Tuesday, July 31, 2007
How to say...
Just re-surfacing, cleaned up the sidebar, there's a new (or rather, newly published) poem of mine in the current issue of Poemeleon--this issue dedicated to "form." A couple of projects on the burners. Missed the fifth anniversary issue of Triplopia because...well, where to start? But with plans and resources enough to get it back on track for the fall issue. Saddens me immensely that we missed that milestone, but the main thing is to get back in the fray and get it back up.
BTW: if you missed it, my tour of the United States lasted all of nine months. In the past, I have alluded to issues with the current direction of my country of birth. I wanted to believe I'd exaggerated things, and it probably wasn't wise of me to try to re-enter via my hometown. I've struggled to keep the more venomous edge of my tongue tempered on this subject, but suffice it to say that I don't ever want to take up residence in that particular part of the United States again. In fact, if/when we return, it will probably be to some area far on the periphery. My family and I are thinking Alaska, but that's at least a year away. For now, I am back in Gangneung, back teaching Korean children English, and I have to say, thoroughly enjoying my job, which I think suits me well. I don't quite know what makes me unsuitable for such work in the USA. It's a continuing puzzle to me, and a source of some personal hurt. Well, as an old poet friend once said from the stage, "We all got problems, baby."
For now, I'll leave you with a promise to post here more frequently, as I have the time and the computer to do so, once again, and also with this brain teaser: Why is it that in a town less than 500 kilometers from where Kim Jong Il reigns, the paranoia level is lower than in Middletown, Oklahoma? Fear, baby. Whatever the reason, I'm thinking a culture that is grounded in this value is fundamentally untenable. The Koreans and Japanese have a name for this: LBH. Loser Back Home. But when you're a lone pawn against an opponent with a complete arsenal at their disposal, you come to understand that there's nothing dishonorable about losing in a game you can't possibly win.
Well. In the meantime, just a note to say I'm among the living, and will be posting more frequently once I tend to a few other long neglected tasks.
--tchitch
BTW: if you missed it, my tour of the United States lasted all of nine months. In the past, I have alluded to issues with the current direction of my country of birth. I wanted to believe I'd exaggerated things, and it probably wasn't wise of me to try to re-enter via my hometown. I've struggled to keep the more venomous edge of my tongue tempered on this subject, but suffice it to say that I don't ever want to take up residence in that particular part of the United States again. In fact, if/when we return, it will probably be to some area far on the periphery. My family and I are thinking Alaska, but that's at least a year away. For now, I am back in Gangneung, back teaching Korean children English, and I have to say, thoroughly enjoying my job, which I think suits me well. I don't quite know what makes me unsuitable for such work in the USA. It's a continuing puzzle to me, and a source of some personal hurt. Well, as an old poet friend once said from the stage, "We all got problems, baby."
For now, I'll leave you with a promise to post here more frequently, as I have the time and the computer to do so, once again, and also with this brain teaser: Why is it that in a town less than 500 kilometers from where Kim Jong Il reigns, the paranoia level is lower than in Middletown, Oklahoma? Fear, baby. Whatever the reason, I'm thinking a culture that is grounded in this value is fundamentally untenable. The Koreans and Japanese have a name for this: LBH. Loser Back Home. But when you're a lone pawn against an opponent with a complete arsenal at their disposal, you come to understand that there's nothing dishonorable about losing in a game you can't possibly win.
Well. In the meantime, just a note to say I'm among the living, and will be posting more frequently once I tend to a few other long neglected tasks.
--tchitch
