My taxi driver yesterday was a zealous muslim. Upon finding out I'm jewish, he spent the entire drive to the airport ranting about religion, citing the Bible, Torah, and Koran. On the plus side, his angle was all about how the christians/jews/muslims are brothers following slightly different interpretations of the word of the one true god. While he was clear about how his way is the right way, he was also clear on the importance of peace and brotherhood and how any terrorist (whether bin Laden, Bush, or Sharon) is acting contrary to god's will.

It was still creepy and weird, but at least he was creepily condemning violence instead of creepily advocating hate.

12 hours of sleep, a bath, some sun, some piano students, and some food later, and I feel much better. Its nice to be in a healthy environment. Now that I'm not gambling 12 hours a day, I have zillions of journal entries brewing in my mind, but I'll try to keep them to a steady stream. For now, I leave you with these naked nuggets of surreality:

* No man is an island - unless he's laying on his back in the bathub, in which case he's all sorts of interestingly shaped landmasses. My favorite is tummy island, emerging and submerging with each breath, featuring vaguely six-pack shaped hills and that cute little round lagoon in the center.

* I think it would be funny to get e^(i*Pi) + 1 = 0 tattooed on your crotch. Then you could sincerely tell people that sleeping with you would bring them closer to cosmic truth. (Alternate punchline: That way if anyone gets down there looking for cosmic truth, they'll actually find it).