Might as Well Talk About Failure on a Monday

I totally forgot this existed. Oops!

1. At the Point of a Gun, David Rieff
2. How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster
3. Ordinary People, Judith Guest
4. The Yacoubian Building, Alaa Al Aswany
5. The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan
6. Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Carcia Marquez
7. Race Against Time, Stephen Lewis
8. The Gate, Francois Bizot
9. The Truth About Stories, Thomas King
10. The Ethical Imagination, Margaret Somerville
11. Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
12. Swann's Way, In Search of Lost Time Vol. I, Marcel Proust
Alt.1. In Search of Lost Time Vol. II, Marcel Proust
Alt.2. In Search of Lost Time Vol. III, Marcel Proust
Alt.3. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
Alt.4. My Name is Red, Orham Pamuk
Alt.5. What Canadians Think, Darrell Bricker & John Wright
Alt.6. Crimes Against Logic, Jamie Whyte
Alt.7. Riotous Assembly, Tom Sharpe
Alt.8. Epileptic, David B.
Alt.9. Navigating the Golden Compass, Glenn Yeffeth
Alt.10. Pyongyang, Guy Delisle
Alt.11. The Essential 55, Ron Clark
Alt.12. Bodily Harm, Margaret Atwood

You All Owe Me Presents

Wait... what?

Grumpy

I have been putting off posting today because right at the end of a fabulous weekend, full of Drag Queen Bingo, a bloggers brunch, Brian's birthday party where we had a VIP room at NB2, and then a lovely day of napping and watching The West Wing, someone has annoyed me.

A lot.

And I have added that annoyance to the annoying conversation I had with my sister the other day and now I am a giant grump. It's all that's on my mind and I feel that if I post about it now, I'll be very negative and bitchy and by tomorrow, as per usual, I will have largely forgotten about this particular annoyance.

Though, I suppose in both cases, the actual problem is that there are underlying tensions in the relationships I have with my sister and my friend that I'm not sure can be resolved. With both of them, I feel like I can't really win: if I am myself and express my opinions, they will get annoyed, but to constantly have to do that much bending of my personality to deal with someone is a betrayal of myself.

Anyway, back to The West Wing and a rootbeer.

Drag Queen Bingo!

The New Yorker, June 1

No homage here — this cover is a true original. New Yorker covers are often topical, and they are known for their wit and keen cultural timing. But several times a year, they just run covers that capture the New York–ness of America's greatest city. This cover found a groundbreaking way to do that, featuring a piece by illustrator-designer Jorge Colombo that was created on an iPhone applicaton called Brushes. If it had been done just for novelty's sake, it would be noteworthy but not significant. But this illustration meets the impeccable standards of New Yorker covers — an accomplishment in any medium.

Zombies Have Eaten My Brains

Because Intensives can't have made me feel this sleep deprived and crappy, right? I mean, I'm still only putting in 40 hours a week and in the land I came from that's just a normal week. Sure, I've been reading and prepping classes on A Wrinkle in Time and the Giver and studying up on how to study for the SATs (damn am I glad I'm Canadian.) The problem really is that I'm a night owl extraordinaire and I've been getting up at 7:30 in the morning, meaning that I've been getting five hours of sleep or fewer. Hilariously, Monday and Friday are the days I finish the latest and Friday is the one I teach the most hours. Fun, fun, fun. It all ends next Wednesday though, and if my luck continues, I don't even have to show up Tuesday and not until 11 a.m. on Wednesday. So, before the fog of exhaustion ends, here is the day in the life of a tired hagwon teacher:

7:30: Alarm goes off. I hit snooze.

7:38: Alarm goes off again. Once again, I hit snooze.

7:46: Alarm goes off. At this point, I hope to hell I've gotten up because there really isn't 8 extra minutes to shave off this morning routine, though I can't pretend that it hasn't had to happen. I apologise to my coworkers for my skanky hair on those days.

7:47: Stare blearily at pot, which is dirty because I made chai tea or hot chocolate in it the night before. Curse. Wash pot, travel mug, spoon, mug. Wonder yet again why at the grand old age of 31 I don't own more than one pot (or even a kettle.) Curse again.

7:50: While the water boils, pee. Pack stuff (always minus one important thing) into purse. Put coffee in French press and sugar in mugs.

7:52: Water in coffee, me into bathroom. Teeth, shower with hose (because I'm such a sterling adult that my shower head has remained broken for a month. However, considering how much faster I shower with the hose, this may have been a gift from Maude.)

8:10: Dress. Grumble about need for socks in winter. Ponder that I thought I'd be leaving the house by this time each morning. Brush hair, though no time to dry it.

8:13: Drink cup of coffee, fix one to go. Possibly wail about lack of milk.

8:15: Put on hiking shoes (closest thing I have to winter boots.) Grab key, hat, mitts. Start walking to subway.

8:30: Wait for train.

8:35: Get on train.

8:38: Get off and transfer lines.

8:45: Train number two.

8:52: At Ichon station. Power walk to school.

8:58: Grab books, attendance, and coffee.

9:00: Wait for my SAT or middle school students to show up late, as always. Read a magazine or book. Eventually, they turn up, we talk about either novels or the vocab words one finds on the SAT.

10:25: Bathroom, Facebook, maybe another cup of coffee, but the stuff in the office is shit.

10:30: First graders from hell. Math and reading.

11:55: Do up jackets, locate missing gloves, get them out the door.

12:00: Dodge past students at the elevator and take the stairs. Go eat. Preferably somewhere with coffee. Usually prep the novel for the next day, possibly read magazines, or, in a worst case scenario, listen to iPod and stare into space freaking out all the Koreans around me with my blank, zombie-like face.

12:55: Walk back to school.

1:00: Fourth grade social studies and reading with three awesome girls on Tuesdays and Thursdays, otherwise more first graders, but these ones aren't so evil.

1:30/2:00: On Mondays, go get more coffee. All other days, an hour of private tutoring with Jimin, whose in 5th grade, or Minsoo, who's about to move up to 2nd. Jimin and I read a book all about weird ass shit around the world, like people in Coober Pedy living underground. Minsoo and I read picture books (it's one of my favourite classes - the books are good, the kid is cute and well-behaved, I couldn't prep even if I wanted to, so I don't have to feel any guilt since I wouldn't.)

4:00: Tuesdays and Thursdays I go home! Monday, Wednesday, Fridays, I have a second grade class. They're pretty cool but the books are ridiculous. The story of a boy who picks up a girl in his fast car to take her to a Hollywood interview? Are you fucking with me? A book entitled "Happy Granny" and a picture of a scary woman hula hooping? WTF?!?

5:30: Tues/Thurs I'm at home, likely staring blankly in the direction of a West Wing episode. Wednesday, I leave. But on Mondays and Fridays, I'm lucky enough to teach vocabulary classes to the three most fucking whiny children I have ever met. There is not enough coffee in the world to make this class ok.

7:00: Leave. Walk to subway, take two trains to do what is only a 15 minute cab ride (but I'm saving money, thanks so much Past Amanda, who decided this should be a New Year's Resolution. You are an asshole and I hate you very much.) Walk home, unless I've been tempted by the used bookstore on the corner (in which case all savings instantly disappear.)

7:45: Get home. Peel off layers. Collapse on bed. Bitterly contemplate how the Jetsons have ruined my life by giving me false hope that by now there'd be robots doing my housework and making me dinner.

8:00: Haul self out of bed before I start knawing on my own arm out of hunger. Likely decide I can not be bothered making anything substantial. Decide that there will be no chopping, and once the vegetables I bought back in December ran out, there was nothing to chop anyway. Stare into fridge.

8:15: Accept that there is nothing to eat, really. Either make breakfast or pasta with nothing on it but Parmesan cheese (which has always been my comfort food.) Make a cup of hot chocolate or chai, assuming that I have remembered to buy milk.

8:30: As I sit down to eat in front of the computer, contemplate whether or not I will get scurvy before this is all over, but take comfort in the fact that osteoporosis isn't likely since I go through milk almost as fast as my family used to in a home with four growing children. But by myself. I'm obviously not a candidate for veganism.

9:00: If it's Wednesday, go to quiz. If not, read, stare at TV, surf the net.

12:00: Tell myself to go to bed. Turn out the lights.

12:30: Still awake. Turn lights back on, go back to doing whatever I was doing before.

2~3:00: Finally am so exhausted I can sleep.

I Guess I'm a Creator

http://blogs.forrester.com/groundswell/2010/01/conversationalists-get-onto-the-ladder.html

Coffee

RIP

Tributes pour in for folk music icon Kate McGarrigle, dead at 63 after cancer fight.

He's Singing in Korean

Still hilarious.

Korean video parody
Uploaded by MeowHouse. - Family events, birthdays and parenting videos.

Longest Road, Bitches!

Awesome. This is My Religion.

Tree Lobsters

More Busan

Busan, Baby!

I haven't been down to Busan since the first year I was in Korea and it was about time that I returned to Korea's second biggest city.

Countess and I met up on Friday night, but due to extreme stupidity on both our parts, we missed our train because we both thought it was at 9:40. I mean, the tickets said 9:20 and all, but what do they know, right? So, small fee paid and we were scheduled to get the train at 10 instead, which had us at Melissa's place in Gupo around 2 a.m. We bought a bottle of red and played a game of Settlers of Catan (I love, love, love building nice long roads!) and then went to bed at 5 a.m.

Which was a bad thing, once we all woke up exhausted the next morning. We had to be down at Haeundae at noon to meet up with Thar She Blows, Just Getting Started, and GI Hoe for lunch at a Mexican place. After two coffees and lots of guac, I was ready to hash. There were quite a few of us visiting from Seoul and a fair number of virgin hashers. GITS did a great job with both the chalk talk and circle at the end and the trail was beautiful. We stayed in the Sunshine Lounge bar after circle ended, until about 2ish and cabbed back to Melissa's. I have to say, sleeping on floor heating after exercise is handy for sore muscles.

Today we were all super tired and somewhat hungover (damn those friendly bartenders and all those free drinks!) so coffee and pizza was the extent of our day before Countess and I had to hop back on a train at 3 to Seoul. Since I've gotten home, I've only been able to bring myself to make breakfast foods and watch Grey's. Now, bedtime. 8:30 meeting tomorrow, but Intensives are slowly coming to an end, hallelujah.

I'm Off Hashing in Busan, But Here's Something to Entertain You

The 40 best Sesame Street guest spots so far.

Georgia O'Keeffe: Abstraction

The Whitney's colorful show puts aside the Georgia O'Keeffe we know best — the Gray Lady of New Mexico — to retrieve an O'Keeffe we ought to know better, the young woman who went fearlessly down the road of entirely abstract art in 1915, when it was a fresh idea with which only a few artists anywhere in the world were experimenting. Her taut vertical thunderbolts and giant crests of rainbow colors are like campaign banners being unfurled by an artist who has set herself — and the art of painting — entirely free.

Weekend Plans

The Inaugural Running of the Busan Boshingtong Hash House Harriers: because living in Busan is great, but hashing would make it perfect.

Must Get Reading

I'm embarrassed to say that I've only read 23 of the novels on on this books of "concern" list, but I feel I deserve a little extra credit for having just taught one of those 23.

Are there teens who, like me, seek out these lists just to read all of the books on them as a big fuck you? Because that seems a very teenage thing to do. In fact, I wonder if I can use that as a way to get more homework compliance.

"You know, kids, most adults don't want you to read this, but I am sooooo cool that I can't wait to discuss Stirrings with you all."

Happy Wednesday!

Nic Cage as Everyone

Thoughts on My Addiction

imbibe

and tentacle porn

invisible high school

armed truce

misplaced bookmarks

random profusion

So, A Synonym for Intensives

Word of the Day for Tuesday, January 12, 2010
torpor \TAWR-per\, noun:

1. Lacking in vitality or interest.
2. A state of mental or physical inactivity or insensibility.
3. Lethargy; apathy.

Goals for Today

1. Stay awake through all my classes. Check!

2. Keep it down to four or fewer cups of coffee. Check!

3. Prep tomorrow's classes today. Check!

4. Buy cheese. Fail.

5. Do dishes, laundry, tidy. Mmmm. Maybe.

6. Go to bed by midnight. Judging by the yawns at 10:30, this one should happen.

So, to clean or not to clean...

Mondays Aren't Much Fun

Manic Monday by The Bangles
I Don't Like Mondays by Boomtown Rats
Bad Day by R.E.M.
Daydream Believer by The Monkees
Monday Monday by The Mamas & The Papas
Blue Monday by Fats Domino
I've Seen Better Days by Everclear
I've Been Working by Van Morrison
Rainydaysandmonday by Carpenters
Stormy Monday by Eva Cassidy
Mr. President (Have Pity on the Working Man) by Randy Newman
Bad Day by Daniel Powter
Work Song by Nina Simone
Work Song by Nellie McKay
I Don't Want to Live Today by Ape Hangers
Blue Monday by Orgy
Pajama Monday Blues by Absence of Hemlock
I Don't Like Mondays by Tori Amos
A Hard Day's Night by The Beatles

Poor Togo

Togo soccer team bus attacked in Angola; 6 hurt

LUANDA, Angola (The Associated Press) - By SAMUEL PETREQUIN

Gunmen in an area plagued by separatist violence used machine guns to open fire Friday on a bus carrying Togo's national soccer team to a tournament in this southwest African country, wounding at least nine people including two players.

Some players said they wanted to pull out of the African Cup of Nations tournament following the violence, but an official in Angola said it would go ahead as planned.

Togo's bus in a convoy from Congo was six miles across the border in Angola when it came under fire. The bus driver died in the 30-minute ambush, according to Togo captain Emmanuel Adebayor, who was not hurt.

"We were machine-gunned like dogs," Togo player Thomas Dossevi, who plays for French club Nantes, told Radio Monte Carlo. "They were armed to the teeth ... We spent 20 minutes underneath the seats of the bus."

The wounded were taken to a hospital in Cabinda, and Portugal's state-run Lusa news agency said it received a communication from the region's main separatist group, FLEC, claiming to have carried out the attack.

Human Rights Watch called the apparent rebel attack "shocking." The New York-based rights group said a 2006 peace agreement between Angola's government and a faction of the separatist Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda was supposed to end conflict in the area, but "sporadic attacks on government forces and expatriate workers have continued."

In Togo, the government put the total number of injured at nine and said the bus was traveling from Pointe Noire in Republic of Congo to Angola's Cabinda enclave when it came under fire. The government said the slain driver was Angolan.

Togo said it was dispatching a delegation to Pointe Noire, where the Togolese team is staying.

Togo Football Federation vice president Gabriel Ameyi said the team should have flown to Angola instead of traveling by road.

He said defender Serge Akakpo and backup goalkeeper Obilale Kossi were among those hurt.

FC Vaslui said on its Web site that the 22-year-old Akakpo, who joined the Romanian club from Auxerre last year, was hit by two bullets and lost a lot of blood but was now out of danger.

Alaixys Romao felt Togo should not go ahead with the tournament.

"If we can boycott it, let's do it," Romao told French TV channel Infosport. "It's just not on for us to be shot at because of a football match. All I can think about is stopping this competition and going home."

Dossevi agreed: "We don't want to play this African Cup of Nations," he told Infosport. "We're thinking about our teammates _ to be hit by bullets when you've come to play football is disgusting."

The 16-team African championship starts Sunday in Angola, with Togo due to play its opening match on Monday against Ghana in Cabinda.

Togo captain Adebayor told the BBC that a lot of players want to leave "because they have seen their death already."

The African Football Confederation (CAF) condemned the attack against the Togolese delegation and held an emergency meeting. A delegation of Angolan officials and a CAF delegation will go to Cabinda on Saturday, while the Angolan Prime Minister will meet CAF president Issa Hayatou "to take decisions to guarantee the smooth running of the competition."

FIFA also expressed "utmost sympathy" in a statement and said it expected a report from CAF.

A senior member of the local organizing committee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said the tournament would go ahead as planned. He said Ivory Coast, considered the top African team, arrived early Friday in Cabinda, where Togo was also to be based as part of Group B. Burkina Faso had been there since Jan. 2, and Ghana was the other group member.

Even if the tournament goes ahead, the attack was a major blow to host Angola.

Angola has been struggling to climb back from decades of violence, and its government was clearly banking on the tournament as a chance to show the world it was on the way to recovery. A building boom fueled by oil wealth has included new stadiums in Cabinda and three other cities for the tournament.

But Cabinda, Angola's main oil-producing region, has been plagued by unrest. Human rights groups have accused the military of atrocities and claim government officials have embezzled millions of dollars in oil revenue. The government has denied the charges.

The simmering violence in Cabinda is separate from a larger civil war that broke out after independence from Portugal in 1975. An anti-colonial war had begun in the southern African country in the 1960s. Major fighting ended in 2002.

Before leaving for the tournament, Adebayor was asked by British journalists whether he had any reservations about playing in the politically unstable Cabinda region of Angola.

"We were born in Africa so we know what it's about. Some people might be afraid which is normal, I can understand that. But I'm going back to Africa, to one of the countries on my continent, and I'm prepared for Cabinda. I will enjoy myself," the former Arsenal forward said.

English Premier League club Portsmouth, which has four players in Angola, said it was considering withdrawing its players.

"We have asked the (English) Football Association to ask FIFA how safe it is and to guarantee the safety of our players," Portsmouth spokesman Gary Double told The Associated Press. "Our players' safety is paramount, and if that can't be guaranteed the players should be sent home."

It was the second major gun attack on a sports team in less than a year. Several players were injured and six policemen were killed when gunmen opened fire on the Sri Lankan cricket team's bus in Lahore, Pakistan, in March 2009.

The violence also comes five months before the World Cup in South Africa, the first to be held on the continent. The biggest concern leading to that 32-nation tournament has been the security situation in South Africa, a country with one of the world's highest crime rates.

Togo, which played at the 2006 World Cup, did not qualify for this year's tournament in South Africa.

___

Associated Press Writers Ebow Godwin in Lome, Togo, and Bruce Mutsvairo in Johannesburg contributed to this report.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

I Do Know Where My Towel Is

I think taking the subway, as I've been rather faithfully doing this month, is a false economy.

I broke the book ban. We're not even a month into 2010!

Thing is, when I took a cab home, it whooshed me right past Noksapyeong Station and at Noksapyeong Station there is a used bookstore. A used bookstore that I find myself incredibly tempted by every.single.day.

However, I am allowed, under the terms of the book ban, to buy the odd book: book club novels, anything I get when I trade in, and naturally, the books that I need to buy in order to fill other 101 in 1001 items. This was the justification I used - I need The Sea, The Sea by Murdoch and for some reason in the back of my brain, I feel that I've seen it used somewhere, without cluing in to the fact that it was ringing bells in my brian for a reason. So, I figured, I'd go see if they had it there and if not, I could check What the Book later.

The Sea, The Sea wasn't there. But can I go into a bookstore and not buy a single book? No, no, I can not. Thus, I walked out of there with four - the most notable being Personal History by Kathleen Graham. I'm even so eager about purchasing it that I'd love to start reading it now.

However, there is just no way. Intensives are proving exhausting this month. First off, I'm teaching upper year courses that require prep of me - the annoying thing about assigning five chapters to my students to read per class is that I've got to read it too. And while I may be a faster reader, I have to do things like take notes and come up with teaching strategies and all. Plus, I've got to prep the SAT class, which again is no small amount of work, what with it being a one-on-one class.

With all the reading for classes and the early morning starts, by the time I get home all I want to do is eat dinner, preferably with as little cooking involved as is humanly possible, and stare at the TV. No reading, no thinking, no anything. On the upside, I finally understand what people are talking about when the reference House in a psych ward, or why Modern Family is basically The Office at home, and I think The Good Wife is fairly decent. I even watched the pilot for Caprica, which I think could be decent, though no Battlestar Galactica.

According to LivingSocial Books on Facebook, I'm presently reading 9 books already. Realistically, this isn't the case. The Giver is on there - that's what I'm teaching at the moment. Jitterbug Perfume is on there because it was a book club novel - the meeting was today and I only got 100 pages into it. Tom Robbins isn't really my cup of tea and in my present brainless mode, I really need to like what I'm reading to even want to stop staring at whatever I can find on Pandora. Then there's the two Anita Blake novels I'm supposedly reading - but I gave up Incubus Dreams 100 pages in to go back to the first book in the series, which I got halfway through before being distracted by Jitterbug Perfume. I started to read a book on Canadian politics by Elizabeth May, but it's too much work at the moment. There's The First Woman Doctor on that list - it's a work novel and will need to be finished soon. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn I haven't touched in a solid year. I did recently try to pick up Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell again (another long book I made it 100 pages into), but another chapter through, I gave up again.

The only thing I'm actually reading is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy because it's the only thing right now that can compete with TV is an author who truly understands the disasterousness that is a Thursday.

If I had a book that said Don't Panic on the cover, I'd definitely read that.

The Big Bang Theory & The Male Gaze

NPR has an awesome article about how the character of Penny has changed since the pilot of The Big Bang Theory and for the better:

This is, in maybe the most literal form in which you'll ever see it, the male gaze. She exists relative to Leonard and Sheldon's arrival home (just standing there reading a magazine in profile with the door open!), relative to their door, relative to their apartment. It's a comedy, but it's still true. This is it; this is the thing. This is the thing people talk about where she's not really herself, she's just the lady standing in the doorway.

Well, It's Good for My Budgeting Resolution

I spent all of Saturday sleeping, watching The Good Wife, reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, napping, and drinking cups of tea.

Yinka Shonibare

Nigerian-born, London-based and at work all over the world, Yinka Shonibare is the last word in transnational artists. And in the work he's best known for — headless mannequins in British colonial dress that's cut from African-style cloth that's actually made in the Netherlands — the very ideas of nationality and ethnic identity are constantly up for grabs. Full of deadpan meditations on the complexities of cultural identity, this was the funniest show of the year, even when the topic was dead serious.

The Kathleen Hanna Papers are at NYU

Fuck yeah!

5/7 Sounds Good Until I Admit that the Only Sure Answer was to #7

Weekly world news quiz

It's the end of another week... Just how much do you remember about the headlines from the past seven days?

You got 5 right!

Question 1
New research carried out on the painting of the Mona Lisa reveals that the enigmatic lady may have been suffering from what?

A: High cholesterol

B: Low blood pressure

C: Scurvy

The answer was A
Dr Vito Franco, from Palermo University in Italy, said the Mona Lisa showed clear signs of a build-up of fatty acids under the skin, caused by too much cholesterol.

Question 2
An Indonesia football fan disgruntled by his national team's lacklustre performance invaded the pitch and took possesion of the ball. What happened next?

A: He tried to score a goal but failed

B: He scored the only goal of the match

C: He passed the ball to the policeman chasing him

The answer was A
Police eventually overpowered 25-year-old Hendri Mulyadi, who later apologised on a website. "They never win. It's either lose or draw," he said.

Question 3
A Swiss millionaire has been given a record speeding fine of $290,000 (�180,000). What did the court calculate the fine on?

A: The value of his car

B: His wealth

C: The length of time he was speeding before he was eventually stopped

The answer was B
The fine was more than double Switzerland's previous record speeding fine - handed to a Porsche driver in Zurich in 2008.

Question 4
A hacker who briefly hijacked the website of Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero replaced the PM's image with a picture of which comedy character?

A: Fred Flintstone

B: Mr Bean

C: Basil Fawlty

The answer was B
In Spain, the alleged similarity between Mr Zapatero and the Mr Bean is a long-standing joke.

Question 5
The oldest evidence of four-legged animals walking on land has been discovered in south-east Poland. What kind of animal is thought to have left the footprints 397 million years ago?

A: A frog with legs and a tail

B: A short-legged dolphin

C: A creature looking something like a crocodile

The answer was C
The animals were probably crocodile-like in appearance and lived an amphibian-like existence (although those specific animal forms did not appear until many millions of years later).

Question 6
What food item has just fetched the equivalent of $175,000 (�109,000) at auction?

A: A Victorian plum pudding

B: A truffle

C: A bluefin tuna

The answer was C
The 232kg tuna was caught off the northern tip of Japan's main island of Honshu and sold at Tokyo's fish market for 16.28 million yen.

Question 7
What have scientists from Kings College London concluded from their latest research on the G Spot - the mysterious area of the body supposed to be key to women's sexual pleasure?

A: It may not exist

B: It moves around

C: There are two of them

The answer was A
A study of nearly 2,000 female twins by King's College London, found no evidence of the spot, based on the experiences of women who share similar genes.

Where Have You Been?

The Hangover Ate My Brain

The Giver is one of the most challenged and banned books (#11 on the list of 100 at the ALA, according to the previous link)currently taught in schools. And here I am, teaching it in Korea. Can't say I love discussing the Stirrings with my middle schoolers.

Vaccines work.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

I'm totally telling all my students that George Washington invented instant coffee.

Stop Drinking the Haterade

"They are Skinner boxes designed to condition us to undervalue our privacy and to disclose personal information. They have opaque governance structures. They are walled gardens that violate the innovative spirit of the internet. But to deride them for being social, experimental and personal is to sound like a total fool."

Read the article about social media here.

I joined Twitter a few months ago, but I only recently got interested when I found out that Margaret Atwood tweets.

Work that into Conversation. I Dare You!

Word of the Day for Wednesday, January 6, 2010
flibbertigibbet \FLIB-ur-tee-jib-it\, noun:

A silly, flighty, or scatterbrained person, especially a pert young woman with such qualities.

Must Learn to Sleep at Night

I am seriously obssessed with lists and with the end of a year and a decade having just passed, there are lists everywhere! Plus, I got up at 7:30 a.m. this morning, taught all day, and as such have no real brain power left. Unfortunately, while I'm profoundly tired, I'm not in the slightest sleepy, nor can I be arsed reading any of my work novels (The Outsiders, Ramona and her Father.) Thus, I bring to you the Indigo book lists, with anything I've read in bold and anything I own here in Korea in italics. (And yes, I sort of picked this particular list because it makes me look vaguely well read.)

Indigo Best of the Decade 2000-2009

Fiction
-------
The Corrections, Johnathan Franzen, 2001
The Life Of Pi, Yann Martel, 2002
The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold, 2002
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini, 2003
The Time Traveller's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger, 2003
The Curious Incident of The Dog In The Nighttime, Mark Haddon, 2003
Shadow Of The Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, 2004
Runaway, Alice Munro, 2004
The Birth House, Ami McKay, 2006
The Road, Cormac McCarthy, 2006
The Book Of Negroes, Lawrence Hill, 2007

Biographies
-----------
Lucky, Alice Sebold, 1999
Reading Lolita In Tehran, Azar Nafisi, 2003
Scar Tissue, Anthony Kiedis, 2004
Dreams Of My Father , Barack Obama, 2004
The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls, 2005
The Know It All, A.J. Jacobs, 2005
Tender Bar, J.R. Moehringer, 2005
Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert, 2006
A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah, 2007
Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, 2007
Beautiful Boy, David Sheff, 2007
Somewhere Towards the End, Diana Athill, 2009

Non-Fiction
-----------
The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell, 2000
No Logo, Naomi Klein, 2000
Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain, 2000
Paris 1919, Margaret Macmillan, 2001
Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser, 2001
The Power Of Now, Eckhart Tolle, 2001
Salt: A World History, Mark Kurlansky, 2002
Moneyball, Michael Lewis, 2003
Shake Hands With The Devil, Romeo Dallaire, 2003
1,000 Places to See Before You Die, Patricia Schultz, 2003
A Short History of Progress, Ronald Wright, 2004
Long Way Round, Ewan McGregor, 2004
Marley & Me, John Grogan, 2005
Freakonomics, Steven Levitt, Stephen Dubner, 2005
The World Is Flat, Thomas L. Friedman, 2005
Team Of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin, 2005
Collapse, Jared Diamond, 2005
The Audacity Of Hope, Barack Obama, 2006
The Looming Tower, Lawrence Wright, 2006
God Delusion, Richard Dawkins, 2006
Three Cups Of Tea, Greg Mortenson, 2006
The Omnivores Dilemma, Michael Pollan, 2006
Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore, 2006
The Secret, Rhonda Byrne, 2006
The Black Swan, Nassim Nichola Taleb, 2007
Made To Stick, Chip Heath, 2007
God Is Not Great, Christopher Hitchens, 2007
Stuff Of Thought, Steven Pinker, 2007
100 Mile Diet, Alisa Smith, 2007
Ascent Of Money, Niall Ferguson, 2008
Payback, Margaret Atwood, 2008
In Defense Of Food, Michael Pollan, 2008
The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch, 2008

Cookbooks
---------
Eat Shrink Be Merry, Janet & Greta Podleski
Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics, Ina Garten
Everyday Italian, Giada de Laurentis
Cook With Jamie, Jamie Oliver
Vijs, Vij Vikram
Molto Italiano, Mario Batali
Eat Clean Diet Cookbook, Tosca Reno
Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Appetite, Gordon Ramsay
Everyday Food, Martha Stewart
Complete Canadian Living Baking, Elizabeth Baird
Red White Drunk All Over, Natalie McLean
The Silver Spoon
French Laundry, Thomas Keller
Food Matters, Mark Bittman
Feast, Nigella Lawson
Hello Cupcake, Karen Tack
Billionaires Vinegar, Ben Wallace
Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan
Heat, Bill Buford

Young Adult Fiction
-------------------
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling, 2007
Twilight, Stephenie Meyer, 2005
The Amber Spyglass, 2000
Eragon, Christopher Paolini, 2003
Diary of A Wimpy Kid, Jeff Kinney, 2007
Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging, 2000
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning, 1999
Bone: Out From Boneville, 2005
The Book Thief, 2005
The Tale of Despereaux, 2003

Booklovers' Top Ten "Life-changing" Books
-----------------------------------------
The Bible
To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee, 1960
Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom, 1997
Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery, 1908
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini, 2003
The Alchemist, Paul Coelho, 1988
The Book of Negroes, Lawrence Hill, 2007
Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, 1997
The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien, 1954
Life of Pi, Yann Martel, 2002

Snowy Seoul

For an inexplicable reason, snow on the hill I live on has been shovelled into a mound that runs down the middle of the street. Tomorrow is going to be interesting...

Seoul battles heaviest snow in more than 70 years
By HYUNG-JIN KIM

SEOUL, South Korea – Seoul residents battled the heaviest snowfall in modern Korean history after a winter storm dumped more than 10 inches (26 centimeters) Monday, forcing airports to cancel flights and paralyzing traffic in South Korea's bustling capital.

The snowfall, which began about 1 a.m. (1600 GMT Sunday) and continue through Monday afternoon, was the worst since Korea began conducting meteorological surveys in 1937, the state weather agency said.

Gimpo International Airport in western Seoul canceled 224 flights before resuming service Monday afternoon, airport official Choi Choon-ja said.

More than 20 flights between Incheon International Airport, just west of Seoul, and cities in China also were canceled, with China also coping with a snowstorm. More than 100 flights to other regions were delayed, Incheon airport official Kang Soo-kyung said.

The snow and icy roads snarled traffic in and out of Seoul, with many commuters squeezing into packed subway trains to get to work. A regular Cabinet meeting also was delayed Monday because ministers were stuck in traffic.

About 3,600 workers were mobilized to clear the snow from Seoul's roads and sidewalks. About 5,000 soldiers also were dispatched to Seoul and surrounding Gyeonggi Province, according to the Defense Ministry.

The snow didn't stop 50-year-old Park Hee-soon from her job delivering milk and yogurt to homes and offices in western Seoul. However, Park — trudging through the streets in her regular yellow uniform — said the snow and ice were dangerous.

"I slipped on streets several times today, and my back hurts because of that," she said.

The snow forced American figure skater Michelle Kwan to cancel appearances in South Korea on Monday. The five-time world champion, visiting the country as goodwill ambassador for the U.S. State Department, had been slated to give a master class to South Korean figure skaters.

She is scheduled to meet with students, U.S. soldiers and participate in a Special Olympics event this week, U.S. Embassy officials said.

Beijing also was digging out Monday from a weekend winter storm.

More than 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) of snow accumulated in the city center Sunday, according to China's National Meteorological Center. State media called it the highest snowfall in the capital in a single day in January since 1951. Upward of 8 inches (20 centimeters) was recorded in the suburbs of Changping near the Great Wall of China.

Hundreds of flights from Beijing were canceled or delayed Sunday because of the snowfall.

Primary and middle schools were closed in Beijing and the nearby port of Tianjin, and with snow plows in short supply, more than 300,000 people were assigned to clear snow in the capital with shovels, scrapers and brooms.

Heavy snow also blanketed Sapporo on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, forcing the main airport to cancel nearly 80 flights since last Wednesday.

SNOW DAY!!!

In Korea, the land of "yes you have sick days in your contract, but you can't use them, I somehow have a hagwon snow day. I made it halfway into work with Sara when we got the call and it was a celebatory call.







And in case you have some spare time, too, an article on branding skepticism that I found interesting.

Ha!

Lady Gaga spoof.

Twitterature

Top 10 New Species

Great Minds Think Together?

I have a lot of goals related to creativity, most of which are also related to photography (which is related in itself to the fact that I couldn't draw or paint something if I tried, except in terms of doing it better than a class of kindergarten students.)

Being Creative
32. Do something creative - paint a picture, throw a pot, etc.
33. Take pictures at one of those weird photo places in Hongdae.
34. Take a photo every day for a month. (0/31)
35. Take the good camera out once a month. (26/30)
36. Complete 26 Things.
37. Send a postcard to Postsecret.

Over at Miss Grace's Disgrace, there are two bloggers doing shared diptychs. Basically, they both take a picture that expresses one subject and see what comes out of it. Imitation is supposed to be the sincerest form of flattery, yes? And so, if anyone's interested, I think it would be an awesome project for 2010. I tend to need some sort of goal to keep me accountable.

Anyone interested?

Ghosts of New Years' Eves Past

I've been trying to remember what I've done on New Year's Eves in the past. Here's what I recall:

1. A party in Bolton at Neil Avery's house. What I actually remember best is walking home across the fields of James Bolton/Humberview in the snow.

2. Dancing on the beach in Borocay with Ortencia.

3. Full Moon Party on Koh Phanagn with Sheila.

4. At home, sick.

5. With Alan, at home in Bolton, him jetlagged.

6. My first Hogmanay, Edinburgh's street party, with a tour of people from Australia and New Zealand.

7. Hogmanay with my brother - street party once again.

8. Hogmanay with A & D and Alan - the year we missed the fireworks, but could see their shadows on the tenements and A & D kissed for what felt like years.

9. Vancouver with A & D, Alan, Jen. At home.

10. In Korea, house party at Martha's.

11. This year, once again not out.

I can't recall any others.

The Things I Share on Facebook

Amanda S. to Abigail F: Funny story for you: the night you dropped off the hamster, I was out and then at the bar and then invited a bunch of random strangers to continue the drinking at my place. I got very, very drunk and when I woke up the next day, I was late heading to Laura's, so I was in a huge rush. Oddly, there were potatoes all over the floor - I assumed one of the randoms had brought them to the bar and forgotten them at my place, which made me sad as it seemed that someone's Xmas dinner was going to be minus the mashed potatoes. I was terribly hungover when I got home again and when I opened the fridge to get some water, I saw half an onion in a bag, and my first thought was, "How odd that a stranger would stick their half an onion in my fridge when at my impromptu party." And then it finally occurred to me that you had dropped off some food along with the hamster! Hahaha. I'm a hungover idiot. However, the point of this comment was to say thanks!