Comments Posted By Kevin Kim
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Funny meme at the bottom, there. Gave me chuckle.
Congrats on the darts win, and continued good luck as you continue your radar sweep of local properties. Are all the new houses, the ones currently under construction, already spoken for? I assume you want something sturdy, fairly modern, and high up so as to avoid flooding issues. And I also assume you’re through with living in apartments. I know I am. Whatever my next property will be, it’s going to be a free-standing home where I can make all the damn noise I want to. In my basement, at least. (Oh, yeah: for me, there’s gotta be a basement. For the sex dungeon, you see.)
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 10/March/2021 @ 7:27 pm
Oh, yeah—congrats on the winning chili con carne. It looks competition-worthy to me.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 09/March/2021 @ 7:55 pm
$300 is for a week of shopping, or for a month of shopping? I’d say that that’s close to a reasonable monthly total.
The chickadee sitting on the ice with you (and decidedly not social-distancing) is a cutie. Have you mentioned her before? I’m senile about names and faces that I see on blogs, especially if they’re only occasionally recurring characters. I have a feeling I should already know this person.
What a mess, trying to make that hotel reservation, eh? What’s it like to live life in a fog? I shouldn’t joke: in another decade, I’ll be doing my own Bidening. (I’m arguably doing it already. See above.)
Sorry to read that you might be moving, but it is what it is. Alas, there’s no chance of settling permanently anywhere: rental prices always tend to go up, so you’re doomed to be moving every few years, I think, unless you have some trick up your sleeve.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 09/March/2021 @ 7:43 pm
Boy, that Carol never learns, does she. I still can’t fathom what you saw in her.
Anyway, good luck to the Hashers who walk your trail! May they find it enjoyable.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 08/March/2021 @ 3:36 pm
Nice darting shirts! And that’s a good-looking sandwich.
I’m surprised John Kim didn’t go for making filet mignon steaks—that’s the classic thing to do with a tenderloin. The problem with using it any other way (e.g., in sandwiches) is that the meat has almost no fat in it, which means it’s actually not all that flavorful (marbled meat, with its intramuscular fat, is the best, which is why people worship Kobe and Wagyu, or the Korean equivalent, Hanu). You have to jazz it up with salt, pepper, and maybe other seasonings like garlic powder to make it lively.
How about using your Jedi-level walking skills to patrol the neighborhood, snap photos of properties under construction, and then start your own website, which can act as a hub for prospective renters? If you were to set up on SquareSpace, it’d be easy.
As for what this foodie is doing: I made a nice batch of “quick” chili; I’ve already made nachos with it, and now, I’m going to use the rest for chili dogs. I need to make some cheese sauce, but that shouldn’t be a problem. I also have to either find some hot-dog buns somewhere, or bake them myself.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 07/March/2021 @ 10:29 pm
Max is lucky that all he did was puke. He didn’t have any water-purifying tablets or a nanofilter like my Grayl? Yikes. For short hikes, I’ve discovered the easiest solution is just to carry enough bottled water for the trip.
Anyway, it looks to have been a good hike, even if it involved a lot of trail-blazing. Why didn’t you guys follow the kids’ advice and head to that “pool” more directly?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 06/March/2021 @ 4:16 pm
“we kept on scratching and clawing and eeking out wins”
I think you mean “eking,” from “to eke (out).” Use “eek!” when you see a mouse in your kitchen; use “eke” when you barely scrape by.
“It was a steep and painful climb that I doubt any of us will want to repeat anytime soon…”
Funny… my buddy Jang-woong had been pestering me week after week to do some long walks, so we did a few 25K-and-under walks, and then we did that that big 30K walk from Yangpyeong to Yeoju… and ever since then, JW has been completely silent. I’m curious to know how much that walk wore him out and/or caused new and delightful aches and pains to appear in his feet. It’s interesting how 25K feels more like a long stroll, while 30K feels like a true slog. JW’s pride probably won’t let him admit how much pain he was in by the end of that last walk, but I’m guessing, from the lack of text messages, that he’s not eager to go out and do another walk of that scale anytime soon. Too bad—I’ve got some 35K-ers planned, including a walk up to the Andong Dam.
Congrats on your dart victories, and (belated) good luck with your next dart contest.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 04/March/2021 @ 5:21 pm
Good to see you back in action!
Good luck with darts.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 03/March/2021 @ 6:53 pm
Sounds like the best way to treat Guenter and his mania for steep slopes. I’m glad everyone got back safe and sound.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 02/March/2021 @ 7:17 pm
Oh, yeah: as for “mens,” you probably know the answer: it’s from the Latin mensis (plural menses), meaning “month” or “monthly.”
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 01/March/2021 @ 3:40 pm
Plenty of Filipinos spoke Spanish back in the day. If a Yank is now teaching a Filipina proper Spanish pronunciation, that’s an indicator of how much the times have changed.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 01/March/2021 @ 2:52 pm
Well, good luck with tomorrow’s date. Happy Birthday to Geraldine/Inday. Three cheers to the PI’s economy, which I hope is starting to see a glimmer of recovery.
Walk on!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 28/February/2021 @ 2:23 pm
A good change of pace and an interesting change of scenery. Much of that land was as flat as Texas is known to be, but those huge mountains in the distance made it look as if you’d suddenly transitioned from Texas to New Mexico.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 27/February/2021 @ 6:54 pm
A good, long walk! We’ve got a 3-day weekend coming up, what with March 1st being on Monday, so I might do the 35K walk I’d failed to do last weekend. We’ll see. It’s raining on Monday, but Saturday and Sunday are both supposed to be warm and sunny.
Are you getting rid of the old, beaten up shoes, or are you a hoarder?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 26/February/2021 @ 8:57 pm
Kudos on a successfully laid trail!
Regarding the previous post: you’re saying that the help shops with your money, right? Why aren’t they using their own money?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 25/February/2021 @ 4:09 pm
“Yesterday[,] my tab was over 20,000 pesos ($400.). That’s for one week’s worth of stuff.”
Holy fucking shit. You’re spending at a rate of $1600/mo. on groceries??? That’s insane.
Not including the cost of the food you eat when you go out to various restos (which seems to happen pretty often, but I ain’t judging; I do much the same), you ought to be spending no more than $200 a month for groceries, toiletries, and other fungible necessaries. (And I’m thinking like a Westerner who lives in an expensive Korean city.)
Didn’t you move to the PI partly to avoid spending so much? Dude, my eyes are still bleeding after reading that number! $400 a goddamn week? I thought you’d be spending pennies on the dollar while living in the Philippines. I thought SE Asia was a haven of cheap goods and services.
Anyway, if it turns out that most of the problem is rooted in your help’s spending habits, then yeah, I’m glad you’re planning to do something about it. As things stand, you’re hemorrhaging money for no good reason. $1600/mo. is the mortgage on a modest house, man.
Trivia: the “grocers don’t groce” essay is a famous one by Richard Lederer, a well-known writer on language. Shockingly, I have never once cited Lederer—much less that particular essay—on my own blog.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 24/February/2021 @ 7:57 pm
Well… at least you tried.
One thing you learn, once you step outside of the Western context, is that people shouldn’t always be taken literally. Oftentimes, people will say things just to make you feel good or to maintain an ambiance of bonhomie, conviviality, or camaraderie. Westerners are brought up to take people at their word; it’s a literalism that makes them seem naive to non-Westerners. Especially in Asian culture, facts are often overruled by feelings. Asians talk merely to build and maintain warm social connections, not to impart literal truths.
So I suspect “mama” told you she wanted a place of her own because she likes you, and she wants you to feel good, not because she has any actual desire to change how she lives. So take whatever positive things you can from the situation. At least you know “mama” sincerely likes you.
When you meet her, do you generally hug her and/or hold her hand? If yes, you might want to go back to doing that every time you see her, as a way to tell her that she’s not on your shit list, and that you two are still simpatico. You can also quietly remind her that she’s got the place for a month, and it’ll look much nicer once you furnish it. Who knows? A few hugs and hand-holdings later, and she might just be persuaded to try the place out. (It HAS been rented for a month, yes?)
No matter what happens next, well, at least you tried.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 22/February/2021 @ 1:47 pm
Oh, yeah: congrats on your darts victory!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 22/February/2021 @ 12:26 am
Well, I s’pose it’s a space for the little ol’ lady. Would be nice for people to donate things like a small table, some shelving for whatever possessions she acquires (once she gets used to living in a domicile), something to allow her to do her own laundry (doesn’t have to be a washing machine; a tub and washboard, plus a huge block of lye soap, might be enough), a pad or mattress (or Korean-style “yo,” i.e., a super-thick blanket that’s used as a mattress), maybe a gas range and butane cans (plus pots, pans, bowls, and utensils, not to mention a plastic basin, some dish soap, and scrubby-pads for washing-up, plus a little drying rack for drying dishes) for a little basic cooking (assuming she cooks at all), some throw rugs or tatami mats for the floor (if that’s a Filipino thing), and—if people have the time for it—some fresh paint on the walls—the kind of paint that can withstand mold and seepage issues. How is she for electric lighting inside her place? Naked bulbs or actual lamps? Candles (well, those might be dangerous)?
I thought about saying that her bathroom could use some tiling, but I think painting the walls might be enough: old people sometimes slip on smooth tile floors, and this is where bare concrete—despite its abrasiveness—has an advantage. “Mama” could probably stand to have an electric fan as well, even if the extra electricity jacks up the price of rent a bit. The fan is not so much to cool her off as to keep the place well aerated so that it doesn’t grow mold. She shouldn’t be breathing that shit in while she’s sleeping. A good supply of toilet paper—with an admonition about not overstuffing the toilet—might also be nice.
Anyway, this looks to be a start. I’ll be very curious to see how she takes to the new place over the next few months, assuming you’ll be checking up on her semi-regularly. It takes a village to care for “mama.”
The potential new residence that you’re looking at has some hilarious architecture. In that one photo showing the front of the house plus the metal front gate, you can see that the builders couldn’t figure out what style to go for: should it be brick? Solid concrete painted white? Plastic siding? Let’s do all three!
Anyway, my joshing observation aside, the place looks nifty. I’d be curious to see the interior, but I do agree about the open-air covered deck: assuming a concrete floor (not wood), that’d be a great place for some hardcore grillin’. Good luck deciding how to proceed.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 21/February/2021 @ 11:56 pm
Damn. So at one point, you guys were traveling at 1 km/h? Yikes. Can’t say that I envy you, but I’m glad you all made it back alive. Is there no way to scout out the terrain (online, for example) before you go on such Guenter-level hikes? Oh, and there’s no Relive footage of this hike?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 20/February/2021 @ 9:35 pm
I wish you and her good luck with this.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 20/February/2021 @ 7:44 am
“She had messaged me the afternoon before asking for help because her son in the province had been injured in an accident. […] So, after thinking about it some more on my morning walk[,] I decided I would relent and give her the 3000 pesos ($60.) she had requested.”
No idea whether her son’s really injured, I gather. Sucker! How easily we forget Rule #1. Well, I’ll at least look forward to your recounting of the day’s hiking adventure.
I thought you had asked “mama” before whether she wanted a place to stay, and she’d said no. I guess I’m mis-remembering.
Keep in mind that many homeless folks get so used to living on the street that, when they’re gifted with lodging, they fail to maintain their domicile and/or abandon it completely. Some habits are too deeply ingrained, and for the benefactor, the whole thing becomes a waste of money and time. I suspect that “mama” will need some constant supervision if this project is to go well and smoothly.
Back in my more bleeding-heart days, I did a lot of work with the homeless in the DC-Metro area. There’re tons of homeless folks in and around my hometown of Alexandria, Virginia. Most of them have some sort of mental/psychological condition, which is what often compels them to fuck up a good thing. As much as I’m a believer in free will and personal responsibility, I know that some compulsions are powerful and extremely hard to beat (viz. me and overeating). They CAN be beaten, but it takes time, effort, focus, and the care/support of other people to help one along.
Upshot: I’m not optimistic that giving “mama” a home will solve whatever you perceive her problems to be. I mean, I might be totally wrong, but experience and instinct both whisper that I’m probably right. My humble suggestion is this: don’t just set “mama” up in a home: become her guardian angel. Visit her almost every day and make sure she’s doing all right. Ask her what she needs; take a quick glance around her domicile to make sure there’s no gas leak, mold on the wall, clogged plumbing, broken glass or plastic on the floor, funny smells, or other hazards and inconveniences. I think you’ll have to really commit to this if it’s going to work.
For the opposing viewpoint—that giving the homeless homes is actually a very good thing that delivers positive results—read this interesting and optimistic article. I’m not on board with what the article says, but nothing in the article sounds irrational. So I guess it’s up to you as to how to handle this.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 19/February/2021 @ 9:26 pm
For me, if it’s a choice between (a) a hot body and an ugly face and (b) an ugly body and a pretty face, I’ll pick (b). I know a lot of guys use the old “just put a bag over her head when you fuck her” excuse for banging ugly-but-hot-bodied chicks, but that’s not how I roll.
The walk looks to have been a good one. Mountain men!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 18/February/2021 @ 6:34 pm
I was thinking that, with the Arabic text on the package, those frozen berries must be halal.
Speaking of a lack of contractions: if you’ve never seen the Coen Brothers’ remake of “True Grit” (this time starring Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn), I highly recommend it. The Coen Brothers love to give their characters very specific verbal quirks in each movie, and in their “True Grit,” that quirk is the avoidance of contractions.
“I do not know this man.”
“You do not varnish your opinion.”» Posted By Kevin Kim On 17/February/2021 @ 10:17 pm
I guess it’s good to have a Plan B ready for whenever the “main” trail sucks. Keep it safe!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 16/February/2021 @ 7:03 pm
Maybe they’re planning on cramming your neighborhood full of houses—a true American suburbia.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 16/February/2021 @ 4:54 pm
[REPOSTED. ERRORS FOUND IN PREVIOUS COMMENT. YES, I POLICE MYSELF, TOO. PLEASE DELETE MY PREVIOUS REMARKS.]
Congrats on your darting victory! May your yearly output of 180s increase to at least six this year.
As for your first paragraph, let’s see… let’s see…
A great night of darts yesterday.
This looks fine. Trivia: it’s a fragment, not a sentence, but it’s natural English, and there are times when natural English shouldn’t be messed with. You write your blog in a folksy-raconteur kind of tone, and I take that into consideration when I’m examining your prose.
I threw a coveted 180 (highest possible score), which by my reckoning, makes four this year already.
Three possible corrections here:
(1) Add a comma after “which” because the phrase “by my reckoning” is what we call a parenthetical, i.e., it’s an aside that can be lifted out of the sentence without disturbing the sentence’s basic meaning. You need to do this because, if you don’t, you’re interrupting the space between the subject and the verb of your clause with a comma. The clause begins with the subject “which”; the verb is “makes.” Only a parenthetical, with its pair of commas, is an exception to the “no comma between subject and predicate” rule.
(2) Or rewrite your sentence this way (note the new comma placement): “I threw a coveted 180 (highest possible score) which, by my reckoning, makes four this year already.”
We’re still legitimately interposing a parenthetical between “which” and “makes,” but we’ve eliminated the comma before “which” as a way to keep from overpopulating the sentence with commas. I can’t vouch for the grammatical legitimacy of this move, but lots of good writers do it, and it seems to be a stylistic trend that’s taking over the language. Generally, before a relative (and non-restrictive) clause starting with “which,” you should put a comma before “which.” Consider this situation a rare exception.
(3) As I’ve written many times over on my blog, the Brits hate commas, these days, way more than we Yanks do, so if you want to sound British, just eliminate the commas surrounding the parenthetical, like so: “I threw a coveted 180 (highest possible score), which by my reckoning makes four this year already.” I wouldn’t recommend this style, but that’s because I’m only a Yank. Brits would give this a pass.
That’s usually my annual output.
Looks good.
Even rarer and more unusual than a 180; we made it through the entire tournament without losing a single leg (a match is best of three, we never lost once).
I’m not sure what’s going on here, but you don’t need a semicolon. Remember that a semicolon separates two independent clauses. In the above sentence, the words before the semicolon (“Even rarer and more unusual than a 180”) don’t constitute a clause. A clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb—so where’s the subject? Where’s the verb? To me, this looks more like an introductory phrase, so a comma is sufficient.
Where you do need a semicolon is in the parenthetical: “a match is best of three, we never lost once.” As written, this is a comma splice, i.e., you used a comma where you needed a semicolon. Those are two independent clauses. As I’ve mentioned before, if you still can’t figure out what counts as a clause, and whether that clause is dependent or independent, then you’re fucked when it comes to properly placing commas. Reread Part One of my comma series; it thoroughly explains clauses.
A special night indeed!
A comma before “indeed” would be nice, but as with the “too” issue, this may be more a stylistic choice than a violation of a strict rule. The fact is that, with both sides of the pond doing their damnedest to murder commas wherever they find them, leaving the comma out in this context won’t be a problem in a couple decades. Hopefully, by then, I’ll be dead.
Yours,
Hans Landa
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 14/February/2021 @ 9:19 pm
No ifs, ands, or butts about it
John,
All the corrections look good!
As for creative license, I’d say:
1. Let’s master the basics before we move on to the creative stuff.
2. For creativity in punctuation, it’s probably better to leave that to poets like Emily Dickinson.You remarked that there were moments when you balked at adding a comma. That comes from having developed a set of “rules” in your head that don’t match the actual rules determining comma placement. Learn those rules, and you’ll feel more comfortable about when, where, how, and why to use commas.
There is indeed some stylistic leeway, such as when it comes to putting a comma before “too.” But if you’re in doubt, it’s often better to add the comma than to leave it out. All hail the old school!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 14/February/2021 @ 9:14 am
Ah, the punctuation! It BURNS!
What error do these sentences have in common, and how can you correct them?
Everybody’s so different, I haven’t changed!
We weren’t totally out of our minds though, we just did one of the downhill portions. (2 errors here, actually)
The backside includes coming down on the tires, the only thing worse is coming up them.
Here’s your hint.
What’s the problem in these next few sentences, and how can you correct it?
I can’t imagine what life up here must be like and I have no interest in finding out.
Needs a little work and the commute would be a killer.
I dreamed of surviving another day on the mountain and that dream came true!
Alright, I saved the hike for last this time but it was probably the best part of the day.
Still, saw some new countryside that was very beautiful and now we can brag that we hiked the insane trail.
I had had a few beers by now so I might have been a bit more flirtatious than normal.
Still, it was getting late (for a guy like me) and I had [baby-back] ribs in the crockpot at home.
Jessa was bartending and it was nice to see her again and chat a bit.
Hint here.
I don’t think that, in my series on commas, I’ve discussed the error seen in this sentence:
We wound up doing close to 12K which is quite a bit longer than our Friday group of geezers normally does.
(Ah—I did discuss the error elsewhere.)
The following sentences and phrases all have the same error in common. What is it, and how can you correct it?
That post was about a prostate exam though.
Or attempting to anyway…
Great views though!
To the pictures then:
I’m not sure about that though.
She was spunky and sassy though and gave back as much as I threw at her, so it was fun.
I doubt I’ll become a regular though because of the bad history I had in the speakeasy days.
Finally: all of these sentences need at least one (more) comma:
So, by the time I got to my side of town I was thirsty again.
Since that time I’ve not felt compelled to support the bar after it reopened.
If you didn’t want me then you don’t get me now kinda thing. (This sentence has other issues related to the “kinda thing” at the end.*)
Lots of other options these days anyway.
That doesn’t bother me though, I enjoy my vape indoors too. (this needs 2 commas and one change of punctuation)
*Regarding this:
If you didn’t want me then you don’t get me now kinda thing.Some possible improvements:
1. “If you didn’t want me then, you don’t get me now” kinda thing.
2. If-you-didn’t-want-me-then-you-don’t-get-me-now kinda thing.
3. If you didn’t want me then, you don’t get me now kinda thing.Whichever method you use, you need to make the phrase before “kinda thing” stand out somehow. Otherwise, your sentence reads as a run-on. The above methods are all plausibly used by different writers. Further examples:
It was a You scratch my back; I’ll scratch yours situation.
It was a “You scratch my back; I’ll scratch yours” situation.
It was a You-scratch-my-back-I’ll-scratch-yours situation.Note that, in the hyphenated example above, you no longer need the semicolon.
Anyway, I’m sorry to read about your having slipped while crossing a creek. I hope you’re okay.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 14/February/2021 @ 3:05 am
«« Back To Stats Page“And speling”
I see what you did there.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 12/February/2021 @ 4:47 pm