Halloween Costume 2012: Frida Kahlo

I can't resist Halloween, you guys. Even though it's going to be the MOST inconvenient holiday for me this year, as time I would normally spend on a costume I have to spend packing and finding a home for my luggage, I can't NOT have a costume.

Athena was out of the question, since my sarong is on a slowboat back home (and I'd be repeating myself). Then I saw this on Pinterest and couldn't stop laughing:



Which got me to thinking: "Man, I really wouldn't need that much eyeliner for the eyebrows at all."

Observe my brows:



Flowers, a brightly-colored wrap (easy enough to find, even in the subway), and hey presto! I could even use the wool shawl I got in Finland: the colors are right, and it'll keep me very warm.



The only thing, though—I couldn't wear glasses! So: put them in a case and suffer through blindly? I would use the costume at least at the last market day here at work, if not at the inevitable foreigner Halloween shindig. I wish I could get a closer look at the necklace she's wearing in the above picture, because it seems like she wore it a lot. Overall, Kahlo had some awesome-glam taste in accessories; I wish I had the time to reproduce all of them!

I'd also have to grow out my bangs long enough to clip them back. Easy enough, they're already pretty long...

What's your Halloween costume this year?

Kokoba at MoMath!

I've been following the Museum of Math on Twitter for a while now, though they are not due to open until mid-December. I was already pretty excited at the prospect of a mathematics museum so close to me. Then I got this message on Etsy and become twice as excited!

Hi Katherine,

I'm writing from the museum of mathematics (www.momath.org). We are interested in carrying the above Pi Amethyst Agate Bracelet in our gift shop. Do you sell these wholesale? If so, how much do they cost and what is your minimum order?

Please email me at [redacted] to let me know.

Thanks so much,

Jake R------

My busy little fingers have just finished nine more bracelets last night and today; by the end of this week they will be en route to their new home at the MoMath gift shop! I can't wait to visit. Not only to see my babies, but to play with some math things. It sounds very much like a math version of The Franklin Institute, which warms my nerdy heart down to the very cockles. The cockles!

Music Monday: Dubstep Violin

I know, I know, "violin" and "dubstep" aren't words you expect to see next to each other. AND YET

101 in 1001 Update: Back on Sunday

I've been productive this week!

In progress:

I wrote another 1000 words on my ENG CRW project. (5 - 10)

I finished a foreign movie at work. I watched "The Ugly Duckling and Me," a British children's movie. (9 - 5) And another episode of Dr. Who! (5 - 13) I also watched an episode of some British true crime show about "Mr. Swirl"; I'm (grudgingly) counting it as a documentary. (9 - 6)

I also got a commission for a birthday jewelry gift. (2 - 3) I had to order some parts from home; I also ordered what I need to finished Project Rae, so hopefully I can cross that one off soon!

I finished Bruce Cumings' The Korean War: A History. (9 - 2) Some people accuse him of being a North Korean apologist, but someone who frames contemporary opinions on the two Koreas in a Nietzschean framework is pretty freaking awesome in my book.

Finished:

I took advantage of a half day and withdrew all my money from my Shinhan account. I couldn't close it, but the bank teller assured me I could keep it open without any penalties. (2 - 5)

I went to Suwon fortress over the long holiday (3- 8). I also completed my Uijeongbu photo safari. (3 - 4).

101 in 1001: Suwon Fortress

This past Sunday was part of a long holiday here in South Korea, so I crossed a couple of items off my 101 in 1001 list: Go on a Uijeongbu Photo Safari (3 - 4) and Go to Suwon fortress (3 - 8). A little history about the fortress:

Hwaseong, the wall surrounding the centre of Suwon, the provincial capital of Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, was built in the late 18th century by King Jeongjo of the Joseon Dynasty to honour and house the remains of his father Prince Sado, who had been murdered by being locked alive inside a rice chest by his own father King Yeongjo having failed to obey his command to commit suicide. 

The Suwon fortress was beautiful. I couldn't have asked for a better day with nicer weather, and the grounds are absolutely huge. I didn't get to see the whole thing in the time I had, so it's still a possibility to visit again before I leave. Some pictures, if you want to live vicariously through me!


You can take a bus from Suwon station to the fortress (and the palace), but it was such a nice day (and since I had forgotten which exit from the station put you in the right bus direction) I walked it. I also got English bombed by an ajosshi drinking makgeolli straight from the bottle at 2 in the afternoon. I HAD MAD RESPECT FOR YOUR RAMPANT ALCOHOLISM UNTIL YOU TRIED TO HOLD MY HAND, MR. AJOSSHI.

Because I walked, I also came upon the fortress by a kind of weird side way instead of from the "entrance." So you get a sideways chronological tour instead of a normal ways achronological tour.



The first of many, many stairs to be climbed, because it's a fortress and so naturally it's on a hill.



Nice view, though.





All along the watchtower...



The fortress walls enclose a lot of greenery.





At this particular pavilion I had a nice sit and read for a while. Despite the innumerable hordes of people there, I was alone for quite some time, maybe half an hour? It was a dead end off the main fortress "trail" so that's probably why. I pretended I was the only person in the fortress and tore through The Poisonwood Bible.



Close up of the sign on the pavilion.

After the pavilion I wandered down the wall on the other side of the hill and nosed around the palace.



Traditional Chuseok game that's kind of the opposite of a seesaw. You jump and try to launch your partner up in the air. Not pictured: doofy foreigners attempting it as well.



The wishing tree! I left a wish (in Korean!) tied on it as well.



My wish. It's secret, though! Otherwise it won't come true. (Not a Korean thing; that's my own superstition.)



Decorative roof tile.

Lots of bits of the palace seemed to be under (re)construction, as they were not painted or not fully painted:







I'm sorry Korea, but I kind of prefer your architecture without the salmon-colored walls. =/



The history behind this particular fortress and palace is that it was built to commemorate a dead king who was sentenced to death because his father thought he would make a terrible heir. The dead king's son (somehow this guy managed to reproduce despite vague "mental illness," I guess) had the palace built to commemorate his father.

How was the dead king killed? Buried in a rice chest.

I spied this going on in the corner of the main courtyard:



"Hm, what are they doing? Let's saunter over to look! There's an informative sign!"



"This looks fun!"



"...oh."



RICE DEATH CHEST!



Nightmare fuel!

I'm trying to make the most of my remaining time here. This weekend is a fireworks festival over the Han, which I plan to attend with a few friends. At some point, though, a weekend will have to be devoted to packing (and shipping home what I can). Dislike.

101 in 1001: Wednesday Update

That's two Sundays in a row I've been remiss! I have updated in other places, though; I'm not entirely delinquent.

I recently finished another book off the TIME Top 100 list: The Poisonwood Bible, which I cannot recommend strongly enough. Kingsolver creates nuanced characters that cover a broad moral spectrum. A lot of times in stories (whether in movies or literature), the bad guys either are too evil to be believed, or are believable but don't seem that bad. Kingsolver accomplished the Herculean task of creating perfectly believable and utterly evil people; people loathsome and terrible but, sadly, also people you could imagine meeting in real life. She also draws a detailed and infuriating picture of the Democratic Republic of Congo, from the late 50s up until more or less contemporary times—she wrote The Poisonwood Bible, it seems, with an agenda. Gird yourself for some White Liberal Guilt on this one.

I also went to Suwon fortress, all the way at the southern end of the Seoul Metro. It's one of the biggest (as in most famous) places to visit in South Korea and a UNESCO World Heritage site, so I'm glad I finally paid it a visit. I took so many pictures that they deserve their own later post.

In between that I've watched a few more episodes of Star Trek and Doctor Who.

The rest of my list is behind the jump.

Music Monday: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

This one is courtesy of the Boy. I never thought I'd say, "Here's a song that sums up how I feel about clothes shopping," but there you go.