i got moved to a new room. this was expected (its saving me money). now instead of the strictly urban eastward view from last night, i have a verdant south facing view of jeongbal hill. its easy to remember that on my first day in ilsan, on sept 3, 2007, i hiked to the top of this small hill.
i actually prefer having roommates. i love solitude but its not a good thing for the moment. i can listen to the ajeossis gossiping and further i can learn from them. i already learned how to operate my bed, for example. . . that was a procedure that had stumped me in my previous room.
Day: July 2, 2013
Caveat: Still Leaping, Hoping for More Net
Leap, and the net will appear.
I wrote about this little allegedly zen aphorism before. I remember now that it was, indeed, given to me by my father. I bought a card with this saying on it one time I was in the US, and it’s been attached to my refrigerator again since I moved back to Ilsan in 2011.
I think I need the peace of mind offered by a sincere contemplation of this maxim at this point in time. I need more net. I feel frightened.
Here is a picture of the card with the saying, accompanied by my leaping minneapolitan rainbow monkey, attached to my refrigerator.
Nearby on my refrigerator are also found these words: “They say we can feel real joy when a large toad is the goal.”
It was really the only vaguely coherent compound sentence I could come up with using my refrigerator poetry kit. I’ll have to see if that works out.
I wrote part of this yesterday but decided go ahead and post it now. I am unable to control the date this post appears on my smartphone. Actual publish date is 2013-07-03 12:30 pm kst
caveat: the view from my hospital window
i dont know if this will work. the attached picture taken from my phone may or may not show when i post this way.
tribute to andrew sullivan’s “view from your window” series which once featured a photo of mine. and because my friend mary asked.
update: haha that worked. . but sideways. everybody tilt your heads.
caveat: hungry
i deliberately ate a lot, the last few days. partly it was an obstinate desire to enjoy the act of eating (despite some pain involved) in the time remaining before my surgery, which will deny me the use of my mouth for some period of time, perhaps several weeks. also, i was "cleaning out" my fridge.
so i think i stretched my stomach and now, on starvation prior to the pet scan, my stomach is annoyed. i will be ok – this is the beginning of my super amazing cancer diet plan whereby i will finally lose those impossible-to-lose last 10 kg. i was telling about this plan to one of my coworkers the other day and i think it took him a while to realize it was (partly) a joke.
dawn comes early in summer in korea. . . because they dont do daylight savings time. around 445 the brightening window of my stark 10th floor room woke me. i trundled my iv stand over to the window to look out on a misty, overcast ilsan.
caveat: dusk
the sun has set and i am checked in. curt was much more necessary during that process than i might have wished. a lot of consents to be signed, medical histories to be compiled. . . all far beyond my rudimentary korean ability. even curt had no idea some of the medical terminology they were using.
i have no wifi so i will post via emails for now.
i got an iv in my arm. . this hospital room is much quieter than my apartment . . . no street noise much less neighbor noise. i hadnt thought about how accustomed to ambient noise ive become.
pet scan tomorrow, surgery on thursday.