Mantis
september 16, 2008 01:34am – in Korea
I just came back from a late-night errand. At a closed metro station we stopped to gawk at this five-or-so inch praying mantis because it was just going about its business while being awesome.
I'm back home now, and since I opened my windows earlier to clear out some smoke, the place is infested with insects of another sort. As I type this, I periodically smack my hands together with 50% or so of the clapping sounds reporting the death of a mosquito. Once I peel the "mogi" off my palm, tonight I've been gingerly dropping the corpse into flame at the center of my apparently useless citronella candle. Despite its failure to drive away the pests, I like how the ersatz cremation produces a satisfying crackling sound, and I can watch their hairlike legs glow red like pine needles on fire.
One of these species was born to move like a chameleon, and remind me of the Queen from Aliens, and the other was born to annoy me and give me extraordinary welts. So I photograph one, and delight in mutilating the other.
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In order to light my candle I went out to find a lighter in the windowsill by my front door where my across-the-way neighbor smokes cigarettes. For the first time, he was out there. I pantomimed my request for the use of the lighter, but I introduced myself in perfect Korean. He obviously didn't want to make small talk. Maybe he was busy.