korean alphabet.

I've always been intrigued by the look of Korean characters. They have a very structured look that is so beautiful and graceful.

So, apparently in 1446 the Korean monarch, Sejong decided to stop using the Chinese characters for their written language in hopes of making a language that would be within the grasp of ordinary people. There are 14 consonants and 10 vowels.

The consonants are grouped based on the shape the mouth is when the sound is made (5 groups). And the characters are abstract depictions of the shape the mouth is formed. I guess there are some letters in our language that do that, but do have every letter coded in that way is very smart.

The vowels are dots situated with horizontal or vertical lines.

I thought that was SO cool.

one of the most beautiful sentences i've ever read.

"The modesty and simplicity of alphabets belie their pivotal role in the human saga." Philip Meggs.

That quote really struck me. Probably because I tend to be very interested in thinking about where things all began and the following process of evolution. Here's the whole paragraph.

"Alphabets remain one of humankind's grandest achievements. Alphabetic writing became the mortar binding whole communities against limitations imposed by memory, time and place. Greater access to information permitted broader participation in public affairs. The modesty and simplicity of alphabets belie their pivotal role in the human saga."

Maybe it's because alphabets are connected in our minds to something basic and childish. It's the first thing you learn when you go to school. Our earliest memories of the most likely associate a letter with some sort of cartoon character or nursery rhyme song. It's easy to fail to consider the thousands of years of research, technology, and trial and error that were necessary create this functional, second nature coding system. Every advancement we have in our modern age would have been impossible without the ability to share information in a way that vast audiences could learn, understand and respond to.

thoughts.

So, I've been drawing a lot since I've been in Taiwan. It is so nice to not be exhausted. I think being exhausted and uninspired really hindered my creativity. BUT...a couple of things that influence my work would have to be:

1. Conquering fear. I would say that as a life perspective, one of my big ideas (big for me, but nothing really monumental in the general sense) is taking a bad thing that happens in life and saying it's okay. I guess that deals with the difficulties I've had growing up. Making a conscious effort to say that something is only bad if we let it bother us.

With that being said, I feel inspired but this idea when I draw. I sometimes like to create frightening imagery in order to state that something is only frightening when you decide to let it bother you. And there are good reasons to be bothered by something frightening, but on paper, the frightening image can't hurt anyone. So, I feel like it's a good place for it to be. It's something that humanity wants to experience, but on paper it is much safer. Someone told me about risk-management recently. I like taking risks but only to a certain level. I'm babbly.

2. Discovering something in abstract forms and looking at in a way to that results in a surprising image. There are 2 areas where this started. One goes back to being a little kid and not being able to sleep. So I would have to crawl into bed with my mom and dad until much to old of an age — 11 or so. But something that I've done for hours and hours was wake up in the morning at stare at their plaster spackled ceiling and see marvelous shapes and images. It was amazing what I could see. The other is that I never know what to draw when I look at a blank sheet of paper. I am actually filled with a bit of anxiety staring down at it. So, what I do very often is start drawing until the spontaneous shapes morph into something. That's when I decide what I'd like to draw.

words i don't know and should know.

mellifluous | me-ˈli-flə-wəs, mə- | adj.
1. filled with something (as honey) that sweetens
2. having a smooth rich flow

I want to try to remember this by thinking that they french word for honey is mel. I can use this word to describe the mellifluous driving in Taiwan (to some extent).

gregarious | gri-ˈger-ē-əs | adj.

1. tending to associate with others of one's kind: social. Marked by or indicating a liking for companionship: sociable, of or relating to a social group
2. of a plant : growing in a cluster or a colony, living in contiguous nests but not forming a true colony —used especially of wasps and bees
I want to try to remember this by thinking about Greg. He's very gregarious. I wish I were more gregarious.

empirical | em·pir·i·cal | adj.

1. originating in or based on observation or experience <empirical data>
2. relying on experience or observation alone often without due regard for system and theory empirical basis for the theory>
3. capable of being verified or disproved by observation or experiment <empirical laws>
4. of or relating to empiricism.

I will remember this word because Alex was using it to describe a book where he could easily point out flaws in the biased judgments being made. It was empirically biased.

right brain | ˈrīt-ˈbrān | n.
1. visual
2. processes information in an intuitive and simultaneous way, looking first at the whole picture then the details.
3. the right cerebral hemisphere of the human brain especially when viewed in terms of its predominant thought processes (as creativity and intuitive thinking)
I personally am right brained and right-handed.

left brain | ˈleft-ˈbrān | n.
1. verbal
2. processes information in an analytical and sequential way, looking first at the pieces then putting them together to get the whole.
3. the left cerebral hemisphere of the human brain especially when viewed in terms of its predominant thought processes (as analytic and logical thinking)
I got left out from being left brained.

salacious | sa·la·cious | adj.

1. arousing or appealing to sexual desire or imagination, lascivious
2. lecherous, lustful

Salacious sounds like it would mean arousing. Hmm. I can't think of a way to remember this other than that.

obdurate | ob·du·rate | adj.

1. stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing, hardened in feelings
2. resistant to persuasion or softening influences

I can be very obdurate once I've set my mind to doing something. Once I've made up my mind, I have a lot of trouble changing it.

invidious | in·vid·i·ous | adj.

1. tending to cause discontent, animosity, or envy
2. envious
3. of an unpleasant or objectionable nature, obnoxious, "invidious remarks,"of a kind to cause harm or resentment

I read the word invidious in Benjamin Button when his father said he was going to name him Methuselah (after the oldest person mentioned in the Bible). This was an invidious remark because it was a shot at Benjamin's curious condition.

truculent | trŭk'yə-lənt | adj.
1. feeling or displaying ferocity
2. aggressively self-assertive
Russell Brand used this word describing how he wasn't acting during an interview. I am not truculent at all.