in an iPod World

글쓰기와 장인어른에 대한 생각

몇 일이 지나면 장인어른께서 세상을 떠나신지 벌써 일년이 되는 날이다. 장인어른은 평생 글쓰기로 삶을 보내신 분이다. 어려서 북한의 함흥에서 태어나셔서 해방무렵 남한으로 오시고, 우리 아버님과 함께 보성고등학교를 졸업하시고, 지금의 연세대학교를 다니셨다. 한국전쟁이 끝나면서 부터 기자생활을 시작하셨다. 그리고 나서 1967년에는 아시아 재단에서 주는 장학금을 받아서 미국 콜롬비아 대학교에서 고급언론과정에서 과학 언론을 공부하시고, 귀국 이후에는 한번도 옆을 보지 않고 오로지 글로써 과학과 기술의 발전의 중요성을 일반인들에게 전하기 위해서 헌신을 하신 분이다.

작년에 갑자기 돌아가신 이후에 장인어른이 그동안 써놓은 글들, 그리고 새롭게 출판을 위해서 준비하고 계시던 여러가지 글들을 읽어볼 수 있는 기회가 있었다. 노벨상 수상자들에게 관한 책을 쓰시려고 틈틈히 쓰신 글들, 그리고 자서전을 위해서 틈틈히 적어놓은 글들이었다. 평생 "글쟁이"로 살아간 장인어른의 모습에 도전을 받는다. 무려 38권이라는 책을 출판을 하시고, 아직도 버릇처럼 글을 써나가고 있다는 장인어른의 모습은 글쓰는 것이 아직도 힘들고 부담으로 느껴지는 나에게는 참 부러운 모습이다.

장인어른께서 돌아가시기전에 참 정성을 기울여 쓰신 책이 두권이 있다. 하나는 <대통령과 과학기술>이라는 책이다. 한국 과학기술원이 처음 생길 무렵 부터 대변인으로 계시면서, 한국 기술의 초창기 시절의 여러가지 뒷이야기를 자료로 가지고 계시던 장인어른께서는 그런 이야기들이 역사의 뒤안길로 그냥 사라지는 것이 무척 아쉬웠던 것 같다. 또 다른 책은 <우리과학, 그 백년을 빛낸 사람들>이라는 책이다. 지난 백년 동안 한국 사람으로 과학과 기술 발전에 기여를 한 모든 사람들의 인명을 정리해 놓은 책이다. 무려 네권의 방대한 분량인 이책을 쓰시기 위해서 장인어른은 온갖 국내 도서관과 대학교의 인명자료를 뒤져서, 우리가 익히 알고 있는 슈퍼스타들 뿐아니라, 우리는 한번도 들어보지 못한 그런 사람들에 대한 이야기를 모아 놓으셨다. 그들이 한 일이 구체적으로 무엇인지는 알 수 없어도, 최소한 그분들의 이름이라도 기록을 해야한다는 그런 생각에서 책을 쓰셨다고 한다. 과학과 기술의 발전이 마치 몇몇 슈퍼스타들의 몫인양, 그래서 '한명의 천재가 만명을 먹여살린다"는 일방적인 논리에 반해서, 한명의 천재가 천재로서의 재질을 충분히 발휘하기 위해서는 그 뒤에서 묵묵히 자신들의 연구실과 실험실에 "별 볼일 없는" 연구를 하는 99명의 과학자들이 필요하다는 것을 말씀하고 싶으셨던 것 같다.

글을 쓴다고 하는 것은 결국 이렇게 자신이 말하지 않으면 참을 수 없는 그런 이야기들을 쏟아 놓는 것이라는 생각이 든다. 구약성경에 나오는 예레미야 선지자는 "내가 다시는 여호와를 선포하지 아니하며 그의 이름으로 말하지 아니하리라 하면 나의 마음이 불붙는 것 같아서 골수에 사무치니 답답하여 견딜 수 없나이다 (렘20:9)"라고 적고 있다. 아마도 글쟁이들은 그런 답답함이 속에서 불일듯이 일어나야 하나보다. 평생을 글을 쓰신 장인어른도 그토록 하시고 싶었던 말씀이 있었던 것 같다. 그런 의미에서 글 쓰는 속에 답답함이 없는 글쟁이는 진정한 글쟁이가 될 수가 없다는 생각이 든다.

가끔 이런 생각을 해 본다. 교수라고 하는 직업이 뭔가? 왜 연구를 하나? 왜 글을 쓰나? 그리고 왜 강의를 하나? 내 속에 답답함이 있기 때문이다. 눈에 보이는 현실에 대한 답답함이 연구로 나의 마음을 이끌고, 그렇게 해서 한 연구가 또한 새로운 답답함을 내 속에 만들어 낸다. 연구전의 답답함은 보이는 현실에 대한 답답함이라면, 연구 이후의 답답함은 내가 발견한 것을 나누고 싶은 갈망에서 비롯하는 답답함이다. 그리고 그 답답함때문에 글을 쓰고 강의를 하는 것 같다. 그 답답함이 없다면, 아마도 붓을 꺽어야 할 것 같다. 아니, 요즘 표현으로 하면 컴퓨터를 꺼 버려야 할 것 같다. 평생 전하고 싶은 이야기 때문에 답답함을 가지고 사셨던 장인 어른을 다시 한번 기억을 해보면서, 글쟁이로서의 나의 삶의 모습을 점검해 본다. 나는 아직도 그 답답함이 있는가?

writing

매미: Cicada

Cicadas are fascinating. They live 7, 13 or 17 years under the ground until they become adults. In their final year, they come out of the ground and die only after 7 - 10 days. Its endurance, its transformation, and its short-lived “free life” make me continue to think about them. The thought about Cicadas has been with me since I saw an empty shell that a cicada had left on the ground during my visit to Osaka a week ago. A life of a cicada can be seen as a reminder of evanescent nature of life. But it is also a triumphant, victorious life, eventually fulfilling its dream after a long wait. No matter how short it may be, it's worth the wait. Many people never get to do that. They never leave their ground. They never get to fly.
Below are few poems that I wrote, thinking about cicadas.

A simple life in Japan

It has been about 10 days since I came to Tokyo. Now, I have an alien registration card, a bank card, a Suica card and a faculty ID card. With these four, I feel like I am settled here. Except that I can't speak Japanese. I manage to do most daily things without any problem - I even managed to get my shirt dry cleaned at a local cleaner (the picture below).

I enjoy my new simple life here with small delightful indulgences that I allow myself into -- like delicate local ice cream, very tiny canned beer, incredibly delicious fruit juice at train stations, etc. Other than that, it is a fairly simple routine. I wake up in the relatively early in the morning. After chatting with family back home, I go to office around 9 or 9:30. I write until 3PM or so. Then, I read books and articles. Recently, I read books and articles written by business historians, like Chandler and Langlois, which I found wonderfully insightful. Since I am working on a couple of papers on the industrial consequences on digitalization of products, these readings are very helpful. Particularly, the historical accounts of computer industry are not only useful, but really enjoyable, just for sheer pleasure.

When I come home, I usually continue to read or have conference calls with colleagues back in the US or Europe. Before going to bed, another chance to chat with my wife and boys. Skype is indispensable here. Then, I read newspapers on my iPad or some random stuffs that I saved on Instapaper. One big disappointment was that Netflix on iPad does not work outside of the US. I was hoping that I could watch some movies using iPad. Instead, I used iTunes movie rental last night. It took awhile to download the movie.

What I want the most here is a bicycle. It would make getting around the neighborhood a lot easier. Particularly when I am carrying bottled water and other stuffs that I bought at a local grocery store, I almost have an urge to steal one of many bicycles that are parked.

OMG, it's complicated

It is about my Kindle -- in fact, Kindles. I have three Kindles at home. One for my son, and a Kindle DX and a Kindle 2 for me. I use Kindle DX for mostly for papers and articles, and Kindle 2 for my pleasure reading.

Although both my son and I really enjoy Kindles, we had defective screen problems with them. My son's Kindle showed black mark on the screen twice. Each time, Amazon sent a replacement immediately as a warranty service. However, the person who processed the second replacement made a mistake and charged for it. I called Amazon to ask them to cancel the charge. Instead of cancelling the charge, the person that I spoke to process it as a refund. The problem, however, that he refunded a wrong Kindle -- my Kindle, not my son's, which was bought using my school's account. So, they charged to my personal card and refunded to my school. God knows why he did it, but eventually, we sorted out this mess. Another Amazon person apologized for the inconvenience and I thought all the problems have been resolved.

Healthcare reform: A personal tale

Our family is in good health and we don't have huge medical bills to pay. Through my school, we have a good medical coverage -- probably what they call as Cadillac plan -- which we rarely need. So, it is unlikely that I have much insight on healthcare reform. But, now I do.

Sunday Posting

Each Sunday, I will post some texts that touch my heart and move my soul. Today, it is from the Book of Jeremiah -- an ancient Jewish prophet who predicted the desolation of Jerusalem and Judah Kingdom.

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

Yes, there are seasons of heat and drought. But, there is a hope beyond what we can see with our naked eyes. We just need to close our eyes.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

first day school

No, it was not my first day of school, but, my kids'. As kids grow older, the first day of school is not anxious and exciting as it used to be. This morning, however, I was reminded how big a deal it used to be. As I was leaving my house to go to gym, I stopped my car as I saw a yellow school bus pulling off to load kids. Then, I saw a group parents with their digital camera and videocamera to capture the precious moment of the "first day" of school. They were parents who are sending off their kids to their 1st grade classroom. Waving, waving, and more waving. Dads were busy documenting the moment. By the time I realized I should have pulled out my iPhone to capture that lovely scene, the action was already over. So, picture the moment in your own mind. It is already a lovely morning.

I wish I can take him home!

This is a quick video I took at a pet store in Shinjuku. I wish I can take him home!

two mobile phone stories

(1) indestructible LG phone.

My son, Kevin, has an LG phone -- I don't remember the name of the model except the fact that it is a pretty cool phone. Just like many other teenagers, he is not the best caretaker of his mobile phone. He often leaves his phone on the floor so that others can step on it. He lost his phone twice and put it in water once. Now, we carry an insurance plan for his phone.

So, what happened on Friday was nothing extraordinary. He left his phone in the pocket of his shorts and put his shorts in the washing machine. We ran the washing machine -- not once but twice as our machine does not work very well sometimes. Then, we put his shorts in our dryer and ran it for an hour. Then we discovered his phone, completely dead, in his pocket. Although I became upset for a moment for his careless behavior, I soon realized that such behaviors are somewhat expected of him and that's why we had an insurance.

What is surprising came after. When I informed Kevin that his beloved mobile phone is completely toasted and we probably need to get a replacement, he simply shrugged his shoulders and calmly connected his phone to a charger. He seemed to be convinced that it was just a dead battery and all he had to was just to re-charge it. To my surprise, he was right. The phone survived two cycles of laundry and the heat of a dryer. This is an amazing engineering accomplishment. Perhaps LG engineers thought about teenagers and water- and heat-proofed their phones when they designed it. If that is the case, they should contact us to use our story as a reality-TV like commercial. Then, perhaps, it was not the design of the phone, but the fabric of his shorts that protected his phone. Who knows? At any rate, the phone is still working without any hint of problems. Here is the picture of the phone.

(2) getting an iPhone

When the first generation iPhone came out, many friends of mine asked me if I would get one. I told them that I would get one when they release the second version with 3G and GPS in it. Now, Apple came out with the new model that has both features, I had no reason to resist my temptation to get this beautiful phone any more. So, on Saturday, I went to local Apple store, expecting a long waiting line. To my pleasant surprise, there was no line and I was able to leave the store in 15 minutes with a working iPhone, sort of. Almost. Not quite.

Since I wanted to keep my old mobile number from Verizon -- and those who know my number know how cool that number is , the iPhone had to be crippled until the port process is completed. The process was supposed to finish within six hours. However as my old number was owned by my school, AT&T people could not simply take it away. They kept asking me a pin number which I did not have. It was Saturday afternoon and there was no way I could get that number. So, I waited until yesterday to call my school's telecommunication department, who informed me that all I need to do is to fill out a form to take over the billing responsibility of the number. The form had to be faxed back and forth at least three times to the extent that it became almost illegible. Nevertheless, by the end of the day, I was able to get the form faxed in to Verizon and was instructed to follow up with the customer service reps. But, of course, the number that I had was a special number (!) and they could not do it in a normal way. Yet, the wonderful rep somehow found a way to sidestep that procedure and release my number from the bondage of the corporate account.

Then, I called back AT&T to re-start the porting process. I informed them that now I have a new account number from Verizon and the AT&T rep told me that she will cancel the original port request and start a new one. She informed me that everything went successfully and I should get a text message around 7:40 pm. Alas! My phone went complete silence with a "no service" sign on it around 7pm, instead of getting a text message. So, around 10pm, I called the tech support of AT&T again. The rep told me that my SIM card has been disconnected from the service and cannot be re-activated. It turned out, when the previous rep canceled the original port request, she canceled my SIM card as well. So, she told me that she can either send out a new SIM card which will take 3-5 business days, or I could walk into a local AT&T store to pick a new SIM card.

This morning, I drove to a local AT&T store around 8:50am and waited for about ten minutes for them to open the door. I was the second one at the store. The person ahead of me, who literally bang the door to open it at 8:59, was another Verizon Wireless customer who wanted to switch. Unfortunately for him, there was no more iPhone at the store. While I was there waiting for my new SIM card get activated, there were at least five phone calls inquiring about iPhones. Eventually, they re-activated my phone, but as I was leaving the store, I noticed that my phone did not have any data connection, which took another 15 minutes to resolve. Finally, I have a fully functional iPhone 2.0 and I am happy.

multi-modal communication in action

Today, I am working at a local library, trying to finish up a paper that is much overdue. Then, I received a phone call from my colleague. Since I could no talk in the library, I sent a text message back to him saying that I could not talk to him, asking him to call me later tonight. He then sent me an e-mail back saying that would be fine. Within a span of 2 minutes, we invoked three different communication modes. Perhaps we have too much choices of communication.