Simon's Obsessions

Books I read recently.

2006-09-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

Though I've tried to write some reviews about books what I've read, life has been hectic as it is. I've been under the pressure. I was thinking I have to finish writing all reviews. However, suddenly I came up with a brilliant idea - Just picture them all together, post on my blog and say I read them. Done!!

I made my dream come true.

2006-06-04T05:41:00.000-07:00

When I was a freshman, I was hooked on computers. As I studied deeper, I found it so exhilarating. So, YES! I decided to be a programmer(I used this term at that time).

　　I’ve put in the time and efforts. I’ve read a lot of books. I’ve studied English to read technical papers. I’ve been the leader of a lot of teams in my college. I put everything into this.

　　Ten years passed. I’ve just succeeded in passing six months of training course. Tomorrow is the day my dream comes true and that I become a programmer. I go to work where I’ve wanted to be hired desperately. I MADE IT. As of now, I’m so proud of myself.

　　I’ll throw everything into work. I’m so ready. I’ll work like a crazy man. Because this is what I’ve wanted and what I will want….

New books I bought today..

2006-04-16T06:23:00.000-07:00

　　I stopped by Kyobo book store to buy the book, Thinking in C++ vol. 2, the one between two books in the picture. However, I found so many books which spark my interest.

　　I picked out two of them. One is Component software which is my single favorite in computer engineering. The other is a kind of Einstein's biography. I skimmed preface and a couple of chapters. I found out it can relieve my thirst of knowledge.

　　I was so happy so I almost lost my consiousness. when I had my consiousness back, I already spent about 80,000won. Holy~ god~~ What have I done? kkkk

Here is my new baby~

2006-02-27T11:54:00.000-08:00

How long have I waited for? How much have I missed? I have had to put up with the nothing book(a damn normal memobook) for 5 months or so.

Finally, my brand new baby named Palm T|X came to me, satisfied me, and released me from so much hassle.

From now on, I won't forget my acquaintances' birthdays, and can manage schedules, and memo what I shouldn't forget.

Thx God~~ I'll never let you go again~~~

Native speaker

2006-01-22T05:23:00.000-08:00

　　Su yeon recommended to me this book, "Native speaker". This book is about a Korean American who is a perpetual outsider looking at American culture from a distance, betrayed both worlds and belongs to neither.

　　I've read some kind of junk so far even though Elain told me not to do. However, from now on, I feel like I can step up to the next level by reading this book. I'm happy with this.

　　Thanks to Su yeon, I could be knowleable and inteligent. :) Thank you. You are my guidian.

I've been changed a lot.

2006-01-02T20:41:00.000-08:00

Back in the college, I was a little bit.. no extremely cold person. People often said that "Simon does have blood? I don't think so." Yes, I was that kind of person.

　　But nowadays, I feel like I'm more compassionate. When I hear some bad news, I feel so sorry or what... sad. Yesterday, I heard that a building had caught on fire. Thus the owner was devastated. I feel like that accident happened to me.

　　What makes me change? I don't know. Anyway this is really good for me. Maybe because of the book, The art of happiness? It is very helpful with no doubt. Maybe because of ....

Which one do you think is better?

2005-12-04T05:11:00.000-08:00

　　Finally, I finished reading the book, the art of happiness. Since my life has been hectic, it took me to read in 2months or so.

　　Now it is time to pick out my next book. One is 'CAIN' by James Byron Huggins, which is a kind of junk(but I like ;-)). The other is 'The firm' by whom you may know because he is super famous.

The lines that spark my interest in CAIN are as follow.
-------------------------------------------
ALIVE, HE WAS THEIR DEADLIEST KILLER.
DEAD, HE IS THE WORLD'S GREATEST NIGHTMARE.
-------------------------------------------
Aren't they cool?

　　If you have any suggestion or opinion about choosing either of one, please let me know.

What the hell is this?

2005-11-03T20:49:00.000-08:00

　　While cleaning up my room, I found this. I can't believe my eyes. I still have this necklace.

　　When korean men go to the army, they all get this one. When we die during wartime, our comrade take one of the~~ what? leaflets? and They put the other one into between our teeth.

Scary eh?

My country has a long way to go.

2005-10-21T01:53:00.000-07:00

　　Recently, I happened to watch a couple of Japanese soap operas. I was so touched by the two of them. Then something came over me.

　　I could glimpse a few ways of thinking and lives of the Japanese. Those gave me something I should consider. Let me tell you about one scene. There is a lady who has a son. There is a man who has always missed his dead girlfriend for 17 years. The lady happens to visit his house. Then his parents and they have dinner. The parents are very “curious” about her. They might think whether she is a spouse or not. However, what surprised me is they don’t care about her son AT ALL.

　　What about Korea? What would happen in the same situation? I’m pretty sure that whether she is nice or not, our parents will ignore, condemn, or even blame her. Why? Because she has a son. In order to get married in Korea, most of us judge someone only by reputation, finance, or background. I’m sick of those dispositions.

　　I don’t know about Japan. But as I see it, soap operas or TV shows reflect a reality of life. Truly, in Korean soap operas if people encounter the situation I mentioned above, parents will go mad. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Japan is exactly same as Korea. But whether or not I'm wrong, don’t you think we should change our attitude? Trying to focus on people's mind, insight or something like that. My country has a long way to go.

Cold Front

2005-09-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

For some people who learn to ride, the infection’s immediate. You’re daydreaming about powder at work, at school; always freaking for your next day on the hill. You go up two days a week, then three, and then you take the leap and move to the mountains so you can ride non-stop.

You’re on the first chair in the morning, and everyone who sees that single track in the fresh knows who made it. You don’t stop for lunch, don’t take your cell, and you’re knocking tricks off the “must learn” list like a champ. You’re driven-committed. The path is clear: you’re going pro.

But be ready for harsh times. You’ll travel all year, chasing the snow to Switzerland, Australia; to every frozen corner of the globe. You’ll live out of bags and crave a home-cooked meal. You won’t see your friends and family for months at a time

But you do it, because it’s what you love. It’s what gets you out of bed in the morning and fills your dreams at night. If you’ve got what it takes-courage, style, aerial calm, and legs of steel-you just might make it.

…If you don’t end up in traction first.
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I got this article from X-box game title.

The reasons I don't wanna have a girlfriend.

2005-09-26T05:57:00.000-07:00

1. I don't want to be tied up.
In my late 20's, seeing someone means marriage is right around the corner. So whenever I make a big decision, I have to consider about my girlfriend. For example, if I decide to immigrate to Canada, I should discuss with her at least. Those kinds of things are hassle.

2. I feel like falling behind.
If I had a girlfriend, I would have to meet her once a week at least. As I see it, that’s such a waste. Instead, I can study, read, think or evaluate something for me.

3. Most girls are the same.
A Korean singer once sang, “Despite seeing A and B, they are the same. “She is she.” I totally agree with the singer. All girls don’t interest me. Don't get me wrong. Of course I can’t interest them either. Dating with someone is such a boring job. Almost every girl I've met has the same pattern. They are almost always whining, begging, and insulting themselves such as "I'm gonna get married to a rich man. "My work doesn't matter." Those kill me. I’m fed up with those things.

So PLEASE, NEVER TELL ME TO GO OUT WITH SOMEONE NOR ASK ME TO HAVE A BLIND DATE.

The movie making me reminisce, 甛密密(chum mil mil)

2005-09-15T09:48:00.000-07:00

　　I came across this dvd on my way home. It was on sale. The price was just 2500won. So I couldn't help but buy.

　　Back in the college, a "friend" of mine and I went to a certain video room to watch this movie. We were so touched. Afterward, 黎明(Yu myuyng), the main character in the movie became her cup of tea. So I was jealous.

　　We often sang the song, "Try to remember", which is the main theme in the movie. We both liked the song. Although I was terrible at singing, one day I sang the song for her on the phone. Did she like it? I don't know. ha ha

　　This movie reminds me of so many things. Sooner or later as long as I have time, I'm going to watch this movie again.

Korean women~ Just be yourselves

2005-09-06T07:18:00.000-07:00

　　I like the girl's thighs in the picture above because she looks very athletic. She must be very fit.

　　In contrast, most Korean women don't like to have thick thighs. Whenever they even work out, they worry about becoming to have thick and rather muscular thighs. This way of thinking leads to the fact that most women don't exercise.

　　Well~ I guess this phenomenon was caused by Korean men in a way. They always like slender women. Thus, women might be afraid that men don’t like themselves if they had muscular thighs.

　　However, in my opinion, I hope women do whatever they want regardless of men’s taste. Women don’t have to follow men’s taste. Just be yourselves!

Something that I was wrong

2005-09-02T05:30:00.000-07:00

　　Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in which about 2,500 Koreans live. The Foreign Ministry said yesterday it will begin due relief measures.

　　That news sparked my interest. The reason is I've thought if people become a citizen or resident in a foreign country, they won't have any concern with Korea nor will we with them.

　　As a matter of fact, the government is trying to help the Korean victims regardless of their current nationality.

　　I should admit I've been completely wrong. My opinion was that once people imigrate, they should forget everything about Korea such as customs, life style and even Korean language.

　　I should admit there might be some "connections" between us and them.

What should I read?

2005-09-01T01:04:00.000-07:00

I've read a whole bunch of books so far. So I think I have pretty good vocabulary.

But the way to improve vocabulary, in my opinion, is memorize words as many as I can, and then I come across the words I've memorized when I read books. If I can remember the meaning of them, those words are mine.

But recently I have a trouble. I'm working on studying TOEIC. The words in TOEIC are used in business or economy. Now that I almost always read a novel, it’s not easy to meet words I’ve memorized. Thus, I can’t get the most out of it.

What should I read? Newspaper? Magazines?

A Beautiful mind

2005-08-10T08:48:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite movies. I was so touched by his last speech. I'd like to share it.

---------------------
I’ve always believed in numbers.
In the equations, and logics that lead to reasons. But after a life time of such pursuits,
I ask, what truly is logic?
Who decides reason?
My quest has taken me through the physical, the metaphysical, the delusional...
And back.
I’ve made the most important discovery of my career.
The most important discovery in my life It is only in the mysterious equations of love...
that any logical reasons can be found.
I'm only here tonight because of you.
You are the reason I am.
You are all my reasons.
Thank you.

Do you agree or disagree? Euthanasia

2005-06-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

In today’s society, people are faced with the dilemma of whether or not to have the right to choose to die when they have an incurable disease. It is known as euthanasia, derived from a Greek word which means peaceful death. It is said that euthanasia is an intrusion toward human rights and all people deserve to maintain their lives until death. However, regardless of those moral issues, we should come to the side of rationality. Under that circumstance, we definitely should allow euthanasia because patients have the right to choose to finish their own lives and more patients can be healed by their sacrifice.

　　First, patients can let themselves die. When they have critical diseases or are in serious situations such as cancer or a vegetative state, their pain can not be measured. To illustrate, while someone who is in a vegetative state are continues to live, it is said that they can hear, feel and think. Certainly, nobody wants to imagine how dire the situation is. We should help them to pass away or let themselves finish living.

　　Furthermore, more patients can be offered medical services. For example, a patient who has terminal cancer or who is in a coma occupies a bed in a hospital for a long time. Nobody knows when they can be relieved from the tragedy. Thus, chances that other patients can get medical care can be restricted. In other words, even if a lot of patients can be healed, they should wait until beds are available.

　　In conclusion, we should allow patients to die. As a result, other patients can get a precious chance to have medical care. They might suffer from their severe pain. In addition, the loss of one of family members or friends is very mournful; however, we should let them go. We should consider which way is better.

I came to know what I want.

2005-06-09T00:53:00.000-07:00

Finally, I came to know what I want. So far, I haven't known what I want to do in store. But I made up my mind.

I don't wanna stick with a computer job. I want a lot of experiences. When I go back to Korea, I'm gonna do various things.

Reputation? That's furtile.

Why don't you remain single?

2005-05-17T20:57:00.000-07:00

Ever since civilizations arose, people have gotten married. Therefore, matrimony is possibly thought as something that we must do. Thus, many people get married with no reason. In my opinion, it is time to ask ourselves why we should get married and whether or not marriage is the best choice. Certainly, people can choose another option not to get married. Provided that we do not get married, we can diminish consumption in various fields, which will lead to being rich and enjoying our life without any intrusion.

　　First, due to the fact that we can cut down on consumption, if we remain single, we can be affluent. Marriage costs a lot of money. For example, when we are married, we will have a baby. In order to raise a baby, we will have to put in a lot of money. Even if we might earn a lot of money, we would spend too much on raising a baby. When we live as a bachelor, we do not spend a lot and can save our money, so it will result in us being rich.

　　Moreover, in addition to the possibility of being rich, we can invest in enjoying our life without interference. For instance, when we are married, we should respect and take care of our husbands or wives. All of sudden, one day, we can not travel by ourselves without agreement or excuse. When we want to quit our work and start a different, risky and unstable job, we need to talk to our companion. We will be tied up. Without marriage, we can do whatever we want at any time.

　　In conclusion, choosing not to marry can be a good choice. You manage to be prosperous and enjoy life with following your interests without bother. If you have money, and time, and are able to enjoy your life, what could be better? Consider your single life.

What If we didn't have electronic brain technology?

2004-12-08T19:38:00.000-08:00

Could you memorize 9,000 words that you don't know if your brain were not connected to extra storage? Can you imagine spending about 5 years to learn a foreign language? In fact, all people who lived in the early 21st century had to memorize many things. For example, in order to become a lawyer, they dad to memorize the whole body of law.
　　Why did they they have to memorize many things? In the early 21st century, there was no technology which could connect our brains to computer networks and extra storage. They could just use their own brains, which means that they could use only 10% of brain functions. As you know, if we don't use electronic brain technology, we can't use our brains to their full potential. Thus, they spent much time memorizing things that they needed to remember.
　　This fact influenced not to concentrate on their own creativity. They tried to memorize many things but gradually they forgot most of things, so they reviewed the things many times. As time went by, requested information was becoming bigger. People had to stick to just memorizing new information. There was no time to create something. It seemed that humans could not progress any more. Hence, this inconvenience led to research about the electronic brain.
　　Nowadays, we just concentrate on creative things. We don't need to try to memorize anything. Our brains are always conncected networks and extra storage. Whenever we need to memorize some information, we just put it in our brain. When we feel our brain is full of data we can save them to extra storage. Thus, we have got lots of time, and we can create new, innovative things. Humans can progress much more reapidly.

Everything is apple-solutely ready.

2004-11-09T19:45:00.000-08:00

Finally winter just came. Everything is ready. I'm going to Whistler~~

Pioneers of Skateboarding

2004-10-31T23:56:00.000-08:00

　　No matter how old you are, or how much you are interested in skateboarding, Dogtown and Z-boys could spark your interest. I would like to highly recommend this film to skateboard fanatics and skateboarder-wannabes. Their skills, enthusiasm, and passion will blow your mind.
　　This is about early skateboard fanatics called Z-boys. It is a documentary which was made by Stacy Peraltas, one of the Z-boys' member. Basically they liked surfing, but due to the weather conditions, they could surf only early in the morning. Thus, they came to start skateboarding in the afternoon. The film shows us how they find a place to enjoy skateboarding, how they practice it, what difficulties they encountered and so on.
　　Being a documentary, the film might be a little boring. It consisted of three parts. The director focused on their story rather than show their spctacular skills in part one. In my opinion, it should have consisted of two parts and showed their exciting skills.
　　However, you could see an essential epoch of skateboarding throughout this film. They are pioneers of maneuvers which is a trend in extreme sports.

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

2004-10-05T20:49:00.000-07:00

I went to Orpheum theatre yesterday at 8:00. Everything was wonderful and interesting. Most people dressed up, so they looked rather fancy.

But!!!! as time went by, I was getting bored and nodded off. And it lasted two hrs. Oh my god~~ I had a lot to do yesterday. So I was just thinking when I could go home. When I realized it was already at 10:00, I went bananas.

I have a test today.

2004-09-20T02:29:00.000-07:00

I have a test today. Now I'm so nervous. I regret having been spending my time. I was up last night preparing for the test. I'm worried. I've got 6 hrs left until the test. What am I going to do? ah~~

I found a lunch box going stale for a month.

2004-09-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

I was vacuuming my room when I found something below my bed. It was a lunch box which my host mother gave to me a month ago. Holy~~ sh*t.

I was wondering how the lunch box had gotten there. Probably, I had forgotten it one day and it had slipped under the bed.

I could not imagine how horrible the smell would be. I didn't dare open the lid. So, I got a garbage bag, held my breath, and opened the lid and dumped the food into the bag. However, I could still smell it. T^T