A Voyage in the East

So I've been at the beach for a couple of days now. I've chosen a beautiful spot to relax at. Ko Tao is a quiet, humble island of 5000 people. The beach is secluded and one can see the locals bring in their fish after a day at sea. All the restaurants are on the beach, it is wonderful, and the food is excellent. I've spent a fair amount of time reading: I finished reading the excellent novel War Trash and now I have started reading Warlords, which is an excellent examination of the psychological frameworks and relationships between Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin and Hitler. I started my diving course yesterday. Of course, I started to hyperventilate and had to leave the water. Later I got back in and spent half an hour figuring out how to breath under water, so I am going to resume the course proper today, and hopefully go for an open water dive tomorrow. Oh and tomorrow, June 28th, is my brother's birthday. So I want to say, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOUG!