Comments Posted By Kevin Kim
Displaying 1,201 To 1,230 Of 4,392 Comments
All will be well. See you on the other side.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 09/December/2023 @ 11:39 am
I do disagree with you about the money not helping these girls. Granted, it is not a ticket to escape the bar life, but those commissions buy food for the hungry kids at home. Many (not all) of these gals are good women doing the only work they can find to support their families. I respect that. I don’t think you are factoring in the extreme poverty that exists here in your assessment. Sometimes, a little bit makes a big difference.
If you take the long view, short-term help doesn’t amount to anything more than the perpetuation of an already-vicious cycle. It’s bitterly funny, in a way, because whether you personally participate in that cycle makes no difference: the dynamic existed long before you arrived in the PI, and it’ll exist long after we’re all gone.
Are these, in fact, “good” women? Maybe on some level, they’re nice, but nice doesn’t mean good. They all seem to make extremely poor, stupid life-choices and can’t seem to make the connection between, say pregnancy without means and continued poverty. I think your ineradicable soft spot for these girls eternally clouds your judgment. See a cute face, toss a few coins. Pragmatically, I think you can probably find much better ways to spend your money. And since you have a girlfriend, that’s all the companionship (not in quotes this time) that you need.
Anyway, by this point on Saturday, I hope you’re polyp-free, so with your clearer nasal passages, you can now more loudly huff and puff at the comments I’m leaving.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 09/December/2023 @ 7:30 pm
Brian,
My comment was a response to John’s having explicitly used the “charity” argument in a recent comment. I didn’t respond at the time.
I’d submit that it’s not a question of charity—it’s a question of participating in a rigged and dirty system. To me, the expectation of competent, civil service at a “normal” restaurant is not at all the same thing as an expectation of human “companionship.” And that’s why it’s always strange to me to see John disappointed when the “service,” which was BS to begin with, doesn’t seem to live up to whatever his expectations are. To me, the GRO just walking away is simply a “mask off” moment showing that it’s always this way. Nobody actually cares about you no matter how much you pay. The moment the well of money dries up, it’s time to move on to the next vict— uh, customer. Like a bloodsucker. I don’t see normal servers in this light at all.
But maybe I’m just being a prude.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 09/December/2023 @ 6:02 am
so she picked up her empty, wiped off the bar, and walked away without a word, not even a nice to meet you or a thank you.
Well, these are rent-a-friend types, after all. Business is business, even when it masquerades as “companionship.” I still don’t get the whole “cooperative self-delusion” aspect of the bargirl thing since it’s all bullshit as far as I can see, and both sides know it but engage in the delusion anyway. And please, none of that “charity” argument. Your money isn’t helping these girls. None of them is ratcheting upwards in society as far as I can tell (maybe Mary if she works hard and tries her damnedest to escape circumstances). It’s all just a self-perpetuating slog through slime.
On a happier note:
And I awoke to another beautiful morning in the neighborhood.
I assume that’s Easter Mountain in the distance. Gorgeous shot.
So this operation is definitely happening, eh? Well, you’ll come out of it a fraction of an ounce lighter. It’d be awesome if they snipped out your polyps, put them in little, formaldehyde-filled bottles, and gave them back to you, but I doubt that’s going to happen. If you’re feeling up to posting on Sunday, I hope to read the blow-by-blow then. Good Luck with Operation Nares.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 08/December/2023 @ 9:28 pm
And by golly, there is a Four Square Church.
In that photo, I saw an arrow pointing toward the church with the promise that the church was 150 meters farther down the road, so I was hoping for a photo of the church itself! Promises, promises.
This blog is all about me blowing my horn.
During my long walk, I saw plenty of “Sharp curve; slow down” signs. Seems to be a thing, probably because mountain roads have no choice but to follow the terrain, making them curvy.
Never seen one of those before. Hopefully, it eats snakes.
Nice pic!
Annex couldn’t provide the requested glass of red wine for Swan
“We haven’t had that spirit here since 1969.”
Seems plausible.
“And from what I hear, the Filipina wife nags him to death, too.”
I also figured out how to do a scheduled post, so I’ll need to get busy on my just-in-case obituary.
Congrats on figuring out the scheduled posting.
One thought did occur to me, though: what if you survive the operation but, for whatever reason, have to stay in the hospital beyond Monday morning? The “I’m dead” post comes out… but you’re still alive! Guess you’re also gonna have to learn how to blog from your phone! (Please be sure to take along recharging equipment for use during your hospital stay. When I was hospitalized for my stroke, I had to ask my boss to raid my apartment to get my charging cord.)
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 07/December/2023 @ 3:54 pm
I assume your blog has a “schedule post” function the way mine does. If you’re feeling morbid, then write a scheduled post along the lines of “If you’re reading this post, it means I’m dead.—etc., etc.” Final words, last bits of wisdom, “I bequeath $100,000 to my biggest commenter Kevin,” etc. Schedule the post to appear Monday morning. Have your operation Saturday morning, get released on Sunday, and you’ll have plenty of time to take the “I’m dead” post down before its scheduled appearance Monday morning. If you do die, well, there’ll be no one to stop the post from appearing and, as Bill says to Beatrix in Kill Bill: Volume 2, “That will be the story of you.”
Sorry to hear about the insomnia. I wonder whether the polypectomy will help with that: breathe freer, sleep easier.
The weekend approaches. Fingers and tentacles crossed!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 06/December/2023 @ 7:24 pm
Two of our oldest Hashers, Fucking Old Man on the left, and Roadwhore on the right, both in their 80s, were in attendance.
Did they walk the trail? And which trail did they do—long or short?
I enjoyed an after-hike taco for dinner.
Looks more like a tortilla bowl for a taco salad, ready to break apart.
I have some real news to share with y’all tomorrow.
Lemme guess: Lucky tasted surprisingly good.
Looks to have been a good hike even if it was the long-cut. Keep on recuperating.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 05/December/2023 @ 8:01 pm
That picture of the dogs near the end says a lot about your pets.
Sorry to hear about the poor quality of the hotel. I’ve never been in a motel with a missing shower head, but I’ve had plenty of experiences with no toilet paper. In my case, I generally just resort to the Kleenex boxes. In some motels, there are two such boxes: one by the bed and one at the vanity table. At other motels, there’s only one box. On rare occasions (it didn’t happen this time around), it’s necessary to go out and buy a roll of toilet paper (easier than tracking down the always-absent manager and requesting a roll). Just the reality of motels in Korea. That said, $45 strikes me as cheap, but I think in ROK/US terms.
Otherwise—quite an adventure. I guess this is a once-a-year thing. No camping for you, eh? Too bad. That might almost be a nicer experience unless it’s pissing down rain.
“Pond or lake” sounds like a philosophical conundrum akin to the heap problem. I’d venture that a pond is generally smaller than a lake, but when is a pond big enough to be labeled a lake?
I’ve heard that haggis sounds dramatic but tastes prosaic because the Scots use oats as a filler, giving the haggis a bit of an oat-y texture and tamping down the taste of the offal inside the sheep’s stomach. I’d like to try some.
Anyway, welcome back to normal life. This was a worthy side quest.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 04/December/2023 @ 4:14 pm
With well over 100 Hashers, the start was a tad crowded.
When I first read that, I thought it said “100 Hamsters.”
Nice pics from the trail, what with the carabao, the stone “bridge-let,” the food, etc. Looks to have been a great event.
Have a safe trip back home.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 03/December/2023 @ 6:45 pm
Let me rephrase that:
I thought the “Mc” made you Irish.
Ah, senility…
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 03/December/2023 @ 12:12 am
Oh, and I thought the “Mac” made you Irish. I realize “Mac” or “Mc” is also used by the Scots (Ewan McGregor = Scottish), but I was sure you’d talked about your Irish heritage before. Maybe I’m misremembering. I do that a lot these days.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 02/December/2023 @ 5:42 pm
Nice pics of yesterday’s events. Good luck with today’s trail! May there be just the right number of hills—no fewer and no more.
Scottish stew looks good. Was there any haggis, and if there was, did you eat any?
And forgive me, but I have to ask:
End of trail food and beverages
On the wall behind the guys who are sitting there (purple and blue tee shirts), two images are painted. One looks like a dragon’s tail. But the other looks like a giant, brown penis with a ribbon tied around the shaft. Please tell me I’m not seeing what I’m seeing.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 02/December/2023 @ 11:56 am
Ah, that’s right… you said you never post from your phone. There’s a New Year’s resolution for you: learn how to do that.
Aine and Swan together… and it’s not awkward! Nice.
You did also mention, some time ago, that Filipinos dry their rice directly on the road, with no tarp to separate the rice from the dirt. Maybe there’s a step in the rice-making process that involves a bit of heavy-duty dirt-washing. Or is it up to the end user to wash the rice? (In Korea, despite the use of tarps while drying, rice is still thoroughly washed before cooking because there could be random bits of grit and schmutz.)
Good luck in La Union.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 01/December/2023 @ 4:42 pm
That’s close enough for me.
I like how the sign has no closed quotation mark. Why there’s any quotation mark is beyond me.
The belly is always the last to go, it seems.
Well, it’s a beer belly, so it’s not going anywhere.
The beer-belly phenomenon was something I began noticing years ago when I was a kid. It’s different from the “food gut” that people like me have. A food gut is more than just the gut: you get arm flab, butt fat, love handles, etc. But what I saw, from my youth onward, was these guys, mostly ex-military and huge drinkers, who would be skinny everywhere except their gut. They’d have flat asses, no man-boobs—just the beer belly.
So my thinking is that the only way to lose that huge tumor hanging off the front of the body is to quit drinking beer. The cause of the belly is obvious, and so is the solution. If a person is unwilling to do that, then he’s pretty much stuck with his tumor. Might as well get used to it, give it a name, treat it like a lady, etc. The only other way to lose the belly is to add exercise to the point where there’s a huge caloric deficit—over 1,000 calories a day. That, or diet very strictly.
Swan had attended an afternoon Mass at the local Catholic church.
So she’s a practicing Catlick. I don’t think that was ever made clear before, or did I not pay attention?
He should have put an anchor on her heart.
Okay, that “drifted apart” pun was so fucking stupid that it made me laugh.
re: “Walk of Life”
Have you seen the YouTube video series that proves “Walk of Life” can be used as the end-credit music for any movie or TV show?
Welcome to the Walk of Life Project.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 30/November/2023 @ 4:27 pm
Asleep at 8:30, wide awake at 1:30.
Ah, so that explains the early time stamp for your comments on my blog this morning. Deep sleep really eludes you. The cure for that, when you’re ready, is mildly intense cardio for an extended period. Find a hilly-but-otherwise-easy path, then stay on it for hours, and deep sleep will be yours. Yes, that’ll probably cut into beer time, but do you want deep sleep or not?
my blogging chore
It’s a chore, is it?
The door is a nice reflection on me, don’t ya think?
Got enough mirrors in there?
It continues to hold my interest[,] which is no easy task with me.
A mind devoted to and distracted by the superficial. Do you think you’d have the patience and focus to read through the Lord of the Rings books now? If not, what do you suppose happened between then and now to give you what the Zen folks call “monkey mind,” i.e., a mind that flits and darts around restlessly, unable to settle or sit still? Is there a cure? Do you even want a cure?
The dusk of which I spoke as viewed from the floating bar.
Very nice shot.
And it has been a fine day so far.
Dawn as well! Must be nice to live in a spot where you can see both beautiful sunrises and beautiful sunsets.
Your final video, there, reminds me of the Indian nipple song.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 29/November/2023 @ 6:32 pm
Close encounters of the weird kind
Okay, I’ll concede it was a stupid joke, but for her to interpret that I have a girlfriend and was with her is ridiculous. The girlfriend I was talking about was Swan. Anyway, instead of getting all pissy, she could have just said who are you talking about? I guess what really bothered me most was for her to take that joke the wrong way, says that she sees me as the kind of guy who would have a girlfriend on the side.
I don’t know Swan well enough to say, but is it possible that it’s simply a lack of full mastery of English that made her miss the humor? Sure, you could reply that, even if her English is shaky, she still should have been self-secure enough not to get mad. It’s true that “default to the negative” is pretty standard among (Asian) women. Maybe it’s some sort of evolutionary reflex. I don’t know. Maybe get her used to the joke by occasionally trying variants on her. If she says, “Wanna do lunch?”, you say, “I’ll have to ask my girlfriend first.” Hopefully, she’ll start getting it and will develop a sense of humor about it. Lack of fluency on the woman’s part got me in trouble once, which is why I ask about Swan.
Here’s a grammar-Nazi thing:
I guess what really bothered me most was for her to take that joke the wrong way, says that she sees me as the kind of guy who would have a girlfriend on the side.
This sentence is a tangled mess of clauses. Remember: a clause has a subject and a verb/predicate.
Clause 1: I guess
Clause 2: what really bothered me mostClause 2 is a noun clause serving as the object of Clause 1 and the subject for Clause 3:
Clause 3: [Clause 2] was
Clause 4: (infinitive clause) for her to take that joke the wrong way, saysNow, here’s the snag: you don’t put a comma between a subject and a predicate unless you’re using a pair of commas.
RIGHT: Jen sat down.
RIGHT: Jen, my new fuck buddy, sat down. (pair of commas)
WRONG: Jen, sat down.So the Clause 4 construction of “for her to take that joke the wrong way, says” needs to lose its comma, but the result is still cumbersome.
Clause 5: that she sees me as the kind of guy
Clause 6: who would have a girlfriend on the side.Clause 6 is an adjective clause modifying Clause 5.
Can we streamline this sentence at all? I think you could break it up into two or more sentences, or you could stick a “which” in there somewhere.
Rewrite 1: I guess what really bothered me most was how she took that joke the wrong way, which says that she sees me as the kind of guy who would have a girlfriend on the side.
Rewrite 2 (terser): What bothered me most was how she took the joke the wrong way. She sees me as the kind of guy to have a girl on the side.
Other rewrites are possible.
Signed,
Adolf Stickler
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 28/November/2023 @ 7:39 pm
Good luck with your sane version of the Hash.
“End of the World” sounds like a waste of time. Do you scan around for reviews before you watch a movie, or do you just plunge right in?
Nice shots of the morning moon and the sun shining through clouds.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 27/November/2023 @ 4:20 pm
Yeah, I was hoping you’d watch the music video I linked to because it specifically shows the song’s lyrics, allowing you to see the connection to the “I’m a crepe” poster.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 27/November/2023 @ 11:52 am
It takes some big cajones to sail by yourself.
You’re close: cojones. No “a.”
I guess the guy never saw “All Is Lost.”
The Treasure Island selfie
Still with the puffed-out lips as if you were blowing a fart out through your mouth! Or have you been practicing pursed-lips breathing all these years? (And an Images search reveals that everyone has a different idea what the phrase “pursed lips” means.)
That’s the best I could find for today.
I assume you know the Radiohead song.
Improving health, a good date with your lady… keep playing the long game. It’s all gonna work out.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 26/November/2023 @ 8:57 pm
Looks to have been a much better day. Good for you! May the recovery continue. Very nice shots of the trail. That joke is missing a final closed quotation mark.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 25/November/2023 @ 5:59 pm
Nice pic of the Thanksgiving meal. Did you seek, further on, for some good pie somewhere?
As for the Psalm 129 joke, I recall the last time you put the joke up, which was last year (and a search for “Psalm 129” on your blog shows you used the joke in 2005 as well!). Just FYI, the quote is bullshit. The actual psalm:
1 “They have greatly oppressed me from my youth,”
let Israel say;
2 “they have greatly oppressed me from my youth,
but they have not gained the victory over me.
3 Plowmen have plowed my back
and made their furrows long.
4 But the Lord is righteous;
he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.”5 May all who hate Zion
be turned back in shame.
6 May they be like grass on the roof,
which withers before it can grow;
7 a reaper cannot fill his hands with it,
nor one who gathers fill his arms.
8 May those who pass by not say to them,
“The blessing of the Lord be on you;
we bless you in the name of the Lord.”I found someone’s old blog post from 2008 that goes into this apparently famous, nonexistent Bible quote. Some comments appended to the post provide constructive suggestions pointing to existent quotes, and one commenter even offered an improved version of the joke with actual Bible verses from Luke and Proverbs (and to be sure, I looked those suggested verses up: they’re legit).
As an aside: fundamentalist Protestants, a high percentage of whom are very Bible-literate, often joke that Catholics don’t know the Bible that well. In my experience at Catholic U., I found that to be true more of the laity than of the clergy. The priests I met and studied under could easily quote chapter and verse at need.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 24/November/2023 @ 7:33 pm
As usual, when I took my seat last night, both Nerissa and Alma sat down on either side. I made some smartass remarks along the lines of, “Ah, now that the big spender isn’t here, you like me again.”
I guess things are returning to normal when we’re back to manufactured drama, however minor, arising from artificial relationships based on money. Sorry to keep harping on this, but I simply fail to see the charm in something so utterly fake. I’d rather read a book by myself than sit with a rent-a-friend.
On the brighter side, the food looks good, and it seems the news from the ultrasound isn’t horrible. Continued good luck as you keep recovering from this bout of whatever-it-is. And I hope to see pics of the Thanksgiving feast!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 23/November/2023 @ 2:32 pm
expect when it comes to making people happy
One of my signature typos: “expect” instead of “except.”
Other signature typos:
“experiement” instead of “experiment”
“parapgraph” instead of “paragraph”
etc.» Posted By Kevin Kim On 22/November/2023 @ 6:15 pm
I’ll be curious to hear what Dr. Jo has to say about the ultrasound. I’ll also be curious to find out whether your disparate symptoms all end up being connected somehow: the coughing, the lethargy, the trouble breathing, the side pain, the insomnia, etc. An interconnected complex of symptoms is called a “syndrome.” Here’s hoping you don’t have that.
re: Riker meme
Surely, I’ve mentioned that I once encountered Jonathan Frakes’s dad. James Frakes was, when I saw him, an English prof at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. I say “encountered” and “saw” because I didn’t actually meet him. I was waiting for my buddy Steve to finish something in the English Department’s main office when the old prof walked in with an elfin grin on his face and an impish demeanor about him. He smilingly spoke with some young lady who was behind the counter; he and I never greeted each other, and Steve later told he who he was, which allowed me to realize that there was indeed a resemblance between the old prof and Commander Riker: the swept-back hair, the uniquely shaped nose.
Frakes struck me as one of those hoary pedagogues who was technically too old to teach but loved the classroom too much to quit—the kind of geezer who cheerfully gives all of his students “A”s because he doesn’t give a fuck anymore, expect when it comes to making people happy.
I had a prof like that in grad school: a Father Sloyan. At the time, he was well into his eighties, but quite spry. His office was on the fourth floor of the Religious Studies building, and he always went up the stairs, two steps at a time, never once taking the creaky old elevator. Sloyan, in his younger days, was central in the putting-together of the New American Bible, a Bible specifically for Catholics. He had an amazing intellect that included a mastery of several ancient biblical languages ranging from the standard Hebrew, Greek, and Church Latin to languages like Aramaic and Syriac. I guess when sex is no longer on the agenda, you devote your creative energies to other things, right? Sloyan was a Gospel of John expert; I took his class on the subject and read his book (well, one of his books). Of course, I got an “A,” as did everyone else. Gotta love the old profs who don’t care.
I imagine Sloyan is long gone by now. He was in his 80s back in 2002. Professor Frakes died in 2001, so my memory of seeing him goes back a couple decades. All the old figures from my past are dying or dead. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop for Clint Eastwood.
Sorry for the free-associating comment, triggered by the image of Jonathan Frakes as Riker. Anyway, I’m well within the “six degrees of separation” sphere when it comes to the Frakes family.
Looking forward, with morbid curiosity, to what Dr. Jo has to say. Hopefully, there’ll be some good news hidden among the bad news.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 22/November/2023 @ 5:19 pm
It might not have been the Hash route, but you at least walked something.
re: “Breathless”
Yikes, what a name for a funeral parlor.
I enjoyed the sunset picture.
Cheaper trike—what’s not to like?
It’s been entertaining so far, but that is a big commitment of time to wade the entire series. We’ll see if it can hold my attention in the long run.
Just consume it in small bites, and you’ll be fine.
re: pain while coughing
A quick search reveals that… you should definitely see the doc and get checked out. There are too many possibilities for a non-expert to sift among them and arrive at an informal diagnosis—everything from appendicitis to respiratory infection to straining of the intercostal (between-the-ribs) muscles to smoking and asthma. You’re right to see the doc.
As always, good luck. I seem to be saying that a lot these days. Let’s get to a point where I say it less frequently.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 21/November/2023 @ 8:00 pm
I guess I’ll give a cautious thumbs-up as your condition seemingly improves. I hope there’ll be clearer signs of improvement soon. Like the ability to walk up a hill.
When I lived in Front Royal, Virginia, that was technically out in the sticks, and it’s where I learned that country folk can be good, decent people despite all the Hollywood horror-movie propaganda about inbred, Bible-thumping rapist-cannibals (see a hilarious subversion of that stereotype in the horror-comedy “Tucker and Dale versus Evil”). But I’m still not a fan of most country music. Fuck all that “honky-tonkin’.”
McQueen died young. Ever see his movie “The Sand Pebbles”?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 20/November/2023 @ 5:07 pm
I was going to say that, if there’s no beer in heaven, you may have to check downstairs.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 20/November/2023 @ 1:31 pm
I can only hope there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and not a heavenly light. I doubt they serve beer in heaven, the prudes.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 19/November/2023 @ 4:47 pm
Dammit. I wrote:
During my long walks, if I ever have a bad night of sleeping,
Should be:
During my long walks, if I ever had a bad night of sleeping,
As I said, we aren’t getting any younger. I often wish your comments box had an “edit” feature, but mine on Blogger doesn’t either.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 18/November/2023 @ 9:57 pm
«« Back To Stats PageSo, what’s next? Honestly, sometimes it feels as if I’m knocking on heaven’s door. I know that is melodramatic, but I don’t recall ever feeling this vulnerable [health-wise] in the past. I’m not sure how much the lack of sleep is exacerbating those feelings, but it can’t be helping my recovery.
Some solutions are staring you right in the face. The question is whether you’ll adopt them. Anyway, it’s good you went on that walk.
Sorry to hear about more bureaucratic runarounds with the hospital, but they’re at least clear you’re not getting surgery until the lungs get better.
I managed a two-hour nap this afternoon, which also seems to have helped clear my head.
During my long walks, if I ever have a bad night of sleeping, I knew that I could make up for lost sleep by taking naps at intervals during the following day’s walk. As a policy, this seems to have worked out thus far, and I don’t mentally punish myself for taking siestas instead of powering through the day’s route. None of us is getting any younger.
And I purchased a second oxygen tank (7500 pesos) today. I was concerned I’d run out of air when I needed it most, so now I have a backup in place.
Are you giving back the other oxygen tank? I assume it was meant to be a loaner, but was it actually a gift?
re: “The men I please is none of your business.”
I’m pretty sure that’s supposed to be, “The men… ARE none of your business.” But maybe the writer of the sentence was thinking of things like distance, time, and volume, which you can talk about uncountably despite countable units of measure. Examples:
Fifteen miles is a long distance to walk.
Ten weeks is a long time to wait.
Two gallons of milk is a lot to shove up your ass.But sometimes, countable is just countable:
The past three hours on the toilet have been hell. (not “has”)
That final photo of the clouds and sky was nice. You get a lot of that where you are, I gather. Beautiful.
Did you hear the latest news that the PI is separating itself from a Belt-and-Road deal with China? I’m glad to hear it.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 18/November/2023 @ 9:52 pm