Brain clots and procrastination

Went to a party last weekend... left my camera in my ride's car so I have nothing to show for it for a couple of days. Today, I headed south a few kilometers to a resort beach. Oh man, it was really nice, but since I don't have a camera now I will have to get pictures from the Spanish twin sisters I went with. Porto Galinhas is one of those beaches with chairs in the water that include great service, food, and drink. The water is crystal clear. Sailboats skimming around the reefs and a wall of palm trees surround you... it's tough. I think I saw a crayon ponyfish.

I'm not a writer by trade, so I can't call it writer's block, but I have some mental stoppage that is ok. I don't have much to say because I haven't been too pissed off lately. I've chosen to post two poorly structured, loosely connected vingettes.

First, an addition to the dumbest smart guy you know: I'm operating down here on a grant provided to me by Professor John Bowders (link to program site). To make a long story short, because I had some visa troubles, I ended up not getting the grant money in my personal account until I was already in Brazil. The ramifications of this are that I am now in Brazil with a pile of money sitting Missouri. I have checks for the bank, a non-related visa, and the internet at my diposal. So here's the question... how do I get that money down here? I don't have an ATM card. I can't open an account down here because the bank require you to reside in Brazil for one year before opening an account. Tommorrow I think I'm going to try and buy some traveler's cheques (notice the Bristish spelling) with my credit card. Convert them to $Reais and pay the credit card off online. It might work. Until then, I have about $50 (US) to live on.

I'm not really worried. I realized today is that procrasination has helped me to develop problem solving skills and also helped my learn to relax and not stress out. I still wish I didn't procrastinate on doing things like getting money to the country I'm living in, but I do... so I'll keep working on that. Until I fix it... I'll use my problem solving abilty as justification for procrastination. Conversations will go something like this:

Victim: Why are you just standing there?!?!

Brady: I'm practicing.

Victim: What in god's name are you talking about? You have to get down and get the chopper right now (perhaps he's a Scwarzenegger fan)

Brady: The longer I ignore this problem the better I'll be at solving it.... or something.

Victim: I will literaly murder you. Order your goddamn Subway immediatley!

Speaking of procrastination: the brazilian government requires foreigners (depending on their visa) to register with the federal police with 30 days of entry. I have about 10 days left so I'll do it some time. At least one of my predecessors in in this program neglected to read that part of his visa. No one told him to register, so he didn't even know... and didn't. He finds out in the airport in Rio one hour before he is supposed to fly back to the US. Needless to say it was a bit of a fiasco, but the final result was that he came home, but is not allowed back in Brazil for 10 years, or he has to pay $400 (US) upon entry. I'd prefer not to be an enemy of the state, so I'll register.

Agenda for the next week:

Find money

Spend the weekend a few kilometers in the interior (not like the Amazon, just not the coast)

Register with Polícia Federal

In other news:

-Greg once told a car full of a grandmother and prepubescents that, "real bikes with motors are for slack jawed pussies who can't hack it."

-Its conclusive, Brazilian women in the northeast are for the most part not attractive.