A Mystery

On my afternoon walk as usual, I saw from a distance what looked like a plastic garbage bag by a bench and thought some uncivic-minded person must have thrown out their trash on the path.

But as I got to the bench and looked closer, I noticed something odd.

The bench was securely fastened to the boardwalk.  How did whoever threw out the garbage bag manage to do this?

For a moment I was perplexed, but then I looked behind the bench leg and realized there was a simple explanation.  Yes, of course -- no mystery here.

Then I became curious as to why someone would even do this.  Why take the trouble to snip the cutout handle, then tie it around the bench leg?  I looked inside the bag, and all I found was this:

An empty box.  The product name was an unfamiliar combination of Korean and English words meaning something like "proportionate shedding" or maybe "relative shading", and I still hadn't a clue as to what that could mean.  The only thing I could be relatively certain of, was that it must have something to do with makeup, as the name "Olive Young" was imprinted in that circle (it's a well-known cosmetics store chain).

So after I came home I looked up the product, and apparently it's a mix-and-match color palette for facial contour shading.  O.K., so that's what it was.

But the original mystery still remained:  why would anyone go to the trouble of cutting and re-tying a plastic garbage bag with an empty cosmetics container inside, to a bench on a footpath?  Odd.

Yet Another Glove

Found in the gallery-ridden, artsy craftsy part of Insadong, Seoul.

Not that that has anything to do with it (presumably)...

But I do seem to come across a lot of gloves in my urban peregrinations.  This is the 14th glove-themed post so far.

Missing Spring

Today the temps are supposed to sink down to -12°C.  I'm debating whether or not to even go outside.  I wish spring were here already.  O.K., I know you folks from Canada and Russia and all those northern countries are smiling as you read this...

2026 Now

 

Shrimp Heads

After that Moon-shooting walk it was time for dinner.  I saw these packets of boiled shrimp at the neighborhood market and couldn't resist picking one up.  Back home, I ate the bodies first, then deep-fried the heads;  with a little extra salt, pepper and paprika, they were crispy-crunchy on the outside and soft and tasty inside, the perfect drinking food with beer.  I did have to get used to them staring at me reproachfully with their fried eyes, though.  Seeing them like this, I see the point in the description of marine crustaceans as the "bugs of the sea".

One Day's Waxing

Moon shots from this evening.

"Le Cygne"

"The Swan" segment from The Carnival of the Animals (Le Carnaval des Animaux) by Camille Saint-Saëns.

For a long time now I have had a love-hate relationship with this piece.  While it is undoubtedly a beautiful, graceful composition, possibly Saint-Saëns' best-known and best-beloved piece ever, nevertheless at some point I had started to feel that it was perhaps too stylishly appealing for its own good -- that is, it had begun to seem to be knowingly and self-consciously designed to be tasteful and elegant.  I don't know, is this what's meant by "jaded"?  But anyhow, this morning I was listening to the entire Carnival suite (it's less than 25 minutes long), and when, toward the end, "The Swan" at last started to play, I was transfixed;  I hadn't listened to it in a longish while, and it felt as though I were rediscovering a long-forgotten treasure.  And all of a sudden my eyes teared up.  It was beautiful!  I had found my old love for it again.

Here it is, courtesy of cellist Yo-Yo Ma:

The Best Moon Shot Of This Afternoon

Phylogeny = Ontological Destiny?

A couple weeks or so ago, I saw a video online that purports to show that "only Japanese people do this", that this being how Japanese people make chopstick rests out of the chopstick covers while waiting for their food to arrive in resturants.  I just went back and found the video, and took a couple of screenshots to show what the thing is supposed to look like.

Now, after my intial watch of the video I was of half a mind to post a comment in rebuttal of the claim that this is exclusively a Japanese practice -- because I am Korean-American, not Japanese, and yet I started doing this very thing many years ago without ever having heard of the practice.  Most Koreans, indeed most people I think -- those that even cared, that is -- would simply place their chopsticks flat on napkins.  I'd even wager there are a lot of people who simply would not care enough to put anything under their chopsticks, at least before the food arrived;  once the meal started, even these slobs probably would use their plates as chopstick rests.

Since no one had ever taught me to do this, my design of the chopstick rest unsurprisingly went through trial-and-error stages as I improved on the initial concept, which was identical to the "base model" shown in the photos above.  I went and dug up my old posts about it, and here I reproduce the different models developed over a number of restaurant meals.

No. 1

No. 2

No. 3

No. 1 I decided was inadequate because it was too easy for the chopsticks to slide off the sides, as there were no guards.  No. 2, I rejected as being too clumsy and ungainly, even though it was safer due to the dip in the middle.  No. 3 was the elegant compromise I finally arrived at -- slim, yet secure.

Interesting, in view of the fact that DNA analysis shows that I am genetically more or less equal parts Korean and Japanese.  A bit of a surprise -- a revelation(?) -- there;  was it my Japanese side unconsciously directing me to make origami chopstick rests because it's something that's imprinted in the Japanese psyche?  Why else would I spontaneously start folding them without ever having heard of them?  Is it racial memory? [but how long would the Japanese have been doing this for -- after all, waribashi in mass-produced paper envelopes cannot have been around all that long...]  Or is it some kind of "Morphic resonance" in human brains?

O.K., it's quite possibly nothing more than an accident, especially in view of the fact that I'm a recovering OCD sufferer who is very particular about contact hygiene (I figure anonymous chopstick covers straight from the factory should be marginally cleaner, at least where germs are concerned, than a restaurant tabletop), but it's fun to speculate...

Related posts:  A Little Design Project

                         New And Improved

                         A Trip Down Memory Lane

Genius

Why didn't I think of this before?

On the way home from grocery shopping I stopped at this stand with various kinds of gloves displayed -- knit gloves, fabric gloves, leather ones, etc.  I absently checked out a knit pair in grey... and look at this!  How simple, direct, yet brilliant is that?

(Reminds me of cat paws^^)

To be sure, the holes seemed a little small, and I was worried that the thickness of the material might prevent efficient skin contact, but when I tried it with my phone it worked just fine.  It's probably a recent design, because I don't recall seeing anything like this last winter.  Or maybe I just didn't look enough.

[To think that only last month I went so far as to do this...!]

Giant Industrial-Strength Crossbow,

all wound up, loaded with the Moon, and ready to let fly!

Errant Earbud

There's Always A Reason

After a spate of failures, the man finally made a decision.

He would now listen to others' advice.

The Difference Between Men And Women

I once watched a video showing the differences in the skeletal structure of male and female humans.  The host demonstrated the relative narrowness of the male pelvis by tossing a ball into it, which did not fall through the pelvic aperture.  Then he threw the same ball into a female pelvis, and voilà, the ball passed right through.

Just like this:

Wedged In

Another one from the neighborhood OCD patrol.

 

Like a funny nightmare.

And Still Another One Of "Those" Photos

"Yeah, right... there."

"Seen In A Seoul Alley" Again

 

The Extra Chicken Wrap Sandwich On Christmas Eve

Earlier today I conceived a strong craving for Mexican food.  So I set out for this Tex-Mex place in Jongno.  But while walking there from the subway station I saw this homeless woman crouched on a corner in a posture of abject despair;  bent over double with her forehead resting on her knees.  I knew it was the same old woman I had seen a few times before at the same corner.  Normally I would just pass by without too much thought, but this time I felt a singular pang of pity and sympathy for her -- maybe it was the grey sky and freezing cold making me emotionally susceptible -- and as I walked on I couldn't erase the image of the small sad figure from my mind's eye.

Finally I ended up changing course;  instead of the Mexican restaurant I made for a takeout place nearby and ordered two chicken wrap sandwiches (I don't know who decided they were sandwiches;  they're burritos, that's what they are).

Then I retraced my steps back to the corner.  She was still there.  I went up to her and said "Ma'am," to get her attention.  She raised her face and looked at me.  I said "Would you like one of these?" and offered her one of the wraps.  She didn't say anything as she accepted it, but I could see she was grateful (why didn't I give her both wraps?  Because I was still hungry myself).

Only after making most of my way back to the subway did it occur to me that maybe I should have bought her a drink as well.  Ah well, maybe if there's a repeat episode in the future.  She did have a big tote bag next to her;  maybe its contents included a bottle of water.

I felt sad, guilty and powerless, because I couldn't do anything to improve her circumstances... but still, at least the chicken wrap would help sustain her a bit longer, until maybe someone else would be kind to her, too.

A small act of charity performed on Chritmas Eve -- how appropriate!  It could almost be a scene in a play or something.

Fist Bumping Giants

"Hey-ah!"

"Ey-yyy...!"

Beautiful laid-back, manly camaraderie on display.

Speaking Of Knives

A few days ago I suddenly felt an itch in my left forefinger.  I absently scratched it, then realized there was a small cut, looking as if it had been made by a knife or razor.

I had no idea of how it came to be, though.  Actually, this sort of thing happens to me fairly often;  I may be a physical coward who tries to avoid taking risks unnecessarily, but it so happens I'm also a klutz, and I'm always bumping into things and knocking things over, so casual minor damage is not unexpected.

Here is a photo of a somewhat more serious-looking cut in the very same place(weird!), from a few years ago;  it looks rather gruesome, and you would be forgiven for thinking I would remember an incident like that -- but no, I have no memory at all of that cut, either.

Kind of odd, in light of the fact that I still well remember the incident from my fifth or sixth year, when someone spilled hot porridge over my foot, tried to wipe it off, and peeled the scalded skin right off my foot!  I ended up being carried to the nearby emergency room for treatment. 

Knife

I won't come out and say it's my favorite knife, because I don't want my other knives to feel jealous -- blades have spirits -- so I'll just say it's my EDC (everyday carry) knife.  It's not fancy or anything, certainly not expensive;  I just really like the sleek streamlined blade and the curvy-not curvy handle.

Once, while I was on a subway train, the woman sitting next to me started to open a package but struggled a bit with a stubborn knot.  I clicked open the knife and wordlessly offered it to her;  good thing I remembered to hand it to her handle first;  she and her companion were clearly a little shocked at first, judging by their reaction.  I guess I can't blame them;  a stranger suddenly holding out a knife to me, even if they were holding it by the blade, would startle me too.  I should have offered her the use of my EDC scissors instead.

I have to mention my third EDC item:  this magnifying glass, which I've had since fourth grade.

I wouldn't want it feeling left out and jealous.

Pregnant Cloud

Carrying a precious babe in her "belly"

Another "Snap To Grid"

And this time, it's literal.

Joy To The World

I'm not Christian, but still...

 

Ginkgo Nuts In Myeongdong

I checked out the tourist-friendly shopping district the other day

not to shop, but to patronize a street food vendor I remembered from the past who sold roast ginkgo nuts.

I don't know about the mobile vendors that sell various small toys and tchotchkes and such

but the food vendors all start arriving at around 3:30 PM to start setting up (maybe it's to do with district bylaws or some such), and by 4 PM they are ready to receive customers.

I bought a small bag of hot, freshly roasted ginkgo nuts, and they were as good as I remembered, with a texture resembling firm gelatin and an "aristocratically restrained" (I don't know how else to put it), slightly bitter taste.

I once read in an old tome that these nuts are actually mildly poisonous and one really should not eat more than ten at a time;  but look at the contents of this bag -- there are dozens of them.

Presumably it's one bag, one customer.  Surely one is not expected to share them with three or four friends.