Space

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about space and space travel. Not only about recent events like Shenzhou 7's historic spacewalk, but also about past events. Learning about the Apollo missions is exciting to me, so it was a real treat to be able to speak with my grandfather recently about the role that he played during that era. He was able to show me a couple of commemorative tie clips, which were really cool.

I'm excited at the prospect of having our country reach historical milestones during my lifetime: high-resolution imaging of the Moon, returning to the Moon, and an unmanned round-trip expedition to Mars.

Recently, NASA has launched NASA Images, an excellent website with many historical, high-resolution photographs and images from NASA's 50-year history. Many breathtaking and historical images, including the famous "Blue Marble" photo (at the top of this entry), are available from the web site.

Karaoke King

Not long ago, we had the opportunity to have Tiffany's sister Cheryl come and visit. One night, we went out to Myeongdong, one of Seoul's most fashionable districts and an area known for its nightlife, for dinner. After a delicious Korean barbecue dinner, we were heading back to the station to get a ride back. While we were walking, I heard someone announce that karaoke was starting in front of Migliore, a major department store. There is a large stage set up adjacent to the store, which also faces the main plaza in front of Myeongdong Station.

Well, I've always enjoyed karaoke. I'm not the best singer in the world, but I enjoy singing. I decided I would get up in front of the crowd and sing a song. I have to admit, I was pretty nervous about doing it, but then I thought it might be fun. I considered doing a song in English, but I figured that I would really wow the crowd and sing a pop song in Korean!

Finally, it was time to start the karaoke, and I was the opening act. The host asked me a few questions before I started, like what we were doing in Myeongdong, what did I like about Korea, who was with me, etc. Finally, the song started and I belted it out! I was so nervous, I couldn't hold the mike with just one hand because I was shaking so much. There was a pretty good sized crowd, and I think they really enjoyed the show. And Tiffany and Cheryl were there to cheer me on!




It was quite a rush and I'm glad that I did it. Maybe I'll try again when I'm in the neighborhood!

The Great Cosmic Question of Our Time

Life has gotten away with me. When I'm not busy doing something fruitful, like painting or planning the district primary activity (which was last Saturday and a big hit with the kids, or so I'm told) and YW camp, I'm busy playing this online game that I recently discovered. It is a slightly modernized text based rpg that is ridiculously big and somewhat stupid. Apparently there is no accounting for taste, because I love to play it, for it has loads of treasure. That right there is enough for me, but it gets even better. If you come across another player on the 500x500 space map, you can steal all their gold and silver. Yarr, the equation do be simple:

Treasure chests + pillaging = my kind of game. XD

On that note, I suppose, regarding the great cosmic question of the interwebs, Pirates vs. Ninjas: Which Is Better?, I would ultimately have to side with the pirates.

Sorry ninjas.

Mirror Lake

I finally finished my first oil painting. The picture hardly does it justice (if I do say so myself, and I do), but I can hardly scan it, so picture it is. I think it looks much better from farther away. I guess that was Monet's excuse too.


My next painting is a seascape, which is turning out to have the most beautiful colours ever. I wish I had brought my camera to my last lesson, so I could have taken a picture of it in its primeval state, but alas, I forgot my camera, as per usual.

Worry not, Dear Readers, for you shall see pictures of it soon enough. You have not escaped my art spamming so easily.

Cherry Blossom Queen

I wanted to share with everyone this picture that I took of Tiffany at the Yeouido Yunjungno Cherry Blossom Festival. We went recently with our good friend Jake and had a great time. It was absolutely beautiful, but also absolutely packed with people! When the wind would blow, the blossoms would flutter down. It was a gorgeous sight.

Four Years

Yesterday, March 23, was not only Easter, but it was also our anniversary. Matt and I have been married for four years. Four years! That seems so long, and yet the time has gone by so quickly. It is strange to think that almost half of my marriage we have lived in Seoul.

Matt surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of roses, and it was lovely, and he also cooked me his favous fried rice (probably one of two things he knows how to make), and it was delicious. On Saturday we went out to dinner, which was quite nice.

Four years, four good years...

And we are looking forward to many more.

Oh, the Indignity!

So there is this Bag Tag thing going around, and wouldn't you know it, it caught me! I was Bag Tagged by Molly.

THE RULES:
1. You have to show your bag.
2. Show all the contents of the bag - no cleaning out first!
3. Bag Tag five more people.

This is my current bag. I do switch it up sometimes, but I've been using this one for several months now, mostly because every time I switch bags, I must clean it out...

...Yeah, I'm really wishing I had switched bags sooner....

There it is, folks. My purse vomited (i.e. I dumped it out), and that's how the cookie crumbled. It is arguable that the cookie was crumbled before the contents were disrupted (i.e. dumped out), but that is speculation for another day.

Items of note:
1. the earring I thought was lost forever. Yay!
2. speeding ticket (curse those cameras!) receipt that is to be "kept for three or five years."
3. Panda wallet.
4. van Gogh exhibit ticket stub.
5. three pairs of fingernail clippers (so that's where they all went).
6. .... no, that's it.

I do not know if I even know five people to tag, but here goes:

Melissa
Kelly
Jennefer
Cheryl
Steppicita

I do know five people. I'm so happy I could cry. ~sniffles~ Och, I'm feeling verklempt. Talk amoungst yourselves. I'll give you a topic:

What is it about these types of games (i.e. Truth or Dare) that, though we certainly know better, we still comply religiously with all the rules?

Discuss.

I'd be sweating too. . .

I have a stuffed animal collection, and yes I know I am 25 years old. It is not very big now, as I have given most away, but some I keep (for their curative properties) like the Sheepo and the Peep. One of my more recent acquisitions is the Abominable Snowman (hereon referred to as "the Bumble") from that Rudolph claymation. Here's a picture of the Bumble, and yes, Bumbles do bounce.

But then the other day I noticed something rather uncanny about my good Bumble when I was sporting my new hoodie ("Oops! She's ugly").

"!!!" I thought to myself. The resemblance cannot be accounted to coincidence. Upon further investigation, I discovered that there is physiological evidence that the Bumble, previously supposed to be male, might actually be a female, and a rather ugly one at that. I will refrain from mentioning specifically what this evidence is, but I will appeal to Molly (you know what I'm talking about) for a further testimonial.

Egads! but who would have thought?

Oops! She's Ugly

So last night Matt and I went to Myoeng Dong (that romanization may or may not be correct, but I would rather write this long parenthetical comment than look it up, which would probably take about the same amount of time and effort, perhaps less), and I totally scored.

Check out my hot sock buy:
That's right, ladies, behold the majesty of Rain (he's so hot right now).

Let's get a close up:
A decent likeness.

After eating a delicious but slightly over-priced meal at Saboten (a Japanese restaurant) we walked towards the subway and bus stop, during which time Matt's eyes lit upon this hoodie.
That's right, she's ugly. Not sure who, but look at the poor little guy:
She's so ugly he's sweating.

Unfortunately we did not bring our camera, so I actually bought the thing in order to share it with all of you. At first I was worried about the fit, but the guy said it was "namja sizie," which means boy sized. I wonder what people will think when they see a woman wearing it?

Heheheeheehehehe.

Absentee Blogger

Hello, all. My adoring public? Okay, that's going too far. Hello, all my friends and family who graciously read this blog when there is something on it to read. Hello again.

I have not posted in a long while (again), and it is because I have an overwhelming need to write clever comments and post explosive pictures, thus engaging my readers in a witty repertoire of my awesomeness, luring them in for more. Unfortunately, I am pretty awesome but to always have such a manifestation of my awesomeness in my blog entries is a bit exhausting, a bit like doing a jig at fishes.

So what am I saying? I am saying that I intend to keep posting, to continue to make more posts more often than I have been, but these posts may not reflect how awesome I am. Or, more sadly, they may reflect exactly how awesome I am, which is not that awesome at all.

Errr, yes, no, jahg mahrhs, yes I am awesome.

Sungnyemun burns down

Sungnyemun, also known as Namdaemun, was the victim of a catastrophic fire that erupted yesterday evening. It came as a major blow to South Korean national pride, as it is considered a major national treasure.

It's kind of hard to believe that something like this could happen. It's kind of like saying that the Washington Monument or the Statue of Liberty was destroyed overnight.

The gate has a history spanning 600 years. It's been renovated several times over the years, and I'm not sure how much of the structure was original, but that does not diminish its symbolic value.

It is a tragedy indeed.

Night Out

Tiffany and I went out the other night for dinner and a movie. We ate Korean food and saw National Treasure: Book of Secrets. It was a pretty good movie. I've really enjoyed the National Treasure movies because, even though they are fiction, they have stimulated my interest in American history. And of course, while we were at the theater, Tiffany and I enjoyed our favorite movie-going treat: cream cheese-filled pretzels.