Caveat: Mistakes Were Made

"If there is a god, why did he make me an atheist? That was his first mistake." – Ricky Gervais

This is one of those "filler" posts that happen when I'm not really in the mood to write something. But, to provide a diary entry:

I watched the 2009 JJ Abrams reboot of Star Trek last night, and liked it more than I would have expected. I'd actually avoided it up until now. It was clever as a reboot, since it took the characters from the original series and literally rebooted them into an alternate timeline, via a time-traveling psychopathic Romulan – and don't we all need one of those now and again? By dumping everyone into the alternate timeline, they needn't ever concern themselves with complaints about canon-breaking. It reminds of the way Heinlein resolved all possible issues with inconsistencies in his future history(-ies), by just saying "They're ALL true – parallel universes!"

Caveat: 망건 쓰자 파장된다

망건         쓰자                            파장된다
manggeon    sseu-ja                        pajang-doen-da
headband    put-on-AS-SOON-AS   [the exam] ends
“Put on the headband just when the exam is over.”

[broken link! FIXME] ImagesThere is a Korean tradition of putting on a headband (such as a traditional horsehair headband – 망건) before taking on some difficult challenge or task, such as taking a major exam or protesting against the government or some other huge challenge. This expression means that you don’t get around to putting on the headband until the challenge is basically past. It’s proverbial meaning therefore seems like something like “Frittering away opportunities.” Some dictionaries have, “muddling away one’s opportunity,” which is essentially the same.

Some translations have “Easier said than done,” instead. I don’t think this is the same thing at all. Thus, I would say the first interpretation above – “frittering away opportunities” – describes my life perfectly. The latter is not as close a fit.

Wait – lemme go put on my headband. I’ll get back to you.

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