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Thursday, June 25, 2009

I'm broke as the Ten Commandments / Sometimes I'm harder to follow

Let it be said that after about 7 months of vagabondage, I am now about 85% of the way back to being employed again. This is because I went up to DC today to apply for a visa so that I can go return to Korea to work a summer camp. Thus, barring any horrific failure to obtain a visa, I should be back in Asia and playing tricks on little kids again by mid-July. Still no sweet high-paying, long-vacation-giving, little-work-requiring university gig, but sooner or later, that'll come.

On to my point: I must say that my few months back in the USA have been an unmitigated success. I saw most of the branches of my family kudzu and I may just have managed to spend time with all of my friends, with the exception of two living in Europe, whom I graced with my presence back in '07. (If you are a friend I didn't visit, feel free to insert an "almost" into the previous sentence in whatever place would make it least insulting.) The experience of checking up on and hanging out with everyone has occasioned in me some very serious thoughts about the nature of friendship and distance and love and life and cuddly puppies. Allow me to quote a certain Todd Snider:

You know,
If I ever do get my money together,
I'm gon' take care of all my friends
Gon' buy an island, run a phone line, call 'em
Tell 'em all to get fu**ed
Oh! That oughtta take care of them.
Just be me and my money.

It's hilarious when you hear it, I swear.

In case you were wondering, the humor here is an example of a paraprosdokian , or perhaps of syllepsis. But knowing this doesn't make it any funnier. In fact, it makes it less entertaining.

11 comments:

Couldn't Be a Nietzsche Reference said...

This kind of syllepsis may become solipsis, M.

Did you know that South Korea will not see the total solar eclipse on July 22? Still the longest of the 21st century, not so far away as a fuck all your friends island it will be visible.

Mike said...

Hey, there's no way of telling what those asterisks stood for. S*imes I even use one asterisk to stand for more than one letter. Maybe it was a sneaky compliment, like "tell 'em all to get fun time with me and, just for a few days, they could let their woes be abandoned" ? Nobody should take umbrage. (<---solar eclipse pun).


Speaking of which, what you said about SoKo missing the eclipse nearly broke my heart - that is, until I read the NASA page (http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEmono/TSE2009/TSE2009.html) showing that I'll still get to see a partial eclipse sometime between 8 and 9 AM.

Chris Buchman said...

나도 삐졌다! 하얀 새끼야! I don't think anyone who's not in Asia or floating in a boat in the pacific somewhere will see the eclipse, am I wrong?

Mike said...

크,

나도 오랫동안 "삐지다"란 단어 많이 썼는데 한 번 사전에 찾아 봤으니 "삐치다"이네! 그래도 발음은 ㅈ 이지.

And according the NASA map, you're right about the eclipse. I think it starts in India and ends in Micronesia or something. Eat that, Western Hemisphere.

once puked in a drawer said...

god a solar eclipse does sound delicious...

Mike said...

mmm...solar eclair.

RIP billy mays said...

the burning hydrogen at the center is the best part...esp with the chocolate on top

Unamiga said...

I was never intent on bringing you down. In fact, try this to lift you up:

myspace.com/prisonersmusic

Encanalan la luz, la Fuente.

Laura said...

HA!

As soon as you get that sweet university job with summers off, bobby and I can come out to backpack around asia with you.

They come in 3s said...

I like the post's title. Well played.

Mike said...

Unfortunately, I can't lay claim to the title. It's from the same Todd Snider song, which I (hereby) recommend.