The Pen Monster Blog

Doggos.

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One dog with unlimited freedom to come and go from the shop in Busan mum worked at just down the hill from Busan National University.

The PNU area is one of two places to go in Busan if you want to bask in the reflected glory of Korea's young and beautiful. The other is Seomyeon in the heart of the city. Between the shopping, restaurants and clubs, both areas are a perfect example of why cities thrive when people are allowed to walk to places instead of being forced into a car.

But I've beaten this drum before.

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Another dog locked in a small cage next to a well-trafficked tourist spot in Gunsan:

Gyeongam-dong Railroad Village is best known as a place where Korean people go to get nostalgic for a time in Korean history everyone was dirt poor, starving, and likely to die from a leftover landmine. If you're ever seen people dress up as a medieval serf and learn HEMA then you'll realize this urge to live in shittier times because you've never had to watch your siblings die before they turned five is universal.

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These dogs may or may not have deserved their stations in life. I do not know, but I have my doubts about the legitimacy of both situations.

My parent's dogs at the time.

Well, really, Dad's dogs. After he died Mum was not so secretly glad that both the dogs followed him into the grave not long after. For her a pet was something she put up with for the sake of everyone else in the family. It was nice of her to keep them around though.

I'd be hesitant to call them good boys. The one on the left was severely inbred like all of his "purebred" cousin/siblings and acted in a way I can only imagine a Hapsburg prince did. The one on the right spent his puppyhood rummaging through a landfill and never stopped acting like a dog that ate trash. No veggie patch, trash bag, or unattended sandwich was safe.

I will say that hey were good to have with you when walking through the forests of Nova Scotia. The big one would let you know there was a bear ahead, and the small one would confirm it by running towards it.

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The Olympus EP3 was a solid camera though the results definitely looked a bit "digital". Too sharp, saturated, and contrasty IMO. These are what made me switch to B&W mode as my main shooting mode. Kind of like a smartphone so I doubt anyone else would pick up on it.

I gave it to my Mum before I moved to South Korea for the second time. She still has it and, shockingly in this age of planned obsolescence, it still works perfectly.