More – and More! – Sunshine!

Wowza.

We received even more Sunshine love, you guys.

Admin A who hosts Top of the Kpops gifted us our 3rd nomination, while our dear friend Jaime, who hosts The Drama Noona gifted us our 4th.

On the one hand, we feel the lurve. We really, really do.

On the other hand, we can’t help but wonder if you guys just enjoy seeing us squirm as we try to answer your challenging questions, heh.

Whichever it is, we’ve got our game faces on, and are braving your questions with as much composure as we can muster.

Bring. It. On. Baby!

Admin A’s questions:

1. What is your favorite book, and why?

kfangurl: Funny thing how a lot of people seem interested in this, since I feel like I’ve answered this question with “Little Women” more than a few times.

So I’ll answer today with “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

I remember loving this book to bits when I first read it, and I read it over and over. I guess I just really loved the idea of two troubled kids finding a safe place – in the secret garden, and in each other’s friendship – to learn and grow, on the inside and out.

Lady G: What a tough question. Being a bookworm, I’ve had many favorites over the years. And even if I put just one here, I still have more.

The Bible is my top pick. But for me that’s more than just a book. So my book-book pick is “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury. He is one of my all-time favorite authors.

The idea of a world where all books and ideas are banned and burned is thrilling. The concepts presented in the book are ahead of their time, people mindlessly watching giant screens of ‘real’ people living out their ‘real’ lives.

Hello reality TV? People putting tiny seashell shaped devices in their ears to listen to canned music all day. iPod?? I love a good sci-fi story, particularly when there’s a struggle to survive in a world gone mad.

2. If you could go back in time, what year would you travel to?

kfangurl: This is just for a visit, right?

I think I’d like to do a Back to the Future sort of thing and go back to when my parents were kids and my grandparents were still alive.

I’d like to see how my parents were like as kids, and see for myself some of the stories I’ve heard from them about their growing up years. I’d also love to see both my late grandmothers again. I miss them. And I’d like to see my grandfathers. I never got to meet them.

…And now I’ve got a lump in my throat. See what you did, Admin A!

Lady G: Darn it, I’d love to steal kfangurl’s exact answer. That has been a real dream of mine too. Being a gal that loves Time Travel concepts in fiction, I’ve often thought about a time zone I’d love to visit. Through the years my answers changed.

For now I will pick the very late eighteen hundreds and Turn of the Century. The world was still in a relative state of calm, it was the golden age of invention, and… attitudes had not gone completely mad and astray.

Of course nothing was perfect, but it was a time of new discoveries and growing change. And honestly, I want to dress like or be a Gibson Girl! How gorgeous!

Come and get me, you handsome Korean men from 1900!!

3. What is one of your favorite quotes?

kfangurl: Everyone’s got a superpower.

I don’t even know if this is a real quote, actually. If it isn’t, can I claim credit for it? Heh. Coz I do believe that we all have special strengths. Some of us just haven’t discovered ’em yet.

Lady G: Haha, Bat Granny! For me this is like picking a needle in a haystack. I’m going with this one:

“Look, I know it’s hard. I’ve been there, too. But whenever you feel this way, you gotta think of all the interesting people in front of you, who really need your help. Heck, we’re Voyagers, kid. We got responsibilities…”

This quote comes from one of my favorite TV shows ever, Voyagers! a simple, fun, 1982 Time Travel series (yes, I linked my website! Tee hee!).

The line was uttered near the end of the Pilot episode by the gorgeous adult time traveler, to the little boy who falls under his care. He was giving him encouragement for the Voyage they just completed (helping the Wright Bros. invent the airplane!).

My spirits lift every time I read it (actually watching it being said with that hot smile doesn’t hurt either! lol); it’s my go-to quote whenever I feel down and useless.

All you have to do is change the word to suit you, “Heck, We’re……kid, We got responsibilities.” We all have responsibilities in our lives, and people who need us even if we don’t think so.

So as they say in Kdrama, Work hard! Fighting! Because there is always somebody out there asking, “Please take care of me.”

4. What is your first name? And if you had to change it, what would you change it to?

kfangurl: My first name is.. a secret around these parts. Only a tiny handful of people in the dramaverse actually know my name, and it shall remain so, muahaha!

I don’t mind talking about my screen name though. I picked “kfangirl” as my screen name very randomly, which then evolved into “kfangurl.” I can’t help thinking that if I’d known I was gonna eventually start blogging, that maybe I would’ve picked something different.

Y’know, something that sounds a little more like a real name. Like Sasha, maybe? No reason; I just think it sounds nice.

Lady G: I debated this… but I’ve been all over the web since 1999 for various fandoms so I’m probably more out there than kfangurl if not as popular with my specific fandoms. Okay, my real name is…Ginger.

Yes, like the sneaky cookie that runs away, the soda for tummyaches, tea, the spice, the Spice Girl, the castaway actress on Gilligan’s Island, and the beloved dancing partner of Fred Astaire in classic American film!

So Lady G is so, so, original, right? Meh!

I always had a love-hate relationship with the name. But now I try to own it. People still get a surprised and/or amused look on their face when they hear it. And most people really like it.

There are not many Gingers around. Ginger is something that heals. I hope I do a decent job of incorporating that into my personality. And it’s the name my momma gave me! Her nickname for life. She’s Virginia.

If I could pick a new name, I’d love to have the name Kayla, or Janae (Janay). When I was a teen I wanted the name “Justice” because I was all about justice. I wanted to be Batgirl. Lol.

5. If you could be any fictional character, who would you choose?

kfangurl: I want to be Han Eun Mi in Lady G’s dream drama Aurora! Coz she gets to canoodle with Woob and live happily ever after with him. That’s my fangirl dream, as you should know by now. 😉

Plus, Woob shows up in her life looking like this:

*hearts in eyes*

Lady G: I’m honored, kfangurl!! I wish we could narrow this down to a kdrama fictional character. Because I’m just mind-boggled at picking an answer. But this time I’m going with a book character.

Her name is Charlotte Doyle from the AVI book, “The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle.” I always loved this cover the most. It’s the one I grew up with. Isn’t she beautiful with her Julia Roberts early nineties hair?

Charlotte starts off as a well-to-do 12 year old girl who has to take a giant ship back to her staunch family in England.

Something goes wrong along the way and she learns some dark secrets about the Captain. bottom line, she becomes a sailor! Just like the men! And they learn to respect her and look out for her. The ending is a great twist. It’s an amazing read. Highly recommend it.

I always wished I could read a sequel to this story, and see Charlotte Doyle as an adult. I have a thirst for adventure in my head, so I would love to live a life on the high seas like her.

As grown up Charlotte I would take my ship and sail to Asia, and fall in love with rambunctious, but good-hearted Korean Pirate, So Ji Sub. YAY! 

6. What songs are included on the soundtrack to your life?

kfangurl: I don’t listen to a lot of country music, but when I came across Carrie Underwood’s So Small, it really struck a chord with me.

Coz yes, sometimes, our problems look like mountains when we’re facing them, but when you put it all in perspective, it really comes down to love being the most important thing. And I think that’s a pretty great thought to carry with you, in life.

Lady G: This is a great question. I have many. But just a few days ago I was sitting on my porch with the iPod just thinking about things.

And this tiny peppy classic song came on and made me feel so much better. “Look for the Silver Lining,” the Chet Baker version. Sometimes it’s hard to do, but we can always continue in teeny ways to “…try and find the sunny side of life.” There is one.

Jaime’s questions:

1. How long have you been blogging?

kfangurl: Let’s see. I started this blog on 12 December 2012 (12/12/12! Isn’t that awesome? And no, I didn’t plan it that way. It was just meant to be, I say!), so that would make it 1 year, 10 months and 16 days. Or 685 days. But it feels like it’s been forever now.

Lady G: I’m not a strict blogger. Months or a year can go by before I post. And I most certainly don’t have the discipline of kfangurl. Maybe I did in 2010. Lol.

I’ve had my own Voyagersguidebook blog since 2009. I’ve had my ‘Realm of Olde Brooklyn’ Blog since 2012. I’ve been officially blogging with The Fangirl Verdict since August 2014. 😀

In between I’ve worked on blog entries for Tenaflyguy.com, a blog for comic book reviews/Superhero news, and a guest post on Stuck on Hyuk.

2. How do you come up with content for your blog?

kfangurl: For the reviews, I basically write when I’ve finished watching a show and actually want to write a review for it. For almost everything else, it’s when I’m inspired. Like the Musings posts.

“OMG he’s wonderful/awesome/swoony!❤❤❤” = a k-love post. “Oooh, he’s Prettyyy~” = a Pure Pretty post. Oh, and when people ask me a question, that tends to bring about a Dear kfangurl post.

And then there are times when the blog gets an award of sorts, which brings about this kind of post.

Yes, it’s kinda incidental and haphazard and not very planned at all, really.

Lady G: Haha! I blog whenever the mood strikes me. Voyagers has a fun fanbase, so they are always creating artwork and videos and finding retro articles and information. When they share it with me on my Facebook group, I blog about it.

I recently ran out of webspace on my site after eight years. So now I use the blog more than ever for updates. The site is stuffed to the brim anyway. It’s had a great run. If I find a cool or ‘new’ photo or thought that can relate to the topic, I try and blog on it.

For my Brooklyn blog I read other great old NY blogs to get ideas and a lot of things pop up in the local papers. From working in the library I scour the history books looking for fun stuff to discuss.

And even took a self-guided tour of a famous old Brooklyn cemetery out of interest and to blog.

Oh and the Dream Dramas. I get inspiration from EVERYTHING. I love writing, even if it’s just my hobby and I don’t make millions like Danielle Steele, James Patterson and Norah Roberts (for example) and their cookie cutter books.

No offense to those who read them! I get grouchy shelving them all day at the Library. Haha.

3. What are some blogs that you look up to and admire?

kfangurl: I really admire javabeans and girlfriday at Dramabeans. Not only do they run a tight ship and consistently post a lot of content (albeit now with helper minion on board), they are articulate, witty and always sound like they’re enjoying what they do.

I also really look up to Dnoella who runs KdramaGuk. I used to lurk on her blog all the time, just lapping up her reviews. She’s got a lovely way with words that I really enjoy. And her blog was one of the big inspirations for when I decided to try my hand at blogging too.

Lady G: I was never big into the blogging scene for years. But these days I love The Fangirl Verdict, and I’m not saying that just because I work on it. Kfangurl is a jewel among bloggers, she puts her heart and intelligence into every post.

She has some really awesome sections, like Pure Pretty, and Dear Kfangurl. Regardless of her biases, she finds a way to remain totally objective and allows others to have their own tastes.

She has a subtle way of getting you into her camp at times though with her fantastic posts. Look out for her! LOL.

[kfangurl: OMG I’m blushing here. This is really quite odd, being praised on my own blog. Very, very strange.. *tilts head* *shuts back up*]

I love the dedication and focus of the girls at Stuck on Hyuk, Drama Fan and Gumi, and how warm and fun they were when I joined. I had been watching Robbers a year or so ago, and out of the blue found DramaFan’s NEW posts all about Robbers at the same time! It was so cool.

They go all out with screencaps and gifs. If you aren’t a Jang Hyuk fan, they can easily make you one. And with a Korean gal on board, they are able to get fans nice translations of articles and interviews!

That takes a lot of commitment and I really appreciate and respect them for that too.

And I enjoy reading Crazy for Kdrama, because Stephanie is local – in NYC like me. She knows all the Korean hotspots which I shamefully have yet to visit. She just has a lot of fun and is not afraid to give her opinions on her likes and dislikes in a comical manner.

I love to laugh, and her blog often makes me LOL.

4. What genres of dramas do you feel the most drawn to?

kfangurl: I think I’m most drawn to rom-coms, coz that’s the genre that first hooked me onto the kdrama train. They’re light, fluffy and cute, and tend to bring the feelz.

Goong, not everyone loves you, but you will always be my first kdrama

Having said that, though, I find I’m actually open to different types of dramas. When something’s well-written, well-acted and well-executed, that appeal just transcends genre for me.

I’ve genuinely enjoyed sageuks, crime procedurals and even straight-up melos (see Chuno, Vampire Prosecutor and One Warm Word respectively), and those are definitely very different from rom-coms.

Lady G: Since Kdrama often mashes together a lot of genres in one, it’s really hard to pick. I want to say rom-coms, but then I have my days when I just don’t even want to be bothered with them and all that lovey-dovey sickly sweet stuff.

I echo Kfangurl’s answer about enjoying a variety. My first drama was the intense cracky melo, “The Innocent Man” or “Nice Guy.” I often find myself going back to that genre too.

I don’t like shallow, materialistic dramas, I like ones that focus on characters growing and changing for the better, and stories that actually teach you life lessons.

For that, Fermentation Family is one of my absolute favorites. It has elements of everything and helloooo… one of my dream Korean men, Song Il Guk! Put the triplets to bed and come back to dramas, Ahjussi!

5. When you aren’t watching Asian Dramas, what types of shows are you watching?

kfangurl: Heh. Is there really life outside of kdrama? *arches brow meaningfully*

These days when I’m not watching kdrama, I check out the latest episode of We Got Married (my latest fixation with Hong Jong Hyun – squee! – explained here), or I watch a k-movie.

Sometimes, I do watch a non-Korean movie; usually on a flight where I’ve already seen or am not at all interested in the Korean movies available. Do we see a pattern here?

Lady G: I seriously do not watch American TV. Don’t ask me what the new shows are. I find one with an interesting premise, I watch an episode or 2, then get caught up again in Asian drama and forget all about it. BUT, okay, I love retro TV from the 60’s to the nineties.

I marathon whole series once I latch onto them. The classics. Anything from Happy days to Charles in Charge (Yes, I’m a Scott Baio fan), Columbo, Dallas, The Fugitive, I Love Lucy, Murder, She wrote, Scarecrow and Mrs. King…

I enjoy funny sitcoms from all eras. Drama shows, I adore sci-fi shows like, Voyagers!, LOST, The Incredible Hulk, Man From Atlantis, The Adventures of Superboy, The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Outer Limits.

I LOVED Law and Order Criminal Intent, Chuck, I like shows like Sue Thomas F.B.Eye, Cold Case, Person of Interest,…my list goes on and on. So you see, I’ve had my fill of American TV. So it doesn’t bother me if I don’t watch it anymore.

Okay, okay, I’ve recently gotten hooked on Chinese movies. Aaron Kwok…RAWWRR!

6. Who is your all-time favorite character from a drama that you’ve watched?

kfangurl: Wow. All-time favorite? Just one? That’s really tough.

I’m gonna hafta go with Dae Gil, the main character in Chuno, played to sexy, badass, wonderfully nuanced perfection by Jang Hyuk.

Such a great character; so faceted and carefully written, and inhabited so naturally and so confidently by the awesome Jang Hyuk. Plus, have I mentioned how sexy Dae Gil is?

Uumph~

Sexy, sexy man.

Lady G: I mulled over picking Dae Gil, but then thought, that would just be too easy. Way too easy. So would picking a male character, because well, I love them more! I often get very frustrated with the female leads and their stereotypes and silly often childish behaviors.

King of Dramas is on my favorites list. Even with that crack ending (which honestly wasn’t a shock to me.) I really liked the character Lee Go Eun. I related to her in personality, she wasn’t an out there bat crazy female lead. She was mature and responsible and I loved her loyalty.

I related to her amazing hair, charming smile (Hey, I gotta like something about myself), the way she fell for an older man (give me an Ahjussi any day) and mostly, her love of writing the perfect drama.

And while he’s no Daegil, Anthony is not a bad catch. 😀 Hmmm…nope, not at all.

kfangurl: Well, that’s it for today, folks. Thanks for the questions love, Admin A & Jaime, and thanks, you guys, for reading!

…And to round off our post, here’s another random pearl of sunshine wisdom:

Heh. Just kidding. 😉

Lady G: Or are we?…

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jhusili
8 years ago

Another amazing writeup. I say we hand over this award to you every other week so we can get such mind tickling writeups to read. 🙂

KFG, your thought on how everybody has a superpower reminded me of this SoulPancake shortfilm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE6Mv-aaBC0

Hope you enjoy.

& Lady G, am really happy you have amazing hair, and very envious too. 🙁

Lady G.
8 years ago
Reply to  jhusili

Aww, thank you, Jhsuli, It’s really not as amazing as hers. lol. I used to wear colors like her. I would like to go back to that warm reddish brown. Right now it’s kind of a mess, growing back to that length, dark brown on top and all blond highlights on bottom and middle. lol. I would love to try and get it like hers! 😀 And mine is way more curly, no rollers needed. :p

kfangurl
8 years ago
Reply to  jhusili

D’aw. ❤ Thanks jhu, glad you enjoyed the read! Also, shush now, let’s not start giving people any ideas or anything! 😉

LOVE the short, btw! 😀 That’s EXACTLY what I’m talkin’ about! We all have at least one superpower. Sometimes it’s as simple and as profound as listening. Or, as in my case, finding pretty pictures of k-men on the internet. But that’s another story! XD

jhusili
8 years ago
Reply to  kfangurl

Aww. I needed to like this comment so bad cause you hit the spot with ‘finding pretty pictures of k-men’. That is your superpower and has saved a lot of us. 🙂

Now I totally can like it. Yayyie!

kfangurl
8 years ago
Reply to  jhusili

Lol. I can’t believe it took me THIS LONG to find the like button on my dashboard, seriously! So many readers had mentioned in passing that a like button would be awesome – yay that we now finally have one! XD

YES, finding pretty pix of gorgeous k-men does count among my superpowers. I have other superpowers too – but I’ll let you discover those on your own. *mysterious*

jhusili
8 years ago
Reply to  kfangurl

Lol, mine came with the like button to start with. So I keep getting likes on a blog where I haven’t even started posting yet. Which is kind of embarrassing. 😛

I can already sense that you have many, many more superpowers. I will enjoy the mystery & wait for things to unravel without turning into that cat who died in the hands of curiosity.

Also, can’t wait for future posts. Your blog is so cool, my newest hangout place. 🙂

kfangurl
8 years ago
Reply to  jhusili

I think all the WP blogs come with like buttons for the posts. It’s the like button for the comments that took me forever to find. 😛 In my defense, WP hid it in some very unintuitive corner that had nothing to do with comments!

Curious question: do you plan to start posting? I mosied over to take a look & the banners look great! Now all you need is content XD

Aw, THANKS! I love that you enjoy hanging out here – I hope that you will be pleased with my other superpowers *bows*

jhusili
8 years ago
Reply to  kfangurl

Since all that effort has gone into formatting the blog, yes, my intention is to start posting. First, I feel the need to consecrate my love for Fated with a writeup. If I don’t do it, then I’ll end up believing all this supposed love-talk is just me faffing. I’ve been working on it for a while. Hopefully it’ll get done soon.

I’d love to have you over for a read when it’s done. Meanwhile, will happily take refuge here. 🙂

kfangurl
8 years ago
Reply to  jhusili

Aw, would love to pop on over for a read when it’s ready! Just let me know when the housewarming is, I’ll pop on over with virtual champagne! 😉

Drama Fan
8 years ago

Awwww Lady G! Thank you for mentioning us. We love you too!!!! Hey, you still haven’t visited every korean hot spot in NY? I definitely must visit you and make you show me around 😀 I know that is the best way for one to get to know their own city.

Lady G.
8 years ago
Reply to  Drama Fan

I wouldn’t even use the word finish…more like, haven’t started…:RUNS!: It would be fun to find them together. lol. I need to go. Work finally calmed down so I have more time.

My sister is dying to get Korean food with me when time permits. She had a lot of fun when I took her to the DF awards, even though she didn’t vote. This year is a wash too. I barely watched anything new. I may skip it.

Jaime the Drama Noona
8 years ago

What a fun read! Thank you both for filling out another Sunshine Award! I hope that you at least had fun with the new sets of questions! I had fun reading the answers!

Omo I’ve read The Secret Garden more times than I can count! What a good book choice KFG  Guh yes! Fahrenheit 451 is so good too! I knew that I liked you ladies hehe. These are two of my very favorite books too! I’ve worn out at least one copy of Secret Garden and have leant out and re-bought Fahrenheit 451 at least three times. I wore out a paperback of Anne of Green Gables too as a young lady lol.

Admin A asked some truly fun questions! I’m with Lady G on this one, I would love to go back to the Turn of the Century! I’ve always been fascinated by that timeframe. My son would totally agree that everyone has a superpower, he pretends to have a new superpower every day and doesn’t understand why everyone doesn’t also have superpowers.

Lady G wrote KFG’s dream in a dream drama! I think that is totally appropriate! I’d be happy in the Aurora world too! Now I want to read the Charlotte Doyle book! I’m going to the library tomorrow I think I’ll see if it is there!
Oh man The Fangirl Verdict is almost 2! We’ll need to throw a cyber-party! KFG you’re posts, either pure pretty or your wonderfully written reviews, are all so good! I love getting a glimpse into what inspires you! Lady G! Keep on getting inspires so I can keep on fangirling over Dream Dramas! Hehe

I have to second Lady G’s words! The Fangirl Verdict is just so well put together and it is the blog that I look up to the most. But all the other blogs you’ve both mentioned are amazing places too!

Rom-coms are my happy place, but I’m open to the idea of others myself… but until my real life settles I think I’ll stay there hehe. I watch a lot of other TV with my nerd/gaming group. All the comic book shows that are airing now, yup we nerd out over those. But beyond that, it’s all Asian drama all the way! Ooooh I love your choices for favorite characters too! But I have to admit that I’ve not seen either drama yet.

Thank you so much for answering my questions!!!

Lady G.
8 years ago

All these questions were challenging. But as I got into answering them, I just had a ball. 😀 Thanks for the nomination. Oh, if you do find Charlotte Doyle, which I’m sure you might at the library, let me know what you think of it. It was always my favorite book as a pre-teen. I really wanted to be her. I may go back and read it again now. They were supposed to make a movie version for the longest, but it never happened. I don’t understand why.

Jaime the Drama Noona
8 years ago
Reply to  Lady G.

I mentioned the book to my mom and guess what, she has a copy of it! So I’ve got it here, but boy I need to find time to actually read! My mom says that you’ve got good taste 😉

Lady G.
8 years ago

I’m about to go to bed and I see all these sweet comments and replies from you! I will definitely get back to them soon. Please tell mom I said Thank you. 😀 I know I tossed many book titles at you on your own blog post too! LOL. (Psst…read the Trilogy with the Korean guy first!! ) I hope you are feeling better.

kfangurl
8 years ago

Thank YOU, Jaime, for your fun questions. Like Lady G said, it was a little challenging at first, but once we got into it, it actually was pretty fun 🙂

How cool that you love both the books that Lady G & I picked as faves! 😀 We 3 do have good taste, don’t we? *pats self on back* And yes, I can hardly believe the blog’s creepin’ up to its 2nd birthday! It’s weird. Sometimes I feel like the blog’s a young little baby, and some days I feel like I’ve been doing this forever. Very weird.

I remember back when I first started blogging, I considered anyone who’d blogged for a year a blogosphere sunbae. As in, not just a sunbae to me as a newbie, but as a sunbae to the blogosphere at large. Now that I’ve left the one-year mark behind, I’ve started to see things differently. Sadly, a number of blogger friends that I used to love chatting with have since left the blogosphere, and I realize that the one-year mark is one of the milestones where people decide whether they want to keep blogging, and therefore, the one year milestone doesn’t necessarily mean sunbae-hood, even. I’ve also realized that length of time isn’t the only determining factor when it comes to sunbae-hood in the blogosphere. Some blogs have been around for longer than a year, but aren’t updated much. Long tangent later, I guess I’m saying that perspectives continue to change as we go?

Thanks for all your sweet compliments on the blog, Jaime! You are always so sweet. ❤ Thank you for enjoying this blog as much as you do. I guess the things themselves, that inspire me to write, keep evolving. The constant that I find very important, though, is that I need to feel inspired. It’s really hard to write about something that doesn’t inspire you. Which is why it took me a lot longer than usual to finish writing my Heirs review. That drama just did NOT inspire me, one way or the other! XD

I completely understand that you’re in the mood for fluffy rom-coms right now. When in you’re more in the mood for something different, I do highly recommend Chuno. It’s a glorious masterpiece. And Jang Hyuk as Dae Gil is a sight well worth seeing! 😉