Announcement

I just recently found out that, somehow I had accidentally disabled comments on the blog.  It's been fixed. 

Mosquito Bite

It wouldn't be summer without mosquitos...

For whatever reason, mosquitos in Korea seem to have acquired a particularly spiteful reputation among the American ex-pats in Korea.  I do remember, however, from back when I was a child still living in Korea, visiting my paternal grandmother in Daegu, an inland city infamous for high summer temps, and sleeping inside a mosquito net, which I had never seen before and have never needed since.  And this year I was halfway convinced I was going to get through the summer without too much damage, but no...

I knew better than to scratch, but after a while I just couldn't stand it any more..., and it spread out and now it's huge.

Figatzi? Zigatza?

This morning I woke up directly from a dream in which a dignified older man was showing me the interior of a room that was well-appointed with impressive taste, except for two holes several inches in diameter, bored awkwardly through an angled wooden frame high above the mantle, maybe a foot and a half apart.  They looked somewhat like this:

He pointed to them contemptuously and said something that sounded like "Figatzi" or Zigatza".  It seemed a previous occupant of the residence had them done in order to have a light fixture installed.  It was admittedly completely out of place and kitschy-looking (personally I find high, naked light sources to be harsh, much preferring intimate lighting).  As it's unusual to remember words seen or heard in dreams, I tried looking it up using different permutations of the spelling.  After a few unsuccessful tries, I came across "fugazi", which apparently means counterfeit/bogus, or more broadly, messed up or ruined.  I guess that fits pretty well.  And leaves me wondering.

Yes Indeedy

Someone once asked me why I keep the nails on my ring and pinky fingers long on both hands.  I told them it isn't just for show;  there are very real practical reasons for them, such as:

#1. Digging out navel lint

#2. Scraping out ear wax

#3. Picking my nose

#4. Picking my teeth

Not necessarily in that order.

Thank you, thank you, I'll be performing here 'til Sunday.

Off-Kilter

Just ambling along, looking right and left, down at the ground and up at the sky, as usual looking anywhere but where I'm going, when I noticed this:

An elevator shaft that looked to be a couple of degrees out of whack with the rest of the building.  Why?  Surely it cannot have been deliberately designed to be that way?  It really isn't a good candidate for a "witty design" factor, as it's just too small a breach to stand out;  on the contrary, most people probably wouldn't even notice it on the roof of the building as they passed it by, all preoccupied with their own individual pressing businesses.  As it stands now, all it does is just bothering the heck out of my OCD-addled brain, which demands that corners and edges align cleanly.  On the other hand though, I can't imagine how such a small but obvious misalignment can have passed muster before breaking ground.  Did something go wrong during the construction, maybe?  Some minor but unfixable flaw only noticed when the project was already past the point of no return?  It's just so odd-looking.

Errant Bobby Pin

Just walking along, looking at everything but where I'm going, and spotted this.  Got my obsessive-compulsive disorder and/or the suspected high-functioning autism to "thank" for this discovery.

Comet On The Sidewalk

Saw this on the ground while out walking

 

and got the idea for this

The night sky of a parallel world in another dimension, perhaps?  Another card from the imaginary mystery deck.

Rain X 2

Today it rained.  I, the rain-lover, had been excitedly waiting for it since I saw the weather forecast a few days ago;  we were supposed to get rain every day of this week.  Well, today it did rain, but now the forecast has changed to partially rainy days interspersed with sunny weather.  A bit disappointing, but still I went out for a walk in the rain, and although it was a moderately heavy rain, it wasn't enough to satisfy me.  Then I got a bright idea; I put in my earbuds and pulled up a rain sound video on YouTube as I went.  It worked like a charm!  It really felt like it was raining a lot harder than it actually was, what with the thunder sound effects and all.

Today's Acquisition

While on the way home from a luncheon with my extended family I explored a nearby underground shopping mall.  While there I checked out a small shop that sells various ornamental knick-knacks, and when I saw this heart carved out of a chunk of rose quartz, I fell in love with it instantly.  The proprietress urged it on me, telling me it would bring love and romance, but I didn't need the extra convincing.

The lighting isn't the greatest in the above shots and the stone came out looking kind of somber and thick, but look at this shot, how pretty is that!

You might say I gained a heart of stone, but hey, at least it's better than having a heart of glass, no...?

Related posts:  Heart

A Pebble, And What It Reminded Me Of

There is a recently built boardwalk that goes partway around a neighboring apartment complex.  It's really not all that long but it's woodsy and shady, and along much of its length it's hard to believe it actually borders a busy road on one side, separated only by its height, and by huge highrise blocks on the other.  I like to stroll down it when I feel like taking a mini-nature walk, taking in the leafy sights and smells and just enjoying the vibe.

Then the other day my eyes alighted on something that hadn't been there before.  Someone had placed a pebble on top of the brick parapet.

Its placement there was certainly not random, not the result of an accident -- it had to have been deliberately placed there by someone, someone who I think understands the preciousness inherent in the action of taking an ordinary something, even a less-than-ordinary something, that would have been overlooked or noticed but immediately ignored, and imbuing it with emotional importance by the very act of treating it as important.  I would be quite annoyed if I were to witness someone carelessly flick it away as ordinary litter, not understanding that it represents someone's act of devotion.

I stood there looking at it for some time, and it put me in a state of... a kind of poetic melancholy or reverie I guess you could call it, if you had to give it a name.  And now that I'm looking at these images again, I am reminded of other times I have felt something relatable to it -- especially of this one particular occasion years ago, not long after I started this blog.

Some other related posts:  The Beautiful Secret Language...                                             Beauty II                                                                                   One Unusual Night

Me, A Subway Creep?

This happened a few days ago.  I had been fighting a bad cold since the middle of March and had rarely ventured outdoors in all that time excepting short walks within the neighborhood to acquire such basic necessities as medicine, microwavable soups, crackers and lactose-free milk.  Then, having at last overcome the worst of the symptoms, I felt mostly ready to re-start my normal routines and boarded a subway train for the first time in over two weeks.

As it turned out, I had somewhat overestimated my recovery, and the short trip to the metro station had already taken its toll by the time the train arrived.  As I gratefully poofed down onto my seat and the train took off, my gaze was drawn to the attractive young woman sitting across from me (the quest for beauty is ever intrinsic to the artist's soul =^..^=).  She was engrossed in a book and paid me not the slightest whit or jot of attention, which was fine with me -- I wouldn't need to pretend to look away in case she happened to look up and notice me 𝗌̶𝗍̶𝖺̶𝗋̶𝗂̶𝗇̶𝗀̶ accidentally meeting her gaze.

I then noticed a ball-point pen on the floor next to her foot.  I guessed she must have dropped it and decided to alert her.  I extended my arm and waved my hand, but she did not notice me.  I snapped my fingers, also to no avail.  I called out, "Excuse me" to her, but I guess I should have said it more loudly, my voice was swallowed up by the train noise and she still did not hear me.

Then this older man sitting one seat removed from her (the seat between them was empty) noticed me gesticulating at her like an idiot.  Following my gaze and realizing what I was trying to do, he said something to her.  And yes, this time she did hear him;  she looked down, picked up the pen and smilingly thanked him.

And no, the old man did not acknowledge me.  I suppose I could have glared at him and made him uncomfortable, but that would have been petty of me.

Errant Fake Nail

Also known as: press-on nail, false nail, artificial nail, acrylic nail, extension nail, fashion nail, and probably a bunch of others I haven't heard of.

Related post:  Errant Smiley Face

Defeated

After two weeks of a bad cold.

You're (Un)Welcome, Please

"Please do not knock.  Please do not enter"

Unfriendly yet polite.

Errant Smiley Face

I guess this could be interpreted in either of two diametrically opposed ways, depending on your mood.

 

Some Good Ol' Times

were had then, back in my grad school days...^

Could've Been A Lot Worse

I woke up in the middle of the night.  It was completely dark and I was disoriented, so I started to grope my way around and ended up running into a sculpture (yes, I've got sculpture pieces in my bedroom -- I really need a bigger place), fell and banged my forehead against furniture.

At that, I suppose I should be grateful that it wasn't my nose or (heaven forfend!) my eye.

Which reminds me, my friend Evelyn (rest in peace, friend) once said something about me losing an eye somehow (don't remember what started that macabre line of thought) and going around wearing a cool black eye patch like a pirate.  I said that would be cool, except for the fact that I would then be living in constant dread of losing the other one, too (that's what actually happened to a blind singer in Korea:  he was born with perfectly normal eyes, but as a child he lost an eye in an accident, then a few years later he lost the other eye in a separate accident -- talk about misfortunate).

Now I've got a night light.

A Card From An Imaginary Deck

 

Good Deed Of The Day

I was about to cross the street when I spotted a card of some sort on the ground (it was actually lying at the base of this bollard but I forgot to take a photo of it in situ).

Thinking if might be a gift coupon or some such trifle, I picked it up and looked at it more closely, turned it over, and realized it was actually someone's check (debit) card.

So I walked it over to the local police station and turned it over.  Interestingly, the first thing I had to do was fill out a form that asked whether or not I was willing to reliquish all claims to the card.  Maybe some people try to assert finders' fee claims?  Anyway, I was of course perfectly fine with declaring my withdrawal of all rights to it.

My Ghostly Twin

He is always with me no matter where I go.

He is invisible to the naked eye.

But he still casts a shadow.