For Squid!!!

Squids! I wanted to take an axe to the stand so I could bring you back the squid cartoons, but I think it would be best if I avoided criminal charges while I'm here in Asia.

So instead, in defending the honor and longevity of Squid, and squid, in the midst of fried squid stand hostility, I decided to douse the place in gasoline and lay waste to their malicious hopes and ambitions.


Remember how I was trying to explain to you the craziness of Asian photography? Well here it is. Entire stores are dedicated to these photo booths, as well as their little picture-augmenting devices of death.
Sweet hats. Even though I didn't sport any, I knew you'd love them. He's a good kid, Kaitlin, he just doesn't know who he is and HE'S SICK OF ALL THESE EXPECTATIONS!

But no seriously his mom used a translator to explain to me how she was sick of his pubescent attitude. Thankfully we're friends and I can usually get him out of it.

Magic!

Unfortunately the camera sucks (or I suck at operating a shitty camera) and I couldn't get a good photo, but just to give you a general idea of what was going on. One of many moments in my life where I truly, honestly, 100% wished I could trade anything to have you by my side even if just for a moment.

With that, I can conclude the Korean-adventure section of my blog post and move into more introspective and perceptively weighty discussion.

It is not something I consider light, or use freely, but I do indeed love you. I loved you for a long time, as I do now. I feel it's important to identify this love as something that has been uniquely constructed out of our experiences and developments together, our chaotic voids and nurturing groves.

It isn't easy for me to rightly address a subject that tends to elude my sometimes unfocused lens, but I want to attempt to depict my thoughts for you, even if it's just a glimpse of something too enigmatic for me.

There's nothing more important to me then for you to be happy. When I bond myself to someone, like I have to you, the relationship is potent enough for me to feel your pulse, to see into your eyes and live what I see. Your pain is my pain, and your love is mine as well.

But I also want us to be in love. I think something that escaped me last time, and something I'm very hesitant and embarrassed to admit, was that I was still afraid to be in love. I didn't want to open myself up again only to be let down. But views being what they're worth, I feel that there is no other avenue than for me to love you with everything I've got, even if it means the discretion is yours to lay waste to my heart.

Your thoughts?

Happy Summer Solstice!

Happy first day of summer!
I realize that yesterday was the first day of summer for you way away in the future, but here it is a lovely 55 degrees and cloudy to commemorate our transition into the season of heat and sunshine. Oh, Laramie. You have to love it!
Every Summer Solstice I think about my eighth grade English teacher, Mr. Bland. Isn't that a great name for a middle school teacher? Besides the fact that he was very not bland, in fact he was a great teacher. It was in his class that I was introduced to Orson Scott Card and first read Ender's Game. I also remember that he had two fake front teeth that were really old school and drilled into his palate. As I recall, they were knocked out in a pickup hockey game; this was Alaska after all.
But the reason I think about Mr. Bland is because today is his wedding anniversary. I remember this because my friends and I had a podunk string quartet called the Klassical Kortet (because all of our names either started with a K or C; pretty clever of us, eh?) that played various events around Greuning Middle School. Mr. Bland being a low-key hippie apparently, asked us to play the processional in his wedding ceremony. He must be a really cool, laid back guy, or just plain lazy. But at any rate, we agreed and it was actually quite a beautiful ceremony. It was probably the cheapest wedding in history, which I actually think is to be admired. Sure, your wedding is something that is supposed to be special and memorable, but can't you do that pretty easily without throwing down thousands of dollars?
Interesting fact: anyone in Alaska can marry two people once without being ordained, for free. So that was one way they saved money, having his brother marry them. They also decided to hold the ceremony with everyone standing, in a national park. They didn't have to pay anything, someone just ran up there earlier in the day and kind of claimed the spot. Then have a middle school string quartet provide the music and pay them in giftcards to Blockbuster and Cold Stone (which we were not expecting anyway) and voila!
So yes, I always think of them on June 21st. I wonder how their marriage is going so far. I was thinking, that had to be eight or nine years ago. I hope they are still living happily and simply.

You know what I have thought about? I never really told you a whole lot about my trip to New Zealand. It was before I met you and all, but I think you will probably discover on your trip that traveling thousands of miles away from your comfort zone completely by yourself for an extended period of time can really change you. My trip to New Zealand really did change my life. I credit New Zealand with teaching me how to break out of my shell. I learned a lot about my interactions with people, and how generally I was making relationships with people harder than they had to be. Before I left I was pretty depressed. I had just been dumped by my boyfriend, was constantly battling with my mother, and was lonely in general. When I came back, I was ready to make the most out of life. Without my new found life skills I don't know if I ever would have persued you the way I did; then where would I be?

Here I am skydiving. Note the ocean below me. I am so hardcore.

I really want to do new things with you. I always have, but now I think we are ready. Or kind of ready. We still need to finish school and stuff, but that really won't take very long. I want to go on a roadtrip with you (very do-able). I want to travel more with you. We can go back to Europe and ride around on the Eurorail. Or go to Africa or South America because neither of us have ever been there before. I hope you want to do those things with me too. I have a feeling you might. I actually get really excited thinking about it. Plus, I think your idea to build a hot air balloon in a house and travel to space is brilliant. Just a question, when you picture this hot air balloon, is it red? Because I always think of a bright red balloon. Could it be any other way?

I impatiently await more tales of your new adventures.

Te amo.

No Monkeys Allowed!

To taint a sacred blog with the filth of halamonkey is blasphemy! You are condemned to have your eyes removed, your teeth pulled and your tummy hair plucked!

I'd still think you were pretty cute though, even with a smooth under-bellybutton.

Now that the important stuff is out of the way, here's some softcore pornography for your voyeuristic pleasure:




We're pregnant! I figure I'd tell you know so that you would have adequate time to prepare the baby's room, even though it would have been fun to surprise you.

I'm so happy it's the weekend! I'll get plenty of time to talk to you and write you emails and purchase internet kisses for a set puppy-currency fee.

This is that charcoal grill I was telling you about! That's one of my students with his father. They're relatives of the family I'm living with. That was some tasty ass pork though, god damn.



Since I decided to use that picture in my blog, I'll add another little gem that I would have deleted if I didn't know it would make you laugh:

I never knew I could look so creepy. I mean, unphotogenic yes, but damn. Just damn.

That's my other student. She's really nice, not that good at English, and I consistently hear about how she has a crush on me. Of course it's a crush on an older foreigner who is obligated to spend time with her, but it's funny nonetheless.

It's weird getting settled in.. so far it has only seemed like a vacation experience almost, and less like I'm going to be actually living here for a month. I'm sure that here soon that will become more realistic though, and time will fly. But I'm seriously going to be rich when I get back. We should buy a house together. And fill it with a hot air balloon. And travel into space.

Forever.

I love you!

Daily Mullings

Are there monkeys in Korea? I'm assuming there aren't any chimpanzees or baboons are anything, but what about actual monkeys. You heard about that attack in February where a chimp ate a lady's face off, right? I always thought the only reason I had to be afraid of these vicious beasts was because they'd eat your penis. But now I have to worry about my face too? Fuck this! What if they discover tasty, delicious meowlazers? I just feel paranoid now.

Maybe I'm Amazed. . .

You're absolutely spectacular, Malicestory, and I think your contribution to the internets is going to have an everlasting impact. This blog is so nice! I can't seem to get mine to work how I want it, but then again, I haven't had much time to mess with settings. I'm behind on posting up on everything I've done.

But, more importantly:Hedgehogs!

120,000 won is about 120 in real money.
I don't know why they were selling them, and it was as strange to my host-brother and his friend as it was to me.

But one thing I knew for sure.

I wanted one.

Look what I did.

let's dance in style
let's dance for a while
heaven can wait
we're only watching the skies
hoping for the best
but expecting the worst
are you gonna drop the bomb or not?
let us die young
let us live forever
don't have the power
but we never say never
sitting in the sand pit
life is a short trip
music's for the sad men

If you were here right now you could take a lovely nap with me. I was thinking this would about be what you would see. I was tempted to give you a drooling one (as that might be a little more accurate) but I figured I still wanted to look somewhat attractive. Hell if I care what I look like when you're actually here, but the distance thing just makes it worse.






Guess what I just learned about being a pack rat. It makes one a winner in every possible way.

Our anniversary is September 20th.

Can we watch Fail Safe and speak in Russian accents?

Earnestly and lovingly,
Malicestory