Jirisan; the first of my last minute trips to see Korea before leaving this chapter of my life behind. Sejin-noona from BLU offered to take me along on a visit to her friend’s house near the Jiri Mountains in the southern part of Korea. Up until then I had almost exclusively been in Seoul with […]
When in Korea, Jean-noona was the best sister, ever, and definitely helped make my experience there a happy and memorable one. Riding bikes, talking (and listening to me, a lot), consuming tons of food, hanging out at the studio, and walking around Hongdae are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to describing […]
The other day I came across a place called Blu Cleaners. The name is pretty non-descript, but I couldn’t help myself from stopping to take a photo since it reminded me so much of where I used to live in Seoul; Blu Guest House. From the actual blue color and the spelling to the use […]
All of a sudden I’ve found myself with this totally straightforward 9–5 lifestyle. It isn’t so bad, but what makes it actually fun is the group of guys that I work with. We’re all nerds with a strange sense of humor. I’ve actually become a bit crude and “dudeish” in my commentary over the past […]
A few years ago I was drinking soy caramel macchiatos from Starbucks and wouldn’t even come near a cup of proper Joe. Flash forward to today: I drink 32 0z. of the good stuff—black—at minimum per day. My drug of choice is the almighty Americano. When and where did this all get serious? Last time […]
I’m back. Back in San Francisco, that is. Almost exactly two years ago I left this city with a plan. That plan didn’t make it very far, but ironically it is in pursuit of finishing the MFA in Sweden that I left California for that has brought me back. This time, instead of working in […]
This is one of the simplest Korean dishes to make. Throw together a couple thawed rice cakes (떡), some water, sugar, red pepper paste (고추장), onions (파), ramen (라면), and soy sauce into a pan and 10 or 15 minutes later you’ve got a delicious batch of dokkbokki (떡뽁이) to chow down with a drink […]
This year has been a total whirlwind, woosh woosh woosh, and has entailed a blinding number of changes to my bed place for sleeping. I realized upon arriving to San Francisco that my friend Jonnie’s couch would be at least the seventh sleeping place (one night stays and sleeping arrangements for the Norway road trip are […]
In this space should be a story about how I felt taking off from Helsinki, landing in Amsterdam where I was questioned for over 10 minutes by security, departed for Minneapolis and sat next to a guy who didn’t get up or pee for the entire flight, and then arrived in San Francisco; a proverbial […]
Way far away, thousands of kilometers across the globe is a city called Helsinki. It’s become kind of a big deal to me. Why? Easy: Park benches with pigeons walking too close. Chinese food in a sweltering hot restaurant. Number 14 from the food cart outside Helsingin päärautatieasema. 3.00am sunrises over Lauttasaari (that’s what’s up) […]