How (Brag) Rap Music Made Me A Better Person
I need a red hoodie now...dopeness
There's this notion that there's too much brag rap in music these days. Odd, that I didn't near a note of that until Kanye and Jay-Z dropped 'Watch the Throne.' I reason this is because 'Ye and Jay are two of the best rappers in the game today ('lest I say ever and start a war). I guess nothing really matters until the biggest names make what amounts to an entire album where they brag about how much richer they are than you. "Can't you see we gettin money up under you?" "Can't you see the private jets flyin over you?" Jesus Christ, thanks for reminding me how I just paid $13 dollars for an album where you just insult me and talk about how much you REALLY don't need more money.
The Great Divide
This is the least creepy photo I could find without taking one.
I was originally going to post about how I resonate better with my students than I do with my co-teachers but after thinking about it, I know that's not the case. What is true is that I find myself trying to appeal to both groups.
Minor Blog Edit
You may or may not have noticed the small change to the site. I removed the pages part of the site and reorganized my categories. The links up top now display category pages so if you're looking for my posts on Korea just click the link and you can successfully ignore all my tech, gaming, nerd, rants, and boring life posts.
As far as 'Projects' are concerned, it's mainly space for my budding game development information but I don't know what else I might end up working on so I gave it a generic label. 'Korea' is all my adventures abroad, if I manage to visit another country I'll relabel to fit the content. I imagine that's what most of my friends are here to see. Trust that more content is on the way. I still have to do the obligatory apartment post (with video) and I want to do a sort of video tour and photo walk around Yeongcheon. I might do some Daegu content but downtown Daegu is a bit too big for me to run around filming, I might just talk about my favorite spots. If you have any ideas about what you want to learn about Korea I'm game to do a piece on it. Try to ask for something you can't already learn with a Google search (e.g. food, Chuseok, noraebang, etc.)
Lately, I've been sleeping and doing the same stuff I did back home (watch movies, hang out with friends, sleep) so there isn't anything interesting to report as of yet.
Fun Fact: Scott Pilgrim vs the World is an American movie, with a Canadian star, using a English director. The actor playing Knives Chau is not Chinese but Cambodian (and pretty attractive when not styled to be a 17 year old).
The Silencing “Why?”
One day I walk in to class. As usual, the students are doing their rounds of "Hi, teacher!" Instead of my usual superstar correcting English and saying hello he was kinda down. After the lesson I noticed he was gone for half of it (yeah I miss things). Anyway the point is, I went and asked him what was wrong. At first I thought he was saying "What?" indicating he didn't understand what I said. That happens a lot so I repeated it a couple times. Then I realized, I was the one misunderstanding. He was saying, "Why?" I pretty much looked at him with a puzzled face and then shrugged in agreement and went to lunch.
Acquire Currency
Two months in, and I've managed to save the effective amount of nothing.
I am at the unfortunate disadvantage of having school bills to pay back in the States. Even with those financial commitments, one would expect that when you're making over 2 million won you should be able to pocket some of that. Sadly, my consumption has decided against that.
I know what you're thinking, "Noky, you've only been there two months -- you have to naturally get items to settle in." No sir, I did that and then some. I think I just have a natural disposition to burn money. In fact, I know have a problem with sticking to a budget. I hoped for some reason things would be better here.
Anyway, I told you that story to tell you this one:
Let Your Seoul R.O.K.
I don't know what to post about. I don't have my camera so while I've seen a lot of different things, it's hard to share them with you without writing some mammoth post. Normally, this is the part where I write a short re-cap of what happened but this is Korea and I'm going to do it right. My friend told me to make a separate section and it sounds like a good idea. When the first post comes out, it'll be on a separate page much like the Project's section that never gets updated.
NOTE: The word play in the title is just to get it out of my system. I wouldn't dare subject you to it on a consistent basis.
Just Another Look Into the Future
So my recruiter is saying my NOA/contract is on the way and I need to prepare my tax papers. I'm not celebrating yet until I have a signed contract to go along with a location and start date. In case, you weren't aware. I applied, got accepted, and had my documents forwarded for final review in the pursuit of a teaching position in EPIK. The general area will be Gyeongsangbuk (Gyeongbuk) which is more or less the middle eastern region of South Korea. It's particularly warm so I'm happy I got my first choice. With any luck I'll be placed near Daegu but not actually in the city. Right now, we're looking at leaving in late July and starting in early August. I don't really have much else to say. If it doesn't go through, expect development to seriously ramp up.
I don't have a lot to expand upon. I got a lot to do and I really don't have the time to do it. I don't expect to be working for much longer, I really need to free up time to get everything taken care of. Maybe next time I post, I'll work up the energy to share my views on a variety of current events.
Until then, lets all wait for E3 and inevitably more information on Final Fantasy XIV.
The Wheel of Fate is Turning #1
Thank you work, for taking away my day off. Of course, whatever plans I may of had don't matter. Thanks also for subtlely threatening to fire me if I dare tell you otherwise.
I will not be attending Xanbats #3 this week. Oh well, my Ibuki needs a lot work anyway. I might just give up on the season. Missing two rounds and going 2 and out last week don't make my chances very good.
Tried practicing today, my PP ended up getting cut in half. On the bright side, my execution has improved again. SJC from target combo in to command dash is almost ready for battle. My next goal is to actually learn the overhead link and jab to strong link. Also on the docket, I need to incorporate command dash and backdash in to my play style. Definitely need less slide and no more jump in kunai. It's coming along though.
Still don't know for sure about Korea and I don't expect to for a month. That's okay though, right now I need to focus on this TEFL course. Which has been hard because there's so much I want to do. My mind has been filled with game designs and it sucks to put the dream on hold but I think I'm doing the right thing. If everything works out, I'll be in a much better place to develop titles and build a team.
Interesting posts are on the way, I'm going to kick it in to overdrive this week. In the meantime, what are you doing? Comment or e-mail me with the details or a link to your blog.
I’ve been busy doing nothing
So my friends have been asking me: what's up with the blog? Honestly, I've been torn between too busy to post and generally not in the mood. However, now things are a little less hectic and I find that I might as well update people on what's going on.
For starters, I needed some cash. I took up a job working for a pretty well known store franchise. I'm not going to say which one because, I may very well rant about it later and I'm not here to smear anyone's name when I vent on my personal blog (well sometimes, but not for this). Even so, a lot of people have jobs and still manage to blog. Unfortunately, my job calls me in anywhere between 10PM and 4AM and I usually work a 10+ hour shift. So, whatever daylight I have left gets spent on...
Getting things in place to go to Korea. I finally sent off my application packet for EPIK. I had my recruiter interview, EPIK interview, and preliminary offer already. Now they just need to review my paperwork and send me a real contract. Yeah, throw me in the category of the JET-rejects that decided to hop on the Korea boat. There's more to it but I don't mind be put in that box.
So, in preparation for going to Korea, my recruiter suggested I take a TEFL course through ITTT. Now, I really have no time as I have to drop 100 hours in one month in order to receive my certification on time. If that wasn't enough...
I was working on getting my first game prototype out. I say was because my computer's hard drive is pretty much dead at this point a long with all the project code I had so far. Fortunately, I suppose, I wasn't far a long so I didn't lose much but without a dedicated machine, I'm not about to tackle a one-man game development show right now.
Those are the major things going on with me. I'm still volunteering on the weekends and occasionally I'm helping my dad out. Whatever free time I do find right now gets dumped in to practicing Ibuki in Super Street Fighter 4. I should talk more about SSF4 later. For now, look for some more personal focused posts and wish my luck with my Korea placement. I'm hoping I haven't sent my documents too late.
If I’m Lucky, The End is Near…
- Image via Wikipedia
So I took my last final of the semester on Friday. With any luck, it'll be my last final forever. I don't think I find out what grades are for quite some time. They do graduating senior grades early but I'm not sure how early. Regardless, I should now have time for that blank projects page and regular posts on this blog. Interestingly enough, I have no idea what I want to post about.
I saw Avatar in IMAX 3D, so maybe we'll talk about that. Also, the AutoCast (tentatively titled BlackGear) team is in town. Provided the recent snow clears up, we'll talked about getting together for a live broadcast. I guess in there are a lot of things to discuss.
While you're waiting for me to post again, hit up one of my friends' blogs on the sidebar. I don't know why I'm plugging them in a post, I don't get anything for it. If you're in to Japanese living/culture/stuff: I just started reading "The Hopeless Romantic" thanks to Danny Choo. Hopefully you won't realize how horrible my blog is after seeing all these others and never come back. I really need to plan these posts out because obviously my stream-of-consciousness rantings don't lead anywhere positive when it's late and I have nothing to say.
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