is a virginia jim kind of like a virginia slim? i agree my bearded brother in arms, the true search is for a woman who loves beards. if i may dip from the ¨state¨ stash- ¨well that´s fine for him, but i´m still alone.¨ ¨why don´t you try taking some of your own advice?¨ ok, the last part was definitel more than a stretch, but i felt i needed to finish the cycle.

co-con¨beard¨tadors is rockin. and much like, ¨i´m nice outside¨ will never be too much of a stretch not to make sense. true, it is rather european, but i have always thought that about you ¨virginia¨ jim. euro-jim. how is the married life? canoe on open water? driftin on smooth?

cozumel. beautiful. i have never been there. you should have a killer time. if i buy a jet in the next week i will meet you there and be back home for dinner.

i switched banks yesterday. other than wanting to put a quick and silent to my life 45 minutes into the first transaction, things went smoothly. i am now with a new, better (sure) bank that at the very least is open past 4pm. because you know, 9am-4pm are perfect hours for people who don´t work. and let´s be honest, who with a job would go to a bank? all the time i spent unemployed centered around me hanging at the local bank: nothern arizona credit union, wells fargo in san fran, vt credit union in blacksburg. they were hoppin.

either way, ames, i will be sending you a new card very soon.

wait wait wait. hokies 81, n carolina 80? va tech swept unc? va tech beat duke? va tech and uva are tied for 3rd in the acc? basketball? another big east team, boston college, is number 1 in the acc?

can it be? the football schools are beating the basketball schools?

happy v-day everybody. my school, being very business-minded, has had booths set up for days selling everything valentine. you can even get married for 20 pesos. you get fake rings, a certificate, photo in black tie, etc. and boys can marry boys, girls can marry girls, hell, you can marry five people at once. polygamy. a little bit o´ utah in mexico. somewhere, mr. smith is smiling.

i might actually do something, buy flowers, for vday this year. maybe i am getting weak in my old age. my students, some of whom are the sellers of balloons, candy, ribbons, hearts of all shapes and sizes, have asked about a love interest. i simply tug on the rather full beard i am sporting and tell them that beards do not attract women. i explain that you do not grow a beard to get a girlfriend. this intrigues some. then, ¨why did you grow a beard william?¨ lazyness is my favorite reply.

the beard is in its final days. after two months it has reached burly and now borders on frightening. in other words, i am stretching the boundaries of professional appearance. again. at least my beard and hair are one color (this is a first) except for the gray in my hair. which, still increases. soon i will be all grey i fear. oh well. then i will dye my hair blue and call it school spirit (our colors are blue and white).

so ya, i will let you know how it goes tonight. considering i go to bed by 1030 and my friend does not return from work until 9, it will be rather short whatever it is. maybe a walk. there are 24hr flower stands everywhere in this town (no joke, 24/7/365), so we may walk down to one and see if she likes any. is this something i should do before i see her? i think my lack of understanding of flowers would preclude me from purchasing them beforehand. advice?

in all its glory, i present to you, la jalisiense. it is a cantina (bars where only men were allowed until about 25 years or so ago) where i have passed a few friday afternoons. my buddy c, far right, white blazer (after labor day?) and seated, is a teacher and writer who has his picture on the wall (just above my head in the photo) along with a blurb about his first published book. but, that is not why we are there. to c´s right (your left), is father m. not a priest. p, another teacher where i work, is next to him. r is next to her and the owner of the cantina(black shirt standing) is flanked by daniel (right) and his son(name escapes me). in front is s, p´s husband. awkwardly leaning to get into a shot i presumed i would not fit into: billy. this was back in november, pre-beard days (which is rather burly right now and will be shorn soon), and during my friend´s dad´s visit. the place is great- guns on the wall (supposedly one was used to kill santa ana, and despite the rust and general decrepitude of the piece, i doubt it.), pictures of mexican and central american military men, famous people from latin america and now my friend c. white dude from houston. natually. we tip well= they love us there.

i just finished my own version of hell week. two 16 hour days at work in a row. sweet. well, i have been here for 12 hours today, but, it does not seem so bad. not sure why. i am surviving.

going to more museums on the weekends than i was in the fall, so that is a good thing. one thing mexico city does well is museums. hundreds, probably thousands of them. on everything. i went to the children´s museum a few weeks ago. ya, it was awesome. i was a little big for the playland, but i got to do handicrafts, painted and made a star out of paper i actually recylced myself (i also had fun acting like a child- my friend and i painted each other´s arms when the kindergarten teacher was distracted- who was throwing that paper?). my friend and i had a great time there. we also went to a planetarium a few weeks ago, and the palace of fine arts and monument to the revolution before that as well as four or five others in the past month or two.

well, i am out of here. hope you all have good week.