Kitten has a home! :-)

Toma, whom I know from elementary school, and who lives with her family near Augusta, GA, has adopted kitten! We met today in Swainsboro, GA, which is about halfway between our homes, and she took kitten home. I'm very happy knowing that kitten will be raised in a good home. Thank you, Toma!

And for everyone else, here are some videos of the adorable kitten that you missed the opportunity to adopt:

On my drive back to Waycross, I stopped several times along the way to take photographs. Just south of Swainsboro on US1, I found my dream house. I would LOVE to move this house to my mom's land. It is perfect... a foursquare front with four rooms and a central hallway, with an L addition off the back for the kitchen and bathroom. It has a front porch and a back porch off the L addition. It's structurally sound with no signs (or scents) of water damage. And it's EMPTY and could totally be moved. Although it has a new roof, which makes me suspect someone might be planning to do something with it. Also, moving a house that big roughly 100 miles would be really damn expensive. But still, look at it.... PERFECT!

I thought this was a pretty scenic spot:

Old barn in a cotton field

COTTON!


Can you believe I'd never seen cotton au naturale before?


I also found a pretty neat old cemetery.


And lastly, I photographed this old church on DeVanderene Rd in Ware County.

(More photos at flickr.)

And on a brief and completely different note: I've been watching the CNN/YouTube Republican debate while resizing photos and blogging. I always have a hard time objectively ranking and discussing all-Republican events, simply because I disagree with so much of what they say. For that reason, I'm not going to bother discussing their content. Regarding performance, I thought Huckabee and McCain performed the best. Giuliani needs to stop making every sentence about New York. And I would love to watch Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich debate each other, because they're such weird little gnomes, and that would be entertaining. Tactically, I think that it would be fabulous for the Democratic party for Mitt Romney to be the GOP nominee simply because I am convinced he can't win the Bible belt.

A visit from Gwen

Gwen (as in my good friend for many years who was also my boss last year while I was in Korea) is in the US currently, and she drove up to Waycross today to spend the day with me, exploring this grand metropolis. We drove out to explore my mom's new land, dined at a local cafe, had coffee at Hot Toddy, bought her a crazy Solstice dress at Salvation Army (you'll see pictures of it next month!) and drove down to Folkston to explore the Okefenokee Swamp. I didn't get that many photos, but here are a few of the swamp:

We thought this sign was funny. Sadly, we didn't see a single alligator.

Swamp!

Chesser Prairie, Okefenokee Swamp

What *is* rich?

After the November 15th Democratic debate, when Hillary made that comment about an individual making $97k/yr being middle class, we had a bit of a discussion in the comment section of my post on the debate regarding what *is* middle class and what *is* rich. There was an excellent discussion on this topic on NPR today, which I highly recommend that you listen to.

Trap-Neuter-Release: The Humane Solution

Of kitties, tax dollars, and ghetto cars

A while back, I wrote about the neighbors (presumably) getting busted for something. (You can refresh your memory here.) In case you're interested in an update: the woman and the children have returned, although the various and sundry menfolk have not. Plus, the woman is now driving the infamous Spearmint 22" car. I snuck a picture of it from my back porch today, just to show you this absurd vehicle:

(You really need to see it large for the full effect.)

If I haven't mentioned it already, property taxes inside the City of Waycross are absurd. This past year I had to shell out nearly $500 for the privilige of living in a crime infested ghetto where my street signs proclaim that I reside at the corner of Ass and Ass. You'd think for $500/yr they'd at least put up some new street signs. Or do a better job of policing the place. Something. Well, okay, they did something. They dispatched a crew to do a hatchet job on this large and very Jane's-property-concealing bush today. Allegedly someone called and complained that the bush was blocking their view of the stopsign. I can't imagine who in this neighborhood would bother calling the city to complain about that.

Today a large grey tomcat showed up on the front porch just in time for breakfast. It seems quite likely that he is the father of Kitten, don't you think?

Left: Daddy Cat; Right: Grey Stray Cat

Sadly, Grey Stay has a really bad case of ear mites, so bad that he has scratched his ears raw. I did my best to administer ear mite meds and rub neosporin on his raw spots, but he did not like that one bit! I hope he continues to show up, at least so I can get him fixed.

Oh, Vlad.

You thought our upcoming election was going to be interesting?
We've got nothing on Russia when it comes to interesting.
Listen.

And because I just can't stop myself: K-Punk

More K-pop: The Korean Numa Numa Song

For you K-Pop lovers out there...

...I snagged this off Diana's site, since as I'm no longer addicted to Korea's OnStyle network I'd've had no clue as to it's existence otherwise. It's an ad for Samsung's Anycall phones, filmed in a dystopian future where technology combines with music to save the masses from an oppressive brave new world-ish existence. [more info] I was never all that into K-Pop, but I've found this rather addictive. I think I miss Korea :-)

And in case you're interested in more Korean-related weirdness, check out this episode of The Simpsons. You'll have to watch the first few minutes before you realize why I've linked you there though - but you'll see!

Now this is some weird shit.

Pecan Thievery in Georgia!

Pecans from *my* backyard :-)

My mom brought this to my attention today: Apparently this year, pecan theft has become a major problem across the state of Georgia. Oddly enough, no one has stolen my pecans (see above photo). However, there are some interesting(ish) articles on the topic of pecan theft:

Police, farmers step up pecan theft, prosecution, punishment

Pecan thieves be forewarned: you will be arrested in Georgia

So, whose pecans are they?

Pecan thefts rise in South Georgia

Just in time for holiday shopping madness...

I've got everything you've always wanted right here! Okay, perhaps these aren't necessarily things you've always wanted, but I'd bet you'd definitely enjoy having them nonetheless... especially if you enjoy my photography. (All photographs featured in the items below were taken by yours truly!) Check out what I'm offering for sale - and click on the links if you're interested in purchasing them. The products are sold through lulu.com, which is a secure site for your online shopping safety. (And for you cats overseas, lulu.com does offer international shipping!)

Photographs from Korea $25
This book contains thirty pages of full color photographs featuring images from all over the Korean peninsula, throughout all four seasons.

Photographs of Vladimir $25
This book contains thirty pages of full color photographs of the historic city of Vladimir, the ancient capital of Russia.

Photographs from Siberia $25
This book contains twenty-seven pages of full color photographs from my journey eastward along the Trans-Siberian Railroad to Irkutsk, the famed "Paris of Siberia," and into the wilderness surrounding Russia's spectacular Lake Baikal.

South Korea 2008 Calendar $15
This full color 2008 calendar contains beautiful photographs from across South Korea, throughout all four seasons!

Cats and Kittens 2008 Calendar $15
This full color, twelve month 2008 calendar features twelve of our adorable rescued cats and kittens. Together, my mom and I currently care for roughly twenty-five cats - all rescued strays. Proceeds from the sale of this calendar go to benefit our kitties!

Prisoner of Wonderland: An ESL Misadventure $7.99
This sixty-nine page book recounts my harrowing first trip to South Korea in 2001.

PLEASE READ: If you are interested in purchasing any of the books for sale at amazon.com which I've linked to on the lower right column of my blog under the heading of recommended books, please follow the link here before purchasing, and I'll get a tiny percentage of the profit from the sale! In general, if you're interested in making a purchase from amazon.com, please use the search funtion on the lower right side of this blog - I will earn a small percentage for any sale made after using that search box! Thank you for your help :-)

Korea-Kyrgyzstan Investment Pact

Whaddyaknow. Check it out.

A Livia-sized hole

I took Livia to the vet to get spayed today. Last night I caught myself shouting at her, "Go away! I do not want to have sex with you!" which is something one should never have to yell at a cat. I'd say she was fixed just in time... especially with her escapist tendencies and the three (un-catchable, and thus, un-fixable) tomcats who hang out around my house. I really need to invest in a humane trap. Anyhow, I took Livia to the vet in Mia's carrying case. Back in the Tokyo-Narita airport, Mia had managed to rip a small hole in it, big enough for her paw to poke out and amuse nearby travelers, but that was all. On Livia's way home from the vet, she managed to wedge her head through that hole. I ended up having to cut her out. Now I need a new pet carrier, too.

You'll note, I've unzipped the bag...
but her head is poking out somewhere else!

Dispatches from the hood

Other than crazy naked Ronnie, I haven't had any problems since returning to the Waycross ghetto. This is most probably because the people next door (the drug dealing lesbian prostitutes who stole my electricity and my copper pipes, cut a hole in the wall of my house with a butcher knife and took a baseball bat to my mailbox) were evicted while I was in Korea. The people who live in that house now are a grandmother, a mother and her three kids. One kid is a baby, but the other two are probably around 6 and 8 and are really cute and like to talk to me about my cats. I actually hung out with them for about an hour yesterday. Sadly, it is really hard for me to understand them. They probably think I'm nuts because I keep asking them to repeat themselves.

The people in the house behind me moved in while I was in Korea. There is (or perhaps I should say was...) a man, woman and three kids there. There was also - at least while the weather was warm - a large group of somewhat "gangsta" looking dudes who were always hanging out on the porch. Additionally, they had a steady stream of cars coming through all the time, although none would stay more than a few minutes. Yeah, I totally have my suspicions about what it is they're up to! But the thing is, they were nice. They always talked to me (the main dude served in Korea in the army and knows about as much Korean as I do!). They borrowed a flashlight from me one day. It didn't have any batteries, but they put some in it, and let me keep the batteries when they gave it back. Nice, neighborly gesture, that. And they never caused me any problems.

Anyway, they have this ridiculous car that I really wish I had a picture of - I just don't want them to see me photographing it, you know? It's one of those 1980s Caprice types - white, dropped, on expensive rims, and with the most absurd paint job ever. It's all these really cool green designs, with Spearmint Gum logos and stuff. It also has something like Spearmint 22" painted on the side. Let's just say this car is easy to spot.

About ten this morning, my mom saw it on the side of the road, surrounded by cop cars, lights blazing. Around ten-thirty, I saw the wife and an older man I assumed to be her father frantically loading things/kids into the man's car before driving off, all while the kids cried. Tonight, the lights are off over there; no one is home.

I just hope the next tenants are as nice.

A couple of days ago, I went to Hot Toddy for some coffee, and got talking to a cop who was there. He apparently knew my mom, knew about the trouble she'd had when we first bought this house (see first paragraph!), and was involved in the raid on that house before they were evicted. He seemed very concerned about the fact that I live here. "You LIVE THERE? Aren't you scared?" Um, no. I told him that my current neighbors were all very nice; I did not share my suspicions. I'm to call him or 911 at any time if I have problems.

My mom brought some dude over to wire up my exhaust fan today. He was referred to her by someone she works with, although I'm not entirely sure I believe that he knows what he's doing. Anyway, this was a tall, tough looking black guy who totally *looked* like he could've fit in with the crew next door. He asked me if I was scared to live over here, because, "This neighborhood is where all the gangsters live!" Also, after having learned that I'd lived in Korea, he said, "They really like white women over there. Especially the Mexicans." Huh???

Also, Livia is in heat. She's got an appointment tomorrow morning to get spayed - thank the gods. I'm not sure I can handle one more day of her constant chirping and assuming the position. It's really freakin' creepy.

Koreans addicted to the Internet? Duh.

Trying to have a conversation with Korean students is often difficult:

Jane: What did you do yesterday?
Student: I played computer game.
Jane: What did you do on your last vacation?
Student: I played computer game.
Jane: What did you do after school?
Student: I played computer game.
Jane: What will you do tomorrow?
Student: Play computer game.
Jane: What do you like to do for fun?
Student: Play computer game.

(Etc.)

Now, I totally have an addiction to the Internet. However, I do go outside and do things, because otherwise, what would I have to blog about?? One of my favorite things about Korea is how available and cheap highspeed internet is (and was long before it was avilable here in the US). It was affordable to have in my apartment - much cheaper than the DSL I have here in Waycross. Additionally, there is at least one PC Bang on every corner. A PC Bang is a "computer room" where you can use the Internet, chat, play computer games, etc., all for like fifty cents an hour. (Or at least that was the price out in Banyawol where I lived.) Anyway, according to the NY Times, Internet addiction is a HUGE problem among Korean youth. Why am I not surprised? Anyhow, their solution is some sort of boot camp to wean kids from the net - analogous to youth rehab boot camps here in the US. The article's pretty internesting, and you can read it by clicking here.

Photo: Seokyong Lee for The New York Times

I don't really think it would work for me; I'd spend the whole time I was there thinking about what a fantastic blog post I could write about it :-)

Curtains and Blinds

I finally hung my last blind today - my living room and office now have blinds and curtains that I like... and as a result it is very bright in here, which is wonderful. Yes, it took me two and a half months to do this. I'm a tad lazy. There are still two blinds I'd like to replace (spare bedroom and bathroom) as they came with the house and are obviously old and funny-colored. But I think I'll leave them for now.

And in case you're interested in the rest of my hermitage:

My bedroom :-)

The spare bedroom, with its dungeon-like wood-paneling. Yuck.
The kitchen is so absurdly big it takes 3 photos to show it!

Kitchen left

Kitchen center
(There used to be this hideous wallpaper border around the top of the room... you can see I did a stellar job removing it. Trust me, this looks better than that wall paper!)

Kitchen right
(you can see them poorly tacked together as a panoramic here)

Finally! :-)

Four weeks ago, I mailed my application for a visa to the Embassy of the Kyrgyz Republic, located in Washington, DC. I had been told that visas usually take about ten days to process. The day that my package arrived at the embassy, I got a voicemail from the embassy. Despite the fact that their website did not say to include a prepaid envelope for them to use to return my passport, they wanted to let me know that I needed to send them one. The year-long visa for Kyrgysztan costs $300. Surely out of that they could've spotted me some postage... but no. Anyway, I called back, just to confirm that there wasn't anything else they needed. I called the main number for the embassy, and began by saying I recently applied for a visa, and was told I needed to include a prepaid envelope... at which point the man who had answered (remember, this was the main embassy phone number) said, Oh, you're Jane Keeler! I learned that all I needed to do was to send them the envelope, and I'd be good to go. I sent off my prepaid envelope the next day, and expected my passport with Kyrgyz visa to appear in my mailbox within the week. Three weeks later I began to panic. I called the embassy several times (during working hours) and no one answered. I left messages, inquiring as to the status of my visa... and got no reply. I sent an email to the London School, my soon-to-be employer in Kyrgyzstan, explaining my situation, and received the following reply:

I think there is a problem. Because visa procedure takes usually not more then two weeks. You need to check if they receive your passport and your visa application. Maybe through some related USA organizations. Because sometime Kyrgyz Embassy people might be irresponsible.

I read that and immediately started saying oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Luckily, at that point I called the embassy one more time, and that time, someone answered. Like the first time I called, the woman who answered immediately knew who I was and why I was calling. She reassured me that my visa would be finished that afternoon, and they would send it off the following morning. I was intensely relieved, although I continued to stress over it until this afternoon. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, my passport has been returned to me, complete with Kyrgyz visa!

(I blacked out the important numbers...)

Also, in case anyone is interested, I'll be leaving for Kyrgyzstan on December 30th. I'll be flying Jacksonville-Chicago-Istanbul-Bishkek, and I'll be arriving in Bishkek at 2:10am on January 1st, Kyrgyz time.

It's All Politics

I love NPR's It's All Politics in general, and they had a pretty good post-debate podcast that you should totally give a listen to by clicking here.

Tonight's Democratic Debate

Even though I don't own a TV, it occurred to me this evening to see if I could watch the Democratic debate in Nevada live online at CNN's website. While I'm not sure what clips CNN will post after the fact, I'm glad that I got the opportunity to watch it live. I hate having to pick through the things networks deem newsworthy to post on their sites - or worse, reading transcripts. That's one thing that has me a little bummed about the fact that I'll be out of the country and in a place with spotty internet next year - I won't be able to follow the 2008 election as closely as I would like. But, at least I can keep tabs on what's going on now.

As far as tonight's debate, I'm not sure that I can name a winner. I can, however give you some of my thoughts:

Dennis Kucinich is a weird little man. While I do agree with most of what he has to say, he's simply a weird little man. With pointy ears. And whom the moderators and other candidates tend to ignore. Like when moderator Wolf Blitzer asked all the candidates about Pakistan - except Kucinich. His response was to wave his arms and shout "Hellllooooooo?!" and yet he was still ignored. He was even ignored when he began chanting "Impeach him now! Impeach him now!"

Then we have Joe Biden and Chris Dodd. My problem with them is that they look SO MUCH ALIKE, I seriously cannot tell them apart. They're both older white dudes with white hair. I would type that they seem to have the same positions on most issues... but I'm just not sure. They haven't done anything to differentiate one from the other in my book.

Richardson came off well, and had strong answers. He's obviously a really smart, sensible fellow who would probably do a pretty decent job as president. But he seems more like a behind-the-scenes-get-things-done kind of guy to me, and I suspect that might make him seem un-presidential to many others. Also, he makes some fantastically amusing quizzical facial expressions, which I rather suspect mirrored the ones on my face the other night at that poetry reading.

Now, ya'll know I love Obama (I even have an Obama sign in my front window). He's such an incredible orator when he has a prepared speech (think his 2004 convention keynote speech, among numerous others. He had an incredible one that I heard on NPR the other day, but hell if I can remember where he was giving it...), but he's not *quite* as stellar when he goes unscripted. Nonetheless, I'm still rooting for him as my candidate of choice. His answer on the issue of alternative energy sources was very JFK-esque: I'm running for President because I think we can do it. Live, it was totally reminiscent of Kennedy's we choose to go to the moon speech. Also, watching Obama and Hillary go toe to toe on issues of health care, taxing the super-rich and fixing social security were certainly the high points of a debate that was, at times, dull.

Edwards has a really cute smile. I'd never noticed before. He had really strong answers on issues of trade, Iran, the Patriot Act and torture... but I remembered that because I wrote it down as he was answering. Nothing he said really stuck with me. (Also, can someone seriously tell me what has happened to this country that torture is an issue on which people have opinions other than that it is heinous and should be illegal?)

I didn't see the previous debate, but I know that the news afterwards was that Hillary didn't perform as well as she should have. This was followed up by the debate over was she or was she not playing the gender card. Well, she's a politician, and she's smooth and she covered for that EXCELLENTLY with her answer to whether or not she was playing the gender card... It brought tears to my eyes. Literally. Even though I'm pretty certain she had that pre-scripted. She gave good answers, and came out looking like a strong leader - and like a strong politician. It's that strong politician part of her that makes me wary. That, and the fact that she doesn't seem to understand that people who make over $97k/yr ARE NOT MIDDLE CLASS. And she apparently voted to name Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist group. Um, no. (Although Obama didn't even bother to show up for that vote, the punk.)

And who the hell thought it was a good idea to let the final question of the debate be some lame UNLV student asking Hillary if she prefered diamonds or pearls? Stupid, stupid question.

Adopt my kitten! (or at least suggest a name for her)

A weekend of utter nerdiness

I flew out to Houston, TX this past weekend to visit my friend Glenn (whom I’ve known since high school). As per usual, I shopped around and found the cheapest available ticket package to get me there and back again. Oddly enough, despite the fact that there *are* direct flights from Jacksonville, FL to Houston, the cheapest way for me to get there was to fly Jacksonville-Miami-Houston. Like going around your fist to find your thumb, or whatever the hell that saying is. Well… I’m pretty sure you can guess what’s coming next. Yep, my plane was delayed out of Jacksonville just long enough that I was able to see my connecting flight to Houston rolling away from the terminal as I rolled in. This was around 3pm. I expected perhaps a two hour delay before they could get me on another flight, but sadly the next one out didn’t leave until 9pm! Let’s just say I got to know MIA’s Terminal E really well. Sigh.

Luckily, the rest of my trip panned out a lot better than the first day. I suppose here is where I should mention that if you somehow haven’t noticed it by now, I Am A Nerd. That being said, large portions of my weekend were far nerdier than my comfort level. Let’s start with Friday. Most of the day was pretty laid back. Possibly because I was asleep, and Glenn was being all nice and not waking up his guest… apparently he didn’t realize that if no one wakes me up I’ll sleep for 14 hours straight or something. Whoops. Anyway, after getting up and making our way towards a local diner for a yummy grease-fest, he took me to the University of Houston campus to show me his office and stuff.

Glenn on the UH angry mascot


Me with the UH friendly mascot.

Then it was time for the poetry reading. Yeah. See, Glenn is in grad school for poetry. Meanwhile, I am a total philistine. (Poetry = Boo) Glenn had to introduce the readers at this event, and as such was a tad nervous. I had to attend this event, and as such was a tad nervous. Therefore, we went and had margaritas for fortification. I spent the reading trying to maintain a look of interested concentration, and possibly failing. The minute it was over and the scary-pretentious-poetry-oneupmanship-smalltalk began, I went and hid in the travel section of the bookstore where the reading was held. (No, they did not have any books on Kyrgyzstan. Possibly because there are no books on Kyrgyzstan.) Eventually Glenn and I snuck out and went to go have some kick-ass Mexican food. Yay!

The next day we went to Space Center Houston. SCH is the tourist museum located next to the Johnson Space Center, through which you can take guided tours of JSC itself. I have been a space-geek my entire life, and I LOVED both the museum and the tour of JSC. I think the photos speak for themselves. (The full set is here.)

I love me some space men.


Real live shuttle mission control.
It was empty as the shuttle had landed three days prior.


The tail end of a ginormous Saturn V rocket


The engine in the forefront is ONE of many engines from ONE Saturn V rocket. The tallest rocket there is what powered the Mercury missions.


Mock-shuttle in the Space Center Houston museum


Moon landing diarama


Robonaut, frakin' Cylon.

Glenn has a friend who works for something along the lines of the Houston Free Press, and as such this fellow gets free tickets to all sorts of cool shit in the Houston area… and he had four tickets to the Texas Renaissance Festival for Sunday. Woohoo! Now, I love being weird and dressing up in odd costumes, and I’ve always wanted to go to a Renaissance fair, so I was quite excited. I must say, however, that the renfair was a little frightening. Aside from the fact that so much of the fair had nothing to do with the Renaissance (ancient Greece, fairies, dragons, elephants, monsters, etc), there was way too much unattractive boobage. As Glenn said, “I’ve never in my life seen so much cleavage, and I’ve never in my life been so turned off by cleavage.” The whole event was simply bizarre. Again, the pictures speak for themselves; however, in the interest of keeping this blog vaguely work-friendly, I’m only posting a handful of my renfair photos here. I highly recommend checking out the full set by clicking here.

Fairies!


Jousting


Molesting a bald pirate

I'm pretty convinced that the dude on the far right has married into this family and is wondering what the hell he has gotten himself into and how soon he can get himself out.


Sound and Fury, pseudo-Shakespearian vaudeville group


Glenn, Sophie and I eat frozen, chocolate-covered bananas.


The dude on the left is totally trying to play up his vague resemblance to Orlando Bloom whilst drinking meade (seriously) with his mother. Yeah.

Glenn attacks a turkey leg, and looks rather insane.
And by rather, I mean incredibly.


A sad fairy eats a quesadilla.


Me with... um... something.


Glenn and Chris do archery

Random centaur dude

Additionally, Glenn has two super awesome cats. Unfortunately, I am horribly allergic to at least one of them and had to dope up on antihistamines. Yes, his two were harsher on my system than my twelve. But they are cute...

Glenn and Xerxes

Ophelia: the only cat to make Daddy Cat seem small

Full RenFair photo set here.
Full Space Center photo set here.