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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.