Well, here is another update from the home of my sister Marie and her fine husband Troy. Their son My nephew Nathaniel is now three months old. Quite a bright, active, and handsome little fellow by all accounts, though the doctor said at his last checkup that he was short and fat compared to other kids his age. Well, so was I. There’s hope he’ll be tall and fat, or even tall and not-so-very-fat, someday. Anyway, for now, he’s adorable. They’ve been sending me pics, but I’ve been a bit lax about posting them, just from having so much else …
Month: November 2004
The Heater
Well, my water boiler (water heater, or geyser, as it’s known in India) was acting up for… well, actually, since about a week after I moved into my apartment. So it’s been off-and-on for about a year, though with a little banging I’ve generally been able to get it to start. Well, on Friday, that finally didn’t work. I punched the heater any number of times, but it just would not start. I ended up hurrying to school after just barely washing a couple of crucial spots and wetting down my hair; but, I fel icky and I was relieved …
The Things You Happen Upon
Here are some interesting pages I ran across during a failed search for a picture of that Korean Liberation Day Cola: CorpWatch, a page that, well, watches corporations. An article about how new drink products are hurting the cola industry. It’s good news, if you ask me! An account by some guy who attended Liberation Day celebrations in North Korea. Apparently there is a book exchange on certain Sundays in Seoul: does anyone know if this is still in operation? The homepage of Santiago Colas, a professor living in Michigan; he has some poems and some essays on the Korean …
Things I’ve learned today:
Well, I learned a couple of very strange little bits of Koreana today from Lime, and thought they were interesting enough to post about: 삼신 할머니 (SamShin Halmeoni, or SamShin Grandmother) is some kind of midwife-deity to whom old grannies would pray in the early morning, beseeching that their grandchildren would be born healthy. The SamShin Grandmother is the spiritual midwife of Korean babies, and it’s her job to whack little kids on the bottom when it’s their turn to pop out into the material world. This, they say, is why Korean babies have a Mongolian spot on their backsides. …
The Hell Of In-Laws
For Friday Five this week, our dear friend Rob, Has asked a million-dollar question, or, I estimate, worth at least thirty bob, If anybody’s keeping count of score. And if they are, please email me a chart, Nothing too fancy. It needn’t be high art. “Name the five most nightmarish in-laws or Events involving in-laws you’ve had to burn Through,” Rob asks, and opens such a door Into the past, that I feel I must spurn The very thought of facing the request For mem’ries cause a sharp pain in my chest. And so I’ll not comply, but plead the …