the world of lucas and kyungsil

we're going house hunting. our lease expires in late may, so we need somewhere new to stay before we go mad. the house we're currently in, while not the one in this picture, is spiritually its cousin.

kyungsil and i have hated it since day one when what should have been a resigned move into a normal house turned into a nightmare which has not ended.

however, as we only had two days to find a house and move into it, it was the best we could get. especially as we didn't know our way around to go to many home opens.

this time, kyungsil has started visiting home opens. her first adventure today wasn't the best, but we have some hopes for the next one. we're looking at a few suburbs, most of which will involve a bit more travelling to work, but will be cheaper so i hope to save some money to pay off my crippled credit cards before they send someone round to cripple me.

this post really isn't going anywhere as it is 11pm and i need to push my wife into bed so she can get up in the morning. that's if i can drag her from her anime. i'm hoping for her sake the next house is wonderfully normal at least.

just a last point: today my thoughts go out to eric dando who is letting his goose loose at the williamstown literary festival, and also to my good friend andrew hindle, who's getting his goose ready for experimental surgical procedures to fix what is commonly known as cancer.

i was so nervous travelling to korea to meet kyungsil's family. i half-expected her father to chase me down the street with a shotgun or meat cleaver, screaming, "you stole my daughter!"

but he was the most amazing guy and i can never forget how happy he was to see her when we arrived. and also how enthusiastic he was. her mum was even more amazing and i have to say i was never much with my own family, but i felt very welcomed and humbled by hers.

in this photo, you cannot tell how uncomfortable i am, though. the shirt is two sizes too small, even though it was the largest shirt i could find in korea. one day, when we move there, i am going to have problems buying clothes despite the amazing scope of the shopping districts in daegu and seoul.

i learnt where kyungsil gets her cooking skills and her gambling skills from, though. from her mum, obviously, who cooked up the most amazing food (and homemade yogurt) and then proceeded to do something i am yet to be able to do: beat kyungsil at cards. how she did this is a mystery, because i still maintain my wife cheats.

 a few pictures from our wedding day. it was a small gathering because that's what we wanted. we were honoured by those who did attend and had a brilliant evening because of it. :)

thanks from me especially to azly and jess. thanks to azly for popping back to australia for the special day and for his support. and to jess, who has always been an absolute rock. i am more grateful to you both than you know.

and then, of course, my beautiful wife. her hands shook like a leaf when i put the ring on (as a result it nearly slipped onto the wrong finger), but i'm sure there was a glint of triumph as i signed my name and she took ownership of the groom.

i think this is one of the most breath taking photos of kyungsil, but she never agrees.


i'm right, though.






oh yes, i am.
i have witnesses we were NOT taking a hit out on anyone before our wedding.


not at all.

everything you need to know about plot development you can learn from the geniotic, kurt vonnegut. recently, while writing a zany book i've been working on, i kept feeling my characters were a little, well, flacid. so it was great timing that a friend of mine, ged maybury, slapped this up on his facebook page. i will now share it with you so you can benefit from the true secret behind writing a brilliant story.

 kyungsil is the queen of cake making. to describe one of her cakes is to describe simply the best cakes ever made. she's dedicated not just to being creative, but to the flavour. as such, she's always trying to cut back on the sugar and often we have cakes which are also made of almond meal and less gluten, simply to be healthier.
 the reduction of sugar has made many cakes, which should be hard to eat for being too rich, absolutely more-ish. she uses only the darkest and best of chocolate in her cakes, too, and doesn't then add a few cups of sugar, leaving all her chocolate cakes tasting like, well, like chocolate!
 proud as punch, i'm popping these up not just to test the image-capabilities of blogger, but also to smile as i remember some of the best she's created as she was teaching herself from scratch how to use some of the more advanced materials and techniques involved in cake making.

i hereby claim first post.

because that's what i do.