Matt's Samoa Blog: Odds and Ends Thursday 55

School’s back in session and we’ve already canceled classes for tomorrow’s intramural Athletics meet. During the teachers’ meeting at Interval this morning Bernie announced staff responsibilities tomorrow. I am “Chief Recorder”. I’m not sure I’ve ever been a chief of anything, so this is pretty exciting. There was a guy at CNET who owns the url “www.excelninja.com”, and I’m certainly not there yet. But I do think I came into my chiefdom through my spreadsheet skills. Here are some other odds and ends from the week:

I like the photo up top a lot. You can see the yellow clouds in the foreground, the pink in the far background, and the blue in between.
Thank you for your concern everyone, but I can assure you the cut on my knee is not infected. Photography can dramatically exaggerate the appearance of a wound, and this was no exception. The cut is taking a long time to heal, but I attribute that to the size of the cut, the relentless humidity, and the fact the cut is on a part of the knee that requires a lot of movement and elasticity. I’ll keep an eye on it.
My Independence Day uniform fits quite well. The seamstress thought my request for a higher top button was peculiar, but even she admitted she liked the outcome. Having the shirt taken in on the sides also proved successful. If it wasn’t for the gaudy gold print, I’d probably wear that shirt a lot more often.
Koa and I found fresh Tandoori chicken in the butcher section at Farmer Joe for dirt cheap. Believe it or not, the meat quality wasn’t great. Who’d have thought?
I know I’m late to the game, but this oil spill thing seems really bad. Like really really bad.
I was texting Supy in Spanish on Tuesday during our staff meeting, and the teacher next to me called me “ta’a”. This word—derived from the word ta’alo, which means “to play”—is a slang term for “overly playful” or “naughty”. Also, because it’s slang the “k” language is usually employed; thus ka’a. My Samoan ears are well enough adjusted that slang words said in “t” language sound absurd.
Hey tomo, sta tupe.
It’s that time of year where you can go on a bike ride across town and not be offensively sweaty upon arrival, so I finally pumped up my bike tires. Incidentally, even with this cooler weather, you will be offensively sweaty after your return trip.
That photo at the top of yesterday’s post is a bunch of ants at the bottom of a Coke bottle. I must have spent a half hour trying to get the autofocus on my digital camera to pick up the ants through the concave sides of the Coke bottle. Autofocus was having none of it.
Last night I started looking into public policy programs. It seems like a niche I might be well-suited for.
My third electrical fan has finally died, which begs the question, at what point go I buy another? I’ll be here for another 6 months, and while we’re entering into the cooler part of the year, no doubt things will be obnoxiously hot come October. Conventional wisdom says I should buy early to get the most out of my purchase before I leave, but I think I might stick it out for a while before I get a new one. After all, this most recent fan only lasted 4 months. What a dud.
Hey, by the way everybody, I'm going to add a "Favorite Posts" link up top where I plan on showcasing some favorite posts. At the risk of fishing for compliments, do you have a favorite post? If so, contact me directly. Thanks.

That’s all I got for this week. I hope you’re well. I don't have any new pictures to show, but here are some more photos from last week's Independence Day parade.