OMG you guys.

So by now you’ve all heard my big server upgrade moan-and-groan story. Over the weekend, I upgraded from shared hosting (which was killing me with limiting my CPU restrictions, which build up very quickly when highly trafficked). I’d outgrown my little shared hosting plan and needed my own space.

And now, thanks to Coffee Prince, in TWO DAYS I have outgrown my basic VPS plan and have had to upgrade once again. I can’t be too upset because I say with pride that I have entirely Coffee Prince’s popularity to blame, and who can hold a grudge against that?

In the ONE HOUR that I’ve posted the Tenth Cup summary, my site went down five times. I know this because I was worried it would max out and have been closely monitoring my levels. The instant the server overloaded (ran out of memory) I restarted it. Sorry for the choppy hour, guys.

I’ve since upgraded to the next level with much more ram, and now, instead of operating at 98% levels of capacity (I freaked out when the techie pointed out the chart to me), I’m at a comfortable 53%. Phew.

I REALLY think this is going to be the last of my issues. And rock on, Coffee Prince!!

(By the way, just in case you’re wondering about this “zen” business, I commented in my darkest hours of techie-related aggravation that I was trying to be zen. But that if things did not improve, I would have to resort to inventing a new violent strain of zen.)

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Oh holy frijoles this was a good episode.

I’ve been careful (I think) to indicate that I’ve been enjoying Coffee Prince, but held off on a verdict… Given a history of disappointments, I kept expectations low in starting this series; I just hoped it would be light fun. As of today’s episode, I can say with certainty that I love Coffee Prince. I was so curious to see how they’d handle the pseudo-homosexuality angle, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised.

The story works whether you see Eun Chan as a girl, of course, but also if, like me, you find yourselves occasionally forgetting and thinking she really is a male, or at least some kind of new hybrid gender. I’m telling ya, the actors are selling it, particularly Mr. Gong Yoo (Yoon Eun Hye is doing wonderfully as well, but I’m speaking specifically to the struggle with sexuality-questioning here). I actually believe Han Gyul as someone struggling with feelings of homosexuality, rather than merely thinking, “But she’s a girl so this is all moot.” It’s NOT moot — because the way they’re exploring his struggle is really rewarding for me.

(Background) SONG OF THE DAY

Arco - “Alien.” One of a few songs used in today’s episode.

COFFEE PRINCE Tenth Cup >>

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(Totally Random) SONG OF THE DAY

Il Mare - “I’m Crying” sung by Ji Young Seon. This is a totally random post, since it’s actually from a movie soundtrack — Il Mare (aka Siwole) starring Jeon Ji Hyun and Lee Jung Jae. But it just fit my mood at the moment, I guess. [ zShare download ]

 
I really liked this chapter. I didn’t want to say it at the time, but now that I’m done with 11, I can admit it wasn’t quite as interesting. It wasn’t bad, there just weren’t as many passages I wanted to quote. But now, things start to hint at an attraction that is something more than purely physical (which is what it’s mostly been thus far).

COFFEE PRINCE Chapter 12 >>

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(Random) SONG OF THE DAY

Vanilla Unity - “Dreamer” [ zShare download ]

 
Once again, it’s interesting to see how the drama has taken elements so closely from the book, but has used them to such different effect and in such differing context. I think I like that effect; it makes some of the reading familiar, but not repetitive.

COFFEE PRINCE Chapter 11 >>

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First things first. As usual, I thoroughly enjoyed the episode, and continue to enjoy the way they are progressing the relationship between Han Gyul and Eun Chan. But let me get this bit of criticism out of the way, and that is that this episode didn’t flow perfectly.

There were a few awkward transitions, which felt choppy at first. Disjointed. I think they were busy trying to squeeze in some new plot points to set us up for more stories — like exploring more about Han Gyul’s birth, for instance — and because elements felt shoehorned in, it disrupted the otherwise nice developments of the episode. Thankfully, that bit of awkwardness mostly occupied the first half (minus the very beginning, which was entirely too cute); the latter half was lovely.

 
(Background) SONG OF THE DAY

Arco - “Perfect World.” This song plays in one of the early scenes between Yu Ju and Han Sung.

COFFEE PRINCE Ninth Cup >>

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