Filling Up The Month A Bit

Yes, I will get into a frenzy of blog posting about probably nothing or next to nothing to make up for the fact that I can't keep a schedule on where and when it is appropriate to blog. I do have one large frustration to vent here though.

I have several videos from my year here that I would really like to plug into Windows Movie Maker (WMM) and edit the crap out of. I want to make a video that compiles video and pictures from my first year here in Korea so's I can show the folks desperately waiting to see me (and I them) back in the homeland. The problem is that my camera records video in .MOV format, which is kind of retarded in the first place, but also creates a huge problem for me. Windows Movie Maker (WMM) does not recognize .MOV files because that file type is normally seen in Macs. I troubleshot with the ever helpful "Help" option in WMM, and it directed me to a website wherein I can download some nice and free program that would supposedly convert .MOV files to .AVI files.

This would be an immense help to me...except it doesn't work. It'll take its time and act like it's doing something. It'll get my hopes up, telling me that it really loves me and it'll massage my back and reassure me that I'm the only one. It'll be real sweet and cook me dinner once every month or so. It'll even go so far as to create the .AVI file to trick me into trusting it. Then I find it in a bar downtown with some other file type. It's usually .WMV or .MPG. They're the neighborhood sluts. It'll tell me it's not what it looks like, but I know better. When it comes home late from work, I can smell the processing. I end up taking it back every time, thinking next time there won't be a next time and it'll make my .AVI file for me, but alas, Windows Media Player (WMP...or Wimp as I like to call it) and WMM can never read it. I want to slug them each in their respective programmed faces. I also want to slug my camera for recording in that very elitist format in the first place. I also want to slug the program I downloaded for not properly converting my file to an .AVI.

I apologize. I should have warned you that the preceding paragraph was kind of technical and perhaps nonsensical. Does anyone have any suggestions as to a fix to this problem? It's bugging me and I have two or three weeks in January that would be perfect to just sit and edit video all day. I kind of miss that from college...

In news everyone can understand, I have an itchy rash on my neck. Yeah, it's real cute. The ladies go nuts for me. At first I thought it was from my shaving cream, as I recently ran out of the stash I brought from Amurrica and converted to a Korean brand. I stopped using it and the rash slowly receded back into its dark and lonely cave. I was certain I arose victorious. But then again, I thought the same thing about my battle with the collection agency that I couldn't prove was wrong but was definitely wrong (hint: they don't leave you alone. They hide and you hide, and you think it's over, but they find you. They are the Jason Voorhees of finance.).

Then, yesterday, it was super windy cold, so I buttoned up my wool pea coat all the way to the top and flipped the collar (no, I'm not a frat boy) to protect my body warmth from impending hypothermia. This morning, the rash had not only come out of its dark and lonely cave, but it set up lawn chairs and a grill and a little rebel flag to indicate that it had claimed my neck for at least a long Labor Day weekend. I finally determined that it must be because I'm allergic to the wool. Is that possible? Are people allergic to wool only in one place on their body? Does that piss anyone else off? Am I going to stop wearing my pea coat because of it? Hell no, nerka! That janx was Spensive. I'm gonna ride this train until it breaks down or collides into a mountain or a town or careens into a ravine. If I still have a neck rash when I come to America, you'll know I'm a war weary hardened rash veteran.

In the last bit of news, since I've been surrounding myself with more Koreans (mainly just one female one), my Korean ability has skyrocketed at least 200%. I bet I could write a whole paragraph in Korean. Let's try:

오늘, 학교에 갔어. 학생이 바보예요. 지금, 나는 너무 배고파. 아침 먹을 없었어. 점심에서, 무서은 갈비탕을 먹고 싶어. 어재 8시50분에, 혜진랑 영화를 봤어. '소셜네트워크'를 봤어. 좋아.

Ok, let's all give a round of applause! That short paragraph is about as complex as I can get. It's about the level of a 1st grader, if that. What does it say? Good question. Answers pending. Any guesses? Hush up, Koreans.

This blog post was brought to you by three nights of sleep deprivation and a poor man's diet. Come on, Thursday...