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Fall Daisies
2007-10-01 06:53:00
(click here to see it large)
More About: Photography , Waycross , Fall

Scantastic! Korea 2001
2007-09-30 19:44:00
While no doubt you've heard the story of my abysmal first trip to Kore a back in 2001, unless you're Melissa you probably haven't seen too many photos from that trip. I just scanned in 21, and while I haven't yet loaded them onto janekeeler.com, they *are* available for your viewing pleasure over on flickr. Just click here to check them out! (I like to think that my photography has improved a lot since then - both in terms of the camera I use and my own personal skill. Nonetheless, these photos are interesting to look at. Also, I'm currently working on scanning in photos from my 2004 trip to Korea; I'll let you know as soon as they're online.)
More About: Photography , Cant

Short Grass
2007-09-30 19:35:00
I got out of the shower yesterday morning (well, okay... so it was yesterday afternoon... but I'd just gotten up, which kind of makes it like yesterday morning) and I heard what sounded like a lawn mower. And it sounded like it was mowing my grass. Or possibly the grass of my neighbors. I got dressed and peeked out (surreptitiously, of course), and whaddyaknow: There's Ronnie (aka crazy naked old guy) mowing my lawn. Not like he'd asked to mow the lawn or anything, he'd just gone ahead and done it. Anyway, eventually he finished up mowing (and I must say, it looks quite nice) and knocked on my door. Hooray for the chain! He made no reference to the other day, asked how my mom was doing, and wanted to know if he could get paid for cutting the grass. Well, if you're in need of cash for your services, you should probably ask first; my wallet's bone dry. He asked if he could come by Monday to get paid. Well, he did mow my lawn, and as much as I think he should probably do it for f...
More About: Grass , Short , Waycross

Genetics 101, as taught by Daddy Cat
2007-09-29 22:17:00
This is Daddy Cat.Daddy Cat is a big guy. Just from struggling to pick him up, I'm guessing he weighs a good 30lbs. I'll let you know for sure as soon as I remember to borrow my mom's scale. Daddy Cat spends most the time on my front porch, although he would *much* rather be a housecat. See, Daddy Cat just loves to snuggle and purr and get as close to me as he possibly can. Unfortunately, there are quite a few downfalls to having Daddy Cat in the house. The biggest problem is this monster's appetite. As a multiple cat owner, I have discovered that when you have a bunch of felines running about, having multiple food bowls around the house, continuously full of dry food, is a good thing. However, while the other cats simply eat their fill, Daddy Cat will plant himself at one bowl and eat it dry; then he'll move on to the next. When Daddy Cat's inside, I have to hide the food bowls. Most of the cats residing in and around my house are incredibly friendly, both with me and with ea...
More About: Photography , Pets , Genetics

And there was much rejoicing.
2007-09-28 02:59:00
My computer's back! My computer's back! My computer's back! :-)
More About: Miscellany , Rejoicing

Apparently I look *at least* twenty-one years old. [updated]
2007-09-26 22:51:00
UPDATED: Now with photos!Monday night, my mom tripped on an overturned pitchfork, and one of its tines managed to pierce its way into her ankle. By noon yesterday, her ankle was red and swollen and she could barely walk. I had to convince her that she really needed to go to the doctor and get a tetanus shot, as she hadn?t received one since way back when I was in elementary school. Finally she agreed to go to the doctor if I was willing to pop down to the bakery and pick up my birthday cake.Ouch!As I had other errands to run downtown, going to pick up the cake was no problem. Unfortunately, I ran my errands first, only to be told that the cake was half an hour shy of being ready. Perhaps I could run some errands while they fix it up? Sigh. I took it as a sign that I should wander into the center of downtown and check out the Hot Toddy coffee shop.This picture of Hot Toddy was taken later that day, after dinner.I was quite impressed with Hot Toddy. It had quite the sort of hipster at...
More About: Blog , Twenty , Years , Supergroup , Waycross

Happy Chuseok, Korea; Happy Birthday, Me
2007-09-25 23:25:00
Well.... today is my birthday and I am now twenty-nine years old. And my lovely computer chose this afternoon to stop working yet again. So it's at the shop and I'm back over at my mom's using the dial up - boo! Anyway, I'll try to have a decent birthday blog up once I get my laptop back later this week.... sigh.
More About: Korea , Happy , Birthday , Miscellany , Happy Birthday

Weird? Yes. Quality? No.
2007-09-25 03:28:00
I just skimmed Weird Georgia by Jim Miles, and am not left with much of a desire to examine the book any closer. I was hoping for somewhat of a guidebook (a la Lonely Planet), but with a focus on the more bizarre things which can be found in my newly adopted state. While I did realize that this book would have sections on ghosts and aliens, I hoped they would take a back seat to factual descriptions of weird places and attractions. Additionally, take a look at the back cover - there's one sentence there in particular which made this book irresistable to me:Can you guess which one? :-) Sadly, the book has been quite a disappointment. I could probably put a lot of time and thought into explaining why, but the book really isn't worth expending the energy. I'm tempted to try again with a completely different Weird Georgia, but I'd rather not waste my money. As my mom pointed out, I'll probably do a better job of documenting the weirdness of Georgia right here on my blog. Why read a...
More About: Book Review , Quality , Ality

Empowering Tools
2007-09-24 04:05:00
See that door chain behind me? Installed by yours truly :-)
More About: Tools , Waycross , Erin

Highly recommended readings!!
2007-09-23 03:40:00
I first discovered Eliot Pattison when I was living in Vladimir, Russia. The school where I taught had a very large library of English language books of all varieties, and I utilized it a lot. There was a book entitled The Skull Mantra which stared at me for months from the shelves before I so much as bothered to read the back cover. I know you should never judge a book by its cover (or title), but I simply didn?t think that a book with such a name would be worth much. It was after I had worked my way through nearly all of the cheesy mysteries owned by the American Home and found myself running out of options for mindless entertainment that I finally picked it up ? and I?m most definitely glad I did. Here?s a reprint of the short review I wrote of The Skull Mantra at the time:For those of you who enjoy reading mysteries and/or for those of you who are interested in Tibet, I have a book recommendation for you. As you may or may not know, I've been slowly working my way through the r...
More About: Book Review , Readings

Oh, the cuteness!
2007-09-23 01:18:00
Silver the KittenSilver the KittenHarry Orange KittyBlix, the ever hapless beastIsn't this thing cool? My mom got it for me, and I love it.Now I need 3 more quality vertical shots.(All my personal faves seem to be horizontal!)
More About: Photography , Pets , Cuteness , The Cut

On being a foreigner in my own neighborhood
2007-09-22 05:04:00
As someone who does a lot of traveling overseas, I have become accostomed to finiding myself in situations where I cannot understand 100% of what is being said around me. Depending on where I am and the context in which I find myself, sometimes I understand most, but not all, while many other time I understand fifty percent or less. When you live like that for extended periods, you find yourself developing coping mechanisms. [read the full post at Blog Supergroup ]
More About: Neighborhood , Reign , Foreigner

Tramping through the brush
2007-09-22 02:54:00
So it seems that my mom is purchasing eight acres of land just outside Waycross . The closing is in about a week. The property is eight acres out of an original 40 acre tract, mainly planted in three year old timber pines. In between the pines lives an assortment of blackberry and other brambly, briary, thorny plants - it's not exactly the best for easy strolling at this point in time. Nonetheless, as the property lines have only just been surveyed, mom wanted to go out and see the actual borders of the land she's purchasing. Additionally, as we've had quite a rainy week, we wanted to see how the land holds up under rain. We knew from looking at the plat that a small area of the back portion of the land is wetland, but we didn't know *how* wet, or how far it extended into the the rest of the property. Luckily, the wetland is quite unimpressive and only covers a tiny portion of the rear of the land. But speaking of wetlands... We arrived and had to park out by the highway and walk...
More About: Photography , Costa Rica , Brush

Blanket the Dawn
2007-09-20 18:06:00
I spent seven months in Russia during my Junior year of college, back in 2000. One morning in early April I awoke after having a particularly intense dream. I immediately sat down and wrote the dream out in story form, then, for some reason, I folded my tale up, stuffed the pages into an envelope, and mailed them off to my mom. Over the years I had completely forgotten what the story was about, and all I remembered of it was the ending - and the fact that I'd sent away my only copy. Yesterday, as I was unpacking a box full of items of mine which had been at my mom's house, I stumbled upon my story! It was eerie reading it, as I knew the last few sentences, but could recall nothing more of the tale - yet there it was, penned in my handwriting from seven and a half years ago. I decided to type it up so that I could share it with you. I'm sure that at the time I felt I was being quite clever, incorporating Russian words into the names of people and places, although looking back, per...
More About: Blanket , Dawn , The D

All sorts of various updates!
2007-09-19 21:41:00
First: I've been slacking lately with regards to Blog Supergroup (what with my continent hopping and all), but now that I'm settling in to my new life in Georgia, it's time for me to get back on the ball. This week's topic over at BlogSupergroup is the English language and variations of English dialects - click here to check it out!Second: There are only two weeks left to vote on my photo over at JPG Magazine. I'd truly appreciate your vote! (Remember, you must register for your vote to count, but registration is free and easy.) Just click on the photograph below then submit your vote, if you haven't all ready.Third: I currently have two new products for sale over at my lulu.com store - a PhotoBook, Photographs from Korea , and a 2008 calendar, Images of South Korea. Click here to check them out if you're interested :-)Fourth: I'm in the process of redesigning janekeeler.com. It's almost finished, although not all of the photographs have been integrated with flickr yet. Anywa...
More About: Photography , Updates , Russia

The tasing of a handcuffed student
2007-09-19 04:42:00
I just watched this. This happened at a University of Florida at a question and answer session with Senator John Kerry. Yeah, the student was rather obnoxious, but he had a right to ask his questions - it was a question and answer session, dammit. This kid shouldn't have been arrested, or even escorted out of the room. The other students in attendance were applauding his questions, so obviously having them answered would have been important. And then to tase this kid? After he was handcuffed? WTF?! And the fact that Kerry tried to continue on, ignoring the incident as though nothing were happening while cops tased a handcuffed student whose only crime was asking questions of a government official? Watch it for yourself and tell me what you think. (The direct link is here if you need it.)
More About: Student

Interested in Photographs from Korea?
2007-09-19 04:08:00
Interested in owning your own copy of my best photographs from my thirteen months on the South Kore a n peninsula? I have just published Photographs from Korea in order to give you the opportunity to do just that. Lulu.com, the company through which I have created and sold other photobooks in the past, has recently re-designed their photobook creation and publication system. The good thing about this is that the photobooks are now glossy, professional book quality, 8.5" x 11" publications, with far cooler layouts than before. The downside is that they are now more expensive. Sadly, for me to make even a meagre profit, the cost of Photographs from Korea is $25. I personally think it's worth it, although I am not convinced that others will see it that way (but I hope you do!). I would love to create new versions of my other photobooks using Lulu.com's new system... but so few people purchase them as it it is, I'm worried that the price increase if I were to do so would drop my purcha...
More About: Graph , Eres

Blix: The German Shepherd Kitty-Sitter
2007-09-18 22:54:00
Blix, my mom's Germ an Shepherd, wandered up to our front yard in Florida, near the end of 2002 (or possibly early 2003). He was skinny and hungry and had obviously been abandoned. Of course, we took him in. At the time, Hans Blix was in the news left and right regarding nuclear inspections in Iraq and the fact that he was finding no signs whatsoever of WMDs, despite the Bush Administration's insistance that they were there. We named the dog after him. My mom's house is set up such that the three dogs (she also has a chow and a black lab, also both rescued strays) live in the fenced in back yard, while the cats live in the front yard and/or the house. Recently Blix has decided that he would much rather live with the cats than with his fellow canines, and has learned how to hop the fence. Now he spends most of his time hanging out in the front yard, baby sitting the kitties. He especially enjoys playing with the two kittens, Pewter and Silver.Meanwhile, my mom looks on from her new...
More About: Kitty , Sitter , The G

Oh! Glorious DSL!
2007-09-17 16:30:00
It feels so good to be back in the land of high speed internet once again. I've uploaded a ton of photos, chatted with a couple of people, and uploaded to clips of unbearable cat cuteness to youtube. And because I know you want to see all of this wondrousness, let me share some links:Downtown Waycross , GA (a photoset)Pewter the Kitten (a photoset)Mia and Alley playing together (a youtube video)Alley Cat: Cute on Command (a youtube video) Now to respond to comments and emails....
More About: Photography

A couple of photos for you
2007-09-16 10:50:00
As yet today nothing much of interest has occurred, other than that I have developed an intense affection for power drills, and am thoroughly impressed by the boring ability of the 1/4 inch bit. As you can see, I cannot follow up yesterday's post with anything nearly as exciting. Which is probably a good thing. What I can do, is to give you a couple of photos to enjoy, taken with my new Nikon P5000. In theory, I should have my DSL hooked up tomorrow, and I can get back to blogging and photo-sharing as per usual.Storm clouds as seen from my mom's house the other day.Butterfly macro. Taken at a rather long distance actually,as I didn't want to wade through the brush to get close to this guy.
More About: Photography , Photos , Couple , Waycross

I am never opening my door again. Ever.
2007-09-16 01:02:00
I?ve written before about how there seem to be crazy old dudes everywhere I go. Well, that seems to be holding true for life here in Waycross . Before I write this piece, let me explain my new neighborhood a little for the benefit of those who haven?t heard the full description prior. My house is located in an extremely poor, nearly all black neighborhood. I spent a month here before I moved to Korea, during which time I began to refer to it as the ghetto, not for its all-blackness, but for its incredibly high crime rate (most of which originated at the house next door to mine). As I mentioned previously, the group from the house next door was evicted while I was in Korea, leaving my neighborhood with a distinctly different feel. It?s still an extremely poor, nearly all black neighborhood, but it no longer feels quite so ghettoish.I have a very difficult time understanding the speech of my neighbors. Poor Southern dialects and accents, both white and black, are often incredibly stron...
More About: Opening , Door

Just one of many!
2007-09-14 01:07:00
I uploaded this photo to flickr, and it took an absurdly long amount of time. (Oh, cursed dial-up; DSL won't be hooked up until Monday!) It's a shot of one of my mom's kittens, Pewter, who was one of four kittens abandoned on my doorstep here in Waycross back in June. He's now about 5 months old and he loves to show off for the camera. I've only been here a week and already I have many adorable Pewter photos. Just click on the image to see a larger size!
More About: Photography , Pets

My first week in Waycross
2007-09-12 19:51:00
Well, now that I?ve been home nearly a full week, I suspect it?s time to give you guys a genuine update, rather than just some random and disconnected photos.My flights last Thursday (I flew Busan-Tokyo-Detroit-Jacksonville) all left on time and all arrived early. Mia and I (and all of my suitcases, for once) made it home without any problems. Mia was very well behaved throughout the trip, and was fairly quiet for the most part. (Plus, on the trans-Pacific flight, we had a screaming baby which completely drowned out any sounds which Mia may have made.) I?m planning on writing up a completely separate post on traveling from South Korea to the US with your pet in a few days, so stay tuned.Mia has been having some difficulty adapting to her new life here in Waycross , although it could have been a lot tougher. There had been five or six formerly stray cats living in my house, but a few weeks ago my mom installed a kitty door. Since then, most of the stray kitties have decided that they ...
More About: Photography , Pets , Week

This dial-up internet is killing me!
2007-09-09 00:25:00
My internal clock is still completely skewed; I woke up this morning before my mother, something which *never* happens! I figured if I was up that early, I'd have plenty of time to wait for some photos to upload... and here they are!Mia and I spent a lot of time like this.The flight from Korea to Japan had some very yummy food.Wasn't the soy sauce container cute?One of my first meals back in the US: fried and greasy!My mom and I drove down a dirt road marked by this sign......and she got her car buried in the mud!I got quite dirty trying to dig the car out.In the end we had to call someone with a pickup.This was where we got stuck, by the way.
More About: Internet , Photography , Waycross , Dial-up , Killing

Items owned by my mother
2007-09-08 11:20:00
- a dryer which occasionally blows hot air- a car whose air conditioning stops working when it gets too hot- a van whose windshield wipers short out when it rainsMore to come once I get high speed internet! :-)
More About: Mother , Miscellany , Owned , Items

Mia and I are in the US!
2007-09-07 14:10:00
Just wanted to let everyone know that we made it! I'll write more later - I'm using my mom's painfully slow dial-up and it's frustrating me to no end!
More About: Waycross

One stage of your journey is over; another begins.
2007-09-05 09:42:00
Not that I would ever put movie-Gandalf over book-Gandalf, but that quote has been running through my head all day. Mia and I leave for the US tomorrow morning, and will make it into Waycross after 27 or so hours of traveling... and the next stage of my life will begin. Well, it will begin after the subsequent week of so of jet-lag hell has receded, at any rate! See you on the other side :-)
More About: Korea , Journey , Stage

Pension Update for Americans in Korea
2007-09-04 11:45:00
Just wanted to give anyone who might be interested an update on the pension status for US citizens living and working in Korea (this does not apply to people covered by the USFK-SOFA agreement, but to those of us here on our own, teaching English and whatnot). I went to the pension office today with my boss. I had to bring my passport, alien registration card, and plane ticket (to prove that I was indeed leaving). I filled out a bunch of forms (which said things along the lines of "Agreement between the United States and the Republic of Korea concerning the distribution of pensions" and which required my Social Security Number), and provided my US bank account number and routing number. My boss also had to complete a form of some sort. We were then informed by the very pleasant pension office fellow that the money would be transferred into my US bank account sometime within the next two to three weeks. I'm slightly concerned by this, as it's not like I can pop down to the Korean P...
More About: Update , Pension , Americans , N Korea

Aaack!
2007-09-03 09:42:00
I leave Korea in THREE DAYS! That's why there's been rather a lack of posts of late; I've been running around trying to get everything ready for my departure. On Friday, I took Mia to the vet in order to get her paperwork for travel to the US. Then, since I'd promised my friend Alex I'd buy him some eyeglasses while I was here, I ventured into an eyeglass store. I really was looking for glasses for Alex, really. But instead I ended up with two more pairs for me and none for him. Whoops. I'll try to try again tomorrow.Saturday was my friend Rob's birthday, so a bunch of us went out to dinner, followed by a norae bang (er, singing room - like your own provate karaoke bar). Sad to say, I must admit to belting out Like A Virgin, among other ridiculous choices. Moosh, you would've been proud!Mmmmm. Cake and Beer :-)Somehow Rob ended up with part of the cake on his forehead.Today I went to the post office FOUR times, mailing back boxes of crap which couldn't be crammed into my su...
More About: Photography

Not Typical!
2007-08-30 17:05:00
I heard a story from Diana about one of my old classes today which had me giggling hysterically: Billy - a second grader - interrupted Diana today in class. Apparently, Diana's teaching method is different from mine - which is fine, although somewhat confusing to the little ones. Billy interrupted her today to say: Teacher! This is not typical! In other news, I was closing a classroom window today, and saw this spray-painted in the street:At first I thought it was a lewd drawing. Then I remembered that when there are traffic accidents, what happened and where is often painted in the street in order to allow traffic to move again. Upon closer inspection, I determined that it was not a lewd drawing, but an image of a person having been knocked off a bicycle. There was also a square sketched out, denoting a car! Splat.And lastly, here's a photo with one of my former students,in which we both look somewhat insane.
More About: Photography , Korea , Pica