Hi all-
Here's a revised link to all my separate albums:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ohiokorean
Hope you all enjoy!!
Monday, January 22, 2007
Seeking Children's Author
Hi friends-
I was wondering if any of you might know of, or have any contacts in the publishing industry? I'm looking for a children's sci-fi/fantasy author. Below is a brief description of what we're looking for:
We are looking for a writer that can create an expansive world filled with magic, creatures, questing, good vs. evil mixtures, 3-8 protagonist characters (team, or guild of good) against 1-2 antagonist figures (guild of evil), and a solid story arc, etc. Authors and/or stories that immediately come to mind are: J.K. Rowling, Avatar the Airbender, Neverending Story, The Magic Treehouse Series (Mary Pope Osbourne) and Madeline L'Engle.
Ideally, we would like to work closely with the author in the construction of the story and story details, as well as commission the author for at least one novel for GoPetsKids, with the potential for more.
Hope you guys can help!!
Best, Mike
mike@gopets.net
I was wondering if any of you might know of, or have any contacts in the publishing industry? I'm looking for a children's sci-fi/fantasy author. Below is a brief description of what we're looking for:
We are looking for a writer that can create an expansive world filled with magic, creatures, questing, good vs. evil mixtures, 3-8 protagonist characters (team, or guild of good) against 1-2 antagonist figures (guild of evil), and a solid story arc, etc. Authors and/or stories that immediately come to mind are: J.K. Rowling, Avatar the Airbender, Neverending Story, The Magic Treehouse Series (Mary Pope Osbourne) and Madeline L'Engle.
Ideally, we would like to work closely with the author in the construction of the story and story details, as well as commission the author for at least one novel for GoPetsKids, with the potential for more.
Hope you guys can help!!
Best, Mike
mike@gopets.net
Week 3 - Romance, Sex, Height, Hormones, Setups and Loneliness Sets In
With the whirlwind of changes, adjustments and catching up with family, I haven't had time to realize, I suppose, how alone I am here. My co-workers are great, but besides the girls, everyone's freaking married! So, although this is a culture that has systemized infidelity in part, most fellas don't feel comfortable having an active night out on the town. It's not that I'm wanting to get out and go places just for the sake of picking up girls, but... well, actually, on second thought... I'll get back to that in a second ;0)
I've been spending my post-work hours on the computer trying to level up in World of Warcraft. The company has a policy that all of its employees must be at Level 25 within (now) a month and a half. I'm happy to do it, because I love the game, but it's not always the best thing for a social life. I figure, since I don't have any friends, and some time, might as well shore up on work responsibilities. So, I'm now a Level 21 Undead Warlock named Skeletor in the Deathwing Realm. (I also have a pet imp named Abalop and a Voidwalker) I'm so freaking cool, it's hard to believe.
Tuesday night, I was gaming until about 3 am in the office. Thankfully my walk home is short, so I was able to outrun the Razorback Geomancers that were hot on my tail.
Wednesday night, I had an excellent dinner at my cousin's apartment with my hilarious nephew. We watched Click and had some good solid family time. On the way home, I stopped by an attractive wine shop (see the photos on my online album), spoke with an attractive young Korean lady that seemed quite nervous around me, enjoyed a quick tour of their selection, bought a bottle of French (Chateau Maris, Minervois La Liviniere 2001), two wine glasses and continued home.
Thursday night yielded another exhausting night of WoW, with a brief break for dinner with Vincent, my fellow WoWer and head of Mobile initiatives. I then took off to the Ibis Hotel sauna and relished in my cycle of scalding hot water, medium hot, freezing cold, steam room, cold shower, workout, shower, scalding hot bath, medium hot, freezing cold then dry sauna. Needless to say, I slept quite well that night.
Friday night is when the loneliness started to creep into my bones - WoWing until eleven, I walked out two girls from the office (also WoWing), and bid them farewell. Perhaps it was the fact that I bought two wine glasses - one for me, the other for (fill in the blank) the night before last. Or, maybe it was the jovial Friday night crowd of Koreans filling the bars and sool-jips (literally, alcohol house), or maybe it was the mixture of my desire to go out and all of the above. It was the first time since I'd come here when I was completely clear of my cold, had plenty of pent-up energy, and nothing to do. Nothing to DO!
So I stuck out my chin, walked past the crowds, and promptly entered my apartment, turned on the tv, and was introduced to the wonders of post-midnight Korean TV viewing. Unlike the U.S., and more like Europe and other more arguably "enlightened" countries, Korea simply has no problem with American/Korean/French/German/Italian curse words, or portrayals of intimate sexual activities, violence, spilt blood or anything else that might resemble fun. I was mesmerized by the number of moments in Korean films that had scenes filled with sex - long shots of two lovers, playfully engaged in bed, or passionately wrapped together. It's not just the sex that I'm talking about however... it's hard to explain in the context of a blog; there's so much nuance around the subject. For instance, one film featured a subtly-troubled relationship between a woman and her husband, who takes liberties with the neighbor's college-aged son. I couldn't help but think of some social commentary based on these portrayals. I also empathized with the complexities of sexual and emotional involvement.
Seemingly, Korean men and women are getting married later and later, and some are even questioning the validity of marriage. Ask a sociologist why this might be and I'm sure he'll come up with a plethora of explanations that all make sense. I'm not so interested in why, but more taking pleasure in drawing parallels between American and Korean mentalities. I think it may very well be a generational difference as well.
I've come to realize that certain aspects of Korean culture take as a subset attributes of American popular culture. For instance, the Korean hip hop sound borrows heavily from the well-established "club hit" track - I've heard at least two different rappers' take on the smooth stylings of Snoop Dogg. It's a constantly evolving sound, hip hop, and the Koreans have taken it to another level of pop integration. In fact, it's almost shameless how hip hop has been so heavily co-opted here. I don't mean to denigrate, because I've got to give mad props to the acrobatic B-Boying and general attention and respect the artform gets here. But the hip-hop scene here is almost all bling. It's no surprise, given that it's yet another American export. But, I wish I was seeing more people keeping it down, like the Japanese DJ's and their healthy respect and continuation of the underground and old-school sound... As an aside, I spoke to a shopkeeper in Abgu-jeong who told me that the club and dance scene has consumed all of the chill spots around the city that once played the beats I'm talking about.
The K-Pop phenomenon is something to behold. It's become a cultural foundation for almost all of the fashion and clubs here. I can't even tell you how freaking cosmopolitan the scene is in Abgu-jeong.
Back to the story, I woke up on Saturday, quite late, relishing in a day off. What was the first thing I did? I got on the freaking computer and played WoW for three hours. Am I addicted? Damn it! Anyway, I got a call from Paul's dad, my uncle who was in town, and I taxied over to Paul's house for dinner. I got to hang with Juno (see pictures) and Kelly again, and I got dropped off at the apartment. Took an hour nap, woke up and called Hee Jung who was in Abgu-jeong with some girlfriends. Hee Jung was the first "set-up" I had last Sunday. I met them, bought a bottle of red, enjoyed good conversation, and we stepped out to go clubbing. We pulled up to a brand new club called Circle Club (pics), and headed down the stairs to this freaking dope-ass, KICKING, environment with beautiful leather and velvet love seats, super-hip, stylish crowd (think of a typical LA scene, except substitute "cheesy" with "hip and classy", "people" with "Koreans", "sexy" with "super-freaking hot sexy", "fashionable" with "cutting-edge", "light show" with "lasers and strobes", "jerks" with "polite" and "hoochies" with "not applicable").
The show was something to behold. Three hot-bodied Korean men in tight, tiny white patent leather shorts with tails coming out of them, at attention (ahem). On their heads they wore those funny hats completely made of a teddy bear's innards, leaving only the head on display. I think there was a theme going on here. They were dancing in synchronized fashion, the ladies were going crazy, when suddenly a heavily-made-up woman/man walked up the catwalk (think Korean RuPaul with geisha face makeup), posing and being heavily and handily addressed by the three half-naked men. I was not amused.
The only thing missing was music that was less K-Pop/techno/house mix... so we took some pictures and bounced to another bar, JJ's. This was a lot of fun. The music was better, like more hip hop, the crowd was just as young, but with older people as well, and in general the environment was very classy. I got home at 4 am, beaten up by my first night out clubbing. Needless to say, the loneliness dissipated quite quickly.
Today, I spent the day enjoying my apartment, took some pictures from my rooftop and around the hood, and had another setup date with a girl. We had coffee, awkward conversation, dinner and I called it a night. Dinner took me back to Abgu-jeong, so I walked around, tried shopping a bit, and took a bunch of night shots that you can see at the same link I posted before. Abgu-jeong again is quite a stylish and cool place that looks a lot like the photos I've seen of Tokyo. Dave, correct me if I'm wrong.
Also, I don't know what these Korean parents have been feeding their kids, but all I'm seeing are tall-ass Korean girls and boys. I'm talking well over 6 feet tall, in the neighborhood of 6'2" - 6'4". It's gotta be the hormones in the milk. I'm still above-average, but the stereotype of the short asian guy is completely shattered for me now. We're talking, long-legged, super-fashionable, handsome fellas walking around with leggy, ranging from cute to banging hot, fashionably sexy girls. "WoW" is all I can say. Until next posting...
I've been spending my post-work hours on the computer trying to level up in World of Warcraft. The company has a policy that all of its employees must be at Level 25 within (now) a month and a half. I'm happy to do it, because I love the game, but it's not always the best thing for a social life. I figure, since I don't have any friends, and some time, might as well shore up on work responsibilities. So, I'm now a Level 21 Undead Warlock named Skeletor in the Deathwing Realm. (I also have a pet imp named Abalop and a Voidwalker) I'm so freaking cool, it's hard to believe.
Tuesday night, I was gaming until about 3 am in the office. Thankfully my walk home is short, so I was able to outrun the Razorback Geomancers that were hot on my tail.
Wednesday night, I had an excellent dinner at my cousin's apartment with my hilarious nephew. We watched Click and had some good solid family time. On the way home, I stopped by an attractive wine shop (see the photos on my online album), spoke with an attractive young Korean lady that seemed quite nervous around me, enjoyed a quick tour of their selection, bought a bottle of French (Chateau Maris, Minervois La Liviniere 2001), two wine glasses and continued home.
Thursday night yielded another exhausting night of WoW, with a brief break for dinner with Vincent, my fellow WoWer and head of Mobile initiatives. I then took off to the Ibis Hotel sauna and relished in my cycle of scalding hot water, medium hot, freezing cold, steam room, cold shower, workout, shower, scalding hot bath, medium hot, freezing cold then dry sauna. Needless to say, I slept quite well that night.
Friday night is when the loneliness started to creep into my bones - WoWing until eleven, I walked out two girls from the office (also WoWing), and bid them farewell. Perhaps it was the fact that I bought two wine glasses - one for me, the other for (fill in the blank) the night before last. Or, maybe it was the jovial Friday night crowd of Koreans filling the bars and sool-jips (literally, alcohol house), or maybe it was the mixture of my desire to go out and all of the above. It was the first time since I'd come here when I was completely clear of my cold, had plenty of pent-up energy, and nothing to do. Nothing to DO!
So I stuck out my chin, walked past the crowds, and promptly entered my apartment, turned on the tv, and was introduced to the wonders of post-midnight Korean TV viewing. Unlike the U.S., and more like Europe and other more arguably "enlightened" countries, Korea simply has no problem with American/Korean/French/German/Italian curse words, or portrayals of intimate sexual activities, violence, spilt blood or anything else that might resemble fun. I was mesmerized by the number of moments in Korean films that had scenes filled with sex - long shots of two lovers, playfully engaged in bed, or passionately wrapped together. It's not just the sex that I'm talking about however... it's hard to explain in the context of a blog; there's so much nuance around the subject. For instance, one film featured a subtly-troubled relationship between a woman and her husband, who takes liberties with the neighbor's college-aged son. I couldn't help but think of some social commentary based on these portrayals. I also empathized with the complexities of sexual and emotional involvement.
Seemingly, Korean men and women are getting married later and later, and some are even questioning the validity of marriage. Ask a sociologist why this might be and I'm sure he'll come up with a plethora of explanations that all make sense. I'm not so interested in why, but more taking pleasure in drawing parallels between American and Korean mentalities. I think it may very well be a generational difference as well.
I've come to realize that certain aspects of Korean culture take as a subset attributes of American popular culture. For instance, the Korean hip hop sound borrows heavily from the well-established "club hit" track - I've heard at least two different rappers' take on the smooth stylings of Snoop Dogg. It's a constantly evolving sound, hip hop, and the Koreans have taken it to another level of pop integration. In fact, it's almost shameless how hip hop has been so heavily co-opted here. I don't mean to denigrate, because I've got to give mad props to the acrobatic B-Boying and general attention and respect the artform gets here. But the hip-hop scene here is almost all bling. It's no surprise, given that it's yet another American export. But, I wish I was seeing more people keeping it down, like the Japanese DJ's and their healthy respect and continuation of the underground and old-school sound... As an aside, I spoke to a shopkeeper in Abgu-jeong who told me that the club and dance scene has consumed all of the chill spots around the city that once played the beats I'm talking about.
The K-Pop phenomenon is something to behold. It's become a cultural foundation for almost all of the fashion and clubs here. I can't even tell you how freaking cosmopolitan the scene is in Abgu-jeong.
Back to the story, I woke up on Saturday, quite late, relishing in a day off. What was the first thing I did? I got on the freaking computer and played WoW for three hours. Am I addicted? Damn it! Anyway, I got a call from Paul's dad, my uncle who was in town, and I taxied over to Paul's house for dinner. I got to hang with Juno (see pictures) and Kelly again, and I got dropped off at the apartment. Took an hour nap, woke up and called Hee Jung who was in Abgu-jeong with some girlfriends. Hee Jung was the first "set-up" I had last Sunday. I met them, bought a bottle of red, enjoyed good conversation, and we stepped out to go clubbing. We pulled up to a brand new club called Circle Club (pics), and headed down the stairs to this freaking dope-ass, KICKING, environment with beautiful leather and velvet love seats, super-hip, stylish crowd (think of a typical LA scene, except substitute "cheesy" with "hip and classy", "people" with "Koreans", "sexy" with "super-freaking hot sexy", "fashionable" with "cutting-edge", "light show" with "lasers and strobes", "jerks" with "polite" and "hoochies" with "not applicable").
The show was something to behold. Three hot-bodied Korean men in tight, tiny white patent leather shorts with tails coming out of them, at attention (ahem). On their heads they wore those funny hats completely made of a teddy bear's innards, leaving only the head on display. I think there was a theme going on here. They were dancing in synchronized fashion, the ladies were going crazy, when suddenly a heavily-made-up woman/man walked up the catwalk (think Korean RuPaul with geisha face makeup), posing and being heavily and handily addressed by the three half-naked men. I was not amused.
The only thing missing was music that was less K-Pop/techno/house mix... so we took some pictures and bounced to another bar, JJ's. This was a lot of fun. The music was better, like more hip hop, the crowd was just as young, but with older people as well, and in general the environment was very classy. I got home at 4 am, beaten up by my first night out clubbing. Needless to say, the loneliness dissipated quite quickly.
Today, I spent the day enjoying my apartment, took some pictures from my rooftop and around the hood, and had another setup date with a girl. We had coffee, awkward conversation, dinner and I called it a night. Dinner took me back to Abgu-jeong, so I walked around, tried shopping a bit, and took a bunch of night shots that you can see at the same link I posted before. Abgu-jeong again is quite a stylish and cool place that looks a lot like the photos I've seen of Tokyo. Dave, correct me if I'm wrong.
Also, I don't know what these Korean parents have been feeding their kids, but all I'm seeing are tall-ass Korean girls and boys. I'm talking well over 6 feet tall, in the neighborhood of 6'2" - 6'4". It's gotta be the hormones in the milk. I'm still above-average, but the stereotype of the short asian guy is completely shattered for me now. We're talking, long-legged, super-fashionable, handsome fellas walking around with leggy, ranging from cute to banging hot, fashionably sexy girls. "WoW" is all I can say. Until next posting...
Saturday, January 13, 2007
My Picasa online photo album
Hi all-
I've found a better way to post photos - please visit:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ohiokorean/Seoul2007
Best!
I've found a better way to post photos - please visit:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ohiokorean/Seoul2007
Best!
Captions
Hi everyone-
Apologies on the poor caption layout for the photos. Will try again, I think I'm getting the hang of it...
Apologies on the poor caption layout for the photos. Will try again, I think I'm getting the hang of it...
Weeks 1 and 2
Greetings anyone from Seoul! Some details of my life: My apartment is a short 5-7 minute walk from the office. It turns out that the area in which I live and work is called Daechi-Dong, the strongly-established tech sector of Seoul. Right in the vicinity, there are a plethora of massage spots, hot tub steam rooms, "happy ending" joints (ahem), and other lascivious "business men activities". Not that I would know anything about the aforementioned indulgences... but, it seems these places are pretty much everywhere I look, even outside of the 'hood.
So far, my days have consisted of waking up, taking an excellent hot shower, coughing up a lung, meditating, eating, dressing, stepping to work, getting a coffee, working, having a bang of a time playing games and doing other much more important biz dev stuff, getting lunch with Paul and Vincent, working some more, playing more games, strategizing market approach, eating a bowl of jja jang myung (yeah!), going to the Ibis Hotel and taking a shower, sauna, massage and heading home. It is pretty much paradise.
The other part of paradise is the overspill of fashionable, beautiful Korean women. Everywhere I look, I'm seeing mini-skirts (yes, in the dead of winter), almond eyes, black hair and hearing that wonderful Korean prosody. All the women I've met have been utterly charming and delightful - I admit that I am biased in this way - but, the level of attentiveness (noon-chee) and general social intelligence is so far unsurpassed in my experience.
Seoul is an amazingly easy place to live if you have some dough. You order a bowl of noodles, they drive it to you then come back after you're done and pick up the bowls and silverware. I don't know what's better though: the pollution of trip times 2, or throwing away non-recyclable plastics and paper (like in America). Tipping is not encouraged, so what you see is what you pay. You walk the bill up to the front counter to pay, rather than the time-wasting song and dance of a waitress doing it for you.
Speaking of which, America could learn a thing or two from Korea. Plastic shopping bags must be purchased, as must be garbage bags. Towels and mugs are generally brought in from home to work so as not to use plastics, styrofoam or paper, and in general, waste and consumption is on a much tighter leash.
Driving in Korea is INSANE. Red lights are OPTIONAL. You really have to see it to believe it, but I've never seen traffic in the city this bad, even in New York!! Thankfully I don't have to rely on anything else but my feet to get to work. And the resulting pollution really takes away from the quality of life. What's worse is that the jetstream dumps all of China's pollution on our heads as well. Thus, the sight of people walking about with masks on is not uncommon. It also makes the typical cold an absolute bitch to dump (cough, cough).
Did you know that Seoul has a population of close to 40 million people? That's a lot of Koreans, man! The second most densely-populated city in the world... I found some great night shots of the city on this computer. I'll post them for all to see.
The nightlife is amazing as well, although, to be honest I haven't really done the clubbing thing. The same rules of service and courtesy apply however. That really is such a surprising and pleasant aspect of living here. Now, if everywhere could be like this...
Anyway, if anyone wants more details about my various exploits in the city, you know where to reach me... there's an email link that should appear on this page. ohiokorean@gmail.com
Miss you all!
So far, my days have consisted of waking up, taking an excellent hot shower, coughing up a lung, meditating, eating, dressing, stepping to work, getting a coffee, working, having a bang of a time playing games and doing other much more important biz dev stuff, getting lunch with Paul and Vincent, working some more, playing more games, strategizing market approach, eating a bowl of jja jang myung (yeah!), going to the Ibis Hotel and taking a shower, sauna, massage and heading home. It is pretty much paradise.
The other part of paradise is the overspill of fashionable, beautiful Korean women. Everywhere I look, I'm seeing mini-skirts (yes, in the dead of winter), almond eyes, black hair and hearing that wonderful Korean prosody. All the women I've met have been utterly charming and delightful - I admit that I am biased in this way - but, the level of attentiveness (noon-chee) and general social intelligence is so far unsurpassed in my experience.
Seoul is an amazingly easy place to live if you have some dough. You order a bowl of noodles, they drive it to you then come back after you're done and pick up the bowls and silverware. I don't know what's better though: the pollution of trip times 2, or throwing away non-recyclable plastics and paper (like in America). Tipping is not encouraged, so what you see is what you pay. You walk the bill up to the front counter to pay, rather than the time-wasting song and dance of a waitress doing it for you.
Speaking of which, America could learn a thing or two from Korea. Plastic shopping bags must be purchased, as must be garbage bags. Towels and mugs are generally brought in from home to work so as not to use plastics, styrofoam or paper, and in general, waste and consumption is on a much tighter leash.
Driving in Korea is INSANE. Red lights are OPTIONAL. You really have to see it to believe it, but I've never seen traffic in the city this bad, even in New York!! Thankfully I don't have to rely on anything else but my feet to get to work. And the resulting pollution really takes away from the quality of life. What's worse is that the jetstream dumps all of China's pollution on our heads as well. Thus, the sight of people walking about with masks on is not uncommon. It also makes the typical cold an absolute bitch to dump (cough, cough).
Did you know that Seoul has a population of close to 40 million people? That's a lot of Koreans, man! The second most densely-populated city in the world... I found some great night shots of the city on this computer. I'll post them for all to see.
The nightlife is amazing as well, although, to be honest I haven't really done the clubbing thing. The same rules of service and courtesy apply however. That really is such a surprising and pleasant aspect of living here. Now, if everywhere could be like this...
Anyway, if anyone wants more details about my various exploits in the city, you know where to reach me... there's an email link that should appear on this page. ohiokorean@gmail.com
Miss you all!
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