Comments Posted By Kevin Kim
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For what it’s worth, whenever I do a Costco run and end up with a huge box of groceries to carry home, I always take a cab. It’d be nice to have my own car for grocery runs, but there’s no way in hell that I’m driving in Seoul.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 22/January/2015 @ 9:20 pm
Urrrggh—they mistranslated “esprit d’escalier.” They called it “staircase ghost,” based on the fact that the word “esprit” can mean “spirit.” But “esprit” also means “wit,” as in the French expression “faire de l’esprit,” i.e., to be witty or to engage in wit. Also, “esprit d’escalier” is most decidedly NOT a simple comeback: it’s the comeback that you think of when it’s too late: you’ve lost the argument and you’re stomping up (or down) the stairs in a huff when the perfect retort suddenly comes to you. At that point, though, halfway up (or down) the stairs, such a comeback is useless, and that’s the implicit humor that underlies the French expression: to experience “staircase wit” is to experience a kind of rhetorical 20/20 hindsight as you suddenly realize what you should have said.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 22/January/2015 @ 1:10 am
Your wish is my command. You might want to skip to about 2:30 in the video. These guys are two Carolinians who do a radio and video show called “Good Mythical Morning,” which often seems to involve taste tests of some sort. It’s light comedy—amusing but not particularly deep. Might be interesting to see the Korean girls’ reaction to these guys, especially when, early on, the one guy looks into a bag of Korean snacks and says, “It’s like turds.”
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 19/January/2015 @ 12:38 pm
What’s a shame is that, in the age of short attention spans and constant updating, the writer will receive perhaps a momentary interest before fading immediately back into obscurity. WaPo writer Cynthia McCabe has done the author a service, but it’s a temporary one at best.
I tried reading a passage from the author’s blog, but it was too filled with annoying parentheticals. If this is a good sample of his writing style, it’s no wonder he never caught on. Self-publishing in free countries is subject to the merciless laws of the free market: if you don’t give the people what they want (and according to the article, the writer felt he had to give people what they needed, not what they wanted), you can’t expect the public to embrace you.
This is the paradox of being a scholarly introvert with authorial pretensions: you don’t want to deal with people; you have a distorted view of human nature and thus little idea of how to communicate properly; at the same time, you’re yearning to say something to the masses, but you keep shooting yourself in the foot.
The irony is that, according to the article, Dennis Williams was able to connect and communicate with people in his capacity as a teacher. He was getting through to people, but he somehow felt that his writing was more important than the influence he wielded as a teacher. Very sad that he judged an entire aspect of his life as meaningless and/or irrelevant.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 18/January/2015 @ 4:48 am
“On Thursday we moved into this brand spanking new apartment building…”
“We”? Not “I”? Is there some good news that I missed? I thought I was pretty good about keeping up with your blog, seeing as Long Time Gone is on my feed, but I feel as if I’ve missed something crucial.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 17/January/2015 @ 2:26 pm
Yeah, that was at least partly a mess of his own making. The “so I hit him” refrain got old fast.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 14/January/2015 @ 9:13 pm
I hope things go well for Jeremy, legally speaking. Too bad you had only ten minutes with him, but it sounds as though he’s feeling feisty. Exercise is doubtless giving him energy and focus as well. Fingers crossed.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 14/January/2015 @ 4:56 am
Quite the character.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 08/January/2015 @ 7:31 pm
First panel: “100 lashes if you’re not dying of laughter.”
Second panel: “Love: Stronger than Hate.”
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 08/January/2015 @ 12:19 am
A classic moment, worthy of Kevin Smith and his nerd dialogues.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 06/January/2015 @ 2:07 pm
Great survey. Most “meta,” indeed. I think we’re mostly on the same page, you and I, but some of those panelists sound positively goofy.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 03/January/2015 @ 2:25 pm
John,
Shocking news. I wasn’t sure whether this was a joke at first, but I’m gonna guess this is the real thing. That’s a hell of a blog post with which to start the new year, and I’m sorry to learn this is happening. I imagine that, sometime later this year, this impending separation will be formalized as a divorce. My condolences. Sincerely.
Will the peninsula still hold any charm or interest for you? Where will you go from here? I realize it may be unfair to ask you that question, especially in a public forum like a blog, given that you haven’t really had the chance to think about this turn of events.
Anyway, I’m on break, and am not planning on going anywhere, except maybe to Yeosu for a few days, starting around January 15. If you want to hang and blow off steam for a bit, please look me up.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 01/January/2015 @ 5:55 pm
So is Blue Cross really worth having? Just curious.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 27/December/2014 @ 10:21 pm
An update of sorts on the sad case of Jeremy Frye
I hope Jeremy gets as fair a trial as possible, and that the witnesses mentioned in the article will come forward and say what they said to the Korea Observer. It sounds as if the case has gone from manslaughter to murder.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 21/December/2014 @ 2:59 pm
Veddy nice, veddy nice. Is that a chapel tucked partway inside the building? I think I may have seen a photo of that once.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 19/December/2014 @ 12:13 pm
Congrats on rejoining the work force!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 17/December/2014 @ 7:21 am
I’m sorry if I’m rubbing salt into wounds, but I noticed that the details of the incident seem to have changed. In your earlier post, you’d written:
“Acting on instinct you get up and tell the guy to back off and give him a shove. The guy collapses and goes into cardiac arrest. He is transported to the hospital and placed in ICU. You are placed under arrest and transported to jail.”
This time around, however:
“The Korean man subsequently fell to the pavement, struck his head, went into a coma, and later died from his injuries. He was 20 years old.”
So I’m left to wonder whether it was a heart issue or a head issue that did the guy in. Why did the details change? Did new information come to light later on? Just curious, is all.
And by the way, since this is your friend we’re talking about here, if you think I’m overstepping my bounds by asking these sorts of questions, feel free to tell me to go fuck myself. I won’t be offended.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 16/December/2014 @ 6:25 pm
In any event, I’m sorry to hear that this happened to your friend. He had the bad luck to tangle with someone who was apparently more fragile than a crystal swan. Sucks for all around.
And where in the world did you find that photo?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 16/December/2014 @ 2:53 pm
“Just walk away. It’s not worth it.”
Or just be sure to drag your quarry into a side street, where there are no security cameras, and beat his ass there. And while you’re at it, wear a wide-brimmed hat to keep your face in shadow.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 16/December/2014 @ 2:51 pm
Congratulations!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 12/December/2014 @ 9:43 am
What a long, strange trip it’s been
Welcome back! For real this time.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 11/December/2014 @ 10:33 am
You finally seem to be lookin’ lively! Safe travels, and even though you’re not back quite yet, Welcome Back all the same.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 09/December/2014 @ 9:25 am
So it’s almost official, but definitely in the bag! Congratulations, you Walmart greeter, you!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 04/December/2014 @ 9:09 am
As the naughty sheep-masters would say, “Come grab ewe elations!” You’re that much further along in the process. May you have a job upon your triumphant return.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 02/December/2014 @ 2:09 pm
See you soon, then!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 29/November/2014 @ 12:27 am
Sounds like a close call. But I bet the Missus could have made ham sandwiches out of those boars had they been unwise enough to attack.
The photo of that meal looks like something a single guy would pull out of his fridge. Hope you enjoyed the fare. Maybe drive up to Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, at Christmastime and enjoy the “groaning board” meal service, which I hear is pretty awesome. (Shields Tavern is one place in the old town that serves a groaning board.) You’ll probably need to reserve early.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 28/November/2014 @ 2:58 pm
I see that it is once again Thanksgiving
Ha ha—love it! Happy Thanksgiving. May your babies always come out juicy and perfect.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 27/November/2014 @ 6:15 pm
Had to stop after 43 seconds. “2 Girls, 1 Cup” was more tolerable.
But you know, if Chik-fil-A is in need of an image rehabilitation, this group might be just the ticket. The ladies certainly make an impression.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 20/November/2014 @ 12:49 pm
I’ll take a pass on that thank you very much
Congrats on passing!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 19/November/2014 @ 7:30 am
«« Back To Stats PageI’m still holding out hope that you’ll go back to Korea and consider working at least part-time for KBS radio. You’ve got the amazing voice, and you’ve got the gift of gab. Learning the in-studio tech probably won’t be a big deal.
You could take a trip out to the KBS broadcasting building with the Missus once you’re back in Korea. I’m sure that whatever gig you land there would pay a hell of a lot more than $15/hour. I did one KBS gig* for my buddy Tom, for which I was paid W47,000 for about TEN MINUTES of work. That’s the sort of part-time pay scale you’re looking at. I respectfully urge you to consider this as an option for you upon your return to the peninsula. And I think you’d enjoy the hell out of such a job as well.
*All they asked me to do was read a couple paragraphs of English-language text—a fake sports broadcast or something. This was for a radio show geared towards English learners.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 15/November/2014 @ 4:15 pm