The 'Incredible Bulk' came to dinner...

The "Big Ho" Himself

In the moment of his initial awakening...

(Image stolen from BigHominid's Hairy Chasms)

(Caution: faintheart alert below)

Let no one -- not even himself -- tell you that the Big Bloggin' Hominid is fat. He's just a big, bulky bloke ... an incredibly big, bulky bloke.

He's even bigger now, for last Friday evening, he stalked in and fed himself here at the Hwang-Hodges household.

On that same Friday evening, gorged like Grendel, the Big Ho returned to his lair and blogged about the feast. He titles his blogpost "stuffed," which I have pasted below, along with clarifying commentary [and occasional, bracketed remarks]:

It always seems to work out this way when I'm invited to dinner in Korea: I end up stuffed.

That often happens when you devour the children:

I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Hodges, his lovely wife, and their two wonderful children [burp] this evening. Conversation was comfortable and, as is appropriate in a family of scholars and children, it ranged all over. One minute we're talking Islam and Buddhism; the next we're talking about different kinds of pasta and "The Polar Express." Switching registers on the fly isn't easy when you're interacting with professors at one end of the table and kids at the other end, but I think I managed to keep the different lines of discourse straight in my head. I wasn't entirely successful, though: Dr. Hodges's daughter gave me a look at one point and said, "You talk strange."

Before she was silenced by the Big Ho's glowing eyes:

...him of éagum stód
from his eyes issued,

ligge gelícost / léoht unfaéger·
most like a flame, / a distorted light; (Beowulf 726-727)

And no fate-defying hero like Beowulf in sight...

The kids are totally bilingual; it was a hoot watching them interact with each other. Dr. Hodges's son is a bundle of energy; his daughter strikes me as very thoughtful (a future academic?).

But she only struck him once, and as for that aforementioned bundle of energy, it supplied all of the Big Ho's daily kilojoules-per-bite requirements.

Dinner was excellent: we started off with a very nice, creamy vegetable soup (I'm guessing broccoli as the main ingredient, but don't quote me on that), accompanied by some delicious homemade bread. "A meal in itself," as Dr. Hodges noted. I had to agree. The main course was bacon-wrapped chicken breast baked with rosemary; along with this were various vegetables: Korean sweet potatoes, squash, and regular potatoes.

We tried to redirect the Hominid's attention toward the bread. "A meal in itself," I suggested, but the Hominid devoured that 'meal' in one small bite. Merely an appetizer...

At one point during dinner, I suddenly felt claws gently tugging at the fingers of my right hand, which was resting on my thigh. This turned out to be one of the family's two cats, both of which are [were] very friendly. I'm happy to report that, unlike many Korean cats, these cats both have [had] their tails, and the tails are [were] unbroken! I gave both cats the chance to sniff my fingers. They must have decided I wasn't worth killing, because I finished dinner with no further clawing.

Also, no further cats.

Dessert was two kinds of grapes plus chocolate from around the world. Most tasty. Through it all, conversation was pleasant, both erudite and earthy. Very down-home. I came away from dinner with both a full stomach and the impression that I had just been welcomed into a very happy home. Sincere thanks to the good professor and his family for hosting me this evening. I hope one day to repay the favor, though I doubt I can do it by inviting everyone into my studio-sized dorm room.

Good God! The Hominid is still hungry and threatening to eat more! Yet ... he's a pleasant enough monster, well-spoken, polite, as erudite as Victor Frankenstein's great creation but even bigger. He passes himself off as human ... though he is surely something different, and dangerous.

Ah, Big Ho, "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?"

By the way, for the non-fainthearted who don't do but do want to read the Big Ho's blog, be sure that you're really NOT fainthearted. Consider this a faintheart alert.