Sunday, January 29, 2006

the misadventures of jethan & the photo booth

deery-lou.
well its monday and i actually managed to get out of my apartment if only so briefly. earlier this week i learned that i might be going for my black belt on february 18th. i say might cuz i never know if they are going to change their minds or not. anyway my master gave me a form to fill out and a list of things i ended to have inorder to take the test. which makes me think that this times its for real. one of the things on the list was three 3x4 photos of myself. since all of this stuff is due feb. 3 i figured i should venture out and get it done. i was hoping i'd be able to find a photo booth in my hood but alas i did not. plus since its a holiday a lot of places are closed. so i headed to jungang station where i knew there was one. i settled down in the tiny booth ready to get some photos snapped. i tried inserted a 5,000 won note into the machine but it would not accept it. it only took 1,000 won, 500 won, or 100 won. seeing that i had no change i left to get some. i bought a mountain dew and with 5 1,000 won notes in hand i ventured back to the booth. i postioned the chair, fixed my hair [which has been completely out of control lately] and inserted my bills. i pushed all the correct buttons and sat waiting for the photo to be taken. the voice from the machine called out "hanna, dul" and snap the picture was taken. when it popped up on screen my eyes were completely shut. then the voice came on again. i had another chance. "hanna, dul" snap photo two was taken. then both of the photos i took appeared on screen: the infamous "my eyes are shut" and the gastly horrible new one where my eyes were partly closed and my face was all scruntched up. it looked like i had been high for a week straight. at the bottom of the screen was a countdown. i had 5o seconds to choice between two awlful photos. i looked all over for a redo button but couldn't find one anyway. the countdown stopped and out came my pictures. the mean photobooth chose the eyes completely shut photo. knowing that i could not use these and that i had no more 1,000 won notes i went back to the store to get change. with change in hand i went back to the mean photo booth for my second try. i adjusted the seat, primped and once again feed my money to the hungry machine. this time i sat there wide-eyed waiting for the sultry voice to come on. "hanna, dul" she spoke and snap my picture was taken. anticipating yet another mishap i sat there waiting for it to pop on screen. when it did my eyes were open but i looked scared. at least i knew i had one more chance. i tried to relax and await her voice. getting in as many blinks as possible. with a slight smile i sat and waited. "hanna, dul" snap! within seconds both pictures appeared on screen. the second one was much better so i selected that one. at least i didn't look scared. 10,000 won later i left the evil machine with the photos for my application and the horrendous "eyes completely shut" photos. who knew getting photos taken would be so difficult.

for your enjoyment i took a photo of the "eyes completely shut".



today's tips
on being a lady
a mysterious expression will add a lovely sheen to our complexion.
the clue of the velvet mask, nancy drew

useful catch phrases
but blast it, man, that's impossible.
the missing chums, the hardy boys

be well…

4 comments:

Pevil said...

You look a bit like Leif Garret in his recent mug shot for his heroin abuse.

Misty L said...

you're pretty

Kate said...

HAHAHAHAHA love this story.
and i think i'll start using "blast it" more often.

Unknown said...

They're giving you a "1, 2" then snap? What about "hanna, dul, set" snap?

By the way, I think you're looking rather Asian in that pic. Perhaps the culture is growing on in more ways than one.

My youngins will be testing for their orange belts the same day as your black belt test. I'll send you some luck too!