Merry Christmas, from Texas

This Christmas season finds me in the Hill Country area of central Texas, visiting family. It's certainly the most beautiful part of the Lone Star state, and being around Austin means it's fairly politically progressive. And I knew I had reached Austin because they had a live blues/country band playing right in center of the airport! They love their live music around here. I got a picture of these cacti dressed up for Christmas outside a local taco spot.

It was also great to see family and friends in a short layover in the LA area. There's so much to be thankful for this year--my friends, family, students, strangers in Thailand ... Merry Christmas, and God bless!

Here's a nice Christmas song for you. It's late Freddy Fender's "It's Christmas Time in Texas." Gotta miss him. Tex-Mex is loads of fun! 'La Navidad ya llego!'

Click play above, or
Click to hear music file

Happy 80th to King Bhumipol

Today is the King's 80th birthday, I wanted to wish him well. It's a pretty huge deal here in Thailand as people love and adore this particular king, and part of the way they show it is to wear a 'yellow shirt,' especially on Mondays (the Queen has a 'blue shirt' people wear on Fridays). Well, I was reluctant to get one--they're so yellow! among other things that will go unmentioned ... But a student was raising money for an orphanage and got me to buy a Christianized yellow shirt--since Christians love the Buddhist king too. Yes, the right sleeve says "God Bless Thailand." And there is the white cross and the Christian fish symbol as well. A little over the top but hey! It was for a good cause ... Another plus is that it's only socially acceptable for women to wear pants to work with a yellow or blue shirt, so I get they added bonus of wearing pants on Mondays!