MONDAY

I’m so proud of the two plants I managed to overwinter in the bathroom, and they’re really thriving now back on the patio.

Actual Vacation Day #1. Do Nothing. Eat. Read. Watch shows.

TUESDAY

I may or may not have spent the ENTIRE day on the computer (except for deli and bank runs). This may seem like a big time-waster, but a) I enjoy it, so it’s a recreational activity for me, b) I get lots of inspiration for things just browsing around and going down rabbit-holes, c) I’m Doing Research for the Blog (yep), and d) I really don’t do this much during a normal week, not to this extent anyway. Vacation weeks are when I end up with a million tabs open AND browse around the personal ad sites.

Anyway, cuz if it was ME, I’d be asking, “ooh, whatcha doin? what ARE all those open tabs?”

  • Tumbler account re BL dramas
  • Several tabs researching topic for blog post
  • Fashion Schlub dashboard
  • Article re BTS speaking at UN in NY in September
  • Twitter: downloading song Yoongi (BTS) wrote/produced for the new Samsung phone campaign
  • Forbes article re Most Popular Tweet of 2019: guess who??
  • 90dayskorean.com for refresher on numbers and counting in Korean
  • PicMonkey (it’s where I make collages, like blog headers)
  • Metro.style article about top Korean actors who have played gay characters
  • 90daykorean.com “getting an apartment in Korea”
  • Investopedia.com “receiving social security benefits abroad”
  • Reuters.com analysis of retirees (Korean) in South Korea
  • Two tabs of Google Korean won to US dollars calculation
  • English.visitseoul.net “where was ‘One Spring Night’ (a favorite kdrama w Jung Hae In) filmed?”
  • VisitSeoul Instagram account
  • Reddit thread re getting jobs teaching English online
  • International Tefl academy.com re requirements to teach English online
  • Genius.com romanized lyrics of Stray Kids (kpop band) song “B Me”
  • Airbnb housing in Yongsan-Gu South Korea
  • Trivago.com Cheap hotels in NYC
  • Booking.com same as above
  • Wikipedia list of districts in Seoul, S Korea and their characteristics
  • Amazon plus size black bomber jacket search
  • MyDramaList.com (Asian dramas), this is where I save, score, review all the dramas I HAVE watched and plan to watch. Because I’m a lunatic.
  • Envimedia.com re Jungkook’s (BTS) birthday V-Live breaking all kinds of internet records. It had over 20 MILLION viewers over the 2.5hour live and got over 2 BILLION likes in the same time frame
  • YouTube me REwatching (see above), this time with English subtitles. To be fair I only watched the actual live while it was live (w no subtitles) for about 45 minutes. I FORCED myself to turn it off as I KNEW I would be watching the whole thing again later WITH subtitles
That’s a lotta tabs for me! A LOT a lot. I can’t usually live like that…but just one thing led to another and…
OH Let me just bore you for one more moment about Jungkook’s birthday live. Earlier in the day he had posted asking Army to send him birthday wishes in the form of song lyrics. Then what he did live, like during the actual live, was pull out some of those birthday wishes and he turned them into an actual song as we watched. Just the concept of it was so lovely and watching the process was kind of amazing and in the end he had this lovely song that now we all want on our Spotify, ha.

WEDNESDAY

September 1! First day of the month activities: replace kitchen sponge and change lockscreen on phone. It’s a big day.

I’d had plans today to see the interactive Van Gogh exhibit today but the friend I was going with hurt her eye and they scheduled her surgery for today (ouch) so we got vouchers for our tickets and will go another time. Just as well cuz it’s rainy and yucky out.

And today’s BIG NEWS: it was just announced that there will be a Season Two of BTS: In the Soop! If you haven’t been paying attention (haha), the 2020 BTS “variety” series “In the Soop” was only like THE GREATEST SERIES OF ALL TIME. Ha. In the Soop was an 8-episode series showing BTS “somewhere in between their regular daily lives and leisure.” Which meant it was only minimally directed and they only had cameras on for part of the day. And they weren’t “working.” They were relaxing, cooking, fishing, painting, reading, having conversations…just being “7 normal boys from South Korea” ( ~ Kim Namjoon). It was…the most wholesome, relaxing, charming, laugh-cry-inducing, comforting thing I have ever seen.

But here’s the glitch for me. The original was SO SO GOOD. So now expectations are SO HIGH for Season 2. Can it POSSIBLY live up to our (me and the other 40million Army) expectations?? Or is it going to resoundingly disappoint like the sequel to “I Told Sunset About You” ??

First Korean class of the semester was tonight. OOfah. He started off with a bang. As much as I’ve been using the language apps and a website I subscribed to, I never really reviewed the textbook much…and the whole first class was review from the last class and we were all like DUHHH. Ha. At least it wasn’t just me. None of the study-group people from last time are in this class, so I’ll have to ask if anyone wants to do one together for this class.

Oh god, engagement.

THURSDAY

 

Leaky.

This has been a weird week. I had plans Sunday that fell through. I had plans for Wednesday that got rescheduled. I had plans for Thur-Fri that will have to be rescheduled.

PS – we had the outer edges of Hurricane Ida here, hard rain for a long time, heavy winds. But I live high up so no damage other than my car roof leaking AGAIN, soaking the driver’s seat, floor, etc. Ugh. I can’t figure out where it’s coming from! It was cool, dry and breezy yesterday so I left the windows open all day (normally the armies of microsquitoes prohibit that) with a glass of vinegar in the car. I’ll see today if that helped at all. But I’ll have to figure out some way to prevent that in the future. Would help if I could figure out how it’s getting in.

Anyway, piddled in the apartment all day. I HAVE been doing some tiny cleaning projects. And the tiny projects do start to add up. It’s A Good Thing. I tried on a bunch of clothes – things I just haven’t been wearing…to see if there’s really a reason or if it’s just all in my head. Turns out for most of them the reason is that in my head, I just don’t like wearing them. There’s nothing WRONG with them, but I no longer like the style, etc. So, the “sell” pile keeps getting bigger and bigger. And I never do anything about it.

OH. The big news is…I Opened the Windows. Ha ha. LIVING LARGE. I haven’t opened the windows since JUNE. Remember the BUGS?? Ugh. Anyway, it was so cool and dry and breezy it just seemed…wrong…to not get some fresh air. I did find a gap in one screen and hopefully got that sorted out. It was nice having AIR. And hearing SOUNDS.

Wow. This post is…just…BAD. I’ll have to start making stuff up. Ha. See if you guys can even figure it out. Like Two Truths & A Lie 🙂

FRIDAY

An unusual taste sensation. I think it would make a REALLY good float with some ice cream in it. Next time. Plus, now I want a red+brown plaid shirt.

Pass. Ha ha.

SATURDAY

HEY GROCERY STORE! IT’S TOO EARLY FOR THIS!

STUDYING. STUDYING. STUDYING. I’m such a bad learner. Ugh. My headstone may say “Geunyeoneun nappeun baeuyeossjiman eojjaessdeun haenaess-eo.” Translation: She was a bad learner…but she did it anyway. Ha Ha.

I have so many ideas for headstones. Do other people think like that? I know I have weird death…things. Yesterday’s was, “She never took care of anything but she still managed to live to ___ (insert death age here).” Cuz I never take care of things. I don’t mean like animals or plants. I mean like…getting a passport, having my car inspected, paying traffic tickets, going to the doctor, etc. All those adulty things other people just do cuz…you’re supposed to. Not me. Nope. 

SUNDAY

Too many humans, not enuf souls.

ANNNND, SHE’S’A MY BIRTHDAY! I’m 61. Turning 60 felt much more exciting.

My friend and I went into Brooklyn for brunch then just sort of drifted around from place to place. I wanted an easy day…and it kept drizzling and threatening to rain, so there were no BIG plans, but that’s really all I wanted.

The day was a comedy of errors, sort of a who’s who of “what can go wrong WILL go wrong.” Had an embarrassing “I’m an idiot” moment with the waitress at brunch AND left my cell phone in the bathroom when we left (two separate events). My camera stopped working (and I’d planned a whole Brooklyn birthday shoot) and that always freaks me out. I had a flat tire (so what else is new?). When I got home, my cell phone tripod that I use daily for TikTok videos broke.

HEY UNIVERSE! CUT ME SOME SLACK, WOULD’JA? IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!!!

Hope the day is not setting the tone for the coming year cuz…I’ve been doing pretty well for the past two years and I’d hate to think THAT was over.

On the bright side…we WERE in Brooklyn, which I always love…I got to see people…feel that energy…see some good style…had beignets and whimsical ice creams from a place I’ve been wanting to go to for YEARS…we had some laughs…FaceTimed with Katie…and oh yeah, later that evening my camera was like, “yeah. i’m working, what, did you think I wasn’t working??” ARGH.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I guess my “taking the rest of August off” break is over. I’ve been working on a new series about styling the colors of fall…and have a couple “Inspired by” posts started…and can start to shoot outfits again if the weather will cooperate. Is there anything in particular y’all would like to see?

WHAT I’M READING

Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It. I’m working my way through this as part of a “Korean learners” study group I’m in on a kpop Discord.

WHAT I’M WATCHING

After watching, and really enjoying, a k-drama called “Youth of May,” about two people falling in love against the backdrop of the Gwangju Uprising in 1980, I’ve been watching documentaries about that event in South Korea. That period of the country’s history is also playing a part in an upcoming Jung Hae-In (my favorite actor) drama called Snowdrop, which has been very controversial as people are still very sensitive about that time period. But I want to understand better what happened. I have a hard enough time understanding history (like political and…war?) as it is, and when trying to learn about a foreign country’s history it’s even more challenging as I have no real frame of context. Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? I DUNNO! But I’m trying.

Another week (and year) down…how many to go? Who knows. Would you want to know?? How long you have left? I would. I feel like I could plan and prioritize so much better. Which seems odd for someone who refuses to watch spoilers or previews cuz I DON’T WANT TO KNOW WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN TIL IT HAPPENS! At least in books and shows/movies.