Now that is Epic

If anyone hasn't noticed, there's a page over there to the right that I have updated on a regular basis with a new K-Pop music video. It updates every Monday, and I really hope you are all watching it, and seeing all the awesome music videos I find.

Anyway, I was planning on using this one as this coming Monday's video, but I realized that it's not actually a music video, it's just the teaser for one. And it's just too cool to not share, so here it is.

Yes, this is a teaser for a music video (which is about 4 minutes shorter). It is an incredibly symbolic story. The theory floating around among the netizens is that the story is about true love and how hard it is to build back up once it's been broken. That's just a theory, though, and you certainly don't have to subscribe to it. I personally think it's just an awesome sci fi story about and man and his robot.

The video is quite beautifully made, and has a nice and slow, steady pace. It is one of the few music videos that plant story seeds in my head, and I really want to see this one written, because I don't usually get a science fiction seed planted.

Once you've watched this teaser, you should all watch the actual music video, by a group called LEDApple (pronounced Lead, as in lead pencil). The group isn't a boyband, and in fact, it's not even K-Pop. It's K-Rock, and I'm excited to have finally found something like this. There are very few actual bands that I've been able to find. Anyway, here's the music video.

As you can see, the music video is made up of shots from the teaser, as well as shots of the group playing their sci fi-looking instruments. I love it. ^-^ When you are done watching, you should totally go find their other music videos, because they are all awesome.

Hmmm... I didn't think Korean affected me THAT much.

I really didn't. I mean, sure, Korean has sort of become my life. My work is everything Korean, I only listen to Korean, I almost only watch Korean, but still. I could never imagine this happening.

This last week, I decided to get my novel out, the one I've been working on for a very long time. The one about the monster hunter. I wanted to work on it while I could, so I pulled all my hard copy stuff out of my filing cabinet and began going through it. It's had some time to stew, so I had some new ideas for it, like I always do when it's stewed for a while.

After I wrote down some of the ideas I had, I realized I was considering making the main character, who is currently a full blooded Italian, half Korean. While this isn't a horrible idea, it really puts some kinks in just about everything. I would have to change the girl's looks, I would have to change her family history, I would have to change a few others things as well. It's really too much hassle.

So you can see, Korean and Korea has invaded my life completely, and it doesn't seem to want to leave.

Simon's and the Nutcracker

Tonight I went to see the Nutcracker with mom. I haven't been for a very long time, and I really wanted to while I was home. So I bought the tickets earlier this month, and we went tonight. Because it was so far away, I decided to take my mom out to dinner. I was in the mood for Italian food, so I looked on the internet to find a nice Italian restaurant near the theater, and I found a little place called Simon's J Benjamin's that got a lot of good reviews. Since I kind of what to start reviewing small restaurants whenever I can, I'm going to start with this one.

Simon's J Benjamin's
Location, Des Moines
Price range, $10-$15 for entrees
Food, Italian
Atmosphere, 8/10: It was a nice, calming atmosphere, very cozy with high backed benches as well as small tables. The dining room itself wasn't very large, but the decoration was tasteful. There was a large aquarium in the back, that gave a little bit of light and color to the otherwise dim dining room. It was lit by a candle on each table, and very dim overhead lights. It gave the dining room a romantic, cozy feel to it. The only down side to this was it was a little hard to read the menu without holding it low enough to see by candlelight.
Service, 9/10: Simon's is a seat-yourself restaurant, and the woman who brought us our water was a little abrupt and unfriendly, however the waitress who took care of us through the meal was really bright and cheerful, and very helpful. She really knew the menu well, and had even tried most of it, so she was able to give a solid opinion on a lot of the food. The food came out quickly, although this might be attributed to the fact that there weren't a lot of people there. We got to meet the owner of the restaurant, who was greeting people at the tables and working alongside the wait staff. He was a young man, probably early to mid 30s, and he hadn't been the owner for very long, but he was very helpful and friendly, and it seemed like he had been doing it for a lot longer. His parents own a bakery (he said so himself) and he brought us a slice of a fresh baked chocolate cake his parents had brought over, free of charge.
Food, 10/10: The food was simply amazing. I got the Fettuccini Alfredo with chicken and a balsamic vinaigrette salad, and mom had Mannacotti and a Mediterranean salad. The Alfredo sauce was creaming and perfect, and the salad was delicious. It's really hard for me to describe food, so I'll just go with 'I was in heaven for the amount of time it took me to eat this food'. The cake that the owner brought out was chocolate with cream cheese frosting, and it was just the right amount of sweetness. It was perfect. We didn't order any drinks, so I can't say anything about that, but the water was good, and I'm really picky about my water. There is also a bar there, for those who drink, and it looked fairly well stocked with wine as well as other kinds of alcohol.

All in all, Simon's J Benjamin's rates a 9/10. I loved it a lot, and while I won't have time to go again, mom has promised that she will be taking dad sometime, because she loved it a lot, too.

And the Ballet was amazing too. Made me wish I really had taken up ballet, like I had wanted to when I was a little girl.

Gah... I would rather be home right now.

I have 63 hours left until I get to see my mom. Yes, I'm counting down the hours now. Right now I'm writing this post when I should be working extra hard on my culture paper, which is due on Thursday, but which I have to email to my partner tonight. I would have finished it yesterday, when I had very little homework, except I had to sit through a 2 hour briefing, then try to get leave stuff taken care of so I can actually go home. So I have to do it tonight, when I have almost twice the amount of homework. This is waht I get for procrastinating until the last minute.

In other news, it's definitely starting to feel like Christmas. I have two Christmas albums playing when I have time to listen (Michael Buble and SMTown), I have a little Christmas tree on my desk, all my Christmas shopping is done, and I've even recieved a present already. My first Christmas card too! It was so much fun!

Just... don't laugh. Okay, you can laugh.

So, I joined Twitter yesterday. It was kind of spur of the moment, and completely has to do with school. I promise. I mean, following my favorite Korean singers so that I can get authentic reading practice counts for school, right?

Anyway, it's pretty cool, since I really am getting authentic Korean, and I can actually understand some of it. And some of it is just so cute it makes my fan girl head explode. It helps that I have internet on my phone (Straight Talk, $45 a month for unlimited everything. Awesome. Thanks Dad!) so I don't have to sift through a million tweets at the end of the day. I just read them as they come, during breaks of course. I've even posted a couple of times, though I'm sure I won't become someone who posts every ten minutes of the day.

This year has certainly turned out to be a year for trying new things. Joining the military, eating eel, squid, kimchi, joining twitter, etc. What does the last little bit of the year have in store for me?

Also, I'm getting Blogger for my phone, so I will hopefully start posting more often. Depending on how proficient I get with the touchscreen keyboard.

Oh my goodness, the epicness of this video floors me

I opened up my youtube account today and discovered this beauty waiting for me in the suggestions. It was so perfect, especially for right at this moment. I really needed some cheering up, and this video did the trick. Not only does it have Kim Hyun Joong from SS501--a favorite band--it has Yunho from TVXQ, Leeteuk and Shindong from Super Junior, Lee Seunggi (a solo artist) and (drum roll please) Bae Yong Joon! Now, I know none of these names mean anything to you, so I'm going to show you instead. Just another way of me spreading the love.

Here's the video.

Alright, now you saw Kim Hyun Joong. That is actually a fairly recent hair cut, because for most of his career he has had long hair. Like in the first picture. And Bae Yong Joon is a Hallyu (Korean Wave) star who is in a lot of dramas. He's really popular all around the world and once you see one of his dramas it's easy to see why. But that's not what is so cool about him. What's really cool about him, is he looks like an older version of Kim Hyun Joong. As you can see in the bottom picture.

Sorry everyone if this has been a particularly Korean heavy post. I live for Korea nowadays.

Sometimes I really hate the way my brain works

So last night I started a new book I got over the weekend. It's a science fiction, and I haven't read anything in that genre in a while. I was a little hesitent to read it, since I usually get bored with science fiction easily, either because the science part goes right over my head, or the fiction part is poorly written. To my great delight, I really liked it. Sure, the science was a little out there, and I still don't quite understand it all, but the prose is just beautiful, and I had a hard time putting it down. Reading it made me want to write science fiction again. And, as my long time readers know, that never turns out well.

I was thinking about it today, and I decided to go through my flashdrive to see what all science fiction I already have, thinking that maybe there was something I could work on. I delved through the handful I have, not really seeing anything of worth, until I read through a two page document I wrote a while ago about turning one of my longest running science fiction story ideas into a TV series. I though about it, and my brain, like the dumb, flighty thing it is, immediately switched gears. So then I wanted to write a science fiction TV series, which is completely different from writing science fiction novels.

As I was thinking about it, I realized how futile the idea was, and so I discarded it, leaving me with nothing left.

Boo.

I really wish I could just write full time, and not have to worry about going to class or doing homework or studying or anything like that. Then maybe I could be a productive writer, instead of someone who quits their NaNoWriMo at 25k...

Well shucks, I didn't mean to get so hooked

About a month ago, maybe a month and a half, when I first moved into my new dorm room, I went shopping at Target for some fresh fruit, because the dining facility doesn't have anything other than apples and oranges. I was shopping around and I saw a fridge display of the Naked smoothie drink. I stared at it for a little while, reminded of my mom, who loves drinking Naked (pun intended, because it's a family joke everyone loves). After a while, I decided it was about time I tried it. I had been resistant to drinking it before, but I was feeling a little homesick, and I wanted to be closer to mom. When I got back to the dorm, I took a drink. I think I got the Red Machine one, but I can't remember exactly. Anyway, from first drink, I fell in love. It was delicious.

When I ran out I looked for it at the Post Exchange on base, but they didn't have it. Instead, they had Odwalla brand smoothie drinks. I tried one of those too, and now I love them all. I almost always have a large jug  in the fridge, and I can't help but buy them whenever I got to the PX or Target. They are just so delicious and healthy for you.

Thanks, mom.

Edit: Here's a picture of what is currently in my fridge, for the curious.