I am currently in my last four weeks in Taipei + trying my hardest to make the most of it!

In terms of logistical things, each weekend I have shows to do in various Taiwan cities, so on my week days I am trying to schedule + execute as many interviews as possible, I finally have time to take some Folk Dance classes, the Taipei Fringe Festival starts on August 31 with a ton of shows I’d like to see, + there are still so many places + museums I have yet to visit!

Despite the fact that each day I am (absolutely!) being productive, I am stuck in the funk of knowing that I have so much to accomplish in the next 4 weeks that nothing feels good enough!

I’ve also fallen victim to a string of bad luck. Nothing actually terrible has happened (謝謝天啊!), but it is 鬼月 (Ghost Month) in Taiwan + I can’t help feeling like the ghosts are playing tricks on me!

From just waking up on the wrong side of the bed so that Every Single Thing feels like an annoyance, to the real burden of having to deal with a 4am flood of my balcony + kitchen (hey, busting-my-keister-not-realizing-there-is-a-half-an-inch-of-water-on-my-kitchen-floor-in-the-middle-of-the-night!),

roomie, Shawn, ankle deep in balcony flood water

this month has given me so much grief that I’ve had no choice but to take David Foster Wallace’s advice in his “This is Water” speech, change my thinking + laugh at the stupid things I’ve been dealt.

So, enough kvetching. I just wanted to share the crazy ways that this final month has started + all of the things that I am looking forward to accomplishing!

To wrap this one up, Eva Cassidy’s cover of a classic African-American spiritual is ironically apropos.