04.16.07
Posted in Friends, Personal at 9:27 pm by qkslvrwolf
I’m testing out the built-in upload capacity of wordpress. Not sure how much of a fan I am.
Anyway. My mom and I were talking, and they’re about to get their furniture moved into their house (finally), and i was threatening her happiness and life (very metaphorically, of course) if she didn’t get some pictures up within a couple of weeks or less.
And then I noted that I was a big fat raging hypocrite. So we talked, and it was the sheer amount of posting that I would have to do that has really been stopping me, so we decided that breaking it down into small, manageable pieces would be the way to go with these posts.
So, I’m basically going through the photos in nearly the order than I have them, and here is the first one.
Korean subways were the best that I’ve been on. Now, granted, my list o’ subways that I’ve been on isn’t that long. Chicago, Baltimore, DC, St. Louis, and a few in England. And now, of course, Seoul.
Seoul’s is the best. No question. I mean, the Tube in England is awesome, don’t get me wrong, and it’s more than good enough. But the Korean subway’s…good lord!
One time, Anne and I came down into the subway just as the train was rolling out of the station.
Less than 3 minutes later, the next train had arrived. That was about the longest we had to wait. Period. Freakin’ awesome.
My one complaint with their subways was simliar to my complaint with the St Louis metrolink; namely, that they don’t run late enough to really accomodate getting drunk and then taking the subway home after closing the bar. What’s the point of public transportation if it doesn’t save you from having to designate a driver?
Still, it was fast, clean, efficient, rarely overcrowded*, and reasonably priced. I would kill to get public transportation like this in the states. And i’d probably have to, specifically republicans and libertarians, who don’t believe in the public good. No, this isn’t a threat, merely an observation.
Anyway, so on the grand scheme of Korean pros and cons, we can add a major pro: great public transporation.
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*The one time we got on a train that was overcrowded, we just hopped off and got on the next, which was damn near empty. Now, this isn’t exactly a scientificly accurate survey, but I was impressed.
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04.15.07
Posted in Friends, Personal, Philosophy at 12:41 pm by qkslvrwolf
So, today I received a voice mail from my buddy Nathan saying “What’s up dude? Where you at? I know you’re not at church…”
This is, of course, ironic, because I actually was at church. :-)
I know it doesn’t come across in a blogarific setting, but I find this confluence of events hi-lar-ious. Really.
I was at church because a friend had wanted a mutual friend to go see him play his drums at the jesus-freak-love fest that precedes his church’s services, and that friend (an atheist like me) needed moral support to enter into a church and deal with the music and the people.
We actually came away pretty clean…I got my hand shaken once by someone who I presume* was the pastor, because he was wearing a wireless mike, and Christa got roped into accepting a little pamphlet full of ways to give the church proprieters money (Christian Money Management Seminar! Only $20!), but other than that we got away with minimal scarring. Of course, we left before the talking started, after the music was done.
On the plus side, the drummer friend is really, really good at drums. I’m very much looking forward to watching him play in a less nausea inducing setting. :-)
*I actually thought originally that this usage might be incorrect, but the princeton dictionary that google prefers shows this is a reasonable usage.
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03.15.07
Posted in Friends at 5:56 pm by qkslvrwolf
My buddy Andy is…, well he’s just effin’ awesome. I love this guy.
He just got a piece commisioned and played by Johns Hopkins University, and here’s an interview with him on NPR. Andy is easily one of the most impressive people I know.
So freakin’ sweet.
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12.06.06
Posted in Friends at 12:09 am by qkslvrwolf
After going to a (fairly disappointing) moveon.org meeting this evening, and staying at the venue (The Schlafly Taproom), I had texted my buddy Brian to see if he wanted to roll down and join me (Brian being a partier and almost always up for having a couple of good beers).
Well, he was elsewhere, celebrating his next to last night in town.
Which gives me some pause. It might just be my mood, but I don’t think so.
Brian is sort of my go-to buddy when I feel like going out, “partying”, in the American sense of the word. He’s a short, athletic, gregarious fellow from California. Armenian, genetically speaking, and quite proud of the fact. He has this amazing ability to just start talking to anyone…anyone…in a loud, crazy, brash, but amazingly friendly fashion that even though it ought to be scary somehow just becomes charming. And even when he is quite clearly charming the pants off someone (often, from what I can tell, quite literally, though I’ve never benefited from the view), he somehow manages to do it without ever being remotely dishonst. He’s the sort of guy I would *never* recommend to my female friends, unless they were just looking for a good time….but he’s honest about it. And for all that, I truly believe that he would never do anything if he knew it was going to hurt someone. Which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for most of the men that I would put into his category.
I think it is this strange dichotemy that draws me to Brian, keeps me going back to hang out and party with him even though I have to be *very* careful to not end up in a bad situation around him. He’s one of those golden boys where no harm can ever touch him, so he is very carefree about things that I cannot be, so I have watch my step and keep an ear to the plans for the furthering of the night. But he is, unlike so many of his partying brethren, understanding of those who do not lead as charmed an existence as he. He will try and get you to join him in his craziness, and he’ll press you on it…but only if he actually likes you and wants your company. And if you say no…he respects it.
Anyway, he leaves town tomorrow night. And I’m surprisingly sad to see him go.
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09.16.06
Posted in Friends at 11:41 am by qkslvrwolf
Went out with a buddy of mine to the small town of Okawville for their “Wheat Festival”, with a friend of his. It was a good time. We had some beers, had some grilled pork kebabs, watched the tail end of a local beauty pagent (which the town took very seriously), took the buddy (who is from California and had never been exposed to small town life) inside the expo building to look at the stuff inside for judging (grains, fruit, vegetables, homemade clothes, etc), and just generally relaxed and talked. Then we went out to small town bar (which would’ve been ok if they hadn’t had the internet jukebox..that made the place fantastic!) The booze was cheap, the people were super-friendly, and a good time was had by all.
It’s nice to get back to that small town atmosphere every now and again. I really like living here on the edge, in a mid-size town, just beyond the true suburbs, where small town life is a hop-skip-and a jump away and the deep city life is just a hop-skip away. :-) Good times, my friends, good times.
Oh yeah…we just spent the night at the local’s house. The stars were out, the moon was slim…and it has heaven. We just stood, our necks craned as far back as they would go, staring up and out and soaking in the the silvered light. It’s been a long time since I really saw the stars.
It was a good day. :-)
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