1.18.98

Raising Arizona is on TV right now. The TV is not in the same room as the computer. I hate this set up. But I love that movie. Been lovin’ it since Harbo introduced it to me way back when. We always used to chant: "He was especially hard on the little things." See, it’s in my LD pile. (Sorry too tired to put in a NAME attribute; you’ll have to scroll). Nick Cage…he’s one of my favorites. I can even overlook his decision to do The Rock. Oo, and Holly Hunter too. "Son, you got a panty on yer head." Hahahaa! It never gets old. What I had all cooked up for yesterday didn’t pan out. An acquaintence of mine, Eddi, told me she volunteers at an orphanage here in Seoul. She said that something like 30 babies lie in cribs with only 1 or 2 people to tend to them. They need people to just come in and hold them. Ahh, so sad! I thought I had time on my hands, love to give, and I really should get my butt in there and hold some babies. Nevermind that I’m terrified of them. I’ve scarcely even held one in my whole life! And believe me, I’ve never even entertained the thought of changing a diaper. Ew. Grow up! Stupid reasons not to go. So yesterday I rode the train for way too long to meet Eddi. We walked over to the place and found that it was packed, not only with babies but women holding them. Seems it’s still winter break for college students and they’re all volunteering now. The doctor/nurse there told Eddi to come back in March. What’s this crap about turning away free help? I’d think they’d be hanging on to all the volunteers they could get. Even if they couldn’t use us that day they could’ve told us to come back sooner. I did get to look in the room with the babies. There were so many! Not enough crib space, so some were lying on blankets on the floor underneath the cribs. Eddi says they're adopted out pretty quickly to foreign couples. Adoption is not something Koreans do - it's that whole bloodline thing they cling to. I came home. Long train ride made shorter by two young guys coppin’ a free English lesson from me most of the way. They were just hired by Samsung Automotive. Samsung will be manufacturing their first cars soon. As if Korea needed another manufacturer of cars. Sheesh! These two guys told me that the Samsung car beat out the Camry, the Maxima, and the Sonata in some kind of testing. So I asked about the Accord. Heh heh. Today was, like, bitterly cold. We went out to lunch and it was too freezing to wait for the bus so we went underground. Right now, even though the room is toasty, I feel occasional chilled breezes coming through the window behind the monitor; the little plastic Death Star dangling from the curtain-tie-holder is swaying in the cold current. My Korean Calendar says that BIG COLD (Taehan) is not supposed to start until Tuesday. Hmm, I’d say the weather is jumpin’ the gun a bit. Lunch was good and garlicky. Still tasting it at 11:42pm. Worked on the photo album I’m making. It’s much more labor-intensive than I would like. I mean, I can handle measuring, cutting, etc. What I dislike is having to use a small kitchen cutting board, a pen knife, and the coffee table. The table is too short so I’m always bending over it at some unnatural angle; the cutting board is hardly ever long enough (unless I’m making a small book); and the pen knife will only cut a few thin sheets at a time. OH - and the ruler sucks. I looked all over this place for a really hefty metal square ruler with cork backing. Couldn’t find one and had to settle on a really lame Japanese imported metal square that is really thin, narrow, and slippery. My books have a really homemade look to them. (Yeah, my eyes rolled when I wrote that). Time for bed.

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