where always it's Spring)

Posts from the “Whimsical” Category

To Do Lists and Such

Posted on May 16th, 2012

I’ve come to the conclusion that being impeccably organized is a waste of time. For example, my electronic files are kind of organized. They’re given sensible names. They’re in folders, most of them. At first, it seemed like putting everything into its proper place would be a good idea, but then I decided that it wouldn’t be. Because if X is not in its proper folder, I probably know that and know where it is, anyway. However, if I don’t know where it is, I can use the operating system’s search function and find it in about .93 seconds (before I can open the folder) and thus there is 0 point to placing things properly. It doesn’t matter that my files are arranged a…

To Read?

Posted on May 8th, 2012

I want to read a lot this month. Perhaps I’ll change my mind as May progresses, but for now, that’s the feeling. I’m not sure what to read next, but it’ll probably be one of the following. Feel free to suggest other things. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. This has been on my mental things-to-consider-reading list for years. The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it — from garden seeds to Scripture — is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows…

Let’s Talk of Lofty Aspirations

Posted on April 4th, 2012

What you aspired to be when you were a child; has it changed? – Sarai no—it hasn’t changed. As a child, I aspired to learn, to improve. I never hoped to establish a career in any particular vocation. People, of course, asked me, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” And sometimes my aspiration to improve my environment and myself manifested itself in words like “(aerospace) engineer” or “lawyer.” But becoming an engineer was never the point. Improving was. I am still a near-to-bursting bundle of ambition. I want to do this, and that, and that, and that too … and I want to do it better. I still love languages, history, mathematics, music, helping others, &c. I still frustrate and…

Favorites from Tumblr

Posted on March 3rd, 2012

today, i went to one of seoul’s trendsetting areas. i saw quite a few things, including a cafe devoted to hello kitty and two cafes devoted to cats. i don’t like capital letters. today, i’m not going to use any. :) anyway, favorites from tumblr: everyone loves a corny pick up line. i like math jokes. also, happy birthday to me.

March 1st: Another Renaissance

Posted on March 1st, 2012

I want this month to be a sort of renaissance for me. I hope to focus on two things: productivity and fun. You know, work and play hard. One thing I noticed reading past entries is that they often read like I downed 30 pixie sticks and a few Red Bulls (i.e. a pound of sugar) while writing them. I also noticed that I was addicted to ellipses and exclamation marks. The exclamation marks and ellipses can stay in the past, but I want to bring some of that energy, that ebullience if you will, into the present. I’ll share the past with you now, brought to you by me as a freshman and taken from a friends-only LiveJournal entry written on February 13,…

A Project From Now Until Whenever

Posted on January 16th, 2012

Project #2005.001: Explore Seoul Instead of coming up with goals or resolutions for the New Year, in November (or perhaps December) I created projects on which to focus. One of them is exploring Seoul. I bought a map for this. But I haven’t figured out how to go about the whole thing. All I know for sure is that I’d like to explore. Considered Methods for Exploration: throwing things at maps and going where the improvised projectiles land; using my guidebook (서울에 취하다 Mad for Seoul) to guide me; pointing to a location on a digital/subway/random Google/Naver map after spinning in circles; using a generator to select random geographic coordinate points in Seoul A mixture of all methods sounds impractical, but fun (so I’ll…

What Are You Reading?

Posted on December 2nd, 2011

  • book-bambert
  • book-iq84
  • book-mockingbird

These are some of the books I’m currently reading. They’re alright. :)

  • Bambert’s Book of Missing Stories. In three words: strange and bitter.
  • To Kill a Mockingbird. I’m reading this again. It won the Pulitzer Prize, ♥. I like it.
  • IQ84. I have no idea because I’m moving through it at a glacial pace. I’m on page 22 of about 1,000. This is my first time reading Murakami.

So, anyway—since I read a lot and am viciously opinionated about this kind of thing, here’s a list of 10 of my favorite books. They’re not ordered. I’m also keeping my descriptions to a minimum. I don’t want this to turn into an exercise in fangirling.

list 10 favorites

From the titles above, a few things about my reading preferences become clear.

ONE.I like stories that involve writing and books. Ella Minnow Pea and Dangerous Acquaintances are epistolary novels. People of the Book is about a book as its title suggests. :P

TWO. I like confusing things. See Faulkner, Ella Minnow Pea, and 1984.

THREE. I don’t follow guidelines. I said that I would list 10 books, but Faulkner isn’t a book. Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice are also two different things. Whatever. :D

I’m contemplating using goodreads or shelfari to keep better track of what I read and when, but I’m not sure if using one of those will be worth it.

Feel free to comment with 10 of your favorite books and/or suggestions. If you suggest something, I may get to it in 5 years. 5 years is a long time, but I’ve found that I generally do get around to reading things people suggest. It just takes time. I’m interested in reading books written in French, Japanese, and Korean too. However, if you suggest one of those, the expected completion time increases to about 15 years. :) I’m busy!

Things I Like 001: My Bike ♥

Posted on November 18th, 2011

Some time on Friday was spent riding, traveling roads I’ve never been, and kind of getting lost. (Getting lost is part of the fun.) I’ve had my bike for a few months and whenever I go out I have a destination in mind, but I can’t definitively say that I’ve ever made it to one of them. Reasons for that vary. The map that I glanced at before heading out gets muddled in my mind; I get sidetracked; the sun sets and I abandon course. 2/3 in jest and 1/3 in justification of my inability to get to places I’ve designated as destinations, let me hit you up with a cliché. Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing…