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R.I.P. Daul Kim
Like many others on the internet, I used to read Daul Kim's blog (I Like To Fork Myself) - arguable one of the most interesting model blogs on the world wide web. She was funny, insightful, original and a fountain of quirky observations about the world around her. The first time I visited her website, she had just blogged about returning to South Korea, only to learn that her beloved guinea pig, Jamong, had died. Being Daul, she managed to turn its death into something simultaneously tragic, sweetly touching and vividly humorous.
and dad's like "so i have good news and bad news"
i was like "wat my guineapig died?"
"YEAH."
"whats the good news?"
"the other one's still alive"
SO CRUEL. but life is cruel.
my guineapig jamong has passed away on feburary 24th.
i am so sad
mother said it died because it was so fat and it died randomly while sleeping
im super sad i cried in the bath tub and went to sleep for 2 days.
but i feel thankful and lucky to have had jamong for my guineapig for the past 5 years
she was suppose to be snake food .....we rescued her and i feel sorry for not being there
for her cos of work and im so super sad because jamong made me so happy all the time...
she will be missed dearly...."
- DAUL KIM
1st March 2009
I bookmarked her blog that day - the 1st of March - and have been an avid reader since. I was therefore shocked and incredibly saddened to learn that she killed herself in her Parisian apartment. Not only was she a great model; she was also a funny and likeable blogger, and a fashion inspiration off the runway, with distinctive personal style and a penchant for experimental, avant garde clothing that she pulled off with aplomb. No matter what she wore, whether I personally liked it or not, it was always unique, always fearless, always Daul.
MAGAZINE: Vogue Girl Korea, August 2006
PHOTOGRAPHER: Kim Han Jun
MODEL: Daul Kim, of course.
EDITORIAL: Fallen Angel
MAGAZINE: Tank Magazine #10
PHOTOGRAPHER: Cameron Smith
MODEL: Daul Kim
EDITORIAL: Daul's World Issue 2
This is a great editorial peppered with quotes from I Like To Fork Myself - Daul's actual blog.
"I dressed as a brain today." Classic.
The Daul Monster lives.
Suicide is something that hits very close to home for me. I stayed over at a friend's home once, and while I slept, she killed herself in the next room. I woke up the next day to find her almost dead, but managed to get an ambulance in time. On another occasion, a friend rang me and attempted suicide by overdosing on pills while on the phone, telling me that if I hung up on her and called an ambulance, I would be a lousy friend and she would never forgive me. These are just two incidents out of many.
Often, I tell my friends: "If you're drunk out of your skull, don't call me. If you plan to call and tell me you're about to kill yourself, don't call me."
My reasons are simple. I don't get drunk. Ever. And getting smashed out of one's mind is no accident - it's a calculated choice based on personal knowledge of one's alcohol tolerance, and I'm not going to travel to some godforsaken club 45 minutes away at five o'clock in the morning to haul anyone's drunken arse back home just because they experienced a paucity of common sense. Being considerate enough not to inflict this sort of chore upon any of my friends, I expect the favour to be returned.
As for calling me to tell me they are going to commit suicide, that's just reason enough for me not to believe them. Anyone with a genuine intention to die would get up and do it - not broadcast it so that others might have a chance to stop them. I recognise a cry for attention when I see one, and I'm not willing to get sucked into someone's melodrama when they so blatantly abuse my concern for them.
But I do want all my dearest and closest to know that while I have no patience for fake suicide declarations and other such histrionics, I will always have time to listen to you when you feel like you are teetering on the edge, and even when you are not. You don't need to tell me you want to end it - I don't need to know because I will never convince you otherwise by telling you not to... but I can try to help in any capacity within my means, and instead of just words, perhaps I can do something to change your mind. I want you to never feel like you are alone with no one to reach out to because I will listen for as long as you need,
and I will never judge you.
