Feeling better about the thing I mentioned Monday, after a talk and an email with the person who has the decision to make. I'm praying that the person will keep trying.

Life has settled into a rather tame routine as of late. Two months ago I was staying up til dawn and sleeping at various men's houses and drinking tons of beer, but now I go to work, study or relax in the afternoons, and go to taekwondo class at night. I don't mind. Variety is good. Plus, losing my beer gut in time for bridesmaid duty would be nice. I don't know why I'm all het up about looking good for One-Armed Maggie's wedding, but I am.

The cicadas are deafening but cheery. The Korean name for them is meh-mee. My dad says it's because Koreans think the sound of the cicada sounds similar to meeeeh-mee, meeeeh-mee. Well, it's closer to the actual sound than "cicada," I guess.

It's funny how the same sounds are interpreted so differently in Korean. Americans think dogs go "Woof woof" or "bow wow" or "roof roof" or "arf arf." Koreans think dogs go "mong mong," and the Korean equivalent of "doggie" is "mong-mong-i." The cat sound is pretty similar in both English ("meow") and Korean ("ee-aoung") -- I'd say the Korean is more exact. But the frog's voice is where we part paths -- whereas Americans replicate it as "ribbit ribbit," Koreans write the sound as "geh-gool geh-gool."

The weather is much more bearable this week than last, or the two weeks before that. It's still hot and humid, just not nearly as uncomfortable as before. It almost seems like fall is on its way. I don't trust it though. I'm convinced that the stifling humidity is just around the corner, waiting to pounce.

A shout out and special thanks to D for being the first person to sign into the guestbook. Now that all the cool kids are doing it, don't you want to do it too?