Today is Buddha's Birthday, and, coincidentally, Parent's Day (Buddha's Birthday goes by the lunar calendar and happened to fall on Parent's Day this year). Monday was Children's Day, so it all balances out...

Stayed up VERY late last night, hunched over the computer reading the blog of someone who seems much cooler and a better writer than I am. I know when blogs suck -- I'm pretty sure that the vast majority on blogger.com, for example, are crappy -- but I also know when a blog is well-written and interesting. Except mine. I mean, I don't know if this blog is interesting or well-written. I suppose it has some interesting parts, but which ones? And are they really well-written, or are they just crap?

Ech.

I started working on the final book for the educational institution here. It's going to include stories and literature, so hopefully it will be a tad easier than the American culture book. The first lesson consists of a Korean folktale, translated into English. My editor said I could either translate it myself or find an English translation. Translate it myself, huh? Hah! Dream on. I trolled around on the net for a while and found some translations, but I'm a little worried that they're not authentic Korean tales. Oh well. I guess it don't much matter -- the kids are supposed to be learning English, and they can do that from a fake story as well as they can from an authentic one.

I've been smoking a cigarette a day, which reminds me of RG's New Haven summer fling. He told me he stuck to one a day, no more and no less, and that it was so satisfying to have that single cig. I gotta agree. Today, though, I was smoking on the steps, as usual, looking outside the window, when I saw my dad's car parked on the street and heard someone coming up the stairs. Hm, should I hide this cigarette and pretend I don't smoke? I thought to myself. He already knows you smoke, you moron, I answered myself. Besides, you don't think the smell is going to give you away?

So I casually greeted my dad as he came up the stairs, and he stopped and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Smokin'."
"Give me one."

Heh.
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Listening to: Nina Simone, who died last month. She was a controversial figure, that much I know, but I never got around to finding out exactly why. She was one of the many fine musicians I was exposed to during my four years working parttime at Olssons Books and Records in DC. One of the songs on the CD is "I Want Some Sugar In My Bowl." When I made Junebug listened to it a couple years back, she sighed, "Yeah, I could use some sugar in my bowl too."

Reading: fairy tales.

Wondering: What the hell I'm going to do for Mother's Day, which took me by surprise this year, as it's not celebrated here. Parent's Day and Children's Day are not heavily commercialized in Korea, so I don't have any ideas. I figure I'll just call and take my time getting actual gifts. Maybe I'll just send cash. I don't like knicknacks -- I prefer gifts that are useful, both as a giver and as a receiver, or highly personal (BC, I'm still loving my Wide Gauge compilation!) or funny (Peeps! Peeps!). I've always thought a basic toolset would be a great gift for women. Huh. Think my mom would like a hammer? Or a flashlight? Christ, I hate Hallmark holidays.