50 Shades of Grey’ – and has to be one of the most filthy yet entertaining books I’ve read so far on this trip.

The new Daft Punk album is a fantastic compliment to nearly any book.

As of today (although I wrote everything above yesterday), I’ve been in Thailand for just shy of one month.  I arrived on May 3rd.  I have a small idea about what comes next, but I’m going to sit down today and tomorrow to come up with a concrete plan.