Photos: Scarecrows in the Garden

The Atlanta Botanical Gardens does an exhibit around this time of year, where “professionals” and “non-professional” (read: companies and private parties) construct scarecrows, to be put on display throughout a large section of the gardens.  For the second year in a row, I helped out with construction of Jen’s company’s scarecrow, the Pintrest Pixie.

The event itself was kind of nice, and a little bit symbolic of the changing of the seasons, because it’s not dreadfully hot, the sun begins setting a lot quicker, but there’s still beer to drink, and lots of people to watch.

And for what it’s worth, I thought the quality of the other scarecrows wasn’t as mundane as some of them were last year.

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Seeking a Korean starter wife

My mom’s convinced that at some point, I promised her that I would marry a Korean girl by the age of 30.  I can’t really say I recollect making such a ludicrous promise, but regardless my mom badgers me about it just about every time we speak on the phone.  She knows that I’m not really into Korean chicks let alone Asian chicks in general; all jokes aside about me being Korean as burritos are, and being an mega-Twinkie/banana, I’m just not.  Maybe the right one(s) has never come along to spark any interest, and break the walls, or maybe it’s the fact that I grew up surrounded by Korean women, so it’s like this awkward family complex I have towards other Korean girls in general.

No matter, she gives me the old-world spiel about how she wants to see me get married to a Korean girl before, of course, she dies.  Obviously no good son really wants to see his mother die at any point at all, but we’ve had discussions before on the importance of her happiness for her, and my happiness for myself.  Clearly, there’s a conflict of interest here.  She wants a Korean daughter-in-law that will birth my heir and give her yet more grandchildren, and then become a subservient caregiver while she lives out the rest of her lives in my home, or something along those lines, right out a circa-1990s Korean drama VHS tape that Korean moms and grandmas would trade and rent and watch for endless hours.

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Photos: The July 4th Party

USA FUCK YEAH! indeed.

This year, we had more people come than ever before and Jen and I also bought more fireworks than ever before, for our annual July 4th party that happened on the 7th due to the fucked up nature of July 4th being on a got-damn Wednesday.

Despite the sweltering heat initially, the evening cooled substantially once the sun set out of view, and there was tons of food to match the number of people who came down to Zombieland to eat, drink and watch some fireworks.  And to those who all came, I can’t speak for Jen, but I’m ever grateful that you made the lengthy trip down to our sticks for this party.  It means a lot to me.

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Photos: Baseball watching in Maryland

A few weeks ago, I went up to Maryland for my annual “Let’s get drunk in Baltimore and watch baseball” trip.  Although the trip has drastically changed how I feel about traveling to that area in the month of June moving forward, the trip itself was its usual entertaining self.

While up there, I decided to venture out to Frederick to see a ballpark I hadn’t seen before, where the high-A Orioles affiliates play.  And then the day after that was usual drunken shenanigans in Baltimore, except that this year, both the O’s and Nationals are contending teams, leading to a metric fuckton more people being there, much to my annoyance.

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It’s funny how things turn out in time

Last weekend, I was up in NOVA during the trip I couldn’t get back from, and I went to a baseball game with my dad.  During the drive up to Frederick, Maryland, we got stuck in the typical I-270 traffic, due to the fairly abrupt ending of the third lane.  It’s not like my dad and I have a ton of things to talk about in the first place, especially with the language difficulties between us in the first place.

For whatever reason, my dad decided to start a topic which was akin to my mom and aunts always badgering me about how I need to get married and start popping out grandkids.  The fact that it was coming from my dad was a little strange, but I guess deep down, he too wants to have some mighty grandchildren to carry on the Hong family name and bloodline, but truthfully my dad is fantastic with babies really.

It started with him bringing up a girl I went to elementary and high school with and even the same church, who is the same age as I am, and her dad is friends with my dad.  And how about she’s now engaged, and that he was invited to the wedding as guests of the parents I guess.  But then he said that she’s marrying a Vietnamese guy, and I just kind of snort-laugh, you know the sound I’m talking about.  A Korean girl marrying a Vietnamese guy, it’s laughable to me, kinda.

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Photos: Pictures from Animazement

Alrighty, since I know definitively that there are people waiting to see these pictures, I may as well sadistically save them for last.  Or maybe I’m just going in chronological order?  Whichever.

So Saturday was really the only day that I took any pictures at Animazement, and over half of them are after I got drunk and it devolved into typical drunk people antics.  It’s fine, because as I alluded to while brogging from The Flying Saucer, I’m too old for this anime con shit, and there’s very little for me to do there, really.  Nevermind the fact that a miscommunication faux pas led to me actually paying for con admittance; something I haven’t done in like over 12 years, and that I essentially had a free room too, but there’s really nothing for me at anime cons, aside from hanging out with my friends, supporting my friends/acquaintances, and then boozing.

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