Category Culture
Epic Delicacies of Korea
Since legends of my kindness are are told from the shimmering seas of Berlin west to the deserts of Brasilia, north to the snow capped peaks of Nebraska and South to the sweltering rainforests of Patagonia, since my genius shines benevolent inspiration upon physicist and taxidermist alike, since all men of women born sing […]
The Making of The Blackguard
I was 23 years-old when I sat down in a Starbucks in Sparks, Nevada, opened a notebook I’d stolen from the air conditioning wholesaler where I worked and wrote the first scene of what would become The Blackguard. From a broad, plot-centric point of view, The Blackguard covers an isolated community of white supremacists trying to fight […]
The John Galt, Zombie Hunter Fantasy
Let’s do a quick compare and contrast. I’ve got two hyper-famous basketball players in mind. Player A, from his highschool days on, has been known for teamwork. I don’t mean this in the sense of some nauseatingly inspirational cliche either, I mean there are articles by people with PhDs analyzing Player A’s abiding psychological […]
My Friends’ Wedding
Two of my best friends recently got married and, since I’m an irritating showboat writer and insufferable bore fairly frequent public speaker, I felt it necessary to speechify at the reception. Here, then, is the result of my best efforts to explain one of the healthiest, happiest relationships I’ve ever seen. In order to properly describe […]
Elected Dictators
Just seven years ago, we had a major push towards what was then called the Unitary Executive. This Bush era doctrine (actually older, but that’s not important for this discussion) holds that the president is entirely in control of all executive functions. It is, in essence, a way to undermine the separation of powers. Rove […]
Osama bin Laden, A Retrospective
I teach a class on English-American culture at Mokwon University. I wrote the textbook, I chose the topics, I designed the curriculum – this class is as much mine as any class can be. What’s interesting is that, even with all this design and predetermination, I learn something new almost every lecture. Today, my students […]
The Cave-beast
Most of us are civilized. We open doors for old people and self-deprecate so that everyone feels at ease. We drink whiskey on the rocks because it’s crude to drink from the bottle and always in moderation because it’s even less refined to lose control. We turn off lights in other people’s offices because we want […]
A Collaboration With “Unload and Unwind”
I had an interesting discussion with “Unload and Unwind’s” Jenni about social class. Let me know what you think. I said: “I am curious about your class. You said you identified mostly by social class – before anyway. How did you perceive people from the lower classes, particularly ambitious ones?” She said: “Sadly I didn’t perceive […]
Exuberance over Pretense, An Examination of 1Q84
I should say first that I would recommend this book to almost anybody. 1100 pages of I’m not sure what, but 1Q84’s endlessly entertaining, the pacing (somehow) works and the world building is masterful. Haruki Murikami’s imagination seems to operate in the same, fevered, delirious and warped way that normal people only experience while dreaming […]
What it Means to Be Weak
Korea is obsessed with development. It attaches the term “development” to almost all of its official endeavors. Corrupt political systems are not unfair, they are undeveloped. Gender equality is desirable mostly in the context that it represents the development of Korean society. Social equality is not so wonderful on its own, but as a sign […]
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