What made me what I am today?

Hell if I know, but looking back at these old advertisements I’m just wondering why I am even alive…

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See, it is probably not my fault I love beer so much, I might have been raised on it…

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…and maybe this explains my cravings for Diet Coke…

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Well, thanks to the Internets I can now download all my favorite TV shows and watch them continuously without commerical interruption.  Thanks Mom!

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Hmmm, coincidentally or not, Mom quit smoking right about the time I moved out of the house…

Hey, as Sawyer Brown said:

I’ve got to thank momma for the cookin’

Daddy for the whoopin’

The devil for the trouble that I get into

I’ve got to give credit where credit is due–

I thank the bank for the money,

Thank God for you!

Inspiration

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, gave a commencement address at Princeton that I found moving.  Perhaps you will too.  The talk was entitled “We are what we choose” and one of the points he makes is that it is easier to be clever than kind. He concluded his remarks with:

I will hazard a prediction. When you are 80 years old, and in a quiet moment of reflection narrating for only yourself the most personal version of your life story, the telling that will be most compact and meaningful will be the series of choices you have made. In the end, we are our choices. Build yourself a great story.

Go read the rest, it is well worth your time.

Sorry about that

I’ve kinda fallen off the posting wagon of late here, haven’t I?  Not to make excuses (as I proceed to do so) but I’ve just been a tad out of sorts here of late.  When the going gets overwhelming, my tendency is retreat into numbing mindlessness.

So these past several days have found me escaping into the world of CIV IV (and doing pretty well, thank you) and watching countless espisodes of House (I’m halfway through season six now!). 

That hasn’t left much time for the blog.  But what’s to write anyway?  Politics is not exactly a bore, but I find it increasingly difficult to watch Obama and his team of clowns and fools systematically deconstruct everything that once made America great.  Which is not to say that politics is not in the future here at LTG, but I’m waiting for something inspiring.  Hey, maybe the elections in November will bring good cheer…

But really, I think it is my impending retirement and move to the Philippines that has put me off my game.  I have a great job and the career has been so much more than I ever imagined possible.  Lucky I have been!  Still, I do know it is time to let go and do something else (or nothing at all) for awhile.  I just don’t have the passion for it anymore.  I think this passionlessness is most notably manifested in my escalating inability to tolerate bullshit.  And trust me, working for the government is the Kingdom of Bovine Excrement.  Although I will miss the people and the security of a well paid position of responsibility, I can let go and move on.  I really can.

So, moving on means moving on to the Philippines.  But oddly enough, I can’t seem to generate as much excitement for the reality of that proposition as I could for the dream.  I’m not exactly sure why that is and that fact has created a sense of foreboding and dissonance of late.

Well, there I’ve said it out aloud.  And no, I don’t feel particularly better for having done so.  The fact is I have built a very nice life for myself here in Korea.  As the days dwindle down I’m realizing just how much I’m going to miss living here amongst the friends I have made.  So, there’s that.

I’m going to be heading out to the PI on Thursday and will stay for 10 days.  It’s really a business trip.  Taking care of the business of securing a visa, a house to live in, and a sense that I am moving to a place where I belong. 

I told myself I’d give it a year and see what happens.  And that’s what I plan to do.  I’d just prefer that the year feel like time spent in paradise rather than jail. 

It’s a hot day.  And the lake is dark and cold.  It’s a little scary to contemplate jumping in, because the shock of hitting that water is bound to be…what?  Painful?  Perhaps, but once I’m aclimated I expect it will be refreshing.

And if I’m wrong?  Well, I reckon I will just get my ass out of the lake and go look for a hot tub. 

Or something.

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(Mt. Pinatubo in Northern Luzon nearby where I expect to be living in September)

At the West Sea

So for the Independence Day weekend, we took a roadtrip out to the West Sea on Korea’s, well, west coast.  Now, to the rest of the world, this is known as the Yellow Sea.  It would only make sense to call it the West Sea if Korea were the center of the universe.  Oh wait.  I’ve answered my own question.

Anyway, the weekend started and ended with overcast days and rainy nights.  It all worked out fine though.  Saw some excellent countryside on the drive, which was really the point of the trip, before encamping at Daechon Beach in Boryeong.  This is the site of the famous (well, famous enough to have a Wikipedia entry) annual Boryeong Mud Festival.  Missed it this year by 2 weeks (it begins on the 17th) which is a good thing.  Room rates triple and I imagine things get a tad crowded.  Saturday and Sunday were pretty hoppin’ as it was.

Anyway, it was a good trip.  Photos pretty much suck, but here they are anyway:

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Stopped at the Hwaseong rest area/foodcourt/gas station along the highway.  It seemed like half the population of Korea was there as well, but really the facility was built to handle volume and thing went rather smoothly.

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The food court options were numerous if you were in the mood for something Korean.  Me, I was was craving a Big Mac…

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Cripes, where did I park?

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Hey, somebody stole the West Sea!  No, the tide was out near Amyeong…

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Barbecue shell for dinner at a seaside restaurant in Daechon…

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Preparations for the mud festival were in full swing.  Bali Bali!

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The view from my night 2 room.  I stayed on the beach the first night, but damn, Koreans like to beach party all night long. Loudly!  Actually, I could still hear them clearly from my off the beach venue as well.

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Typical Daechon architecture.   The big blue motel sign marks the spot of my first night’s residence.

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By Monday morning the crowds had left and Daechon took on a more serene posture.

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The Yellow West Sea.

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It is always nice to get out of town and see that there is a whole ‘nother world and lifestyle beyond the concrete environs of Seoul.

The truth about the so-called “oil spill” in the Gulf

From Glen Reynolds:

Actually, the reason the oil cleanup is so slow is that there’s no oil spill at all. Oil’s just a cover story. It’s really aliens on the seafloor. That’s why the press is being kept away, and that’s why they’re preparing the public by floating stories about the possibility of nuking the site. Those skimmer ships aren’t cleaning things up, they are actually releasing oil to support the cover story. That’s why they’ve found lame excuses to keep volunteers and foreign assistance away. It’s all obvious once you think about it! Wake up, sheeple!

And if you want to argue about it, read this first…

On Marriage

You were born together,
and together you shall be forevermore.

You shall be together when the white wings
of death scatter your days.

Aye, you shall be together even in the
silent memory of God.

But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love.
Let it rather be a moving sea between
the shores of your souls.

Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.

Sing and dance together and be joyous,
but let each of you be alone,

Even as the strings of a lute are alone
though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.

And stand together, yet not too near together.
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,

And the oak tree and the cypress
grow not in each other’s shadow.
–Khalil Gibran
Wish I could be there.  Live well, live long, be happy!

Your tax dollars at work

Er, not so much

“This week’s spending cut, developed by Phil Gingrey, addresses one of the perpetual roadblocks to American private-sector job creation and economic recovery: federal-employee unions,” Cantor announced.  “There are many who collect generous salaries and benefits entirely paid for by taxpayers while simultaneously working for unions that spend a lot of money on political activities and lobbying. Taxpayers shouldn’t subsidize a union’s activities. Not only is this a bum deal for the American people, it also wastes well over $100 million a year and more than a $1 billion over the next decade. I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote for this fair and fiscally responsible proposal.”

Whiplash

The schizophrenic American left is always entertaining:

  • It was wrong for George H.W. Bush to have left Saddam Hussein in power.
  • Regime change of Iraq under Bill Clinton: Good!
  • Regime change of Iraq under George W. Bush: Really, Really, Really Bad!
  • It was wrong for George W. Bush to have removed Saddam Hussein from power.
  • General Petraeus under George W. Bush’s command: General Betray-us.
  • General Petraeus under Barack Obama’s command: help us Obi-Wan Petraeus, you’re our only hope!

And let’s flash back to good ol’ Harry Reid:

Liberal advocacy groups and senators at the time accused Petraeus of misrepresenting the success of the surge of nearly 40,000 troops. …

[Harry] Reid told CNN in April of 2007 he did not believe Petraeus’s claim that the surge was working in Iraq.

“I don’t believe him, because it’s not happening,” Reid said. “All you have to do is look at the facts.”

At a press conference a few months later, Reid said: “For someone, whether it’s Gen. Petraeus or anyone else, to say things are great in Baghdad isn’t in touch with what’s going on in Baghdad, even though he’s there and I’m not.”

Well Harry, someone is a fool but it ain’t the General…

Spy vs. Spy

Well the Russian spy scandal has certainly captured the imagination of the media and brought back memories of those long ago Cold War superpower struggles.  Not to mention Rocky and Bullwinkle.

Still, I’ve got to say that the overall quality of the 21st century spies appears to be much improved. 

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1960s–Natasha Fatale

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2010–Anna Chapman

You know, I’ve spied more than a few Russian women here in Itaewon.  Although it is no secret what they are up to.

For a price.

“Our nation honors her sons and daughters who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met.”

It was 60 years ago today that the North Koreans invaded the Republic of Korea.  Things got ugly fast, then with American-led UN intervention, they got better, and when China engaged they got bad again.  Finally, things ended up in a stalement (aka armistice) pretty much where they began, except for the hundreds of thousand dead and utter destruction and devastation of both countries.  That’s the short version of the war, a longer one can be found here.

Althought tensions have been running high on the peninsula of late, relative peace and tranquility reigns south of the 38th parallel.   Not so much up North of course, but it is that comparison that is the truest indicator of who won the war.  I doubt there are many citizens of the ROK who would willinging trade places with their DPRK brothers and sisters.

And so on this anniversary of that infamous day of invasion we should pause to honor all those who made the ultimate sacrafice that others may live thier lives in freedom and prosperity.