Thanksgiving Day!

This Thanksgiving Day passed without a turkey to be seen. You'd be surprised how little Koreans are aware of our North American bird the turkey. It didn't bother me so much last year when Thanksgiving Day came and went. This year, it sort of got under my skin. Sure, I miss my family and not being able to be with them back home in the states on important holidays can make a huge difference. However, there was something else that irked me.

This past Halloween, the kindergarten I worked at made a big event of the day. We ate candy and dressed up as little monsters, princesses & superheroes. We traveled in our little buses to the homes of a few students to receive candy from parents. We made it to be a day that encouraged the kids to see it as an important American holiday.

Now, do remember that I really gave up on Halloween in my teens. My family didn't particularly agree with the whole celebratory aspect of Halloween and what it stood for. As children our parents participated as do most American families. However, as my sister and I grew up Halloween became less important. Now my sister has children and is married to a minister. The pictures I saw on my networking site (facebook) showed my little nephew and niece dressed up for Harvest Night The Christian re-interpretation of Halloween for kids. Not a bad idea if I may say so.

Getting back to Korea. Here I was with a bunch of Korean kids attending an American based private kindergarten that was showing them an American holiday. Not an important holiday. Mostly an excuse for children to eat more candy than they should & adults to dress up in strange costumes and get drunk.

Then Thanksgiving came around. An important holiday in my mind's eye. A day when families from across the country and Earth gather back together all under one roof. It's a day to remember why and for what each family and person should be thankful for. Here in Korea... it was forgotten, for the most part in my kindergarten.

Sure, I made an extra attempt to inform my students of Thanksgiving Day. The school however, down played it. I worked, as most Koreans did on Thanksgiving Day. As I went through the day. I felt robbed of my National identity.

There is another day in Korea that is very similar to America's Thanksgiving Day. It's called Chusoek. On this day, all of Korea migrates to their families to celebrate the harvest. It's one of two very important holidays here in Korea. Chuseok & the Korean New Year which follows the lunar calender.

This is the background and the logistics of my Thanksgiving Day. At the end of the day I was drinking a bottle of whiskey at the western bar that never forgets my name.

This Thanksgiving I am especially thankful for life, liberty & family. I'd also like to thank all my friends who are in some ways an extended family away from home.

130. Red

130. Red

The other day somebody gave
me a red marble. It reminds
me of the doors of China. It
reminds me of a bottle of
folded origami stars. On the
top sat a small red marble.
The boy inside who laughs,
plays & wants to
see a smile on the face of
friends. The Peter Pan boy
has been forced into the
world hidden from sight. In
time... hurt & pain compile
to hide the son of the Earth.
Mr. & Mrs. Grim's Son still
lives. Some would say
he moves the world from
behind the scenes. Maybe
his playfulness manifests
in the world of colors...
Maybe, deep underneath
the hardened heart of
a cold & un-remorseful
soul is a boy like Mr. &
Mrs. Grim's Son... longing
to be caressed & accepted
for being. In becoming we
lose a bit of innocence and
we long to recapture it.
Grey carries a red marble
in his pocket to remember
Mr. & Mrs. Grim's Son.

129. Green

129. Green

When I was new to writing
I needed a partner in crime.
Mr. Greenleaf was the
man who was by my side
all the time. He gave
color to Grey and helped
to explain away with
his questions of inquiry
into the dreams of mystery.
Psychoanalyze together
until one of them
realized... that inquiry
isn't a reason to
sympathize. It was fun
to look into whats
generalized.

Alter ego this & that
with colors to name. Some-
times amazed at how
deep is the maze... Mr.
Greenleaf has been here
from the beginning. Framed
with personality that
attempts to reflect
reality. Actually, how
much is true comes
back to blue... Not to
be rude. In the end
whats true is what lives
in you. That's what
Greenleaf says with a
smile & his cup of java
brew.

128. Purple

128. Purple

Pearl Pull. The ideal girl.
The woman of my dreams
that I've never met.
Pearl Pull Grey has never
been seen because she
only exists in the place
of dreams. I once loved
a girl who was young
& lavender. I hoped she
would mature and become
my pearl...

Dear Ms. Pearl who dis-
appeared into the shadows.
I hope to meet again
with the victory over
our battles.

All the things that we
claim to matter doesn't
really matter. Rather the
things that are important
are the things that can't
be shattered.

The fragile things that
are easy to break are
the things we should
treasure without fear
or hate.

Pearl Pull, the unknown
bride is my disguise that
I claim to hide. My image
of a wife. She is not
alive, not yet. Not in
my eyes.

Blah Thursday

After work I went out for some Jasmine tea. Now I'm at home drinking a few beers before crashing for the night.

The Living Museum was fun. Pictures talking and interacting with the visitors.

Mostly... It was a good day.

48. Who Is He?

In an attempt to get the upper hand I almost resigned from my job. I had a long talk with my supervisor/director of the school I am employed at. Hopefully things will change and will be less stressful and a lot more enjoyable. The good news... we're going on a field trip tomorrow to a living museum of some sort.

There's this blog site that I follow that is a writing prompt for bloggers. Today's prompt is about being a writer and if so what would be the subject or topic of preference. For myself... a novella about self discovery. I just can't seem to make it funny.

Here's another poem from the archives. This poem is from the Mijogle series (A name of a place that I made up). Enjoy!

48. Who Is He?

In desperation he felt no choice but to click the button. His thoughts unclear like puzzle pieces scattered across the dining room table. The confusion did not succeed in keeping his desire enveloped in despair. He knew that it had to begin and the moment could not be delayed any further. The words poured out of him like water falling into a basin from high above the cliffs. A waterfall of thoughts interwoven to speak like a Persian rug's decor. In volumes the images crossed all perspectives. He unleashed his contemplations upon a surface of white to see scribbles of lines that made sense to the eyes. Through the window of the soul his world was magnified for the world’s eye to see, to discover that he is me.

Mental Holiday

I woke up with a sore throat this morning. It is why I called in sick. It repulsed me to think that I would have to deal with the stress of working with my boss hovering over me about senseless things. All this while being sick.

Today... was my mental holiday.

I went to the doctor to get some medicine and have been home relaxing all day. Now it's about time to get ready for a wonderful nights rest.

127. P. Ink

127. P. Ink

Phillip Ink has a lot of
emotions ready to burst.
Feelings bottled up I
suppose is worst. Which
can lead to high blood
pressure and an eventual
Hurst. The lesser of two
evils, that's the curse. I
can attempt to explain
like talking to a
psychological nurse.

At intervals of ticking
time, seconds are replaced
with scheming rhymes. behind
each constructed line...
The truth stripped of lies.

I'm tired of the bullshit
that accompany
the job. The minipulation
& micro-management in
between sobs.

Pay me my overtime & cut
the drama act. It all comes
down to the facts. your
pouring down the s tress
about useless things no
less. Your taking away my
joy for teaching & replacing
it with contempt for breathing.
Your not helping me to be
my best. Your making me want
to resign so I can get
some rest.

Sunday

I've got cold sores. AHHHHHH!

Hello

I have the feeling that this will be my last opportunity to log on to blog world to post before the clock hits midnight. It would be shameful to allow this last window of opportunity to close without a proper response. It would force me to begin my 31 days of consecutive blogging over again. This path of destiny... I shut! Success for today.

Although, again as with days that are filled with business. A short hello and greeting followed by, I hope all is well.

126. Ken Harry Yellow

126. Ken Harry Yellow

A little bit of me with red
is Orange. it's also a term
used for coward. The truth
of the matter is that
in 2007, I was created
to hide behind. In my
mind's eye I could not meet
the line, the standard
of excellence aesthetically
denied. Criticism realized
that my enemy in time
was my own mind.

Fine, we're past that. Ken
Harry is one of many whom
without, there would not be
any. The series of ten
that are accredited is
not any less because of a
name invented. In the
end it all gets red/read.

If I want to be pink. I
can be Phillip Ink. Modes
of writing form the same
one writer. Pearl Pull is
a sister disguise. All colors
intended to be radiance
of surprise.

All this has been said in
explanation for Ken
Harry Yellow. With this
poem he says... Hello.

Fatigued

I wish there was something to say other than that I'm extremely tired from staying up all night to celebrate the victory of the new President-Elect of the United States of America.

Recently, I've been writing poetry on colored origami paper. In the days to come there shall be poems named after colors.

Enjoy.

125. Orange

125. Orange

Orange you glad to tell
a tale of animated figures
alive in your head? At the
least, you know your not
dead. Magnetic fields of
characters array, socially
interacting to pass the day

Candice O. Ranges meet
the rest of the world. We've
begun to get bored &
needed some inspiration to
entertain. Things here
were beginning to seem
a little mundane.

Whose who in this world
of ours? I see that your
Blue & he must be Green.
Are these the colors that
make up our dream?

Yellow, Hi nice to meet you.
Without your influence I
wouldn't be me. I wouldn't
be free. I wouldn't be
alive as part of this
dream. Thoughts are
aligned to be a stream...
of semantic pictures
of elaborate... Hmmm.
Seems redundant to say
dream.

Red sun so bright, your rays
of light have given me
life. Bless this form of
color to life...
Candice O. Ranges was
born in my thoughts tonight.

Election Day!

I'm satisfied with the way America voted!

124. Mr. President

124. Mr. President

If I were President, I’d have a heavy burden to

carry. It would feel like the titan with the atlas

on his shoulders. My student thinks that he can

have dinosaurs as a pet. I’d be worried about getting

the world out of debt. However, It’s almost impossible

to help all the people in the world. The gods would clash

over the states. All to gain status as a blue or red

state. With me as President, I’d keep all states in

the grey. I’d convert the entire world to the

color of love. They say that color is true. The world

would rejoice because finely we’d have a great

President in the states. Hooray! The world would

shout, for B. Luis Grey. The new color of love is

really grey! The irony of that cheer makes me want

to sneer. It’s clear, I couldn’t be President. No, not

this year.

123. Work

123. Work

Repetitive folding of evaluation cards
The end of the day seems so far. Teaching shapes of circles
and squares. Feeling slightly numb, like I really don’t care
Lessons in phonics, the sound of ‘u’. Sun, bun, run, gun,
nut, hut & cut. It’s a dinosaur, those are boats &
these are spaceships. They’re all toys. Sounds bizarre, like the
Flaming Lips. Lunch comes around. Please eat & stop yacking.
My break is lacking, it’s beginning to stack. My back
and neck is cracking like a chiropractors touch to
the spine. What I really need is some ancient wine or
cognac. Don’t have the cash flow to get a hold of that,
at least nothing aged well. In truth, I really can’t tell
unless it’s whiskey or bourbon and I’m writing about
drinking while at work. Back to class, the subject is math.

AWOL = Absent With Out Leave

It's difficult to fulfill the one goal that depends entirely on me. It's an endeavor that I will not give up on so lightly. Although I've failed this time around, I will try again.

Today marks a the day that I attempt to write 31 consecutive days, again. In 31 days when I complete my goal I hope to mark the completion of a goal well achieved. This time around! AHHHH.

The past few days have been quite fun. Thursday evening I went out to eat dinner with a friend. She picked a nice little brunch/pasta place. Sure, it was late in the evening so we ate pasta. It was very spicy and delicious.

Friday night was filled with massive drinks of Whiskey and coke and somewhere along the night a shot of Tequila. Needless to say that I was well inebriated. I didn't make it home Saturday morning. I crashed at a friends house who lives in a satellite city next to Seoul.

Saturday began with Breakfast/Lunch in the afternoon and Off to Central Seoul to see a friend.

I eventually came back to Song-pa District to head over to my Aunt's house to eat dinner.

When I finally arrived home it was a little before 10 P.M. I downloaded episode five of The Office, watched it and went to sleep.