Friday, June 19, 2026
Thursday, June 18, 2026
the book is out!
Sights, Sounds, Words: Volume 1, my first collection of movie and book reviews, featuring reviews from 2004 to 2015, is now out as a perfect-bound paperback available through Amazon.com! I've just reviewed the copy I'd purchased, doing random checks on the table of contents (do the page numbers in the TOC match the actual page numbers of the chapters?) and the general text format (widows, orphans, runts, odd spacing, misspellings, poor punctuation, bad grammar, etc.), and overall, I'm generally satisfied that my gazillion little pre-upload checks have produced what appears to be a decent book. I might find errata later on that will mortify me, but for the moment, I'd say things are looking pretty good.
Coming in at 480 printed pages, Sights, Sounds, Words is on sale for $14.99. I'd warned other potential readers that the "dead tree" version of the book would be substantially more expensive than the ebook (only $2.99), but I know a lot of older people—including me—often prefer the heft of the real, printed page even if it means arboreal slaughter.
There's only one problem standing out to me right now: the way the front-cover image doesn't quite "bleed" to the edge. The tiny black margin going around the image is a bit bothersome. It's not tragic, but it nags at me. I might try fixing that and reuploading, but other than that, you should feel free to buy either the paperback or the ebook. I'll be working on implementing corrections to the ebook manuscript tonight while there seems to be a lull in purchases—not that I'm making or going to make much money on either of these editions.
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| with my address, QR codes, and barcodes blurred/mosaicked out |
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| front cover |
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| book's thickness and heft |
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| spine (Juasubul/좌수불/左手弗 means "Left-handed Buddha") |
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| Maybe later versions of the back cover will show some reader reviews. |
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| how the review for Batman Begins looks |
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| how an essay about Battlestar Galactica's deity looks |
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| how the review for Ender's Game (the movie) looks |
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| how the review for Interstellar looks |
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| Flipping way to the end, here's my current bio. |
Thank you in advance for your purchase!
for shame, you stupid Westerners
I know it's not all Westerners who are like this (torching buses), but you're more likely to find this kind of stupid public behavior among Westerners than among East Asians. Disgusting.
Japanese fans cleaned the WHOLE stadium after Japan tied the Netherlands. Hours later, NYC Knicks fans torched buses celebrating their first NBA title since 1973. Same win, opposite
— Dr. Phil (@DrPhil) June 16, 2026
character. Save this and share it with someone who needs to see the contrast. pic.twitter.com/MbDx5C9BVU
Back in undergrad, two of my then-friends, one from Nebraska and the other from the Philippines, used to debate deep topics like the relative superiority or inferiority of Western and Eastern civilization. I wasn't sure whom I sided with since I knew so little whereas these two guys were throwing hurricanes of knowledge at each other, pretty energetically and with no small amount of venom. The debates were fascinating to listen to. But these days, for all of its faults, I think I come down more on the side of East Asian civilization as superior.
Don't get me wrong—there's a lot to dislike about, say, Korean civilization—the blind conformity, the sense of social hierarchy, the cronyism, the lack of a culture of discussion, the often-virulent nationalism, the corruption in business and politics, the lack of true freedom of expression, the heedless racism, etc. But there's also a general lack of rampant crime and of excessive displays of whatever counts as "pride for X" or "anger at Y" by one's demographic these days. And while pollution and dilapidation are both problems here on the peninsula (cf. all the poverty I've photographed on my walks over the years), there's little in the way of wild, wanton destruction. There are also way fewer people here with a hair-trigger "I'm offended!" reflex. Koreans have sensitive egos and certain buttons that can be pushed—on purpose or inadvertently—but overall, especially these days, I'd generally prefer to deal with Korean-style annoyances than with American-style ones.
I do realize that painting the States with an overly broad brush is its own danger, and that I need to account for regional differences (same goes for Korea, too, frankly), but I call it the way I see it. Alas, PC culture, postmodernism, and other Western leftist ills have been invading Korean culture for some time now; it won't be long before "the long march through the institutions" makes living in Korea untenable. I hope I'm dead by that point.
document check
An update on my 2do checklist!
The latest news is that, just today, I got both my sealed transcripts (two copies for each university) and my FBI background check, which proudly displays my arrest in 2010 (see the ugly story here) but also notes that the charges were dismissed, which allows me to say any number of things to a hiring committee, including
- That was so long ago.
- The charges were dismissed because it was nothing.
- It was a misunderstanding.
- Come on—I'm a heart patient now. You think I'm going to get into any fights?
- Hey, he got charged, too (that's actually not true).
I can get a background check done locally; it'll show no criminal activity by moi because I've committed no crimes in Korea. But that document has to be specifically requested by the university, and it must be sent only to that university. In other words, I'd need to have the local police office print out a background check for every university that requests one.
Below is my updated 2do checklist. My uni stuff is almost all done. Just one more thing—send a copy of my FBI background check to Monument Visa to get apostilled. Monument's turnaround time is pretty quick, and their staff has been very helpful and responsive to my befuddled-old-man questions, so I expect to have an apostilled FBI document in my hands within just a couple of weeks.
Job stuff:
✓ 1st diploma copy, converted to PDF & apostilled (arrived)
✓ 2nd diploma copy, converted to PDF & apostilled (arrived)
✓ FBI criminal background check
☐ FBI criminal background check, apostilled (no word yet)
✓ 2nd letter of recommendation, converted to PDF
✓ 3rd letter of recommendation, converted to PDF
✓ copy of 4th certificate of employment (2005-2008) (SMU)
✓ sealed transcript from Catholic U. (grad school)
✓ sealed transcript from Georgetown U. (undergrad)
✓ health check; scan form and convert to PDF
Personal stuff:
☐ colonoscopy scheduling (maybe not happening this year)
✓ completed (& uploaded) first movie-review ebook ms
☐ get listed on Soomgo
☐ sample lessons for universities that prove interested in me
✗ sample lessons for KMA (which probably won't hire me)
✗ lessons for private tutoring (lower priority)—test prep & various subjects
☐ more Substack material to last through September
☐ more interactive quizzes for Substack (w/different question formats)
✓ ebook version of the first movie-review book, published
✓ dead-tree version of first movie-review book, ms prepped
✓ dead-tree version of first movie-review book, cover prepped
☐ dead-tree version of first movie-review book, published to Amazon (almost there)
☐ ms for the second movie-review book—start working on it (low priority)
So life remains busy, but things are getting done. I probably won't know until August what my fate will be. Will I be working at a damn hagweon again? Teaching at a university somewhere inside or outside of Seoul? Packing up and moving back to the States?
I guess we'll know soon enough.
In other news: I also finally got my long-delayed shipment of tees from Spring. It's not everything I had ordered back in March, though: I had ordered two more tees plus a coffee mug and a printed glass (that shows a walk map from 2023). I'm debating whether (1) to send what I have to France and to tell Dominique Sorry about those two tees or (2) to wait a bit for the other items to arrive, then send everything together even if it means that the package will arrive after July 4 (the day of Auguste's wedding). Choices, choices.
funky sound
Ever heard of an "electric stringed didgeridoo"? Me, neither.
I just wanna know how he got the thing to do percussion.
June 17 walk flowers
It's amazing, the variety of flowers along my street. I realize the flowers didn't arrive there naturally, but made beauty or not, the blossoms are a welcome sight.
From my Wednesday-morning walk:
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| one type of hydrangea |
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| another hydrangea |
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| hydrangea strikes again |
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| No, I'm not obsessed with hydrangeas. I'd merely given them short shrift in previous photo essays. |
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| one last hydrangea for you, intensely pink |
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
the McCrareyist approach to history
John McCrarey has, many times, said something similar:
For it is an excellent thing to be able to use the ignorant mistakes of others as warning examples for the correction of error, and, when we confront the varied vicissitudes of life, instead of having to investigate what is being done now, to be able to imitate the successes which have been achieved in the past. Certainly all men prefer in their counsels the oldest men to those who are younger, because of the experience which has accrued to the former through the lapse of time; but it is a fact that such experience is in so far surpassed by the understanding which is gained from history, as history excels, we know, in the multitude of facts at its disposal. For this reason one may hold that the acquisition of a knowledge of history is of the greatest utility for every conceivable circumstance of life.
Of course, knowledge of history is not enough; that's merely the what of history, the brute facts. One must also understand the why of history, the interconnected causes and reasons, and most of all, there must be the will to apply that knowledge and understanding. Without that will, all the knowledge and understanding in the world is useless.
lack of cathexis
Cathexis = extension of ego-boundaries to something else—a team, a teddy bear, etc. Once a person or thing has been cathected, his/her/its pain becomes your pain; his/her/its losses become your losses.
Kyungpook application sent
The KNU office didn't respond to my email yesterday, but it responded today by sending me a PDF copy of the personal-info-sharing permission form, so I don't need to call anybody.
It's all in the hands of the gods now. Of the four places that I've applied to, I have the best feeling about this place. And it's a national university, no less, so that's not nothing, even if it doesn't rank as high as other, more prestigious national universities.
The AI god says:
Kyungpook National University (KNU) is consistently ranked among the top 10 to 15 universities in South Korea and holds the premier position (1st place) among all national flagship universities in the country.Various major domestic and global ranking systems reflect KNU's national standing:
- Times Higher Education (THE): KNU ranks 15th overall in South Korea. It also consistently holds 1st place among national universities in the country.
- CWUR (Center for World University Rankings): KNU ranks 10th in South Korea and maintains its 1st-place position among national universities.
- EduRank: Ranks KNU 10th overall in South Korea, highly scoring in various research-driven subjects.
- The Korea Times: In the K-University Global Excellence Rankings, KNU ranked 14th overall nationally and 1st among national universities, largely due to its strong educational programs and internationalization efforts.
I really would be excited to live and work in Sangju, which is a nice city for any number of reasons, not least of which is its fame for growing persimmons, which I see every fall when I pass through the city. Too bad I can't afford to eat the persimmons that often, especially the dried ones. (Dried fruit is extremely carby because the fruit's water is gone, thus leaving fruit flesh filled with concentrated fructose. Double plus ungood.)
what do you think?
The guy below sounds like a Gen Z shill for North Korea, and his tone of voice is too excitably ranty, but he does make one good point about how South Korea has kowtowed so completely to the "English craze" that the country is in danger of losing its own culture because of English mania. On my own blog, I've consistently preached that South Koreans shouldn't be surprised when foreigners speak Korean; by contrast, South Koreans should expect long-term foreigners to learn some measure of Korean. This is Korea, after all, and we foreigners are the guests here. If anything, we should show gratitude to the country that feeds us, clothes us, pays us, and houses us by making the effort to speak more than a few grunted, mispronounced phrases. In the States, even with all of the rampant political correctness, there's still an expectation that immigrants will learn English. In France, once you leave the big cities, you're expected to navigate in French. Koreans should expect foreigners to get off their lazy asses and learn Korean. Koreans shouldn't feel pressure to speak English when they see a foreign face, nor should they automatically assume that foreigners are Korean-incompetent whether the foreigners are or not: The default assumption should be that the foreigner can speak Korean. That would be a good example of national pride.
Right now, North Korea is experiencing real economic growth, with 3.7% expansion, a construction boom in Pyongyang, and signs of modernization like apps, taxis, and electric vehicles.
— Kangmin Lee | 이강민 (@kangminlee) June 13, 2026
And something to note: all the branding for the new developments in NK stays in Korean,… pic.twitter.com/GGOM2wh946
walk schedule
I was up at 4:30 this morning and walking by 5 a.m. As I discovered, leaving even that early meant getting hit by the morning sun. At 5 a.m., the sun is already out at this time of year. While not as bad as the afternoon sun, the morning sun was still uncomfortably warm. I had hoped to enjoy more of the remaining nighttime coolness. So I'm going to try a monk's schedule, waking up at 3 a.m. and going out the door by 3:30 a.m. By extension, that's going to mean hitting the sack by 9 p.m.—truly a Buddhist monk's schedule. I don't like living the life of a morning person since I'm not naturally a morning person, but if I'm going to continue to walk in the early morning throughout the summer, I don't have much choice. Either that, or I have to start walking at night.
Here's the problem, though: If I don't get a uni job by mid-July, I have no choice but to join a local hagweon. If I work at the hagweon part-time, and I choose to do the morning shift, that means starting at 7 a.m. and working until about 11 or noon. This in turn means that waking up at 3 a.m. to do my 10K walk is going to be cutting it too close: Wake up at 3 a.m., be out the door by 3:30 a.m., walk until almost 6 a.m., then take only one hour to shower, dress, and make my way across town to the workplace. Nope. That's not gonna work. To give myself a better time margin, I'd have to wake up at 2 a.m., which in turn means going to bed no later than 8 p.m. to get six hours of shuteye. Dr. Hodges used to wake up insanely early like that, getting up at around 2:30 a.m. I used to think that was nuts, and now, I'm considering adopting a schedule very much like his. Crazy.
2 a.m.: Wake up.
2:30 a.m.: Step out the door and start walking.
5 a.m.: Be back at my place. Shower & prep for work.
6 a.m.: Leave for work.
7 a.m.: Start work.
Again, the above assumes I end up working part-time at a local hagweon.
evanescence
Finding the best tweet you've ever seen then the feed refreshes and it's gone forever. pic.twitter.com/nGZ2K19770
— Paul Bronks (@SlenderSherbet) April 17, 2026
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Limitless: review
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| Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper as Carl Van Loon and Eddie Morra |
I ended up thinking that the movie, billed as a "thriller" and occasionally narrated by Eddie in wry-storyteller mode, was more of a dark comedy than anything else. Many scenes are intentionally humorous, such as when a desperate Eddie, realizing that one of his enemies has NZT in his bloodstream, stabs his foe and drinks his blood just to enhance his own mind and escape his current predicament. The movie is also smart enough to have Eddie realize that he's not the only one taking NZT, but at the same time, the film makes no real attempt to bring all of these enhanced people together or to show them all at their peak. In fact, the movie misses many opportunities to have Eddie show off his own genius. As they say, the characters in a story are only as smart as their writers, and most writers aren't smart enough to portray true genius. That problem may in fact be one of Limitless's most basic flaws.
Where the movie excels, though, is in its trippy, Zoomquilt-style visuals, a wordless cinematic language meant to represent the deliriously rapid expansion of Eddie's consciousness. Other visuals are House-like in nature, featuring CGI representations of the interior of a brain or ever-ramifying blood vessels or closeups of eyes. One benefit of NZT is how it allows the user to access old, even fleeting memories that can be employed to one's advantage, such as when Eddie gets into a fight with several thugs and outfights them after accessing memories of self-defense videos on YouTube. Eddie picks up the piano, learns French (actor Bradley Cooper is more or less fluent in French), and even learns Chinese by the end (online reactions to Bradley Cooper's Chinese, however, were less than positive; he was apparently unintelligible).
The most interesting and frustrating aspect of Limitless, though, is that it seems to have no clear moral. It was based on a 2001 novel called The Dark Fields by Irish author Alan Glynn. I haven't read the novel, but the movie seems to suggest, by the end, that Eddie has indeed successfully engineered his own version of NZT-48 and now has all side effects under control as long as he uses the drug in moderation. Is Eddie the bad guy of the story, or is he just extremely lucky to have received this miracle drug and harnessed its effects? The story sometimes feels like a warning about addiction, and about the artificiality of using a drug to accomplish wonders instead of good old effort and self-discipline. Perhaps the true moral is that Eddie has found a key to living a successful life, and by the end, he has learned that moderation is crucial for continued success. It's hard to say.
In all, I found Limitless entertaining but somewhat pointless, a clumsy riff off Flowers for Algernon. Bradley Cooper and the rest of the cast play their parts well enough, and the movie's imagery is often a visual love letter to New York City, so the movie gets points for acting and cinematography. The story, however, felt lacking in fundamental ways, and as I said earlier, I couldn't help thinking of all of the missed opportunities that could have taken the plot in many interesting directions.
UPDATE: Watch this incredible scene from Charly to see what Limitless could have been.
about the upcoming The Death of Robin Hood
I wrote this two days ago as a comment on Instapundit:
My one great fear: Is The Death of Robin Hood going to follow the same story beats as Logan? Older male figure, still a vicious killer, becomes like a father to a young woman before finally dying? Has Hugh Jackman gotten into a typecasting rut?
And just today, I saw this review of the movie, which also mentions Logan parallels:
My fears aside, I do want to see this movie, especially with Disclosure Day having proved to be a massive, stinking turd shat out by an old and clueless Spielberg. I'm not so keen to see the Gen Z flicks Backrooms and Obsession, but I might be persuaded to watch those later.
I'm thinking I should subscribe to this guy
Another one from Chef Reactions:
"Bleeding from the eyes."
can this be right? am I dead?
I feel as if I should run these numbers again, but I'm afraid of what the second result might be. The fact is that I've had low BP for most of the past two weeks, maybe because I've been doing 10K walks nearly every day.
application frustration
I'm currently trying to apply for a visiting-professor position at Kyungpook National University (Kyungpook is their spelling; the official romanization ought to be Gyeongbuk), Sangju Campus. Sangju is a city I visit almost every time I walk across the Korean mainland (except for this last abortive attempt). I like it a lot and wouldn't mind moving there, but I hope the city has a decent hospital so I can keep receiving my meds.
Right now, though, the problem is that KNU is asking for five things from me; I have four of those things, which are:
- cover letter
- résumé
- apostilled diplomas (copies)
- certificates of employment
No transcripts, no recommendation letters, no headshot, no copy of my alien-registration card, nothing else. Maybe all of that is for Round 2.
The job ad on Dave's ESL Cafe claims that the fifth thing is already "attached" to the ad, but I see no link and no attachments of any kind—nothing to download and fill out. So I've written KNU's office to get access to that fifth thing, which is a standard, permission-to-share-personal-information form. That's the only thing I need.
KNU is very specific that it wants these five elements sent as five separate PDFs, not one unified PDF. As of now, I can send only four, and KNU says—as most colleges do—that any deviation from their instructions means the application will not be considered. So if I were to send my four documents now, I'd be rejected through no fault of my own.
But what happens when the university itself is preventing a person from completing his paperwork? I hate to say it, but I smell incompetence. (And I hope that remark doesn't get me in trouble with the Thought Police.)
I have only until the 22nd to send my paperwork in. If I had the damn form, I could send in everything right now. If I don't get an email by close of business tomorrow, I'm going to call the relevant office on Thursday.
KNU, like so many universities, says it's preference is for people with a Master's or a Ph.D. in something language-related. I don't have that, so I'm plumping up my years of experience as a uni prof, my Georgetown credentials (it's barely a Top 25 school nationally... last I checked), and the fact that I went through a certificate program for foreign-language teaching during undergrad, which included several courses in linguistics, pedagogy, and educational foundations. Will that be enough? We'll see, I guess.
One way or another, I'm submitting my paperwork this week.
and now—more economics illiteracy!
On Instapundit, they like to toss around the line that "The true minimum wage is zero." If you're willing to provide something for nothing, as I've been doing for decades with all of my writing, people will take you for granted. Then, the moment you ask for something in return for your effort, all the excuses come out, and those same people run away. What you see below is as much a law of human psychology as it is a law of economics: Ask for more than the market thinks you deserve, get replaced. Simple as that. And with AI replacing more and more jobs these days, at higher and higher levels, expect the trend to continue.
McDonald's announced they're replacing cashiers with kiosks in California just after the $20 minimum wage kicked in. Shocking to absolutely no one who understands basic economics. When you artificially price labor above its market value, employers find substitutes. Machines,… pic.twitter.com/Hia8p8Tzj4
— Handre (@Handre) June 15, 2026
soccer, but better
In the spirit of the World Cup...
We Asked AI To Make Soccer Less Boring pic.twitter.com/0vKwtV7JEE
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) June 15, 2026
I want players doing impossibly acrobatic flips like in wuxia or the Star Wars movies.
subscriber vs. follower
I got a new "follower" on Substack. Probably another bot. I had to wonder what the difference between a subscriber and a follower was, so I asked the AI god:
On Substack, a subscriber is a direct, committed reader who joins your mailing list to receive your newsletters, while a follower is a casual reader who tracks your social activity on the platform without committing their email.
Here is how the two types of audiences compare side-by-side:
Subscribers
Commitment Level: High (Direct Access)
Delivery: Content is delivered straight to their email inbox or the Substack app.
Data Access: You own their email address and can export your list at any time.
Monetization: They can be converted into paid members and support your work financially.
Followers
Commitment Level: Low (Social/Network)
Delivery: They receive NO emails from you. They only see your short-form posts and activity in the "Notes" feed of the Substack app.
Data Access: You do not get their email address, and they cannot be exported.
Monetization: They act as a top-of-funnel audience intended to be nurtured into subscribers over time.
So there we have it. Yay for me. Welcome to my world, bot.
theater kid in the making
She's gonna be an awesome actress... who will vote for all the wrong things.
Monday, June 15, 2026
better than my go-to recipe?
My buddy Charles made a disgusted, angry face when he tried my no-knead-bread from the recipe I'd stolen from Jenny Jones. Below is a different recipe and approach. This one looks pretty good. Different ingredient proportions. I might try making it one day.
Happy Birthday, Mike
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| My buddy-since-elementary-school Mike—here pictured with my Korean ex-coworker—turns 57. |
this morning's walk
I'm going to have to start adopting a monk's schedule, I think, if I plan to do my 10K walks out to the river in the early morning. I went out at 6 a.m. today, which is basically broad daylight during Korean summer, and it was starting to get uncomfortably hot by the time I was heading back to my place. Shade was hard to find.
In Korea, the Buddhist monks usually get up around 3 or 3:30 a.m. I could do that, be out by 4 a.m., and finish walking a bit after 6 a.m. It would be bright out by then, but the sun would still be too low to be hot. This is one of the reasons why I don't like walking in the summertime. And waking up like a monk means going to bed around 9 p.m.
Some neighborhood roses for you:
election-aftermath protests in South Korea
I've managed to miss all of this, but "imploding" is an exaggeration.
Sunday, June 14, 2026
yes! just in time for summer!
That's the problem when you've got an immense backlog of scheduled videos.
another Five Stories in Five Days is coming
Gird your loins, warriors! Another slew of short stories is coming! This time, the stories will be on my paid Substack, but they'll be partially visible to free subscribers and random visitors as well. I haven't written all five stories yet, and one story is from a long time ago (so I guess I'm cheating), but here's what I have thus far:
1. "Don't Interrupt": An uncivil journalist gets karmic payback for her own incivility.
2. "Telekinetically Yours 2": Marv continues to explore his new powers.
3. "Little Billy in Hell": A tiny kid wakes up in hell and has a talk with Satan.
4. "Why Good Self-Expression Matters": A language slob learns a harsh lesson.
One more story to write, but there's your preliminary taste.
In other news—I need to get a haircut tomorrow.
the roiling sea
A magical sunset over a sea of clouds filmed in timelapse by Tristan Heth.pic.twitter.com/bs2SqqACM0
— Wonder of Science (@wonderofscience) June 13, 2026
Saturday, June 13, 2026
Oreo tiramisu?
I know Charles is a fan of tiramisu. I am, too, but perhaps not to the degree that Charles is. I wonder what my friend might think of "Oreo tiramisu."
I'm not a tiramisu purist, so I think this looks damn good. I had to laugh when the guy simply gave up on trying to pronounce mascarpone. He's probably seen too many goofy Americans mispronouncing it as "Mars Capone." But just look at the orthography, geniuses: mas-car-po-ne! It's not that hard, is it? (Oh, no—I'm doing it again.)
not quite ready for prime time
Yesterday, I "finalized" my dead-tree book's cover and manuscript, then uploaded the data and published the book, which is now "live" on Amazon. But I'm not linking to it just yet: I've ordered myself a copy; when it arrives around the 18th, I'll flip through it and see what problems stand out. If nothing stands out, I'll declare a temporary victory and announce to the world that the book is on sale. If I find problems, I'll tweak and reupload.
This was a complicated process to go through. I had thought it might be simpler since all I'd really needed to do—so I thought—was gather material I had written before, shape up it up into a legitimate manuscript, mock up a quick cover, then upload. Easy peasy. But I'd forgotten how the process had gone for my 2006 Water from a Skull (published via CafePress.com). And my 2022 book Think Like a Teacher (recently republished as a paperback with a Korean translation) had such a short manuscript that that experience had seemed relatively easy. No, this time around, it was a slog. Edit every chapter, standardize all notations, make sure chapter-page numbers matched the page numbers in the table of contents, make sure certain important chapters (preface, afterword, bio) began on the right-hand page (as is standard), then comb through the entire manuscript to look for stylistic, consistency, and grammar/mechanics errors... of which there proved to be embarrassingly many.* Any book I write in the future faces the same uphill challenge.
So this is just an announcement that the movie-review book's dead-tree version is in its final stages of preparation, but it needs to go through one or two more layers of vetting before I tentatively declare it ready for sale. It's a lot of shit to keep track of, and I'm a one-man show.
__________
*The number of name misspellings alone was shocking. Here are a few:
Zoe Saldana → Zoe Saldaña
Hans Christian Anderson → Hans Christian Andersen
John Le Carré → John le Carré
Selena Kyle → Selina Kyle
R'as al Ghul → Ra's al Ghul (Batman villain)
Ben Ross (Stallone character, The Expendables) → Barney Ross
Christoper Nolan → Christopher Nolan
Dame Judy Dench → Dame Judi Dench
Eowyn → Éowyn
Viola Davis as Andrews → Viola Davis as Anderson (Ender's Game)
Cliff's Notes → CliffsNotes (get the brand name right)
Middle Earth → Middle-earth (see here)
Ian KcKellen → Ian McKellen (and not McClellan, either)
Amercian → American
Pac Man → Pac-Man
Colonial Defense Forces → Colonial Defense Force (Old Man's War)
Steven Fry → Stephen Fry
Pen and Teller → Penn and Teller
Chlöe Grace Moretz → Chloë Grace Moretz
Matthew Vaughn → Jeff Wadlow (director of Kick-Ass 2; Vaughn only produced)
Orson Wells → Orson Welles
Hatte Morahan → Hattie Morahan
Daniel Day Lewis → Daniel Day-Lewis
So many of the above were embarrassing to find because, in many cases, I knew what the correct spelling was, but my brain failed to catch what my hands had been typing. Luckily, MS Word's new Copilot AI is pretty decent (but not perfect) at catching spelling, mechanics, and consistency/style errors as long as you feed it small enough chunks of text (no more than 15 chapters' worth). There are probably still errors in my movie-review book, but they're subtler and better hidden now, which might be a blessing in disguise: If I'm having trouble finding them, then others will have trouble, too.
whoa, wait a minute
I just clicked over to that Hanyang University ad, and I now see that the application due date and job-interview timeline got changed. This could mean that they've already picked someone for their researcher-teacher position, or it could mean that another position has suddenly opened up. Either way, I'm redoing my cover letter and applying for this new position as well. They're not gonna get away with pulling a switcheroo on me.
get a fucking clue, Charles!
What I imagine a spat between my buddy Charles and his wife must be like.
Friday, June 12, 2026
Andy on focaccia
Dimple it with your fingers. Don't use a chopstick to make neat little rows of holes.
ms update
I think I'm done updating the manuscript for the dead-tree version of my movie-review book. Today will therefore be devoted to mocking up the new cover for the book (I need a back cover and a spine, whose width varies according to the number of printed pages: 474 in my case). With that done, I have a few other things that need doing over the next few days: I need to populate my blog with scheduled posts through September—I'm anticipating teaching somewhere this fall, and I'll need time to acclimate to wherever I'm at; if it's a place with semesters, I can't prep for classes and maintain both the blog and Substack at the same time, so getting this blog/Substack work done now will "stagger" the workload and distribute it over the calendar a little more equitably. And as mentioned, I also need to generate a bunch of scheduled posts for Substack, where I now produce several varieties of work: Bad Online English, Grammar Growl (grammar curriculum), creative works, and games/puzzles. I might try to cut down on my workload by reducing the creative-works output to just once a week instead of twice a week. And while my creative stuff will remain mostly behind a paywall, I'll try the temptation strategy of showing the first part of that content to my free subscribers. Maybe that'll motivate them to pay for the rest; maybe it won't. Hmmm... I wonder if I should do that for future grammar lessons, too. Righto—must get crackin'.
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