Music and Food

♫♪ - I don't remember what triggered the impulse earlier today, but I wound up on iTunes for awhile this afternoon sifting through old synth-pop from the 80's. I wound up buying:

• Flock of Seagulls - "The Story of a Young Heart" (album)
• Men at Work - "Business as Usual" (album)
• Restless Heart - "I'll Still Be Loving You" (song)

The first two are staples from the early and mid-80's (huge junior high/high school memories, as well as my shared Dungeons & Dragons soundtrack with Tim & Steve). The song by Restless Heart is one I always forget, yet which shows up from time to time. It is the song that reminds me the most of my second serious girlfriend, Sarah Thompson of Rantoul, KS, who I met when I went back to Topeka in the spring of 1989 to visit my Washburn University chums from the previous academic year. That was so long ago!

And for a late dinner, I heated up some rice, steamed some broccoli on top of it, and after spreading it on a big plate, I topped it with two fried eggs and a small slice of cooked ham. It was fantastic!

Duolingo

 As of yesterday I have 30 days in a row of learning to speak and read Korean. I joined Duolingo on a whim (because it was free), and I have consistently beaten most people at my level in learning and scores (just like back in elementary and high school). It's been amazing to see the progress, both on the app and also in my K-content viewing (reading Korean titles and signs). I needed this intellectual challenge, especially since I've always wondered what it would be like to have another language rolling around inside my head.

I never had any interest in the 'boring'/typical languages (Spanish, French, Italian, etc...), though I did try German for a fruitless and dull semester in college. But the last few years of consuming content (God, how I hate that expression) from Japan and South Korea (never dubbed, always subtitled) made me want to tackle one of them. As my tastes have swung dramatically toward South Korean shows, music, reality tv, K-pop, etc... it was a no-brainer. I bought a couple of Korean workbooks (in February and April) to mess around with first, and after a week at the end of June of that progress I jumped into Duolingo. I've actually paid for a full year of their MAX service, so I can practice as much as I want (which is often), and even use their AI for 'video call' conversations. It's been amazing and fun!

Food and Music

This afternoon I made a fancy ramen dish. I used the fresh ramen noodles from Japan, and seasoned it with powdered chicken stock and dried kimchi and vegetables. I threw in some fresh mushrooms at the end. Pretty decent stuff! And it went well with my current obsession, the South Korean dating series "I am Solo".

♫♪ - And in the evening I burned my current favorite K-Pop songs, plus a bunch more of the faster, peppier ones, onto a cd for the car. Some songs from the disc:

• Le Sserafim - "So Cynical (Badum)"
• New Jeans - "Hype Boy"
• FIFTY FIFTY - "Perfect Crime"
• ILLIT - "Little Monster"
• Soojin - "Lime"

Plus songs by TWICE, aespa, ifeye, i-dle, VIVIZ and RESCENE. It's interesting how most K-Pop bands utilize all CAPS or all lowercase letters for their names, and even replace letters with numbers that look similar. Anyway, unusual food + music I love = a very good day!

New Pots

After several years I finally sprang for the 1 and 2 quart pots that go with my 3 frying pans. Green Life is a great brand, and my old pots are scraped to hell, if still serviceable. But these pots have white interiors, so now I'll be able to see all of the colors in my ramen and rice dishes. :)

Scents of the Sea

I made soy sauce flavored ramen today for a late lunch (3:00 pm-ish). I wanted it to be as seafood-y as possible, so I rehydrated some seaweed, added a bunch of pre-cooked shrimp, added dried seafood toppings (2 kinds of fish plus veggies & mushrooms), and topped it off with dried bonito flakes. Ridiculously good, and it smells amazing!

Cool Learning Assist

Since I have been learning the Korean alphabet lately I decided to get a mug that would be both helpful and cool. I'm not going to use it for coffee, just keep it around where I frequently sit (couch or computer table) so I can passively absorb the letters. 

Kocowa+

With Jason & Stacie's ridiculously amazing gift I was able to spend the $80 for a year of South Korean streaming service Kocowa+. Netflix's content was grwoing thin, and this new service has TONS of game shows, dating shows, and movies & series I hadn't heard of/couldn't find elsewhere. I am so happy!