(NUNAL) (EYEBALL)

I haven't spent much time adjusting back to life in the U.S. since I've been too busy. Part of 'adjusting" means "unpacking" but that is taking a back seat to everything else going on. I spent several days driving around Appalachia taking pictures, then spent over a week doing research at the National Archives. That was taking pictures too, since the fastest and cheapest way to copy the documents is to photograph them. Its been a whirlwind, which is the main reason that Nunal has not inched forward. I've been taking pictures of the Latino re-creation of social space in Appalachian communities. I found some great images, and, nor unimportantly, got to eat some great food on the way. I think the best taco I had in Virginia so far is at the La Mexicana taqueria in Rocky Mount, which is a little town south of Roanoke. A close second was a taco truck parked in a strip mall in Manasass. The best tamale by far was from Taqueira Gonzalaz in Asheville, NC. H...

Former Korean president Roh seems to have been taking a page from Bush administration's playbook by deep sixing information INSIDE JoongAng Daily : "Tensions between the incumbent and former presidential offices escalated yesterday over the allegation that Roh Moo-hyun’s aides moved the main computer server out of the Blue House on the eve of President Lee Myung-bak’s inauguration. The Blue House claim the move put a significant amount of sensitive national information out of reach of the incoming leader. “The removal by Roh aides of presidential records is an undeniably illegal action,” Blue House spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said yesterday. “Out of respect for the former president, we have asked for the return of the data directly and indirectly. However, the request has been repeatedly denied.” Lee said it’s extremely worrisome that the records Roh has are originals, not copies. “As soon as our investigation ends, the National Archives of Korea will take official action regardin...

The Fourth of July always means that my neighborhood is filled with constant fireworks explosions and the smell of hot dogs on the grill, hotdogs being mandatory on the 4th and fireworks being legal in Virginia-- and being especially legal this year since they just cleared a whole range of more robust fireworks for public use. At the oceanfront in Virginia Beach the displays people light off can rival the official city display. Here in this neighborhood, without sand and ocean around to catch sparks, the homeowner in me is a bit less excited about the fireworks. But at least my old neighbor moved, taking his devilish kid with him, a bottle rocket firing little fiend that terrorized Mother Maybelle. The people who moved in have been barbecuing chicken all day, superior to hot dogs in all respects. More worrisome than the fireworks is the smoke from the huge fire in the Great Dismal Swamp (which is just south of my house and stretches into North Carolina). the smoke continues to bla...

On the drive back here to Norfolk my dogs had some issues figuring out their configuration in the truck. At first Mother Maybelle refused to make room, leaving Wee Oscar to find a spot sitting on top of her. This lasted well through Indiana and Kentucky. Looking out the window: Sleeping: By the time we got to West Virginia, about 10 hours into the drive, things had been sorted out. My Southern regionalism students at Sogang might be interested to tune into the station I listen to when I drive through Kentucky, the Morehead State University radio station, which has this great bluegrass and old time show hosted by Jesse Wells . I played with this guy once at Mt Airy several years back, he is a great fiddler. Impeccable taste in music too, you can hear the station on this webpage via this link . Nunal is going to stay alive as a blog, but obviously Seoul has so much more to offer than Norfolk that there is no comparison, and posting will be less frequent. Not that life isn't every...