These roots are strong and deep

At least deeper than I expected. I've just been off playing with the wonder that is Ancestry.com, and I've learned a lot about my father's side of the family tree. My mother's is easy, because both her parents come from Ireland, so as far as I really care that's where the story ends, but my dad's family is a different story. I've never known much about his mother and father's families, except that my grandmother's family objected to her marrying an Italian, even though he was a freaking doctor! Oh how times have changed.
The most interesting and mysterious branch was always my grandmother's, because everyone else is just European immigrants, Ireland and Italy, blah blah blah, while her family could go back to the Mayflower, for all I know. Well in act her father's parents were also immigrants from what he referred to on a census document as "Irish Free State". Her mother's parents, according to the same documents, were born in Pennsylvania and Maryland, making me at least a fifth generation American, which is a weird thing to me since the grandparents I was closest to were immigrants.
Other interesting things I learned in my research:

• My paternal grandmother attained a rank of captain in the U.S. Army during World War II.
• My paternal grandfather's father was a barber who owned his own shop despite being an immigrant from Italy. On his census the taker enigmatically filled in the language he spoke at home before coming to America as English, and yet it also indicates that he could not read or write, nor could his wife. Perhaps this is why their names on the forms were Frank and Mary.
  
• Also, due to a strange document mix-up, Ancestry.com indicates that the next person on the list, a black deckhand on a schooner from Florida, is a member of his family.
• My grandfather Joseph Mondello's brother and sister were named Gustave and Katherine Mondello, less Italian names I can not imagine.
• It seems my grandfather was arrested in 1926 for newsying in a no-newsying zone by the Soused and Be-'stached Brotherhood of Corrupt Irish Police.
  

My Korean Video Resume

Here is my first attempt at a video resume, in Korean. I thought it was pretty decent considering it's not my first language, but my wife said it had "no good points". But rather than chucking it out after all my hard work, I've decided to put it up until I can put together something a little more snazzy, most likely next weekend. In the meantime, enjoy, if you can speak Korean, and if not, pass it along to any Korean speaking HR directors at large international banks you happen to know.

I got fired from a voice recording job . . .

. . . for having too weird of a voice, it would seem. This should not be a terrible surprise to anyone who knows me. My man Nick at Nicolia hooked me up with a small recording studio as a favor to the owners. I was excited about the prospect of doing a bunch of goofy voices and getting paid for it. This is what the engineer's booth looks like.


When you step into the recording booth, you have to take off your shoes. Very Korean.

And this is what you look at while the engineer and the manager confer with each other on how best to kick you to the curb.

Cool Things Korean (part 7): Buddha's Day in Bucheon

So I've been playing with Windows Movie Maker because I am working on my video resume (coming soon!) and I just so happened to shoot some really neat video today. It provided the perfect excuse to practice some simple editing and give you a peek at some great Bucheonnage.
Here is a group of child drummers performing in honor of Buddha's Birthday, which is today. The end also features a great view of a nice carefree ajeosshi dancing and keeping everyone's spirits up in the torrential downpour. Forgive my unsteady hand towards the middle, it ain't easy to do a 360 pan with an umbrella in your hand.

Lolcats: apparently that's a thing now.

Slate says so. Here's my own attempt at a Lolthing, featuring my nephew June-young.


The syntax is not Lolcatty, it's actually super-Konglishy.

The names of the two kids in '28 Weeks Later' . . .

are Mackintosh Muggleton and Imogen Poots. No fooling.

Is Asperger Syndrome the new Tourette Syndrome?

I keep hearing all these references to Asperger's Syndrome, ranging from the simple "That dude totally has AS" to specific fake diagnoses of the "such and such clearly exhibits many of the classic Asperger symptoms" variety, so I asked myself the natural question, which is "Since people generally don't know what they're talking about at any given point in time, what do these people mean by 'Asperger's Syndrome?"
Wikipedia starts off incredibly unpromisingly by stating that it is a

pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) on the autistic spectrum. It manifests in various ways and can have both positive and negative effects on a person. It is typically characterized by issues with social and communication skills. Due to the mixed nature of its effects, it remains controversial among researchers, physicians, and people who are diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome.

I.e. laymen have no chance of understanding it. It boils down to this:

• Narrow interests or preoccupation with a subject to the exclusion of other activities
• Repetitive behaviors or rituals
• Peculiarities in speech and language
• Extensive logical/technical patterns of thought
• Socially and emotionally inappropriate behavior and interpersonal interaction
• Problems with nonverbal communication
• Clumsy and uncoordinated motor movements

Among the peculiarities of speech, the foremost is that

People with AS typically have a highly pedantic way of speaking, using a far more formal language register than appropriate for a context. A five-year-old child with this condition may regularly speak in language that could easily have come from a university textbook, especially concerning his or her special area of interest.

also

Individuals with AS may use words idiosyncratically, including new coinages and unusual juxtapositions. This can develop into a rare gift for humor (especially puns, word play, doggerel and satire). A potential source of humor is the eventual realization that their literal interpretations can be used to amuse others. Some are so proficient at written language as to qualify as hyperlexic. Tony Attwood refers to a particular child's skill at inventing expressions, e.g., "tidying down" (the opposite of tidying up) or "broken" (when referring to a baby brother who cannot walk or talk).

So from now on, when someone you know who doesn't know anything about developmental disorders uses the phrase 'Asperger Syndrome', you can assume what they actually mean is "Talks a lot and is kind of funny and awkward."