Books I Be Readin

I've recently realized that since I began my current job back in late 2006 that I haven't been doing much real reading (besides comic books) at all. This is rather strange to me since I've always enjoyed reading and up until that point, I would usually be carrying around a book or three about various topics of interest. So, in an attempt to return to that favorite of habits, I went out recently and bought a few books. Here are the two I am reading now:

Kind of old, I know. I actually went through this book somewhat half-assedly about a year and a half ago but am now trying to give it a more thorough reading. I'll post my comments about it when I am finished.

Also, as I can never seem to read just one book at once, here is the other one I am currently reading:

This seems to be a rather well written book and offers up some pretty good ideas against globalization. I can't comment too much as I am only through the first chapter or so, but so far it seems like it will be a most interesting read indeed.

What are you guys reading lately?

(porno doesnt count)

Aaron's Farewell Party

Aaron is finally leaving Korea tomorrow and his going away party is tonight. Yet another of the somewhat old guard is leaving and will be replaced by more fresh-faced newbies. English teachers here are like the fabled Hydra, chop off one head and more grow in its place. Maybe more like a planaria since they are less dramatic.

In any case, I'll miss his bleak outlook on anything that has to do with Korea and the fact that he's the only person I've met here who doesn't look at me strangely when I eat french fries with mustard. Flat-footed dancing in the gay clubs won't be the same without ya, big guy. Have fun back in Chicago and make sure to keep dose muddy shoes outta da fruchroom!

Now and Laters

Long taxi rides have become somewhat routine for me since I took my current job. Mostly because I end up having to travel to my client's offices when doing meetings or presentations but also because a good chunk of my friends actually live on the other side of Seoul from me. These taxi rides can last anywhere from 25-50 minutes and that is quite a bit of time to think (or sleep, depending on my state).

So during today's ride I got to thinking: How does one live for the moment while still maintaining forward motions for the future? We all know that proverb "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift" but one can't really go about life reveling completely in the moment or tomorrow goes from being a mystery to being a VH1 Special. Though in contrast, if one completely focuses on goals for the future, life becomes pretty bland and scripted. I guess in certain respects, my life for the past 2 years or so has been trying to find some sort of balance between these two ideas. While I haven't been able to find that optimal balance point yet (or even an optimal balance range), the constant search for it is I guess what keeps my life interesting sometimes.

What about you? Have you found your balance point? Any pointers?

Venture Brothers is the cat's pajamas

Normally I don't watch a lot of TV because I think it kills time that could otherwise be spent more productively (like drinking or acting loutish). However, I do have somewhat of a fascination for cartoons and Japanese anime as most people who know me can attest. It has been, however, quite a few years since a new American cartoon has been able to capture my attention as well as the Venture Brothers has.

For those of you who don't know the show, its actually created by a former writer for The Tick animated cartoon which was also a show I really enjoyed back in the day. It's a very good blend of comedy, parody and failure and I thoroughly recommend the show to anyone who likes a good laugh.

I've been watching the 3rd season lately and it consistently cracks me up with random pop culture refrences and puns. For instance, in the latest episode, my favorite character, The Monarch breaks into his newly acquired arch-enemy's home base but is really upset with the fact that his new arch-enemy is a complete douche. The new guy is actually part dewgong and calls himself "Dr. Dewgong" and he sits in a wheelchair. As The Monarch breaks in he says "Ah man, you're all fleshy colored and...jeez how much thalidomide did your mother take?". It was perfect and I have never heard thalidomide used as a joke in a cartoon before. I almost spit milk on my computer screen.

In any case, you guys need to check it out sometime. I've got every episode for anyone interested.

For a Venture Brothers breakdown:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_brothers

For those of you who didn't know what thalidomide is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide

28 Days(or so) Later

It's been over a month since I've done anything on here and a combination of my own want to post something and some of my friends bitching at me has brought me back.

So what's been up this past month, Mike?

Well, lots of things actually. Some of which I cannot talk about at this moment since I've got to keep them on the low-low and other things I don't want to talk about because they are just damn right embarrassing.

I guess I'll start with the boring, and therefore neutral, aspects of my life this past month. Work has been pretty much the same as usual. As all of us who work are aware of, it becomes rather routine and dull sometimes and this last week or so just happened to be one of those times. I'm hoping things pick up soon and awaken my interest in this job again. That's not to say that I don't enjoy certain aspects of my job, because I do, but sometimes my brain stops functioning in automaton mode and I wonder what I'm doing here. Then I look in my wallet. Oh yeah, that's right.

Outside of work I've been going out a bit more (too much?) on the weekends lately and carousing with my friends. Perhaps its the summer bug but I can't keep myself in my apartment to save my life these days despite the fact that I have a veritable treasure trove of video games the average nerd would fellate donkeys for. This of course means I'm spending more money but I figure summer only lasts another 2 months so what the hell. I don't have any crystal clear plans on travelling anywhere special the next month or so but I'm hoping to hit the beach sometime soon and work on my tan. Sitting in the office all day has unfortunately reduced my skin color to Powder-like levels.

On the video game tip, I just beat MGS4 and it is possibly the most detailed game I have ever played. The visuals, set-up, action, almost everything was perfectly executed. Everything except the goddamn story line. Also, GTA4 has been making the rounds on my system whenever I feel like living vicariously through a murdering rapist who never pays the consequences.

Finally, for the embarrassing stuff. Well, I lost (had stolen) my I-Pod, Digital Camera, bookbag that I've had since high school, gym bag, new Jero CD, 5 comic books and 2 pairs of new glasses all in the span of 2 weeks. Could have been alcohol related. Just maybe.

Japan again

Alright so I've been busy lately and haven't been able to update that much. It would be easy to say that I've actually been busy accomplishing something but that would a boldfaced lie.

In any case, I'll be loading up my pictures from the last few months pretty soon and try to get in a lengthy entry to catch the blog up with everything that has happened in the last month or so. However, since I'm actually heading out to Japan this Wednesday evening and won't be back until Sunday morning, it looks like that might have to wait till next week sometime the earliest though.

Pictures will be plentiful.

Vacation is over

I’m currently sitting in the office and waiting for work. I’ve got a lot of stuff I could be doing but because I don’t have this one crucial document, I can’t do any of it. Also, due to the 5 hour time difference between Korea and Russia, my counterpart who will be sending me the document is currently on lunch. Ah, how I hate this kind of downtime.

At least I get to drop a hot, steamy blog post.

So yes, I am officially done with my 5 day weekend. It was probably the longest vacation I’ll get for quite a while but I do have a few 3 and 4 day weekends in the near future to tide me over. As for what I did over the vacation, I guess I could sum it up in a nutshell like this: lay about, hit the gym, drink, sing karaoke, go to George’s wedding, video games. The cool thing is I actually have another 3 day weekend coming up this week. So hopefully I can get out and play some basketball like I’ve been wanting to for the past 2 weeks.

I’ll have a 4 day weekend in June to go visit my Grandmother, though it does kind of suck that I won’t get the chance to see the bro-ham since he will be out on the sea more than likely sending me emails that greatly exaggerate his peril.

Other than this, I really don’t have anything major planned in the next month but you never know…

Now back to waiting for that document…

The first of May

Ah, the first full day of my vacation. For the next 5 days I'll be doing whatever the hell I want and completely loving it. I'll probably drop some random posts about my adventures to make up for the recent lack of attention I've been paying here so be forewarned.

So to start off on the right foot before I step out into the remaining sunlight to grab dinner with a friend and probably a couple of drinks, I'll drop some quick info about 2 events that I've just recently become privy of.

First, as we all know and love the "Evil Dead" movies and Bruce Campbell, I think it is really cool that they will actually be doing a musical version here in Korea on May 18th. I've seen some posters (which I promise to purloin and post pics of) and it looks like it should be pretty good. I'm going to start a rally call for all interested persons and make sure to make a night of it.

Second, as if the above wasn't enough to make a great weekend evening, on May 17th, one of my favorite artists will be performing in Seoul. I'm not exactly sure if it is completely open to the public yet because I found it on some site at 3:30am while I was drunk and not in the mood to read long paragraps in Korean, but I plan on researching the details and hopefully getting some tickets. Now, who pray tell, is this artist I am so enraptured to see? Why, Stevie Wonder of course. He went from being a closet favorite of mine (I didn't want to actually ENJOY music that my parents liked) to an artist whose songs I regularly sing in karaoke and I really hope I can get some tickets. Here's to hoping.

Anyways, that is the update for today. Now play amongst yourselves or something.

5-day weekend ideas?

So I have a 5-day weekend coming up here soon from May 1st until May 5th.

Originally I wanted to do a sneak visit out to Japan to surprise some people (surprise!) but because I realized I had to go to George’s wedding on that Sunday, I decided against it. Now that puts me in somewhat of a pickle, my dear readers, as now I have all this time off and nothing to do with it.

To compound my problems, I am one of the only people I know with this particular vacation and I have nobody to pal around with for that Wednesday night, Thursday and most of Friday. So I have really no solid plan on what to do.

What would be awesome is if people could give me some ideas on what to do. Especially during those first few weekdays I have off. My ideas are as follows, but you could always add some more:

1) Go around snapping pics of random parts of Seoul for the afternoon.
2) Take a train going anywhere (no Rush references, please)
3) Sit at home and gain valuable video game training.
4) Try to find a bar in the morning that is playing the NBA playoffs and catch up on some b-ball watching.
5) Catch some rays up on the roof while reading (the weather should be in the high 70s to early 80s)

I plan on hitting the gym in the morning everyday before I get into any of these activities mind you, but any ideas you could add would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance peeples.

{Insert clever blog title}

Okay, so I’ve been busy at work and couldn’t update for the past blah, blah, blah. You’ve heard it all before so let’s skip the pleasantries and jump right into the meaty bits.

Work has been pretty great lately. Crazy time hours have dissipated for the most part (until mid-May anyways) and I’ve been spending more time hanging out with the peeps from work. I’m in a pretty good place career-wise and I like the current direction my company is going in. All in all, I guess I can say everything is copasetic (I love that word) as far as my career goes.

I’ve also got a 6 day vacation coming up in the beginning of May which should be relaxing. I was originally planning a visit to Japan but George had to have his wedding over that weekend so I guess I’m putting that off until the Grandmama goes out there sometime next month or June. My current plan is to go shooting around Seoul to take pictures of interesting stuff and hitting the gym with the fury in the afternoons while relaxing or screwing around with friends in the evening. In other words, it’s the recipe for the perfect vacation.

In other news, I went out to Pyongchang with everyone from work for our annual client service workshop on April 3rd and 4th. I also ended up being one of the people in charge of preparation so I got to spend a lot of time setting stuff up and making sure the entertainment was…entertaining. Essentially it was a long bus ride followed by some games followed by drinking, eating and more drinking, then a long bus ride back home. This is one of the reasons I love workshops here because when it comes down to it, it’s essentially going out someplace new to fuck around and get shitty mcgiggle-faced (shouts Chris).

Other than this stuff, nothing much has been going on. I’ve been rocking the video games only occasionally since the weather has gotten nice and it’s a waste to sit inside when I could be out enjoying spring. I haven’t been going to the gym as regularly as I would like but I’m still getting there 4 times or so a week and tearing into myself. I expect really good results by mid-June nonetheless.

This spring and summer look like they are going to kick some serious ass and I hope everyone else is looking at it with as much expectation and enthusiasm as me.

So what, dear readers, are your spring and summer plans?

The prep squad (including me) all wore the same white sweaters. We are here posing with the big bosses.

Me co-hosting the "Family Feud" game I made for part of the company entertainment. It ended up being quite different than the game I had originally envisioned, but it was really fun nonetheless.

Me doing one of my performances during the later part of the entertainment portion.

Putting some last minute preparation into the Family Feud game.

Our entire client service staff. I'm all the way on the right in like the 4th row.

Amusement - Life's sole purpose?

Amusement is a very integral part of my daily routine, as it should be for anyone. I must constantly find ways to get a laugh in here or there in order to maintain a flow from one situation to the next. I guess the cliché “It’s the little things that count” has more merit than I originally allocated to it. Then again, I guess as you get older, that becomes true for all of the cliché statements we scoffed at as teenagers.

In any case, here are a few things that have been keeping me amused. I must admit they are rather childish in content, but what the hell, give ‘em a lookie:

Ah yes, doo doo jokes never gets old.

Speaking of Garfield, here is a site I like to visit for some giggles here and there:

http://garfieldminusgarfield.tumblr.com/

This is something else I must watch at least three times daily. I don't know why, but it's maddening.

http://www.howmanyfiveyearoldscouldyoutakeinafight.com/

And in case you were curious as to how many five-year olds you could take in a fight, this site finally gives us that most important of answers.

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/black_guy_asks_nation_for_change

While The Onion is usually hit or miss, they occasionally slap one right out of the park. This is one of those.


And if you are into deep throating (no, not that kind ya sick, sick bastid), peep this video. Wait for it... Wait for it...

These are just a few things keeping me amused lately. I invite you all to let me know some of the things that are keeping you moving through the days.

The Doug cameth

Despite my work schedule, I’m still managing to get a post out (finally) after only 2 weeks or so. Aren’t I great?

Since it’s been a while since my last major blog, I have quite a few pictures to post. But before I get into those, I guess I should do a little update on the microcosm that is my life.

First, since my new promotion, there has been a large increase in my workload but I expected that from the get go. What I didn’t expect was the necessity of more effective time management skills. I know, I know, that’s essentially what an increased workload requires if one would like to maintain his/her free time but I didn’t know I’d be tossed right into the fray without any time to adapt.

But adapting I am.

For instance, this past Tuesday I had a veritable assload of work to take care of but still wanted to maintain my streak for hitting the gym everyday. Knowing this, I took care of certain things within a time frame which allowed me a 2 hour window to leave the company and come back. After working out and burning some accumulated stress, I got back to the office at around midnight ready for the evening onslaught.

So yay to adaptation; one of the key tools used in the daily struggle of the cubicle jockey.

In other news, the well-spoken beam of truth that is Doug came to visit me in Seoul. As is often the case in our meetings, we cut a drunken swath through the surrounding areas and left no brain cell unscathed on our way to the longest weekend binge I’ve been on in years. It was great seeing a Japan-familiar face against the background of my current city of residence and I’d like to think Doug had just as much (if not more) fun than I did. I look forward to our next meeting and hope he gets Japan ready for me. *wink wink*

Finally, after months of not following a workout plan, I’ve embarked on my 12-week beach body workout schedule. As an added incentive to follow it through (rather than go back to meandering around the gym and randomly doing sets of stuff), I will post a before (Circa March 23rd) and an after (June 15th) picture in one of my June blogs.

Make sure you guys hold me to it.

So onto the pictures:

Doug as he arrives in Gimpo.

Our group for my promotion party/Doug's arrival. Clockwise from left: Beehaam, Doug, Micah, Heejung, Glen, Dave, Jayce, Me.

Me and Darg.

Jayce gave me this candle for my birthday "cake". Yes, my face looked just like that as he explained it to me.

Me, Dave and Jayce celebrate.

Okay, so Micah had the perfect angle for this drunken shot, which is perfect in and of itself but knowing me, I had to take it and make it into this:

Yeah, I'm a ass.

At least, I'm a funny ass though.

Help out a fellow human in need

I'm a little late plugging this due to my work schedule the past 2 days, but here is a story you need to read.

http://www.billkapoun.com/

http://metropolitician.blogs.com/scribblings_of_the_metrop/2008/03/nows-your-chanc.html

http://www.rjkoehler.com/2008/03/05/donations-for-severely-injured-english-teacher/

Basically its the story of a 26-year old English teacher here in Korea who sustained 3rd degree burns over most of his body when his apartment burned down a few days ago. Unfortunately, due to his lack of insurance here, his bills are astronomical and his parents aren't in the financial position to accomodate all of them.

The really wonderful (and honestly a bit surprising) thing is that the foreign community in Korea has pulled together quite a bit of money. However, it still pales in comparison to the cost of the many operations he will have to endure. Therefore, I ask anyone who can pull together some money to donate what they can to help his chances of making it through. I've already donated an amount close to a few nights out on the town and I don't think that's a large sacrifice to make in order to help someone who really needs it.

This issue hits home with me because this could have happened to me or any of my friends here just as easily as it happened to Bill.

There are ways to donate money whether you live in Korea or the States, just find the links on the site I posted above.

Thanks for your time and donations.

-Mike

My Bertday and other updates

Time to update and show a few pics from my birthday party which was held at my house (mostly) this year.

Turning 27 has its ups and downs I guess. So while it does bring you only 3 years away from the big 3-0 and only 13 years before you have to start regularly having a doctor stick his finger up your ass, it also starts bringing a sense of accomplishment in life. By accomplishment, I mean a good reason to get rid of a few of those brain cells that happen to be lying around collecting dust.

I decided this year's party would have tacos-- which I painstakingly created myself. It turned out to be a fairly successful idea as I only had a small fistful of ground beef at the end of the night when I started with close to 5 pounds. I also made sure to stock up on the good ingredients and have the drinks and PS3 ready to rock. I was determined to have a successful party.

Part of the fresh ingredients I lined up for folks. Avocados were close to 6 bucks apiece!

So after setting everything up, people started to arrive adding yet another display of my uber sense of timing (luck?.)

The guys parked themselves in front of the PS3 while the girls were watching "House" on my computer.

Even a few co-workers showed up to take part in the festivities.

After everyone had satisfied their taco cravings and screwed around on the PS3, the drinking games started.

My new mascot, KIWI!!!, as he enjoys a nice stiff one.

We ended the night at a luxury Karaoke room where we sang, drank and danced for 2 hours into the early morning.

Overall, it was a great night and everyone had a great time. Just ask Gyu-Hong.
Now, if making a really cool birthday party wasn't enough, I went on this week to receive some more great news. Namely, yours truly has gotten a promotion. Yep, ol' Mike is moving up the corporate ladder into the realm of middle management and Dilbert comic strips. Of course this brings more responsibility, more hours, and more stress, it also brings more money and of course, more money. So it all evens out in the end. Let's see how this turns out.


Finally a video which was filmed at my house: KIWI ATTACK!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiYh-bXX9iI

enjoy

The last few months or so in pictures

Since I haven't been putting up any pictures lately, I figured it was time to finally dump a bunch of them for your viewing pleasure.

Me and the other two idiots who are getting married this year (Dave and Jayce).

Jun, Glyn and Me on Glyn's last night at Nielsen and in Korea.

My birthday present from me, to me. Thanks, Me. I always knew I liked you for some reason.

Resistance: Fall of Man on my new TV. Orgasmic, isn't it?

Beehaam and Heejung get silly at the bar.


Only 2 more songs on Hard mode to go then it's Hello expert level.

View of Seoul from the top of the Gangnam Financial Center.

Me and Heejung after her wedding. Isn't she cute?

Me and Joel after his wedding. I know he ain't cute.

Joel and Heejung trying their best not to laugh and look serious.

They both wanted to laugh here.

Back view.

This is what they normally look like, in their normal positioning.

View of Namdaemun from my office window after the first snowfall of they year.

The domino carrot I designed for our domino team.

All together I think we set up something like 40,000 dominos and then watched them all fall down. I think it took like 7 minutes to watch.

Setting up the dominos took about 4 hours altogether.

Me and Greg at Bricks in Itaewon.

Micah mixing up soju smoothies at my house.

And this is the result of those soju smoothies.

After Lunch Reading Material

So I was in the bathroom at work taking care of my morning ritual of expelling the demons from the previous day(s). During the course of this most vital of daily habits, I was pondering the great questions that any man does while straddling his porcelain throne.

“What will I eat for lunch?”
“Would a turtle look funny in a basketball uniform?”
“What ever happened to Fred Savage?”
“Is Winnie from Wonder Years still hot and if so isn’t it about time she did a spread somewhere?”

These and other important questions reverberated about in my skull as I made my first push into boweltastic bliss. As I looked down to admire my work, I was startled to see that my ass also seemed to want to participate.

Low and behold, a perfect question mark.

After the initial glee at seeing that my ass had finally decided to join me on my daily quest to ask the questions that keep us all up at night, I realized I must have missed the entire question. Had I paid better attention these last few bowel movements, I might have gained insight into the deep inner anal cavity thoughts my ass has been pondering over the past 27 years. Did I just miss the chance to actually converse with my own ass? I was rather saddened by the prospect of never having this opportunity again as I flushed the toilet.

Then I thought, “Maybe my ass speaks Spanish and it was an upside-down question mark and the rest of the question will appear in bowel movements further down the line.”

Now I REALLY need to learn Spanish.

More on this as it develops.

Peter Pan's ass is busy

Work has kicked it up a notch this last couple of weeks and I was averaging about 50-60 hours per week for the last month. It really wasn’t too bad because as long as I get time to get off to the gym and get home for a good night’s sleep it doesn’t bother me.

This past week was a different story though.

Altogether I ended up posting close to 80 hours, which included to 17 ½ hour shifts in a row and coming in on Sunday. As you can imagine, I’ve been pretty damn tired. Let’s just hope this was a random occurrence and I get back to my normal 50-60 hour weeks soon.

I honestly never thought I would look forward to a 50-60 hour work week and think, “You know, this isn’t that bad.” Oh, how the times have changed.

Other than that, I used my one day off this week to attend the wedding of my friends, Joel and HeeJung. They did an old style Korean wedding which was really nice and at the end I got to be one of the people who carried HeeJung around in her carriage after she officially tied the knot. After that we all got to sit down and enjoy a pretty good lunch which of course gave me the opportunity to burn some stress by hitting the soju bottle for a bit.

It’s weird to think of all of my friends who are getting married this year. Joel and Heejung are obviously the first, but come March my friend Jayce gets married, in May its George and in October its Dave’s turn. I feel like Chris O’Donnell in “The Bachelor” (title?) where all of the guys are running like wild steeds and the crew slowly gets picked off with lassos by the girls they eventually marry. It’s even funnier to think that none of these guys even had girlfriends a year ago. Oh, how the times are changing.

I also have my 27th birthday coming up in about a month. As I get closer and closer to passing over the threshold from the desirable 20s and turn into the guy who says he’s 29 until he’s 35, I’ve realized that I have in fact become a much wiser person. And of course with all of the wisdom these years have imparted on me, I’ve decided to ignore all of it and burn some cash and get myself an HDTV entertainment system to keep my PS3 company. Honestly, who cares about wisdom when you can hunt dinosaurs with guns in sweet, sweet HDTV greatness? Oh, how many things haven't changed.

“I won’t grow up….”

Nappy Nude Deers

Alright, the first post of 2008. That means that this blog has been operating in 3 separate years already. Boy, time sure does fly.

I guess the most appropriate way to begin this post is to talk about my New Years’ resolutions but since I don’t have any this year, this would become a really short and rather unfulfilling entry. So instead of that, I’ll begin with my normal update at work and follow that up with my plans for the coming year.

Work has been pretty interesting as of late. We completely switched around the organizational chart and moved our desks. This sort of thing happens at the end of every calendar year here at my company and from what I hear, a lot of other companies as well. Since I was quite the newbie last time this happened, I really didn’t pick up on the ramifications of what these changes mean. Essentially, wherever you end up is where you will stay (in most cases) until the end of the year. This means you better hope you end up with a cool group of people or it could get pretty miserable sometimes. I lucked out and ended up with half of the people from my old group and the other half is composed of people I already knew and liked.

We also have a new Assistant Managing Director who will now take over the entire side of my wing of the company and also have the dubious honor of being one of two (me being the other, obviously) non-Koreans in the entire building. While he is about 15 years or so older than me, we do have quite a bit in common. He is from Michigan, so that makes him a mid-westerner as well. He has also lived in Japan but for a much longer time than I did (10 years), has a Japanese wife and speaks Japanese better than I do. I’m really looking forward to see what is going to happen in the company in the coming year and I so far it looks like change will be good. Here’s to hoping.

As for my plans for the coming year, I have a few interesting plans.

First, I was planning on going to Japan for about 5 days in February but since there are no tickets available (it’s a Korean holiday so everyone and their mother has the same days off), those plans got shot. I will now instead hook up a Mexican siesta party at my house that weekend complete with homemade tacos and hopefully a sombrero or two. Hopefully I can work something out around that time to get Doug out here and show him around Korea as well.

I don’t see too much going on after that (other than a wicked 27th B-day party I plan on cooking up) until about May or June when I plan on setting up some sort of beach travel and hopefully sometime around then is when I will visit Japan to see my Grandmother and family. I will also probably hook up with Ryan at some point as well since he will be living in Japan at that point as well.

In July or August I’m assuming there will be another beach bash in Japan with all the old friends so I will definitely be out there for that. I also plan on finally getting out and spending some vacation time in a country that isn’t Japan or Korea for the first time ever and I hope to hit Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand this year.

All in all, I know 2008 is going to be a great year for me and I hope it’s the same for everyone else too.

When it rains

This is probably a lot more somber than my usual posts so those of you who come here for my low brow humor should probably just skip this one. Don't worry though, the low brow stuff will be back in the not so distant future, I promise.

As there is no more reason to not post entries on my blog regarding the recent tragedies in my family, I guess I should just go ahead and get them out of my system.

First, this past Tuesday, my grandmother passed away at the age of 81 with what I can only imagine as the majority of her loved ones surrounding her hospital bed. As bad as this situation was, it was not an unexpected one and I’m just glad that she had the time she did to see everyone. I was fortunate enough to be able to meet her twice during my recent trip back home and though part of mind knew it could be the last time on this earth I could see her, the optimist that always guides my actions refused to let me treat our meetings as such.

When I finally did get to talk to her on the phone for the last time, my mind was poised to try to say everything I needed to say to her in a few short sentences since I knew she couldn’t respond to me. After fighting off the urge to say the trivial “How are you doing?” at the beginning of the conversation, I couldn’t realign my thoughts. My mind started flooding with thoughts and emotions and I was for a brief moment completely silent as I realized that nothing I will ever say after this moment would ever touch my grandmother’s ears. After doing my best to sound stable and saying the few things I needed to say, I hung up and found myself back in my silent company bathroom, with a loud horn playing in my mind. I will miss you, Grandma.

R.I.P. Grandma

A few days before this happened, an unexpected tragedy happened: our family dog, Colt, died. Since he was only about 5 years old, this was really a surprise and when my mother recounted the events, I was sad she had to go through the night-long ordeal without me or my brother there. Colt was a great dog, as anyone who knew him could attest, and it’s a real shame he had to go the way he did. I will miss you too, Colt.

R.I.P. Colt

Now it would be completely inappropriate to follow this sort of entry up with a story about how my Christmas went, wouldn’t it? Well, if I had a happy, merry, whatever Christmas then I’d probably agree with that but since I didn’t, I’ll sum it all up here with as much humbuggery as possible.

I got pretty sick from some sort of flu bug which I have now recovered from on Sunday, or Christmas Eve-eve. The bug lasted just long enough to keep me pretty much incapacitated in my apartment by myself until the day after Christmas. So the only real celebrating I got to do was watch the occasional 30 minutes of Scrubs and hoist my huge bottle of orange juice to my lips before I fell back asleep.

So all in all a pretty good couple of weeks.

When it rains, huh?

Office Party and Random Updates

Well it’s that time of the year again.

In my company, we don’t have what would be considered a Christmas party at the end of the year but we have something called “Nielsen Day” which normally occurs around December 15th. It’s sort of like a Christmas party in the sense our entire company gets together for a string of activities including eating and drinking but it doesn’t carry a Christmas theme. You might be thinking, “Well, why would they celebrate Christmas in Korea?” and to that I say “Contraire mon frere, about 1/3rd of the population of Korea is composed of Christians”. So it is possible, like in America, to find Christmas trees and decorations pretty much everywhere and because of that it is easier to get into the Christmas spirit here than say, Japan. Unlike America, however, you will not find houses that look like they are single-handedly using a trillion watts of electricity per second to power abhorring, mechanical Santa/Reindeer/Jesus and the Techno Colored Dreamcoat scenes that can be seen from space. I think that is a good thing.

In any case, today should be fun if not at least somewhat amusing.

After we finish at about 10pm tonight, I head face first into my weekend. I am starting to get my new year’s resolutions in order by slowly introducing them into my daily life now. For instance, I am now spending 2 hours every Saturday and Sunday studying Japanese and Korean. I plan to have that up to 4 hours every Saturday and Sunday and at least 30 minutes every weekday. I will pass the level 2 proficiency test (one lower than the top) in Korean before the end of 2008. I’ve also been hitting the gym with a bit more fervor lately since I plan on getting to the gym 5-6 times weekly next year. But enough with my new year’s resolutions because they merit their own post in the not-so-distant future.

Now on to a list of random things that have been going on in my life:

Work can be mind-numbingly long sometimes but it is challenging and interesting so I don’t notice it as much. There are also a few changes happening here that I look forward to seeing the results of and so far it’s looking pretty good.

Outside of work, I am now an accomplished, Hard-level Guitar Hero player. I’ll probably never be able to “Through the Fire and Flames” by Dragonforce on Expert level, but honestly that isn’t on my list of goals.

I haven’t been to a karaoke room in about 2 months. I believe that is the longest period in which I haven’t gone in about 6 years. I will probably go tonight though because I’ve been practicing on my Gnarles Barkley “Crazy” in the shower and I’m getting pretty good (I think).

Finally, I’ve painted a face on the now rock-hard orange that has been sitting on my desk for 8 months or so and I now refer to him as “Executive Orange”. I also insist that people who have been at the company for a shorter period than him do the same. Don’t worry though, if it starts talking to me, I’ll get help. Okay, if it starts talking to me AND I LISTEN TO WHAT IT SAYS, I’ll get help. Probably.

As you can see, life is rather copasetic for me at the moment. I hope it’s going just as well for everyone else too.