Well, I’m not tongueless but it feels like I have no tongue. This medicated mouthwash I’m using is making it feel as if my tongue is just not there, at least for nine of the first ten or so minutes after I use it. (The first minute, it feels as if it’s haloed in burning light, perhaps transfigured, so to speak.) Last night we played an okay show to a rather big crowd, big considering the venue. I should have brought my mic, but I thought we’d be playing “unplugged”, ie. with an acoustic guitar and minimal mics. Turned out …
Month: September 2004
Flagging Faith In America
There was an article I was reading via Oriental Redneck about someone said in 2001 that the American flag was “symbol of terrorism and death and fear and destruction and repression”. The town where this Math professor was living had been keeping their American flags up and the professor found it offensive. Never mind the fact that most people would never understand that, yes, of course, Patriot Act nonwithstanding, the American people are relatively protected from those kinds of things (relatively, I stress). Never mind that they tend to be so ready to dismiss any discussion of the United States’ …
Courtesy of Simon World
As usual, Simon World is providing excellent links for news all over Asia. Two reports I’ve found over there: First, something bad is in the soil in Singapore… SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A soil-borne bacterial infection called melioidosis has killed 24 people in Singapore this year, making it more deadly than SARS (news – web sites) or bird flu, the health ministry said on Friday. The illness, also known as Whitmore’s Disease, is listed by the U.S. government as a potential biological weapon but Singapore government officials said there was no sign it had been spread intentionally. Be that as it …
Ow Ow Ow I Take It Back (Sort of)
Well, I went to the ENT today… the Ear Nose and Throat specialist (이비인후과) at the nearby True Love Hospital (it probably sounds less weird in Korean as 참사랑병원) but anyway, I was corrected on a few things. First, the condition afflicting me was not anything calling for antibiotics. It’s APT, which means Acute Pharyngeal (?) Tonsilitis. Which doesn’t, by the way, mean I need my tonsils out, not in this case anyway. The doc said this had been complicated by a case of Gingivitis; I asked him how that could happen, when I faithfully brush my teeth after meals …
Pet Happinesses
This week’s Friday Five was asked with a brevity I’ve only seldom been able to muster myself. Dan asks: What are the five happiest moments you’ve had with pets? Given that my life has been relatively low in terms of concentration of pets, I’m going to have a few repeat appearances by the same dogs. You’ll have to forgive me. The day we found Toto. Our dog Toto (yes, shut up) ran away in terror one rainstormy night and it took three days before she turned up again. A neighbour found her with torn up pads on her paws, whining …
That Would Explain The Pickiness
Lunch today helped me understand one reason I am so incredibly sensitive about food. I noticed that the food I had—which was of the red and spicy Korean type—seemed a lot more spicy and it was even somewhat painful to eat. Ah, yes, it’s the infection. The one I complained about after camp, which I didn’t (for the longest time) realize was tonsilitis. The one which the dentist prescribed me 3 days of antibiotics for. Well, the 3 days of antibiotics did the only thing that they could do: they killed off the weakest of the bugs, leaving me with …
Cahill and The Irish
I was looking for a break from all the fiction I’ve been reading, and I happened to find a book on the shelf at work. It Called How The Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill. Actually, the title is longer than that, but everyone seems to know about this book so I’ll leave off typing the (very long) subtitle. Well, I’m not really fully convinced that the Irish “saved civilization” so far, and I’m two-thirds of the way through, but I suppose Cahill might nab me by the end. I doubt it, but it’s possible. Still, what I am enjoying …
Legal? Does that stuff matter?
Yes, it does matter. It matters whether you’re in violation of a given law when you’re living abroad as a foreign national. I agreed to take on a part-time job that was offered through the University to me. It’s just a few hours a week teaching at some high school in the city. Well, the University took so long to get the paperwork done (and perhaps the two schools took so long to conclude their negotiations, as well), that by the time I was supposed to begin teaching, the paperwork was still not done. On the second day of the …
Dan Rather And Wrong Questions
I found this link on Gweilo Diaries to a piece about Dan Rather and the possible fake documents about Bush’s military service. Actually, Rather spoke of his concern that the documents might not be real, which, yes, he takes seriously. It’s a bit late now, yeah… but he is probably really concerned about it, because if they are (and it seems they probably are) then using them was a stupid mistake. Of course, he also acknowledges something very important: that people are using the question of the origin of the documents as a distraction from the real question, which is, …
Child Protective Services? Does It Exist In Korea?
Dealing with cultural differences in the classroom full of children can be bewildering, as Beth (at My Edited Journal) describes in her recent post, titled Death’s Door. In that class today I also got asked one of those “did the student really just ask that” questions. This one was worse than the others because I wasn’t sure if I needed to take any action on it or not. Luby asked if I ever thought about what it would be like to die. Do you mean what it’s like after death or the actual moment that I die? “The moment that …