South Korea Way

Ever since John started learning Korean, it seems like I've been inundated with all things Korean. Not that I mind - it's a culture I never knew much about growing up (in our house everything Asian was Chinese). Now that John walks around the house mumbling things in Korean (still don't know what he's saying), we've started bringing more of Korea into our lives. The most recent addition is this great Korean grocery store on a part of a main street that's lovingly called "South Korea Way" - it's really called South Tacoma Way. The market it awesome. Not only are the prices great but there are SO many fruits, veggies, fish, sweets....so many things I've never heard of, let alone seen. Usually we're the only non-Asians in the place and sometimes John has to translate the signs for me. But I love it! I've grown to love the sesame balls and red bean donut things in the bakery. It's great. Although they can keep the kimchi. No thanks.

So now my South Korean addition to the house is my economics paper. Ya. It's on the history of South Korean economics. Like I ever thought I'd be writing something like that. Ah well. I'm learning a lot. For such a small country, it has been ravaged with war and economic craziness for the last 100 years. And why they don't teach more about the Korean War in school, I'll never know.

For now I'll just enjoy my sesame balls and fresh coconut. Yum.

Cup a tea

Nothing like a warm cup of tea to soothe a sore throat. It finally turned chilly on the Northwest. Trees are changing color - I'm still amazed at the number of trees here. The water is a deeper blue today. The chill is seeping through my old, rickety windows and making my nose cold. Time to break out the wool socks.

Death and taxes

Ben Franklin's saying "nothing is certain but death and taxes" rang more true than I would like this weekend.
Worked on my taxes and still am not sure what all these tax cuts are that the government keeps talking about. Whoever they're supposed to help, I'm not one of them. I've never payed so much in taxes. Lame.

The death part came in three. First, my mom had to put our family pet, Madison, to sleep Saturday. She was 12 years old and a special member of our family. Then my husband and I found out that two of our friends were killed on Friday by a suicide bomber in Iraq. One other was critically injured in the same incident and might not make it. We've been in the military for just over five years and have lost four friends to the War on Terror. It never gets easier to lose a friend. It's hard to be such a part of the military and be so against so many things they are made to do. Our friends' deaths only make me more angry at the situation they were in. They were some of the best trained special operations soldiers the Army had - both had been to Iraq and Afghanistan a number of times. In a firefight they would have stood a great chance of coming out alive. But when a suicide bomber blows himself up six inches from you .... nothing is left. They didn't even have a chance to defend themselves. What good does it do? What good are we doing? Will it ever end?

To stroll or not to stroll

I heard a woman give advice about life to her grand-daughter this morning on NPR. She said "It's not a marathon, it's a stroll."
It's so easy to get caught up in the "race." In reality, I hate running (both on the track and metaphorically). I love the idea of enjoying life as we go through it and although marathoners may say they enjoy the result (crossing the finish line) they never really seem to enjoy the run itself. But then...the end result (where you end up) can be pretty important I suppose. So the question is, can a person be in the race, not kill themselves in the marathon and still end up where they want to? Why not. In fact, I think it'd be fun to be one of those people that dresses up in the Boston Marathon. They still cross the finish line and are incredibly happy even though they may not have come in first. And really - the people who come in first are usually covered in diarrhea from not stopping to take care of business. Ew.

Close call

The sun was out in full force this morning. Love the sun - hate it when it blinds me in the middle of rush hour traffic. It was so bad this morning, that I couldn't even see the car in front of me (if there even was a car - I couldn't tell). I saw one woman pull into the center lane to drive for safety, I suppose. But what she didn't know is that the lane became the turning lane of ongoing traffic. Luckily she moved over before anything scary happened. Just a few blocks away, there was a fender bender on an overpass. Just as I passed the accident and came to a stop light where I found that there were indeed cars in front of me - saw them just as I came to a stop - thankfully I was going slow enough to stop. The car behind me was going slow enough and stopped also, but the car behind her was not as slow and hit the car behind me. So now there were two accidents on the overpass - in morning traffic. That was the THIRD accident that has happened one car in front or behind of me since I moved down here. This town is SO accident prone. i think that perhaps I'll start teleporting to work. Beam me up Scotty!

DA

Hello, my name is Zoe and I am a Dish-aholic.
It's true. For years I blamed my distaste for washing dishes on my lack of a dishwasher. I seemed to instead have no problem with seeing the dishes sit out for a while - usually until I needed one. BUT now that I have a dishwasher and the same thing is happening....I think I'm addicted to seeing the dishes out and so I just can't bear to put them into the dark depths of the dishwasher. Some may call it laziness, but that's too boring and not always true - I am a freak about keeping the rest of the kitchen clean - just not so much with the dishes. Are there places who can help people like me?

super ego man

There is a guy that works in my office that I have now had enough of. He's one of those "i'm so great that everything I say should be inscribed in granite" kinds of people. He also likes to crack inappropriate jokes or wise cracks about any and everyone (as long as they're not in the room). yesterday in our weekly staff meeting, he went too far. It was like I was in one of those human resource movies they show you when you're a new employee - the one about sexual harassment in the office. At first when he cracked the joke (which involved a women far above his rank and her needing knee pads) I wasn't sure what he meant. I couldn't believe that anyone would say that about someone else - especially in the middle of a staff meeting with four women sitting at the other end of the table. By the time I figured out that he was serious it was too late to jump in and call him on his lameness. SO it bothered me most of the night and today I spoke up. Told his supervisor and was told that "I will talk with him about it" - now, this is the second time I have had to talk with his supervisor about inappropriate behavior in the office. I feel so wierd having to talk to anyone's supervisor about this sort of thing. But the truth is that they guy is a jerk. He should be told he's a jerk over and over again until he realizes that the pedastal he thinks he's standing on is really just his ego.

Where is it all supposed to come from?

Was listening to NPR this morning and heard that NASA is planning a $100 billion trip to the moon. My first reactions was "cool - more moonrocks" but then I wondered...where is all of that cash coming from? We're paying hundreds of billions of dollars to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan and we just promised at least $200 billion to help those hurt by Hurricane Katrina. Maybe it's just me, but I'm pretty sure that we don't have THAT much money to spread around. I'm not saying the $ shouldn't go to help those hurt by the hurricane. I am saying that something's got to give. With a federal deficit more than $410 billion dollars we can't really afford everything. It's simple budgeting. It's no wonder why so many Americans are having credit problems. Just look at the example the federal government sets for us. Ridiculous.

Sizzle

Pardon me while I go outside and fry an egg on the sidewalk.....
Whoever said that the climate isn't changing needs to come and live down here for a while. They would change their mind.

An update - I sent my resume and news clips into the Fayetteville Observer's executive editor - they have a couple of positions open. We shall see. I'm not sure if I have the experience they're looking for, but it doesn't hurt to try!

Also, did I mention that it's hot down here? Thank goodness for whoever it was that invented air conditioning.

Keeping options open

I've never been much of a climber when it came to moving up in job positions. If opportunities presented themselves, I would take them. Today I put myself out there. I heard that there's going to be a little re-structuring in the newsroom at the local paper in town that I want to work at. So....I sent the editor an e-mail and let him know that I'm interested. We'll see. It may come to nothing, but then again, it could get me outta here and onto bigger and better things. (and a larger paycheck - which would ROCK)

marathon man

I must bragg a bit about my husband. He ran the Grandfather Mountain Marathon in Boone, NC Saturday. They say it's the hardest marathon in the country and after driving the course (yeah, not a chance that I ran it - I was support crew running from water stop to water stop), I must agree. Over half of the course was uphill, winding through the mountains. It was beautiful and some of it was even on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but pretty views aside - I am amazed anyone finished the race. John finished well and has the number and medal to prove it. it was fun to be the support crew and cheer everyone on in the race. It was a pretty lonely one - not a lot of people along the route cheering them on - just them and the pavement most of the way. Although I'm told that Wonder Woman was handing out water at mile 24. I thought that perhaps one day I would run a marathon and maybe I will - but after watching those people cross the finish line I'll be thinking long and hard about if my body really wants to go through all of that.

What a letdown

Well, aside from the fact that it was way cool to hang out with National media and talk with the Secret Service - that speech last night was BLAH. Nothing new. THey kept saying it was going to be new information or a new strategy. Everything he said was something that is already happening and that he's said before it previous speeches. It's like he saw his ratings slipping and needed to bolster some support. I will say that he seemed....concerned about something last night. Nervous. Something. I don't know if he'd just gotten some bad news before he went on stage or what, but there was NO charisma coming from him. NONE. Very disappointed with that. I figure he's the President, if nothing else, he has charisma. Nada. *sigh* Well, it was awesome to be there and to have that experience. I had one of my friends (a fellow photographer who was standing for hours in the back with me) take my picture with Bush talking behind me. I'll post it with some others later today. (If I can get it to work this time)

Georgey: a little apprehensive

I have the opportunity today to be a part of the press conference/appearance that George "Let 'er Roll" Bush is holding on base. I'm actually really excited about it b/c I get to be with the National Press Corps and all that goes along with being in the room with the president. My brother-in-law was joking that they wouldn't let me in b/c they'd check my voter registration card. It was strange getting calls from the White House at the office.

He's supposed to be here pretty soon and the storm clouds have just rolled in - it's so dark you'd think it was 7 at night. A storm's a brewin'. The national media has been saying that he's going to announce "specific" ideas on his strategy in Iraq. This is something that you'd think we'd already have since we're HOW FAR INTO IT? Anyway, we've been told he's going to announce something - we don't know what, but something big. I'm a little freaked out by that. We've brainstormed everything from an exit strategy to nothing new to a (gasp) draft. I can say that it's not meant to be a troop rally - the number of troops expected is too small for that.

I suppose I also fear my own reaction to whatever he announces. I promised my office I wouldn't do anything crazy - besides, I don't want to be carried off the crazy town by the secret service.

Well, the clouds just opened up and the rain is pouring down. I'll keep you posted.

hollah

This weekend I decided to embrace the NC country that I now live in. The National Hollerin' Contest was held Saturday in a li'l place called Spivey's Corner about 30 minutes from where I live. The town has a year-round population of just over 65 people and if you blink, you would literally miss the "town." So, I went. Not quite sure how to describe "hollerin" - it's kinda like yodelling without the yodel...like bird calls for people. They had little kids, teens, men and women up on stage. Inbetween competitions, Elvis sang as well as a christian music group. I have to say - I'm realizing that although I love the mountains and camping and being one with nature.....I'm not so much a "country girl." I took a few pictures and will post them later today. Ah...the South. Yeeeeeeehaw!

the ninja turtle

I was driving out of our apartment complex yesterday (never thought I'd live in one *sigh*) and nearly ran over a mama turtle that lives in the pond/lake near our place. Freaked me out. The poor thing pulled way, way into her shell and at first I wondered if she was ok. I was worried that maybe someone else had run over her - but of course then I realized that, duh, if that was the case, her shell would have been squished. Anyway, so I stopped my car, got out, picked up the scared turtle and put her back near the water. Crisis averted.

Who woulda thunk it

When my parents separated in Oct. '01 and then got divorced a while later, it wasn't a big surprise. In fact, my sisters and I had often wondered when it would happen. I suppose that since it wasn't such a suprise, I never thought that it would effect me very much - emotionally. Granted, there's the whole getting used to my mom asking for dating advise and my dad starting a new family with a wife that's practically my age...those things I knew I'd have to adjust to. But I have recently discovered that there's a whole other realm of emotional issues that I hadn't realized I was needing to deal with.
After they split, my drive to accomplish some of the career goals that I had kinda faded into the background. Not that I'm blaming my parents for it - it's all on me. I do think, however, that their splitting up triggered something within me that said "well, if they've given up trying, what's the point of my trying anymore?" I know, it's the drama of every divorced kid. I guess that I just figured that since I'm over 25 and living my own life, that I'd be immune somehow. Not so it turns out.
Do you ever wish that you could just push a button and release all of the complexes and emotional mazes that seem to stem from your parents?

too long gone

Ah...the blogoshpere. I have returned.
I've been lost in a wash of crazy maniacal work fiends who seem to think that I have super powers. Either that or I've somehow made them think that I have a clone that comes in and does more work at night. Either way - I'm back. Super powers and all.

What kind of car does Jesus drive?

According to the ever-accurate and informative CNN, Jesus Christ is trying to get a driver's license. Seriously. Check this out: http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/05/10/jesus.lawsuit.ap/index.html.

Some guy also claimed to have had coffee in his kitchen with Jesus after which the Lord left behind the blue jeans He had been wearing because He was cold. There was no comment about a shirt or possible undergarments. The guy with the holy jeans is now trying to sell them on e-bay. The holder of the jeans said he "wanted to share the pants He wore with the world." Last known bid for the now-sacred pants was: $14.59 and the bidding closes in just under a week. But beware all ye who are in need of repentence - he doesn't want the pants "to fall into the hands of Satan."

Revenge of the legos

About 2 weeks ago, I discovered the only playstation game I've really been able to get into. Lego's StarWars. Last night, by chance, I saw an awesome sight - Comedy Central had a 10 minute animated clip of Legos StarWars. Of course I had to go searching for more info (ok, so my husband did the searching). BUT we found this: http://treehouseanimation.com/ Watch the Storm Trooper orchestra. It will make your Monday much easier to handle.

A Wednesday thought

Yes.... I got this via a friend's mass e-mail. Hate mass e-mails. Sadly, every blue moon, I like their content.

If you consider that there has been an average of 160,000 troops in in theater in Iraq during the last 22 months, that gives a firearms death rate of 60 per 100,000.

The rate in the District of Colubia is 80.6 per 100,000.

That means that you are more likely to be shot and killed in our Nation's Capitol, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation, than you are in Iraq.

Conclusion: We should immediately pull out of Washington, D.C.