Some signage from Taiwan for your enjoyment. My favorite phrases are "wildlife biologists treasure feces" and "cultivating farms arbitrarily."
The following picture set represents places in which I long to be now that I'm back in the place I longed to be in while in said places. I'm fucked up in a way which makes me constantly pine for what was.
This quote from The Daily Dish was just too good not to repost.
"What does it take to be the most liberal member of the United States Senate – farther left than Ted Kennedy, John Kerry or even Hillary Clinton? For the answer, take a look at a man who could be the next president of the United States: Barack Obama.
Sen. Obama was recently named the most liberal U.S. Senator, based on the annual voting analysis by the non-partisan and highly respected National Journal. If he emerges as the Democratic nominee, one of the critical jobs of Focus Action will be to uncover the real Barack Obama—not the feel-good orator who speaks of “change” and “hope,” but the man who would be the most left-wing president in our nation’s history.
Throughout our history, great Americans have stood up to grave challenges of all sorts. As this latest wave of secular liberalism threatens us, I look forward to standing shoulder to shoulder with you in prayer and action – in defense of the family," - James Dobson, in his latest email.
I'm finishing up my first month working at the airport. My official employer is Heartland Alliance, a very large social service organization in Chicago. My specific office is called Travelers Aid. I work with 3 other full time employees and 46 volunteers.
Travelers Aid began in St. Louis in the 1800's to serve the needs of people moving west. There is a brief history of Travelers Aid here.
Our volunteers are mostly retired, many from the travel industry. They are a very interesting group, and I've enjoyed getting to know them. One of the volunteers, Ellen, spent a few years working as a nurse for Catholic Charities in Vietnam during the war. She has a lot of great stories. I am still waiting to see some of her photos from her trip to Taiwan in the 60's. All of the volunteers have their own interesting stories to tell.
What I do changes from day to day. We meet incoming refugees on a daily basis. We assist a lot of first time, non-English speaking travelers at the request of family members and friends. If a client has a crisis and is need of social service support, they are normally sent to our office. We also meet infants from Korea and Liberia that are arriving to meet their adoptive families.
The airport is a very interesting place to work. I enjoy interacting with people from all over the world and being able to use my limited language skills. Being here, though, really doesn't help my impulsive desire to travel. In my downtime I sit and think about where want to fly next.
Below are some pictures of my niece, Cora, from my trip home when she was born. I'm sure that by now she looks much different. The last one is one my sister sent to me a couple of weeks ago. I was kind of ambivalent about babies before, but she's pretty great. I'll have to go home more often now so that she won't forget me. 
