A very eloquent analysis of morality in the presence or absence of the Divine.

I don’t personally know very many people in the military, nor do I have any particularly strong ties to it (besides a father who was in the Marines), but I do see them often in the city here. In general, I’m worried by their isolation, how each base is replicated to be exactly like a chunk of America, carved out by a melon baller and plopped right in the middle of where ever, Seoul for example. This leaves them as detached from the local culture as a serviceman desires, and some have never left the base. I wonder, how can you value protecting people you’ve never taken the chance to know?

Anyway, I digress. The end of DADT was, in my limited opinion, well overdue. I’m curious if any actual changes have happened on bases since. I suspect very little. This is an excellent account from one man’s perspective, both of the stress the law caused him, and the relief that (eventually) came from its repeal. I can only hope his story is not an outlier. I suppose I’ll have to make a few more military friends and ask them.

I really wish I could start reading/watching/posting positive things about events back in my home country, but there just doesn’t seem to be any. At what point did the religious right become so hateful? At what point did they decide that no one different from them deserves a happy life? At what point did they achieve so much influence? It’s crap like this that further entrenches the idea that I’m never going back.

I’ll just put this right here.

And then the taekwondoers came out and did all sorts of fancy board breaking and apple smashing.

After a delicious brunch at Flying Pan, we happened across a festival! Dancing fan ladies.

Why are we screwing around with telomeres when we could just be injecting ourselves with jellyfish DNA?!?

Yeah yeah, not really ground-shattering newsworthy stuff here, especially considering that this is my first post to this site in a looooong while, but still I’m really excited! I went by this one fitness center near my house last night, and it seemed a’ight. Yoga classes, plenty of machines and free weights, not overcrowded like GHFC. But pricey! And any personal training I might want is absurdly so. I knew gyms in Korea are pretty expensive, though, so I was prepared for this. All in all, a pretty generic, sterile place.

And then tonight after work, I stopped by a hole in the wall I noticed a couple weeks back about halfway between work and home. It’s one room, with only a few benches and free weights here and there, no treadmills, and minimal amenities. But I was sold. Why? It’s an MMA gym! Team Tackle, it’s called. There are only a few benches and such because most of the floor is taken up by a large mat. Every night at 8 they hold classes on grappling and all that jazz. I really miss martial arts, so I’m very excited to get back into it. The guy there spoke great English, too, which definitely helps. And any assistance in weight training and nutrition and such comes with the package. They’re all about helping their members get healthier instead of just providing a place to let it happen on its own.

First workout’s tomorrow after work. Yay!

It isn’t mine, but it is a good synopsis of Korea.