barbara

I have a pocket sized copy of Walden (""We need the tonic of wildness... We can never have enough of nature.", "What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives with in us.") in my suitcase at all times. That, and the Little Prince ("What is essential is invisible to the eye."), are two of my favorites. And I have been to Walden Pond multiple times.....

Zippers can get stuck. But they usually get stuck at the bottom and that would definitely not be cool. Though, as an adult, I can pull that puppy over my head and fix the zipper, then put it back on. I am an adult (Yoongi: please talk note).

Article about Namjoon's bookcase - I copied the list of books and deleted the book covers and cost (in some other currency). I have stars next to ones I've read, and I love that he's read Walden and The Little Prince. Also, I need to track down Haruki Murakami. He seems to like that author. He''s Japanese and, according to a bio, his "Genre: Fiction; surrealism; magical realism; postmodernism; Bildungsroman; picaresque; realism. Hmmmmm. Very Namjoonie. Kitchen Banana Yoshimoto *Walden Henry David Thoreau When Breath Becomes Air Paul Kalanithi The Courage To Be Disliked Ichiro Kishimi *1984 George Orwell *Demian Hermann Hesse *The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupery 1Q84 Haruki Murakami Norwegian Wood Haruki Murakami *The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger Killing Commendatore Haruki Murakami *The Unbearable Lightness of Be... Milan Kundera *Men Are from Mars, Women Are f... John Gray *Steve Jobs Walter Isaacson Stories of Your Life and Other... Ted Chiang Haruki Murakami Guns, Germs and Steel Jared Diamond *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the ... Douglas Adams Into the Magic Shop Dr James Doty Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 Cho Nam-Joo *Me Before You Jojo Moyes *Metamorphosis and Other Storie... Franz Kafka Sapiens Yuval Noah Harari Almond Won-pyung Sohn The Noonday Demon Andrew Solomon Please Look After Mother Kyung-Sook Shin *The Stranger Albert Camus The Moon And Sixpence W. Somerset Maugham Human Acts Han Kang The Midnight Library Matt Haig And on a vastly different topic - Jimin. From his "proof" mini-video -

I am really impressed. These all look great. It almost makes me want to wear nails. If I did wear nails or polish, I would, for sure, go for so many of these. And RJ nails look very much like the drawings Jin made when he was designing RJ. Nice job! Now all you need is a BTS concert nearby, or may Etsy.

I totally get the conscious separation of stage persona and real self (Hobi is finding himself more like his personna than he originally thought-) and they all have private lives we know little or nothing about. I think I determined "resentment" based on this but also on his being visibly bummed out on any number of RunBTSs and some VLives, when they are all together (though not so much when they were in Vegas....). I think that not being able to perform and tour has had a little bit of an abrasive effect on their togetherness. Plus, they are all getting older. (Did I say that?)

I'm really looking forward to all of these - but I think that Tae confirms something I've thought about him for some time: he sees himself as far more separate from BTS than some of the other members without seeming to acknowledge that if not for BTS, he would have a very different "other" life. He almost seems to have resentment towards the group, like it's interfering. Maybe he has more difficulty in merging his two "lives". Someone like Yoongi clearly has multiple interests (though all music related), but BTS is his also clearly his #1 priority, at least for now. Jungkook, I think, is far more dependent on his BTS life.

Justin Bieber and KID LAORI got at least 4 awards for Stay ( at least they didn't get Duo/Group). I know that BB did something to mess around with tabulations, and, absolutely, BTS was (and is) #1 in Top Global 200 Artist, Top Artist, Top Hot 100 artist. They still are - my God, Butter has been up there for a year. I'm not sure how tabulations are done anymore but clearly there is manipulation. And, purely because ARMY is fanatical, there is some kind of change to totaling sales that has something top do with how many any one person can purchase a day. It might be only one and then you have to wait a few days. I'll check into it before Proof debuts. I can kind of understand that having people like some in ARMY who buy many copies of a song (and then delete them - iTunes) can throw totals, but if they were using pure data, it shouldn't matter. The show was half sold out. And packed when BTS was there three years. The US music market needs to wake up and appreciate what's happening. They had to go through "acceptance" with other genres and now need to do that for BTS and other K-groups. And TXT - https://www.soompi.com/article/1526474wpp/txt-becomes-artist-with-4th-highest-1st-week-sales-in-hanteo-history-with-minisode-2-thursdays-child

I will get it done. Hybe on the back end of the trip. Making plans now! Really? They just dumped the Top Social Artist? Yes, BTS would win it. in perpetuity. They should just give them a lifetime achievement award in "social artistry". There will never be anyone else who can win it. But, seriously, dropping an award only one group (ours) can win because they always win in and then not even putting their nominations and wins in the broadcast (and, again -MAJOR categories) is such a slap in the face. I kind of feel badly for the members because I know this means something to them and they are finally becoming aware of the disrespect for what it is.

Also - I am not even going to watch AT ALL. I just read an article that said that BB "Unveils Non-Televised Winners" (which included Olivia Rodrigo and Drake and Taylor, I think, and Doja Cat) and if they aren't going to televise those awards, we aren't going to get a thank you to ARMY speech, at least not one televised. It also means that Sondeuk is in the states for some other reason....Hmmmmm.

I don't think I understand the "most awarded group....". What about Taylor Swift and Bieber and I can think of dozens more. Maybe it has something to do with percentage of wins to nominations in a few year period. And I still don't know how they came up with a couple of the winners. (Also - maybe Coldplay and BTS weren't nominated for collab because the totals are based on year-long numbers. The Grammy's next year for that one. (And for one of the new ones -)

Top Group/Duo is one of the top four awards and they have won three times, tying the most wins by any group. They've pretty much awarded everything now. And when the three wins were announced, it was about 4 in the morning Seoul time so, unless someone was still up, they wouldn't have been aware until awakening (it's not even 5:30 am there right now). I suspect that they would have pre-recorded their thanks (and will be in the same outfits as the NZ tik tok video) OR they are all going to be at Hybe before the show airs "live" (HA! Live? NO!) and record or do something there. And it remains to be seen if Sondeuk is there to pick awards up (though he posted yesterday from LA-but that might have been an interim stop for him.) If they do anything live, at least they will already know what they didn't win and we won't have to witness any heartbreak. Heartbreak? How is Hybe Insight closed during my scheduled 3 or 4 days in Seoul? That is just unacceptable (and the website says you can order from the Weverse Shop and pick up your order at the museum the same day.....as if anything would be available that I don't already have.) Now I am going to have to recalculate days on either end of my trip. I can't possible go to Korea and not go to Hybe. It's going to be a hassle because Seoul and Incheon are not actually right next to each other and I'd have to fly back to the airport from Jeju and then go into Seoul and then back to Incheon. Will I do that? Probably. It changes my return date, though....

What? They are already announcing winners and I thought this didn't start for hours. They must be doing what they consider the "lesser" categories first? Or maybe just pissed off that BTS decided not to show up.... They've already won Top Duo/Group, Top Song Sales Artist, Top Selling Song (Butter). Justin Bieber got Top Billboard Global (Excl. U.S.) Song - HOW? And why does Olivia Rodrigo get so much? (Flavor of the year, really) and Måneskin, “Beggin’” for top Rock song - beat My Universe (Coldplay and BTS). Butter and PTD were nominated in the same category so I think this is it....? There are still more that haven't been awarded but I don't think BTS is up for anything else. Oh - Ed Sheeren just got Top Billboard Global (Excl. U.S.) Artist that BTS was nominated in. They were up in six categories (Butter and PTD in the same one so-) They'll get Top Social Artist, too, but not mentioned yet Edit: And how are they not in the collab. category with Coldplay? We know that Billboard does not take straight streaming data to pick their winners because there is no way BTS shouldn't have gotten Top Global - I kind of feel badly for Coldplay.

Which explains why it looks like lipstick. And they are wearing the color they are waving around.

I think Yeonjun really works hard on his "bad boy" look. And does very well with it. Reminds me a little of Tae in that he's likely spent a lot of time in front of a mirror making faces and practicing "looks". The recording video is the most illuminating thing I've ever seen of these five. And, as Soobin says, they've been together 6 years. That is not a short period of time, especially for someone like Kai who is only 19, still. It's interesting that they are all a little nervous in their own ways. They all have that "work harder, be better" ethic. And such a great relationship with their usual producer (SlowRabbit). Beomgyu is even credited with producing on Thursdays Child, and they all seem to have contributed, or at least tried to, with music and lyrics. I think they put a lot of pressure on themselves in the same way BTS did (and still does) to be the very best they can be, and they certainly have set themselves a high bar. They know they are not the "next BTS" but are following their example in their quest for some autonomy with the style and substance of their music. And strive towards full participation and for perfection (though, as I said above - it's Taehyun who seems the most concerned with his vocals.) Also - Soobin came from a vocal lesson and he demonstrates somewhere on this that his range has increased and he can sing in the lower range... And @Faithyu it had yet to occur to be that I could get inexpensive merch there - especially in Seoul. I've been thinking more about where to go and what to see and how much I plan on eating. I'll be on the lookout for those Vogues from the winter and some BT21 plushies and, who knows, the Jimin purple sweatshirt? I'll need to make sure I leave half a suitcase empty when I go. Already have "order Won from the bank" on my list for this week. Cards are great and I am told will work most places but not at farmers markets or little shops. There is enough time before I leave to be as organized as possible so I probably won't really freak out until the week before. Getting nervous for the BBMAs...