"When I fall I'll weep for happiness." -Sam Beckett
Well, that's the idea at least. But first, allow me to explain myself:
I have spent nearly twenty years living in the same house, isn't it only natural that one should want to leave at some point? Well, I should probably clarify that: Those years did not pass consecutively. To be completely honest, I'm not sure how one could spend twenty years in Billings, Montana without either committing suicide or becoming a willful sacrifice to whatever Gods are worshipped in the slums of Lockwood. Same result either way, a Dan as dead as a doornail.
To return: no, those years did not consecutively. I spent five and a half years living in Missoula, and merry were those years indeed. However, after failing to find a job whereby I could support myself financially, I headed back to Billings with my tail between my legs. I was upset, to put it mildly, for my original plans upon graduating college were to go abroad and now I found myself back in the familiar, uninspiring territory of the greater Billings area and surrounding environs. I applied to the Peace Corps a couple of times, but both times my application was rejected. Strange, eh? I guess the Peace Corps isn't in the market for folks that have been caught booze-cruising, even though we clearly know how to have a rad fucking time. Hey, you're beyond help if you can't make fun of yourself, right?
So I scrapped the idea of the Peace Corps and decided I would explore other options to go abroad. The most interesting of these, in my opinion, was the prospect of teaching English overseas. I discovered an agency that seemed to facilitate this sort of thing for folks like me, and I started throwing my money at them faster than you could say "drunk farang." At the time of this post, I am heading for Cambodia where I will spend three weeks learning the tricks of the "teaching English abroad" trade. I will then spend a week in Pattaya, Thailand where I will be student teaching before I am officially let loose in the Land of Smiles to do as I very well please. What will happen after that is anyone's guess, but I should probably state that I have every intention of staying alive. I am infinitely happy to be undergoing a self-directed project of this magnitude, even if it turns out to be a bust. It's comforting to know that I'm young enough to bounce back physically as well as financially if I do make a complete mess of this. Assuming that I survive, of course. Hence, the quote at the beginning of this entry.
Disclaimer: I plan to include photos in these entries, but I didn't think it necessary for this one. My reasoning is that since I'm not in Asia yet, any pictures that I could upload would be pictures taken in Montana. I fully expect that a vast majority of people reading this will be native Montanans and It would thus make no sense for me to post pictures of things that most people reading this can see every single day if they wish. On that note, many people living here have art in their homes that reflect the vast beauty of our state. If not in the form of photography, then at least in the form of a Charley Russell or two. Whether people are truly enamored by the land in which they live, or whether they simply need to remind themselves that there are indeed reasons to live here is none of my concern. Either way, there will be no cliche pictures of Montana found in this blog. This is a blog about a Montanan living in Asia. While it's true that our state is undeniably beautiful, I suggest you get out of here and look at some Monte Dolack paintings or some shit if you feel like idealizing the Treasure state.
I had originally planned to include my thoughts about Donald Trump in this post, but i'll make it very brief because this piece is already starting to drag. I contend that America has made it's bed, and now it is time to sleep in it. We weren't mature enough to nominate Bernie Sanders, and this is what we get for it. To be sure, there are silver linings: NO TPP. And since Hillary the hawk lost, I highly doubt we will be going to war anytime soon. It's much like the overarching line of the second season of True Detective: We get the world that we deserve.