Hi there, I’d like to let everyone know that i’ve got a super active Tumblr roll going on and have added to the header nav. I still like to surf and read. Happy reading looking!

This cause coming on to be heard on this 24th day of June, 1985, on the Petition for Adoption filed by Harold Wayne Kester and Pamela Kester at adopt agency nevada, the Answer of the Guardian Ad Litem of the minor child sought to be adopted, the Entry of Appearance and Consent of Bethany Christian Services, Inc., a child welfare agency licensed in the State of Illinois, and the investigation heretofore made by Bethany Christian Services, Inc.; and the Court having heard all the evidence and now being fully advised in the premises, FINDS:

1. That it has jurisdiction of the parties to this cause and the subject matter hereof.

2. That the Petitioners reside at Hennessey Street, Box 25, New Berlin, Illinois, and have been residents of the State of Illinois for several years; they are of legal age and under no legal disability.

3. That the Petitioners desire to adopt Nah, Jong IL, an unrelated male child, born on February 22, 1981, in Korea. That the said child is in the custody of the Petitioners and has resided in the home of the Petitioners since December 1984.

4. That the biological parents of said children are unknown in that the child was an abandoned child; Holt Children’s Services, Inc. of Seoul, Korea was appointed Guardian for the minor orphan; Holt transferred its guardianship rights to Bethany Christian Services, Inc., a duly licensed Illinois Child Welfare Agency.

5. Bethany Christian Services, Inc. has consented in writing to the adoption of said child by Petitioners through its duly authorized representative.

6. That the Petitioners are reputable persons of good moral character with sufficient ability and financial means to rear, nurture, and educate the child in a suitable and proper manner.

7. That the allegations of the Petition are true and proven as therein alleged and it is fit and proper and for the best interests of the said child that the adoption be allowed herein.

It is therefore ordered and adjudged that from this date, Nah, Jong IL, a minor, shall be to all legal intents and purposes, the child of the Petitioners, Harold Wayne Kester and Pamela Kester, for the purpose of inheritances and all other legal incidents and consequences.

It is further ordered that the name of the said child be and it is hereby changed to Nathan Wayne Kester.

Lately, I’ve been reading about Fazlur Khan since I’m a big fan of his philosophy, vision, and thoughts. As I was reading a book written by his daughter, Yasmin Khan, I was surprised to learn that he had traveled to Korea for a building project. The building is called 63 Building. Who knew?

SOM had first entered negotiation with Lucky Development Company (an affiliate of the Lucky-Goldstar Group) in 1978. At that time, a 51-story office tower, with a program area of 1.7 million square feet, was anticipated. Khan had traveled to Seoul to meet with the client to discuss the headquarters project, and, as was his habit, he made note of lifestyles, local food, and important phrases in Korean. The job was put on hold at that point, but when it was resumed, the client had not forgotten his sensitivity to the cultural setting of the project.

Presentation of the final report on schematic design development was scheduled for March 1982, at which time SOM aimed to obtain authorization to proceed into the next design phase. For this meeting, the client specifically requested that Khan be present.

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Fazlur Khan realized his talents as a structural engineer by working as a partner in design, defining the architectural/structural schemes for building projects together with his architectural colleagues. His personal appreciation of the disparate design priorities of function (usefulness for its purpose), structure (economy and efficient use of materials), and aesthetics (satisfaction of an emotional need for meaning and visual interest) enabled him to assume an influential role in the creative process of designing architecture.

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I’m feeling a bit bored and in the mood to write something. I just thought of one that I would write about. I recently went to see Taekwondo show in Seoul and was somewhat surprised to see how well-choreographed it was. The accompanying music was pretty good too and the show would have been a lot more boring without any music. One scene that I particularly enjoyed was the fight between one lady and two guys. Obviously, it was choreographed but it was nice to see a lady throwing kicks and punches to the guys in a fast rapid manner. In the beginning, a group of young age ranging from 8 years olds to 13 years olds came out on the stage and exhibited different movements and some various moves. Then, they brought out the wood blocks and started throwing kicks and break the wood. Apparently, it wouldn’t be any taekwondo without those. Wood blocks started to fly out into broken halves and onto the stage and sometimes, the floor underneath the stage. After the younger group was done with their part, the next older group came out and to my own guess, they were approx. between 16 years olds to early thirties. You could see the difference between two groups as the older group exhibited more sharp movement and made some power moves and higher kicks. Sounds were louder, music faster, and wood blocks snapped louder.

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Bayesian phylogenetic analysis supports an agricultural origin of Japonic languages.

In agreement with the scenario, our results indicate that Japonic languages descended from a common ancestor approximately 2182 years ago. Together with archaeological and biological evidence, our results suggest that the first farmers of Japan had a profound impact on the origins of both people and languages. On a broader level, our results are consistent with a theory that agricultural expansion is the principal factor for shaping global linguistic diversity.

Researchers studying the various dialects of Japanese have concluded that all are descended from a founding language taken to the Japanese islands about 2,200 years ago. The finding sheds new light on the origin of the Japanese people, suggesting that their language is descended from that of the rice-growing farmers who arrived in Japan from the Korean Peninsula, and not from the hunter-gatherers who first inhabited the islands some 30,000 years ago.

Thought I’d take some time to share some of my thoughts as I’ve been here in Korea for a little more than a month. Initially, I was excited to be here, to have some new experiences and to get know Korea in a first-hand manner. By now, I’d say the novelty has settled in and I’ve been thinking about myself and the world that surrounds us. 

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Found this gem online; thought I’d share here.

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1. When you get in your car and turn on your ignition switch, you expect your car to start. You don’t just sit there and think about whether it will start or not. You just do it and expect your car to successfully start. Well you must use this same mentality when approaching, meeting, and attracting women. You must expect success and expect good results when pursuing single women. Practice this “expecting success” mentality and you will achieve amazing results in your love life.

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I recently went on a twilight (moonlight) tour at the Changdeokgung Palace, which usually was reserved to VIPs during late hours, so I took this opportunity to take some pictures. One of these reminds me of the Korean lantern that was used as a logo for the 2010 G20 Seoul Summit.

The initial publicly visible preparatory steps were in the creation of a website. After four months of test runs, the online venue became a platform for announcing the choice of a summit logo, which was chosen out of 2,279 entries in an open contest. The Korean lantern logo represents light shining in the dark and also the light which welcomes guests. This forward-looking theme is repeated in the official Korean slogan — “with people to the world; with the world to the future.” The logo incorporates an image of the sun rising over the sea, and the 20 rays coming from the center represent the 20 members of the meeting.

It’s amazing what you might get out of pictures as you snap them.

Something has been acting up in my mind and I’d like to attribute that to the concept of the “Shining” that was made popular by author Stephen King when he wrote the book, The Shining, and was made into a movie with Jack Nicholson being the antagonist.

The Shining is simply a heightened feeling of anticipation that you’re able to read someone’s mind and know exactly what is she/he thinking of. It’s almost like reading the person’s face in a poker game and try to determine which hand he has or whether he’s bluffing. You get that heightened feeling of anticipation; your mind is “shining.” Stephen King took that concept into a horror story in which the boy has premonitions of what is going to happen next and how the hotel pervades Jack’s mind with weird visions and turns him into an insane person.

The Shining.

As a person who regularly drink water, when I relocated to Korea on work assignment, drinking water was one of the first things I did. I like to drink water myself and my favorite brand is easily Smartwater by Glaceau. I’ve noticed that I like the light clean taste of water, unlike Evian or Fiji Water, which is usually more bodied. Aquafinas or Dasanis are awful, too tappy-tasting to me and I think even its bottle cap smells awful. Never will I buy their bottle. Though back at home in California, I use tap water filtered with Brita. Tastes pretty good to me.

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