Callistonian.net

Repeat One vs. Repeat All. I’ve been craving a particular soundtrack for weeks. Today, it happened; I have it. There’s one song in particular that’s really sweet and girly. It’s so soft. It’s not really good, but I absolutely love it. I’m listening to it right now, at this very second in time. It’s played 4 times in a row, already. It’s still playing. I’ll probably play it 5 more times before I decide to move on to the rest of the soundtrack. Here’s a question, though. If you were in my presence or in the presence of someone playing the same song in an endless loop, would you A) kill that person B) be annoyed C) not care D) like it? Do you repeat songs endlessly?

Snowboarding 101. Last month, I went snowboarding for the first time ever. I’m not an athletic person, and I was terrible at snowboarding—but it was still amazing fun. I couldn’t get down the bunny slope, but … Next time, I’ll get down the hill without falling? Maybe? Probably not. After my first snowboarding adventure, my legs weren’t sore. My arms weren’t really sore. My back wasn’t really sore. However, my poor butt was terribly sore. Afterwards, sitting down hurt so much, so next time, I want to spend more time standing up and less time in the snow!

Good Things. Feb. 16th is my mother’s birthday (happy birthday!). I got her plane ticket, today! She’s coming to Korea, next month. She’s never been here before. I have to make lists and plan out everything we’ll do. I’m so excited. :)

Other Good Things. I’ll do a voice entry next time? I uploaded pictures (finally!!) to my flickr account. They’re photos from COEX Aquarium that I took at the beginning of December. I need to add a lot more.

Here’s one.

Did you think I died? Well, I didn’t. I’m back? Perhaps. On Feb. 2nd, Callistonian.net turned 8 years old. ♥ Wow—I miss updating my site. I’m in a blogging mood. Hopefully, I’ll post frequently for at least the next month. I’m not promising anything, though. I’m working a lot this week (10am to 10pm on Mon & Tues); I have an exam in April to study for (OMG! I’m going to fail); a busy life to live (snowboarding, random trips to random places, family coming to visit); graduate school to prepare for (kill me, please), etc. 

Nevertheless, for a brief moment, I’ve decided to press the pause button on life, and share two random events that happened between now and my last post. 

Setting a Stove on FIRE Sims Style I didn’t think it was actually possible, but it happened to me yesterday. I hate cooking; I’m a terrible cook. BUT, this flaming stove incident was not my fault. My friends and I (mainly them and not so much me, because I hate cooking) planned to prepare tacos for dinner. After some thought, we decided to warm up hard taco shells. To do this, we decided to use the stove’s “oven” feature. None of us ever used this feature? before, but we decided why not? So, we turned the “oven” on, and put the tacos in the “oven.” 49 seconds later, the stove was breathing fire from its top vents. After seeing the rising flames,  someone quickly opened the “oven,” unveiling charcoal-black flaming tacos.  

Moral of the story: NEVER put anything in the “oven” ever again. I don’t think the thing we used was an oven. It didn’t have a place to set the temperature. It was more like a small drawer with an open flame in it, hence the fire. Hmm… Have you ever set something on fire while cooking?

Seeing Christmas Lights in FEBRUARY I love Christmas and the holiday season, but they’re over. I understand that Christmas decorations are expensive, and that people want to get as much use out of them as possible, but it’s February… They need to come down. The holiday season is over. It’s been over. I don’t like seeing almost as many Christmas lights and Christmas trees in February as I did in December. Am I right?

Aside/FYI: I can’t draw well. Sorry. Also, I don’t have a wacom tablet or any other kind of tablet. My laptop is a tablet. I drew directly on its screen.

Lastly, should I do a voice entry next? I’ve been thinking about it.

I’m just getting started, but let me warn you early. This entry is missing something. Direction? A point? Perhaps. :) Anyway, lately, I’ve been having gobs of fun, getting over a cold, fretting about grad. school, and adventuring about.

Girly~! I adore cafés with fresh and delicate atomospheres, so I dragged my willing friend to this fancy one a few days ago.  The cafe’s color scheme consisted of muted reds, browns, greens, and yellows. Its theme seemed to be dolls and flowers;  there were several dolls in lighted glass display cases, and the place was decorated with red and yellow flowers. Small couches paired with large pillows replaced the stiff wooden chairs of typical café chains. AND 99.9 percent of the drinks were served in dainty cups. The barrista drew a bear in my tea! 

Logophilic Today, during a break at work, I performed figurative CPR on my vocabulary at freerice.com. I incessantly badgered my colleagues too. It always went something like this.

me: What’s a rhyton?
them: What?
me: r-h-y-t-o-n
them: o_O

word: hippophagy
me (thinking): eating hippopotamus?!?! what?! kind of word is this?
them: hmm… crazy.
me (looking at the options): it’s eating horses
them: i don’t think so

So, in the end, everyone ended up on freerice.com… I wonder how long it will take me to get to level 60. Forever?

Other News I have been taking pictures. Wordpress has been deleting some of my comments. I learned how to make decent paper stars. I need to write letters (I’m so sorry, guys!) I’m being promoted?! My dictionary’s Internet browser displays sites as is (see snark and callistonian.net).

I push the button. No you push the button. I push the button.*
When in elevators in the States, I never pressed the close door button. But, now that I’m in Korea, I press it all the time. First, I press the button for the floor I want. Then, without hesitation and without bothering to see if other people are lingering about, I press the close door button. Most here seem to be impatient - if you’re in an elevator, standing by the buttons, and if you fail to press the close door button… it’s annoying. It’s as if no one can bear the 10 second long wait required for the doors to close by themselves. Strange? Interesting? Normal? I can’t decide. Are people close door button fanatics where you live? Or are they more laid back?

Look, Ma! No hands~
Before when standing and riding on subways and such, I liked to hang on to something. Now, I’m better than that. :P I don’t bother with holding handles - I just stand there. I can even hold liquid without spilling it. However, I’ve yet to master standing on buses. If I were to try standing on one of those dangerous things without attaching myself to a pole, I’d be tossed around like salt in a salt shaker.

Green Tea! Green Tea! Green Tea!
In the States, I drank green tea. I would also treat myself to Starbuck’s green tea frappuccino, but that was the extent of my green tea intake. Now, I eat green tea cake; I eat green tea ice cream; I drink green tea lattes … Green tea is my new vanilla?

As for the photo—it’s a photograph I took inside a green tea cafe. Everything they sell there has green tea in it, but… I took the photo in 2006. XD I am taking more photos, though! woo!

* This subtitle is nonsensical because I’m quoting a Tiny Toons cartoon. When I was a child, I thought the episode in which baby Plucky plays the role of elevator dictator was one of the most hilarious things, ever.

This is a random post on goodies that may deplete my funds. In other words, this is a list of things I’d like to buy in the next few months.

1. a gayageum - Weird? Of course, but if you know me, you know that I have a thing for instruments of the stringed persuasion. You also know that I have a thing for traditional Korean stuff. String instrument + traditional Korean stuff = gayageum = full of win = I want!

2. a trip to North Korea - Yes, I can go there. If Gaesong, North Korea is anything like the DMZ, visiting that city is going to be an acutely surreal experience (amazing).  It will also be a little unsettling, because if I go - I won’t be allowed to take my camera/mp3 player/phone/kindle/anything with me. :(

3. a cellphone - Finally, a normal item. I need a new phone. When it comes to this, I’ve been procrastinating, but I need to stop that and get a new phone…

4.  an electronic dictionary - I don’t need this at all. I already have two. :( I hardly need another, but the one I’m using now is 2 years old. It doesn’t play mp3s, talk to me,  have a radio, let me write on it, play videos, know anything about Japanese, or know anything about French … so a new one would be nice. But - I’ll probably pass on this.

5. clothes!!! I want skirts and sweaters. :)

Is there anything that you’d like to buy?

Yes, I’m still alive! woo! I realize that I haven’t been posting regularly for the last few months. I just haven’t been in the mood… If you complain about my lack of blogging, I will blog more. :)