I got nothing. Here's from the whiteboard, the other day.
[daily log: walking, 5 km]
Category: My Drawings & Paintings
Caveat: 희기는 까치 배 바닥 같다
This is an aphorism from my aphorism book.
희기는 까치 배 바닥 같다
hui.gi.neun kka.chi bae ba.dak gat.da
white-MYSTERYENDING magpie belly bottom be-like
To be like the belly of a magpie – white.
I wasn’t able to figure out any parse of -기는 that really made sense. “White” is verb-like (what is called descriptive verb, which stands in for adjectives in Korean). If I parse the ending as “summative” (기 – a bit like a gerund) + 는 (topic) I guess that gets close to a valid parse. It would make the whiteness the “topic” of the sentence, while the magpie’s belly is a kind of complement, with nothing tying them together except the comparison for some unmentioned subject. Anyway, even without clarity on the grammatical issue, I think the translation is more-or-less passable.
The meaning, according to the book, is that it applies to someone good at lying, especially white lies or bluffing.
I painted this picture a long time ago and [broken link! FIXME] posted it on the blog, but I think this aphorism merits a reposting of the picture.
“가을의 까치” (ink and watercolor).
[daily log: walking, 5 km]
Caveat: Scary Mou(se/th)
I was trying to explain to a student the distinction between the /th/ phoneme and the /s/ phoneme – many Koreans have trouble with the distinction, since the /th/ doesn't exist in the language, and the problem isn't helped by some sector of the English education complex teaching them that there is really not any difference in the pronunciation between e.g. "mouse" and "mouth".
So I drew a picture, because he was quite young. It was a spur-of-the-moment illustration, but I was pleased with it.
[daily log: walking, 5 km]
Caveat: Yo, Cat
I have these “Hello Kitty” index cards, which are pink. I got them for free somehow – I don’t recall when. But I use little index cards quite frequently (almost universally) in my speaking classes, when I allow students to make notes – I find the small format makes them think more about what information to put on their cards in preparation for speaking, and at least sometimes prevents them from writing out their speeches verbatim, because they can’t fit the full speech so well on such a small card.
Some of the students (boys, of course) complained about having pink, Hello Kitty index cards. I said deal with it. On a whim, I tried to create a less “girly” version of the Hello Kitty character. I called him/her “Yo, Cat.” Here is a bad-quality photo of a bad-quality sketch.
I guess I conceptualized this character as a hiphop artist.
내가 지금 듣고있어요.
[UPDATE 20180328: Video embed updated due to link-rot.]
매드 클라운, “콩 (Hide And Seek),” (Feat. Jooyoung 주영)
가사.
하루의 시작 똑같은 생활의 반복
속에 끈질기게 나를 놓지 않길
난 세상이란 바구니 속 작은 콩
행복이란 게 내 청춘의
방구석 어디쯤 숨었다면
난 쓰레기통 탁자 밑 신발장
안까지 싹 다 뒤졌겠지
하지만 나 바랬던 것들
여기 없네 내게 행복은
소문만 무성할 뿐 목격된 적 없네
속쓰린 아침 다시 밥과 마주했고
이걸 벌기 위해 이걸
또 삼키고 난 나가야 돼
삶이란 건 어쩌면
아빠의 구둣발 같은건가 봐
끊임없이 바닥과 부딪혀
닳고 아픈건가 봐
행복이란 게 마치
숨바꼭질과 같은 거라면
난 모든 길 모퉁이 모든 골목
구석까지 미친 듯 뒤졌겠지
모두가 모르겠단 표정으로
날 비웃을 때 답을 찾았다거나
답이 보인 게 아냐 난 그냥 믿었네
2011년 11월 난 보자기에
씌워진 저 작은 콩
까만 비닐봉지에 싸인
저 위가 내 하늘일 리 없다
믿었고 반복된 일상
평범함은 죄 아니니까
난 웅크린 채 숫자를 세
아직은 한참 밤이니까
스물일곱의 그 밤
무작정 걸었던 그날 밤
가로등 아래 우두커니 서
난 어디로 갈지도 모른 채
스물일곱의 그 밤
내 모습이 초라해
눈을 뜨면 꼭 잡힐 것 같아
아득한 그 시절 그날 밤
해 뜨면 어제 같은 오늘을
또 한 번 나 살아가겠지
붐비는 지하철 똑같은
발걸음들 나 따라가겠지
술잔 앞 꿈에 대한 얘기 할 때면
사실 내 목소리 떳떳하지 못해서
누군가 눈치챌까 괜시리
목소릴 높였지 이 곳을
벗어나고 싶어 난 내가
나로서 살고 싶어
더 비겁해지기 전에
겁 먹기 전에 이젠 나 답고 싶어
작은 콩 몸 속에는
서러움과 눈물 몇 방울
그리고 그 빛나는 믿음을
끌어안고 견디는 중
이 수많은 밤을
나를 믿는 것 꿈을 견디는 것
지금의 내 초라함은
잠시 스쳐갈 뿐이라는 것과
언젠가 머릴 들이밀고
솟아날 콩처럼 까만 보자기 속
난 한없이 더 질겨지고 있지
스물일곱의 그 밤
무작정 걸었던 그날 밤
가로등 아래 우두커니 서
난 어디로 갈지도 모른 채
스물일곱의 그 밤
내 모습이 초라해
눈을 뜨면 꼭 잡힐 것 같아
아득한 그 시절 그날 밤
하루 견뎌 또 하루
세상에 바짝 약 오른 채로
용기를 내긴 힘들었고
포기란 말은 참 쉬웠던
난 숫자를 세지
꼭꼭 숨어라 머리카락 보일라
어디로 넌 숨었을까
어디에 있건 상관없다고
자 하나 둘 셋 넷
다시 다섯 넷 셋 둘
세상은 나를 술래라 해
난 그래서 눈 가렸을 뿐
한때는 헷갈린 적도 있지만
난 이제 갈 길 가네
열까지 숫자를 세고
내일이 되면 난 더 빛나네
나는 더 빛나네
스물일곱의 그 밤
무작정 걸었던 그날 밤
가로등 아래 우두커니 서
난 어디로 갈지도 모른 채
스물일곱의 그 밤
내 모습이 초라해
눈을 뜨면 꼭 잡힐 것 같아
아득한 그 시절 그 날 밤
[daily log: walking, 5 km]
Caveat: Oinkography
Yesterday during the staff meeting I was grumpy, because … well, it was because of something that was ultimately my own fault, for having failed to validate some work someone else had done. Anyway, I will have to adapt my curriculum for my Sirius반…
I took these notes during the meeting. They are quite detailed, but don't really make clear what I need to do.
Later, my student Hansaem made some minor additions to the notes in red pen, including her name and the name of an imaginary friend.
[daily log: walking, 5 km]
Caveat: the sky is a simulacrum
I'm not sure these three things belong together. But here they are, together in this blog.
THE DESOLATE FIELD
Vast and grey, the sky
is a simulacrum
to all but him whose days
are vast and grey, and–
In the tall, dried grasses
a goat stirs
with nozzle searching the ground.
–my head is in the air
but who am I
.
.
?
And amazed my heart leaps
at the thought of love
vast and grey
yearning silently over me.
– William Carlos Williams (American poet, 1883-1963)
What I'm listening to right now.
[UPDATE 20180328: video embed replaced due to link-rot]
Jean Sibelius, "Lemminkäinen Suite."
[daily log: walking, 5.5 km]
Caveat: Autorretrato
Last week during the staff meeting I made the following detailed notes about what I was listening to (i.e. long debates in Korean about minutiae of curriculum and scheduling and parental complaints):
As you can see, I got a lot out of the meeting.
Sigh.
[daily log: walking 4 km]
Caveat: The Snowy Road to Hwna
I spent part of the weekend trying to resume my drawing habit, which has been moribund. Because the weather was hot and unpleasantly humid, I decided to draw snow. That helps me feel less hot, I guess.
I made this picture.
It is titled The Snowy Road to Hwna. This is an imaginary place (of which I have a plethora in my mind). Specifically, it lies somewhere in the mountain country on the island of Puh in the western part of the Mahhal Archipelago.
The style of the drawing is strictly derivative, of course. I think of it as a "contemporary Korean faux-traditional" style – the kind that is ubiquituous in cheesy decor and is for sale as paintings on street corners by third-rate artists. Regardless, I was pleased with it.
[daily log: walking, 5 km]
Caveat: Talking into Nothingness
My blog has been utterly down for more than 24 hours now, as far as I can figure out. At least it's accessible on the "back end" – meaning I am able to write this post. But it's like talking into nothingness – I'm writing a blog post that no one can see.
I've been putting a lot of energy into trying to extract the content of this blog from the host and configure a new, back-up location for my nearly 4000 blog entries. I've got something that is up-and-working, but getting all the pictures posted with my new back-up blog turns out to be more difficult. I may have to manually download all the pictures (one by one?!).
I'm looking into longer term alternatives for changing my blog host – the down time is pretty annoying but what's more annoying is the lack of clear communication from the host provider to me, the customer, about the situation.
Meanwhile, here is a picture of some doodles I did while taking notes in a meeting a while back. I'm posting it to test a new picture-posting method (which is much more laborious but ensures I have copies of each picture posted in multiple locations).
[daily log: walking, 5 km]
Caveat: Life Goes On
Work has slowed down quite a bit for me, now that the first 내신 (test prep period) of 2014 has started. I have no middle school students except for my Saturday 특강. I’m staying busy with things, though, and getting a bit more caught up feeling with various longer term tasks for work. I’m not really feeling like it’s a vacation, just a more at-ease period.
I’ve been feeling paranoidly hypochondriacal about various twinges and difficulties in my mouth. I have a 3-monthly CT scan scheduled in a few weeks and will find out if my hypochondria has any merit.
Life goes on.
Here are some pictures I took of my whiteboard artwork.
[daily log: walking, 5 km]
Caveat: Exhaustive Notes from Staff Meeting
Here are my exhaustive notes from the staff meeting today.
Recent life summary: eat read work sleep repeat.
[daily log: walking, 5.5 km]
Caveat: Miscellany of Cats
The picture at right are some cats I drew on the board for my Copernicus반 elementary students today.
We had a 회식 [hoesik = business lunch or dinner, sort of] today for lunch, before work. It was at that buffet-slash-steakhouse that Koreans love so much: VIPS. I call it Korean wedding food. It's OK, I guess.
I ate some cream of broccoli soup that was good. Really, texture-wise I'm handling most things OK, as long as I take small bites, chew carefully, and down it with lots of liquids. I had a few bites of salad which is very hard to eat but that I miss eating.
At work I allowed my TEPS-M반 middle schoolers to "buy" a pizza party with their collected "alligator dollars" – for 100 (which they pooled among themselves) I ordered them pizza, and we skipped the vocab test (which may have been the highlight, for them). I ate a slice of the pizza, even.
Curt had asked me earlier how it is I get those TEPS kids to talk so much. I suppose buying them pizza helps – but to put it in more methodological/theoretical terms, I'm finding intrinsic motivator for them to seek out communicative proficiencies. Or, um, something like that.
[daily log: walking, 3 km]
Caveat: 생각이란 생각하면 생각할수록…
생각이란 생각하면 생각할수록 생각나는것이 생각이므로 생각하지않는 생각이 좋은 생각이라 생각한다.
I decided a while back to do a series of Korean tongue-twisters, in the same way I have been doing aphorisms and proverbs. Here is one that I have had on queue for a long time but was feeling intimidated by the grammar. I made a stab at it finally.
생각이란 생각하면
saeng·gak·i·ran saeng·gak·ha·myeon
thought-AS-FOR think-COND
As for thoughts, when [I] thought them
생각할수록 생각나는것이
saeng·gak·hal·su·rok saeng·gak·na·neun·geos·i
think-THE-MORE recall-PROB-PAST
the more I thought the more I recalled
생각이므로 생각하지않는
saeng·gak·i·meu·ro saeng·gak·ha·ji·anh·neun
thought-be-SINCE think-NEG-PRESPART
since it’s thoughts, unthought
생각이 좋은 생각이라 생각한다
saeng·gak·i joh·eun saeng·gak·i·ra saeng·gak·han·da
thought-SUBJ be-good-PASTPART thought-be-PROP think
thoughts being thoughts that are good think
As for thoughts, when I think them, the more I think the more I recall, since being thoughts, I think unthought thoughts are good thoughts too.
Seems like there is a lot of thinking going on. I think.
This was really a puzzle, grammatically – it’s not so much a meaningful sentence as it is a “showcase of endings” – a single word, “thought” is nounified and verbified at least 9 times in 9 different ways, that I can count. I don’t have a lot of confidence on my guessed-at meaning, but, like a Dr Seuss rhyme, I’m not sure that that really matters – possibly, something equally non-sensical but more poetic or farsical could be derived for the English, that wouldn’t violate the spirit of the original.
In any event, I spent about an hour puzzling through my grammar bible and even recoursing several times to Martin before settling on this interpretation.
What do you think? I really like it. 재밌당.
For the next three days, it’s a giant holiday here: the lunar new year. I’m not planning on any trip or major activity, so I mostly will focus on trying to get lots of rest and improving my habits.
I’m such a homebody these days.
[daily log (1130 pm): walking, 5 km]
Caveat: Gifigator
I decided to try something completely new yesterday: I made an 8 frame animation and then gifified it.
It took longer than its very amateurish appearance would suggest. The alligator is intended to be the infamous Kevin (or one of his many successors – Kevin II, Kevin III, Charles, Brian, etc.), and the well-known (among my students) mouse's name is Lunch.
Saturday night, a few hours after I got home from work, my friend Seungbae came out to Ilsan to visit me.
He may be returning to Mexico in February, and I hadn't seen him since he had gone off to Latin American last fall. I'm impressed with where he's been taking his career. Especially given how he's broken with Korean tradition and changed careers several times in his life – this career is a quite recent thing. My Spanish-speaking Korean friend is finally leveraging his Spanish abilities spectacularly. Anyway, he really is my best Korean friend – the person with whom I have the most in common. I was glad to see him although I've been pretty gloomy and antisocial lately.
He and his girlfriend (another way he's breaking with Korean tradition – divorced and dating again in his early 50's) and I went to dinner at the BonJuk across the street from my apartment and talked for a few hours. I was jealous of his bibimbap but ate my danhobakjuk fairly comfortably.
What I'm listening to right now.
Broken Bells, "Holding on for Life."
[daily log (11 pm): walking, 5 km]
Caveat: Santa is a criminal
Los crazy boys had a debate on whether Santa is a criminal, yesterday. They were being quite rambunctious – this video represents the trail end of a rather stern effort on my part to get them to not dance on the desks when not expounding their positions for the debate, so they are feeling a bit resentful. They still do passably well on each side of the proposition, if somewhat hard to understand at moments.
It was fun. Here’s a group of aliens I drew on a whiteboard, climbing a holly tree (is there such a thing?) and contemplating a Christmas present.
Anyway, happy Solstice.
Caveat: Aliens Obsession
Lately for some incomprehensible reason I've been on a kick of drawing these little alien characters. I draw them on whiteboards at work, I draw them in the margins of notes, I draw them on my sketchpad at home.
It seems as if I'm developing this idea that they are either a supplement to – or a replacement for – my currently-existing "brand" as a teacher, which is my alligator(s). Partly, I'm thinking of this because I find them easier to draw: I've long considered an ability to draw my "brand" image fast and consistently (like a cartoonist) to be an important characteristic. Also, these days I've been thinking a lot about what a series of "Jared-brand" ESL textbooks would actually look like (given my standing but currently dormant commitment to work on that as a project). In making textbooks for children, I would want something interesting and engaging for students, and these alien characters provide exactly that kind of supplemental energy.
[daily log: walking, 7.5 km; running, 3 km]
Caveat: Girl In a Tree with Small Aliens
My doodle-du-jour: a girl cavorting in a tree with small aliens. I’m not sure what the story is behind this, exactly. But there’s definitely some kind of story.
[daily log: oops]
Caveat: Dreaming Drawing Monsters
I slept longer than I have in a long time – I woke up about two hours later than my usual time. That's a sign that I was tired yesterday.
I was having strange dreams about drawing monsters. Cartoon monsters. Not much plot. Just drawing cartoon monsters.
Some dream. I tried to draw one of the cute monsters I'd been dreamdrawing immediately when I woke up (see right). Success: marginal.
Caveat: Dissolute Turtle
I have been working on this for a lot longer than appearances would suggest. I'm happy with it compositionally but frustrated with it from a technical standpoint – I'm not very comfortable with watercolor as a medium.
Dissolute Turtle (ink and watercolor).
Caveat: 가을의 까치
I made this yesterday.
“가을의 까치” (ink and watercolor).
Caveat: Entre le royaume des vivants et des morts
The kids from Montreal have an awesome new song that I listened to about 10 times today. David Bowie heard them working on it, and liked it so much he joined them signing – you can hear his distinctive voice.
Plus, I drew this picture of a skeleton dreaming (ink and watercolor).
What I'm listening to right now.
Arcade Fire, "Reflektor."
Lyrics:
[Verse 1]
Trapped in a prison, in a prism of light
Alone in the darkness, darkness of white
We fell in love, alone on a stage
In the reflective age[Pre-Chorus – Régine Chassagne]
Entre la nuit, la nuit et l’aurore
Entre le royaume des vivants et des morts
If this is heaven
I don't know what it’s for
If I can’t find you there
I don't care[Chorus]
I thought I found a way to enter
It’s just a Reflektor (It's just a Reflektor)
I thought I found the connector
It’s just a Reflektor (It's just a Reflektor)[Verse 2]
Now, the signals we send, are deflected again
We're so connected, but are we even friends?
We fell in love when I was nineteen
And now we're staring at a screen[Pre-Chorus – Variation – Régine Chassagne]
Entre la nuit, la nuit et l'aurore
Entre le royaume des vivants et des morts
If this is heaven
I need something more
Just a place to be alone
Cause you're my home[Chorus]
[Bridge 1]
It’s just a reflection of a reflection
Of a reflection of a reflection
But I see you on the other side?
We all got things to hide
It’s just a reflection of a reflection
Of a reflection of a reflection
But I see you on the other side
We all got things to hide
Alright, let's go back[Verse 3]
Our song it skips, on little silver discs
Our love is plastic, we'll break it to bits
I want to break free, but will they break me
Down, down, down?
Don't mess around[Chorus]
[Bridge 2- David Bowie and Win Butler]
Thought you were praying to the resurrector
Turns out it was just a Reflektor (It’s just a Reflektor)
Thought you were praying to the resurrector
Turns out it was just a Reflektor (It’s just a Reflektor)
Thought you were praying to the resurrector
Turns out it was just a Reflektor (It’s just a Reflektor)[Outro]
It’s a Reflektor
It’s just a Reflektor
Just a Reflektor
But I see you on the other side
It’s just a Reflektor
But I see you on the other side
We all got things to hide
It’s just a Reflektor
But I see you on the other side
[daily log, walking, 5.5 km]
Caveat: A Chair
I dreamed about a chair.
This is no joke. The whole dream was about a chair. I can't even explain it. It was just there, like on this huge flat plain, standing there like a monument, but not a big chair or fancy. A kitchen chair.
There were tourists who would come by to see it. There were pictures of it on the news and on the internet.
It was the sort of dream where I would wake up and think, "OK, that was weird," and then go back to sleep and end up right back in it.
I wanted to somehow capture it. But what can I do? What's to describe? A chair. What's to draw? A chair. Here is my dream.
What I'm listening to right now.
Muse, "Thoughts of a Dying Atheist."
It's Sunday. I take the dream to mean I need to stop and rest. I intend to try to avoid my computer and phone today. See you later.
Caveat: The Hippocritical Response
Andrew and I were talking about hypocrisy and for some strange reason I drew this cartoon.
Caveat: Mind’s Eye
I was looking for something less taxing than going out and walking around in 90 degree heat with 100% humidity. I found my ink and brush and some paper and did this sketch – not a still life just from imagination.
I’m trying to recapture my various pre-illness hobbies and interests, and find my old routines and spontaneities.
Caveat: 구렁이 담넘어가듯 한다
Here, I return to my long-standing habit of occasionally trying to translate Korean proverbs. And, for the first time in a long time, this proverb is apropos of nothing in particular.
구렁이 담넘어가듯 한다
gu-reong-i dam-neom-eo-ga-deut han-da
snake fence-go-over-seeming do-PRES
Like a snake coming over the fence.
Some people sneak around and get away with stuff. “Like a thief in the dark” is maybe an English phrase with similar usage.
It reminds me of that Bob Dylan song, “Man Gave Names To All The Animals.”
I drew this horrible picture of a sneaky snake sneaking over a fence, using MS Paint, in just under two minutes, so that this fine blog-post could be accompanied by an image.
caveat: silent verbosity
several people have wondered at my implemention of the vow of silence. i carry a pad and pen and write notes. i had to do that in the icu, too. it is my intention to publish some of those handwritten “icu diaries” if i ever go home from this hospital. meanwhile, here is a somewhat representative sample from earlier today.
caveat: the view from my mirror
a somewhat subjective mirror-flipped self-portrait.
Caveat: Sketch Story
A while back in my young ones class I was doing a lesson where I have the kids draw their own version of the story we’re working on. I call this lesson “making a book” and normally when I do this type of lesson the kids enjoy it. But this group of kids was a little bit restless and feeling whiny that day.
“Too hard!” one of the girls moaned.
“못해” [I can’t], another whined.
They seemed to be overwhelmed with the idea of replicating the story that appeared in our story book on blank paper.
So I took matters in hand.
I said, “Look, I can make this book in 5 minutes.”
“Five minutes!?” the kids chanted together. “Nooo.”
“I can. Watch.”
I began to sketch rapidly, and lettering the story from memory.
“Waa. that’s funny.”
I stopped after about 4 minutes. The kids were inspired, now, and began doing their own rapid-sketch versions happily.
The story was “The Scary Dino.”
I was going through some papers on my desk today and found those first 5 pages of my version.
I was actually pretty surprised at how far I got in making the story in 4 minutes.
Caveat: Alligations
And that’s my doodle-of-a-Sunday.
Caveat: Centipigator
Staff meetings are stressful for me even when they’re not. Which is to say, they’re intense – I’m trying to understand a bunch of people talking Korean around me and, mostly, I’m failing.
But these days there’s not only that, but all kinds of anger and remonstrating and things being bad that need to be talked about and I’m continuing to not understand. So that makes the meetings even more stressful. We had one today. I sat and drew doodles on my agenda.
I created something I called “A centipigator” – see close up, below. It was orange.
Caveat: Antisocial In The Age of Social Apps
There are some – ahem, philosophical? political? – reasons why I don’t do the facebook much, these days. There’s a great write-up on The Atlantic, by Alexis Madrigal, who is a pretty lucid commentator on technology and internet-related issues. His article is worth reading in its entirety, but consider this quote he gives from someone named Mike Monteiro (context… facebook has been comparing itself in its advertising to a utility object – like a chair):
A well-designed chair not only feels good to sit in, it also entices your ass towards it. So this is nothing new to Facebook. Where it gets interesting to me is when you start asking to what end you are designing. The big why. In the chair example, the relationship is clear. If I can design a chair that entices your ass, then you will buy it. I’ve traded money for ass happiness (and back happiness, but that’s less sexy). But it’s clear who the vendor and who the customer is in that case.
Where I have issues with Facebook is that they’re dishonest about who the customer is. They’ve built an enticing chair, and they let me sit in it for free, but they’re selling my farts to the highest bidder.
This is important. The facebook has, indeed, been a phenomenal utility for me personally. It has allowed me to get in touch with people I haven’t seen in 20 and 30 years, and stay in touch with people I wouldn’t otherwise stay in touch with. But the sort of market-driven dishonesty alluded to in the quote above has always been something I’ve been aware of, above and beyond knowing the extent to which the facebook tracks everything we do online – even on sites unrelated to facebook. If you’re logged on to facebook, they know what you’re doing. Period. And my discomfort with it is higher when I go into these antisocial phases.
You see, I’ve been in a deeply antisocial phase, lately. Enough so, that I need to put out an apology to my friends, aquaintances and relatives who take the time to reach out to me. I’ve got issues – I always have. People who know me, know this. I go into a sort of jibbering withdrawal, sometimes.
My job is my sanity. My job is profoundly social. I spend 5 or 7 hours every day (minus Sundays) interacting continuously with children and adolescents. Mostly, that goes pretty well – on the whole, it goes much better than my interactions with fellow adults. I really don’t get along well with adults, sometimes. This is dysfunctional, probably. But it keeps me sane.
One consequence of this, however, is that when I get into one of my antisocial phases (like recently), I am utterly burned out on interacting with people beyond that daily 5 to 7 hour window. That’s why I only log on to facebook once a week, and why I turn off my cell phone when I get home.
Please, friends, don’t take this personally. I just… need my space, sometimes.
I drew this doodle earlier today.
Caveat: Pure with cicadas, and slowing
This Unimportant Morning
This unimportant morning
Something goes singing where
The capes turn over on their sides
And the warm Adriatic rides
Her blue and sun washing
At the edge of the world and its brilliant cliffs.
Day rings in the higher airs
Pure with cicadas, and slowing
Like a pulse to smoke from farms,
Extinguished in the exhausted earth,
Unclenching like a fist and going.
Trees fume, cool, pour – and overflowing
Unstretch the feathers of birds and shake
Carpets from windows, brush with dew
The up-and-doing: and young lovers now
Their little resurrections make.
And now lightly to kiss all whom sleep
Stitched up – and wake, my darling, wake.
The impatient Boatman has been waiting
Under the house, his long oars folded up
Like wings in waiting on the darkling lake.
– Lawrence Durrell
I drew the "blue cicada in a bottle" at right. I guess this is kind of a summery poem and picture but it's what was on my mind today.
Caveat: 도둑을 맞으려면 개도 안 짖는다
도둑을 맞으려면 개도 안 짖는다
thief-OBJ meet-INTENT-COND dog-TOO not bark-PRES
Even when you meet a thief the dog doesn’t bark.
This is the proverb that encompasses what we call Murphy’s Law or the Peter Principle in English: anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
Unable to find a suitable illustration of this proverb online, I decided it would be easier to make one, myself. So here is my picture.
Meanwhile, I took this picture walking to work yesterday – Spring is finally emerging in Ilsan. I met no thieves. Then again, I have no dog.
