Memories a few years old...

Acknowledgements (in my Ph.D. thesis)

First of all, Georgia Green, my dissertation advisor deserves special recognition for her tireless devotion and inspirational comments that made this dissertation meet the highest possible standards. My gratitude also goes to my committee members: Jerry Morgan, Peter Lasersohn and Chin-Woo Kim for their helpful criticisms and insights. Special thank goes to Chin-Woo Kim and Jerry Morgan for their financial assistance through the Korean language teaching assistant positions and the Beckman Institute research projects which helped me survive all these years as a doctoral student and family head.

I express my gratitude to James Yoon and Abbas Benmamoun for their intellectual curiosities and valuable comments with expertise on Korean syntax/morphology and field linguistics. I thank my colleagues, David Baxter, Angela Nollett, Reiko Makino, Jim Witte, Woo-Hyoung Nahm, and Atsuko Fukada-Karlin for their helpful comments and sharing the road with me. I also thank Sae-Youn Cho and Jung-Min Jo who were happy to be quizzed on Korean “gapless” examples and returned valuable suggestions.

I am indebted to Professor Byung-Soo Park, my mentor and undergraduate/M.A. advisor at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, who inspired me to have interest in linguistic study and made me take the road of no return. I thank my family and friends for their affectionate support and encouragement during my graduate study. My deepest and heartfelt thank goes to my wife, Kyung-Sook. Without her endless love, patience and encouragement, this dissertation would not have seen the light. I also thank my three kids, Heyum, John and James who made my graduate years long but enjoyable.

Finally, I thank God for making all these possible.

A Passage from My Life

Our society can absorb only so much change at a time, and when we move forward we must do it in a way that reaffirms our core convictions of opportunity and responsibility, work and family, strength and compassion values that have been the bedrock of America's success. Most people have their hands full raising their kids, doing their jobs, and paying the bills. They don't think about government policy as much as liberals do, nor are they as obsessed with power as the new right conservatives. They have a lot of common sense, and a desire to understand the larger forces shaping their lives, but can't be expected to abandon the values and social arrangements that at least enable them to survive and feel good about themselves. Since 1968, conservatives have been very good at convincing middle America that progressive candidates, ideas, and policies are alien to their values and threatening to their security. (My Life by Bill Clinton, p. 200)

Very soon

Trees. Big trees and their shades. This is the place I used to go to get refreshed. A large but still lake was surrounded by dense forest. Pedal boating in the lake was one of the best things I can do to have the mind refreshed. I like to visit the place soon. Very soon.

Posting with w.bloggar

It's easy. It's convenient. It saves you time. But it's hard to post images. I will take it, though, for its simplicity, in cases I post only in text.

Getting passionate?

Fascinated by peonies and royal azalea blossoms, I was busy quite a while today with my treasure number one, a Kodak digital camera.

Strange that I had not noticed the passion of peonies last year and the year before last year and the year before the year before last year, for peonies had been still there by the close-by apartment garden all these years, with a full blush like a mature lady's. Also strange that I now prefer royal azalea blossoms to plain azalea, in sharp contrast to my younger years.

Am I getting passionate? I thought I was just getting old. Strange. Really strange. I think I need time to look into myself before I pick up the camera for next shoots.

An Autumn Day

A colorful pumpkin. "Jack Beans." My first and favorite son playing the electronic keyboard.

All these wind up well with an autumn day, a (Korean) Halloween day that kids keep coming for goodies all the way up to 10 p.m., without bothering to say "Trick or treat!"

Argus

Damn dog! It's been less than 12 hours since we took him out of our apartment home and gave it away to my aunt who owns a little farm in the surburb of the city and raises three big dogs in the field and two pet dogs at her villa home. It was an awfully sad thing to do to leave him alone in the field. We were already missing him as soon as we drove out of the field!

I thought it was the best decision for my family because the puppy was growing bigger and it was getting harder to look after a big dog in the type of housings like apartment. Of course, I sought agreement from my kids and wife before we decided to give it away. But, all the way back home, they were crying and started to hate me for the decision.

I am having a can of beer now over Argus. Over a dog. Feeling bad about myself for leading the decision. Will it be wise to reverse the decision and take the dog back home, knowing that the same decision should be made again before long and therefore another round of heartbreak is unavoidable? Or keep getting blamed and wait for the kids to calm down and find peace in their heart, after a few days, hopefully?

Oh, the can is empty already. I better go get another beer.