Sapere Aude! Was: Kant Get Enough of Hayden

Photos from our whirlwind weekend trip to Ulsan last weekend. Hayden was wonderful - as usual - and did all sorts of new things: played piano with her daddy (I had no idea he could really play!), visited her 84 year old great-halmoni at a temple, went shopping with Melanie ajumma and met her uncle Jung-suk's family at their bulgogi restaurant.

And she was spoiled and pampered the entire time. She was treated like a superstar & she loved it. See the smiles in all those photos? All show! As soon as she saw a camera pointed at her she would freeze, tilt her head a little and smile coyly. Flutter her lashes even! Simper.

After the shutter sound though she would drop the smiles, turn back to chewing her little fist and dismiss us with (what seemed to be) a bored flick of her hand. Pretty talented for a wee lass.

When my sisters and I were growing up my father would (only half-jokingly) tell us we were ugly because (he claims) he didn't want us to be vain and conceited. He wanted us to use our brains and not our looks. One of my earliest memories is of myself proudly sporting a new t-shirt that said "never underestimate the power of a woman" and I wore it proudly because I was the only kid in my neighborhood who knew the meaning of the word "underestimate". Of course, I was also the ugliest kid around for miles so a big vocabulary was necessary for survival. ^^

I think his logic worked too well (I really thought I was hideous until ... yesterday sometime) and I'd hate for Hayden to grow up awkward and uncomfortable like that. An ideal situation would of course be one in which she felt good-looking and smart. For a long time I blamed my father for my flimsy self-esteem, my obsession with big words and a ridiculously large t-shirt collection but just a few days ago I came across a copy of Kant's "What is Enlightenment? (1784) and it got me to thinking about his definition of immaturity. He says:

"Immaturity is the inability to use one's understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. Sapere Aude! [dare to know] "Have courage to use your own understanding!"--that is the motto of enlightenment".

He goes on to say that laziness and cowardice are the reasons why so many people cannot/do not think for themselves and - then I got to thinking - it could be true! For a good many years I was too willing to just accept the things that my family and friends told me instead of thinking for myself or really trying to see myself through my own (i) eyes . Had I been mature enough I could have distanced myself from my father's Old Skool Tough Love and realized a different kind of truth - one that made me [look] or feel better!

In any event, I'll try to make Hayden's Journey to Maturity a bit easier and be sure to give her a copy of Kant to read along with It's Perfectly Normal, Tank Girl and The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish. Except in the latter we'll change the word "dad" to "grandad". Every time.
And here's a song that makes Hayden dance! And me too. Enjoy ~

without warning ...

A few days ago Hayden stretched out her fat little arms, grabbed the sides of her Fisher Price vibrating chair, grinned at me and then casually pulled herself up off the floor. And then just stood there, looking around. Cool as a cucumber, I kid (!) you not.

It's interesting that so far she has been 'textbook average' in almost every way (with the exception of her incredibly rapid almost-in-the-taxi birth) but yet I still feel that she is anything but average. I think she may even be exceptional. Extraordinary. Gifted. A genius even. Let me give you some examples ...

(those of you who are not related to us or in love with us may want to just skip this part and squirrel on to the song downloads at the end. But check back in a few days because I'll be offering up a critique of Rousseau's Discourse on the Sciences and Arts or something equally as stimulating. I promise.)

So ok, just the other day I offered her a pacifier - something she has been accepting more and more as she cuts her teeth - and I'll be damned if she didn't take it for a few seconds and then remove it from her own mouth and offer it to me! Oh, the generosity of spirit! But the best part is this: I took the plastic handle, put it between my teeth and made a few stupid "mmm mmm mmm, thanks Hayden" token noises. But then she took it from me again, turned it around (albeit awkwardly) and tried to place it properly in my mouth! Genius. Pure genius!

And problem-solving! Just yesterday she learned that clambering over the pillows on the bed meant that she had to fall down the pillows in order to get to the floor. And it only took her one bump and a few shocked sobs to get that. Now she squirms her way under the pillows to escape. Sharp as a tack.

And she finally gets 'peak-a-boo'!! And it's a hit! Every time.

So life is good, here amidst all the boxes and packing tape. We have only a few days left in Masan so my next post may very well be from our new digs in Middle Korea. Until then -

Here's some music ...

Thurston Harris - little bitty pretty one
Oh No! Oh My! - walk in the park
The Fratellis - flathead

We bid you a good night~

turnip the heat ...

Well for months now I've been saying "Hayden is SO healthy" and "she never gets sick" and "it's really amazing how happy and strong she is". Blah blah blah and poopy on me and my bragging obnoxious behaviour. Three days ago, thinking she seemed a bit cranky and feverish, I took her temperature and - lo! - Hayden did indeed have a bit of sickness inside. 37 degrees centigrade. And then soared to a whopping 39. something, caused baby convulsions and had me in a miserable hand-wringing PANIC! AT THE HOSPITAL.

But she's ok now, or getting ok. Our doctor says she had a "sore throat" and gave us some red stuff to feed her. When I asked what it was he gave me an annoyed look and said "medicine". Of course.

Heh. Here's a photo of Princess Hayden, crawling from her sick bed to the computer. Let's hope she keeps that kind of work ethic forever!

Have a good week~

jumping off wharves ...

This year I've spent a lot of time at home. And a lot of time trying to be quiet. And a lot of time trying to be nice. And, also, a lot of time just being happy. But not alot of time outside poking through music stores. And not a lot of time thrashing and moshing. Not even inside my head. It's been a very 'AM-not-FM' kind of year. A head-bopping and toe-tapping kind of year. Star-gazing and lip-chewing. Sighing happily and strolling slowly ...

You get the point, I'm sure.

Music blogs, myspace, download.com and a gift subscription SPIN have been my only sources of musical happiness, and I'm heart-claspingly thankful for them. I'm not really going to soapbox about the benefits of file-sharing/Mp3 downloading beacuse it's tobeen done to death by folks more articulate than I, so I'll just shut up (right now!) and give you this:

Downloads O' 2006/Star-gazing, in random order :

1. Shelley Short - like anything, it's small
2. The Annuals - S.F take me back
3. Flying Canyon - crossing by your star
4. Thom Yorke - the eraser
5. Yiruma - do you
6. The Shins - a comet appears
7. Sufjan Stevens - chicago
8. Jenny Lewis - happy
9. Lee Sang Eun - pretty korean song
10. Arthur Russell - a little lost
11. Grizzly Bear - knife
12. Cat Power - the greatest
13. El Perro Del Mar - god knows
14. The Mountain Goats - get lonely
15. Herman Dune - i wish
16. The Guillemots - trains to brazil

And I hope you enjoy. And if you enjoy any of these songs a lot then I highly recommend that you buy the real album. And then tell your friends. It works - but if you don't believe me just ask Gnarls Barkley and Arctic Monkeys.

Have a swishy week ... and know that at least one of the following is true:

we love/like/miss/thank YOU!

~

incisive political commentary

Apparently Kim Jong-il Won't Quit Till He's 90. In case you're wondering what he'll be doing with all that time, according to ABC news, he'll be testing more nuclear weaponry. The Korean Herald refers to this as a possible armed crisis on the Korean Peninsula and are talking about "ballistic missile defense systems". Furthermore, according to Gmail, this is scaring my friends & family in Canada.

But don't worry. This is what I did today: I taught my classes, bought groceries, took a walk and then cleaned my fridge. There were no explosions or filling of canteens or searching out of root cellars. We're all fine. We figure that if we can sip from both the mohito and the lager then everyone else can too, damnit. We're just going to have to get along and that's that.

Of more interest to me is the current debate over the mandatory military service. The government plans to slowly reduce the length of military service (now a compulsory 24-27 months for almost all Korean men) to a mere 18 months. I'd say this comes as welcome news to a lot of people. I remember Mr. Lee's own 27+ months of military service, way back when, and I know he felt (and still feels) that 2 and a half years is a big chunk of time to be forced to give to your country, for a shitty 10 bucks a month. And I agree. At that point in our relationship all we wanted to do was get it on - and instead we were limited to bi-monthly daytime fumbles in dirty DVD rooms.*

And, in unrelated news (really!), Hayden got her third tooth, on top. She's so cute. Have a good week. And thanks for the compliments on my fringe-bangs-hair!

The Little Ones - cha cha cha

*sorry, honey ;)

ff update

Alas, still in Masan. My Academic Coordinator, in a fit of cruelty, has decided that Winter Session would not be complete without my steller stealer stellar teeching teaching methods and is forcing me to work until the end of January. It looks like I'll be moving to Daejeon in February. The good news about this is that a) it gives me more time to pack up my stuff and b) effectively ensures that when I finally DO leave, my departure will be made without tears and remorse. There will be no sad little looks over my shoulder. No whimpers and tears. Etc, etc.

I have cut my hair. I now have bangs and, according to at least one of my co-workers, I look like Diane Keaton. Mr. Lee, on the other hand, says I look "young" and "cute". So the bangs stay, at least for now. Judge for yourselves.

And Princess Hayden! She now sits up unassisted, crawls with determination*, coos and woos and sings and clicks her tongue, gags feeds herself with a spoon, enjoys a good game of "drop the toy" and basically participates in all the regular activities expected from a 7 month old. Except she's far cuter.

A couple of interesting things about her though: Ms. Fusion Baby is proving to be a bit timid! She jumps at loud noises and unexpected sounds, startles magnificently at cars and scooters, flails her arms and gasps at knocks on the door and actually cries at peek-a-boo unless we just say the words and keep our faces uncovered. That's great fun, that game is. Toy flying helicopters? No. Small dogs? No. Dust bunnies? Hell, no. Her fright only lasts for a few seconds though and then she returns to her regular programming - Sunshine Girl - so we're just trying to be gentle with her and hope it passes. Quickly.

And. Here’s a cute story: if she wakes in the morning before us** she will veerrrryy thoroughly, and with great delight, pat our faces, poke at our eyes, pluck at our ears, stick her fingers in our mouths, pull at our hair and drool on our cheeks until one of us breaks under the torture and opens an eye. This sends her into paroxysms of laughter and makes her bounce and squeal happily like it's the best game in the world. And of course, for me and Mr. Lee, it's better than Folgers (TM) and ensures a general mood of festivity every morning. For about 10 minutes every day we ARE The Cleaver Family. Sort of ...

And I'll leave you that, with a wink and a smile. Happy, Happy New Year!~

Modest Mouse - edit the sad parts. (seven nine minutes long, beware)
Delgados - coming in from the cold.
Casey Dienel - la la song.
Cat Power - i found a reason.

* by dragging her legs behind her
** almost everyday