It's been a long time since we blogged at all.

Okay, here's the beginning of it. I've been procrastinating about it, because I had it typed until it was almost current, and then I misplaced it all somehow... so I have to retype almost everything about mom's trip.
Here's the beginnings of the last month and a half. Starting with:

The eighties party

Last weekend (THIS WAS WRITTEN BACK WHEN THIS WAS LAST WEEK, SO... Late April) was a big eighties party in Mokpo, in celebration of my friend Carol's birthday, and to say farewell to longtime Mokpo-ite Mary, who was heading too to live on a beach in Bali, I believe. Seems excessive to party before heading to live on a beach, but hey, I am hardly one to judge. haha.
So, I got home on Friday with a cardboard box in my hands, because the only thing I really know about the eighties was that they had rubics cubes. So, yeah, I was going to make a rubics cube hat and call it a costume. Brooke had also given me some advice about making loose jeans seem tighter. I wish I could say that that advice had been "Just cynch 'em!", but it wasn't.
I warmed up half a pizza that was leftover from that afternoon's little binge, and I looked at the box. And in that box, I saw a DIVO hat. Yes, divo.
Combining it with the other box I had brought from I created a perfect power dome, or whatever it was called, and with some handy red paint (a pun to be exposed later), I was ready to whip it, and whip it good, having also created a whip out of my Murder Mystery cigar and a patch cord.
I did some looking online, and found a few pictures, and sacrificed a black turtle neck to make the sleeveless, high collared shirt that was their trademark.
And with that, I was off to bed.
I woke up on Saturday, and spent the day scrambling to get my stuff ready, although I honestly don't remember just what I was doing... this all seems a lifetime away right now.
Anyways, the bottom line is that I arrived in Mokpo late for the afternoon barbecue that I had been invited to. Most of the food was already eaten, and the bananas and grapes I had brought just were not cutting it for "completeness". The bottom line is that I didn't really eat anything, But i was having fun, and a little too busy to notice.
Then there was a pre-party at Crystal's. It was mostly a rehashing of the barbecue, with eighties music, everyone in costume, and the leftover food, which I nibbled at.
So... that means that all the food I ate on Saturday was basically a crepe in the morning, a banana, some grapes, some crackers, and a sick amount of Doritos (more than three).
There was a guy there named Tony, who totally outdid everyone on the costume front, it was a hilarious DLR-style rock outfit with a stuffed animal in his leopard print tights with that tail sticking out so that he could comb it. Yeah, he was eye-catching.
We were, of course, the first to arrive at the party at the bar, so that meant that we were the most bizarre looking people, all done up like new-wave rockers or burned out rolling stones or Cindy Laupers...
Vanessa Reid and I started buying eachother round after round, just taking turns.
Now you see the significance of the count of what I ate all day. yeah, it was trouble.
I did okay for a few hours, and then I remember it just hitting me like a wall.
I was having a great time, and chatting it up, telling a guy named Phil what was apparently the funniest story he had ever heard (the one about dad in the Ewok costume and me shooting him in the hands at paintball. Yeah dad, it was on purpose. What can I say... teenage angst and all...). Apparently on finishing the story, I just said "I'm going!" and walked out. My friend Mel escorted me to a cab (thankfully) and I made my way to "Motel B***s" for the night. For those of you with even the slightest knowledge of Korean, I'll let you know it's "Hotel kisses" haha.
Oh, I just remembered something! I had been invited by the Provence Family to go to some river to play guitar and hang out for the day. I told them that I would catch the 7:00 am bus out of Mokpo so that I could be into Gwangju in time to go with them.
When I finally emerged from bed at ten am, I realized that I was not going to make it to Gwangju in time to meet the gang. I had a splitting headache, and the motel room looked like a murder scene. I'm not trying to be clever, it actually did.
You see, the copious amounts of red paint that I had applied to my Divo hat had never really dried. The room was covered with red streaks and hand prints. Including the white sheets. Thank God that the hotel did not require my passport number as did some others I have stayed in in the past. It was everywhere... the mirror, the toilet (interior), the bathtub, the TV, the keyboard and mouse, the bathroom faucets and mirrors. I figured I had probably fallen asleep with my contacts in, so after a few rather painful minutes of "looking for them", I saw the red paint all over the case, and found them in there, quite safe, but dry, because I had not put solution on them.
I drew myself a bath, which may not have been the best idea, because I was still a little drunk, and very exhausted.
I'm not saying this to brag, just being truthful. I'm actually pretty embarrassed, but what the hell, eh? Why keep it to myself? It's funny!
Another thing that I did in my lowered inhibition-state was ask this cute girl from the party out for lunch. She was online when I happened to sit at the computer, and I thought "This will be fun!". We had met a few times before at different parties, and she had always seemed really cool, and also has really great hair. haha.
Anyways, I packed up my gear, cleaned up as best I could, and headed out. I got one last chuckle at myself when I spotted huge red hand streaks on the elevator button panels.
So this girl and I, Vanessa Sweeney is her name, met for lunch at 12:30, and I immediately warned her that I was not going to be much for conversation.
At 6:00 (7:00?) we were still sitting in the same GimBap restaurant. We only left out of a want for coffee.
Then Holly's for a few hours more, and to her apartment after that for some music downloading/swapping.
I left at 11:00 for fear of missing the last bus to Gwangju. I didn't want to go, I'll be honest, it was the best day I had had in a really long time. We kept talking online all week, but I really thought that was the extent of it. Or would be...