Right.

At the risk of sounding cliche, I've been a bit busy. I mean you'd surprised how much time napping and counting the woodgrains in my floor can suck out of one's day. So, since I am clearly too lazy to maintain two blogs (I can honestly barely manage one, and it's a bit spotty) I have decided to retire the Blogger account for the time being. If you're still curious about the goings on in my life you can come over and check out my daily(ish) commentary over on Tumblr. See you over HERE

December is a month of mixed feelings for me. I don’t think I’ll ever lose my love for winter with it’s bare, lifeless trees and gray skies. I love the feeling of staring into the dark and watching the snow fall, obscuring all traces of humanity with it’s muting blanket of pale cold, and the crisp crack of ice never fails to bring a smile.

But all of that has been overshadowed. Four years ago my father died and damn it all if I don’t still feel like it happened yesterday. He was a good man. The only one I ever met who let me be an adult and make decisions that he hated while recognizing that they were mine to make. He never once told me I was wrong, leaving any comments at the borderline of simple disagreement. I took him for granted while he was here and only since he’s been gone have I realized how much I needed someone who could do that in my life. He understood that arguing with me only drives me to do things out of spite. Stubborn.

Funny thing is: I’m still learning from him. Guess that’s the mark of a well-lived life.

I miss him. Damn.

Hi. Hello.

Well, It's been recently brought to my attention that I have been absent for a while. Mea Culpa. I suppose I owe you lovelies a bit of an update. To be honest I've been spending a lot of time on another continent of the verdant blogosphere. It's much less stressful and I don't feel like as much of a tool for posting updates that are basically "Nurr this rapper rulz check out his phat beatz" or "Hurr Derp I'm growing a beeeeerdd" or "OMG MY FRIENDS SUCK AND I AM SAD AND CRYING EYESHADOW TEARS"

So back to the update. Well, I still have a job. The Horror. I've been fighting an epic battle against the Balrog of Bureaucracy, tumbling through the depths of Mount Misinformation wielding only the Sword of Stupidity and the Staff of Shame and relying on my small but loyal Halfling companions to deliver me the Fingerprints of Fighting so I can stay here for another year.

See what I did there?

I got some new friends. Captain Canada, St. Patrick, Okie Dokie, Apartheid Annie, Crazy Eyes and Token Yellow, but they suck at the moment because they appear to be mad at me and won't tell me why and have been subsequently shunned, so I'm on another quest for new friends, which begins tomorrow when I will be thrust into an entirely new group of shambling hominids (no offense people I haven't met yet) to learn their language and attempt to blend into the local culture. I hope they use forks. Or at least chew their food.

I've been looking around for jobs since I am determined to continue with my "International Experience". I am determined to be a "Professor" at a university (9 weeks of vacation, what?)and will call myself "Professor Failsyou". Or something. I'm still working on that.

It's cold, I've been sick, We're all going to die a fiery death by the damn Commies, Christmas might be cool again, I need a vacation.

I think that about covers it.


See You on the Dark Side

"One of them had to stop burning. The sun wouldn't, certainly. So it looked as if it had to be Montag and the people he had worked with until a few short hours ago. Somewhere the saving and putting away had to begin again and someone had to do the saving and keeping, one way or another, in books, in records, in people's heads, any way at all so long as it was safe. free from moths, silverfish, rust and dry-rot, and men and matches. The world was full of burning of all types and sizes. Now the guild of the asbestos weaver must open shop very soon."

-Ray Bradbury

So I've rediscovered an old flame:

Books

She's a manipulative mistress, but long ago I fell slave to her charms. I escaped her for a short while and went a-whoring about with Real Life, experiencing this diversion or playing with that bauble, but she has come a calling once again and I am powerless to refuse her gentle knock. Wave Adieu, O readers who actually see me face to face, for the long cold winter approaches and a literary hibernation is imminent.


See You on the Dark Side

Small Victories...

Things I have conquered in the last 5 months:

1. Homesickness: To be honest I never thought I would have it, but the oddest things creep up when you're a long way from anything remotely resembling the familiar.

2. Fear of talking to strangers: Healthy though it may be for a child and certainly requiring it's own level of personal discernment, it was time for that to be done with.

3. Fear of asking ladies on dates: This one is hard for every nerd slowly coming into adulthood.

4. Fear of getting lost in a foreign country: Come on guys, it happens. Don't worry you'll eventually find that metro station if you keep walking north through those apartment buildings

5. Need for control: Let's face it, there's no such thing here for us, so just roll with it.

6. (Most of) An overinflated sense of justice: I can't threaten First Ammendment law suits here. No First Ammendment.

7. Shame at having to ask for help: Trust me, you'll need help.

I'm sure there are more but I've spent the whole week playing tour guide and it's naptime.


See You on the Dark Side

"I don't know if what we did last night was right or not. But at the time I decided not to force myself to judge anything. If the flow is there, I figured I'd just let it carry me along where it wanted."

A friend of mine said something very insightful the other day. It's probably a bit of a misquotation, but it went something along the lines of "Sometimes people haven't had enough of something, and you know that no matter how many times you warn them they won't quit until they have." It is with limitless regret that I open the following can of worms. I was briefly (what I, a reasonable experienced, albeit woefully untalented, adult, would call) dating someone. Said person was apparently either already involved with someone and misread my intentions, or was in the midst of making a decision on whether to make said someone a serious installment in her life. The point is moot, as the result is the same either way. That's right, I am once again fully available at any local meat market (rejoice ladies) for the low low price of one sloppy makeout session. However, as most (read: all) of my Suwon friends have either moved or been fired or both over the course of the last month, that leaves me with little choice but to accept the offer of "plain ol' friendships". So here I go, repeating a pattern I have adopted with at least a mild degree of success for over a decade.


Now for Totally Awesome News, we move to Olly. Olly?

"FAMILY'S IN TOWN!"

Thank you Olly.

That's right kiddies, my brother is coming on Saturday. Now I haven't seen this guy in over three years, so we've got some catching up to do. He's got his own share of issues which are, frankly, none of your damn business, but hopefully we'll be able to go over those while he's here as well as see some of the touristy crap I haven't had the stomach to do by myself.


The job is still a bit shit, but I still have one so once again, my paranoia refuses to pan out.

Well, that's the news for now. I know it will change some of your lives and might even inspire a nunnery for a few of you. Try to maintain your sense of individuality. For the others, I have some delicious Kool-Aid on the table to your right...


See You on the Dark Side.