July 16th, 2007

I've been home from South Korea for 7 weeks now. During this time I have done much and very little at the same time. I heard that any big life decision can be broken down into a series of smaller and easily envisioned choices that all lead towards a larger goal. At this point I feel as if the series of smaller choices I have made over the past couple of months are leading me only into a larger and less easily perceived series of moves. Like a chess player whose every victory allows him to make but one move on a much larger board.

Since I've been home, I've decided to go back to undergrad and work my GPA up to something that'll not make noses wrinkle up. I registered as a full time student. I also bought a car, got an apartment settled into which I'll move in a few weeks. in between these moves, I've done a lot of smaller things such as buying furniture and supplies, moving around old stuff in storage, re-packing dishes, borrowing a roof rack from my dad, buying bungee chords and taking the chicken salad over the egg.

It's all closely tied together.

Where is this all going? This question both exhilarates and terrifies me. From a broader perspective, I can see that I have set myself to live in London and go to school for at least the next 2 - ? years. What am I going to do in school? I doing the coursework to get into Teacher's College and to get into graduate program with the philosophy department. One direction will lead me back into a teaching career here in Ontario, the other will be a longer road to possible post graduate work and then...

I like those "and then..."s

There is something about going after a Phd that is intoxicating to me, it is the pinnacle of our education system and the farthest one can go in terms of knowledge acquisition in an institutionalized sense. I imagine upon achieving this chalice, I will face an even greater chess board, full of freedom and endless moves to be made in the pursuit of knowledge.

Anyway, back from the deep end. Teacher's college is also very appealing to. Teaching is what I do, it is not a matter of how well I do it or whether I like it or not. It is just something I have done for long enough that it is a part of me.

"Ends" and "means"; these words are beginning to sink into unintelligible ambiguity. There is not "end", using these "means" to get yourself somewhere? Isn't that "somewhere", that "end", just another means to something else. Aren't the two intrinsically the same?

You have time climb the mountain to get to the top

Isn't the mountain a means to itself here?

Maybe I had better get the egg salad next time.

Rock of Ages

This is the next big thing right here. The viruosity of Vai and the tempered range of a young Jeff Beck mixed in with a stage presence that makes even Gene Simmons's jaw drop.

Finally, the guitar world has a new hero to look up to. No more half assed punk hacks who are afraid of the treble pick-up, no more fringe shredders who have to hide under fried chicken buckets.

At last, notes that cut through crowded ampitheaters like a fine ginsu knife slices through pickled cabbages. Riffs that rumble the sternums of the tone deaf! Can I hear a OH YEAH!



he's also my nephew...ain't he cute?

11 King Kongs

There they are, my iBT2 class... the KK11 or the 11 king kongs as they called themselves. Possibly the greatest class in the universe. There were times when I would just sit and watch them go at it...bantering back and forth to each other, gossiping about their schools and other students, or arguing about something or other. The weird thing was that would do it entirely in English.

They are (clockwise from the top) Kayla, Joo Hyun, Lucy, Vivien, Tomato, Su Kyung (ASK), Yu Jin, Soo Kyung (KSK), Anne (Soo Hyun), Zacharias, Jake, and Charlie. Each one of them a hardened veteran of the TOEFL test, a crack squat of iBT commandos ready to mercilessly destroy any and all essay questions they encounter, and still have time to sleep off the remaining 10 minutes of the alloted time.

Shameless...

It has been a busy month! I returned from Korea almost 4 weeks ago. Since then, I have travelled around Ontario and the US and visited friends and family. I have enrolled for full time studies at Western with the aim of getting into grad school or teacher's college. But more importantly... I own a car

Yes, a new car...

One that is timely, stylish, graceful... ready to pounce like a tiger, yet soft and yielding like a nerf ball.

A car that is colored "phantom" grey, that has 16' alloy rims and mud guards. A car that has four seats... and a steering wheel.

A car that lets me get into and go! Anywhere!

The car owner's laziness is already becoming a battle for me. I found myself in a strip mall parking lot the other week; driving to different spots close the stores I needed to hit. I parked three times!!


Shameless.