Gibbous.org

Many of the in-site links are not working properly.  Clicking on, for instance, “Read the rest of this story” or the page links do nothing.  I assume this might be connected in some way with the way I have Apache redirect the site, or something in the theme or WordPress settings is corrupted, but don’t know for sure.

If any of the zero entities reading this post have an idea, let me know.  Of course, the comments link doesn’t work either, so I’m not sure how you’d do that.

Update: Apparently WPG2 (the Wordpress Gallery2 plugin) was causing the problem.  Disabling and re-enabling it seems to have fixed the problem.

Lidan and Brian in Lin'an

After one year and nearly five months since my fiance and I began the K1 Visa process that would allow her to come to the US she finally had her Visa interview at the consulate in Guangzhou, China.  All the waiting and hard work came down to a half-hour (or less?) interview with an unknown bureaucrat who could decide our fate on a whim.  Naturally, Lidan passed with flying colors as I knew she would.  How did I know this?  Because she kicks ass.  That’s how.

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Brian talking to self.

-Welcome back Brian.
-Thank you. I appreciate it.
-Any chance you’ll update your site more often this time?
-Ah… probably not. Not likely. Very busy you see. Lots of things to do.
-I see. Such as…?
-Well, you know, there’s LotRO. There’s, ah, other stuff. Oh, I know, getting ready for my girl to arrive. That’s real. I mean, really real, if you know what I mean.
-Uh, sure…
-Anyway, I’ll make a post about that real soon.
-I’ll believe it when I see it.
-What’s that supposed to mean?

Mortals, I bring to you photos of winter in Wisconsin.  Click the thumbnail to find more.

(Images currently broken)

As some are aware my girlfriend and I are in the process of getting her a fiance visa so that she may come to the States and that we may live happily ever after.  A little research into the K-1 visa process will quickly show that it is a long arduous process fraught with terribly long waits and the potential for bureaucratic nonsense derailing the entire enterprise.

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Like many readers, or former readers, of the Wheel of Time, I fell in love with the cycle’s first book, The Eye of the World. And that affair continued strong for a least a couple of more books before things began to take a turn for the worse. I have to say that even though I tired of his wordiness, rambling plot threads, and other issues, I did eventually return with each new book, though often long after its initial published date. The Wheel of Time was, for a time, a great series and many people may still consider it such — though it certainly would have been better as a cycle of six novels — and I think it will be a series that endures in fantasy literature, perhaps moreso now with his untimely death.

I was looking forward to the final chapter of tale begun almost two decades ago, and I had high expectations, as the 11th novel, Knife of Dreams, was his strongest in over ten years. Bad luck. Worse for his family and friends of course, and his fervent fans, and for anyone that admires writers and craftsmen and people who create.

Living alone in a foreign country and living a bachelor lifestyle, I’ve developed a few unsavory or unwise habits that I should break when I return home to the States.

1. Going to the bathroom with the door open.
2. Showering with the door open.
3. Walking around wearing only my natural fur coat.
4. Squeezing girl’s bottoms.
5. Saying rude things in English with the expectation that no one can understand me.
6. Crossing a busy street while weaving through traffic.
7. Pretending to not understand people when they speak to me.

There’s probably more.  Not to mention the plethora of other bad habits I’ve had since the day of my birth.

I believe I am addicted to a substance found here in China.  It is an “herbal” tea, and I am certain this herbal element must be something illicit and narcotic.  How else to explain my addiction?  Soon, in this heat and ridiculous humidity, my sweat must surely turn red as I exude this delicious liquid.  Then perhaps I will lick it from my arms and imbibe it once again.

Okay, seriously, it’s good stuff, and I wish that I could get some while in the States.  It’s great cold, and perhaps even better hot.  So listen up, you Wang Lao Ji manufacturers, start selling this stuff in American.  And I expect the price to stay around 3.5 yuan.

In other news that’s not even vaguely exciting, I’ve re-uploaded a few galleries.

1. Pictures with my sophomore #2 class in Wenzhou
2. A trip to the Milwaukee Zoo in 2002
3. A trip to Devil’s Lake in 2002

These are all rather old pictures.

It had been a while since I looked at my class photos from Wenzhou, and I found that I miss those students. As students, they were very good and teaching them was one of my high points when I was in Wenzhou. I hated taking the long, bumpy bus ride to the campus, and I didn’t like the campus very much, but the students were great. It is sort of the opposite situation in my current position, to some extent.

To my former students, I hope you are doing well. If I were guaranteed to have students like you, I’d love to teach in China again, but otherwise, I’m not so sure.

Led by the draconian and dominating David Stern and his dazzling defensive demonstration against the duo of Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw, the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Phoenix Suns tonight to win their series and end the NBA season.  I’ve heard rumors that there still may be some games played, but obviously they are all pointless as the winner of this year’s championship will certainly be irrelevant.

That being said, and as stupid as the rule and the ruling were, the Suns have to take some blame for having such a thin bench, and, related to that, not at all playing any of their bench players.  I have to believe that Jalen Rose still has enough to be a factor, or at least not a detriment.

On the good side, besides the upcoming draft lottery and the lottery itself, I am now free from wasting time on sports for a long while.  Thanks Draco Stern.