Dear Scene Girl,

Dear Scene Girl on the Orange Line to Vienna around 3pm last Wednesday,

I was napping on the train when you got on, but when you sat in front of me I noticed immediately.

I think scenesters are reasonably gutsy for exercising their freedom of expression to their utmost, and I applaud you for that. But you playing your music obnoxiously loud that it assaults innocent bystanders is fucking unacceptable.

I'll be honest. I have no clue what scene you're a part of, but making me listen to the bass line and those rapped lyrics that became indecipherable as they reverberate through your skull is not helping me warm up to it. Whatever it is.

When I woke up from my nap to your ridiculously loud music leaking from your earbuds I thought you were Asian as your hair was that particular shade of brown the Asian girls go for. I thought maybe you were Indian with a killer straight perm, but it turns out you're just white. Anyway, nice hair. And your leather jacket was cool, I guess.

And, gawd, please use less perfume. A lot of things are still good in moderation.

Turn down the volume.

Use less perfume.

Thanks,
Girls who sat behind you on the Orange Line train to Vienna 3pm-ish last Wednesday.

Technologic

I was working on one of my newest drawing projects yesterday, and I was relying heavily on Google's image search for references as I am apt to do. While I was doing this, it just hit me that I live in a day and age where information and resources are abundant and easily accessible through the marvel that is the internet. As I was being amazed by and grateful for that fact, I was suddenly awestruck by the realization that it wasn't always the case.

My lights are blinking.

There are times when you hear a song and it immediately captures your imagination. 강아지 by 검정치마 (The Black Skirts) is one of those songs.

The melody is fun and rousing, and the English chorus is supremely catchy. But the thing that engaged my imagination was the fact that I couldn't really seem to simply wrap my head around what it was all about. The message wasn't abundantly clear.

Subsequently, I ended up listening to it again and again in an attempt to decipher the meaning behind the lyrics, because it just felt like there was something there, but I kept getting distracted by the mood and the flow of the song. It tricks you into mouthing the words without knowing what the bigger picture is.

Reunited with Love at First Sight

It's a wonder to think about the circumstances behind how a book enters your life and seemingly embeds itself in the fabric of your psyche. It's one thing to marvel at how a story enclosed within a book can resonates with you on a deep meaningful level, but it's another thing entirely to ponder how a book even begins to approach you, and I think that's what it does. It woos you.

First Impressions: 내게 거짓말을 해봐/Lie to Me

SBS's Monday/Tuesday romantic comedy 내게 거짓말을 해봐/Lie to Me starring the lovely Yoon Eun Hye and dashing Kang Ji Hwan is off with a bang. In this instantiation of the K-rom-com we've got ourselves a bud and an onion. Yoon Eun Hye's character Gong Ah Jung is the flower waiting to bloom and Kang Ji Hwan's Hyun Ki Joon is the onion waiting to be peeled.

Jostein Gaarder, Sophie's World

I started reading this book a while back, and I've only just finished it. I've been reading it on and off during my limited commutes on the metro. It's the first book I've finished reading in 2011. It's really unfortunate that I haven't been reading with the voracity that is befitting of a young, intelligent, knowledge-seeking woman, but what can one do when there are so many things that are worthy of time and attention?

When I first picked it up I found it to be easily engaging. The language is straightforward. The philosophical topics are also addressed in much the same way. I liked it for its simplicity and at the same time I was bored by it. Maybe it was because it's a translation, but the language is very flat. Dialogue is the predominate method of information transferral, and since it is dialogue it can only be as engaging as the characters and the topic. The characters were pretty normal and the topic more informative than dramatic. I guess I felt like I was missing a bit of linguistic dynamism. It definitely was not a piece of lyrical prose, and nor was it a fast plot driven story.

On the other hand, it was very informative as it was a history of philosophy, and there was a lot of material presented that made you think. At least it made me think, considering I am more of a fancier of philosophical thougth than the average passerby. At the end of it I think I learned a lot about what I want to learn more about. (Kierkegaard's philosophies as well as the existentialist philosophies of Marx and Sartre in particular piqued my interest.) All in all, Sophie's World was a fairly enjoyable read and very informative. I would recommend.

First Impressions: 최고의 사랑/The Greatest Love

MBC's new Hong Sisters' drama, 최고의 사랑/The Greatest Love?
I really really want to like this drama.

Gong Hyo Jin?
I love Gong Hyo Jin.

Cha Seung Won?
I love Cha Seung Won.

I want to like it, but we're just not hitting it off.

Now, I've only seen the first episode, but, gawd, there's just no pull. I got to the end of the first episode and I felt really no compulsion to move onto the next even while it was at my disposal. I instead chose to play Mario Kart on my DS.

That isn't to say that the episode was totally void of entertainment. There were plenty of parts that were fun and funny. It was light and comedic in classic Hong Sisters style, but I think that's the problem. I'm just not a big fan of the Hong Sisters' work.

I've only watched and enjoyed two Hong Sisters' dramas, 쾌걸 춘양 and My Girl, and that was back in 2005. One during the last part of my senior year in high school, and the other during the first part of my freshman year in college. So those two dramas do hold a prominent place in my mind and memories, and that might in part be the problem. That mood so indicative of a Hong Sisters' drama is so tightly associated with my youth that it's hard to enjoy it now, given that I feel like I've "grown up" and moved passed it. It's like thinking back on your high school self and cringing at all those things you thought and felt were cool, knowing that they just don't work for you in your present grown-up situation. That's how I feel about the Hong Sisters' dramas.

I mean, I couldn't even watch Gumiho for Shin Min Ah, and I love Shin Min Ah

Hong Sisters aside, I'm just not feeling the premise of the show. A fake marriage reality show? A spoof of 우결. I really really don't like that show. I find it almost unbearable. To go meta with that... I just don't think I can handle that kind of shit. I can't. I can't. I can't. Even thinking about it makes me want to scream.

So, I know this drama will do great with the audiences as it is a Hong Sisters work, but I'm not sure I'll be watching it. I'll try the next episode sometime this weekend and we'll see what happens, but I have serious doubts about being willing or able to keep with this one.