Found an introduction of my self written in early January of 2012

Thinking is an arduous task. Philosophy helps one in dealing with this tiresome yet essential and fun task. As a student of KMLA with interest in a variety of fields such as linguistics, anthropology, and logistics, which are all areas requiring intense thinking activity, interest in philosophy was only natural. Throughout my journey as a scholar in such fields, studying and exercising philosophical concepts will be in high demand as well. Therefore, I decided to participate in the International Philosophy Olympiad (IPO) to test the extent of my knowledge in philosophy and experience what it is like to compete with other people of my age using philosophical skills.

But, IPO is not just about philosophy. Rather, it is also a Colosseum where eager students compete with their writing skills. If so, my Korean composition teacher’s comment that my essays are crude and rough, yet powerful and breath-taking in their own way should encourage me. Generally, I try to focus more on the content and logics of what I write, rather than how elaborately it might be shaped. Hence, I am not a stranger to criticisms regarding bumps that might make some people hesitate to read on. Still, I have hopes that such problems are primarily for my Korean essays. During the last four months, I have engaged in writing journals and reviews on my blog for my English composition class, where I was commented that my writing style is very compacted yet active, helping readers to move quickly and get to point.

Ever since I learned my letters and made reading a hobby, I almost never found myself without a topic from a book to think about. Books like A Tale of Two Cities or Lord of the Flies were my favorites because they gave me something to ponder on. Such books often describe phases in one’s life when suddenly, one stops taking the world around him or her as granted.  Reading and discussing on topics regarding such books helped mold my views and opinions on the world.

           

           As for philosophy, it is not a foreign topic and I had the fortune of getting in contact with it several times. At such times, I tried to compare my thoughts with the thoughts of scholars that lived ahead of me and find ways in which such scholar’s thoughts might help structure mine better. I hope participating in this year’s IPO will benefit me in the field of philosophy since oftentimes it is hard to find friends to discuss on such serious topics and therefore my thoughts might be a bit radical and centered toward my experiences. 

Reading journal: The Student by Anton Chekhov

At first glance, Anton Chekhov’s The Student seems like a master piece that effectively portrays the Russian countryside of his time. However, a few rereads brings readers to the conclusion that Chekhov attempted more than simple scene depiction in his work. Chekhov’s seemingly mundane choice of characters and the landscape are in fact, richly dipped in his view of the Russian society.

              After my second reading, it dawned upon me that for Chekhov to write about Ivan’s meeting with the two widows, mentioning the laborers was not necessary. Yet, the laborers seem to serve a certain purpose. Around the time when The Student was first published, the 1890s, socialism was gaining its hold in Russia. Socialism was at a stage where it stopped remaining a sophisticated philosophy for the learned and rather began transforming into a craved dream for the oppressed. Chekhov could have taken notice of such a trend in the society and implicitly embed it in his writings. The contrast between the Lukerya and her mother, Vasilisa, adds support to this analysis. Lukerya, a village peasant with a “stupid face”, does not make any attempt to converse with Ivan, but rather stared “immovably at the student” and “flushed crimson”. On the other hand, Vasilisa, “expressed herself with refinement” and showed “a soft, sedate” smile to Ivan. Chekhov’s portrayal suggests that Lukerya, or perhaps, the younger generation at the time, was ready to show resentment to the upper class—Ivan, in this case—whereas Vasilisa, or perhaps, the older generation at the time, still felt obliged to willingly serve and make sacrifices for the upper class. It seems Chekhov made his support for the oppressed plainly.

Chekhov’s choice to end the story by portraying an seemingly uplifting scene of Ivan made the story stand out among other short stories. The ending scene in which Ivan looks down upon the village from the hill might be mistaken for a sign that Chekhov approves of Ivan’s pride. However, the hill scene seems to be rather a device of black humor that serves as the finishing touch of Chekhov’s cynicism. Ivan’s previous actions, such as interrupting the two widows’ peaceful evening so that he could recite his practiced preaching marks him as an immature youth who has not yet learned the trick of viewing the world from other’s perspective. Thus, Ivan’s hope is understood not as one that is shared by others, such as the two widows, but rather as one that is valid only to Ivan. Ivan mistaking his preaching to be successful is a source of black humor that earns The Student the title of the “Perfect Short Story”. 

            An atheist, Chekhov could have implied his distaste for religion. Ivan preaches the widows on Jesus and Peter. Ivan’s story of Jesus and Peter is like a décalcomanie to Chekhov’s story of Ivan and the widows. Both stories contain a preacher, working class people that do not welcome the preacher, and a third person that sympathizes with the preacher. Chekhov makes this connection even stronger by making Vasilisa weep just as Peter had wept for Jesus. If the author, Chekhov, had been a religious man, it would be reasonable to view Ivan, who is compared to the holy Jesus, in a positive light. Yet, considering Chekhov’s distaste of religion, it would rather be plausible to view Jesus, who is compared the Ivan, the joke of the story, in a negative light. This interpretation gains even more validity by the fact that the church was the symbol of the old regime that enlightenment thinkers and socialists aimed to topple down.         

In a final analysis, Chekhov uses his cynical, yet masterful manner of writing to create a short story that effectively expresses his thoughts on the Russian society. His implicit portrayal of socialism seeping into the oppressed people implies his approval of the society’s trend. The black humor present in the hill scene shows his cynical view of the society. Comparing Ivan to Jesus is an expression of his contempt at the Russian church and the old regime in general.   

30 things about myself

1. Some of my friends think I'm like 첵스초코, the chocolate cereal that we eat at the cafeteria in the morning

2. I share my room with the same roommates back from last semester 

3. I dropped the habit of using English names because I felt that my name, "David" is too biblical for me, who does not go to church
>
4. I'm seriously worried about drinking because one side of my family members can't drink at all. Some of them actually fainted after trying beer at college. But, the on the other side, its common for one person to drink two bottles of Soju alone

5. I'm expecting double eyelids, because every male on my father's line acquired them after enrolling in the army  

6. I'm interested in shoes. I have a habit of examining my friends' shoes when we are at 민교관 and people leave their shoes on the door steps. I can guess pretty accurately who somebody is just by looking at their shoes


7. I love music

8. But I couldn't listen to music before junior high because my mother basically banned music from the house

9. Instead I spent all my spare time reading books when I was little

10. My favorite in childhood was [My Sweet Orange Tree] by Jose Mauro de Vasconcelos

11. I still keep reading as a hobby and have added such books as [A Tale of Two Cities] by Charles Dickens, [The Geography of Thought] by Richard E. Nisbett, [Kite Runner] by Khaled Hosseini, and [Blink] by Malcolm Gladwell to my list of favorites

12. I started listening to music by going to a book store that played songs by SG Wannabe everyday

13. Once introduced to the heaven called music, I found that my father is a music lover like me and expanded my music listening to my father's car

14. During these days, I came to love old songs by musicians such as Simon& Garfunkel and Queen

15. After that a big boost occurred in my second year at high school. I took an year off from school. At this time I would listen to music all night if I felt like it. My favorite musicians at this time were Gotye, Katatonia, Sigur Ros, Broken Valentine, Smashing Pumpkins, Aphrodite's Child, and Coldplay. Even now, I like these musicians the best because I still remember that they kept me on my feet in that year
(http://haeukwriting.blogspot.com/2013/08/katatonia-band.html)

16. One point that I found interesting was that despite listening to all kinds of strange music, I never listened to hip hop. But, that changed in last fall when 김현채 and 구한결 recorded dissing raps at 김홍순. Infatuated, I started listening to Simon D, Jazzyfact, and other such hip hop musicians as well
(http://haeukwriting.blogspot.kr/2013/08/kmla-rappers-make-parodies-of-dissing.html)

17. All those books and music would portray me as a geek, which I actually am. But, I'm also into Ultimate Frisbee

18. I was introduced to Ultimate Frisbee when I met Mr. Hinde at KMLA. With him and some of my friends who by chance happened to take Mr. Hinde's class at the time, I began playing Ultimate Frisbee

19. My passion for Ultimate Frisbee reached its peak when I came back to school from an year's rest. Again by chance, Ultimate Frisbee introduced me to new friends, with whom I revived the Ultimate Frisbee Organization

20. I not only came to play Ultimate Frisbee but also became interested with professional leagues - specifically, their history and the problems with the administration

21. Among the teams registered in MLU, I support San Francisco Dogfish and Boston Whitecaps
(http://mlultimate.com/)

22. But, my all time favorite team is the Buzz Bullets, a Japanese team that does not compete in professional leagues but still manage to thwart USA all-stars half the time they meet
(https://www.facebook.com/BuzzBullets)

23. Other than Frisbee, music, and books, I like traveling

24. I even skipped school for a whole month in 6th grade and traveled around Europe

25. My worst memories were at Prague where people not only didn't speak English but was also hostile to anyone who tried to communicate in English

26. Because of their antagonism, it took me three hours just to send some stuff at the postal office

27. My best memories were at Pompeii and Sorrento. Pompeii, I liked because of its historical significance, but Sorrento I loved because it was simply the most beautiful town I've ever seen to this day.

28. Other than, Europe, I've been to Egypt

29. I've never played League of Legends

30. Right now, 2:14 am of Feb, 6th, 2014, I want to tan myself at a terrace in Casablanca, Morocco with my roommates  

Nate Reuss

Nate Reuss is the lead singer of the award-winning band Fun .

At first I disliked him for his voice.
It was characteristic to the extent where I could not listen to the music without drawing his face in the air.
Since it distracted me from both appreciating the music and doing whatever task I chose to do at the time, I stopped listening to him after a couple of tries.
But, a few weeks later, I came upon the song Just Give Me a Reason by Pink.
Listening to the song, I found that there was a man's voice floating in and out and I got really curious because the voice colour matched the song so well.
It was Nate Reuss.
That was why I, on August 31st, made up my mind to write something about Nate Reuss.

He was born in Iowa city, Iowa on February, 26th, 1982.
For most of his childhood, he lived in Arizona because of repeated experiences of pneumonia.

In high school he joined the band Nevergonnascore and released an EP, The Byron Sessions.
After graduating from his high-school in 2000 he decided to pursue a career in music.
Meanwhile, he took a job at a law firm to support him.

From 2001 to 2008, he was part of the band Format.
The members were Ruess, Sam Means, Mike Schey, Don Raymond, Marko Buzard, and Sean McCall.
The band released a demo and two EPs.
The demo titled EP was self-released on August, 9th, 2002 and was re-released with national distribution on June, 3rd, 2003.


The first EP titled Interventions+Lullabies was released on October, 21st, 2003 from the Elektra Records.



The second EP titled Dog Problems was released on July, 11th, 2006 from the Vanity Label. 



After the breakup of Format in 2008, he contacted Jack Antonoff of Steel Train and Andrew Dost of Anathallo to create the band Fun.
He has been and still is a part of the band.
On August, 25th, 2009, they released their debut album, Aim and Ignite, from Nettwerk.



On February, 21st, 2012, they released their second album, Some nights, from Fueled by Ramen.


(ps- he looks really drunk and worn in this clip.. maybe his stylist should be changed?)

Paragraph length analysis of the Neck by Roald Dahl- 1st draft

     At first glance, the journalist from the Neck might appear as a mere window for the readers to take a peek inside the story. After all, when he rests on the white bench, chatting with Basil Turton, he makes no attempt to notify Mr. Turton that Mrs. Turton is flirting with Major Haddock. His tendency to not interfere with the issue of the unfaithful couple is also apparent in the scene where Mr. Turton has to free Mrs. Turton from the sculpture. To take a daring step, it might even be suggested that the journalist, like many other narrators in Roald Dahl short stories, has no influence at all in the story and only serves as an observer. Nonetheless, the presence of the journalist plays an essential role in the story. His attempt at not notifying Mr. Turton can be understood as a deliberate action. To be more specific, if Mr. Turton was on a walk with someone with a different personality than the journalist, the guest could have tried to notify Mr. Turton and Mr. Turton might have gone back to the house instead of going to the couple. Moreover, the journalist’s impassiveness plays an even more important role when they meet the unfaithful couple. Had the journalist aided Jelks in tempting Mr. Turton to choose the axe, the result might have been different. Therefore, it is perhaps more accurate to assume that the journalist is a character with the important task of not attempting to influence Mr. Turton. In this sense, the journalist is more than a simple window. 

"Tales of the Unexpected" and human nature

     Roald Dahl conveys to the readers that human nature is more close to a murky pond after a flood than a clear crystal. His twists of plot often serve to make the readers realize that humans have many sides and that it is erroneous to cage them in a single image. Therefore, Dahl pays special attention to his writing so that he can convey multiple sides of human nature in the limited form of a "short story". To illustrate, Dahl tends to develop his characters not through direct description in the narrator's voice, but rather through dialogues and the relationship between different characters. One of the episodes that clearly demonstrate Roald Dahl’s methods is [Lamb to the Slaughter]. Mary Maloney's description of the way she loves Patrick Maloney is a great example of how Roald Dahl indirectly builds his characters. Roald Dahl narrates that Mary

“luxuriate in the presence of this man, and to feel……that warm male glow.” 

 

Such a description presents the readers with an image of a love relationship which is, for Mary’s part, beautiful but also frighteningly perverted. As a result, the readers come to suspect that despite the calm demeanor that she shows prior to Patrick's return home, she could possess an eerie twist in her personality. 

     Roald Dahl probably preferred such an indirect way of portraying his characters because he knew that direct portrayal is more useful for conveying one aspect of a character than conveying multiple aspects of a character. In other words, Roald Dahl would have acknowledged that in the few pages that are allowed for a "short story", direct portrayal of a character could result in readers making hasty judgments of characters and eventually hinder readers from grasping an understanding of all sides of the characters. To be specific, in [My Lady Love, My Dove], Dahl does a wonderful job of showing two sides of human beings with Mr. and Mrs. Snape. At first, the Snapes are portrayed as a decent young couple. However, as the plot unfolds, the Snapes are shown to possess a different side as well. In the later half of the story, they are portrayed as money-seeking people with no respect for rules, rather than civilized man and woman with manners. Some might say that actually, the Snapes have only one personality since the decent side of them was only a ruse and therefore does not count. Yet, it must be noted that humans adjust themselves to different situations. By showing how the Snapes express different aspects of themselves in different circumstances, Dahl can convey to the readers that people should not be confined to one aspect that they show in one circumstance.

     

     Taking into account that many of the "short stories" by Dahl are read by young children, Dahl’s intent behind conveying such a message on human nature is understandable. Often, the books young children read not only have unrealistic happy endings but also have characters that do not change during the course of the story’s plot. This often contributes to children’s tendency to believe that a person with one characteristic cannot possess a different characteristic. With the plot twists and the changing characters, Dahl can show the young children that humans are not such simple beings. Perhaps Dahl wished to prepare young children for the real world by showing them that human nature is closer a many-sided fractal than a flat glass cup.   

A paragraph-length analysis on "The Picture of Dorian Gray"

      At first glance, Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray" might appear as a book influenced by many stereotypes. Among them, a certain stereotype on artists seem to tempt Oscar Wilde into making fun of the lives that artists living in the Victorian age were assumed to lead. After all, when Dorian Grey discusses Sybil Vane’s death with Basil Hallward, he makes a statement that depends on a stereotype regarding actors. Dorian Gray states that “They are good husbands, or faithful wives, or something tedious”. This statement shows that he has certain expectations of how an actor/actress would lead his/her life. Moreover, he brands the expected life style as “tedious” and goes on to refer to such a lifestyle as “middle-class virtue, and all that kind of thing”. These statements imply that he looks down upon the lifestyle of actors and that he expects other gentlemen—men who are distinguished by birth and upbringing—to share such an attitude. However, Dorian Grey’s opinion on the supposed lifestyle of actors/actresses is not exclusively expressed with regards to Sybil Vane, but is rather applied in general to people other than the aristocrats—the gentlemen and the ladies. In various occasions—especially at dinner meetings—Dorian Grey, Lord Henry, or others invited to the meeting would make negative comments on the middle-class and the working class. To present a different example, Mr. Ashton, one of the few characters who are not from a noble background and yet commands a certain level of respect from aristocrats, is also branded in a similar way as Sybil Vane is. Nonetheless, Lord Henry applies the ‘middle-class stereotype’ on Basil Hallward—a gentleman with an Oxford education—when he states to Dorian Grey, “Don’t squander the gold of your days, listening to the tedious”. Therefore, it is perhaps more accurate to assume that Oscar Wilde wished to ridicule people with a certain lifestyle, rather than people with a certain occupation or people from a certain social class. In this sense, the constantly reappearing stereotype of artists does not imply more significance of artists but implies that artists typically fall into the category of people with the lifestyle branded with tediousness.