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Akolythos
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Name: Akolythous tou barbaroi
Gender: Male
Interests: History, especially European, Byzantine and eighteenth-century American history. DDR, Anime, Linguistics, Alternate Histories, RPGs, and Wikipedia also entertain me. More recently, computer science, physics, discrete mathematics/logic, petroleum engineering, geology, psychology, and debate. But, that might just be because I've friends in those fields, or perhaps just good at them. Currently, West Wing (Bartlett for America!) and Super Smash Bros. Melee. Oh, and also learning languages. I rather like the idea that all I need to do to be able to communicate with about three billion of the world's people is learn only eight languages.
Expertise: Rather good at reading, writing, and sleeping. DDR and actual dancing are among the list of my skills requiring actual physical exertion/effort. Literary bullshitting and interpretation are also skills I have that I'm fairly proud of, not that they're all that practical.
Occupation: Student
Industry: Research
Message: message me
Member Since:
9/27/2004
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| So I haven't posted on this thing in forever, but I wanted to wish everyone a happy new year's, and all the best in the coming semester! ^_^
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| And I can't get to sleep, either. It's like, one, in Korea right now - one in the morning. Why is this amazing? Because while it has cooled, the humidity has not gone down one bit. So, writing to you from my cozy 26 degree Celcius (how hot is that, anyway?) room, I've decided to transcribe one of the random shorts I wrote into my notebook, because I almost lost my backpack today; don't ask me why a scare about loosing my passport and airplane ticket information compels me to transcribe. Actually, don't ask me why I had my passport and airplane ticket information with me in a potentially insecure manner. I don't have very good answers for either of those questions. Anyway, I'm in Korea, so the story is about Korean reunification. Kinda.
"Okay, we can deal with it later," Chief of Staff Richard Doharty said to his assistant. "What's next?"
"The Indochinese region is still up in arms about last week, and the Phillipines seems to be read to throw in their support, sir," replied Mrs. Hooper.
"State's drafting language for the Vice-President's speech in Signapore on Thursday?" he asked in return.
"Yes, sir," was the answer, "At last count there are now six different versions of the speech, depending on how China and Japan react, and if this will affect progress in-..."
"Do we have any word on the negotiations in Kaesong?" the Chief of Staff interupted, about to bring up the subject of the Korean peninsula anyway.
"They're still at an impasse since two days ago, sir," she finished, forbearingly letting the previous thread of talk be cut off. The difficult thing about having to deal with a fiercely intelligent boss of Doharty's variety was that he was constantly jumping ahead in the conversation even when both sides had a clear path through it and knew where they were going. You had to be almost as smart to keep up, and infinitely more patient to keep down annoyance.
"I'm going to guess that Pyeongkae highway is still causing trouble?"
"That, and Seoul still has issues with the official name of North Korea during the intermediate federative period," Hooper elaborated, handing a briefing over her boss's desk for him to read as she spoke. "They have managed to agree about breaking media silence to announce the plan for a national watershed reserve in a region of the DMZ north of Cheorwon."
"Yeah, trying their best to pretend-... Jesus, 'The Transitional Korean Republic in the Chosun State of Federative Korea'??" the Chief of Staff asked incredulously. "What's the South Korean delegation trying to do? Destroy communism with strangulated rhetoric?"
"Communications is holding out for a newly found sense of humor," relayed Mrs. Hooper, "They're still sore about the short name being the 'Republic of Chosun,' and not 'Republic in Chosun.'"
"And what Korean diplomat with far too much in his head about medieval European splitting of hairs was allowed anywhere near-..." Doharty cut himself off. He would wring the guy's neck personally, but he had a country to serve. Wasn't anyone at all taking pause to remember that the current government had only survived after inviting South Korean intervention? And that no one really could tell how the populace was taking it? Who was going out of their way to subjugate the North instead of reform it, and prove every hardliner in the ousted government right?
"Is there anything less, I don't know, inane behind the stall?" the Chief of Staff asked after his brief moment of reverie.
"Seoul apparently wants rights to maintain and run all inter-city highways in the North," replied Mrs. Hooper, not having to mention that Pyeongyang objected to this notion.
"The administration in Seoul is volunteering to spend billions of won a year? To maintain roads that'll probably be used the most by North Koreans streaming to the border, no less," he reacted.
"Something about 'to better integration the infrastructures of the two Koreas'," she elaborated. "They're pointing to Hyundai's upkeep of the Seoul-Kaesong transit-ways as precedent."
"Great, because all we need is South Korean magnates skimming the top off of said streaming refugees," Doharty said, exasperated, as much because of the possibility of what he said as because he knew it was much more complex than that - it always was, in Korea. "Get State to draft language on it if the stall lasts for any longer, tell them it's more important that the Singapore speech. Have the two delegations at least agreed on a location for the treaty signing?"
"The North Korean delegation wants it to be in New York, the South is floating someplace in Europe," Mrs. Hooper replied, after glancing at something in her lap.
"Tell our people in the UN delegation and the six-party delegation to lean heavily on both Koreas for a decision about that before they announce the Cheorwon reserve... And who would've thought we'd live to see the day North Korea more eager than the South to be affiliated with the United States," the Chief of Staff asked aloud, bemused. "Anyway, what's next?"
And if you can't tell what show influenced the above like crazy, you didn't watch television with me at all last year.
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| Holy crap, maybe I can spend another weekend in Austin?? We'll see... lol, I promise to write a real entry soon, peoples.
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You Are a Seeker Soul
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You are on a quest for knowledge and life challenges.
You love to be curious and ask a ton of questions.
Since you know so much, you make for an interesting conversationalist.
Mentally alert, you can outwit almost anyone (and have fun doing it!).
Very introspective, you can be silently critical of others.
And your quiet nature makes it difficult for people to get to know you.
You see yourself as a philosopher, and you take everything philosophically.
Your main talent is expressing and communicating ideas.
Souls you are most compatible with: Hunter Soul and Visionary Soul
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| So yeah... just saw Superman Returns. Meh. I saw it Austin,
so that's cool. But yeah... the movie's sorta... meh. It
accomplishes the sinister goal the movie peoples pro'ly had in mind
though - to spawn conversation and renew interest. As a movie,
though, and not a subliminal sociological strategy...?
Yeah. Meh. Anyone care to disagree?
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