Monday, May 4, 2009

In Which I Go Shopping

A big Thank You! to my friends who participated in the Tuttle Bailout Program, it didn't cost a trillion dollars (or even won) and your good deed has been writ large in the Book of Life. Be warned, though, that this won't get you into Heaven by itself.

Newly re-monitarized, I rolled out to Omokgyo Sta. to meet up with Karen and Patrick for budae jjigae at Nolboo. Always delicious. I showed up early and went through the Hyundai Department Store complex at the subway station, and ... bought a couple of books!

First, I will read a Kurt Vonnegut book I somehow missed when it came out in 1988, Bluebeard. I used to say Vonnegut is the greatest living American writer, but he's dead now, so I don't say that anymore.

Next I will make my way through Tracy Kidder's 2003 offering, Mountains Beyond Mountains, about Dr. Paul Farmer. I first read Kidder back in college, when I was assigned to read The Soul of a New Machine for a scriptwriting class. Next I read House, which makes the process of building a nice American home into a fascinating, even riveting, drama. Then came Among Schoolchildren, a year in the life of a fifth grade classroom. Kidder was the speaker at a teacher's conference I attended shortly after that one came out.

Together with my purchases, I sat in the square below, betwixt CBS (Korea's Christian Broadcasting System) and 41 Building, waiting for lunchtime, reading the opening chapters of Bluebeard. The weather was spectacular, as was the reading. As has happened everytime I've been by Omokgyo, numerous of my students from Young-il came over to tell me it was nice to meet me.


Blog News:
This is post #250, a milestone of sorts. And so it goes, as Vonnegut used to say.

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