A man waiting at the side of the road as his dog strained to make a shit in the grass. 

A man fixing a bicycle next to a van parked at the side of a freeway selling sex toys.

A woman in front of the police station with a handwritten sign, which said, “Please let me meet the chief of police. 67-year-old grandma. Lee Ssun-ja.” (이쑨자)

A woman walking nonchalantly along a busy freeway in the wrong direction with a scarf tied around her head. 

Two men and two boys steadying a hug-sized lime green hot air balloon with a little fire inside.

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I also had several brilliant ideas on the bus but they floated away when I disembarked. Like black magic. 

Forgiveness Soup

One weekend I had the sudden urge to make a jointed puppet. Puppet (modelling Oscar de la Renta) & backdrop both from W. W is great because the pages are not glossy. 

Those who habitually hug cats will understand. 

At my favourite (makgeolli) bar. I like how the shadows have shadows. Double vision for the drunkard. But any clown can do the Dog and Bunny. For true artistry you need look no further than Hand Shadows, a lovely illustrated manual from 1859 featuring ORIGINAL DESIGNS by Henry Bursill. 

This is a feline eyebrow raise. That slight widening of the eyes. Interest: Idle to active. 

Sunday afternoon — or so says the front door sundial. This isn’t Chaz’s work; credit for the potted berries goes to his landlady. He’s a basement tenant. Pale cave-dweller. I am trying to persuade him to hire me as an avant-garde interior decorator. To convert his rather dingy mole hole into a snazzy cellar. The avant-garde label is insurance, for the (slim, but nonetheless existing) possibility that I might fail spectacularly: I can just call it a brilliant mistake.

Dancing cats across the street from the Korean Film Archive building

At Seoul Folk Flea Market

Fantasia di Cacao. This Italian brand of hazelnut & cocoa spread: not bad at all.

The inevitable question: How does it compare to Nutella? Not as creamy but just as nutty. Hazel nutty. And the Cruella De Vil version is Nutkao only, and dangerously good. 

These particular jars inspired a brief crepe obsession; I opened a temporary crepe lab in the kitchen and fed Nutkao-slathered crepes to my three hungry hippo cousins. 

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The problem with Nutella is that my mind invariably recalls the disturbing sex scene from “Life is Sweet.” Three degraded subjects in that scene and one of the subjects is Nutella — not that it has ever really stopped me.