Christmas Vacation

It's almost here. You can almost hear it. See it. Taste it. Feel it. Live it. That's right.

Christmas is nine days away.

And with that comes a beautiful, extraordinary thing described often as, "Christmas Break." For some unlucky few, none will ever experience such a paradise. For others, this small relief lasts only a day or week. But for most, and for me, Christmas Break is a glimpse of what heaven on Earth would be like, lasting an entire 14 days.

So what will you do?

Vacation in the Bahamas? Climb Mt. Everest? Meander through the streets of Italy?

Or stay home, watch T.V. all day, lie on your couch, think about what other people are doing, eat ice cream, order pizza, wear the same clothes for the next two weeks, try to hang out with your friends only to find out that you can't because most of them are in France eating crepes in the Eiffel Tower or are eating dumplings as they breeze along the Great Wall of China?

Do something special. Don't just do the plain old boring things that you've done every single Christmas.

If you've already visited France, go tour England! If you've already blazed through the wild Amazon, relax in Hawaii! And if you've already louched around at home for the several past Christmas', go adventuring someplace else!

It can be several blocks down your street, 30 minutes bus drive away, or 3,000 miles distant from your home place; it doesn't matter, just go, have fun, and do something special.

Now some people may laugh,"Haha. That's funny. I wish I could do that except I don't have the time/money/guts/money/experience/money/money/money. I would do that every day if only I had the time/money/guts/money/experience/money/money/money."

To these people, I must reply,"You don't need any of that to vacation outside your comfort zone, certainly not money! If out of time, then I'm sorry that you can't do the things you love. But no one needs money to have an adventure. Just do it!"

Christmas is still nine days away. That's plenty of time to plan out your next escapade. Go hear it. See it. Taste it. Feel it. Live it. That's right.

Go have some fun!

T_L

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Birthday Problem

Birthdays are special occasions meant to celebrate the fact that," Hey, you're still alive. You're one year older. Let's throw a party before you die!"

That being said, birthday invitees are expected to bring thoughtful, expensive presents for the birthday person, so the person may use and have those presents, ostensibly, before they die. Invitees will know whether or not their gift passes the birthday person's criterion for gifts when they hear either,"Oh wow! Look at that! So nice of you to get that for me! I love it! Thank you!" or "WOOHOO! YEAAAA!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!! THIS IS AMAZING! HOW DID YOU KNOW THIS WAS EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED?!!!!!!"

The latter response indicates that you met the birthday person's requirements.

But either way, invitees will always hold a special place in the birthday person's heart. The ones with cool gifts will have a better place, but those without gift will have a place nevertheless.

Which brings me to my concern. I have a birthday party for a good friend of mine, and I...completely forgot about it. However, being someone who always focuses 90% of the time on solutions and only 10% on the problem,  I am working out a solution to my crisis. At the current time, I have only three scenarios that I can think. 

I either come with a present, come without a present, or run away to Mexico.

But my friend's party is always a great time and I just can't not go. So I guess Mexico is out of the answer. 

The last time I came without a present my friend kicked me out, too... and the last time I brought just a gift card or a bad present, I faced the guilt and sadness of not caring enough about my friend.

So it seems that I must think of some suitable gift. One that'll inspire that "WOOHOO! YEAAAA!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!! THIS IS AMAZING! HOW DID YOU KNOW THIS WAS EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED?!!!!!!" response.

(Thinking Time)...

Got it. Of course. It's incredibly simple. My friend loves chocolate. I'll just buy a whole bunch of chocolate, and maybe a little gold statue that says,"Best Friend" and she'll be to busy eating to care about the present! Of course! 

Rule of Thumb for Birthdays: Distract the birthday host for as long as the party goes, party hard so they forget about any gift, and enjoy the experience of being with friends.

T_L

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Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year.

It doesn't matter that we just had Thanksgiving, Black Friday and now Cyber Monday.
In fact, some people are doing a Giving Tuesday tomorrow, which doesn't make sense since we just had a Thanksgiving.

But it also doesn't make sense that people are already hanging their incredible, bright Christmas lights before December has even come! Intricate and complex lights swirl and decorate each and every imaginable item that sits on my neighbor's front lawn. Even that huge rock was adorned with some pink fuzzy lights to complement its gray exterior. And even worse, their seems to be some sort of "Christmas" light competition going on my street, wherein every house must strive to outdo the others in their attempts at an unnatural decorative light hanging. What happened to the time when it was acceptable to merely put up some nice, warm lights around the house?


T_L

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Red Bull - A Rant [Opinion]

In addition to manufacturing unhealthy drinks, it seems that Red Bull found another way to harm others -
recently, an unprofessional article about Mokpo containing demeaning and disrespectful comments about Super Junior was published. There are many points that I disagree with, but I will comment on only three.


1.) "At its peak, Super Junior had a whopping 13 members" 
2.) "Obviously not a man to do things by half he decided that if the traditional boyband comprises four or five pretty but ultimately talentless stooges then to guarantee massive success the best thing to do would be to double or even triple the number of talentless stooges on stage at one time."
3.) "Unfortunately, we could find no Lady Gaga, Brad Pitt or even a Psy from Mokpo. "
Final word: In addition to having talent, Super Junior has wonderful personalities aren't stuck up or egoistical.  The next time you wish to express your displeasure at something, research your facts and at least try to sound less foolish. 

I'm not sure where this 'reporter' got his facts from, but Super Junior had 15 members at one point, including those from sub-groups and now inactive members.

Super Junior isn't talent-less at all. Maybe you meant to say that some of the members are so talented that they make the others look untalented.  Here's a brief overview on Super Junior's talented members.
Henry: Henry may be young, but he is packed with talent. He received many awards such as the Canadian Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) Silver Medal for Level 10 Violin. He chose being an idol over a professional violinist so that he could play the piano, play the guitar, play the violin, sing, dance, rap, and compose at the same time. Oh, and he can speak Mandarin, English, Korea, Cantonese and a bit of Thai.
Zhou Mi: He is a tall, talent-filled guy. He composes, acts, raps, and dances well and doesn't look awkward despite his long legs. He also sings covers of songs, such as "I Will Always Love You" and "Because of You." His voic is filled with emotion and he hits the high notes perfectly even though he's a guy. He speaks Cantonese, English, Mandarin, and Korean. Before he debuted, he won multiple hosting and singing awards and even had his own fan base.
Hangeng: The odds of him winning the audition to get into the Korean music industry were 3000:1. His specialty is dancing and he can do all of the 56 Chinese traditional dances. He also sings, cooks, raps, acts, does martial arts, and is very flexible.
Leeteuk: The leader of Super Junior and how he manages to lead 14 dorky and childish guys is a mystery. He is known for his mcing skills and always manages to make everyone laugh. He raps, composes, sings, dances, plays the piano, plays the guitar, and acts.
Siwon: He got an invitation to model with world-famous Karl Lagerfeld. He is cast in many dramas, dances, sings, plays the guitar, and has beautiful handwriting. He also does Taekwondo, plays the piano, and plays the drums. He is the first Korean celebrity to reach over two million followers on Twitter, but that did not change his character at all. He continues to be humble and keeps his faith.
Ryeowook: Has one of the best voices in Suju; it is high and clear. He composes, plays the piano, acts in musicals, and dances. He is one of the first Korean idol to appear on a Chinese stamp.
Shindong: He is under rated because of his looks, but he actually has a lot of talent. He is one of the main dancers and rappers. He choreographs, writes lyrics, plays the piano, and plays the guitar.  He's known for his comedic image and hosts radio shows as well as mcs in variety shows.
Kyuhyun: Another great voice of Suju, it's very distinctive and can pull of a range of concepts. He is very smart and got into a top university without celebrity status. He dances, plays the piano, and plays the clarinet.
Sungmin: He does martial arts, is flexible, and can put out candles with a nunchuck. He has a sweet voice, dances, plays the piano, bass guitar, guitar, drums, acts, and hosts.
Yesung: Some would say that he has the best voice of Suju; it's very emotional and husky. He also has an amazing range. His does random dorky dances and plays the piano.
Heechul: He raps, models, dances, sings, plays the drums, and acts.
Eunhyuk: He is the main rapper, great dancer, and has a great voice. He also composes, choreographs, and plays the piano.
Donghae: He sings, raps, composes, models, dances, acts, plays the piano and the guitar. His father died soon after his debut and Donghae continues to work hard and dedicates his awards to him.
Kibum: Acting is his passion. He sings, models, dances, and raps, and plays the piano.
Kangin: sings, dances, plays the guitar, piano, bass guitar, and  mcs. His voice is deep and soothing.
Side note: They way I described singing and dancing makes it sound easier than it actually is. Have you tried singing on tune as well as so emotionally? Hard, right? How about dancing? It's very taxing to your body and isn't easy at all. Now try putting the two together. That's what Super Junior does, all the time.

Just because they are more popular doesn't mean that they're better than Super Junior. It's fine if you prefer them over Super Junior, but don't act so condescending about it. You have no idea how hard Super Junior has worked - even to the point where some members had to go to the hospital to get an IV drip. I'm sure you never went through the hardships they faced. Have you gotten into a car accident that threatened what you did to survive? In Kyuhyun's case, his precious voice was nearly lost and he might have never danced again. I'm also sure that you never got death letters and people telling you to crawl back to where you were born. You haven't been sent a poisonous cake and packets of blood with a picture of you being stabbed with a knife. Without talent, hard work, and perseverance, do you think they would win so many prestigious awards and be the leader of the Hallyu Wave?

Source 1: http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/en_INT/Article/Korean-Grand-Prix-Six-of-the-Best-Things-you-never-knew-about-Mokpo-021243268221263

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