Month: October 2016

Caveat: to out of up for

Language & Linguistics

There is a "grammar peeve" that says sentences should not end in a preposition ("peeve" being a term-of-art among descriptivist linguists who want to complain about prescriptivists with an undue attachment to 19th century rules based on Latin). 

Setting aside the fact that, linguistically, many of these so-called sentence-ending prepositions are actually, syntactically, something other than prepositions but rather what are sometimes called "converbs," English also freely allows actual prepositions to float to the ends of sentences – and has done so since Beowulf (preposition bolded):

ne gefeah hé þaére faéhðe ac hé hine feor forwræc
metod for þý máne mancynne fram·

Nevertheless, how many prepositions at the end become too many? I recently ran across this example, which to my introspection is grammatical, if awkward. 

"What did you bring that book I do not want to be read to out of up for?"

Happy parsing!

[daily log: walking, 7km]

Caveat: a thousand telephones that don’t ring

Background Noise / Banalities & Journaling / Media (Texts/Music/Movies etc) / Not My Poetry

I'm not completely shocked at the idea of Bob Dylan winning the Nobel Prize for Literature. I would be first to defend his "literariness," and have done so consistently for decades. He is a great poet. 

Still, there is something a bit parochial about the choice, in my opinion. In my observation, Dylan has been more popular in Europe and Latin America than in North America for many decades now, and as such he seems to be a regional choice betraying a certain European parochialism.

Regardless, as one blog commenter I read pointed out: who else deserves the Nobel in Literature? Let's actually look at who's out there, and then ask, how does Dylan compare to these others, in terms of cultural impact?

What I'm listening to right now.

Dave Alvin, covering Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited." Given that Dylan is a better poet than singer, I thought finding a cover with a clearer voice might do better justice to the literary aspect. This one seems appropriate.

Old-highway-sign-mn-us61Lyrics.

Oh, God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe said, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God said, "No" Abe say, "What?"
God say, "You can do what you want, Abe, but
The next time you see me comin', you better run"
Well, Abe said, "Where d'you want this killin' done?"
God said, "Out on Highway 61"

Well, Georgia Sam, he had a bloody nose
Welfare department, they wouldn't give him no clothes
He asked poor Howard, "Where can I go?"
Howard said, "There's only one place I know"
Sam said, "Tell me quick, man, I got to run"
Oh, Howard just pointed with his gun
And said, "That way, down Highway 61"

Well, Mack the Finger said to Louie the King
"I got forty red-white-and-blue shoestrings
And a thousand telephones that don't ring
Do you know where I can get rid of these things?"
And Louie the King said, "Let me think for a minute, son"
Then he said, "Yes, I think it can be easily done
Just take everything down to Highway 61"

Now, the fifth daughter on the twelfth night
Told the first father that things weren't right
"My complexion," she says, "is much too white"
He said, "Come here and step into the light"
He said, "Hmm, you're right, let me tell the second mother this has been done"
But the second mother was with the seventh son
And they were both out on Highway 61

Now, the roving gambler he was very bored
Trying to create a next world war
He found a promoter who nearly fell off the floor
He said, "I never engaged in this kind of thing before
But yes, I think it can be very easily done
We'll just put some bleachers out in the sun
And have it on Highway 61"

[daily log: walking, 7km]

Caveat: Nonnet #76

A Daily Poem / Book 1 / My Poetry & Fiction / Nonnet

(Poem #94 on new numbering scheme)

Id,
ego -
both divine -
vagrant thoughts seek
apotheosis,
but meaning's in decline;
instead we make apopheny.
Behold the landscape: green blurs, black lines.

– a reverse nonnet
picture

Caveat: Looping

Philosophy & Cultural Criticism

The mind is finite. Therefore there exists some finite number of possible states of mind – a large number, surely, but definitely not infinite.

That being the case, and taking a deterministic view, there will be some number of series of states of mind that entail closed loops of various sizes. So imagine a certain state of mind that inevitably leads back to itself in a fairly short amount of time – i.e., within a single human lifetime. Is it possible someone has ever experienced this? Entering a state of mind that, after some amount of time, repeats. Is this what the mental experience of "deja vu" is?

Is a true repetition impossible, due to outside inputs? What if the person were in some kind of sensory deprivation tank? What of people who are "locked in" due to various neurological conditions? Perhaps in that kind of situation, what if it turned out that the mind looped fairly regularly?

[daily log: walking, 6.5km]

Caveat: Nonnet #75

A Daily Poem / Book 1 / My Poetry & Fiction / Nonnet

(Poem #93 on new numbering scheme)

START: I was walking and smelled woodsmoke.
That, and damp streets, brought memories:
high school and the Pacific
fog and walks and nights
at a computer
crafting programs
like mazes.
GOTO
START

– a nonnet
picture

Caveat: Yeahhh

Banalities & Journaling / Kids / The Wonders of Work

The vocabulary list included the word "polite."

I asked my student, "Are you polite?"

He made a mock-aggressive face, looking like a drunk fratboy, and roared, "Yeahhh!"

He has a pretty good sense of humor and irony.

[daily log: walking, 6.5km]

Caveat: Nonnet #74

A Daily Poem / Book 1 / My Poetry & Fiction / Nonnet

(Poem #92 on new numbering scheme)

Babbling silently at the heavens,
an orange half moon gave solace
to no one, not even me.
The evening was chilly.
I was not saddened.
Souls did not dance.
Liminal
lurkings
flowed.

– a nonnet
picture

Caveat: A piracy of convenience

Background Noise / Banalities & Journaling / Internet & Blogging

I have evolved a pattern as far as acquiring new music. I follow leads of things I'm interested in to youtube. Most anything can be found there, uploaded by somebody. 

There are free online web services that quickly "grab" the soundtrack of any youtube video and will give you an mp3 file. So I grab the file, and I save it to my computer, and then I use FTP to put it on my private server (my secret cloud). With my new Linux system, this is almost trivial, since FTP is integrated with the file manager – my cloud is just another folder on my desktop.

On my Samsung Android phone, I open my FTP app and grab the mp3 file into my Music folder on my phone. 

In about 3 minutes, I have acquired a new song or piece of music and can listen using my phone, which is also my main mp3 player. The one drawback is if the youtube version I've captured is of poor quality… but generally some google-fu can find a better version.

In fact, I believe artists should be remunerated for their work. But I can't get Amazon to work smoothly with my system – it doesn't play nicely with the Korean internet (at least, not for someone who wants to pay with a US-based identity), for one thing, nor with Linux, for another thing. Other online music vendors create the same kinds of problems. Further, the hoops they make you jump through and the crap they put on your computer, as part of their efforts to monetize customer buying interests and follow online behavior are off-putting.

So what I do is that I go into Amazon and "buy" the music I like, but I never download it – because I already have the file using my – for me – easier system. The artists get their money, and I get my music in the most convenient way. 

What I'm listening to right now.

Brian Eno and John Cale, "Spinning Away."

Lyrics.

Up on a hill, as the day dissolves
With my pencil turning moments into line
High above in the violet sky
A silent silver plane – it draws a golden chain
One by one, all the stars appear
As the great winds of the planet spiral in
Spinning away, like the night sky at Arles
In the million insect storm, the constellations form
On a hill, under a raven sky
I have no idea exactly what I've drawn
Some kind of change, some kind of spinning away
With every single line moving further out in time
And now as the pale moon rides (in the stars)
Her form in my pale blue lines (in the stars)
And there, as the world rolls round (in the stars)
I draw, but the lines move round (in the stars)
There, as the great wheels blaze (in the stars)
I draw, but my drawing fades (in the stars)
And now, as the old sun dies (in the stars)
I draw, and the four winds sigh (in the stars)

[daily log: walking, 7km]

Caveat: Nonnet #73

A Daily Poem / Book 1 / My Poetry & Fiction / Nonnet

(Poem #91 on new numbering scheme)

cars
buildings
traffic lights
i see these things
government and hope
corruption and despair
these things are invisible
all of these are immanences
they emerge wholly formed from our minds

– a reverse nonnet
picture

Caveat: depanoramification

Banalities & Journaling / Internet & Blogging / My Photos

There once was an online photo-hosting service called Panoramio. I never used it much, but I liked it because it had the ability to link one's photos directly to googlemaps – the photos could be geolocated, and seen by others.

I only ever had a total of 19 photos hosted on Panoramio, but I liked that they were there. I considered them among my best photos, and each photo was "viewed" by Panoramio users 20,000-30,000 times.

Well, Panoramio is closing down. It was long ago acquired by google, and finally google got tired of it. They've got some other thing they would rather users use that presumably offers similar functionality, but it's part of their social network dumpster fire, which I have no interest in. 

Here, for posterity, are the 19 photos I had on Panoramio – now saved on my server, but of course the active geolocation is turned off. I have had to remove the Panoramio slideshow widget from my blog's sidebar, since it no longer works.

200708xx_casadelosamigosac

Casa de los Amigos, Mexico City (where I lived and worked, 1986-87), taken 2007

200708xx_piramidedelsolteotihuacan

Pirámide de la Luna, desde Pirámide del Sol, Teotihuacán, taken 2007

200708xx_collisionwithbutterfly

My truck's front license plate, Sentinal, North Dakota, taken 2007

20070810_madriverbeach

Mad River Beach, Arcata, California, taken 2007

20080111_munhwachodeunghakgyo

문화초등학교, Goyang, Gyeonggi, taken 2008

20080111_ringguaporeomeohakwon

링구아포럼어학원, Goyang, Gyeonggi, taken 2008

20080307_jeongbalsanyeok_ipgu1beon

정발산역 입구1번, Goyang, Gyeonggi, taken 2008

20090501_pajugeumchon

Geumchon, Paju, Gyeonggi, taken 2008

20090501_welcometogoyang

Welcome to Goyang, Gyeonggi, taken 2008

20090602_hosugongwon

밤에 호수공원, Goyang, Gyeonggi, taken 2009

20091027_portsaintnicholasroad

Port Saint Nicholas Road, Craig, Alaska, taken 2009

20091117_heavenmanitoba

Emerson, Manitoba, taken 2009

20100215_yeonjudae

연주대, Gwanak, Gyeonggi, taken 2010

20100220_geumsansa

금산사, Jeonju, Jeollabuk, taken 2010

20100402_sakurajimakagoshima

Sakurajima, Kagoshima, taken 2010

20100918_mudeungsandeungsan

무등산으로 등산, Gwangju, Jeollanam, taken 2010

20110128_nearmillaamillaa

Millaa Millaa, Queensland, taken 2011

20120915_namsantowerseoul

Namsan Sunset, Itaewon, Seoul, taken 2012

20121013_hugokgoyanggyeonggi

Hugok, Goyang, Gyeonggi, taken 2012

[daily log: walking, 6.5km]

Caveat: Nonnets #65-72

A Daily Poem / Book 1 / My Poetry & Fiction / Nonnet

I wrote eight nonnets as a connected narrative. I post them here, all at once. I think you might already know the story.
(Poem #90 on new numbering scheme)

The open fields.
"Hey.
I'm through."
His hands shook.
"I don't get it."
Cain was so angry.
The Boss didn't listen.
Instead, the Boss turned away.
This just made Cain feel angrier.
"Why am I submitting these reports?"
"Nice."
He grinned.
He looked up.
The Boss was pleased.
Abel thanked his Boss.
"I worked so hard on that."
"It shows. You did very well."
Cain watched, beyond the cubicle.
"This really isn't fair," he muttered.
"What?"
"Please wait."
The Boss paused.
"OK. What now?"
Cain said, "Can we talk?"
The Boss shrugged. "Don't bother."
"You know the problem," he said.
"Your anger crouches, there. Own it."
Cain was stricken, and he skulked away.
"Look.
Let's meet."
Cain gestured.
"Maybe later."
His brother nodded.
"I'll call you, when I'm done."
Later, he called his brother.
"How about we go for a walk?"
"Sounds good," the other said. "I'll be there."
The two took the El down to the end.
There were some open fields around.
They walked amid the rubble.
The older brother swung.
He hadn't planned to.
His anger won.
Cain saw blood.
He cried.
"Hell."
The next day, the Boss called Cain, at nine.
He answered his phone, feeling dread.
"Where's your brother?" the Man asked.
"How would I know?" Cain said.
The Boss was silent.
"It's not my job."
Cain went on.
"I mean."
"Right?"
Another call came, some hours later.
The police had found the body.
They added up two and two.
Cain was soon arrested.
The Boss was there too.
"Well that was dumb."
He shook his head.
"You blew it."
Cain stared.
Sighed.
A few years later, Cain was homeless.
His lawyer had gotten him off.
The trial was a circus.
It consumed his money.
But his guilt plagued him.
Cain crouched, sobbing.
"I'm stupid."
He spat.
"Why?"

– 4 reverse nonnets and 4 regular nonnets
picture

Caveat: 한없이 비루해지면 누구의 얼굴이 보이는 것일까?

Media (Texts/Music/Movies etc) / Not My Poetry

Here is another poem from “A letter not sent” by Jeong Ho-seung (정호승), from which I blogged another poem once before. I like this one, from page 244.

휴대폰의 죽음

휴대폰의 죽음을 목격한 적이 있다
영등포구청역에서 지하철을 기다리고 있을 때였다
전동차가 역 구내로 막 들어오는 순간
휴대폰 하나가 갑자기 선로 아래로 뛰어내렸다
전동차를 기다리며 바로 내 앞에서
젊은 여자와 통화하던 바로 그 휴대폰이었다
승객들은 비명을 질렀다
전동차는 급정거했으나 그대로 휴대폰 위로 달려나갔다
한동안 전동차의 문은 열리지 않았다
역무원들이 황급히 달려오고
휴대폰의 시체는 들것에 실려나갔다
한없이 비루해지면 누구의 얼굴이 보이는 것일까
지금 용서하고 지금 사랑하지 못한 것일까
선로에 핏자국이 남아 있었으나
전동차는 다시 승객들을 태우고 비틀비틀 떠나갔다
다시 전원의 붉은 불이 켜지기를 기다리며
휴대폰은 자살한 이들과 함께
천국의 저녁식탁 위에 놓여 있다
– 정호승 (대한민국의 시인, 1950년)

Death of a Cell Phone

I’d witnessed before the death of a cell phone.
It was while I was waiting for a train at Yeongdeungpo-gu Office Station.
Just as the train was entering the station
a cell phone suddenly threw itself down onto the tracks.
It was the cell phone that had been talking to a young woman,
right in front of me as I waited for the train.
The other passengers screamed.
The train came to a sudden stop, but ran on over the cell phone.
For some time the doors did not open.
Station attendants came running hastily
and the corpse of the cell phone was carried away on a stretcher.
Whose face do we see when we become infinitely abject?
Is it the face of those we could not forgive, could not love?
Bloodstains remained on the tracks
but the train took on the passengers and went staggering off.
Waiting for the red light of the “Power On” to turn on once again,
the cell phone lies on heaven’s supper table
together with those who have killed themselves.
– Jeong Ho-seung (Korean poet, b 1950), translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé and Susan Hwang

picture[daily log: walking, 1km]

Caveat: Nonnet #64

A Daily Poem / Book 1 / My Poetry & Fiction / Nonnet

(Poem #89 on new numbering scheme)

Some
nonnet:
I wrote it
in an effort
to improve my skills,
capture the world I see,
increase my self discipline,
and express my shifting feelings
regarding the meaning of my life.

– a reverse nonnet
picture

Caveat: Note 7!

Banalities & Journaling / Teaching & Methodology / The Wonders of Work

Sometimes in my debate classes, if I need to lighten the mood or want to give a reward, I have the kids do an "absurd debate." I have a list of a whole bunch of different possible absurd debate topics, and I'll let the students choose one to do. I posted a short list of topics some years ago, but the list has since grown longer. Here is my current absurd topics list, for the sake of documentation. 

1. "Santa Claus is a criminal."
2. "Black is the best color."
3. "Aliens make the best friends."
4. "Unicorns are better than zebras."
5. "A smartphone is smarter than a dog."
6. "The moon is made of green cheese."
7. "The earth is flat."
8. "The teacher is a ghost."
9. "This debate is boring."
10. "Women are smarter than men."
11. "Barack Obama is a robot."
12. "All cars should be the same color."
13. "Monkeys make the best soccer players."
14. "Alligators are better than crocodiles."
15. "Mars should be destroyed."
16. "Rice is dangerous."
17. "The capital of South Korea should be moved to Ulleung-do."
18. "Zombies are harmless."
19. "Baseball should be outlawed."
20. "This class is a waste of time."
21. "Soccer is better than basketball."
22. "League of Legends is better than Starcraft."
23. "Homer Simpson is a perfect father."
24. "Cheating is OK if no one knows."
25. "Men should be allowed to wear dresses too."
26. "Vampires are scarier than werewolves."
27. "Chickens came before eggs."
28. "Iron Man should fight Batman."
29. "School is useless."
30. "Beauty is the only important thing."
31. "Pirates can beat ninjas in a fight."
32. "The world would be better if Harry Potter was never invented."
33. "It is easier to fight one horse-sized duck than to fight fifty duck-sized horses."
34. "Marriage is bad."
35. "Park Geun-hye would be a better president if she wore a hat."
36. "The North Pole is more interesting than the South Pole."
37. "E-Mart is better than HomePlus."
38. "The Lake in Lake Park is too small."
39. "The word 'the' is useless."
40. "Boogers are more disgusting than spit."
41. "It is better to be a dragon than have a dragon."

One of the most popular propositions with the students is "A smartphone is smarter than a dog" – which often gets simplified to "A smartphone is better than a dog." Today we had a debate on that topic in my special 7th grade debate class. 

One student, Finn, said that smartphones were better, because dogs can hurt people, for example by biting them.

Henry had an excellent rebuttal, that made everyone laugh. He said, simply: "Note 7." 

This is a reference to the recent difficulties Samsung has been having with their Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, which has a tendency to explode, and which has been recalled. 

I had to give the win to Henry on this debate. 

[daily log: walking, 6.5km]

Caveat: Nonnet #63

A Daily Poem / Book 1 / My Poetry & Fiction / Nonnet

(Poem #88 on new numbering scheme)

Dream:
I lay
fearfully
- my mind empty -
under a table.
I was only a child.
Other children yelled at me.
I felt compelled to speak to them,
but no words came out - I'd become mute.

– a reverse nonnet
picture

Caveat: 与工以口-尺口爪凡以—凡 仍巨十十巨尺 与亡尺工尸十 斤口尺 巨以也乙工与廿

Found Online / Language & Linguistics

This article, at a satirical linguistics website that I frequent, is pretty interesting – see if you can read it. It doesn’t require any knowledge of Chinese characters – it’s just a little visual “trick,” and after about 5 minutes, I was able to read it without problems.  I reproduce it below, with a simple cut and paste.

与工以口-尺口爪凡以—凡 仍巨十十巨尺 与亡尺工尸十 斤口尺 巨以也乙工与廿

与巨以工口尺 巨刀工十口尺 片巨工十廿 与乙凡十巨尺

十廿巨 巨以也乙工与廿 与亡尺工尸十 工与 山凡丫 十口口 巨凡与丫 凡以刀 山凡丫 十口口 尸巨刀巨与十尺工凡以。 十口口 亡口爪爪口以。 凡以丫仍口刀丫 凡以刀 巨立巨尺丫仍口刀丫 凹与巨与 尺口爪凡以 与亡尺工尸十。

山巨 刀巨与巨尺立巨 仍巨十十巨尺。 山廿凡十 山巨 以巨巨刀 工与 与口爪巨十廿工以也 爪口尺巨 刀工与十工以亡十工立巨—与口爪巨十廿工以也 十廿凡十 与巨十与 巨以也乙工与廿 凡尸凡尺十 斤尺口爪 十廿巨 爪凡与与 口斤 巨凹尺口尸巨凡以 乙凡以也凹凡也巨与。

十廿巨尺巨斤口尺巨， 与尸巨亡凹乙凡十工立巨 也尺凡爪爪凡尺工凡以 工与 尸尺口凹刀 十口 尸尺巨与巨以十 与工以口-尺口爪凡以®©™—凡 以巨山 与亡尺工尸十 斤口尺 巨以也乙工与廿。

与工以口-尺口爪凡以 亡口爪仍工以巨与 十廿巨 仍巨与十 口斤 巨凡与十 凡以刀 山巨与十。 与凹工十凡仍乙巨 斤口尺 尺巨尸乙凡亡工以也 凡以丫 乙凡十工以-刀巨尺工立巨刀 与亡尺工尸十， 与工以口-尺口爪凡以 以巨立巨尺十廿巨乙巨与与 工爪尸尺口立巨与 凹尸口以 十廿巨 尸尺巨与巨以十， 仍尺工以也工以也 巨以也乙工与廿 工以十口 十廿巨 工以十巨尺以凡十工口以凡乙工之巨刀 斤凹十凹尺巨 十廿凡十 凡乙乙 乙凡以也凹凡也巨与 口以巨 刀凡丫 山工乙乙 与廿凡尺巨。

与工以口-尺口爪凡以 凹与巨与 口以乙丫 爪口刀巨尺以 与十凡以刀凡尺刀 亡廿工以巨与巨 亡廿凡尺凡亡十巨尺与， 巨凡亡廿 口斤 山廿工亡廿 尺巨与巨爪仍乙巨与 凡 十尺凡刀工十工口以凡乙 乙凡十工以 乙巨十十巨尺。

丫口凹 亡凡以 亡口爪尸凡尺巨 十廿巨 巨以十工尺巨 与巨十 工以 十廿工与 与凡爪尸乙巨 与巨以十巨以亡巨：

十廿巨 电凹工亡片 仍尺口山以 斤口乂 丁凹爪尸与 口立巨尺 十廿巨 乙凡之丫 刀口也。

巨乙巨也凡以十， 尺巨斤工以巨刀， 凡以刀 仍巨凡凹十工斤凹乙！

丁口工以 十廿巨 爪口立巨爪巨以十 十口刀凡丫。

凹与巨 与工以口-尺口爪凡以。

[daily log: walking]

Caveat: Nonnet #62

A Daily Poem / Book 1 / My Poetry & Fiction / Nonnet

(Poem #87 on new numbering scheme)

The big typhoon failed to reach Seoul.
We just had some overcast days.
Down south, the storm struck Busan.
The sea stole a few souls.
Up here, the sky cleared
to perfect blue.
A cool breeze
pulled down
leaves.

– a nonnet
picture

Caveat: Actual travel plans

Banalities & Journaling

After waffling for several years, I have finally taken the leap and committed to a trip to the US, this November (next month). The international leg of the trip is booked.

LA will be the point of arrival and departure, but the current planned itinerary also includes Minneapolis and Ketchikan. With only 2 weeks, fitting in all the widely dispersed places I would like to visit will be impossible – I have to focus on those places that feel most pressing or important.

I will be traveling with two Korean friends, who have never been to the US. So I will be a bit of a tour guide, but they will also be able to hopefully make some of the travel issues I have been dreading a little more manageable: Two real ajeossis and an honorary ajeossi wannabe, seeing a bit of the US.

Tentative dates: 

  • Minnesota: November 6-11
  • Los Angeles: November 11-14
  • Ketchikan / Prince of Wales: 14-18

If you are in one of those three areas, I will love to see you. On the Minnesota leg, if there is time and will, a road trip to Chicago is possible… but I can't make promises, as I have some issues to resolve in Minnesota first.

More later.

[daily log: walking, 6.5km]

Caveat: Nonnet #61

A Daily Poem / Book 1 / My Poetry & Fiction / Nonnet

(Poem #86 on new numbering scheme)

My tendency to procrastinate
can serve me well in Korea,
although sometimes it doesn't,
and then I will end up
feeling some regret,
when suddenly
I find out
something's
wrong.

– a nonnet
picture

Caveat: fireflying around in unexpected and impossible trajectories

Philosophy & Cultural Criticism / Quotable

Is this quote interesting? You decide… 

That’s the extremely interesting thing: Everything is interesting. Potentially. Sometimes it may not seem so. You may think a certain thing is completely without interest. You may think, or I may think, eh, dull, boring, heck with it, let’s move on. But there is someone on this planet who can find something interesting in that particular thing. And it’s often good to try. You have to poke at a thing, sometimes, and find out where it squeaks. Any seemingly dull thing is made up of subsidiary things. It’s a composite — of smaller events or decisions. Or of atoms and molecules and prejudices and hunches that are fireflying around in unexpected and impossible trajectories. Everything is interesting because everything is not what it is, but is something on the way to being something else. Everything has a history and a secret stash of fascination. – Nicholson Baker (American novelist, b 1957)

[daily log: walking, 6.5km]

Caveat: Nonnet #60

A Daily Poem / Book 1 / My Poetry & Fiction / Nonnet

(Poem #85 on new numbering scheme)

I was walking home from work just now,
and someone's extremely small dog
ran at me, barking loudly.
I was startled and yelled,
which scared the people
whose dog it was.
My mood slipped,
wobbled,
crashed.

– a nonnet
picture

Caveat: Gobong Burning

Banalities & Journaling / My Photos

As I was walking to work, just now, I looked up to see vast billowing clouds of black smoke over Gobong Hill. Sometimes I go walking over there. I wonder what is burning? It looked like a tire or petroleum fire. 

2016-10-04_gobongburning

Right as I took this picture from a pedestrian bridge over Gobong-ro, a firetruck raced by , below. You can just barely make out its redness through yellow trees under the blue highway sign.

[daily log: walking, 7km]

Caveat: Nonnet #59

A Daily Poem / Book 1 / My Poetry & Fiction / Nonnet

(Poem #84 on new numbering scheme)

They say Dangun's mother was a bear.
I guess she spent time in a cave.
There was a tiger there, too.
But he wasn't patient.
So he ran away.
The bear waited.
A long time.
At last.
Light.

– a nonnet
picture

Caveat: 개천절

Banalities & Journaling

Today is that most peculiar of Korean holidays, "Foundation Day" (개천절). I guess Dangun showed up around 2333 BC, and they want to commemorate it.

I'm happy to have a day off. Work will be busy this week, as last.

I avoided my computer for much of the day. That always feels virtuous, although I don't really believe it to be virtuous.

[daily log: walking, 1km]

Caveat: Nonnet #58

A Daily Poem / Book 1 / My Poetry & Fiction / Nonnet

(Poem #83 on new numbering scheme)

How many scared feral cats there are
around the city of Goyang,
leaping among the shrubs?
Maybe not that many,
but it seems to me
they should be kings
here because
they are
cats.

– a nonnet
picture

Caveat: Got my smart uniform / And my duty to perform

Background Noise / Banalities & Journaling / Life in Korea / Not My Poetry

I was in the US Army, stationed at Camp Edwards, Paju (Geomchon), South Korea, in 1990. I hated my sergeant – he was corrupt, which distorted my chain of command.

He would volunteer our squad for details (extra tasks, like cleaning post latrines or moving boxes at the warehouse), currying favor with the Company CO, and then promptly disappear, to meet with his girlfriend at the post NCO club (bear in mind that he was married, with a wife and kids back in the States, and that his girlfriend, as an enlisted member of the same battalion, was off-limits due to rules about fraternization). The rest of the squad was on the line for getting the detail done.

The sergeant was a terrible hypocrite, and it was only a matter of time before I got out of line and said something insubordinate. When I did, I was disciplined. The company CO put me on an "extra duty" detail that was, in fact, the best thing that happened to me in the Army.

I was obligated to ride as a "US military presence" with a group of Korean civilians whose job it was to go onto US bases all over Gyeonggi Province and collect boxes for shipment of personal effects of US service personnel, via civilian courier, back to the US (or to other US military bases around the world). I think basically I was with them to provide a kind of "peace of mind" to the US military personnel who were entrusting their possessions to the Korean civilians. I accompanied an ROK NCO who was functioning as a "Customs liaison" – his job was to make sure no US soldiers were shipping contraband. My job was just to tag along so that the military presence was "bi-national," as far as I could tell. I had no actual duty whatsoever, although at the start of the duty I'd been forced to memorize a set of Korean customs regulations as applied to US service personnel.

I was never called upon to make use of this information, however. Sometimes the ROK soldier would make me hold his clipboard. Typically, the Korean soldiers always enjoyed chances to be "in command" of US soldiers, and I was happy to go along with it, for the most part. None of the Korean NCO's I worked with were in any way corrupt compared to the US NCO's at Camp Edwards, who, with the shining exception of  Staff Sergeant Jones (a few links up my chain of command, and the closest kind of "friend" I had during this period), were all a pretty bad bunch.

1_1Enter2ndDiv1The ROK soldier, who was a different person on different days, was really the only person who had any English competency at all. The Korean "ajeossis" who packed the boxes and drove the truck had only a few limited phrases. They were exceedingly kind and friendly toward me, however, and during my 3 months of special duty, I became a part of their "team," in a way that never occurred with the ROK soldiers. I was their pet American. I spent between 6 and 8 hours a day with this team, 4 days a week. I loved riding around the Korean countryside with them, from US base to US base, from Panmunjom (several times) all the way down to Osan. I got to visit every single active US military installation in the region, while spending most of my time in transit between, stopping at bunshik joints at the side of the highway and eating excessively spicy ramen with slices American cheese floating on top – a favorite of these men. I learned some of my first phrases of Korean. All these years later, they are still the few phrases that come most naturally to me.

There were long waits, sometimes. I carried my current Dostoyevsky or Gogol novel and would read. The Camp Edwards post library inexplicably had an excellent collection of Russian literature in translation, and thus my year in Korea was when I worked my way through most of the Russian greats. I also had my little Sony Walkman (this was 1990, right?). I only had 4 cassettes, however. So they were on constant rotation. 

One of those tapes was Nik Kershaw. Even now, if I hear one of his songs, I become exceedingly nostalgic for those road trips along the DMZ with those ajeossis. This is even stronger when the day is drizzly and gray, late Summer fading into early Fall, and I look out my window at the same Korea I saw then (with a few buildings added). The picture (found online), above right, shows the south check point, back in the day, which I remember vaguely. It's less than 10 km from my current home. I start craving spicy cheese ramen.

What I'm listening to right now. 

Nik Kershaw, "Know How."

Lyrics.

Got a badge upon my chest
I'm a cut above the rest
So I can tell you what to do

Got my regimental hat
Got my "by the good book" chat
So I can tell you where to go

I've got a job to do and I'm telling you
I intend to do it well
It's easy when you know how

Got my smart uniform
And my duty to perform
So I
Don't care you who you are

I'm the only one who can spoil your fun
With one shake of the head

It's easy when you know how, know way
Know where and know today
Know mercy, know time
Know reason, know rhyme
Know how

I can tell you I'm the law
With my medals from the war
So don't tell me what to do
With my narrow point of view

Though I know you're probably right, I guess
It's still not easy saying yes
It's easy when you know how, know way
Know where and know today
Know mercy, know time
Know reason, know rhyme

Know how

[daily log: walking, 1.5km]

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