Wintry Mix

Rocks, Big and Little

Been pretty busy, lately, with taking care of the boy and the house and doing some writing. So a progress report is in order for those three items:

1. Jeremy is doing fine. He's close to walking and is already waving goodbye.
2. An unbelievable volume of laundry has built up in the past month. Rachel and I scrounge for something to wear, while the boy has all the drying racks filled with diapers and jumpers and stuff printed with ducks.
3. The writing has been coming along nicely. I am working on a first draft, so I know there will be a ton of editing in my future. Just trying to get it all on the page, first, before I worry too much about the many fixes I'll need to make.

Other goings-on:
Rachel just bought her plane tickets for a February visit to South Carolina. She'll be traveling with Jeremy (while I sleep for two weeks). We're still planning to return to the USA this Summer, but we wanted everyone back home to get a chance to meet the boy before he grew too much.

Meanwhile, here in Mokpo, we were treated, last night, to a beautiful sight in the sky, as Jupiter and Venus shone brightly in close (visual) proximity to the new moon. Here are a couple shots taken from Peace Park. Also included is a picture of Gotbawi Rock, a natural formation the Koreans believe looks like a pair of monks.

Red-eyed and Blue

Another reason to LOVE Google:

Flim Flestival

Back at the beginning of October, Rachel went to the Pusan International Film Festival where she had a great time with friends Dave and Camille. Here are a few shots from the unfortunately acronym'd P.I.F.F. Included is a shot of the Krispy Kreme assembly line that has me drooling. (Man, do I miss that "Hot Fresh" sign!)

Moonset, Venus, and Traffic

Continuing the recent trend of pictures of celestial objects... Some shots of the moon setting over Yudal-san. You can see the Evening Star, Venus, off to the right. Freaking awesome. Click for the large (extra cool) versions, suitable as desktop wallpaper.





Bonus pic: traffic leaving Second Square, just after the moon set.

Another Sunset

The weather has definitely changed. The days have been cool; the nights have been cold. As our friend Jamie says, "Somebody flipped the switch." Here are a couple shots of (yet) another sunset over the hills on Mokpo's western border. Click them for the full size versions.





I promise to soon write more about our recent adventures, Rachel's new job, and life with Jeremy, but that "life with Jeremy" seems to take up all my time.

Light Up the Sky

The family went down to Shinan Beach to hang out with some friends around the bonfire. Everyone had a good time and I would have taken more pictures, but the camera died. I was able to snap a few shots before the batteries gave up the alkaline ghost. (Click each for the large versions.)







My favorite of the bunch, our friend Stephen with some K-graffiti:

Warning

We bought a new washing machine. Here's an unnecessary important page from the instruction manual:



Bob, for one, was happy to see that particular warning.

Caliente!

Cloud Top

As we near the end of August, Mokpo's weather is turning a *little* cooler. This morning was fantastic: the temperature was in the upper 60's while a few clouds clung to the hills that surround the city. See for yourself:

Hey, Four Eyes!

When Rachel had her yearly eye exam, she suggested that, while we were there, I have my eyes checked, also. Now I wear glasses. Thanks, Rachel. Thanks a lot.

Sunset: 08-08-08

Smoke Monster

Last Summer, the mosquitoes were pretty bad. Not a single night passed without finding myself under attack by squadrons of the little bastards, buzzing me for hours. Rachel would awake at 2a.m. to the sound of me smacking at the walls or ceiling, cursing and frothing at the mouth, trying to squash a single mosquito- a fruitless exercise, since there were always about a million waiting to take her place. I really thought I would go insane by the time Autumn rolled into this part of the peninsula. When the harvest season finally did arrive, the mosquitoes missed their cue and lingered into November.

This year hasn't been as bad (so far!) even though we have had what seems like far more rain than the summer of '07. The lower bug-bite count might have something to do with the door-to-door mosquito fogger. I never actually saw the guy, but he was busy in our neighborhood, carrying some kind of four-horsepower engine attached to a supply of winged-insect-apocalypse. I love that guy.

Sunset

Belated Boseong

We visited the Green Tea fields of Boseong only two months ago, when Miss Lauren was here, but it seems like years since that day. Jeremy has grown so much since then- in both size and personality- and has become such a force in this household that I have trouble remembering what life was like before he arrived.





Well, some pictures from the Boseong trip. BTW: if you go, be sure to get some of the green tea ice-cream- it is delicious. As always, click any picture for the large version.

I Love the Whole World!

Attention Geeks: xkcd is THE SHIT.

The Donuts Are Dunkin'

Go ahead... Click it!

A Day and a Night in Mokpo

Public Art

I still have a ton more photos from Boseong's green tea fields and I will get around to posting them... For now, however, here are a few pictures from the streets of Seoul.