Comments Posted By Kevin Kim
Displaying 3,721 To 3,750 Of 4,392 Comments
Thanks for the shout-out, John!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 22/January/2018 @ 11:40 am
“Sons are like birds flying always over the mountain”
That lyric reminds me of what Kahlil Gibran had to say on the subject of children:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.[…]
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.I have no doubt your mom was the stablest of bows, and I know for a fact that her arrows flew swiftly and far. Peace and condolences. Hugs.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 19/January/2018 @ 12:31 pm
I suppose a dapper English professor going on adventures would be more palatable than a sinister grammar Nazi.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 15/January/2018 @ 9:26 am
Ambitious hike! I’m not a fan of winter mountain hiking unless I’m wearing crampons, or at least ice cleats.
The two main signs in the foreground don’t give the mountain’s name. The one on the left, in blue, talks about (1) what to do if there’s an accident on the mountain, and (2) how to perform CPR. The one on the right, in green, offers general safety guidelines for mountain hiking.
In the background, however, there’s a white banner that has the name “Gobong-san” (“High-peak Mountain”) at the bottom, barely visible. I looked up “Gobong-san” on Naver, and there are several mountains with that name in South Korea, but none that are near Pyeongtaek, so I’m not sure what your mountain’s name is. You’ll have to ask your hiking partner, I think.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 13/January/2018 @ 4:32 pm
Some good-lookin’ ribs and Saint Bukowski. Not a bad combo for an evening.
Watch dem lungs!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 12/January/2018 @ 7:10 pm
That first photo is quite impressive. Also impressive: walking despite the snow (have you thought about purchasing ice cleats? they’re cheap). Keep on with the badassery! You’re definitely putting me to shame; I’ve been a fat, lazy bastard for most of this winter so far… although that’s about to change.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 10/January/2018 @ 7:53 pm
Loraine has already proven to have a forked tongue. There’s no reason to bother with her. I’d suggest doing the Korean thing and cutting her completely out of your life. It’s always Americans who, bizarrely, think they can preserve some taste of a past relationship by wanting to “remain friends.” I’ve never understood this urge myself; there’s too much potential for emotional pitfalls when two exes try to stay friends. No: simpler is better. Lop her out of your life, man, and don’t worry about her. Think of her as a wart to be frozen off. As a Buddhist might say: discard your attachments.
As for Mi Young… I think you’ve answered your own question: “As usual, her schedule was ambiguous.” Trust me, her schedule isn’t ambiguous to those she chooses to be truly close to. Now, at least, you know whether you’re part of her innermost circle.
Given the future-orientation of many of your recent posts, I think your happiest course of action is to remain focused on what’s coming next. A new life awaits!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 10/January/2018 @ 12:41 pm
Welcome back, man. Hard to believe, but this is the Year of the Big Transition. May the Philippines be your personal Valhalla, but without all the fighting, carnage, and death to get there.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 04/January/2018 @ 12:11 pm
The first day of the rest of my life…
Awesome beginnings. May the coming months be equally awesome.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 02/January/2018 @ 4:23 pm
I hope you and Gem can patch things up (and that the fight wasn’t major in any way). Good luck.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 01/January/2018 @ 6:13 pm
Well, “alta vista” means “high view” in Spanish, so I guess that neighborhood delivers in that regard.
I’m admiring that kitchen as well. Man, I’d love to have a setup like that.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 30/December/2017 @ 1:01 am
Enjoy Philly!
So who took that final picture?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 28/December/2017 @ 3:19 pm
Everyone needs a little Seoul…
Safe travels!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 26/December/2017 @ 9:15 pm
Fröhliche Weihnachten!
Joyeux Noël!
¡Feliz Navidad!
Buon Natale!
축 성탄!It occurs to me that I don’t have any eggnog in the fridge. Am gonna have to make some.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 25/December/2017 @ 5:31 pm
Well! Congrats on walking the length of the Nile! And I hope that pedicure filled your soul with bliss.
Merry Christmas!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 24/December/2017 @ 8:09 pm
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you as well, John. All the best for 2018, and for your new future in Southeast Asia—coming soon to a theater near you!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 21/December/2017 @ 11:16 pm
I was merely looking for a philosopher who had “clit” in his name.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 20/December/2017 @ 7:52 pm
You, sir, are Heraclitus’ river.
Happy evolving!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 19/December/2017 @ 11:12 am
Lucky 13? Hoo, boy…
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 15/December/2017 @ 2:10 am
That breakfast egg is eerie in its roundness, like a full moon that can summon werewolves.
Congrats on 40K steps! You seemed to be saying “Never again” after your 50K-step walk, but I think 50K is a feat (feet?) you’ll be repeating soon. And just think: as you continue to walk these long distances, your feet will grow tough enough to kick through brick walls.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 10/December/2017 @ 8:02 pm
“So, yesterday I get home and this car is completely blocking my driveway.”
Would it be worth your while to buy a couple cheap traffic cones?
27,000+ steps all told. Going to head out for another hour now and get that up to 35,000 for the day.
You, sir, are Randall Flagg, the Walkin’ Dude.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 09/December/2017 @ 8:23 pm
“And the other night she told me she was sorry, she knows I just want to be friends for now, but she can’t help falling in love with me.”
Big, big warning klaxons going off in my head.
“…but like I told her, there’s no way I’d ever fall in love with someone I’ve never met in person. She said she understands that.”
You’re right not to get emotionally involved sight unseen. As for whether she really understands that… Loraine is a good cautionary tale.
That said… good luck!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 06/December/2017 @ 7:39 pm
The stat that caught my eye:
“109.52
total miles
▲ 21.24 miles over last week”I think we can guess where all those extra miles came from.
Great job, man.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 05/December/2017 @ 8:47 pm
Amazing achievement! (Or as they say in the video-gaming world: achievement unlocked!) Congratulations on hitting 52K steps! I was jokingly thinking that a 7:30AM start was a bit too late in the day, but since you walk faster than I do, you covered more ground in less time (about 7.4 hours in your case, so I wasn’t far off in my previous guesstimation). Awesome!
Interesting: your stats put you at approximately 50K steps and 25 miles, which is what my stats would be for such a trip (see my previous comment). This means that, while your speed is different from mine, our stride lengths must be almost the same. This also means that, were we to start walking together, you’d pull away in due course, thus forcing me to jog just to keep up.
I just did the math: you were walking about 3.3 mph, which means you’d pull away from me for sure, but fairly slowly.
On a more sober note: I don’t know about your FitBit, but my pedometer can’t be trusted when it comes to measuring walking distance: it’s about 10-20% too generous in its overestimation. Have you mapped your route on Naver or Google to see what the raw distance was? (I doubt the measurements would vary much.)
Anyway, a huge congratulations to you on this red-letter day. 50K steps is a great milestone, and now that the deed is done, no one can take that away from you.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 02/December/2017 @ 9:13 pm
“Is 50,000 steps in a single day possible?”
Si, se puede. I walk at a rate of 100 steps a minute, i.e., 6000 steps an hour. My speed is a human-standard 3 mph/5 kph, so that’s almost exactly 2000 steps a mile. 50,000 steps is bigger by a factor of 25, so for me, 50,000 steps would equal about 25 miles, which is close to a marathon (26.2 mi.). This is easily doable for you, given that you walk much faster. A 25-mile/50K-step walk would take me between 8 and 9 hours; I imagine you could finish it in 7 hours or maybe less, depending on frequency and length of rest breaks.
Watch for blistering, which becomes a factor for me when I’m over the 5-hour threshold. It might be less of a factor for you, given that you weigh 60 or so pounds less than I do. A 50K-step walk is something I did rather often this past spring during my big trek; normally, in my everyday life, reaching 40K is cause for celebration because it’s so rare. My best-ever day, during the trek, was over 60K steps (61,812 steps on May 15, two days before the end of the walk), and my feet were screaming by the end. I rested all of May 16 as a result.
I assume you’re planning to walk a loop or some sort of path that ends where you start (as opposed to walking to some point, spending the night, then walking back the next day). Whatever you do, enjoy! 50K steps is a good and worthy goal, and averaging 26K steps/day now is pretty damn impressive.
Good luck!
(By the way… are you thinking of hiking from Seoul to Busan? As things are now, you’re basically in good enough shape to do it. All you need to do is check the toughness of your feet after a few hikes that are 6 hours or longer.)
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 30/November/2017 @ 7:48 pm
The feast looks fabulous. Happy Belated Thanksgiving!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 26/November/2017 @ 5:28 pm
Congrats! As soon as I saw this post’s title and first line, I knew it: “He passed 40K,” I thought. Good for you, man. How’re your feet?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 23/November/2017 @ 10:26 pm
In that one selfie above, does your hat really say “VAPES”? That’s hilarious if so.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 23/November/2017 @ 4:25 pm
No ifs, ands, or butts about it…
Well, I’m sorry to hear about the BPH, but I’m happy to know that you’re otherwise normal. Be glad you’ve become such a dedicated walker: you’re avoiding a whole slew of other health problems that normally afflict 60-somethings. Age comes with increasing burdens, but exercise is definitely the way to stave off many of them. Rock on!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 16/November/2017 @ 7:59 pm
«« Back To Stats PageAs the saying goes: “The past is history, the future’s a mystery, but this moment is a gift, which is why they call it the present.” Corny, but Zen-like in its truth.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 12/November/2017 @ 4:23 pm