Happy Halloweenie!

Not only did I not carve any semblance of a pumpkin-like gourd (I really would have settled for a bitter melon, YECH!!!!), but the only night that I actually care about what's on television here, my options are Blue Crush, Joan of Arc (with Mila Jovovich, who I know many of you men are fond of, but I can't handle her blithering whininess in this movie), and Condoleeza Rice speaking at the UN. Guess who is the scariest with her "I will suck out your soul while looking creepily at you from the tops of my eyeballs". The last few days have been nice though. The weather at China Beach (and all of Vietnam, for that matter) has been crap and rainy, but "Hoa the Dude" more than made up for it in personality and hospitality. We stayed an extra day because "Hoa's Place" feels so much like home. Pull up a chair, get yourself a beer from the fridge, and plan to stay for the family style dinner which his wife prepares with mastery. I got recipies for her spring rolls and her stuffed tomatoes which are both to die for. No measurements for anything though (of course), so this is going to take a bit of trial and error - or will provide excess and unnecessary motivation to return to Hoa's in the future for the real thing. So after hanging out and listening to Hoa's profound statements late at night over candles and a few beers, I have "chilled out", have "no worries", and feel confident that "we'll settle it all out later". Hoa really is a dude.