This is a v. OJO animated trailer for "Arirang" (the traditional Korean song AND BTS' album) that shows a version of the canonical story dating back to May 1896. Seven Korean men traveled to the US and performed for the crowds. Among the songs they sang was "Arirang"--and this lead to the first official recording of the song ever.

It's a video that honors the past AND connects it to BTS, a 7-member group of Korean men (IT'S ALWAYS THE 7 WITH BTS. FREAKING ALWAYS, LOL!) who debuted in 2013 and continue sharing Korean culture and folklore with the rest of the world.

One of the BEST things abt this trailer is that it includes a snippet of "Body to Body", the first song of the album.

The second best thing is that there's ZERO AI in the trailer. *points at the long list of credited artists* \o/!

Watch on YouTube

Since I'm NOT Korean, I figured this other video from TTMIK is an A+ explainer of "Arirang"'s meaning AND significance. As well as how the ideas and values abt it are reflected in BTS' work.

Watch on YouTube

Well that was an eventful day. After I signed off yesterday, my sister and Yoda got up. He had apparently thrown up repeatedly, and was just not feeling well. We watched him closely and decided after I got off that he needed to be checked out. The thing that clinched it was his difficulty getting on and off the couch. That freaked me out. Unfortunately, I had my doctor's appt, so we had to wait til I got back to do that. Fortunately, the BIL came through and took Yoda and Jess up to the urgent care. We got there about 5:30 and I was the last to leave, since I was staying for his discharge paperwork. I got to my car at about 9:45.

After being sedated for labs and xrays, because he was being a little shit about it, it was determined that he had an upset tummy. Bloodwork was good, xrays were clear except some gas, and some mild changes to his spine that show he's getting older. So, a nausea shot, some subQ fluids, and we were taking our small stoned puppy home. Well, Shelly and Jess were. I was there another 35 minutes for the privilege of paying $1400 for gas. *shrug*. Oh well. We took him home and he was seriously stoned.

It was a good day otherwise. I had my meeting to go over my new position. I'm going to be doing what I'm doing, plus backing up the other leads. That could be anything from working the PET queue, emails and faxes. Or it could mean jumping into the team chat to answer questions from my coworkers. At least once I'm announced as a Lead. I've already been told that one of the other leads is out for 4/7-4/8, so I'll be helping then. My schedule will stay the same, though if they need me early or late, I let them know that I'm willing to do that. On especially heavy call days, I may take some calls, just to try to bring it down, but it'll be considerably less. Basically, it sounds like the job is still evolving, and will be what I make of it. Which is both terrifying and cool. They're going to go in and adjust my parameters for my review, so we'll see what that ends up being.

After work, it was off to my long-awaited doctors appointment (The fucker's cancelled my last two as the provider wasn't available, moving me at least 3 months out each time.). The doctor was like "Oh, it's been a while!" And I had to gently point out that little fact. We talked about all the shit I wanted to cover plus a bit. So, I'm going to be changing my primary diabetes med to Mounjaro, as the Rybelsus just isn't doing it. My HgbA1C was utter shite at 9. Two years ago it was a 5. Time to get a new drug. The Mounjaro is a once a week injectable, so that's not bad. One less pill I need to take daily. I don't have a needle phobia, so it should be just fine. In addition, we added a statin med, because it's suggested that everyone over 40 with diabetes should be on a statin. Sure, whatever. Then, I also got 90day scripts for my inhalers, and the seasickness patch just in case. My doctor applauded my preparedness for the cruise, which was nice. She's apprarently had patients run out of meds while on cruises, and it's a pain for all involved.

I finally sat down to dinner at 10pm, but I was more tired than hungry by then. I ate a few bites of chicken curry and then put it in the fridge. It was very good, but their mild is on the border of my spice limit. I mean "give me white people spice." And they hear "Mild for me."

We're officially under 50 days for the cruise, And I'm having some stress, especially after the dog had to be sedated to get an xray. I'm hoping that he does better when he's feeling a bit better, but ugh, one more anxiety that I can't relieve for like a month. I'm hoping he feels a little better this morning. Less stoned at least.

Today will be a day of quiet, and double checking myself. I'm a wee bit tired from the early morning combined with the late night, so I will be double checking that I'm replying to the correect email, and scheduling appointments appropriately. It's definitely going to be an early night.

Tomorrow, we have game,, Saturday we have two games, and Sunday, I have one game.

I think on Saturday, between games, I may make the pasta shells and bake them. I think I'll have time. It should only be about 30 minutes to boil the pasta, 20 to make the filling and stuff the shells, and then bake for 30-40. So that's only about 2 hours. We have four between games, so that should work well.

Sunday, I think it'll be beef stew of some sort. I've got the mirepoix ready to go, and we have some beer, so I'm thinking a nice stout stew. I'll chunk up some potatoes, throw in a bay leave and some thyme, and it'll be great. I might need to get some bread, since we'll probably eat the loaf we have with the shells.

Today, we shall have hash brown casserole with chorizo. It's the easiest dump meal. Hashbrowns, two tubes of chorizo sausage, cheddar cheese soup and cheese for the top. It's perfect for when you want an easy night. Some of my packages came yesterday. I have another bathing suit which is okay, but the bra doesn't do a thing for the tatas. I also got more food. This time it's Lilikoi vinagrette salad dressing (very tasty), granola for jess (they said it's delicious, but a little sticky and fresh) and last was Pineapple macadamia nut pancakes with coconut (can't wait to try these this weekend.)

Puppy is up! He's still a little subdued, but seems to be perking up a bit. He came out from the bedroom, which is more than I expected. Now he's toddling after my sister who is getting coffee. Apparently he had the runs more last night, but he seems maybe a bit better.

We'll see how he does. All we can really do is watch him.

Okay, time for me to go forth and drink some coffee and try to wake up. Oh, Yoda just jumped up on the couch with no problem. Now I feel a bit better. Everyone have aperfect Thursday!

What I've recently finished reading:

Blood over Bright Haven by M. L. Wang. I'm a sucker for technology-infused magic, and I really liked the sort of computer-programming-magic here; in general the worldbuilding reminded me a bit of the TV show Arcane, which of course has its "magitech", but the main similarity is the elite vs the underclass (who they exploit), and the dark truths behind the marvels of the city. However, the characters are one-dimensional, with stereotypical views that either clearly cast them as the villains or that make it obvious the narrative will be about their realizations that change their views. I will say, though, that I was (pleasantly) surprised by the ending, as I applaud the writer for choosing the more realistic and interesting path over what you might expect from YA.

Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes by Leah Litman, who is a law professor and co-host of the podcast Strict Scrutiny, which I've never listened to, but I have heard her on NPR and other people's podcasts. I agree with her main thesis, that the Court has gone off the rails by picking and choosing their "legal principles" by whether or not they agree (ideologically) with the outcome that will result, which frankly stinks. It's well-researched, with lots of cites and notes. However, each of the five chapters is presented using the conceit of a particular show or movie, and as I was only familiar with most of them through osmosis, this didn't really work for me and sometimes seemed overly pop-culture-cutesy. (Like, Barbie - the movie, not the toy - is used as the lens to examine overturning Roe vs. Wade; Game of Thrones tells us that Winter Is Coming For Voting Rights; Mean Girls don't want to sit with LGBTQ people.) For an old Gen-X-er like me it seems like unnecessary metaphor, but maybe it will land better with people who want more glitz and meme in their nonfiction...but in that case, maybe a relatively dense book about law is not what they will be reading? I also will gripe about the editing, which seems particularly poor in the last chapter where Litman misspelled Ronald Reagan's surname and gave the same Neil Gorsuch quote twice within a few paragraphs.

Music Meme, Day 23

A song with a color in the title:

I knew almost immediately what song I wanted to share to fulfill this requirement. Cassandra Wilson's "Blue Lights 'til Dawn." Her lovely, throaty contralto makes this song particularly sensual. The loping rhythm is just right and the band backing her does her proud. 



As is usually the case with me, I remembered another song with a different type of fascination: REM's "Green Grow the Rushes," from their amazing album "Maps and Legends." I've heard that the band had a complicated, somewhat ambivalent relationship with the album, although I can't find what I recall was the story where I read that. Perhaps it's just a fable ... anyhow, I used to play the entire album almost every day on my way to work. I was hypnotized by the single "Maps and Legends" and sometimes played it on repeat. "Green Grow the Rushes" was another song that felt like the world Stipe wrote and sang about was taking a breath, getting ready for the rest of this Southern Gothic masterpiece of an album. 

So here in its hypnotically resplendent Southern Gothic glory is "Green Grow the Rushes."



Here is a link to my last post, which in turn holds links to previous entries. 

As part of their GQ promo, the guys sat down to do this video where they went to Twitter, Reddit, Quora, YouTube, and Wikipedia answering fans' questions.

It's a delightful, 14-min video filled with Vmin VMINNING, Yoongi pouting (that he didn't get an invite to the bathhouse from Minimoni), Jin and RM complimenting each other down, Jungkook being THE GenZ-er in the group, and Hobi being his sunshine-y self.

One of the funny things was me realizing that I knew or followed some of the ppl on Twitter whose questions were answered by the Tannies.

Another thing was finding out that the mods of the reddit BTS went to kicked that account out of that specific reddit because they thought it was someone impersonating as the Tannies.

What I liked the most was seeing the bond and simpatico between all 7. It's v., v. clear they missed the hell out of each other while in the military and Chapter 2.

*I'm v. ??? that Jimin is calling Arirang Era Chapter 2 since V mentioned the enlistment era (in his ep of Suchwita) and RM has done so too (several times). It's confusing since, the general understanding is that enlistment era = Chapter 2, but what do we know? 😜

Watch on YouTube

Just finished: Indigenous Ingenuity: A Celebration of Traditional North American Knowledge by Deidre Havrelock and Edward Kay. This is worth a read but also I wanted it to be better than it was. My main issue was the tone of condescension cloaked in breathless wonderment towards its young audience and precolonial Indigenous peoples, which I honestly do not think is intentional on the part of the writers and more a factor of how people think that children ought to be spoken to. My second issue had to do with the ending, which focused on ecological technologies and suddenly jumped forward to present day Indigenous Nations working with governments to create sustainable ecosystems. Very cool, but because of the book's structure and emphasis on precolonial technologies, it made it seem like Indigenous societies today are only working in that field. (This is not remotely true! If the section on communication technology had, for example, included a jump forward to discuss the Skobot, I'd have been fine with this aspect.) But also, it described things like carbon trading fairly uncritically, when in fact while carbon trading is better than carbonmaxxing like our current overlords are doing, it's a fairly useless system that greenwashes the omnicidal criminal corporations turning our world into a burning hellscape. So if the book is inaccurate about this, what else is it inaccurate about?

Beowulf translated by Francis B. Gummere. It's Beowulf. This is the less fun translation, albeit the one I'm more familiar with, because my hold on the Headley one didn't come in on time. We can discuss whether or not it's the most metal of all historical epics.

Currently reading: To Ride a Rising Storm by Moniquill Blackgoose. Speaking of Scandinavian-influenced epics. This is the sequel to To Shape a Dragon's Breath, which as you might recall broke all the way through my general dislike of YA to be one of my favourite books of the year. So far I am binging this and it's excellent. Our heroine, Anequs, wants nothing more than to get through her time at Kuiper's Academy, get licensed to ride her dragon, and return to her people on Masquapaug permanently, preferably with her two love interests, Theod and Liberty. But now the Anglish have set up a presence on the island and she's increasingly being drawn into shitty white-people politics that she wants nothing to do with.

This introduces a whack of new characters and factions. There's a Jewish character, Jadzia (Blackgoose, you fuckin' nerd lol), who I adore, and a secret society called the Disorder of the Grinning Teeth, which is the name of my new black metal band. There's also a new teacher whose name escapes me but who provides an interesting contrast in pedagogy from the first book. I should add that this is very much a magical boarding school story and not a residential school story, so it's very cool to see the idea of colonial educational institutions that could, theoretically, be reformed and democratized rather than needing to be closed and having the people who run them thrown in Forever Jail. 

Also the dragons are cool.

Oh no I did a fic splat last night.

Well we've gotten a 28 Twins about when Sunstreaker and Sideswipe joined up with the Autobots, and the whole point of Living With Autobots is Wheeljack's integration into the Autobots. Now it's time for a little story about the months leading up to Perceptor officially joining the Prime's crew, and why you don't fuck with scientists who have Strongly Held Beliefs.


( Someone's got to do it, so it may as well be me. )

Here we are on at the halfway point through our work week already. It's hump day y'all. Boodle kindly woke me with a paw to the forehead at 4:15 am. She needs her claws clipped, so that definitely woke me up.

Today shall be a busy day again, no doubt. I have a meeting at 11am to go over the new position. It's set for 30 minutes, so they dont think there's a ton to impart, I'm guessing. I have a few questions, but I'm going to see what they say first and then come up with slightly smarter queries. Right now, my questions, per the word document I started was basically "What do?" "Am I still supposed to be backing up the queue? How often? Again, what do? Is my schedule changing? When will you announce it?" I should have more, but I was blanking yesterday. I want to ask more in-depth questions, but I don't have the information to formulate them yet. Hopefully, by noon today, I will have a clear idea of what I should be doing on a day to day, minute by minute basis.

Yesterday, I was only on the phones a little bit. I had too much other stuff to do. I feel like that might be a factor. Some days, there will be a lot of stuff. Other days, maybe not so much. I ended up doing 25 calls total. Which is fine. Even before the promotion, they were going to be changing the metrics for my calls per hour, which is good. The rest was trying to get people to call me back. They did, just very slowly. And one never called back. It's always the one who's diagnosis codes alarm you that don't call back.

I started the Corned beef and potatoes at 3:30. Probably should have given it a bit longer. It wasn't quite fall apart yet. Then, once I got out of work, I sautéed up the cabbage with bacon, which is my favorite way. Sadly, I only had the European style bacon, so it's not as fatty. But it was still really tasty.

We had our very Irish meal, an off we went to take the dog out for his brief walk. It was motherfucking cold last night. It's no wonder I had a freaking headache last night considering how far the temperature dropped. It's going to be cool today and then the rest of the week, it's going to climb until Sunday, when it's 71 degrees. Ugh.

Today I also have my doctor's appt. I'm supposed to come every 6 months and get an A1C test to see how my diabetes is doing. And apparently also get my blood pressure done. I want to talk to her about switching my GLP-1, if the other is still performing poorly. And then I need seasickness patches, just in case. Last, I want to switch my inhaler prescriptions to a 90 day supply. That way when we go in 51 days, I'll have two of each inhaler, just in case. I'm a big believer of just in case. I know I can't get 90 of my psych pills, but I'll get them the weekend before we leave, so I'll have plenty of those.

The doctor's office pissed me off a couple of weeks ago. I had put in for a Lisinopril refill. It's a blood pressure medicine, so it's fairly important. The medical assistant wrote me a somewhat snotty email about not having come in in over a year. I ended up sending an annoyed email back, pointing out that I had been scheduled no less than three times during that year, and the office cancelled every single one. Then, I would be rescheduled 3-4 months out, because I could only do late appointments. I also pointed out that I had this appointment, and would be there, unless they cancelled me again. They did not cancel me, and I did get the prescription refill, so that's something.

I am going to have to get dressed during lunch, since I get off work at 3:30 and Jess has therapy at 3pm. I don't want to have to wait til their done to get dressed, since that'll be 45 minutes, and I kind of want to leave at like 4pm on the dot, just in case traffic is a problem. If I get there early, I'll stop in IKEA and get some dill mustard sauce and some pear drink. Then I could bake some of the salmon topped with it. I actually like salmon that way. Or I can tolerate it at least.

I went to wash out the dutch oven to make the cabbage in, only to find that despite soaking, I could not get the burned on crust off the pan, so into the trash it went. It served well for over a year, which is all you can ask for a ceramic coated pan. The frypan is going next. It's not doing a great job on being non-stick, which is literally it's only job.

I already got a replacement for the fry pan, a nice coated pan that still has it's non stick surface. It cooked up the sandwiches two days ago and the bacon and cabbage last night like a dream.

The dutch oven, having given it's life for our jambalaya, has been replaced by a larger 7 quart enameled cast iron pan in bright orange. I'm looking forward to making something nice and hearty in it. I've got some bite sized beef, so it might be time to make some stew or beef bourguignon. Or French onion soup. I'd need to get a few things for those, and have time to cook it. Sunday, I only have 1 game at 12p, so that would give me 3 hours to make it afterwards. It would be good to make that again.

I also need to get some jumbo pasta shells. I was going to make stuffed shells, with spinach and cheese, but they sent me large shells. Which are not the same as jumbo. I'll need my new cast iron to boil all the pasta. I'm going to do a cheese and spinach filling, then top with mozzarella and sauce and bake til tasty.

I might do the stuffed shells on Saturday. I have two games, but there will be about 4 hours between, so I could conceivably do that. I may also get a pastry bag with a tip so that I can pipe the cheese mixture into the shells to make my life easier and neater.

But first, we're going to get some thing tasty for dinner tonight. My appointment isn't til 5, so I won't get home til 6-6:30. That's an ordering night. Or, I could get some salad and a rotisserie chicken and have that. I've got a package with a Lilikoi Vinagrette that may come today. Looking at it, it'll probably be tomorrow, so I can order it then.

As of today, we are at 50 days til we leave for the cruise. It technically doesn't leave til two days later, but we're going to get in early so that we can properly sightsee. And of course, catch the new Mortal Kombat II movie that comes out on the 8th. I keep haunting the box office in Vancouver, waiting for tickets to go on sale so I can see the showtimes. I definitely want to do it at like 6 or 7 pm. Our wake up call is probably going to be aroud 7am on Saturday so that we have time for breakfast, and the porter to pick up our luggage and take it to the ship. Then, we shall go hit the Tim Hortons next door and get some good coffee and Timbits. That was the highlight of our trip to Detroit for Jess' Dad's funeral, so I assume it will be good in Vancouver as well.

Still fretting a bit about the dog being boarded. We're only going to have time for one stay before the trip. He can't go until 2 weeks after his second flu shot, and that doesn't happen til 4/9. So he'll stay for 4-5 days, and see how it goes. I'm hoping well. If not, it'll be a stay at Jarretsville Vet and Kennel. He's just such a prissy dog, so I'm worried.

He was being a little asshole last night, not wanting to take his pills. I finally got him to take it by taking a knife and hollowing out a chicken treat and putting it in. He refused cream cheese, peanut butter, fudge and a cake pop.

Stubborn little shit.

I have been on a book buying spree. I now have enough books to cover me reading non stop on the trip. I won't, but I at least have things for the plane. I've got a Scalzi that I haven't read, plus a handful of Kindle Unlimited books that have been recommended on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. I trust their recommendations.

Okay, time for me to hop off and have a nice hot shower. Gotta be clean and pretty for the doctor. Everyone have an Excellent Wednesday!

Norman Osborn was looking at the latest email regarding a replacement for the Goblin Glider when the assistant messaged him.

“The Fourth Vigilante is here to see you, sir.”

“Let her in.”

“Yes, sir.”

A minute later, the Enigma stormed in, with her hands glowing faintly.

“I know why you’re here, Sandi,” he said after the doors were closed.

“Do you?” the Enigma asked, as the glow intensified.

“You’re going to ask me why I am having you and the others followed. The answer should be obvious.”

“That you don’t want us to be in your way as you plot to gain more control over Lawndale?”

“That is a strong word,” Osborn said.

“That is what you’re doing.”

“You don’t have proof of that, and I know you’re not in the school paper.”

“I’m not, but, like, I am still investigating what you are up to, along with whatever else in Lawndale that you may not be responsible for,” the Enigma sot

“So, you’re not seeing the hand of Oscorp in everything?”

“No. There is a line between suspicion and conspiracy theories.”

“But I’m sure you’re engaging in the latter regarding SpiderGirl,” Osborn taunted.

“I’m not! She is overhyped, playing up the fact that she is Lawndale’s first superhero, and getting the credit for everything.”

“That is why I am doing what I’m doing!”

“No it isn’t,” the Enigma shot back. “You want to bring her down, as well as Ninja Talon, the Shadow and Dafoanairi.”

“I neither confirm nor deny, but I say that you are a variable that I could capture right now.”

The Enigma raised a forcefield. “Not without a fight and a lot of damage to this office, and you would have to explain to Harry why his friend disappeared.”

“That’s true. But that doesn’t mean I can’t try, or make something up.”

“You’re going to test me? You think I haven’t prepared?”

“I know you have some ace up your sleave, but yes,” Osborn responded become pressing a button and a panel opened revealing several of those pumpkin bombs.


Dafoanairi was ready, especially when she saw the window of the office open and one of the Enigma’s energy projections was shot out. She quickly moved to the window as the Enigma ran out.

“I know someone else is there,” Osborn said from inside the office.

Dafoanairi remained silent; she didn’t want Osborn to try to identify her from her voice, even if she was disguising it by pitching it higher. She let down a rope to a lower ledge.

“Let’s go. I did what I came to do,” the Engima said.

‘Which wasn’t much,’ Dafoanairi thought.

( Read More )

NO KING BUT CAESAR

From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this Man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” They cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” So he delivered Him over to them to be crucified. (John 19:12-16)

What a horrifying thing to admit. For these are God’s chosen people, the descendants of Israel—and God is supposed to be their King. But now, faced with Jesus, God come in the flesh, they won’t have Him. They will do anything rather than receive Him as Messiah and King—anything, up to and including crucifying Him. They would rather have Caesar—because Caesar, they think, will not threaten their position. (They learned otherwise about 40 years later, when Jerusalem fell to Titus and Vespasian.)

But we face this same choice too, don’t we? We can put our trust in earthly powers—in politicians, in rich men, in those who command troops and weapons. Or we can put our trust in Jesus, who shelters those who trust in Him by laying down His own life for us—and who rises from the dead to give us everlasting life in His kingdom.

WE PRAY: Jesus, You are my King. Keep me trusting You forever. Amen. 


Lenten Devotions were written by Dr. Kari Vo.

I reblogged this post of Rachel Weisz as Ronit in Disobedience (2017) last month and commented in the tags:

#her!#I have such complicated feelings about this movie#I think it's a good film and a powerful story#it's just my feelings are twisty

which sheshallfromtimetotime reblogged and comment-tagged with

#I like this movie a lot#not entirely sure why but it hits something just right#I bought the dvd#Disobedience#(would love to hear your twisty feelings ladytharen)

It's taken me a month but here I am, sharing my twisty feelings about this film. I held off responding earlier specifically because I first wanted to read the book on which the film is based, and now I have even more twisty feelings.

First off, I really do like this film a lot. It hit me with a ton of thoughts that I couldn't fully process when I watched it in 2018, and that sense of the film has also stayed with me over time. I think the story is compelling on its merits and, especially with respect to the film, the development and reveal of Ronit and Esti's relationship is really beautifully done. Rewatching it this year was a journey in its own way, as was then reading the book by Naomi Alderman. I like that the film explores the restrictions individuals put on themselves as much or more than the community did (although there is some reputational sanctioning within the close knit community). Faith is not traded off for sexuality, or vice versa, and the film explores the value of both in equal measure. Ultimately, I think the film is absolutely worth watching for its own sake and that Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams do a wonderful job in the main roles.

( Let's get to the twisty bits. )

I forgot how absolutely gay KuroBas was like holy cow Kuroko and Kagami already imprinting on each other, Kise being a home wrecker and I'm barely on EPISODE 5! Good Lord, I don't even like basketball but I'm throughly entertained by it.

Will continue watching ugh I'm being fed nom nom nom delicious fujobait~

I'll continue watching while editing fic heehee~*°

Lá Fhéile Pádraig, 2026

Posted late, but I'm happier with this than I expected to be. And this is DAZ Studio output without postwork!
-Nia

[If you saw a previous version where she was sunken partly into the stone, hey, drop a comment. I did fix this within the hour, though.]

This is for my urban fantasy setting, previously seen here and here.

Slowly but surely, I seem to be doing a thing…

( drabbles! )