I Am NOT A Firebug

And Rain is not cute

Published on September 4, 2004 By chiprj In Blogging

A few months back, my mother and sister came out to California to visit my brother and me. The spent about a week between Alameda and Monterey. We had a good time and it was the first time that my mom had all three of us together at one time since 1995.

Just before they got here, we bought one of those outdoor fireplaces. One of my closest friends lives across the street and he has one he fires up regularly. He clears a lot of the dead trees from behind his house and usually has a good supply of firewood stacked up.

The first time I tried to fire up our fireplace, I produced more smoke than heat and everyone agreed that my incompetence was only matched by the pitiful amount of flames in the pit. My buddy and his family came over the next time to meet my mom and sister and I happily turned all fire related duties over to him. We had a roaring fire and good conversation that lasted well into the night.

Well, the fireplace has sat under it's cover, silently mocking me everytime I go out to the patio. Many times I've told my wife I would 'fire it up' but I never did. Last night, she had some friends over for dinner. We bought a new grill (the old one hasn't fared very well) and I figured in addition to firing up the grill, I'd fire up the fireplace. I went across the street and borrowed wood from my buddy's stockpile (stole really, I don't think he expects me to return the ashes). I got a bunch of dried out pines needles for kindling, small branchs to get the fire going, and some big logs for when it really caught on. I had high hopes.

The fire didn't really go that well. I got it going on one side pretty well, but just couldn't get it to travel to the other side of the pit. I swear the embers at the bottom formed a smiley face with it's toungue stuck out at me. Finally, one of our guests took over for me. He was the only other guy at the house, so it wasn't too bad. I probably wouldn't even be writing this if it had been one of the lady guests. After he took the reins, the fire sprang to life and everyone came outside for another night of late talking and warming.

The lesson here is that I should never plan to have a fire in the outside pit unless we invite someone who is competent with a book of matches.

On a side note that relates to the subtitle of this post, one of the topics of conversation was an upcoming concert that will feature a number of Korean singers. One of the singers that will be in the concert is named ºñ, or in English, Rain. My wife and her friends all agree that this guy is cute. Now, I don't mind her saying so, I tell her how 'ugly' I think some famous women are (ugly is my code word and even though she's broken the code, I don't get in trouble for saying hot). I just don't agree that he's cute. Now I'm not an expert on how guys look, but if they said this guy was hot, handsome, sexy, or anthing like that, I'd probably not disagree. I just don't buy that this guy is cute. I don't know why, but I think it's his nose. Something about it that smacks of not cute... Yeah, I know, I'm being ridiculous, right? HAHA.

So here's the question. Is he cute? Even if you say so, I probably won't agree, but here's a picture from his website to judge for yourself.

You can seem more pics of him here Link, if you need more to judge.

By the way, I do enjoy his music. It's pretty good!

Comments

Texas Wahine

on Sep 04, 2004

chiprj: Great post!

The fire didn't really go that well. I got it going on one side pretty well, but just couldn't get it to travel to the other side of the pit. I swear the embers at the bottom formed a smiley face with it's toungue stuck out at me.

!! Well, we can't all be good at everything, you know!

btw - he's a bit too "girly" for my tastes, but I wouldn't disagree that he's "cute" . . . definitely NOT sexy, though . . .

chiprj

on Sep 04, 2004

he's a bit too "girly" for my tastes

Funny you should say that. Over the past few years, there has been a change in what can be considered good looking for men in many people's minds in Korea. There is a term, ²É¹Ì³², that translates to 'flower-pretty man', that was coined a few years back in reference to these guys. It is not uncommon to see men looking very effeminate, growing long hair (feminine styles not mullets) and even wearing make-up.

LadyCleve

on Sep 04, 2004

"cute" fits the bill better than sexy any day. As for the fire thing, that's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm pretty good at getting fires going, but not as good at putting them out. I have actually managed to make a candle explode.

Spc Nobody Special

on Sep 04, 2004

Ahhh yes,I'd almost managed to forget (at last) the cliche sexually ambiguous Korean male pop star.Thank you for reminding me. Does he dress in shiny clothes and sing bad 80's style rock?

chiprj

on Sep 04, 2004

Does he dress in shiny clothes and sing bad 80's style rock?

Yes and close! I'd say 80's style pop with a dash(ie) of R&B? Not so much rock. Actually quite good, though. I enjoy the songs.

SSG Geezer

on Sep 04, 2004

He, she, it??? Oh Chip! You actually like K-pop? How about J-pop? personally I would rather use a power sander on my face thyan listen to most of this
type of artist.
Love the fire story though! I can help if I'm around due to a previous life as a Pyro. I was Farmer O'leary's cow in Chicago.

chiprj

on Sep 04, 2004

I was Farmer O'leary's cow in Chicago.

You, sir, are always welcome in at my house. I will happily hand over the matchbook to you!

As for K-pop, well, I'm a fan of 80's music and much of K-pop reminds me of it. Also, the benefit of being able to understand it, oh, and the 'ugly' girls that dance around to the beat. Not really a fan of J-pop, though I understand it's very similar in nature to K-pop. I guess it's the language thing.

Jae

on Sep 05, 2004

Ummm...interesting... Once, I asked my sister, "Do you like Bi (Rain)?" She goes, "Sure...is there any Korean girl who doesn't like him?" I went, "Here...me!!!" Yes, I never found him cute...in fact, I think he acts too cheesy. Now, do you love me?

chiprj

on Sep 05, 2004

Sure...is there any Korean girl who doesn't like him?" I went, "Here...me!!!" Yes, I never found him cute...in fact, I think he acts too cheesy

Wow! A Korean girl that thinks he's not cute... Now that's a rarity! Thanks for stopping in!

Jae

on Sep 06, 2004

, no problem.

Really...he's not really cute though... (Now, I might get beaten up by some crazy fans of his...better run!!!)

chiprj

on Sep 06, 2004

Now, I might get beaten up by some crazy fans of his...better run!!!

Now that is a real danger! Run AND hide!

Gideon MacLeish

on Sep 06, 2004

All I can say when looking at that 'do is....

Now we know where Kato Kaelin's hairstylist went!!!

greywar

on Sep 07, 2004

Dude looks like a lady...

chiprj

on Sep 07, 2004

Now we know where Kato Kaelin's hairstylist went!!!

One way ticket to South Korea!!!

Dude looks like a lady...

Yeah, and that's not cute...

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