Blogs

First smile?

Submitted by yoonii on Sat, 11/24/2012 - 00:00

Subways converging

cuz's picture
Submitted by cuz on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 15:56

Wired has an article on the convergence of subway systems around the globe.

Patterns emerged: The core-and-branch topology, of course, and patterns more fine-grained. Roughly half the stations in any subway will be found on its outer branches rather than the core. The distance from a city’s center to its farthest terminus station is twice the diameter of the subway system’s core. This happens again and again.

The findings are taken to indicate that there are underlying principles guiding urban form. This may not contradict their claims, but one must consider that cities have historically grown from a single core and are designed to sustain the value of that core. I also wonder if this isn't a case of cost-effective operation dictating the shape of the machine and urban development following. This, which I think is highly likely, would suggest that the pattern derived from technological design or capitalist concepts of efficiency.

My new excuse

Submitted by jordan on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 07:46

This is my New excuse :)

First tooth

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Submitted by cuz on Sun, 05/20/2012 - 07:41

This morning I discovered that Gian's first tooth (front, bottom) has broken through her gums. Fortunately, not in a painful way! Rather, I detected it when my thumbnail encountered a little friction as it was being chewed on.

Polyvore

Submitted by jordan on Sat, 05/19/2012 - 07:29

Hey, I just wanted you all to check out this website, it is called polyvore, you can design outfits and home interiors, and I have made over 50 outfits, so check them out. this is the link to Polyvore and here is the link for my account

Sitting, Peeing, and Crawling

cuz's picture
Submitted by cuz on Fri, 05/18/2012 - 09:16

I don't know what kind of secret, unspoken competition or collusion Gian and Sienna are engaged in, but it's reached new heights. It started yesterday when Gian sat up on her own for the first time we know of (though she may have managed it a day or two before). Then, after Sienna saw her visiting friends all using her potty, she decided that she had to show everyone that she could do it, too. Twice. And now this morning Gian has started to crawl. I expect Shakespearean sonnets from Sienna by evening.

UK Minister of State Jeremy Browne at KU DIS

cuz's picture
Submitted by cuz on Thu, 05/17/2012 - 10:25

Last evening, the Minister of State for the UK in charge of Asia and Latin America Jeremy Browne gave a talk in our department here at Korea University entitled something like "Korea: Miracle of Our Times". The bulk of the talk focused unsurprisingly on encouraging the strengthening of relations between Korea and the UK accompanied by a clear advertisement enticing Korean students to study in the UK. But a few interesting emerged for me. First, it became clear that Korea's historic alliance with the US ties it in to the historic alliance between the US and UK. Second, though it was unclear to me how Japan fits into the picture, this triangular neoliberal alliance was clearly poised in opposition to China. Though Browne never used the word "China", it was clear that his praise of Korea's progress into democracy, human rights, and free markets was situated as a model for China to emulate.

Curiously, in the human rights context, he called on Korea to formalize its de facto, fifteen year ban on the death penalty. I missed some of his talk because this prompted me to formulate a question about his opinion of the US use of drones to execute Americans overseas who are perceived as threats to the state. I abandoned this however.

Girl Names

Submitted by jordan on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 08:09

Vote for your top 3 Girl Names

Cameron

Addison

Natalie

Samantha

Bridget

Jane

Isabella

Emily

Mary

Maddison

Gabriella

Brianna

Charlotte

Claire

Lauren

Brooke

Lucy

Jendall

Nicole

Megan

Melissa

Miranda

Danielle

Juliet

Rebecca

Luna

Baby Names

Submitted by jordan on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 07:50

I am going to have a vote, vot for your top three boy names:

Jemediah

Nathaniel

Dylan

Joshua

Isaiah

Carlisle

Jacob

Ethan

Xavier

Noah

Daniel

Anthony

Alexander

Emmett

Christopher

David

Matthew

Elijah

Joseph

Gabriel

Benjamin

Jasper

Edward

Luke

Lucas

Isaac

Zackary

Adam

Jason

Ian

Jonathan

Erik

Silas

Romeo

Phillip

Solomon

Dominic

Kyle

Playgrounds, Parents, and Politics

cuz's picture
Submitted by cuz on Sat, 05/12/2012 - 12:15

[The following is a draft of a piece on "Korean culture" for the Dongguk Post. Since tomorrow is Mother's Day in the US, I thought I'd post it here today.]

My family is fortunate to live in an apartment complex with underground parking that has allowed for a variety of playgrounds and play spaces to be built at ground level. Though these spaces are barren during the cold winter months, with spring the playgrounds have blossomed with squeals of swing set delight, tussles over bicycles, and the general ruckus of play. And along with the children come the parents.

Due to the perpetuation of gender roles and the long working hours demanded of working fathers, most of the parents one encounters on the playground are the children's mothers. There is, of course, a smattering of grandmothers and grandfathers adn on Sundays a number of fathers, most of whom spend their time watching sports or dramas on their phones while their children run around and occasionally try to get their attention.