토요일 아침, 925a edt: i woke up to humidity in my cousin amy’s apartment on our last day in new york, which is just a half day at best.  i guess the beautiful kaela hwang woke up in the middle of the night, changed into her pajamas and opened the window.  it’s raining here.  it started raining last night.  i’m scared that tropical storm hannah could delay our return trip.  honestly, i hope not.  although i’m having a blast out here in new york.  i never like travel to get delayed.  we’re supposed to fly out of islip long island macarthur aeroport at 400p this afternoon.  we need to get there early, since it’s an important flight.  let’s say we need to get there by 300p.  the lirr long island rail road takes an hour-and-a-half to go from penn station to islip.  we need to get the new york mta subway - blue line: a, c, or e - to penn station.  at the islip lirr station by islip, we still need to take a quick shuttle from the lirr to islip.

[later] 956a, edt: *sigh* i suppose we need to get up and out.  kaela’s still asleep.  i suppose we had a crazy night last night. [later] 1003a, edt: yeah, we uh… gee, where do i start?  ok, maybe i can switch into outline mode:

금요일, 09월05일

• kaela and i woke up later than we wanted, which is typical for this trip because we’re still on pacific daylight saving time, three hours behind.
• we went again to grounded café for breakfast.
  • it wasn’t as good on the second day, and i think it’s because we didn’t tip them the day before on our to-go order.
  • i know we’re supposed to do more tipping out here in the city.  however, i’ve always felt weird about tipping at takeaway joints, though i actually do do it now and then.
  • kaela ordered us an everything bagel with amish unpasteurised cheese and then the same drinks as the day before: an iced decaf coffee with soy milk for her, and a iced soy chai for me.
  • my half of the bagel had a piece of wire in it.
  • my chai was really weak on the second day, no flavour.
• we got on the subway out to the seaport to ride the ferry to liberty island.
  • i actually started feeling just a tad seasick on that ferry ride; kaela too.
  • i realised the night before that i had once had a dream about being on liberty island and not being able to find a bathroom when i needed one.
  • well, thankfully, liberty island wasn’t like my old dream.  it had less flowers.  in my draem, there were lots of flowers.  in real life, there are none; just lots of seagulls.
  • i think we dozed off on the ferry trip back to new york.  i was awake when we were were docked at ellis island.  next thing i knew, we were in motion.
• we were hungry and made our way by subway out to little italy.
• we at lunch at hoomoos asli (100 kenmare street, between cleveland place and elizabeth street, little italy, manhattan; new york, new york 10012; 전화번호: 212.966.0022; yelp).
  • gee, we only recently discovered sephardic jewish / israeli food.
    • we went to golden ball falafel on stevens creek in san josé.
    • then we went to jerusalem restaurant and deli right smack in the middle of santa clara’s koreatown, where we live.
    • in the past, i thought hummus and falafels were persian cuisine.
    • here’s the wikipedia article on jewish cuisine for you.
  • kaela ordered the falafel sandwich with spicy sauce.
    • the handmade pita was more like what we get at nice greek joints like yiasoo in the san josé area.  it was deliciously thick and chewy - not thin and dry.
  • i ordered the mellawach koufte sandwich.
    • it was a fancy chalupa.
    • mellawach is like a deep fried roti.
    • koufte is like kofta or kefta - it’s a meatball with some herbs inside… like parsley.
    • the sandwich was absolutely delicious.
    • too bad it must have been very unhealthy.
  • both sandwiches had a nice creamy hummus
• then we went shopping in soho.
• i’m glad we found restrooms in crate & barrel.
• we checked out uniqlo (546 broadway, between prince street and spring street, soho, manhattan; new york, new york 10012; 전화번호: 917.237.8800; website: http://www.uniqlo.com; yelp) upon sohee’s suggestion.
  • it’s a japanese clothing store.
  • i suppose it’s popular with the harajuku-wannabe crowd because of the japanese images, you know?
  • i have mixed feelings about all that: it’s nice that asian images get exposure.  on the flip side, i feel uneasy when things and people are hip just because they’re asian, you know?
  • anyway, the clothes are actually kind of gap-ish… well, no… they range!  there are clothes that are more funkychic and alternative.  then there are gap-ish and abercrummy-ish, preppy clothes.  funny, huh?  then there are banana republic-ish clothes too.
  • well, the jeans didn’t really fit me there: i couldn’t find my size in many of the cuts - only in the super skinny and super baggy fits.  i don’t want either.
• i finally found some jeans at the soho h&m (558 broadway, between prince street and spring street, soho, manhattan; new york, new york 10012; 전화번호: ; website: http://www.hm.com; yelp).
  • before this, i hadn’t seen men’s clothing at h&m, not in the santana row one.
  • i had to settle for button-fly jeans although i highly prefer zip-fly jeans.
  • however, i’ll give button-fly another chance.  i hadn’t worn button-fly jeans since like levi’s 501 jeans in high school or middle school.
  • i considered buying two different pairs but just bought one.
  • we bought some honey roasted cashews and almonds from a street vendor.
• we tried to catch the subway to the rockefeller center but went into the wrong station.
  • the woman said we had to wait 18 minutes to use our metrocard again, so kaela said we should go up to the surface and walk in the general direction of the rockefeller center.
• we walked quickly past nyu.  i thought that was cool.
• earlier, in soho, i noticed a skateboard store called blades (659 broadway, between bleecker street and bond street, greenwich village; new york, new york 10012; 전화번호: 212.477.7074; yelp).
• then we finally made it to the “top of the rock” by sometime after 600p.
  • we had very little time since we had tickets for spamalot at 800p and needed to go home and shower.
  • we spent $40 on two tickets for the elevator ride to the 67th floor.
  • if you ask me, although it was a nice view, it was not worth the $40.
  • honestly, i don’t have much of a heart for tourist activities.
    • honestly, if we had skipped the statue of liberty and the top of the rock on this trip, i would have been fine.
• then we rushed, rushed, rushed back to amy’s apartment (aka, “home” for this trip) to shower and change for spamalot and the fashion week afterparty at nikki midtown.
• i said we could skip dinner, but right before going into spamalot, we tried to go to the highly recommended john’s pizzeria.  they don’t have takeaway individual slices, so we ended up at the broadway famous famiglia pizza (686 eight street; between forty-third street and forty-fourth street, theatre district; new york, new york 10036; 전화번호: 212.382.3030; website: http://www.famousfamiglia.com; yelp) instead.
  • it was nothing special.
  • pizza suprema - which sohee showed us the day before - was better.
  • i didn’t know till now that it’s just another franchise chain.
  • kaela had the spinacci pizza, and i ordered “a slice of white,” i.e. a slice of white pizza.  i just wanted to feel like a local and say “i’ll have a slice of white” as if i knew what i was doing.
  • i guess i don’t really like white pizza.
• well, we made it to spamalot in time.
  • it was a hilarious musical with great singing performances.
• then we rushed off to sohee’s fashion week after party.
  • i really felt good about sort of getting the hang of the subway system, despite needing the map so much.
  • the party was pretty cool.
  • sohee hooked us up with some free drinks; but once open bar ended, the prices were like santana row prices.
  • kaela lost her brand new lg dare cell phone there because it fell out of her camera case.  argh.
  • when he saw us trying to take self-portraits with our camera, a real fashion photographer took our camera and took our pictures.  he even did the whole fashion modeling coaching thingy, like telling us to work it our whatever.  nice guy.
  • to be honest, i’m glad i’m still taller than most (but probably not all) of the female fashion models.  they are really tall.
  • kaela and i took our one new york taxi (thus far) back to amy’s place.
    • in the cab, i filled out kaela’s cell phone insurance claim with my lg dare and the verizon mobile web service.
    • i think the cabbie kind of drove extra because he noticed i wasn’t paying attention.
    • oh well.  it wasn’t too bad.  it could have been worse.

well, that was yesterday.  now for our last half day in new york.  gee, kaela really needs to wake up!

you know how i said yesterday that everyone’s a visitor here in new york?  yeah, i really don’t feel like such a tourist here.  i feel more like a local.  peter said we don’t look like tourists; and, as i said, i don’t feel like one and i think we look unlike tourists because we feel comfortable here.  as i said earlier, i had told sohee that new york totally surpassed my expectations.  i thought i’d feel so foreign here, but… yeah, i feel really comfortable here.  honestly, people are really nice here; at least, the locals are.  the visitors are more snobby and not nice.  as sohee said, the “visitors,” people like her fashion school peers who came from all over the country - they think they’re the $#!+ because they now live in new york.  i sense that.  i can tell.  yeah, the “visitors” - people who are temporarily living in new york - have this “i’m so cool” attitude; but the real locals are actually quite friendly, always willing to help.  heh, on the flip side, some “visitors” try to give directions when you ask; but they are sometimes - if not often - wrong!  funny, huh?  sohee pointed that out.  also, though, i realised yesterday that i am a local in some parts of new york (the touristy spots) because at least i’m an american!  other people are foreign tourists, and they just don’t know how to get around in america; but at least i can do that, right?  i just wish i had more time to figure out the subway system all the way.  just as i’m getting the hang of it, it’s time to go.

금요일 오전, 137a edt: we’re in new york!  we had our first of two full days today.  tomorrow’s our second of two full days.  then we have saturday morning and have to fly out on southwest aerolines on saturday afternoon.  we’ve been so busy; going everywhere, eating everything.  i’m so happy we’ve got to meet up with old friends and family here.  to me, it’s more important to 1) see people and 2) do things than to see places.  i’m not a tourist.  i dislike tourism.  at least, i prefer not to be a tourist.

today; the beautiful kaela hwang and i had a new york bagel with lox, cream cheese, capers, and tomatoes at grounded café (twenty-eight jane street between fourteenth street and greenwich avenue, west village, manhattan; new york, new york 10014; 전화번호: 212.647.0943; website: http://www.groundedcoffee.com; yelp); a new york hot dog in central park; and a slice of new york pizza at pizza suprema (413 eighth street between thirtieth street and thirty-first street, fashion district, manhattan; new york, new york 10001; 전화번호: 212.594.8939; yelp).  for dinner, kaela and i met up with our good old friend peter park - also known as “bronx” -  for dinner in manhattan’s koreatown, at 포차 32 pocha 32, a 포장마차-style 호프 pojangmacha-style hof.  then, we had red mango in koreatown.  crazy, huh?

did i talk about last night yet?  i don’t think so.  we arrived in islip long island macarthur aeroport, took the long island rail road - lirr - to penn station, took the subway one stop over to fourteenth street and eighth avenue, then walked a short distance to my cousin amy’s manhattan condominium.  wow, what a nice, cute studio.  once we dropped off our stuff and got oriented, the three of us took a walk down to the hudson river and ate dinner at a funkychic gastropub called the spotted pig (314 west eleventh street between greenwich street and hudson street, west village, manhattan; new york, new york 10014; 전화번호: 212.620.0393; website: http://www.thespottedpig.com; yelp).  it was a bit ritzy but still casual - like people don’t dress up or anything.  kaela ordered the halibut.  i ordered the beef tongue with potatoes fried in duck fat.  kaela also had a pimm’s cup, and i had a southampton white ale.  i wanted to try a new york bier, and they have all these biers that differ from our selections in california, you know?

this morning; kaela and i went to the museum of natural history all morning - after grabbing the bagel and a couple of iced café drinks: an iced decaf coffee with soy milk for kaela and an iced soy chai for me; met up with sohee in central park; was brought to the pizza joint by sohee; visited sohee’s school - the fashion institute of technology; tried to visit the world trade center and liberty island but only ended up at the church across the street - which was closed - near the memorial - which is now closed and at the south street seaport after the last ferry had left; then went to koreatown to meet up with peter.  at 포차 32 pocha 32, we had 불낙 전골 boolnak juhngol and 김치 두부 kimchi dooboo.  we also had 조막걸리 jomakguhlri, which was absolutely delicious!!!  after that, we had red mango.  i wanted to compare it to the palo alto / stanfurd one.  the dessert was just as good as the palo alto one, but the service was much better.  actually, they were way overstaffed.  then, we went to some little korean market, the biggest one in the area, peter said.  then peter took off, and kaela and i went to times square.  while, kaela and i were in the element store, sohee met up with us.  i was so happy to be in the element store.  i felt so at peace around californian skateboards.  honestly, i was tempted to buy one because i do miss my skateboard so much.  i see people cruising around manhattan on skateboards, and i envy them.  in times square, all these cops were patrolling the live, public showing of the republican national convention.  i’m not a republican.  i’m voting for obama and biden.

the subway’s great.  sohee asked me how i’m liking new york, and i had to tell her that i’m finding it much better than people have told me.  you see, i think most people i hang out with are more suburban than i am.  i mean, i don’t say that to be demeaning or anything, but i’m just stating a fact.  like, when i’m in a big city like this here in new york or else in new york; i feel decently comfortable.  peter said kaela and i don’t look like tourists, and i think that’s why.  yeah, i’m finding new york to surpass my expectations.  things are much more convenient and easy to get to than i expected, people are much nicer than i expected, things are more beautiful than i expected, …  yeah, everything’s better than i expected.  it’s so funny though - i notice that most people here are visitors.  people in manhattan are mostly not locals!  it’s very interesting.  people just live in manhattan for a phase of their lives.  yup, everyone’s a visitor here in manhattan.

수요일 오전, 109a: it’s about three hours until we start our trip to new york.  as much as i want to bring my skateboard, i guess i won’t because if i ride it to museums and stuff, they might not let me bring it inside.  i’ve noticed that some buildings sometimes have “no skateboards” signs, and that could be problematic.  doesn’t that suck?  so… even though it’s an absolutely perfect mode of alternative transportation… i guess i won’t be able to use it for the next few days.  i hate that.  i’m going to be separated from my skateboard for four days.  that sucks.  there need to be more laws to protect skateboarders!

anyway, i really shouldn’t be typing in my blog right now.  i should be packing.  i guess i’ll sleep on the plane.  i hope i do.  i’ve been so tired today.  remember, i ended up napping so much this afternoon (meaning, technically, yesterday afternoon). *sigh* i thought i’d be more packed by now, but i’m absolutely not packed.  crazy, crazy.  this is similar to our london trip.  thankfully, this is a shorter trip, so we don’t need to pack too much.  i think i need to pack nice clothes though.  we’re going to watch monty python’s spamalot on friday night and also go to a fashion show after party.  i stress a bit about being judged for my poor fashion there.  i think the beautiful kaela hwang said that sohee said not to worry, but i do.  i don’t have a fashionable haircut or anything.  my wardrobe is probably too californian.  too much skater clothes in my wardrobe nowadays, huh?  i don’t know.  okay, i should get out of here.

talk to you later!

화요일 아침, 623a: i’ve been awake for about an hour now.  i feel quite a bit better from my cold today.  i’m probably not 100% better yet, but i feel much better.

• 토요일, 08월30일
  • had a supercool morning skateboarding session at the san josé lake cunningham regional skate park
    • had many breakthrough… most were not like physical skill breakthroughs but psychological breakthroughs…  for example,
      • i dropped in on the tallest vert wall that i’ve ever dropped in on.
      • i rode the full pipe a few times.
      • i rolled in over coping in the small bowl.
    • i was so happy to receive my lake cuningham regional skate park identification card.
      • too bad my birthday is listed wrong on it…
  • when i got home, the beautiful kaela hwang was with my mom at the house my dad bought in our neighbourhood.
    • i couldn’t find kaela or sooni but saw my mom’s car parked in front of our house.
    • i jumped on my skateboard and skateboarded over to the house.
  • kaela and i hurried over to the cupertino whole foods to eat lunch at their food bar thingy.
    • she had played tennis with some friends all morning.
  • then kaela and i went to san francisco.
    • we picked up a replacement pitcher for our osterizer blender at some cool appliance service shop.
      • kaela broke the pitcher in the sink a while ago.
    • then we drove over the the haight ashbury, where we skateboarded around the neighbourhood for a very short while before rushing home.
  • then we showered.
  • we went to my belated birthday dinner at madhuban.
    • it was great to have so many of my friends there.
    • it was an interesting mix of my friends from various parts of my life.
    • unlike other gatherings of mine, like no one faction of my friends really dominated.
    • people came from my high school friends, my ucmap friends, my grx friends, my u.s. taekwondo academy friends, …
    • after dinner, we went to 아리랑 노래방 arirang noraebang.
    • then a few of us went back to kaela’s and my house, and i opened up presents.

[later, 오후, 452p]

• 일용일, 09월31일
  • i didn’t get to skate.  i don’t like that.
  • however, i’m glad we woke up in time for church at grx, held at king’s academy.
  • we had our mercy & justic class afterward, the last one of the first six-week section.
  • then kaela and i joined our jumpstart small group for main service breakdown.
  • then we ate lunch at 명동 순두부집 myuhngdong soondubujip, one of our all-time santa clara koreatown favourites.
  • then we went to the cupertino verizon store to get kaela a new phone.
    • along the way, we got lost and ended up at peet’s coffee to get kaela a blended soy chai freddo.
    • at the verizon store, kaela played with the smart phones for a long time.
    • before our visit, we really thought we would get her a blackberry curve; but in the end, we got her a lg dare like mine.
    • she just couldn’t recent all the flashy, cute features.
    • i insist that it’s a solid product!
  • we did some shopping at target.
  • then we rushed home to pick up a couple of watermelons and headed off to the party for our old grx small group t3 south.
  • afterward, we met up with the twins rochelle and michelle at our house to show them the ropes with dogsitting sooni.
•  월요일, 09월01일; 노동절 nodongjuhl - “the celebration of no ddong!”  just kidding… labour day!
  • kaela and i woke up, and i forced her into a morning skateboarding session at the sunnyvale skate park.
    • well, i hope i didn’t force her too much.
    • my sinuses were bothering me.  they probably distracted me when i fell on my post-op knee and my left elbow.  i got slightly banged up and skinned my elbow.
    • otherwise, it was a very fun time!
    • i’m so happy i’ve gotten to skate quite a bit lately.
  • then we went home to let the housecleaners in.
  • then we took sooni with us into stanfurd country for lunch.
  • we ate lunch at mango caribbean because of an entertainment book card deal.
    • wow, it was great!
    • what a nice surprise out in lame stanfurd country.
    • the service was super friendly.
    • they let us sit out on the sidewalk patio with sooni.
    • they even gave her a paper bowl of water.
    • kaela ordered the raggamuffin style, which was an oxtail stew with dumplings and butter beans.
    • i ordered the trinidad special with goat, which as an asianish roti served on top of stewed, on-the-bone goat.  it was a lot like an indian dish.  however, the roti was wrapped on the goat stew like a burrito.
    • both dishes came with red beans and rice and some string beans and onions.
    • we also ordered drinks:
      • kaela got a blended bahama mama.
      • i had their black and tan, which is guiness and red stripe lager instead of bass ale.
    • overall, it was a great dining experience!
  • then, stuffed, we walked around university avenue in snooty stanfurd country.
  • we went to red mango.
    • it definitely has some really good, tart yogurt.
    • i love how the yogurt was creamy.
    • the workers work hard in making the yogurt presentable.
    • i overheard one girl coach the other not to put the smashed fruit bits into my cup.
    • however, i gave the shop a two-star yelp review because of the stupid, snobby cashier.
    • for the price, i would much rather go to tartini or yogurtland, both in cupertino.
  • we saw our friend huang pan walking on university avenue while we were at red mango.
  • many people stopped to pet sooni and compliment her.
  • she’s very cute.
  • then we sleepily drove over to rivermark safeway, where kaela returned a couple of boxes of quaker instant oatmeal because they have sucralose in them.
  • then we watched sing is kinng - a punjabi movie - at amc mercado 20.
    • i love how they play indian films at amc theatres around here!  awesome!
    • the movie was overall good.
    • i love how we get a movie as well as several music videos, all in one.
    • the movie has its corny moments.  i told kaela that it’s like some hong kong films - like old jackie chan films.  maybe india and hong kong get it from some kind of british humour, huh?
  • then we came home, rested, ate some corn on the cob and met with the twins rochelle and michelle again for sooni.
  • i was so tired.
• 화요일, 09월02일; 오늘
  • today’s nelson’s birthday; but i don’t know of any party for him, although his siblings usually put one on.
  • tomorrow, kaela and i leave for new york, so we have a super shuttle coming to pick us up at 420a.  crazy, huh?
  • in the morning, i went for a great morning skateboarding session at the sunnyvale skate park.
    • i was really happy to feel back in the swing of things in the small bowl.
    • the park was not crowded.
    • this one guy tom came back after having wrist surgery.  you see, the doctor had to re-break his wrist and cast it.  crazy, huh?  he was skating with a cast, and he’s one of the “old guys.”  he’s a dad of two kids who also come to the park.
  • then i came home and ate a breakfast smoothie, made in our new blender pitcher.
  • then i drove kaela to work.
  • while kaela worked on a couple of patients, i took sooni out on skateboard.
    • we skateboarded for about six miles.
    • sooni was so tired!!!
    • it was sad: at some point, she just sat down in the shade, then lied down.  she couldn’t go any farther, but i couldn’t find any water.  we were at the sunnyvale city hall.
  • then, using another entertainment book coupon, kaela and i had lunch at taxi’s hamburgers in the santa clara mercado.
    • kaela had the “spicy” buffalo chicken salad.
    • i had their new lamb burger.
    • i love how taxi’s has much more variety than you’d expect from a hamburger joint!
  • then i came home and napped while kaela went for a chiropractic appointment.
• what an unproductive afternoon, but i guess i needed the rest.

i wanted to work on dj stuff today but slept all afternoon.  tonight, i plan to return to taekwondo; but i need to carry tissues with me on the mat, i suppose.  i want to cook chili tonight after practice.  we have to pack tonight; pack really fast.  we have a super shuttle picking us up at 420a.  we paid $53 for it.  *sigh* if we had seen the e.mail on time, we could’ve had our friend drive us to sfo instead.  nuts.

금요일 밤, 1122p: well, it’s friday night.  we had our grx jumpstart couples small group bible study at our house as usual.  it’s over now, and i’m going to take a shower soon and hopefully just go to sleep.  i want to rest up, get over my stupid cold, and skate (skateboard) a lot tomorrow.  we’ll see.  i hear the temperature will come down tomorrow.  it’s been hot these past few days.  i was still sick today but tried to go to work.  after lunch, i just stayed home and worked from home.  while working from home… man!  so many e-mails because everyone needed everything done before the labour day shutdown.

목요일 아침, 732a: i’ve been awake for a while.  i woke up still awfully sick.  i’ve had a horrible cold for the past two days, and it didn’t get better this morning.  i already sent an e-mail to my managers to let them know i can’t come in today.  when was the last time i used sick time for myself?!  i’m not sure i ever have.  i used sick time to take care of the beautiful kaela hwang after her lasik and after my knee surgery; but… well, okay, i suppose the knee surgery was real sick time, but i still feel that was different.

i’m so mad that i haven’t been able to exercise for the past couple of days.  it really frustrates me.

[later] 949a: i’m trying to plan for the new york trip.  here is some important info i found on the islip aeroport website:

To NYC by Train
There is shuttle service from MacArthur Airport to the nearby Ronkonkoma train station:
Colonial Transportation of Long Island offers convenient shuttle service between MacArthur Airport and the Ronkonkoma train station (LIRR). The shuttle van departs the train station daily at 5:30am, then departs the airport on the hour and half-hour from 6:00am until 10:30pm. Curbside pick up at the airport is directly in front of baggage claim. The shuttle will pick up and drop off at the North Platform of the Ronkonkoma train station. The one-way fare is $5.00 per person. Cash and credit cards are accepted. All rates are subject to change without notice.The Suffolk County Bus Transit also offers hourly service to and from MacArthur Airport to the train station with the S-57 Bus except Sundays and(No service, New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day or Christmas). The fare is $1.50.The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) offers frequent service to Penn Station in Manhattan from the Ronkonkoma train station The train ride is approximately one hour and 25 minutes.The train fare currently $9.75 (non-rush hour times) into the city will take you to Penn station which is located in Manhattan at 33rd street and 7th Avenue. From there you can get to your ultimate destination by subway or by taxi.

To Macarthur Airport by Train
The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) offers frequent service from Penn Station in Manhattan (33rd Street & 7th Avenue) to the Ronkonkoma train station, which is very close to the airport. The train ride is approximately one hour and 25 minutes.The train fare currently $9.75 (non-rush hour times). From the Ronkonkoma train station taxis offers convenient shuttle service to the MacArthur Airport terminal. The shuttle van departs the train station daily at 5:30am, then departs the airport on the hour and half-hour from 6:00am until 10:30pm. Curbside pick up at the airport is directly in front of baggage claim. The shuttle will pick up and drop off at the North Platform of the Ronkonkoma train station. The one-way fare is $5.00 per person. Cash and credit cards are accepted. All rates are subject to change without notice.The Suffolk County Bus Transit also offers hourly service to and from MacArthur Airport to the train station with the S-57 Bus except Sundays and(No service, New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day or Christmas).
The fare is $1.50

here is another cool resource i found on the southwest aerolines website that isn’t related uniquely to travel to new york but simply daily communication in general:

Service Provider	Device Address	Example
AT&T	your cell phone number@txt.att.net	4443332222@txt.att.net
Nextel	your cell phone number@messaging.nextel.com	4443332222@messaging.nextel.com
Sprint PCS	your cell phone number@messaging.sprintpcs.com	4443332222@messaging.sprintpcs.com
T-Mobile	your cell phone number@tmomail.net	4443332222@tmomail.net
Verizon	your cell phone number@vtext.com	4443332222@vtext.com

that’s some important information!  i know i once read in a magazine about a domain name; which you can send an e.mail to like 1234567890@domainname.com, and then the text will automatically go to the cell phone no matter which carrier it uses.

[later] 저녁 532p: i bummed around at kaela’s office for a long time today.  the first thing i did today was start the laundry.  then i cleaned and relubed my skateboard bearings.  that probably took about an hour.  it’s not a really quick task; yet i ought to do it more often.  seriously!  i’m so glad i knocked that out today.  then i started to put the laundry out when kaela called me because i was late to meet her for lunch at turmeric (141 south murphy avenue; sunnyvale, california 94086 전화번호: 408.617.9100; yelp).  i stuffed myself silly.  personally, i feel like this restaurant isn’t as authentic as some other indian restaurants in the area; but the food is still of very good quality; you know?  sometimes authenticity isn’t the only thing to aim for.  i’ll yelp about it soon enough.  i’m just not sure whether to give them four or three stars.  well, after that, i bummed around kaela’s office.  i suppose i rested.  i lied down on the ceragem massage table for a long time, at least three rounds.  then kaela treated me, i.e. gave me my chiropractic treatment.  then i rode my skateboard back to my car, which i parked in the sunnyvale towne centre lot before lunch.  i can’t wait until the sunnyvale towne centre gets its facelift.  it’s all under construction right now.  i hope this new place blows the socks off of santana row.  as much as i’ve like santana row all these years; i must say that i’m starting to grow tired of its snotty attitude.

man, i really need more exercise.  i’m so mad i can’t exercise because i’m sick.

[later] 밤, 832p: i just did something absolutely dispicable.  because i was pining so hard for some exercise, i jumped in my car and drove out to my usual sunnyvale skate park.  when i got there, i found no parking because of all the stupid minivans parked for some team ball sports going on at fair oaks park.  there was also a cop parked right at the skate park.  i couldn’t be too sure if he’d let me skate with just a helmet or if i’d have to fully pad up.  mostly because of the parking situation, i turned around and drove home.  what the heck?!  how can i drive out to a skate park, not skate, and drive home?  skateboarding’s supposed to be a mode of transportation.  did i really need to burn all that petro for nothing?!  argh.

[later] 851p: i’m drying laundry inside the house because it’s hotter in here than outside.  by the way, i’m missing taekwondo right now because i’m sick.

here’s something i found on longboardmaps.com that’s important for saturday trip to san francisco for some skateboard cruising with kaela:

run name: golden gate park
start point / intersection: golden gate park
directions: upon getting off interstate 80 , turn up van ness (us 101) and turn left on one of the following streets: oak, fell, hayes, or fulton. turn into the park, and park your car for free anywhere.
grade:
length: golden gate park is about 51 blocks x 8 blocks and has a few dozen miles of road, i think.
width: wide bike lane and single-double lane traffic
ride style: cruising
road conditions: smooth
traffic conditions: 2 way / slow
best time: dusk, not during the tourist season
low down: awesome place to cruise around. but you might want to be careful; it’s posted “no skateboarding”, but i got no hassle from cops the day i went. if you have time, go to the purple skunk boardshop which is on geary between 22nd and 23rd streets.

[later] 1118p: it’s still so hot (in here).

수요일 아침, 651a: i suppose i’m up earlier than usual.  i mean, i’ve been up for like half an hour already.  i didn’t just wake up.  so far, it’s a nice, cool morning; but i hear it’s going to heat up.  yesterday morning, i came down with a cold.  i don’t think i mentioned that yesterday, did i?  yeah, i’m sick, really sick.  on monday night, i was so frustrated about trying to plan the new york trip particularly because the beautiful kaela hwang was complaining that i was looking for too short of a trip.  i was really frustrated.  after we got home from the gym - after maryann’s last turbo kick box class and her last pilates class, i showered and went straight to bed without dinner.  i was too stressed out to eat.  i believe the stress let this virus get to me.

yesterday morning, i wasn’t quite sick yet, and i really enjoyed my morning skateboarding session.  it really felt like good therapy.  furthermore, i thought about just how addicted to skateboarding i am.  [later] in the restroom, a coworker and i were discussing how exercise can be a good addiction.  i totally agreed with him.  i mentioned how i think when you’re down in the dumps, you should turn to exercise and not the bottle (alcohol).  like, the way i figure; when you’re down, you should go workout and then, after you’ve cheered up, you can go out and drink with your friends.  my personal philosophy is that you shouldn’t drink when you’re depressed or down.  i think that could lead to alcoholism.  on the flipside, it’s fine to exercise when you’re depressed.

i skipped taekwondo last night, both classes, because i’m sick.  i’m really sick.  i stayed home and cooked 떡볶이 duhkbokki.  instead of water, i used bier because we have so much of it leftover in the two kegs chrispy left here.  however, the bier i used was the widmer’s pear cider.  bad choice!  it made the 떡볶이 duhkbokki sour.  i really wish i hadn’t done that.  *sigh*

[later] i’m sick but at work.  presenteeism - it’s rampant at my company, simply part of the corporate culture.  i have meetings today, supposedly important meetings.  i feel miserable because i’m sick.  i skipped my morning skateboarding session today but still took sooni around the neighbourhood on skateboard.  i absolutely abhor mornings when i miss my morning skateboarding session.  i hate them.  presenteeism sucks.  i hate it.

i suppose the big news this week - now that the olympics are over - is the democratic national convention.  earlier this week, i received in the mail my free “obama ‘08″ bumper sticker from moveon.org.  i’m unsure whether i want to put it up in my car window or not.  of course, i’m supporting and voting for obama/biden.  it’s just that i’ve never posted a political sticker on my car before.

[later] the best 가요 리믹스 3집 best gayo remix 3jib cd, which i recently bought from yesasia has a track from young, uzbek (not uzbekistani?) model abdullaeva djamilya, also known simply as 자밀라.  so… she’s uzbek but speaks fluent korean?  is that how it is?  she’s not part korean, right?  her song’s almost completely in the korean language.  anyway, we all ought to be more multi-lingual!

“오빠 미워” by 자밀라

[some cheesy rapper]
clap your hands
clap your hands everybody

clap your hands everybody
just clap your hands
just clap your hands

come on everybody
Just clap your hands

[자밀라]
그 거짓말이 너무 달콤해
눈이 멀게 됐어한 순간에
바라보며 언제나 뜨겁게
전했어  나의 사랑 그 가슴에

하지만 이제 다정한 모습이
차디차게 느껴져 싸늘히
그속엔 그녀 말고
나는 없으니

난 오빠 미워
날 왜 지워 아파서 멍이 들도록
너무해 미워
그 손 치워 내가 떠나주겠어

난 오빠 미워
날 왜 비워
어째서 싫어 난 지쳐
너무해 미워
슬픔 키워
그만큼 돌려주겠어

[some cheesy rapper]
come on everybody
Just clap your hands

yeah!!!

clap your hands everybody
just clap your hands
just clap your hands

clap your hands everybody
just clap your hands
just clap your hands

[자밀라]
난 모두 기억해 용서가 안돼
받은대로 줄거야 한번에
나를 갖고 놀던 미소에
새기겠어 손톱줄 생기게

내 목숨같은 사랑 왜 건드니
내가 그리 쉽게만 보였니
역시나 오빠란건
뻔해 마음이

난 오빠 미워
날 왜 지워,
whoa-ho
너무해 미워
그 손 치워,
yeah-yeah
난 오빠 미워
날 왜 비워,
어째서 싫어 난 지쳐 no
슬픔 키워
그만큼 돌려주겠어

[some cheesy rapper]
come on everybody
Just clap your hands

[later] yesterday, kaela and i luncheoned at the sunnyvale sweet tomatoes by costco.  then we went to the sunnyvale ups store to drop off a couple of shipments.  one was kaela’s supplements that she needed to exchange because (i think) the company sent the wrong ones.  the other was my palm tx that i was sending in to some company called anew because of my squaretrade warranty service.  we’ll see how that goes.  i received an e.mail confirmation from squaretrade acknowledging that my item was shipped out to anew via ups.  i hope this goes well.  if i knew i would soon lose my palm, i would have more strongly considered getting a blackberry, a treo, a centro, or an iphone instead of my lg dare.  however, man… i’ve got to say that the lg dare is one great phone!  it’s a great comlpete product!

yesterday, i signed up fo the silverfishlongboarding.com forums after many, many months of being silent but lurking.  i’m not a longboarder.  i don’t own a longboard.  to longboarders, i’m a shortboarder.  amongst “shortboarders,” i’m just a normal skateboarder.  street skating has a pretty big stronghold on the skateboarding industry and arguably amongst the skateboarding community.  i’m not really a street skater these days though.  rather, i’m mostly a park skater.  anyway, the reason i want to be involved with silverfishlongboarding.com’s forums is because i do enjoy cruising.  [a little later] yeah, kaela and i cruise, usually with sooni.  kaela hasn’t gotten into anything like park skating or anything like that, so all we can do together is cruise; but i enjoy that.  she asked me what i want to do this saturday in celebration my birthday last week, which we couldn’t really celebrate last weekend because of the weddings; and i said i wanted to skateboarding with her.  we had been thinking of skateboarding in golden gate park.  according to the silverfishlongboarding.com’s forums, it’s an okay spot for cruising.  skaters on san francisco’s yelp talk though have warned me that the roads are a bit too bumpy for my street skating wheels.  we’ll see.  i’m tempted to check out also the new san francisco potrero del sol skate park; but i don’t want to make a fool of myself or get hurt.  we’ll see.  an alternative would to be to have kaela come with me to the san josé lake cunningham regional skate park on saturday morning and then take off to golden gate park when it gets too hot.  although kaela most likely won’t want to ride the bowls, she can roll around on the park’s nice, smooth surface.

[later] 오후: i went home during lunch to eat leftovers and watch an episode of the dog whisperer with kaela.  i’m still really sick.  i don’t know if i’ll make it to sach’s 700p turbo kick box (tkb) class tonight at the fremont avenue, sunnyvale 24 hour fitness.  i want to get exercise, especially since i missed my morning skateboarding session today; but i simply feel so sick.  [just a little later] after i told maryann that 심사범님 shim sabuhmnim wants me to teach a cardio martial arts class on monday and wednesday evenings, she suggested that i get licensed to teach turbo kick box (tkb) because the license is good anywhere.  yeah, i’m pondering it.

화요일 아침: life appeared to be getting better; but, as of last night, i think it got worse.  you know how i have to take next week off as a company shutdown?  planning for this trip is seriously stressing me out, and i hate it.  you know, i’m losing money because i’m not allowed to go to work.  then i have to go on vacation that costs money!  *sigh* okay, to be fair - let me tell you a few things.  first of all, the beautiful kaela hwang and i have free southwest aerolines rapid reward plane tickets that we must use before like september 25 or so.  next, i super appreciate that my cousin amy has soooo generously offered to let kaela and i stay at her place if we can fly out to new york.   i soooo appreciate that.  i hope we can take her up on the offer.  the biggest obstacle is getting to new york because southwest doesn’t fly into the main aeroport there, and our free tickets are not allowed to be used on most days to the other nearby aeroports.  from what i see, the we can fly out to new york on tuesday night to either albany (from san josé mineta aeroport) or long island (from sfo).  then we might need to take a train or something into the main city.  then, we would need to take a taxi over to my cousin’s place.  kaela keeps saying she wants us to rent a car; but we all know driving and parking are impossible in new york.

[later] 점심: wow, life has a funny way of doing lots of 180s.  two 180s in a row; back-to-back 180s.  maybe it’s like a 180 to revert or something.  anyway, last night, after feeling decently happy for a change, i got really frustrated about planning our vacation.  then, this morning, life did the second 180.  we booked tickets from sfo to islip long island aeroport and then back to san josé mineta aeroport.  it’s going to be another short, rushed trip; but i’m excited.  our cousin amy’s helping us out a lot.

[later] 오후: earlier, this morning, the only thing that cheered me out of my initial blue funk was my morning skateboarding session at the sunnyvale skate park.  originally, i was worried the park would be closed for cleaning on a tuesday morning and that i’d have to settle for lakewood park instead.  well, it was open and empty.  i decided to pad up and work on things like rolling up the transitions and coming down fakie, rolling in over coping, and doing 50-50 axle stalls on the medium size bowl.  the reason i wanted to work on rolling back fakie is that i really need to get back to doing rock-to-fakies.  i used to be be able to do them in the small bowl.  however, that was back before my knee injury, and i wasn’t doing them that consistently.  i ended up falling on my right hip a lot.

월요일 아침: well, i suppose i’m sort of switching from professional dj mode to engineer mode as it’s monday morning.  can you believe how i’m seriously working two jobs like this?  talk about double life.  i don’t know, but i think i can say only “double life” and not “triple life.”  even though you could say i’m an engineer, a dj, and a taekwondo instructor; i would prefer to say that i’m an engineer and then a dj / taekwondo instructor.  somehow those two facets of my life seem to together okay.  however, could you not also say i’m a dj and then an engineer / taekwondo instructor or else a taekwondo instructor and then a dj / engineer?  no, i seriously think my first way of expressing it looks and sounds best.  i mean, it makes the most sense: engineer and then a dj / taekwondo instructor.  yes, it’s a busy life; but, by god’s grace, i manage.

it was a busy weekend: wedding rehearsal on saturday morning, wedding in san luis obispo on saturday afternoon and evening, wedding to dj in santa clara sunday morning and afternoon, dinner at pizza antica in santana row with high school classmates on sunday night…  then the beautiful kaela hwang and i watched house bunny at amc mercado 20 last night too.  i don’t know if it’s because i went into the movie with lower expectations; but i found it totally hilarious and entertaining.  personally, before i saw the movie but after seeing its previews, i thought it looked like just another legally blonde, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing because i probably enjoyed the legally blonde movies more than most hetero guys (should).  i don’t know.  somehow, i have a strong belief in the power of femininity.  at the same time, i often get frustrated by the female gender as a whole.  besides that whole incident a few months ago where one of my female students instigated a gripe fest, saying i’m no good at teaching females (despite the fact that i was raised in an extremely co-ed taekwondo environment that included many female instructors); i suppose i also get frustrated with the female mind within my marriage.  since kaela does pretty much all my activities with me, sometimes i take it all for granted and expect her to think like a dude.  you know how guys have that ultra-logical frame of mind?  how things should be totally efficient?  otherwise, guys also do like spontaneity but in a different way than girls do.  i suppose girls like extravagant, romantic spontaneity - like a dozen long-stemmed red roses accompanied by a surprise day spa package.  in contrast, guys like spontaneity like crusiing across country, doing a skate park tour without booking any hotels.  i mean, i know that example maybe pertains more to me than to any of my yuppie guy friends, but you get the drift.  i’m sure you can think of some other equivalent.

i could really dwell on that issue of my being accused of not being a good taekwondo to girls.  basically, i must contest that false accusation and fight it to death or whatever.  seriously!  do you realise that i had so many female instructors in my taekwondo upbringing?  let’s see: my first instructor was kerry thompson.  my next instructor was tracy hannah.  then, i had anthony doe; so he’s not a girl.  i probably then had master park, and he’s not a girl.  then i had master eunyoung lee for a while, and she’s a girl.  she’s a two-time world champion.  i know she was tough on girls in our class; but, in general, i believe women/girls like her are great role models for taekwondo students of all ages.  besides those main instructors, i had other so many various mentors and coaches who were women.  then, as i keep saying, when i taught classes or led demo team; my classes and teams were always very co-ed.  you don’t know how offended i was to hear that this student had accused me of not being a good instructor for women.  argh!  i don’t know man… i think it was pastor steve lo that said in a sermon that he knows he lacks “gender cred” when he gives advice to women since he’s a dude.  is it that kind of thing.  if so, i have to say it’s just not fair.

on saturday, i finally received my latest yesasia shipment: 이효리 3집 lee hyroi 3jib it’s hyorish, wonder girls “so hot” single, 엄정화 uhm junghwa d.i.s.c.o. ep, cherry filter “orange road” single, and best 가요 리믹스 3집 gayo remix 3jib.  it’s amazing how so many of these cd singles come with elaborate photo booklets.  i suppose that would push the point that korean pop is more about image than substance.  heh, while on the topic of being a taekwondo instructor to females; gee, some of these photo booklets of female artists make it seem like i could hardly be much of a feminist by owning these cds, huh?  do these skimpy outfits “objectify” women?  now, you have to understand that i’ve always said i’m strong believer in the power of femininity.  by that, i’m saying sometimes girls have the ability to be very persuasive and powerful through things like getting made up nice and maybe even showing a little skin to accentuate better features.  it can all be done without being, you know, “slutty” per se.  a common topic of conversation (depending on your social circle) is how the image of the korean pop music industry has totally changed over the past decade from cutesy to sexy.  there’s good and bad to it, i suppose.

uhm, this is kind of pathetic for me to say; but i didn’t know until this morning that barack obama picked joseph biden as his running mate.  gee, i’ve been so absorbed with djing and taekwondo that i hadn’t kept up with united states political news, eh?  well, i want them to win.

금요일 점심: how are you today?  not to dwell and mope; but honestly, i feel a little down today.  i can’t really describe why.  i feel like i simply have general depression these days.  i mean; yeah, yesterday was a little bit of a pick-me-up since it was my birthday and so many nice friends wished me happy birthday on facebook, by e.mail, by voicemail, or in person.  i really appreciated the facebook wall posts.  honestly, it’s been fun replying to everyone’s facebook wall posts.  in yesterday’s entry, i erroneously said this was my first birthday on facebook.  that’s actually not true.  i was already on facebook by my birthday last year.  however, i suppose facebook just wasn’t as popular yet with my friends a year ago from yesterday.  by winter of last year, facebook had exploded.  don’t people use the term “to break” or “broke?”  like, wouldn’t people say something like “2007, the year facebook broke.”  *shrug* i mean, you hear that term used for punk rock music.  “the year punk broke.”  however, i don’t think people of my generation talk like that.  you’d have to be five to ten years older, right?  people of my generation or younger use the term “to drop” or “dropped.”  i think it comes from the term “dropping the needle on the record.”  i suppose younger people like to think they’re all djs.  people might say something like “2007, the year facebook dropped.”  however, that’s not true because “to drop” is more like to debut, and facebook came out ages ago on the east coast university scene.  i like how facebook is now a west coast company.  too bad it started on the east coast.

speaking of the lesser coast, the beautiful kaela hwang and i might make an east coast trip in a couple of weeks.  my company is now having a mandatory labour day week shutdown in place of the earlier planned optional shutdown.  man, it stinks becuase i’m out of vacation days.  i have had to take so much unpaid vacation this year.  *sigh*  dude, i could use the cash.  the only good thing is that i’m making a little cash via djing; but the expenses this year far outweigh the gross income.  i’m going to be filing for a net loss this year; but it’s an investment.  taxes are going to be a mess this year.  kaela and i are supposed to hire an accountant.  anyway, about the east coast trip, we have southwest aerolines rapid rewards vouchers to use by the end of september.  we must use them.  however, it’s hard to visit new york.  new york is expensive, and southwest won’t let us use our vouchers for those popular flights.  personally, i want to fly somewhere cheap.  like, i don’t mind if it’s far away; but i need it to be a cheap destination, since i’m losing money by not being at work.  i also want it to be a destination with moderate weather.  i don’t want to visit somewhere that’s hot and dry or even all that hot and humid.  like, i would maybe consider somewhere like florida if the weather is okay there.  otherwise, somewhere like the northeast sounds good.  i don’t mind sort of stepping out of my element - if that’s a proper use of the idiom.  i know i’m such a freaking homebody and local yokel.  i told kaela yesterday that i don’t like traveling, and it’s true.  i don’t.  it’s a hassle.  too often, kaela and go on trips, and nothing we do is good enough for her; so it gets frustrating.  she has high expectations for vacations, and it surely ends up being much more stress for me to be on vacation than to stay home.  i can’t emphasize enough the financial or budget side of traveling too.  i mean… *sigh* i suppose i have to save up for vacations.  however, *sigh* to me, it’s just not worth it when we live in a region so beautiful as the bay area.  for me, every single day is a vacation.  we live in paradise.  for me, every day is just another day in paradise.  i’ve said it too many times that, if i travel, i want it to be for something. i’d love to do some kind of traveling skate park tour; but i’m just not good enough yet at skateboarding to make it worth it.  on the flipside, i am (not to brag but) good enough at snowboarding to do a snowboarding tour.  i wish we could do that, but snowboarding vacations are expensive and end up not being worth it when we live so close to one of the world’s greatest snowboarding destinations - lake tahoe.

[later] 저녁 이지만 아직도 퇴근 안했어요: anyway, i didn’t mean to go on a rant about traveling.  i was simply saying that i’m in a blue funk lately.

major depressive disorder, also known as major depression, unipolar depression, clinical depression, or simply depression, is a mental disorder characterized by a pervasive low mood, and loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities. the diagnosis is made if a person has suffered one or more major depressive episodes. the most common time of onset is between the ages of 30 and 40. . .

– from the wikipedia entry for major depressive disorder

last night, our taekwondo friends came over.  we had three large pizz’a chicago pizzas (the untouchables, joliet jake, and the fridge), two kegs of bier from chris’s party last weekend (widmer’s pear cider and blue moon belgian white ale).  at first, we were just going to stream the nbcolympics.com online broadcast; but our student sonia brought over high resolution .avi files of earlier fights from korean satellite television.  cool!

[later] so why have i been depressed?  i don’t know.  i’m sure lots of people have been depressed lately at least because of the bad economy, right?  i’m sure that has something to do with it.  at times, i have probably felt like my life is going no where, but i shouldn’t think that when i received the employee of the quarter award just last week.  if it’s that i feel like i have no friends, i shouldn’t say that since many people wished my happy birthday yesterday.  i have a lot of nice things; in fact, i recently acquired many new, nice material possessions.  even though the big screen television is supposedly kaela’s property since i gave it to her as a gift; i did recently get this cool lg dare cell phone.  i even also recently added on the data plan and text messaging plan.  i should be happy about that, right?  i mean, in general, i’ve been blessed much.  i really have!  well, you know what?  maybe part of why i’ve been feeling depressed in recent weeks is because my blog was done, huh?  i was just recently telling my cousin peter that blogging is therapy for me, that when i was locked out of my blog, i resorted to writing lots of yelp reviews because writing in general is therapy.  *sigh* maybe that’s it.  after all, i only very recently got back into my blog, and i have been too busy to blog that much.  yeah, so that must be it.  i think so.

i don’t know, man.  in the good, old days (maybe), blogging for me was simply a way to document what was going on in my life and give lots of shoutouts to friends.  nowadays, well, i don’t think many people read my blog; and i know that sometime between five and ten years ago, my blogging became whinier or more whiney, whichever is the correct term.  [a little later, after getting some water] in general, i would say that’s a bad thing; but has it been therapeutic for me?  do you think maybe it’s that, in general, i try so hard to be a happy go on the outside that i need to have an outlet where i can show a more real but not so happy side of me?  do you think so?  i mean, some people probably feel a private diary is something like that, right?  do i need to be happy all the time?  is it okay for me not to be always joyful?

i know my recent depression was amplified greatly today by my missing my morning skateboarding session.  i’m most likely not going to be able to skate (skateboard) tomorrow morning or sunday morning because of the weddings and wedding rehearsal.  i’m going to be driving a lot tomorrow to and from san luis obispo.  honestly, i’m not looking forward to that.  i need to load up my dj equipment in my car maybe tonight and let it sit there in my garage all tomorrow, and kaela and i shall drive her car to kim and joe’s wedding.  i guess that’s how it will work.  [later] one thing with which i have been unhappy as of late is how it’s so cold inside my office because they crank up the air conditioner.  i’d rather be outside.  yeah, it’s strange.  i feel like i’m experiencing my usual winter depression in the middle of summer!  i suppose it’s another way to have christmas in august - 8월의 크리스마스.  that’s the title of a famous korean movie from a decade ago or so, a movie with 한석규 han sukgyu and 심은하 shim eunha.  since my birthday’s in august, it sort of always is christmas in august… in the absolutely secularist, materialist, capitalist sense.