This month’s featured blog is an expose of one man’s life and worldview. The Truffle Shuffle Weakly belongs to my good friend and Seoulmate, Bob, a.k.a. Tortmaster. He’s sarcastic and extremely sharp witted, but he has a heart as big as Texas and is a very good natured guy. He told me today that he’s planning to write about me (laced with sarcastic overtones, no doubt), so I thought I would beat him to the punch and appease him with soothing, kind words. I hope that the conciliatory and laudatory tone of this blog entry will entice Bob to write something nice about me on his blog. Will he? Oh, probably not. Considering that he just came over to our house tonight, and I served him homemade BBQ that he consumed vociferously as if he hadn’t eaten in days, I’m waiting and wondering whether the shoe will drop. Nevertheless, I find it humorous even when his writing is merciless. It’s just Bob.
Bob has been living in Korea for about a year and will be here long after we’ve moved on to Paraguay. (Yes, Bob, I’m aware that Paraguay is the only "guay" in the World Cup tournament, but I have a feeling that the Americans will also be making a quick exit tonight after Italy beats them. The U.S. can’t even say it’s the only "United States" in the tournament. After all, the United Mexican States, a.k.a. Mexico, advanced to the World Cup quarterfinals.) Bob lives in Seoul, Korea with his wife Mzia and two beautiful children, Marian and Givi. Bob and Mzia met when Bob worked in the Republic of Georgia, a former Soviet republic. Mzia is from Tbilisi, Georgia, and she makes absolutely wonderful Georgian food. Bob makes mean Tex-Mex food and offers a great respite from Taco Bell. Meals at their home feature some of the best we’ve eaten in Korea (they also provide a much needed break from Korean food).
Bob recently had an unexpected illness that put him in the hospital for a few days, but fortunately he recovered and is doing well now. He looked good when I saw him tonight. You can read more about it on his blog. Now that he’s well rested, he’s starting to dive into some deep political issues in his blog that go far beyond anything I write about here. For example, I have never blogged about assertions that eating kimchi combats SARS and avian flu. Bob’s blogging is not for the political feint of heart. He asks challenging questions and offers keen observations, seasoned with a complexity and aggressiveness derived from a successful legal background. Stop by, have a read, and post a comment. Bob’s dying to have someone other than me post comments on his blog. Ask him what "The Truffle Shuffle Weakly" means–he’ll be glad you did. Post-script: The U.S. tied Italy 1-1 in the World Cup. So, congratulations Team USA! You scored your first point in European against a European major. Please beat Ghana 3-0 so you can advance to the quarterfinals and hope the Italians beat or tie the Czechs.
