Today's Phone Doodle

This morning (wow, just realized it was yesterday morning)I was talking to my buddy Stephen on the phone, and as almost always, I doodled random shapes on the nearest scrap of paper without thinking of what I was doing. Phone doodling is the closest state I've attained to automatic drawing. My chop was digitally added later, though. Makes it a little more formal-like and presentable, I reckon.

Regularity/completeness/containment.

Defensively-offensive, like a plan for a fort.

Indicative of an anxiety-ruled, obsessive-compulsive personality -- one that tries to impose order, with fair urgency.

Yet Another Totally Frivolous Synchronistic Event (#8)

And of course, K-pop was involved, natch

I was typing an e-mail message while listening to K-pop divas T-ara singing their new release 왜이러니/Wae Ireoni ("Why Are You Acting Like This"). Just as I started to type "Oh", the girls went "Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh". Maybe all the extra 'oh's were for emphasis.


And BTW, it's a very catchy tune and the girls are totally adorable in the music video. If you haven't done so before, you should go check it out on YouTube immediately.

Edit: It's really strange when I think about it. Is it just me being overly sensitive, or is there really a remarkable amount of these funny little word coincidences happening to me? I start to pronounce/read/type a word, and suddenly I hear that very word from an outside source -- weird.

O.K., I'm gonna have to stop thinking about this stuff too much, cause now it's stopped being funny and started to kind of weird me out. Like the Weird Sisters got bored and decided to amuse themselves by throwing little oddness bombs my way.

Thanksgiving Day, 2010

No reason -- sometimes I just feel like this.

But if you're gonna be picky about it, I guess there's a bunch of reasons.

Another Wacky Synchronistic Event (#7) -- And Again, It Involves K-Pop!

Just now I was listening to music and thinking about the just-released Japanese remake of the movie 'Ghost' (1990) when I realized I couldn't recall the katakana character for 'go' (in Japanese 'ghost' is rendered 'go-su-to'). So I was looking for my Japanese character chart and mentally repeating "go.., go...", when the K-pop group Brown Eyed Girls, singing their hit 'Abracadabra', went "...go, go" in my ear.


And this one involves three languages -- English, Japanese and Korean (the August 8th entry involved 2-languages: Spanish and Korean). A new record!

In A Rukh's Wake

A downy feather
off an
elephant-eater

And Now, For A Grandiose Title...

How about...

Pillar of Heaven

or

Dragon Ascending

or

Jacob's Ladder

or

Fiery Vortex

or

Cloud Bridge

or

Heaven's Staircase

or

Ziggurat of Flame

The Borg and K-Dramas

For a long time I was proud to count myself firmly on the side of the Borg... you know the Borg -- that efficient, straight-ahead thinking, simplistic-in-the-best-sense-of-the-word 'race' of cyborgs from the 'Star Trek' franchise, who always did the pragmatic thing. In whatever situation they encountered, they always did what was best for the Borg. Being a simple sort myself, I liked their rational, uncomplicated way of life. Also, all the Borg were mentally connected in a kind of cybernetic telepathy. Everybody knew everything they needed to know. No one had to learn anything, because knowledge was transferred effortlessly through the Hive Mind -- maybe one could call it the 'BorgWeb'. There was no personal ambition because it was pointless and unnecessary. Life was simple. Well, just now I was watching the next-to-last episode of the Korean TV drama 'Personal Taste' 개인의 취향, and all of a sudden I found myself tearing up over the trials and tribulations of the hero and the heroine (yeah, well...). Not only had I suddenly realized that I love humanity's failings, but I couldn't contain myself about it and I had to go and e-mail my friends about my sudden epiphany. O.K., maybe it was the beer and the Sangria I'd consumed shortly before, but anyway this is the message I sent:

"Haha... here's a total non sequitur -- I just realized something; I was in the midst of watching the penultimate episode of 'Personal Taste', and you know what, I just realized I don't wanna be a Borg any more... all the stupid shortcomings of humanity -- the little rituals, the misunderstandings, the stormy emotions, the love and the passion and the guilt and the making up and the joy and the tragedy -- there's just too much fun to be had in being irrational and imperfect. I pine for my lost loves and missed opportunities and the 'what if's and the frustration and whatnot, but I wouldn't trade them for bland perfection in a millennium of Sundays! That said, I'm still waiting for the implantable microcomputer for my brain :D"

Wow, I really sound drunk! Thank you, K-dramas... you're totally awesome!

Double Portrait

That's me and the missus. She doubles as my chief bodyguard. Aren't we cute?

Another Rainbow Eye

St. George, A Dragon, St. Agatha

Another old piece from way back when. I planned it as a kind of faux-triptych, with two painted panels set apart by a niche that contains a sculptural element.

This piece was included in a show at the Simard & Halm Gallery (which no longer exists). The curator told me that at the reception a few people had expressed surprise at the fact that the artist was a young Asian guy; based on the traditional, Northern Renaissance-type imagery and the fact that my last name, Suhr, looks German, they'd expected an older European (or at least white) dude^.

[Once I got a call from a guy who said he was researching his family tree. His name was also Suhr, and when he saw my name in the phone book he thought he should check me out, in case we were related... but he was German^; speaking of which, Hahn and Ohm are a couple of other German names that also resemble Korean names]

Again, the photo quality could be lots better -- the lighting situation in my loft is far from ideal, and no matter what I did I couldn't get a full-on shot without glare spoiling something somewhere. Finally I took parts of different shots and reassembled them to obtain a semblance of the original whole.

I'd known of St. Agatha for a long time from the painting by Zurbaran, but had assumed that the objects she carried on a platter were lemons. Then I found out they were her breasts. One of the tortures she endured was the ripping of her breasts, so in art she is shown carrying them, as a sign of her martyrdom.

And no, I'm not Catholic.

Rainbow Eyes

A pair of 'em...

Something Really, Truly, Is Going On Up There

Is it just me or is there a truly extraordinary amount of weirdness going on up there in the skies lately?

One evening last week, as I was leaving work I saw a beautiful sunset and snapped a few photos in the parking lot. I was checking them out just now, and when I came across this one I noticed something odd straightaway:

I heightened the color and contrast, and saw exactly what I thought I saw;  a skeletal dragon with outstretched wings, swooping down -- or perhaps falling down, like a certain angel who fell and became known as a dragon.

Alternatively, if you turn the image upside-down, it looks like a fiery red dragon rising from the depths of the dark waters toward a flaming sky, carrying a serpent in its crocodilian jaws..

If anyone does not find this apocalyptic image disturbing, they must, like Siegfried, be totally ignorant of fear;  either that, or they're already under some glamour worked by this leviathan to make humans selectively blind. In fact, that latter could well explain why no one else around me seemed to notice it. I must be somehow immune to the spell...

This fact adds a new urgency to my mission as Monster Scout; whatever these otherworldly creatures' purpose, it is clearly something that affects us, probably adversely -- why else would they take the trouble to mask their existence from our sight?

And the recent increase in their activity may well mean something big is coming up. I haven't a clue as to what that could be; all I can say is, it fills me with apprehension...

Still More Good Eats

Now a down-to-earth topic for a change -- I just made what may be the best guacamole I ever made! Once I'm done with laundry (hard to properly get down and enjoy myself when there's unfinished chores) I'll plop down in front of the boob tube for another non-balanced happy meal of sweet/salty/tart/spicy avocado dip with chips and beer..!

Cat-Faced Cloud

Cheshire Cat, anyone?


Technically this one, too, is a cloud monster (or perhaps a cat-goddess looking out for her charges on earth?). But I have to admit I've got a soft spot for this one.

I can see already that, as the vigilant Monster Hunter for the rest of humanity, I'm going to have trouble staying objective...

The Heavens Really Are Full Of Monsters

I have said before that while I love watching clouds, I am also afraid of them. That's because I know the truth -- some clouds are not really clouds at all, but gigantic, monstrous living things that just happen to resemble clouds. From whence they come, what they are doing up there, I cannot say. I also don't know why, of all people, I seem to be the only one who notices them... But I do know this -- I do see them, they are big, and they scare the living daylights outta me!

Below are two such creatures I photographed on a recent evening during the drive home, within minutes of each other.

#1. Here is a truly demonic-looking thing hovering over downtown Los Angeles:


Don't see it? I don't blame you. It disguised itself by spreading out like an anamorphic painting. It could not escape my eagle eye, however -- check out the next image; I compressed the photo horizontally, restoring the creature's normal proportions, and enhanced contrast so you can see it better.


Now you see it, don't you -- that grotesque, skull-like face with the pointy ear and flaming hair?

#2. This next one didn't bother with any disguise. It was just floating there, plain as evening. Again, I enhanced contrast a little to make it stand out -- here is Crazy Staring-Eyed Shark Head Thing!


How could any normal, rational person not be afraid, knowing that just overhead dwell these surreal, waking nightmares?

8:00 AM Meeting

Early this morning there was a meeting at work to discuss some technical stuff. Everyone had to attend, so everyone trooped upstairs to the big cold meeting room. Everyone was yawning or trying to stifle a yawn. I started randomly doodling a face, then realized it sort of looked like me as an old man. I kept it up surreptitiously throughout the meeting, finished just as the meeting came to a close. Co-worker Sandy, seated next to me, remarked that it reminded her of Gollum. Funny, because I myself have always thought that Gollum and I were rather alike -- you know, the pale childish moonface on the big flat head, the awkward speech pattern, the skinny little bod and the moral ambiguity... O.K., I think that's enough^^.  I just hope I'll still have this much hair when I'm 64.

Yet Another Strangely Trivial Synchronistic Event (#6)

First, a preamble:

Some years ago, my friend Evelyn and I dressed up for Halloween and went out to West Hollywood to see and be seen. She was dressed as an airplane(you had to be there -- guess where she put the twin propellers) and I was in drag. Not the outrageous, Milton Berle-kind of drag, but a more subtle, 'natural' drag. I actually shaped my hair and everything(which wasn't a problem, since I had hair down to my butt in those days), but as my legs weren't(still aren't) even close to being close to Betty Grable-grade I wore a long black dress.

Well, Ev's wacky but spectacular costume really attracted a lot of attention. People kept stopping to talk to us -- to her, really -- and bless her heart, she was really enjoying being in the limelight.

I, on the other hand, was pretty much ignored by everyone. No one seemed to care about the result of the two mortal hours I'd spent emptying a can of hair spray on my hair or the very real discomfort I was experiencing in a pair of pantyhose.

So I was beginning to feel kind of pissed off when this bunch of dudes stopped to talk to us -- and they actually engaged me. Maybe they took pity on the homely girl with no figure, who knows, but anyway we got along and we yakked it up pretty good for a few minutes.

Then I started to talk about the trouble I'd had earlier in the evening, trying to make myself look somewhat reasonably like a girl, and that's when I found out why no one had paid the slightest attention to my costume -- they actually thought I was just a girl in a Morticia dress...

Anyhow, that's the story -- and now for the synchronicity part: a little while ago I was typing this very story in Korean for my cousin Tami. The TV was on at the time, and a news feature about some Russian educators visiting South Korea was being shown. I got stuck for a translation for the word 'costume' and went to get an English-Korean dictionary, mumbling "Costume... costume...". And that's when the narrator said "costume" on TV. The Russian visitors were enjoying a performance of the traditional fan dance, by dancers in elaborate, colorful costumes from Yi Dynasty times.

Blood Comes Back For A Visit

This morning I dreamt of picking up a big, plump tabby cat and hugging him to my face. He responded with a long solemn kiss on my mouth.

Funny that I didn't think of it in the dream, but once I woke up I realized that cat looked a lot like Blood (Sept. 11th and 12th entries). Maybe his ghost really did come back to see me.

EDIT:: OMG! I just realized it's Halloween! Now I KNOW it was the ghost of Blood, allowed for one day to walk the earth among the living -- and he chose to come to me.

Thank you, Blood -- I love you, too.