Fuzzy Yellow Sweaters

Growing up, dental hygiene was not a priority in my family. I don't remember being told to brush my teeth, although I'm sure I must have gotten some instruction on the topic. Living in Chicago, there was fluoride in the drinking water and I'm sure that contributed to my parents general lack of dental worry.  Visiting the dentist was a hit or miss proposition with enough hitting to make a nasty impression on me.

When I was 10 I started spending my summers with my grandparents in Wisconsin. My grandmother is the only person that I remember cussing at me to brush my teeth. Fortunately, they had Crest toothpaste (which is my favorite) and I learned that tooth brushing could be a good thing. But then I would go back home and have to use nasty Colgate toothpaste. The brushing of the teeth would then be sporadic at best.

I remember having a conversation with one of my cousins about teeth. I don't remember much about that conversation except that she said that when she didn't brush her teeth for a long time they developed fuzzy yellow sweaters. Then she smiled and, sure enough, her teeth did have fuzzy yellow sweaters. Hahaha! But really, ICK!

When I went away to college peer pressure helped me become a more diligent brusher of teeth. I would say that I probably brushed my teeth about 90% of the time, a vast improvement from living at home. Years went by and then I found myself married. And then I found myself pregnant.

Ah pregnancy! The joy of growing a new life. And the misery of having a parasite sucking the life out of me. Morning sickness was my constant companion for 8 months. (Why is it called morning sickness when it lasts all day?) I could smell everything more acutely and most of the smells were bad. Some things grossed me by their mere presence (namely, hair). And brushing my teeth sent me into paroxysms of retching. Once again I stopped brushing my teeth on a regular basis.

And then the baby came, and with her came sleep-deprivation. And with sleep-deprivation came forgetfulness. I choose to blame the forgetfulness for why it didn't occur to me to resume brushing my teeth until my dear little one got her own teeth.

Well, by now over a year had passed and all my good dental habits were gone. And since I had three more babies, that pattern was followed three more times. Random tooth brushing was to be my lot for the next decade. Sigh.

Recently, while watching some random Super Junior show on YouTube, I heard Leeteuk talk about brushing teeth. He steps out of a mini van somewhere in South Korea and starts talking about the fact that he brought his toothbrush along. You would think he was doing a PSA for dental hygiene: "See! Look! I brought my toothbrush along. (Turns to camera and points at toothbrush.) You should brush your teeth every day! Three minutes each time! Three times a day!"  No wonder he has such beautiful teeth.

Ever since that day I feel compelled to brush my teeth. Every day! Three minutes each time! But only twice a day. No fuzzy yellow sweaters for me!

Where Did December Go?

I seem to have misplaced the month of December. Can someone please help me find it? Hopefully before Christmas? I really can't imagine where I've left it.

It seems like just yesterday I was cleaning up the mess from Thanksgiving. Then I was attempting to pick up  my #2 Daughter from the airport. I was thwarted by pea soup fog that prevented her from getting back from India in a timely fashion. She spent the night "sleeping" in the airport in Chicago. I spent the night tossing and turning, hoping that a 19 year old alone in the airport would be safe. She was. Sigh.

Then there were days of grumping at The Boy about getting his homework turned in. I mean, honestly, how hard can it be to get him to see the light? School is important! Right? Well..... I'm still working on that challenge.

Many days have been spent eating out. This makes me sad. Normally, I love to eat out but Dude-Man and I made a deal that gets me money for a trip to South Korea. The money comes from not eating out. I have saved so little money it is pathetic. And depressing.

Why have I been eating out so much? I blame it on #2 Daughter (who shall hereafter be known as MoLi). When she got back from India she wanted to eat out at all her favorite places, and I caved into her pleadings. I'm a wimp of a mother. And she wants to do stuff every day too. Like shopping. And seeing her friends. And shopping. Aigoo!

I have been trying to keep up with my Korean studies but that is going slowly. There are many distractions. Especially since #1 Daughter is home more because finals are over. Argh! I love my kids, I really do. But they are bossy! (No, they do not get it from me! I am never bossy!) And I am easily persuaded to take them out to eat or do whatever they want to do.

Now I understand that it's the Christmas season. When did that happen? I'm usually nearly done with Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving. Well not this year! I typically love to listen to Christmas music and watch Christmas movies. Har! Can you say boring? Then there's the decorating. Turning the house into a cozy haven of Christmas cheer has often been one of my chief delights of the holiday season. Not any more. It all just seems like a bunch of work. Bah Humbug!

We bought a tree. No one cried. The tree got set up in the living room window. Giggles (#3 Daughter) put the lights on the tree. Sort of. It was more like she was lashing the branches together using strings of Christmas lights. I am not exaggerating when I say she used at least 400 lights on the top two feet of the tree! I tried to help but I only seemed to worsen the problem. Later, Dude-Man took care of the lights on the rest of  the tree. I think he used 200 lights on the other 6 feet of the tree. A lighting master piece!

I did not like the tree in the window. It was taking up too much room so I decided that it needed to be moved. The Boy and I moved it to another part of the room. I didn't like it there, so I moved it across the room. It finally has a home! But the poor thing only has 4 ornaments on it. Four. That's it. No one wants to put any on. They seem to be happy that there are lights on it and some red bead garland.

So now it's five days until Christmas. I have 5 pairs of pajama bottoms to make. Wrapping of presents to do. Cooking and cleaning to take care of. Decorating! Peace negotiations to make since all of the kids are off from school. And somewhere amongst all that chaos I need to find the Spirit of Christmas. Heaven help me!

I think I will watch a Super Junior Christmas music video and go to bed. After all, tomorrow is another day.

Perserverance

Long time, no post. I keep trying to post something and then I hate what I write, therefore, no posts. Maybe this time I will actually do it.

During the last week I have actually exercised every single day. This is a real breakthrough for me. I always have great intentions to exercise regularly but then something happens- I sleep in, life gets busy, I hurt myself , I loose my motivation, ad nauseum.

I have been regretting that I have not really followed through any of my goals that I stated in My First Siwon Post (you can see the goals at the very end of that post from September). So I decided to at least work on the exercise goal. I have learned from the last couple of months that having a routine really helps me to get stuff done. The one day I slept-in and exercised in the afternoon I regretted it. Now I get up, make my bed, get dressed, and then exercise. No breakfast. No checking emails. No cleaning. That's it. It is working. I have exercised eight days in a row.

Of course nothing can go off without a hitch. On Saturday I attempted to do the 5k workout on my treadmill. Half a mile into the program, I needed to go to the bathroom. I paused the program to do my business. When I got back to the machine there were less than 30 seconds left before it would reset itself. In my hurry to get started I knocked the emergency shutoff and reset the blasted thing. Since I was feeling kind of lazy, I decided to different program. A program that I had not done for months. Big mistake.

I chose level 4 which has a max speed of 5mph and 3.5 incline. Off I went, feeling rather smug for my great idea. As I walked and jogged I thought, "Man, I'm really getting into shape! Look at me go!" But the jogging quickly turned into running and the running did not end. Sweat was dripping into my eyes. I was gasping for each breath. Then I noticed a pain in my hip.

I have been very over weight for 20+ years. I have given birth to four children. I now have what I call an apron of  flab. It is gross. It is disgusting. I hope that with exercise it will go away, but right now it seems to be threatening to become a permanent fixture of my body. I really, really hate it.

Anyway, as I was running and sweating and gasping I realized that stupid apron of flab was flopping around with great force. Before I knew it, I pulled something in my hip because of that thing. I slowed everything downed and "finished " the program hobbling about like some old crone. Crap!

All day Saturday it hurt to walk. Sunday morning I did some yoga, hoping that all the slow, gentle stretching would help. I felt better, but not much.

This morning I was back to my regular routine until I had to run. As my flab apron started to bounce and my hip started to throb, I felt a wave of desperation hit. Was I going to have to give up exercising so my stupid hip could heal from whatever it was my stupid flab apron had done to it? Then remembered some pictures that Donghae and Leeteuk put on Twitter of their injuries while preparing for the concert season-

Those are Donghae's legs after he strained muscles in his calves during the intense practices For Super Show 3 and SMTown 2010. There was never any question that he would keep on practicing. He is so dedicated to always doing his best in every performance.

I know, it's gross! That's the blister Leeteuk got while preparing for the same concerts as above. I got a blister on my heel this summer. It was actually a blister on a blister. I didn't exercise for a month. Leetuek didn't let that little blister slow him down a bit. He performed in at least three concerts while keeping up  his other responsibilities.

Now I realize these are not really bad injuries. But they are very uncomfortable. Donghae and Leeteuk press on. I go to bed. Well not this time. As my hip erupted into flames of pain I gained strength from their examples. I changed the program, walked at a quick pace, and was able to go for over a mile today. Success!

Watch What You Say

I sometimes have trouble with the English language. My thoughts can come too quickly and end up in a garbled mess like this:

While playing with my new baby at a mountain lake a woman older than me comes up to me and we begin talking.

Lady - How old is your baby?

Me - She's three months old.

Lady - She's cute. How many children do you have?

Me - I have two. Do you have any grandchildren?

Lady - Oh, I have x number of grandchildren and x number of great-grandchildren. (This was 19 years ago and I don't remember the exact numbers)

Me - Wow! You don't look YOUNG enough to have great- grandchildren!

At which point the lady looked at me in amazement and walked away. It took me at least two minutes before I realized that my intended compliment had really been a put down. I have since wondered how young a person should look before they are a great-grandmother.

Here is another gem:

Me - I sat between my mom and another man on the plane.

Really? My mom is a man? This is news to me. (But that would explain some things...)

Another problem with language in general is putting things into proper context. This is a conversation that I was having with my sister-in-law when my son thought he'd help the conversation along:

Me - My mom blah, blah, blah ...

Sister-in-law - How is she doing?

Son - Oh she's alright but she still rubs her bum on everything. (referring to our cat).

Erm...

And if I didn't already have problems with getting my English sentences straight, now I'm adding Korean to the mix. Korean sentence structure is different than English. In Korean a basic sentence goes subject-object-verb (English is subject-verb-object). I can understand that. The trouble comes when trying to say something a little more complicated. Like this - "I gray sweater purple sweater rather than more like." (The exact translation from my most recent lesson.) What the what? Do I like the gray sweater? Maybe it's the purple one? I don't know! And context doesn't help much either. I feel a cramp in my brain coming on as I try to puzzle this out.

I can just imagine a conversation in my future -

Dude-Man - Should I wear this tie with cats or the one with constellations?

Me - You cats tie constellation tie rather than should wear. You look too young, another man rubs her bum on everything.

For Liz

My two oldest daughters are friends with Liz. Liz is awesome because she introduced them to Super Junior which is how I became a Super Junior fanatic. She will always have a special place in my heart because of that.

Liz loves Eunhyuk and I can understand why. He is funny, cute, a great dancer and singer, blah, blah, blah. He is charming beyond belief. Sweet, awesome, you get the picture . Today I found this video clip of him singing "It Has To Be You", live on the radio. It is adorable -



Did you notice how nervous he was in the beginning? And through the song he kept getting embarrassed. I think it's so cute.  Liz, I hope you like it.

Leeteuk, you one silly boy!

The other morning when I looked at twitter I saw this picture of Leeteuk -

There he is being all sexy and manly and using a yellow ducky phone to take this picture. I love it!

And now here is Sungmin showing his pink things and explaining why he has so many pink things -
sgentertainmentcom | October 20, 2008

I think one of the reasons I feel so passionately about the Super Junior boys is because they are not afraid to be who they are. They wear awesome clothes and strange ones. They are all silly and to some degree nerdy. Most of them cry easily and don't seem embarrassed about it.   They are emotional about their fans, their families, and each other. Maybe it is the Korean culture or maybe it is just how they are. I love them for it.

Recently I made some purchases at a craft fair and I decided to let my choices be based on what I really like instead of what I should like. And so I bought these -

In general, all of my earrings are sparkly and usually silver so these colorful earrings are a pretty big step for me. The hair clips are totally impractical for my hair. Just look at them! The 2 small ones are clearly meant for a little girl. But I don't care. I think they are fabulous and I will wear them anyway.

Then I saw these -

The picture doesn't do them justice. These are freaking awesome shoes and are the opposite in every way possible of the type of shoes I typically buy. First there's the color, RED! All of my shoes are either black, brown, or white. Second, They are HIGH heels, not the sensible type at all. Third, they call attention to themselves, which I generally try to avoid at all costs. All in all, they are completely out of my comfort zone and I love them.

When I first showed the shoes to my sister she had a lukewarm reaction to them. My 3 year old nephew thought they were perfect for me and so I bought them on his advice. When Dude-Man saw them he predicted that there would be some kind of accident in my future. And my oldest daughter just shook her head and rolled her eyes at me. Her prediction was that I would never wear them outside the house.

Ha! I wore them to church last Sunday and got complements on them too. I will have to practice walking in them because I'm rather wobbly when I walk. I only lost my balance once at church so I call it a success.

Four months ago I would have looked longingly at these things and pass them by, thinking that they just don't fit my "image". Whatever! Super Junior has opened my eyes to embrace things that just make me happy. I think I'm a more lighthearted person because of that. Thanks guys!

How Can One Pair of Ears Be So Wrong?

Several of the Super Junior boys have their ears pierced and so do I. Normally, I don't much care for guys wearing earrings. But when these guys do it is usually adorable and I would like to be adorable. So I have started buying cute earrings in an effort to up my adorableness factor. Look at how adorable they are -

The first time my ears were pierced I was 3. Since my mom is a nurse, it was decided that it would be a good idea to have a doctor do it at the hospital where she worked. This was fine in theory, but doctors know nothing about piercing ears. I was sent home with thread loops in my ears and told to ease them through my earlobes for x number of days and, voila! I could wear earrings.

Things did not go as planned. The holes almost immediately closed up with that thread just dangling there. "Easing" it through my ears? That's a joke! And my ears got infected. This 3 year old was not a fan of the whole earring idea. Fortunately my mom had the sense to cut that evil thread and yank it out of my ear lobes. Everything healed up very nicely after that.

Then I turned 5. No self-respecting Indian woman has unpierced ears so my mom thought it was time to give it another go. She had learned from the last attempt to put in some earrings in immediately following the piercing.

She settled me snugly on her lap and proceeded to pinch one ear to "deaden the pain" (this does not work). 
Once my ear was sufficiently "numbed" she used a hypodermic needle (one of those long ones) to pierce my ear.It was unpleasant. Then she put in an earring she had gotten in India and I'm telling you those posts are thick! And the backs have to be screwed on. Ouch! And then the whole procedure was followed on the other ear. Happy Birthday!

Fast forward 40 years. Now that I have become a Super Junior fan I'm trying to be more aware of my appearance. I wear makeup more often. I'm working at losing weight. I pay more attention to my clothes. And I'm wearing earrings more often.

 Dude-man gave me a pair of lovely pearl earrings for my birthday and I wear those a lot. Then I noticed the cute earrings the Super Junior boys wear and I thought I would follow their example. I bought some smallish hoop earrings and noticed that they didn't hang the same way in each ear. At first I thought it as because I had purchased cheap earrings. I decided to fix it by bending one of the posts until it hung the same way as the other ear. I had to bend it nearly 45 degrees and almost snapped off the post. Hmmm... Maybe it was my ear and not the earring? This was made clear when my daughter tried on another pair of earrings which looked perfectly fine on her and ridiculous on me. Sigh.

 So I decided to go a different route and try some really cute earrings that are a little bigger than I usually wear. Then I noticed it, no matter how tightly I had those earrings in, one of them always looked as if it was about to fall out. Once again I thought it must be the earrings and not me. Oh, it was me alright. Sigh.

 Here's what I think happened: Back on that fateful fifth birthday my mom messed it up. On my right ear she angled the needle towards my head thereby making any hoop earring lopsided. On my left ear she angled the needle upwards so that the earring looks like it will fall out. And why didn't I notice it for 40 years? Because I didn't ever wear hoop earrings before and because I never paid attention to my ears either. And now that I've noticed it I've decided I can't live this way. It's just too shameful.

I looked myself in the mirror and proclaimed, "I will not let crooked ear piercings keep me from being the cute girl I want to be! NO! I will  rise from this obstacle a better woman, and I shall have my ears pierced again!"


And so I did.

And that's the story of how I FINALLY got my ear professionally pierced. (And they look really cute too!)

Meet the Boys Part 1

To those of you who already know who the Super Junior boys are, you will probably want to skip this. To those of you who don't care who they are , you will definitely want to skip this. But for those of you who a little curious and wonder who the heck I'm talking about, this one is for you.

• Leeteuk

He is the leader of the group by virtue of being the oldest. In some ways he is like a mother hen to the other guys. He works really hard to get everything right and if there are any problems with a performance he will apoplogize profusely even if he isn't the one to mess up. He is really funny and has one of those laughs that can make other people laugh just because they heard it. Listen - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzLmd28TCQ0. He is very kind to the fans and actually considered touching my hand at the SM Town concert that I recently attended, but didn't because I was in too precarious of a position. Really.

In 2007 he was in a roll-over accident with several members of the group and two managers. He had glass shards embedded in his back and face. More that 170 stitches were required.
In addition to being a member of Super Junior, he is part of two different subgroups: Super Junior-T and Super Junior Happy; he is a DJ for the very popular Kiss the Radio show; an MC for Strong Heart weekly variety show; and  a model.

• Heechul

 The most important thing I think anyone should know is that Heechul shares his birthday with ME! Heechul is the second oldest member of the group and probably the one with the most attitude. He loves to be in the spotlight and always has something to say. In 2006 he was in a bad car accident and broke his left leg in five places including his femur, knee, and ankle. He came back to the group as soon as the doctors would let him. Previous to the accident, he was very active in the dancing part of the videos. After the accident, his part in the choreography has been more limited  and you can actually see him come in to participate just briefly in many of their music videos. He is kind of the "bad boy" of the group and Siwon tries to save his soul by inviting him to church every week. Critics say he doesn't sing well and that he doesn't dance so great either. I say, he sings great when he wants to and cut the guy some slack about the dancing. I think it really shows the unity of the group by the way they make up for Heechul's physical problems while letting him shine in his own way.

Heechul has been  in several TV shows and my favorite is "Bad Family". He is a DJ for Young Street, a model, and a member of Super Junior Trot.

• Hangeng  

Hangeng is the only Chinese member of the group. I should say former member because he recently sued SM Entertainment to be released form his contract. It's a long story  but suffice it to say, he felt that the management team was taking unfair advantage of the group. The other members do support his claims that they are not financially compensated as much as you might think. The other members miss him and will not replace him in the group.

He worked hard to learn Korean and was the group's interpreter in China. He has a black belt in Chinese martial arts while also being very talented in ballet.  He was one of the groups four main dancers until he left the group. He was the leader of the sub-group Super Junior M and the star of their most famous music video, "Super Girl".And here it is (he is the "nerd") - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pit7RS4mPI0
He now has a solo career in China and his Super Junior fans are still loyal to him.

• Yesung

As one of the members of the subgroup KRY, you might think that Yesung would enjoy great popularity. But because of his quiet personality he can often be forgotten and he is not as popular as he would like to be. This is unfortunate because he is really a good singer. He is currently playing the part of Sir Galahad in Spamalot.
Listen for yourself - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FButhkX6kPo

•  Kangin

Recently Kangin entered the military for his required two years of service. He got in trouble one too many times (which was exactly twice) so SM Entertainment decided it was time for him to serve his country. He did not participate in the last album, Bonamana. However, two other members of the group wrote a song specifically for him and so he has one song on the repackaged version. 

Kangin is a joker and very talkative. He is really strong  but doesn't seem to know his own strength, this can make him seem like a bully sometimes. He probably has the worst temper in the group and that also makes him seem like a bully. But despite his gruffness, he is really like a big teddy bear. Look at this compilation video of him with a bunch of cute kids -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EI4krtuGros

• Shindong

The first time I saw a Super Junior Video I thought, "Who is that kid and how did he get to be part of this group?" I was sooo rude! Shindong does not have the build that the rest of the boys do. He is chubby and that fact is accentuated by being surrounded by so many lean, muscular guys. Regardless, he is an amazing dancer and brings a really good sense of humor to the group. He helps with the group's choreography and even did the stage direction for their current concert - Super Show 3. He is one of the group's main rappers. He is a DJ for the Stop the Boring Time radio show (isn't that a great name?). He is an MC for the Strong Heart variety show where he does many funny routines with Leeteuk and Eunhyuk.

•  Sungmin

If you look up the word "adorable" there should be a picture of Sungmin. He is adorable on a cellular level. Recently he has tried to "beef up" his image by getting a tattoo. He is still adorable. He has also stopped wearing pink which is sad because he looks really good in pink. He is very kind, thoughtful and really sensitive. The list could go on and on. Check out this video of him preparing a meal for Shindong. I know it's long but it showcases his personality so perfectly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMsOmvIt8CY

 Sungmin is a great dancer and singer. He has been in a couple of musicals and will be in the KBS drama, "President", which will begin airing on December 8th, 2010. He is in the two sub-groups, Super Junior-T and Super Junior Happy and he is also excellent at Chinese martial arts.

And that's all for now.

Happy Anniversary Super Junior!

Today is the fifth anniversary of Super Junior. Here is a little video retrospective starting with their first performance -




From the Second Album -




 From the very silly movie,"Attack on the Pinup Boys" -



And now Sorry, Sorry -



And finally Bonamana -




They have worked so hard and over come so many difficulties in this time and yet, they remain positive and hopeful. I am proud to be a fan.

If You Have to Do the Dishes...

There is a poem by Shel Silversteen and it goes like this -

HOW NOT TO HAVE TO DRY THE DISHES
If you have to dry the dishes
(Such an awful,boring chore)
If you have to dry the dishes
('Stead of going to the store)
If you have to dry the dishes
And you drop one on the floor-
Maybe they won't let you
Dry the dishes anymore.

(from A Light in the Attic)

I do not recommend this tactic to anyone, especially my children. (You will be made to clean up the mess and possibly buy me some new dishes if it gets out of hand! You have been warned!) And in this time of dishwashers there is really no reason to rebel against drying the dishes. No, this is the time to rebel against the whole process in general. At least that's what seems to be going on in my house. I'd like to say it's a new trend, but it's not. In fact, my poor leadership skills have ended our family in this mess. I hang my head in shame.

I recently claimed ownership for poor kitchen-keeping ways and I have become the primary dish-doer.  That doesn't mean the family is off the hook but the buck stops with me. Unfortunately, this does not translate to my liking to have to do the chore. Most days I resent it. But I found a little secret - a fun mini-album by Super Junior Happy called Cooking? Cooking! When I listen to it I get all happy inside and I start dancing around the kitchen while putting away the dishes. Before I know it, the dishes are done, the garbage is out, and the floor is swept!

And now for your viewing/listening pleasure I present to you some videos from that album
What are you waiting for? Turn on a video and go clean something!






Credits: 2woon.com (video) + ccherjr@youtube (editing)

Now wasn't that fun? I hope you at least liked the videos and actually got something done. If you did, post it in the comments. And if you didn't do anything but liked the videos, let me know that too.

I'm Gonna Kill Me a Duck!!!

We have a duck. We used to have 2 ducks. Recently, we had to put one to sleep because she had a horrible wound with a massive infection complete with maggots. It was very sad and very gross. Her name was Scuba Duck and we miss her. Spitzlander is her sister and she misses Scuba a lot. Today she must miss her immensely. I know this because she will not shut up!!!

Early this morning she was putting up a racket in her house. But that's ok because when she is in there no one can hear her except me. Since I let her out this morning and she has been quacking. And quacking. AND QUACKING!

I left the house for a while and enjoyed the sounds of everything that is not quacking. But when I returned, she was still quacking. I tried to practice Korean, but every time I spoke she would quack. I took a nap. Sort of. It was punctuated by her quacks. They are not gentle. They are not soothing. They sound like this -

Wasn't that pleasant? Har!!!

I am the one who purchased the ducks. I did not choose to have ducks, but I did buy them. Since day one they thought I was their mom. They would come to my bedroom window to be closer to me. When I would go outside they would follow me around. If I decided to work in the garden they had to come and "help". Any place I would choose to sit, they would be right there. They would even snuggle with me-

Isn't that cute?

Here, this is when they were really cute   Awww....

Well, now I just have a big, sad duck. And it really sucks.

PS Since Spitzlander can't fly but Eunhyuk can, here is a picture of him flying and being happy and NOT QUACKING! -

A Shout Out to Thailand

Since starting this blog I've wondered about how people find blogs. My own, very limited, experience is that you start off following the blog of a family member. That person follows other people's blogs and somewhere along the way you happen onto some blog of a random person that appeals to you. And so I told my family members that I have a blog and I have strong-armed them into reading it. One family member ( who shall remain nameless) is required to comment on every post I make. She requires that I comment on all of her posts and, being the good family member that I am, I have diligently commented on every post she has made. But she is a SLACKER and has not kept up her end of the deal. (You know who you are and you should feel ashamed!)

Another way to have new people read your blog is to hope that they will click on that "next blog" button that appears at the top of most blogs. It's random, but hey, whatever works. A third way to get strangers to look at your blog is to post a video and inadvertently not give"proper credit". I was so excited the day someone from Canada looked at my blog until I realized they did some voodoo magic and took away some of the videos that I had posted. Bummer! You Canadians that police YouTube, couldn't you have just told me what I did wrong ? I promise I would have fixed it right away. I shake my pathetic fist at you!

The fourth way to get someone to look at your blog is to set up a profile with your interests listed. I recently did this. I think it was on Monday. Since then more people have look at my blog and this makes me very happy. But I don't know why. Anyway, I like it. I hope more people keep looking at it and that some of them actually like my blog and will COMMENT, because I really like comments.


My big blog joy for the week came on Sunday when I realized that some people in Thailand had looked at my blog. I hadn't posted anything for a while and was surprised to see that I had 7 views from Thailand. One view could mean that someone stumbled upon it, but 7? No, that was definitely not a mistake or a happy coincidence, it was on PURPOSE! Oh joy! Well, they haven't been back. But I was international for a moment, and that makes me happy. Thank you Thailand people for having a look.

Shake Your Bootie

During the last week, I spent an average of 8 hours everyday learning Korean. This meant practicing with the Rosetta Stone program and writing down every exercise that I did. This was tedious and hard work. I started  the program over from the beginning because there were some things that I was just not getting. Also, half way into one the later lessons it was revealed that I would have to type what I heard with out having a written example to copy. RUDE!


So back to the beginning I went, and this time around I understood everything so much better. Go me! My wrist started to hurt from clutching my notebook while writing. My fingers went numb from too much writing. My shoulder started to hurt from being twisted in a skeewompous way while writing for hours on end. Then my back started aching and I just knew that something must be done.


Leeteuk, Eunhyuk, Shindong, and Heechul are all currently DJs. Sungmin and Kangin both spent some time DJ-ing. These are sit down jobs. Or at least I thought they were. Good thing they are in Korea and every moment of their lives seem to be recorded so that I could see this-





And this-




And this-

Contains Content From: SM Entertainment

From these three examples I have decided that even if you've got a sit -down kind of life, sometimes you've gotta get up and dance. Or exercise. Or clean your house. Or work in the yard. Or... You get the idea. So for every 2 hours I'm at the computer I've gotta get up and shake my bootie for at least 20 minutes. Fun! FUn! FUN! And you can bet that somewhere in the house there will be Super Junior songs blasting a way. Because that's just how I roll.

PS Since U is such an awesome song here is the video of it from SUPER SHOW 2 which you can now buy from yesasia and other vendor's. (Yes, Dude-Man I did just buy this one).

Random Thoughts

Since I became a Super Junior fan some random things have happened in my life.

* I started to make my bed everyday. I'm not sure that the boys make their beds everyday, but I know that Koreans are very clean in general. Usually I make my bed as soon as I get up, except this once: My youngest daughter couldn't sleep so Dude-Man and I let her get in bed with us. Of course she sleeps later than I do so I didn't make the bed right away. The day got going and I didn't get around to making the bed, until.... The cat was throwing up on my bed! I went to grab her to put her outside but she just ran to another part of the bed and started throwing up some more. In desperation, I lunged for her only to miss and the whole throwing up thing started again. Aigoo! by now the poor cat was fairly lethargic so I was able to get close enough to notice she had this huge glob of saliva/mucus dangling from her face. As I was trying to decide the best way to handle the grossness, she leaned over the side of the bed, shook her head, and flung that glob right on to my pillow. Ick!!!
Lesson learned - always make your bed so when gross stuff happens you only have to wash the quilt and not every blasted thing on the bed.

* I discovered that wearing shoes is a good thing. Growing up in a home heavily influenced by Indian culture (my dad was from India), wearing shoes in the house is a big no-no. And in Korea It is the same. But when I would try any dance moves barefoot it was a disaster. But then I decided to try wearing shoes while dancing, like the Super Junior boys do, and now even I can do a few very simple Super Junior dance moves. And no, you cannot watch me and my Super Junior moves. Yet.

* I have lost over 15 pounds! This is without really trying because I'm too busy learning Korean and not drinking pop. Those Super Junior boys are THIN! And yet muscular. It must be all of that dancing, and singing, and acting, and on being on what seems like every Korean variety show, etc. They are too busy to get fat. So now I'm getting busy too. Another side benefit? I'm happier.

* I colored my hair for the first time. It's no secret that most of the Super Junior guys color their hair. Although sometimes the things that are done to their hair are pretty astounding, I usually like it.

Super Junior then-

And now-

After a woman thought I was my sister's MOTHER I knew the time had come. And then when the evil sign man threatened to have me arrested I knew the day had come to color my hair. I wasn't really looking to disguise myself, I just needed a little shot of empowerment. So I colored my normally dark brown, almost black, hair a deep shade of auburn. It covered all the gray (which shimmer nicely) and in the sun it has a nice red glow to it. And no, you can't see it. There are no pictures.

And because no post should be too long, that's all for now.

G20 - There's a Party Going on!

Do you know what the G20 Summit is? Did you know that the G20 Summit is coming up? And did you know that it's being held in Seoul this year? No? I didn't either until I watched this cute little video (watch for Sungmin in the back row and at 2:05 & 2:18) -



Until today I always thought that the G20 was something that people protest. I guess it's really an excuse to have a party. You've gotta hand it to those Koreans, they really know how to positive spin on anything.

Now why don't we have catchy tunes like that to get people excited to vote? You know a little cheerfulness in the political arena would be nice for a change. So I think someone with connections should gather a bunch of American Idol winners, a handful of Disney kids, and some of the cast of Glee and make a music video called "Let's Vote":
Now we are one   We gotta get together now-ow   Put your hands together  Let's vote! Let's vote! Let's vote! Everybody Let's vote! Let's vote! Let's vote!

And here is a link to listen to the song in english- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSNbAA6FAr4

How I Got in Trouble with the Republican Party

 Here is a great video of Sungmin coming to a girl's defense. He is so sweet and kind. And he doesn't back down even though at the end he admits to being scared. See for yourself-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJM18g_n7BQ

I saw that video several weeks ago and it has stuck with me. So much so, that today I had to act on what I admired about him from that video.....


The other day Dude-Man and I were driving down Main Street when I noticed this sign-

"That's not right!", I exclaimed as we drove past. I even made him drive back around so I could see it more clearly. Since that day it has just been on my mind that I should do something about it. And so I did-

No sooner than that picture was taken then 3 men drove up in their nice suits to ask me what I was doing. I sweetly explained that I was taking the signs down because they seemed to be put up by some no good deed doers-

He nicely offered to find out if  they were put up appropriately placed. Turns out (according to him) that you just have to get the proper permission and anyone can put up a sign that says whatever they want, true or not. Sometimes freedom of speech sucks.

Anyway, I pushed for him to make his phone call and he kept on referring to the signs as their signs even though he had just denied having any knowledge of them. Whatever. I told him that if I saw any signs that were lies about his candidate (Morgan Philpot) I would take them down. I explained how I felt that it is deceitful for the owners of the sign to declare themselves in such itty-bitty print. And if they were to declare themselves proudly I wouldn't have a problem with what they have to say. Our discussion went on for a bit and I am proud to say that even though I felt passionate about it, I did not get upset and I did not cry. He took down my number so he could let me know how it all turns out.

And I took his picture so I could post it here-

Thanks, Sungmin for giving me the courage to stand up for what's right.

Heechul vs. English

Since October 1 the Super Junior boys have been on vacation. Leetuk, Eunhuk, Khuyhen, Donghae, and Ryeowook have been having a grand time in Italy. As you can plainly see:

Sungmin seems to be MIA.  Yesung went scuba diving while Siwon and Shindong had to work. And that leaves Heechul.

Where did Heechul go? Oh, he went to LA and decided to learn english for his fans. What a sweetie. Finally I can read his tweets and so can you:

Heedictator

  

Im doing good. What are you guys up to? http://twitpic.com/2uow3v Monday, October 04, 2010 2:38:24 PM via Twittelator
Heedictator

  

Im trying to learn english for my petalz. Plz understand my bebe englishㅋㅋㅋㅋ It's hella hard.. 복합문장임ㅋㅋ 머리 터지겠네ㅡㅡ Hella Head bomb~ Monday, October 04, 2010 2:40:38 PM via Twittelator  

Heedictator

  

Whats LOL? 아 나 학교 다닐때 배운 영어 다 필요없네ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Monday, October 04, 2010 2:50:45 PM via Twittelator 

Heedictator

  

Hella Freakin Man~ lol....ㅋㅋㅋㅋ아 역시 웃음은 ㅋㅋㅋㅋ만한게 없는듯 Monday, October 04, 2010 2:59:29 PM via Twittelator 

Heedictator

  

Laugh out loud~ㅋㅋ헐.. 이런건가 Monday, October 04, 2010 3:03:51 PM via Twittelator 

Heedictator

  

I'm at friend house~ so freaking fun~ 뭐가 맞는거여ㅡㅡ 

Heedictator

  

USA cartoon recommendation~ I speak gangster english. I learned a hella wrong one(-_-) lol.. But Its my style.  

Heedictator

  

Hella Gross..ㅋㅋㅋㅋRT @jenny79716 http://twitpic.com/2tv3v7 LADY SUJU??? ㅎㅎ!!!you are so beautiful!!!!!!!^^~~~水某 

Heedictator

  

"Make your english name!" 하길래 "Um.. My english name is.... Cherry Kkkk" 이랬더니 "Really?", "No Kkk~ my genious joke~", "Wow! U look strong!!" 

Heedictator

  

건방지게 앉아서 "I'm gorgeous~ I hella always fall in love with myself when i look into mirror. I'm hella the best" 이랬더니 천재라고 배째네ㅋㅋ물론 발음은 글만큼 좋지않다 1:12 AM Oct 5th via Twittelator 

And suddenly all that Chinglish starts to makes sense. And the use of "hella" - excellent! 

At least he can communicate with all those that speak English, whereas I can tell you the color of a car and that brings me to my next post:

Neela vs. Korean

I have been diligently working on learning Korean for at least two hours every day for three weeks. I'm pretty proud of my progress. I am already more than half way through the first level and I LOVE it! Sometimes I get frustrated but I keep pushing myself on. I even dream in Korean sometimes. But please don't ask me to speak anything in Korean. And if you want to speak to me in Korean, do it very s-l-o-w-l-y. Also, it would help if you could use some props to indicate the meaning of your words.

On the positive side, I can now pick out a few words in the Super Junior songs besides saranghae (I love you). And when watching an hour long Korean drama I will usually know about 3 words. And I play slug-bug while shouting out the colors in Korean. This is progress - right?

To help me with my reading, I have started following all the boys on twitter. Occasionally, with much concentration, I will be able to discern a word. Reading Korean is hard! Really hard!!! The way the letters get smooshed together makes it difficult to read. It gives me a headache. It makes me frustrated. But I press on because I just know that I will read some cute or silly or funny things by these cute, silly, funny boys. I just know it. I''m just sure of it. Or am I?

Do you remember the movie "A Christmas Story", the tale of a boy and his dream of obtaining the Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas?  Early in this beloved Christmas classic, he is eagerly awaiting a secret decoder ring that he drank lots of ovaltine to get. Finally it arrives! Eagerly, young Ralphie listens to the 'Lil Orphan Annie radio show and with great care writes down the secret code. He makes a beeline for the bathroom, the only place in the house that affords him some privacy, and with trembling fingers manipulates the decoder ring to decipher the code. Oh the anguish when he discovers that the secret cipher is nothing more than an advertisement for ovaltine!


Horrors! What if it's the same with all those Super Junior tweets that I am ruining my eyes to read? What if they are just promoting themselves? Like this: "Watch my new show. It is amazing!" OR "Our new video comes out on ..... , don't forget to watch it!" OR "I'm on the cover of ___________ magazine. Get your copy today!" They wouldn't do that to me, would they?

First Siwon Post

What a cutie blah blah blah! No seriously, Siwon is like Mary Poppins. He's practically perfect in every way. When I grow up I want to be like him. But not necessarily for the cosmetic reasons. Sure being extremely good-looking would be nice. Having the ability to dance and sing in such an amazing way would probably raise my self-esteem. And then there's the fact that he is excellent at everything he does. Nope. those are NOT the reasons why I want to be like Siwon. I want to be like him because he is a good person. The following is from a recent article in a Japanese magazine. I know it's long but it does a pretty good job of showcasing his charm, work ethic, and faith. A lot of it is kind of goofy, but read it for yourself, and no, I did not translate this:

 

Q :Kissing scenes in Oh My Lady was hot topic ..
SW : Opening scene in Episode 1, I had to kiss (actress’ name) and I was nervous because I had met her first time. But being a man, I could not show my anxiety.(laughed) Luckily there were fans present and I proved that I had no ‘other’ intentions towards her. Then that scene of kissing Chaerim noona in front of the refrigerator. Because I got to know her quite well, so I was not nervous..keke..it was work..(laughed)


Q : Have you thought of starting a family ?
SW: Have not considered when (at what age) should I marry. Nothing to do with age. When I have the confidence to be a good father, good husband, good son-in law, good son..then I would marry.


Q : In drama, you bared upper body?
SW: In the script..’chocolate abs’ was listed. So I had to exercise. Once filming started, there was no time to do it. Therefore the scenes of my ‘abs’ were shot beforehand, in early stage. Where I stripped off my shirt in 5th episode, I sacrificed sleep to exercise. In 2 weeks I lost 8 to 9 kilos. But losing weight too fast, I also gained back immediately.


Q : Shooting drama and SJ activities, very busy ?
SW: Straight filming for 48 days without a day of rest. Towards the end of drama, I was also working on the album, dance practise, album recording, MV and cover shoot of album. Slept for only one hour and then had to rehearse dancing. Two nights of MV making without sleep (laughed). At the same time, I had to prepare for the stage performances in the drama. And I contracted throat inflammation, but no time to go to hospital. After the drama ended, only then did I undergo surgery.


Q : Does Siwon the idol and ‘Min woo’ differ a lot?
SW: If my having a lover (girlfriend) is exposed by the media, I think I will reveal. Because I have the confidence to say “No need to hide my love”. I do not have to hide it because my fans understand me.


Q : Because you are not concerned about fans’ reactions ?
SW: I am not sure about fans of SJ, my own fans will understand me. Because they are all honest people. (laughed) In SJ, only my fans and Shindong’s fans..at airport or during activities, even our hyung managers do not block us. The fans do not surge (rush) towards us. It’s like some obstacle..they will keep a distance.


Q :Your impressions of Japanese fans ?
SW: Personally I pay a lot of attention to Japanese culture. Because I grew up reading manga and watching dramas. Japanese fans tend to hide their emotions, will not express unconditionally. In the beginning, I thought, “Not interested in me?” However, those stuff that even SJ members do not know about, the fans can remember long forgotten issues. Amazing. They like me for being so courteous. Touching on this topic, I heard there are not many Christians in Japan. Given a chance, I’d like to organise a Christian activity in Japan. During SJ’s Japanese concert, hyung manager even took me to a church.


Q : Your feelings on working with Chaerim?
SW: Chaerim noona is really the greatest actress. Always compensating for my incompetence. Truly fortunate.


Q : How did you get along with child actress Yubin who played Ye-eun ?
SW: Even just sitting still, she’s so adorable. And I like children (laughed) This time round in filming, what I gained the most was to understand the feelings of parents. As such, I wished to do something for Ye-eun. On Children’s Day..that day I gave Yu-bin a school bag and sunglasses as gifts.


Q : Ideal girl ?
SW : I like a girl whose pretty looks are ‘clear’. With ability to see probable crystal clear visions of other people, to see ahead and be understanding. To know how to compromise and also be good to parents. To make my parents happy is my biggest joy in life. Because there are my parents..then there is me. My father is my good role model.


Q : What was atmosphere during filming :
SW : I was thinking, “Will I be able to work with this kind of crew and director again ? Laughing at start and laughing at end of work. I was the youngest, acted ‘aegyo’ (cute) and made the atmosphere lively. Although the anxious tight schedules made us all tired, I made a funny face, cracked a joke to make everyone happy. In actual fact, I am not this type of person (laughed)


Q : As an actor, what roles would you like to challenge ?
SW: Not a policeman, prosecutor or a student..these are stereotyped roles. Would like those traumatic roles and such works.


Q : Any Siwon’s opinions or ideas in the acting?
SW : In the drama..that scene, after deciding to abandon Ye-un, Min Woo returned to his room and was heavily troubled. I asked myself, “How to express (convey) Min Woo’s inner turmoil so that viewers could understand him ? I thought of using Ye-un’s doll to help out.However, Min Woo’s personality was such that he could not possibly place Ye-eun’s doll, clothes and school bag in his room. And then there was this taped recording of Ye-eun’s performance in the kindagarten. Used this to convey Min Woo’s troubled mind.


Q : First lead role..lots of attention, any pressure ?
SW: Pressure..huge pressure. It was extreme important period of time for SJ..and I was only one to return to drama acting, tremendous pressure for me. Luckily netizens, viewers and the press media came to watch..it was fortunate.


Magazine scans credit: HappyTalk WWW.CHOISIWON.COM
Translation credits:
Translated into Chinese from Japanese by hanahuahwa @Baidu.choisiwon
Translated from Chinese to English by Wendy at Soompi.com
If taking out, please keep credits intact. Do not add your own.

Sacrificed sleep to exercise? Are you kidding me? I have sacrificed sleep for many things but exercise is not one of them.

Worked 48 days straight without a day of rest? Besides nursing babies and changing their diapers I don't think I've ever done any kind of work for more than 5 days straight.

Star in a TV show, record an album, shoot music videos, intense dance practice, limited sleep, AND sick  enough to require surgery all at the same time? Heck, at my house, multi-tasking is cause for some serious freak outs and a mild cold will get you out of school for nearly a week.

Wants to bring Christianity to an entire country? I'm still working on getting up the courage to send him the Book of Mormon. I even have it sitting out where I can see it so I won't forget.

Things to do this week:
1- Really get up and exercise at 6am, no excuses
2- Clean my house every day, for 48 days
3- Keep it up even when life gets busy or I get sick
4- Send a copy of the Book of Mormon to Siwon
5- Start on those applications for grad school

It's really not that long of a list. I can do it. I can really do it. I hope.

Job Security

Leetuk is the oldest member of Super Junior and will, therefore, be the next to fulfill his duty to his country by serving in the army.  In recent months he has expressed concern that when he returns to Super Junior after 2 years of service that the fans will have either forgotten him or won't like him so much. I really don't think he has anything to worry about since Super Junior fans tend to be at least slightly fanatic (like me, for example). Anyway, he has mentioned that if  the Super Junior thing doesn't work out for him then he will do trot music.

Trot music must be why they have 84 year-old groupies. I'm sure my great-grandmother would have enjoyed watching trot entertainers on the Lawerence Welk show if they had been around then. I even think my in-laws would like them after they got over the fact that they sing in a different language. Apparently this must be Leetuk's idea of job security:


Credit: HANrel + Yangallrise.blogspot.com
TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDIT ONLY
I love it! It makes me giggle. Leetuk, I will be a fan of whatever you sing. But can this really be the same guys that made this video?



Oh, it is. Aren't they just amazing? The singing, the dancing. Sigh. Now if I could only do the Macarena half as well as they danced in the trot song I would be happy.

But back to the theme of job security. My time will soon be up as stay-at-home mom. My kids are growing up, and they soon won't need me around so much. And really, I need to get a life. It's scary thinking about my future. I mean, didn't I already do this in college? Ugh! For the past few years I've been thinking about this topic and let me tell you, you really CAN think something to death. The decision has to be made, and I may as well make it now. Time to go back to school and get my master's degree in social work. There! I said it. I'd better get busy on those applications.

If You Give Me a Korean Language Program...

If you give me a Korean language program then I will figure out how to install it on my own. If I install it on my own, then I will gain confidence in my technical abilities. If I gain confidence in my technical abilities, then I will believe that I can start a blog. If I start a blog, I will learn to post pictures and videos on it. Since I am now spending so much time on the computer learning Korean, blogging, and enjoying all manner of Super Junior stuff I will probably have an achy back since my chair is no good. In order to try out a different chair I will have to clean my room. If I clean my room then I will have to vacuum it. When  I go to dump out the vacuum container, there will be a huge cloud of dust that will cover every surface in the kitchen. After cleaning up the kitchen, I will move a different chair into my room. When I am finally able to try out the different chair I will discover that what we have won't work because the desk is too high and the chair is uncomfortable. Since the whole computer set-up is somewhat lacking ( no room for the key board and mouse, desk too high, chair too low, no speakers to listen with, uncomfortable head phones, ad nauseum), then I will plead  with Dude-man for some enhancements. When I persuade him to take me to the computer wonderland super store to buy some speakers and a slidey-outy thing for the key board, I will spy some comfy desk chairs. After trying out all the chairs, I will decide that I MUST have the most expensive one in that store. Since Dude-man will immediately say no to my choice we will "agree" to a certain price. When no chair can be found to make us both happy, negotiations will begin. Since Dude-man is being stubborn, I will decide to try my feminine ways on him. When that doesn't work I will try pleading and crying.When pleading and crying won't soften Dude-man's heart, I will resort to emotional blackmail. Since even that won't work (his heart can be very stony), then I will get it anyway. Clutching the ticket in my hand, I will march proudly to the cashier to purchase the chair of wonderfulness only to be informed that the chair is sold out. After waiting many minutes I will be told that It can be found at a nearby store. Dude-man and I will then head to said store without any clear idea of it's exact location. When we do finally arrive at the store my prized chair will be waiting and we will be able to purchase it with much speediness. And THAT, my dear friends, is the story of how I can now use my computer in comfort and with ease.

Why I LOVE Heechul

This is Heechul-

I love Heechul.
He is very silly.

He has 2 cute cats and here is a video of one of them-  http://www.twitvid.com/OQUWX
He likes to get people wet-  http://www.twitvid.com/VYMXH 

He would make a beautiful woman:

Even when he's not trying to look girly he does-

I love this music video-

Even when he doesn't feel much like dancing or singing, he does even if you can plainly tell he's not enjoying himself very much, like in this one where he really doesn't care for the dancing part of the whole deal-


And here's what I learn from all of this:
1- It's good to be silly, it makes people happy
2- Cats are wonderful pets and I'm glad we have 3
3- Only pour water on people who won't freak out, and have your video camera handy
4- Make the most of your looks, in whatever form that takes
5- Do what you love
6- When you don't feel like doing what you love then do it anyway

Thanks, Heechul, you always make me laugh, and that makes me happy, which makes me love you.