가물에 콩 나듯
drought-IN bean sprout-LIKE
Like a bean sprouting in a drought.
A suggested meaning is “Few and far between.” I could buy that, I guess.
Caveat: Subconscious Disconnect
SUBCONSCIOUS DISCONNECT from Ian Kammer on Vimeo.
What did you dream last night? How about some epistemological horror?
Caveat: Filibusters Per Dollar
Blogger Michael J. Smith is, as usual, scathingly precise in his analysis of the alleged "filibuster reform" failure in recent US Senate activity. He writes,
It’s a question of supply and demand. If getting something through
the Senate takes sixty votes instead of fifty, the marginal vote becomes
that much more valuable.Econ 101.
Thus none of the senators have an economic interest in surrendering the filibuster as currently practiced and configured.
Caveat: Sometimes The Subway Is Too Slow, Right?
There’s a guy in Paris who decided to try something that everyone who rides a subway must have thought at one time or another… and he beats the train to the next station, on foot.
It’s a stunt, obviously. But he captures it with some cameras (including two strapped to his head), and it’s been posted on youtube.
I think this should be a new sport, as suggested by the Atlantic Cities post where I learned of this.
Caveat: Can You Run?
What I’m listening to right now.
The Steeldrivers, “Can You Run.”
I think this song has a Civil War theme involving slaves running for freedom across the battle lines, which was a frequent occurance, but I find the song oddly resonant at a personal level – despite my own utterly different life – without really paying close attention to the lyrics.
It’s just a well-done song, I guess: I really like the line “chase the taste of bondage from my tongue.”
There’s smoke down by the river
Hear the cannon and the drum
I’ve got one thing to ask you honey
Can you run?You know I hate to ask so late
But the moment’s finally come
And there won’t be time to change your mind
Can you run?(chorus)
Can you run, to the freedom line of the Lincoln soldiers?
Where the contraband can be a man
With a musket on his shoulder
I’ve got to stand up tall before I’m done
Wrap these hands of mine around a gun
And chase the taste of bondage from my tongue
Can you run?
Can you run?I’m takin nothin with me
We’ve just got time to beat the sun
And the boys in gray are never far away
Can you run?(repeat chorus)
There’s smoke down by the river
Hear the cannon and the drum
And even if I die, I’ve got to try
Can you run?(repeat chorus)
Can you run?
Can you run?
Caveat: 꿈이 있다면 절대 포기하지마라
꿈이 있다면 절대 포기하지마라
dream-SUBJ have-TRANSF-IF absolute surrender-NEG-COMMAND
If [you] have a dream don’t ever surrender.
“Don’t ever give up your dreams.”
Grammatically, I don’t really get the -다- particle in the first clause’s verb 있다면. My grammar bible insinuates that there’s something called a “transferative” marker, hence my labelling it as TRANSF above, but I don’t see how it contributes any nuance of meaning to the proverb – I think 있으면 would mean exactly the same thing, with the IF (“conditional” marker) attached directly to the verb. Indeed, google translate offers no change of meaning in the two versions – not that that means anything at all.
Yea, well, I mentioned this proverb in my rant-of-despair the other day, so I decided to look at it properly. Context: giving up a dream.
Caveat: Test Your Stupidity
This cartoon was making the rounds in facebookland, and I thought it was pretty funny.
What I’m listening to right now.
Junior Boys, “In The Morning.” The video is kind of weird.
Caveat: Since I’m Not Ever Going To Learn Korean, Why Am I Here?
I have basically given up hope of ever really learning the Korean Language. I continue to dabble, but the idea of mastering it, the way that I did Spanish, seems beyond my potential. It’s too hard, I’m too old or too stupid or too lazy or too undisciplined. It’s not happening. It’s not going to happen.
This is tragic, in its small, private, personal way – but not just because losing hope in some big, important life goal is tragic – it’s also tragic because, beyond other things, my main reason for living and working in Korea was because of wanting to learn the language. With that goal fading into ephemerality, there is nothing keeping me here, and so the pain points and annoyances of life here become more intense and noticeable. I become dissatisfied with my job, I become annoyed with the many small cultural quirks that I used to tolerate in the name of accommodating a foreign country that I loved and was deeply interested in.
I’m hating my job. This is … not sustainable. And it’s not really about the job having gotten worse – yes, it’s gotten harder, lately, the teaching load has increased, the students’ parents have been more assholic than usual. But that’s not it, is it? It’s because in the past, my reason for putting up with the stuff I didn’t like about my job was part-and-parcel of wanting to stay in Korea. It was part of having a purpose, here. I feel like I’m losing that purpose, rapidly. I have 8 months on my contract. I will stick it out. But I need to figure out what’s next in my life, I guess. I’m pretty unhappy – I’ve lost my equanimity and perspective. So I just have one bad day after the next, in neverending succession.
This is a scream of despair and frustration, in blog format.
My family doesn’t approve of my being here, anyway – or at best, they view it with a sort of befuddled and unsympathetic neutrality. My interest in travel and exotica has waned over the years, and my Buddhist practice is utterly lapsed. So most of the secondary reasons for staying here are also falling by the wayside.
Pues… respecto la imagen a la derecha: y, ¿si acaso he perdido el sueño? Me rindo.
Caveat: Turing Machine
If you have studied computer science, you know what a Turing Machine is. It's not something that's useful, as a machine – it's a theoretical construct that enables us to think about what it's possible to do with computers. So the idea of implementing and building an actual Turing Machine is a bit strange. All the better, then, to build one out of Legos.
Caveat: 야채죽
I tried making my own 야채죽 [ya-chae-juk = vegetable rice porridge] today, from scratch. I’ve never made it before. I’ve never watched it being made. I was put off by the various recipes I found for it – most required lots of soaking and cooking and blendering, etc. I figured it should be simpler than that.
I chopped up some veggies: mushroom, carrot, squash, onion. I added some pine-nuts. I stir fried these in some sesame oil with some seasoned laver (김 [gim = seaweed]) which provided enough saltiness, along with a dash of soy sauce and a dash of ginseng vinegar (I don’t know why I added the last – because it was there?). I took out the veggies from the fry pan, added water to the pan, making a broth, and then added some already-cooked white rice.
I stirred the rice and broth and mashed up the grains vigorously in the pan with the boiling water on a medium heat for about 5 minutes, and it got creamy, like rice porridge (juk) should. Then I added the vegetables back in, stirred, put in a bowl, topped with garnish of some additional gim, and voila. Prep time was only about 20 minutes.
I won’t say it was as good as the juk you can get at the joint downstairs. But given the fact that I made it, as an experiment, with no recipe and having never done it before, it was pretty darn good. And vegan and nutritious, too.
Speaking of vegetables…
What I’m listening to right now.
시인과 촌장 [si-in-gwa chon-jang], “가시나무 [ga-si-na-mu = thorn tree].”
가사.
내 속엔 내가 너무도 많아
당신의 쉴곳 없네
내 속엔 헛된 바램들로
당신의 편할곳 없네
내 속엔 내가 어쩔수 없는 어둠
당신의 쉴 자리를 뺏고
내 속엔 내가 이길수 없는 슬픔
무성한 가시나무 숲같네
바람만 불면 그 메마른 가지
서로 부대끼며 울어대고
쉴곳을 찾아 지쳐 날아온
어린 새들도 가시에 찔려 날아가고
바람만 불면 외롭고 또 외로워
슬픈 노래를 부르던 날이 많았는데
내 속엔 내가 너무도 많아서
당신의 쉴곳 없네
바람만 불면 그 매마른 가지
서로 부대끼며 울어대고
쉴곳을 찾아 지쳐날아온
어린 새들도 가시에 찔려 날아가고
바람만 불면 외롭고
또 괴로워
슬픈 노래를 부르던
날이 많았는데
내 속엔 내가 너무도 많아서
당신의 쉴곳 없네
Caveat: ESL Should Not Be So Important in Korea
The proposition: "ESL should not be so important in South Korea."
This was from a recent debate test. I was really proud of these 8th/9th graders – they have all improved so much.
Caveat: 선생님 미워요
Today was one of the worst, most depressing work days in recent memory: just a conspiracy of things going wrong.
I slept badly over the weekend, so I wasn’t well-rested. Then I learned my uncle (my closest uncle, like a second dad to me) had experienced one of those “but for the grace of god” moments, missing dying in a fiery helicopter crash by a matter of minutes at a shift-change (as a helicopter pilot, this is an actual risk for him). I guess brushes-with-death are one thing, but then no one in my family telling me about it for several weeks just underscored how little my family thinks of me.
And then a student’s mom complained because I had made the word quizzes too easy in a class. But here’s the thing: I made the quizzes easy because that same mom complained two weeks ago that the quizzes were causing too much stress for her kid. So wtf does she want?
And then a student said, in a loud voice, 선생님 미워요 [I hate the teacher]. Does he think I really don’t understand any Korean at all? He’s heard me say more complex things in class, I know. What a little jerk. And no matter how contrite or apologetic he was after this, it stings – because these types of expressions-of-feelings are deeply honest. I completely believe that. So… well, it’s not my job to be liked. I know that. But I don’t really want to be hated, either. And being hated isn’t a good way to get through to kids, is it? I can’t get at what I did wrong with this kid.
And who am I to complain about my family’s lack of communication with me, given my own behavior? I don’t exactly reach out to them in a conventional sense. Still…. Digression: obviously this blog means nothing to any of them, as most of them resent how I don’t write them, yet this blog – though it may serve other purposes, too – was, in fact, started on behalf of my friends and family. Just because it’s unorthodox, how is it not communication? How is this different from a christmas letter copied and sent to family and friends? Is it that technically difficult to bookmark this blog in your browser, and click on it when you think to yourself, I wonder how Jared is doing these days? You’ll get an update, several times a week – even discounting all the BS and cultural detritus I throw here that I know isn’t that personal. Grumble.
So it was a bad day. And I’m tired. And I’m overwhelmed by work, in a very LBridge way, lately. I’ve reached the point where I’m thinking about the end of my contract. That’s a very bad sign, especially with 8 months left. And it’s a bad sign with respect to my long-standing level of trust and relationship with my boss, too. If I leave, it will be nothing short of a betrayal.
Then again, given my family history, I guess betrayal is part of the game of life.
What goes around, comes around.
Caveat: 가만 있으면 중간은 간다
가만 있으면 중간은 간다
wait there-is-IF middle-TOPIC go-PRES
If [you] wait [you] get halfway.
“Waiting will get you halfway there.”
This was actually very hard to translate or figure out. I still can’t really think of an English proverb that matches what I think it means, exactly. How about “waiting is half the battle”? Or even “patience is a virtue”? Then again, there’s the possibility that I haven’t quite got the meaning right. I only figured it out because I found a guy writing – in English – about the opposite proverb, “If you wait you never get even halfway” and he presented this Korean one as a contrast.
Either way, it brings to mind one of my favorite old tropes, Zeno’s Paradox. Do we get there by going halfway? Or do we get halfway if we have to go halfway to halfway first? Philosophers ponder, while Zeno’s girlfriend is stuck waiting.
Caveat: 링딩동
What I’m listening to right now.
샤이니 [Shinee, i.e. shiny], “링딩동” [ring-ding-dong].
가사.
Baby
네게 반해 버린 내게 왜 이래
두렵다고 물러서지 말고
그냥 내게 맡겨봐라 어때
My ladyRing Ding Dong Ring Ding Dong
Ring Diggi Ding Diggi Ding Ding Ding
Ring Ding Dong Ring Ding Dong
Ring Diggi Ding Diggi Ding Ding DingRing Ding Dong Ring Ding Dong
Ring Diggi Ding Diggi Ding Ding Ding
Ring Ding Dong Ring Ding Dong
Ring Diggi Ding Diggi Ding Ding DingButterfly 너를 만난 첫 순간
눈이 번쩍 머린 Stop
벨이 딩동 울렸어난 말야 멋진 놈 착한 놈
그런 놈은 아니지만
나름대로 괜찮은 Bad boy너는 마치 Butterfly
너무 약해 빠졌어
너무 순해 빠졌어
널 곁에 둬야겠어더는 걱정마 걱정마
나만 믿어보면 되잖아
니가 너무 맘에 들어
놓칠 수 없는 걸Baby 내 가슴을 멈출 수 Oh crazy
너무 예뻐 견딜 수 Oh crazy
너 아니면 필요 없다 Crazy
나 왜 이래We wanna go rocka, rocka, rocka,
rocka, rocka, rock (So fantastic)Go rocka, rocka, rocka, rocka, rocka, rock (So elastic)
(Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic, fantastic
Elastic, elastic, elastic, elastic)Ring Ding Dong Ring Ding Dong
Ring Diggi Ding Diggi Ding Ding Ding오직 너만 들린다
Ring Ding Dong Ring Ding Dong
Ring Diggi Ding Diggi Ding Ding Ding머릿속에 울린다
Ring Ding Dong Ring Ding Dong
Ring Diggi Ding Diggi Ding Ding Ding내 가슴에 울린다
Ring Ding Dong Ring Ding Dong
Ring Diggi Ding Diggi (Ding Ding Ding)I call your butterfly
날이 가면 갈수록
못이 박혀 너란 걸
헤어날 수 없다는 걸나를 선택해 ( 돌이키지 말고)
선택해 (도망가지 말고)
네게 빠진 바보인 나
날 책임져야 돼Baby 내 가슴을 멈출 수 Oh crazy
너무 예뻐 견딜 수 Oh crazy
너 아니면 필요 없다 Crazy
나 왜 이래난 착하디 착한 증후군이 걸린 너를 이해 못 하겠다
넌 가끔씩 그런 고정이미지를 탈피 이탈해봐 괜찮다
Break out (Hey) break out (Hey) break out (Hey) break out (Hey)
Ring Ding Ding Ding Ding Dong Dong Dong Dong사실 난 불안해 어떻게 날 보는지
어쩌면 어쩌면 내게 호감을 갖고 있는지 몰라
이토록 안절부절 할 수밖에 없어
돌이킬 수 없는 걸
Complicated girl( 절대 No란 대답하지 마)
나 괜찮은 남자란 걸( 내가 미쳐버릴지 몰라)
Don’t be silly girl ( Silly girl)
You’re my miracle ( My miracle)
너만 가질 수 있다면 내겐 다 필요없는 걸
Baby 내 가슴을 멈출 수 Oh crazy
너무 예뻐 견딜 수 Oh crazy
너 아니면 필요 없다 Crazy
나 왜 이래We wanna go rocka, rocka, rocka,
rocka, rocka, rock (So fantastic)
Go rocka, rocka, rocka, rocka, rocka, rock (So elastic)(Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic, fantastic
Elastic, elastic, elastic, elastic)Ring Ding Dong Ring Ding Dong
Ring Diggi Ding Diggi Ding Ding Ding오직 너만 들린다
Ring Ding Dong Ring Ding Dong
Ring Diggi Ding Diggi Ding Ding Ding머릿속에 울린다
Ring Ding Dong Ring Ding Dong
Ring Diggi Ding Diggi Ding Ding Ding
Caveat: Pie Story
My student Harry reviews the movie “Life of Pi” which he apparently saw. I enjoyed the novel, but based on this 5th grader’s review, I’m feeling uncertain about wanting to see the movie.
At 9:30, I went to the theather. and we watched pie story [Life of Pi]. But this movie is very not fun. so I’m very disappointed. After I’m going to the karaoke. and I’m sing a song very hard. Then I returned home. and my mother made a muffin. so I’m very happy.
Caveat: The Ascent of Zombiekind
This is pretty clever. In my notes for this, I called it “Zombies darwinizing,” which I thought could be the blog post title, but I didn’t use that.
This was found on a tumblr called xwidep. I have realized something: I look at tumblr a lot – but I don’t understand it. I guess it’s basically a blogging platform, but it seems to work differently from the blogging platform I use for This Here Blog Thingy™.
Caveat: I don’t want to imagine
My fifth-grade student makes clear she’s not going to put up with this ridiculous imaginative exercise she’s being asked to engage in.
Caveat: 개같이 벌어서 정승같이 쓰다
개같이 벌어서 정승같이 쓰다
dog-like earn-CONJ minister-like spend
Earn like a dog, spend like a king.
The minister meant here is the king’s head-of-household type minister, from olden times, so I felt the looser translation could just use “king” as that conveys the social level adequately.
“All’s fair in business”? I think there’s an aspect of this meaning, though it could also simply mean, “Hard work has its rewards.” One online translation found was “Work like a dog, live like a king.”
Speaking of working like a dog, and ambivalence toward money:
…near the end of a conversation with Curt, my boss / friend.
Me: “You think I’m weird, don’t you?”
Curt: “Yes. How can you not like money? Do you really not like money.”
Me: “Really. I believe it’s useful, but I really don’t like money.”
Curt: shakes his head and turns away.
Caveat: 5 Monkeys Redux
I returned to the Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, which I visited back in 2011 at Hongnong.
This class went so well, in so many ways. This isn’t even the supposed “final” version – it was a sort of spontaneous practice we put together yesterday.
Caveat: Drawn by a tree
Trees doing art, as seen at MyModernMet.
Is this high concept art, or just weird? Or is it comedy? I incline to interpret it as pithy comedy.
Caveat: the truth will set you free
Juk [rice porridge] for dinner, with kim [seasoned, cooked seaweed]. I'm in a juk-craving phase, lately.
Some random quotes from Sanford and Son. Huh? Why am I thinking about this? I was trying to channel Redd Foxx with some students. I was unsuccessful, lacking both generational and socio-cultural components.
Lamont Sanford: You know what they say, the truth will set you free.
Fred Sanford: Your uncle Edgar told the truth, and the judge gave him six months.Lamont Sanford: [about his cologne] It's called "A Day in Paris".
Fred Sanford: Smells more like "A Night in El Segundo".
Utterly unrelatedly, what I'm listening to right now.
Derma-Tek, "Payback."
I'm in a strange mood, feeling whistfully bitter. My just desserts, for trying explain the anthropic principle (in astrophysics) to Korean 8th graders. I was unsuccessful.
Caveat: 똥 묻은 개가 겨 묻은 개 나무란다
똥 묻은 개가 겨 묻은 개 나무란다
poop bury-PASTPART dog-SUBJ chaff bury-PASTPART dog rebuke-PRES
The dog that buries chaff rebukes the dog that buries poop.
This is one of those “pot calling the kettle black” proverbs. Basically, it means “don’t be a hypocrite.”
It’s notable perhaps because of the appearance of that all-purpose word 똥 [ttong], a favorite of fifth-grade boys, which can translate as everything from manure to poop to shit to dung. It’s not really a bad word in Korean, though obviously it’s not high discourse. But it creates problems when kids look in the dictionaries and find “shit” and use it freely in translation, because that’s not as acceptable as using 똥 in Korean.
Caveat: El Amor Verdadero
At heart, I am, after all is said and done, a romantic. People are shocked or suprised to learn this about me, but I have an immense weakness for romantic gestures and plots, my favorite movie genre is the rom-com and my favorite Korean tv genre is the so-called contemporary drama that is essentially the same thing as Hollywood rom-com.
I saw this video and it melted my heart.
I agree with some commenters on various parts of the web who admire, especially, the communitarian approach this guy's marriage proposal takes: it's not just him proposing, he recruits his entire community.
What I'm listening to right now.
Frank Turner, "Substitute." This, too, is deeply romantic, in somewhat the way that I am… well, sort of.
"Porque todavía creo en el amor verdadero." – Yo.
Caveat: Metahop
Didacticism meets hiphop, and it all goes meta.
Boyinaband, "Tutorial."
It's not like I'm planning on taking up music composition, but the current "state of the art" in electronic music fascinates me.
Caveat: As Does Rain Or Snow
“Virtues are the fruit of self-discipline and do not drop from heaven as does rain or snow.” – from a Zen saying, supposedly.
Although I’m sort of a Buddhist, I find this conceptualization of virtue distasteful, for some reason. I should think that for a well-practicing Buddhist, virtue would indeed come as rain or snow … to those who can reach a state of mindfulness.
Or… perhaps it’s just the term “virtue” that I specifically feel uncomfortable with – I don’t like what I term the “purity-narrative” aspect of Buddhism (or of any other religious/philosophical tradition, for that matter – they’ve all got them).
Another unattributed Buddha-quote, that I prefer: “A man asked Buddha “I want happiness.” Buddha said, “First remove ‘I’ – that’s ego. Then remove ‘want’ – that’s desire. See, now you are left with only ‘happiness.'”
Caveat: 눈 감으면 코 베어먹을 세상
눈 감으면 코 베어먹을 세상
eye shut-IF nose chop-eat-FUTPART world
[It’s] a world where if you shut your eyes your nose gets chopped off and eaten.
This is another proverb on the theme of the “Dog-eat-dog world.” Ah well. While I agree with the sentiments in such proverbs at some level, I also suffer from a weird optimism about human nature that means I tend to think other things are more important – such as kindness, “presumption of innocence,” etc.
Caveat: Best Animation of a Snail Race, Ever
From the reliably entertaining series, "Simon's Cat."
In other news… I went to work early, but I still didn't get the things done that I needed to. This is starting to feel mighty elbridgey.
Caveat: The Infinite Library of Capital
Something very unexpected and unusual happened to me last Friday. I received a letter: a paper letter with a stamp on it, written out by hand. I'm not sure this has happened to me before, since coming to Korea, with the exception, perhaps, of some Christmas-letter type compositions from some members of my family. Not to discount those Christmas-letter compositions, but an actual letter is groundbreaking. I've been in Korea for over five years, and I don't want to rule out the possibility that I've received another paper letter in the past since coming here – my memory isn't perfect. Regardless, it was a striking occurance.
So who wrote me a letter? This is the funny part: my friend Peter, who lives in Bucheon, just across the Han River, about 30 minutes by bus from here. No, it wasn't anyone in my family, it wasn't anyone on another continent.
It was, actually, the sort of thing I get all the time from friends, family and acquaintances (including Peter): a sort of proto blog entry or comment on some cultural or political content. Normally, however, these things arrive via email, as is right and proper in the early 21st century. That Peter took the time to make it into a letter is what was interesting. Perhaps there was some intentional irony in the gesture, given the topic.
Anyway… included with Peter's letter was a clipping of an essay from the Korea Herald, which can be found online here. The essay discusses Borges' infinite library metaphor, as found in his story La biblioteca de babel (The Library of Babel). I have a long familiarity with and passion for this story, having first read it in my early teens (in English) and later during Spanish Lit classes (in the original Spanish). It is a classic of literature and deeply thought-provoking.
The essay, by someone named Eli Park Sorenson (hmm, is that Danish-Korean?), wonders if the internet, in this day and age, is becoming a real library of babel. My opinion is that think that the internet is, precisely, not becoming that, since the dismaying truth about the library of babel in Borges' story is that it turns out the content of the library was essentially random – just all the possible strings of characters a book could hold (a la infinite monkeys). Hence, the library's books were oddly devoid of any possible authorial intent or meaning. Meanwhile, the internet, as it is today, is nothing but intent (although the issue of meaning is admittedly a bit different, tongue-in-cheekwise). Internet content is, in fact, sometimes randomly generated (that's what spambots do), but even then, there is a broad authorial intent that is quite insistent and transparent: pageviews, which is connected to advertising, which is all about money.
The internet is not even close to being a library of babel. It is, instead, The Library of Capital (pace Karl Marx). It is the manufacturing of desire-for-stuff, to keep the whole global consumer machine clocking forward. And… I don't mean that in a bad way.
Caveat: Lego Inferno, Playground Inferno
Dante's Inferno, implemented using Lego.
I'm not feeling very healthy, lately. Kind of just taking it easy on this Sunday, but feeling some stress. Grr.
What I'm listening to right now.
The Black Keys, "Tighten Up." Very funny video, too – in a rather morbid, politically-incorrect way.
Caveat: 개미 구멍으로 둑도 무너진다
개미 구멍으로 둑도 무너진다
ant hole-BY dike-TOO collapse-PRES
Even a dike can be brought down by an ant-hole.
This is often what we call the “snowball effect,” I think. Small things have large outcomes. Also, lately, the “butterfly effect” metaphor, although that seems to be on a larger scale than ants and dikes.
Caveat: Andilar
I can't figure out what Andilar is. It doesn't seem to exist on the internet, except in the context of this song, and some city in Turkey. Did the songwriter, Townes Van Zandt, simply make it up? He also mentions Valinor, which is a name from Tolkien's mythopoesis, but I don't think it's meant to be the same Valinor, as Tolkien's is a beautiful, Edenic place, like heaven, while in this song it's described as "the lifeless plains of Valinor." Hardly the stuff of Eden.
What I'm listening to right now.
Townes Van Zandt, "Silver Ships of Andilar."
The lyrics,
Of those that sailed the silver ships
from Andilar I am the last
The deeds that rang our youthful dreams
it seems shall go undone
North for the shores of Valinor
our bows and crimson sails were made
Our captains were strong, our lances long
and our liege the holy kingThe hills did turn from green to blue
and vanish as on the decks we watched
But every thought in that noble company
was forward bound
To the lifeless plains of Valinor
where reigns the dark and frozen one
And with tongues afire and glorious eyes
we pledged our mission beThe clime from mild to bitter ran
the wind from fair to fierce did blow
Oath and prayer did turn to thoughts
of homes left far behind
Longed every man for some glimpse of land
and the host that did await us there
But each new day brought only a sea
and sky of ice and grayThanks give no word can drag you through
those endless weeks our ships did roll
Thanks give you cannot see those sails
and faces bleach and draw
Ice we drank and leather did chew
for the oceans are unwholesome there
The dead that slid into the seas
did freeze before our eyesThen a wind did fling the ships apart
each one to go her separate way
The sky did howl, the hull did groan
for how long I do not know
And what men were left when the winds had ceased
grew dull and low of countenance
For soldiers denied their battle plain
on comrades soon must turnSo one by one we died alone
some by hunger, some by steel
Bodies froze where they did fall
their souls unsanctified
Until only another and I were left
then just before his flame did fail
We shone ourselves brothers-in-arms
to serve the holy kingPerhaps this shall reach Andilar
although I know not how it can
For once again he's hurled his wind
upon the silver prow
But if it should my words are these
arise young men fine ships to build
And set them north for Valinor
'neath standards proud as fire
I like this singer a lot. His biography is interesting, too. Well, interesting in a depressing sort of way, a la William S. Burroughs, maybe. Here are some other songs of his:
Townes Van Zandt, "Sanitarium Blues."
Townes Van Zandt, "Big Country Blues."
Caveat: You Already Are
Last night, Ken, Curt and I were having a kind of light-hearted discussion of life-goals. Curt was going to get a fancy house and have a successful business – but I already knew that. Ken was going to become a billionaire entrepreneur. I know he likes to think big, too, though I have my skepticisms. I really get tired of most people’s obsession with making money as the measure of success (and to be clear, I don’t view it as a necessarily Korean fault – other cultures are just as bad, including my own). Just the other day, in surveying a debate class about the question, “Money is the most important thing,” I got all PROs and zero CONs. The money-obsession is everywhere.
I try to take it in stride, however, and stay light-hearted about it.
In a joking tone (but with utter sincerity lurking just below the surface) I said, “I want to become a Buddhist monk.” Without pause, and in unison (but without consulting one another even in a glance), Curt and Ken both said, “You already are.”
This was interesting. On the one hand, it shows that my inclinations are pretty transparent. But it also led me to think another thing: if I already am, I don’t really need to plan on that, do I?
Caveat: He’s, Like, Retarded
In class today some student was acting like an idiot. This happens. They're kids. I muttered something under my breath. It was just a spur of the moment thing, but I guess I'm learning Korean, a little bit. Another student said, "Wow, teacher. That's really good Korean."
What had I muttered under my breath? "장해인 같아…" [Jang-ae-in gat-a]. It's definitely not politically correct. In essence, it's the sort of things teenagers and pre-teens say to each other all the time. Roughly, "He's, like, retarded…"
I felt embarrassed to say such a rude thing to a student, but weirdly proud to have said in flawless Korean (as reported by the other students. I supposed it goes toward a certain "street cred" with the other kids.
It's a sign of my environment that some of the things I know best in Korean are ways to insult kids in Korean.