Rita blogged about this, and I am glad she did. This song is a gem, a hidden diamond that deserves to be exposed more to the rest of the world. Or at least I think so. I’m a sucker for piano and cello pieces. Instrumental pieces need more loving. Misters Schmidt and Nelson? You can come serenade me any day and any time. :D

A day off, a great RP session, a yummy chocolate cake, hiding from the relatives who came over to wish my dad a happy birthday, and a great song . . . I don’t think I could have asked for a better Sunday.

Long day, but it ended up being a mixture of crap and candy. Here’s what happened to me, in bullets for easier reading.

Work-Related

• Almost was late for work today because of miscommunication with parents.
• At work, we had this small block party, filled with a dunk tank, couple inflatable games, and free BBQ. It was called “Inflatapalooza”.
• Ran around here there, bringing the necessary supplies, set up tables, chairs, and the inflatables: bungee run, boxing ring, and a giant basketball hoop.
• Had to monitor the boxing ring at one point, and a kid jumped out between the bars and crashed into me, bending my glasses. That pissed me off for a good hour or so.
• Went around picking up garbage.
• Helped put the chairs and tables away.
• Stomped on the damned inflatables to let the air out.
• Was outside for 5.5 hours. Will most definitely turn brown over the next few days. UGH. Next outdoor event, I am investing in a parasol, a visor, and a long-sleeve shirt.
• My poor feet hurts!

After Work and Emart-Related

• Went to Dragon to get my glasses fixed, which ended up being free.
• Met up with Dan and hung out in the band room at the high school for a while.
• Both of us met up with David at Electronics Market.
• Showed them where I had my computer built.
• Went to Hooters and had an interesting dinner that consisted of Sweet Garlicky (or was it Garlicky Sweet?) chicken strips, fish and chips, and orange-ade.
• Went to IPark for some yummy crepes for desserts.
• Headed over to the arcade, where I played one round of Pump It Up.
• Was introduced to Final Fantasy Dissidia by David.
• Tried to catch the bus home, but the first bus, even though I was right in front of it, closed the damn doors on me and drove off. !@#$!@#$
• Caught the next bus home.
• My poor feet hurts!

That’s it. Some parts were good and some parts were piss awful. Time to end this.

Finite Incantatem.

Long time ago, when I was into Barbie dolls, I dreamt what practically every little girls dreamed at one point in their lives: their wedding day. Up to about high school, I started to picture my dress, the flowers I wanted, the hairdo, the shoes, and the entire works. I imagined myself being escorted down the aisle with my daddy, meeting my dream man at the end of the altar. After the vows, I would happily walk out with rice and seeds flying all over me, and we’d go to the reception where we’d share the top tier of the wedding cake.

Now, as an adult, here’s my dream wedding:

1. Dress normally . . . okay, fine. Wear nice clothes, but nothing too fancy or formal.
2. Have husband to be pick me up.
3. Go to the Justice of Peace and do the whole anti-climatic procedure.
4. Meet a small group of friends and relatives and have a nice dinner at a good restaurant.
5. Hurry along to the airport to our honeymoon destination!

The end.

Seriously, when I found out how much those dream weddings cost, I freaked out. I’d rather spend a good chunk of that wedding funds on an awesome honeymoon. I’d rather buy souvenirs and special mementos than spend $20,000+ on a single day event. On a last note, I’d rather keel over than wear a bloody dress that would most likely be drenched in kimchi sauce due to my horrible eating habits!

Isn’t my current adult’s mindset so different from my younger self? The difference is quite drastic, I think. XD I may be materialistic, but I’m also pragmatic. Actually, my materialism is focused towards my hobbies more than anything else, and a wedding is NOT a hobby. Therefore, that’s my dream wedding, and whoever ends up being the unlucky man as my husband better respect it. :D

Anybody else feel this way about wedding? From the people I’ve talked with, it seems like I’m the only one who thinks this way! Oh well! That just makes me more unique, I suppose?

P.S. – This entry was inspired when I was chatting with Caity, and since she posted about her own wedding a couple of months ago, I think of wedding when I think of her.

Now that it’s been over a month since I started to teach myself Japanese, I realised something. I like teaching myself new things at my own pace and method. As long as there are no grading involved or other annoyances, I enjoy it. Oh and as long as it doesn’t involve money. I think that’s why I don’t really bother to go find a Japanese class at the moment. Then again, those classes would be taught in Korean, and I’d struggle with both Korean and Japanese instead of just the latter!

Moving on, along with my current Japanese adventure, I think of the other stuff I self-taught myself over the years and here’s a short list:

• HTML/CSS/PHP — Sometimes I would need somebody to explain something, but a lot of it was self-taught, and even though I did take basic HTML class, it was mostly stuff I already knew. Never mind that I couldn’t tackle Javascript.
• Touch Typing — I never took a typing class. Instead, I spent an entire summer learning to type fast by having ten chat windows opened before my sophomore year. I think that’s the best way to improve your typing skills, haha!
• Microsoft Office Programmes — Granted I did take a class or two that taught me certain skills, but a lot of it came from experimentation. I’d sit for hours and play with them.
• Graphics Programmes — Like the previous, I experimented a lot on those or read tutorials that showed me how to do stuff on Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro.

While I am glad I self-taught a lot of these skills for myself, I think being a self-learner has some disadvantages. The main one being that I am very impatient when someone asks me a question on doing some of these stuff. Like for an example, “How do I make a column in Microsoft Word?” I want to bang my head on the wall at times when I am asked these questions because a lot of these are stuff I discovered by experimenting, so in my mind I think the following: If I can figure this out on my own, so can you.

I know, I know. That’s not very nice of me, but still. Several weeks ago, I had an acquaintance asking me what this new message appearing in their email meant, and it was only one of those new user agreement thing where you check the box to agree the thing. That person, without even reading the darn thing immediately asked me what this was. Blarrrrrrgh. I don’t care if you’re Korean and blame your poor English skills, but if it’s something where you don’t even bother to try, then please don’t ask me! And that same person had enough nerve to accuse me of not trying to fix a broken printer a few days later — a printer I fought with for twenty minutes. So yeah, I didn’t try, huh?

. . . Anyway, readers, what are some stuff you self-taught yourself to do? Tell me of your adventures! Maybe it will influence me to try something different on my own in the future! :D

I admit that I am definitely more Americanised than I am Korean. My American idealism constantly clashes with the Korean’s deeply rooted Confucian beliefs (which I agree with some but definitely disagree with his whole MEN IS THE BEST philosophy). Often times, I really do not like my Korean heritage (nor my US heritage, but that’s a different story all together). However, if there’s one aspect of Korean culture I like, it is their music, especially their percussion ensemble.

Now as someone born and raised in South Korea, I’d have to really live in a cave of ignorance to not know “Arirang“, the ever popular Korean folk song. Apparently there are many different variations of this song, mostly differing based on the regions in Korea, and my favourite happens to be “Jindo Arirang”. This version appeals to me the most because it’s fun, catchy, and it originates from Jeollanam-do, where my mum is from. I discovered that I wanted to try and sing this myself, but I don’t exactly know the lyrics. So I went on a lyrics hunt today and discovered this list of verses.

. . . Really, I think 89 verses is a bit much *sweatdrops* Granted, they are short verses, but still I don’t think I’ll ever memorise all of them. Though, some are humorous! One verse goes like this:

#71: 죽었다네 죽었다네 서울영감 죽었다네 며느리 몰래 콩볶아 먹다가 부랄이 데어 죽었다네.

Translation: Already died, already died, this man in Seoul already died! Behind his wife’s back, he stir-fried some beans, tried to eat them, and burnt to death.

Something like that. Don’t ask me what that’s supposed indicate, but it’s funny! But here’s a Youtube video to give you an auditory example. The actual video is crap, but this is the closest in terms of how the song goes I could find. :D

Catchy, ain’t it? Maybe I’ll really get into it and start belting these 89 verses out in public performances. That’s only when Pluto expands in size and becomes a planet again. Anyway, to conclude his entry, I’ll post up a video of the “regular” version of “Arirang”. Only it’s a “piano concerto” piece with Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke composer) playing the piano. This is perhaps the prettiest arrangement I’ve ever heard! So pretty that I really want an mp3 recording of this!