Need to Plan to Leave the Shore in 2011

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” - Andre Gide

Born Into Brothels

What an amazing documentary. I love that it shows things from the children's perspective. I love that we get to see the world through their lenses. I cried.

Well worth watching.

15 Characters

Before I go off to make enough lasagna to freeze for the winter...

The Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen fictional characters (television, films, plays, books, video games) who've influenced you and that will always stick with you.

Dian Fossey (Gorillas in the Mist)
CJ Cregg (The West Wing)
Alicia (Alicia's Story by Alicia Appleman-Jurman)
Ramona Quimby
Laura Ingalls (Wilder)
Anne of Green Gables
Punky Brewster
Meg (A Wrinkle in Time)
Francie Nolan (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn)
Lessa (Pern series)
Daleks (Doctor Who)
Vladek (Maus)
The girl in red coat (Schindler's List)
Scout (To Kill a Mockingbird)
Stadler and Waldorf (The Muppets)

Messing With the Numbers

Someone linked me to this blog entry on Facebook. It says that:

57% of new books are not read to completion.

Since I personally own about 200ish books I've yet to get around to reading, it occurs to me that us weirdos might be skewing the data.

Soooooo Looooooooong

Gone With the Wind is a very long movie. And it wasn't 4 hours worth of interesting either.

That said, I suppose I'm glad I can finally say I've seen it.

Jesus Camp

I have no idea how I came to download this, but it was quite interesting. Evangelical Christian kids, praying and crying.

I read theNew York Times review. I have to say, I was disturbed by the children, who looked a lot like they were being brainwashed.

What really gets me about things like this, something that struck me when that whole fuss over The Golden Compass occurred, is that as an atheist, if I had children, I would be quite happy for them to be exposed to religion. I'd have no problem with my child choosing to believe in god. I don't feel that making a decision about something that can't be proven either way should be forced on anyone, and certainly children shouldn't be indoctrinated to think one way or the other. I'd let my kids read Narnia or The Chosen or Harry Potter or whatever they wanted. I'd tell them what I think. And I'd help them develop the kind of critical thinking skills that would let them come to their own conclusions.

It's quite strange to realize how differently some religious parents feel.

Pass the Ketchup

Misha

Joy

Today didn't really feel like a Friday (not sure why, when it's felt like such a long week), but it ended on a really high note.

I made latkes and lit candles. I think I'm just going to slowly start celebrating everyone's holidays all over the world. It's nice.

World AIDS Day

Hashing - The Secret Sport

Winter is Here

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,
Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields,
Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air,
Hides hills and woods, the river and the heaven,
And veils the farmhouse at the garden's end.

The Snow-Storm, Ralph Waldo Emerson

Now Winter Nights Enlarge
by Thomas Campion

Now winter nights enlarge
This number of their hours;
And clouds their storms discharge
Upon the airy towers.
Let now the chimneys blaze
And cups o'erflow with wine,
Let well-tuned words amaze
With harmony divine.
Now yellow waxen lights
Shall wait on honey love
While youthful revels, masques, and courtly sights
Sleep's leaden spells remove.

This time doth well dispense
With lovers' long discourse;
Much speech hath some defense,
Though beauty no remorse.
All do not all things well:
Some measures comely tread,
Some knotted riddles tell,
Some poems smoothly read.
The summer hath his joys,
And winter his delights;
Though love and all his pleasures are but toys
They shorten tedious nights.

Let It NOT Snow

When I left Itaewon this morning, it was chilly but not all that cold and the ground was a bit wet where the snow had melted overnight. After my subway ride to Madeul, I got out only to freeze my nose off and slip slide my way through the snow to work.

I can't be more than a thirty minute drive north. It's weird how different the weather is.

"These are all ways
Of getting proud.
None of them
Are easy, but all of them
Are possible. You can do all of these things,
Or just one of them again and again.
You get proud
By practicing."

Laura Hershey

I. Am. So. Tired

Actual blog entry to follow tomorrow, because after a weekend with two turkey dinners, three hashes, and dogsitting duty, I'm too tired to type.

It's Dark Up There

Thanksgiving - as Interpreted by A Korean Kindergarten

It was hilarious.

First, screw the Pilgrims. They were no fun. This is all about the Indians, baby, and we aren't going pussy around with PC here, no we are not. We're going to make feather headbands and put warpaint on and then do that thing where you yodel.

There will also be an odd game that involves pinning the feathers on the turkey's ass. Good times.

Then the teachers will put on a play. The characters are a king, a servant, a cook, a shopkeeper (me!) and a farmer. My only lines: "I'm glad you enjoyed your meal. Farmers work very hard so that I can sell nice rice. If you are going to give out a prize, give it to the farmers." Amanda teacher, it's a traditional Thanksgiving story. Do you know it?

Then we had an Indian potluck. With things along the lines of Traditional Korean rice cakes and kimbap and chopchae. But also those treasured Western Thanksgiving favourites, traditional pizza, Dunkin' Donuts, "fajitas" and churros, pasta, and fried chicken. As you do.

Pictures to come, but my weekend is looking crazy busy. Two more turkey dinners and three hashes, one that I'm haring...

Thanks, America!

For making it traditional for me to eat a full turkey dinner for three months in a row.

I've did two in October over the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. I did one with SPMSH3. Tonight Samantha and her mom cooked us all a meal, at April's and then we had it over at GI Hoe's. Tomorrow my Korean kindergarten is doing their version (this I can't wait to see) and then Courtnie and Tim are cooking at his place in Uijeonbu. Saturday, morning hash, afternoon hash, night in Songtan. Sunday, back in to Seoul to hare a Southside trail, right to the VFW for yet another turkey dinner.

Yes, folks, that makes 6 turkey dinners (plus perhaps something resembling one at work, but we'll see what the Korean moms send to the potluck), and we haven't even hit Christmas yet.

Eat, Pray, Love

"I had actively participated in every moment of the creation of this life. So why didn't I see myself in any of it?"

I read the book right after I left my ex-husband and had turned over half of the corners of the pages because so much of it resonated with me. The movie mostly bored me - though the scenery was pretty.

ARGH!

Today's craft SUCKED. Not in terms of what it might look like (though I don't know that yet), but in terms of executing the class. Why is this? I was told that Leaf Class teacher wanted the students to make a specific craft before the Thanksgiving Day event on Friday.

I was told she would prepare all the supplies. I should have known better.

There wasn't enough of anything, nor was it at all reasonable to expect that 4/5/6 year old children could do the craft in a 40-minute class period. Some of them can barely write in English, and certainly many of them can't express advanced ideas with the vocabulary they know. So, writing five things they were thankful for on five tail feathers of a turkey? Yeah, that took pretty much all class. And I had to cut out the feathers for them in advance.

Thus, tomorrow, instead of doing some of the phonics books that we will struggle to finish by the end of semester (which includes 4 weeks of vacation and a 5-day weekend for Lunar New Year) we will be finishing the craft - really, doing the craft part, as all the cutting and gluing and such will happen then.

I shouldn't be so annoyed by this but it did piss me off. If they wanted something complex done, they should have pre-cut the parts so the kids could do it faster, and pre-written part of the sentences on so they just filled in the end.

Dogsitting

I'm watching April's dog while she's in Hawaii and it's really weird. Her house is huge - you could fit my apartment into her living room, and there's a kitchen, dining room, 3 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms on top of that. I don't really know what to do with myself here. I keep wandering around and putting things down and misplacing them and it's a bit lonelier in a bigger place, I think. The dog is adorable, though I can't say I love the morning pee walks.

Scouting the YK Trail

Last Thursday I went scouting on my day off. Naturally, I intended to scout during the daytime. After all, my only plans for the day otherwise were a trip to the post office, lunch with Samantha and GI Hoe, and dropping off a patch design. That should have had me out scouting by 1 p.m. How I ended up still in Itaewon at 4, I'm not quite sure.

That said, the pictures of the bridges over the Han at night were fantastic.