...to do nothing and get away with it. I'm in my hometown for another month.

Like a renegade robot who has become self-aware, I know that this is my last chance to do nothing. I can sleep three times a day, work out like I'm trying out for GQ, and spend as much time with my family as possible. I can read books at my leisure. I can re-watch old Star Trek TNG episodes. I can read and reread notes. I can write messages. I can research my town's history. I can eat anything (and I do mean anything). I can watch 소녀시대 videos four times a day (too honest?).

This is it. From here on out, it's work. bills. stress. obligations. overtime. a house. the ocean. a family. kids. career. retirement. traveling. grandkids. death.

Like a lucid dream, I know that this is it. Not only that, but this time is precious because it also marks a time when my choices have huge repercussions. Do I stay in Texas? that has ramifications. Do I move to Korea? that has some serious responsibilities attached. Do I go to graduate school? that changes everything.

Okay. Permit me to be cheesy. Don't worry, it's only for a moment.

When I was in high school, there was this phenomenal male role model of a teacher named Charles Madison. Mr. Madison was a war veteran with no tolerance for mediocrity or well put together insecure high school sophomores. In his humanities class, he required that we study poetry and commit to memory a few poems such as Sonnet 29, Annabel Lee, and The Road Not Taken. It is the last poem that comes to mind most recently:

...well, sort of. I have a week left in Denton, the town that I've lived in for three years. Then, it's a month in my hometown....and then what?

I'm definitely looking forward to the change, the job, the life. But there's a lot of baggage coming along with me (metaphorically speaking. My actual baggage is only two pieces plus a carry-on). When I get there, will I be okay? Like for real okay? When will the magic wear off? When will I start to set my mind to something? When will I start screaming the F word out of frustration? Exactly how many hearts will be broken?
Am I prepared for this insanely huge move? Do I have enough clothes? Will I forget to pack something important? Will I disappoint the people I meet in Korea? Will I make friends easily? Will I embarrass myself to no end? Will I be a good teacher? Will I find a good temple? Will I be a good student? Will I ever shake this bad pronunciation?

I guess a little bit more shortsighted, when will I miss this town? I've really grown to like Denton. I think I'll even miss this rat-hole of an apartment (expect the days of no A/C). I'll definitely miss my friends here (what's left of them - international students have a tendency to leave once you get friends with them).

I know that I'll miss my hometown. Hell, I'm not even in Killeen yet and I know I'll miss it. I've been apart from it long enough to know that I'm a country boy through and through. Thanks a lot Central Texas. You've produced yet another good ol' boy.

In the meantime, I'll be sure to make good use of my time (read: not at all).

back in denton after a week-long holiday trip down to my hometown - the one, the only, the dirty - Killeen. It was nice but as always, I'm glad to be back home.

Having said that, I left my frakin monitor at my parents house. My roommate is going to bring it back when she leaves Killeen but that won't be until the fifth of january. So what is a uppity white guy to do? abuse the system.

I troted down to the nearest Wal-Mart and took advantage of a stellar return policy. So long as I keep the box and monitor in tip-top shape, I can return my newly purchased 300 dollar monitor with no restocking fee. So, right now I'm typing on a beautiful Dell LCD that has me smiling for the time being.

When I make the trip to Korea, I plan to travel as light as possible. Having said that, I also plan on taking a mid-sized computer with me. Hey, at least I downgraded from a full ATX 10 bay behemoth of a case from Apevia. This new case is 12 pounds lighter and a few inches shorter - perfect for traveling now. But alas, my three year old LCD monitor is aging. Thus, the plan to purchase a bigger and badder screen upon arrival. Can you believe that a 21" Korean monitor is cheaper than a 19" model from newegg? So, this new "borrowed" monitor has me thinking about the bells and whistles down the road.

Oh alright I admit it's trashy to buy something with no intention to keep it, but at least a come to a complete stop at every red light. That makes up for it, right?

Anyways, onto more pressing matters - I have seven full days to get stuff done before I have to switch into student teaching mode again. That means I have some serious writing and studying to do. Till then!

lame. I can't really stay on the computer long because I'm in a shared space with shared computer parts. It's not that I have super important stuff to do, but I would really like to get some studying done during the week. Plus, there's only so much PSP I can play...

Maybe I can find something else to occupy my time? You know, something productive? I've been hacking away at my history book, but that's only at night. I did bring some notecards, but some of them are outdated. I'd like to go over and work on my youtube videos but internet is a premium here - I should be thankful it even exists. But, it does cut me kind of close with commitment with the KC101 blog. I haven't been able to have steady access to the internet so it looks like I'll have to wait until I get back to Denton to do my blogging marathon. I have one lined up for this Tuesday but that's it so far.

Perhaps I could start cataloging and scanning some family photos for my personal collection? I had been planning to scan and save my family's photo albums in June but maybe this week would be better. I just don't want to walk away from this week feeling like I did nothing but rake some leaves, eat some food, beat Dracula, and install Vista. Oh and the install went great. I'm a 5.9 out of 6 point scale of awesome.

So here's what we got going for us this week:

Sunday - work at grandmas, mulch leaves, move firewood, clean pool, clean Jessie's cage, do laundry
Monday - have lunch with Grandma, scan family photos, assemble new computer case
Tuesday - clean out truck, meetup with Jamie, trade Jessie for Chicken and Mouse, play with Aiden
Wednesday - move chest of drawers for dad, go to the park
Thursday - open presents, put up Christmas stuff in attic, go to movies with mom, steam cleam carpet
Friday - eat with Todd, trade animals with Jamie again, drive back home at night
Saturday - back home in Denton, complete last ebay transaction, meetup with 유정, write me some blogs

 So my super computer blew up. It's my own fault - I was right in the middle of a ultra-nerdy hacking session when I accidently did something to the registry that I shouldn't have done. There goes Windows XP.

Now, I've always talked trash about Vista - being a cold-hard XP fan for some time - but I have to say that I have recently had some problems with my XP setup that could be solved in Vista. So, I making the switch - legally. That's right - I purchased a retail Vista Ultimate. Let alone, I bought the 32-bit version. I just lost all geek credibility. Oh well.

Hey, at least I didn't move to Apple.

Speaking of which, last month I migrated all my music over to MediaMonkey. I love love love it. It dances circles around iTunes. A few of my favorite features include

• crossfade (nonstop music - one song fades into the next by about 4 seconds)
• permanent volume leveling (all songs play at the same volume)
• super custimizable labeling (effortlessly label ide tags and make the file name match the ide tag)
• batch album art downloader (all songs have album art that pops up in the bottom right of the screen)
• micro mode (plays in the background without havinmg a window open)
• being able to control it from my keyboard (so much power...look ma! no mice!)
• podcast integration (nuff said)

So, becuase of my computer veing kind of on the fritz (well, I'm using it right now, but I'm running a botched "clean" install of XP) I might have to push my winter break study goals back a bit :(

Thursday night I travel down to Killeen for the holidays and my brother's birthday. I'll spend a week down in my hometown - which is kind of a long time. I have fond memories of Killeen but that doesn't mean I like staying down there that long. It will be nice to see my family, though. That's always a plus.

In other news, I have been burning money like it's fun. The not-so-funny thing about it is that I don't have the money to burn in the first place. My student loan, which I have always depended on, dissolved a few months ago and they aren't offering it anymore. So, my last attempt to stay out of the homeless shelter is with Sallie Mae's other private loan. I was initially approved, but UNT still has to approve it. Cross your fingers for me.

Let's see, what else? Oh, I bought luggage for Korea (I like to plan ahead), I am selling off some more stuff on ebay (to lighten the load), and I am bidding on a new case for the computer. I've steeled myself to just go ahead and sell my monitor before I leave, but I really want to keep this computer. So, to make the trip, I have to swap out my steel, gargantuan chassis out for a mid-size alluminum case (found used on ebay). Maybe during the swap, I can regain whatever geek creds I can - cause right now I'm reeling from that retail Vista purchase...

Man, my Korean speaking skills need some serious work. I feel that I understand more than I can express which is both good and bad. The good part is that I can participate in some conversations, but the bad part is that I'm responding mostly in English. No good.

My goal that I set for myself back in August was to have more confidence in spelling; by way of typing, writing, texting, and emailing. I feel that I have improved enough to meet the goal. I can spell much better than I could this summer (in July I was misspelling 안녕하세요 and 왜그래요). So, I'm going to go ahead and mark that goal achieved (for now). Go me! But that was then and this is now. In case you have been following along, I have only 250+ days left to polish up my Korean before the big move. I know I will pick up a lot of the language while I'm there but I tend to do well with explicit instruction beforehand (read: I'm a grammar nerd).

So, I have some goals intended to spruce up my speaking skills. However, I still need some serious improvement in terms of writing, so I'm including that in the list:

• Review and redo all (25) lessons from KC101's Beginner Season 2
  
• Post on youtube two (2) video responses to sample prompts
  
• Complete three (3) lessons on Sogang's online Korean course
• Continue to meet 은하 online twice (2) a week
• Continue to meet 유정 on campus once (1) a week
• Continue to email back everyone on hanlingo at least once (1) a week
• Write (25) new conversation cards
• Write a one (1) page paper introducing myself. Must include at least: 에휴...

This might sound like a lot but it's a pretty tame list all things considered. Unfortunately, I won't have nearly as much time to study this winter break as I have before. I'll be in Killeen (내 고향) for a week during Christmas, and my program starts the spring semester a full two weeks before the rest of the university. I go back January 5th. Lame. Therefore, This list must be completed by January 4th.

Wish me luck!