I guess I can proceed with renewing my passport

I've got three things needing renewal next year: (1) my US passport, (2) my F4 visa (which I'd just renewed recently, but which can never be valid beyond my passport's validity period—something to remember next time—and my passport lapses next year), and (3) my Virginia driver's license. I believe I can start the passport-renewal process this week if I want to because I now have definite plans for my residence: whether I keep the current job or end up free-floating, I'll still be at the same address. No moving to Suwon, no changing apartments inside my own building, none of that. So my address will remain consistent, which means I can proceed with all the paperwork I need to do.

As for my driver's license, well... if I'm planning to visit four places next year (David in NM, Sean in IL, Mike in VA, and Dominique in France... but I might put France aside for a different year), what I might do is visit Mike for a week or two in the late winter or early spring (March-ish) and crash at his place while I resolve the driver's-license issue. Only after I get the passport resolved, of course. Then, much later in 2025, I'll go back to Seoul Immigration to renew my F4 visa one more time—this time for its full, three-year term. It'll be nice to be done with that and not worry about it for a few years. (I suppose I could also try applying for a permanent-resident visa, but I don't know what paperwork that would involve. Stay tuned.)

So the chronology is:

1. now/Jan-Feb period: get US passport renewed
2. March-ish: visit the US and get driver's license renewed
3. September/October: get F4 re-renewed (for 3 years this time)

I hate this sort of paperwork, but as long as I live overseas, it's a reality.

Stay tuned for more about how I'll be spending my 2025. If I'm out of a job, I've got a whole list of activities I want/need to engage in.

Nick Freitas on why Trump won

I wouldn't be too smug. Surprisingly few conservatives "knew all along" that Trump was going to win. Many assumed, as I did, that Steal 2.0 would ensure a Kamala victory. When this didn't happen, the narrative changed (from Trump on down) to "too big to rig," which may or may not be the case. Freitas makes one case for "too big to rig":

the annual photo essay from France

My French brother Dominique's family continues to grow and evolve. 

L to R: Augustin, Manon, Héloïse, Papa (Pierre), Maman (short, in front), Jean (balding), Véronique, Dominique (in back), Joséphine (young, pendant, in front), Timothé

Augustin is the eldest son; Manon is his current girlfriend. Héloïse is my almost-goddaughter and Dominique's youngest daughter; Papa et Maman need no introduction; Jean is Papa's brother; Dom et Véro also need no introduction; Joséphine is the eldest daughter (speech therapist), and Tim is the youngest of all the kids... no longer so young.

Auguste et Hélo

Véro, Manon(?), Auguste, et Dom

Is that Joséphine on the left? Then Tim, Hélo, et Auguste.

Top: Joséphine, Dom, Hélo
Bottom: Auguste, Véro, Tim

Dom had undergone his own medical crisis not long ago.

Tim in uniform, following the Ducoulombier tradition of athleticism.

golf ball to the head

the Spider-Man vanishing trick: does it work?

back to work

Unlike in years past, I am not vacationing between Christmas and New Year's this year; my injury and convalescence threw my calendar out of whack, and I also need to be available should we get the word, sometime over the next seven days, as to whether our team is well and truly dissolved (if so, my "vacation" will start on January 1). So it's back to work for ol' Kevin on Thursday. Moving always causes a lot of stress, and I imagine I'll at least have to move my own stuff out of the office. Meanwhile, we're finishing up the latest book in a textbook series that might not even end up being used by the company. That pretty much sums up my career at the Golden Goose: decent pay, but pretty much nothing we've created has been fully or purely implemented (i.e., without alteration by other, meddling hands and lesser minds). Oh, well: I went into this job knowing the education business was a racket, and that I wouldn't be changing hearts and minds. From obscurity to obscurity, basically. Put "fart in the wind" on my gravestone. All is vanity. Meanwhile, back to useless work.

"Lincoln": one-paragraph review

2012's "Lincoln," directed by Steven Spielberg, stars Daniel Day-Lewis as the eponymous 16th president of a fractious union. Instead of showing us Abraham Lincoln's entire life, the film concentrates on the final few months of the Civil War from January 1865 to April, when Lincoln was assassinated. The movie's focus is less on the Civil War itself and more on the political ructions arising from Lincoln's efforts to pass the 13th Amendment, i.e., the one abolishing slavery (it was passed at the end of January but wasn't ratified until December, months after Lincoln's death). Much of the political wrangling had to do with a mixture of complex factors ranging from principles like natural law and states' rights to the timing of the amendment, which came to a vote at right around the same time that the South might have been suing for peace. The film portrays Lincoln as calm but pragmatic, not rejecting underhanded tactics when necessary to get his way. Watching the movie now, at the end of 2024, allows one to see the timelessness of certain recurrent themes in politics. The movie is also not shy about how the Republicans were the abolitionists while the Democrats were the pro-slavery crowd. "Lincoln" is well shot and well acted, with Day-Lewis's nasal, high-voiced, nebbishy performance garnering praise from critics (the real Abraham Lincoln apparently had a hunched posture and a reedy voice that did carry well across crowds; by all accounts, he sounded nothing like Gregory Peck). The ensemble cast of "Lincoln" contains names and faces of older actors who were already famous at the time and younger actors who have since become famous. In all, this is an entertaining historical drama about a pivotal moment in American history, and while John Williams's score for the movie is much more subdued than usual, the movie as a whole is definitely worth a watch, not only for Day-Lewis's Oscar-winning performance but also for Tommy Lee Jones's; Jones steals pretty much every scene he's in.

those horrible people

images 14

Pardons should be itemized so we can all see the crimes.

"No kiss-kiss, no bang-bang." (See here.)

Correct the commas.

It wouldn't happen, but I wish it did.

the twisted Dem mind

Get them all before they scatter.

Trump, with his Warp Speed, should heed this as well.

Stop ruining my youth.

Dead people obviously can't punctuate. Correct all the errors.

just an indication of priorities

Max Miller: what did Alexander the Great eat?

Konstantin Kisin: "Fine, call me right-wing"

Shoe0nHead: the Dems' downfall

Credit to John from Daejeon.

hilarious Trump impression

This is a well-conceived Trump impression that can be enjoyed by Trump fans and haters alike, each of whom will read into it whatever their own biases are:

I thought this was genius.

100 Below: Volume 51

Seizing Mandy’s firm, naked buttocks, Brad proclaimed, “Sons of Gondor! Brothers! Behold the work that lies before you!” Mandy looked exasperated as he jiggled her buttocks for emphasis: “I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me! And a day may come when we may prove unworthy of our task—but it is not this day!” Like a man possessed, Brad squeezed Mandy’s buttocks with renewed vigor as he shouted, “Arise! Men of the West!” He grimly turned his face to the Hidden, Sweaty Brown Door, and right before diving in, Brad stage-whispered, “For Frodo.”

Merry Christmas!

images 13

Don't capitalize "presidential." Aside from that, yes, I appreciate the irony.

But will a leaner federal-regulatory system make you trust it any further?

Essentially, yes.

What's wrong with the phrase "between 14-16"?

Throw in some periods and unfuck those commas.

Maybe, for once, the prayers worked. The joke now is he should move to Florida.

The left doesn't get this.

when they try to steal your Trump sign

all done and checked

I actually finished captioning and commentary on the walk blog last night, but I've gone through the last few days' worth of new material today, and it's all done. Any remaining mistakes will eventually be caught and rectumified.

So—done before Christmas! That's a first. I normally finish polishing these blogs in January. I hope you enjoy the images and extra material. Each of these walk blogs is a labor of love. 

I'll be sad not to do a big walk next year, but who knows? My brother Sean lives in a Chicago suburb near Lake Michigan; it could be that there are walk routes by the lake. There'd have to be, right? I might find myself along the lakeshore next year, dodging gunfire. My brother David lives out in Angel Fire, New Mexico, and I'm sure there're plenty of walking trails out yonder. So it's not as though I'll be sitting on my expanding ass next year. Also: my goddaughter and her sister live close to a river in Virginia, so there will have to be walking/hiking trails out that way, too. Plenty for an old guy to do. And since there's a chance I might be going to France, too, next year, I already know of one long trail that leads from Le Vanneau-Irleau to the city of Niort. So there's no lack of chances to walk next year, and if nothing else, I'll still be walking locally, so while there might not be a walk blog, per se, there will doubtless be plenty of walk photos.

It's been a mostly turbulent, suck-ass year for me, what with two trips to the hospital, but at the very least, this year's walk ended well. As I also discovered, walking in the cold presents its own special challenges; if I ever do a long walk in the winter again, I'll try to prepare better. Not that I'd prepared badly this time, but things like wearing gloves and taking photos need some work. And I'll try to be more mindful of my feet.

Tomorrow's Christmas. I still don't know whether I'll have a job in the new year. I think, at this point, it's a 70-30 chance that I won't. So I'll likely become a full-on renter of my studio and will spend a few months, maybe until May, using my free time to acquire new skills, to exercise, etc. While I'm not rich, I've been saving money since I paid down my major debts in 2020, so I have the equivalent of several years' salary to sustain me for the nonce. Perhaps by the time I've acquired some skills and set up a SquareSpace site, I'll just be my own boss and not even bother rejoining my current team. We'll see. My immediate future ought to be interesting, even if heart failure means I have a 50% of surviving to age 60.

Anyway, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. But don't worry: I'll still be blogging over this final week of 2024.

Sunny Hostin gets a dose of reality

"View" harpy Sunny Hostin learns her ancestors were slave owners. How's that "sins of the fathers" argument now, eh, Sunny? Still want reparations?

the Drinker vs. a woke Disney fan/journalist