Worry vs. Donuts

Columbus, Wisconsin. There are no buckeyes here, and no city for that matter. I’m standing on a pebble-covered road that I hesitate to call a parking lot, since it’s more reminiscent of someone’s driveway. Actually, scratch the lot description entirely - I’m in a small space between a lumberyard, an old brick building, and an even older concrete building with a faded sign attached to it: “rail passenger station.” As I walk through the parking lot, I come across an old brick pathway that is partially submerged in the pebbles that cover the “lot” - perhaps a relic of an era gone by when this town saw more activity. The side of the train station has two things carved into the concrete: “Columbus” and “1906.” Yes, Columbus is a pretty quiet place, but it does have one thing going for it: the train still comes through. (Read the article)

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And so summer break begins. How each person spends theirs is a matter of preference. Me? I prefer as LOW stress as possible… so I decided on a whim to return to Minneapolis for the weekend. That, plus the other stuff I’ve been up to:

Work: Well, yeah. Gotta work, and I also picked up Kim Tal-su’s Taebaek Mountains (Taihaku Sanmyaku) as my “required” summer reading material. Looking forward to getting to that. Of course, besides Tal-su and translations, there’s stuff like:

Hanging around: Last night we had poker at House of Skark, which was the twisted, wonderful madness that it always is. Today I headed out to Grand Old Day with Mara and her roommate Sven (man of many names) to eat tasty food, admire the arts and crafts, and ponder the meaning of tomato flavored chocolate. After that, I ended up at Eric and Jessi’s place for hanging out and chatting. Good weekend^-^.

Hot Fuzz: Easily the best film I’ve seen so far this year. Just in case you were wondering, YES - it is worth full price. Go see this now. Next up: Ocean’s 13 on Friday.

My Name is Kim Sam-soon: Before leaving Madison last Friday, I met up with Melanie and Soo Young the night before to watch the next 3 episodes of the Korean TV Drama My Name is Kim Sam-soon. Does it have many of the stereotypical plot elements of Asian TV Dramas? Yes. Is it incredibly addicting? YES. The writing is smart, the acting is good, the one-liners are sharp, and the directing is top-notch. You can see where things are going… but that doesn’t keep the process of getting there from being funny and intriguing. Highly recommended.

A few road trips are also on the horizon potentially: One in July, and Vegas in August. More to come on that later…

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Don’t worry if the next sentence makes no sense.

Back from California! The trip went well. I am single again though. Congratulations to all my friends who got engaged in the past month! The following is a California rant. Click on the link for more.

(Read the article)

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Hi everyone! The following is my brief little convention report which may or may not be augmented by neat PHOTOS™ later on.

This was an unusual convention for me. After devoting all of my time, sanity and fragile sensibilities to Grad School for the past 6 months, it really felt good to be back hosting panels and having fun. Even though I had to do work and translations while I was at the con, I had an absolute blast and didn’t want it to end.

There was some drama, but whenever there was, I managed to avoid it through the usual methods (see #1 on the forthcoming list).

Anyways, click on the cut for my Detour summary. You know you want to^-^. (Read the article)

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With Anime Detour less than 2 weeks away, I once again find myself awash in memories of conventions past. It’s been quite a long time since I first piled into a car with Charles and my Dad (who chauffered… lucky guy!) to go hang out with a bunch of random geeks in Iowa City (I won’t mention how long ago, since thinking about it makes me feel really old).

Since then, cons and I have had a special relationship. I’ve volunteered, translated, created events, made friends, and shared many laughs. Even now, my favorite part of cons aren’t the guests, the panels, or who’s costume looks the most professional - it’s about hanging out with neat people who share a common interest. Unfortunately, I have also seen the dark side of cons: con “drama”, backstabbing, harrasment, lawsuits, and more. Only once in my life have I had to block someone from my phone/e-mail/etc., and it was because of a convention.

Detour, on the other hand, looks like it will be tons of fun as usual. Since I (and a few other people I know) might be bringing “newbies” to this convention, I decided I would draw up this guide. (Read the article)

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For the record, Cookie Death VI did not destroy my apartment… but it did make it very interesting. Many thanks to all the fantastic people who braved the cold to come out and join the madness.

I’ve realized that one can learn a lot a person’s personality by observing how they plan a party. Perhaps I am reading too much into this (or perhaps I am still recovering from sleep deprivation and tasty beverages), but it’s a fun idea to ponder.

(Read the article)

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Sunday I found myself speeding through yet another winter storm en route to Chicago. Xiaoxiao was arriving from Wuhan, so I went to O’Hare to pick her up. Little did I know that I would pay witness to an interesting cultural event of sorts.

What event you say? American Football, that’s what.

(Read the article)

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