Toys Toys Toys

I need to stop buying things.  Or... I need to use the things that I buy.


I found a pretty cheap digital Yamaha piano on craigslist.  I need to get better.  I took lessons all growing up and I don't have much to show for it!  Lame.  Must practice.

Now that school is over, I can start getting into film stuff.  Rather... start doing film stuff and see how I like it.  I hope I do like it (and am somewhat decent at it) because I spent a good deal of money on this stuff.

And... for my birthday, I was sent this by Mr. Albert Yao.  Unbelievable.  Good thing I have an iMac to play it on.

Goodbye Summer Time

I can't believe the summer is over now.  It feels like yesterday I was finishing up school at USC and looking forward to the summer months.  It's September now and summer is rapidly ending.  It feels like the last few months went by relatively quickly and I have done a horrible job keeping tabs on what I've been up to.

I wrote a ton of stuff, deleted it, wrote some other stuff, and the decided to delete that too.  I couldn't word a lot of things the way I wanted to, so I decided to write a few phrases here and there and append some pictures to make it seem cool.

I think I'll try to do these in the sequence in which they happened.


Middle of May - Redondo Beach
Alfred and I needed to move places from our previous housing arrangement.  The owner of the condo wanted to sell the unit after our lease was up, so it was time for us to go.  We packed our bags and moved all... 4 blocks away.  One block south and a few blocks east.  Goodbye Catalina.  Hello Francisca.

Memorial Day Weekend - Denver

I made a trip out to the Mile High city at the end of May.  We had a pseudo-planned weekend filled with random things.  It was good seeing some college friends who I haven't seen in a while.  Hiking (one solid thing that was planned at Rocky Mountain National Park), lots of lounging around and just bumming, and exploring the city of Denver. [I remember saying that I wanted to live in Denver because it was a gorgeous place.  It still is.  But the altitude was killer.  I was completely winded after playing a game of basketball.  Perhaps that's just an indication that I need to get better in shape...]  There was this art fair deal thing going on that weekend so it was pretty sweet to check out.  I still have yet to sort through all of these pictures yet.  Fail.

End of June - Michigan

I went back to Michigan close to the end of June to attend Margaret's wedding.  The wedding was really cool because I thought it was very God-centered.  There was a small sermon given during the ceremony (with the pastor even playing guitar!) so that was very unique.  Afterwards, there was a talent show put on by some of Margaret and Hyden's younger siblings.  It was way cute.  I could tell that there was a lot of love and care at the wedding and that was encouraging.  I've only been to a few weddings in my life, but this was the first one that I've been to where the groom (Hyden) cut every single piece of cake for the guests.  That was way cool.  I guess it's pretty common for the wedding to be all about the people getting married, but this one seemed like it revolved a lot around family and how everyone was going to be in this together.  It was fun :) I was indeed at Hyden and Margaret's wedding.

July 4th - San Diego
I went down to San Diego for the 4th of July weekend to catch up with some friends.  Seems like this summer has been filled with Michigan people all over.  There were a good handful of us Michigan folk down in the SD area, some I haven't seen in years.  We played a lot of Bang.  I think that's all I remember.  Just kidding.  I remember more.  But seriously, we did play a lot of that game.  It was good catching up with people down there as well as the other folks who made it all the way down to California.

Mid August - JH Ranch
JH Ranch is a retreat site that our church [college and young adult] goes to once a year.  It's up way at the tip of California (almost bordering Oregon) so it's like a 10-12 hour ride (depending on how many people need to pee on the way up and how long we stop for food).  It was a good break from work and to be able to get out there and spend time in some church community.  The camp is a beautiful area with lots of trees and I like nature stuff, so that was pretty awesome.  Mr. Kenny was out there too so that was a big bonus.  The week was good.  Lots of fun activities that demonstrated a lot about team work and how we aren't able to do things by ourselves.  It was a needed message and it helped me feel more involved at church.  I think it was good for me to go to a retreat like this because it helped foster deeper relationships, deeper ones than the ones that I could develop on Friday nights or Sunday's at church.  So that was good.  It was here that I was deemed SR [Sensitively Reserved] by Madeline.  Hmm.. interesting.  This was also the first time that I've done a lot of jumping into water from high places and swinging from crazy things into water.  That was fun.

Mid August - YK2
YK2 is a smaller retreat that is designed for the younger kids at church.  I think it's focused on the junior high and high schools?  Maybe?  This retreat was a lot different than the previous one (see above) because I was able to be a small group leader and help facilitate a lot of discussion.  The beginning of this retreat sucked like whoa.  So JH Ranch was an intense week filled with a lot a lot of activities back to back to back.  I came back from JH and after taking a week off of work, had a lot of catching up to do.  This resulted in me putting in a ton of hours right before YK2.  End result was me getting sick.  So the first half of YK2, sickness combined with some other things going on, I felt miserable and didn't really want to do much.  It got better the second half and I was able to enjoy being there.  This retreat proved to be encouraging to me because it talked a lot about church family.  It's weird because I guess I consider SBECC my church family now... even though at times it's still kind of hard to do that.  I felt a lot more integrated so that was good.

Beginning of September - College Football
A good indication of summer ending is with football starting.  Michigan is off to a good start at 3 wins and 0 losses.  I hope this trend can continue.  Go blue. [no picture necessary]


So as the summer ends and poor Alfred starts back at USC and has to study and watch lecture, I do not.  For the first time in my life since way way early, I don't have school, don't have homework, and don't have to study for tests.  That's a good feeling.  However, I hope to start doing somewhat productive stuff to keep myself busy.  We'll see how it goes.


I can't believe the summer is coming to an end.  2010, you are going by so quickly.  Slow down please.

Simply Party!

Hmm... Random entry.  But delicious entry.

I've always just purchased the Simply Orange w/ Calcium and Vitamin D.  Guess I decided to branch out today. :)

Fight On?

Two years ago I started my Master's in Electrical Engineering.  A few Friday's ago, I finished.  I am so glad to be done.  Combining both work and school was fairly tough, but I was able to pull through (at least... I think I did.  I have yet to receive transcript) and get through the program.  I've been calling this summer my first "official" summer since kindergarten.  What I mean by that is... since age 5, I've gone on summer vacation between grades and always as August approached, I had the inkling in the back of my mind that school was rapidly coming back in full swing and it wouldn't be long until I was sitting in a classroom dozing off as the teacher taught stuff at the front of the classroom.  This year is different.  I took my last final and it was a final final.  This summer begins and when August rolls around, I won't have to go back. :) Yay.  So I guess I have my Master's now :) Doesn't feel any different.  Time to work 40 hours a week!

Thank you company for paying for everything.  I don't think I would have this degree if it weren't for that.  I am very grateful.

Going to the Car Wash...

I told myself that I wanted to take more pictures and that I would only blog provided that there was a picture that I took.  I have ideas that I want to blog about, but haven't taken the pictures yet, so they haven't been blogged as of yet...

Last week in Sunday School the reflection question was something along the lines of "Have you seen God's divine intervention in your life?"  I can answer that today with a yes.  Absolutely.

As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to take pictures of things (whether it be point and shoot or DSLR) and then write about them.  So this morning on my way to work I put my camera in the car.  I had only needed to go into work for a little bit because I needed to use the scanner to scan in my homework.  Got to work and scanned and turned in homework and headed back home.  I told myself that I wanted to go to the car wash today.  One of those self-serve kind of places.  Insert some coins, get some time, spray down car and boom... clean.  Except I had just done that recently and I didn't want to wash my car.  I just wanted to use the vacuum portion in the back.  Since I've had my car (June 2008), I have not vacuumed my car.  It hasn't gotten too dirty, but after many trips to the beach and a few flag football seasons with cleats and softball, it was time to do some vacuuming.  So here I am coming back from work thinking, "Oh, I'll stop by the vacuum place."  Except I chose not to.  I had my work clothes on and it was fairly hot outside and I decided I'd come back later.  I'm lazy.

I get home and decide to skate to the beach to do some reading.  I hop on my skateboard and think to myself, "oh, I could take some pictures at the beach and then write about them.  I had some topics in mind already and I knew I could find pictures along the way."  Crap.  If you remember, I had brought my camera to my car earlier in the day and I left it there.  I wasn't about to bring my DSLR to the beach to get sand all over it.  Lame sauce.  Maybe another day I thought.  Perhaps I just wasn't meant to take pictures today.

I come back from the beach a good deal later (also had some pretty good clam chowder in a bread bowl, but that's a different story) and I decide that maybe now is a good time to go to the car wash to vacuum my car.  It was evening time now and it wouldn't be as hot.  I had hoped there there would be lights around the vacuum area.  

I pull into the car wash happily noticing that there are lights. "I'll be in and out of here in no time," I thought to myself as I made it to the back of the car wash place where the vacuums were located.  I noticed a man on the left most vacuum just walking around.  We exchanged looks and I went along and prepared my car for its cleaning.  I started taking off the floor mats and banging the sand off of them.  To my surprise, my car actually was a lot cleaner than I thought.  I have these all-weather floor mats so they are a rubber material and are relatively easy to clean.  I started taking them out and by the time I made it around to the passenger side (I started from 12 o'clock and worked my way around counter-clockwise), the gentleman that was on the left most vacuum came up to me and said hi.  I said hi back and he handed me his business card.  The business car said something about a hair design place and I noticed that his name was Roy.  Roy told me that he works right up there (he pointed right next to the car wash place, 2nd floor) and that if I ever needed a haircut, I should come to him.  I told him that I was getting my hair cut for a pretty good deal right now and that the price would be hard to beat.  [Thank goodness for Mai and Michelle and Dynasty Hair Salon off of Inglewood].  He asked how much I paid.  I told him it was 10 dollars.  Roy told me he charged 16 dollars but it would be well worth it.  I asked him why.

Here's where the story gets interesting.  Roy starts talking about how he's not just a normal hair cutting place but that he cares for his customers and he does this special scalp treatment that is supposed to be good for the body.  He seems like he knows what he's talking about so I nod and smile and he continues.  He went to Europe for some time to get training and now he's back in the United States taking care of people's hair.  He seemed like a very legitimate man, very cordial and very nice.  I asked him questions here and there and he had a response.  My biggest takeaway from his hair cutting speech was that he's not just some place that customers go and get their hair cut, pay, and leave.  But rather he has this philosophy about taking care of the body and soul.  So I guess he uses these "all-natural" products when he washes hair afterwards.  Apparently people come in from San Diego, Palm Springs, Northridge, etc, just to come to Roy.  I wouldn't doubt it.  He seemed like he knew what he was talking about.  Then he said something very interesting to me.

Roy (paraphrased): "I take care of my body because I want to live very long and be happy.  I don't think we're meant to be here just to not be happy, so I do what I can to be happy."

I immediately felt like God was saying to me, "Jon, why don't you interject here and say something." This was odd.  We used to have this contact evangelism back at Michigan where a group of us would go out and spread the Gospel.  We had these pamphlets that was called "Two Ways to Live" that we'd talk to.  I did that a few times and even once at Wayne State during our D-UP trip.  But have I talked to a complete stranger out of the blue about God before? No.  This was rather new.  I held off for a bit, not really wanting to change subjects, so I nodded and he continued.  Roy talked for a little bit and then he said something else.

Roy (paraphrased again): "A lot of people here don't take care of their bodies here and they suffer for it.  I don't think we're meant to suffer.  We're good people."

God (maybe also paraphrased): "JON, WAKE UP"

Ok then.  I stepped in for a moment and sheepishly asked, "Roy... let me ask you a question, have you heard the good news of Jesus Christ?"

And here began a very interesting conversation.  Roy had grown up in the Catholic church, but by the way he was talking, he did not practice it anymore.  He even admitted that he didn't practice anymore.  He told me that he didn't think we needed to read the Bible and that it was all in here (he said here as he pointed to his mind).  I told him I disagreed and thought that it was very important that we read the Bible.  He said he read it twice (once because his mom made him read it and once because he just wanted to read it as a story) and since then, hasn't read it.  He said he believed he knew it all.  I told him I don't think that's enough and that he wouldn't remember much if that was all he read.  He begged to differ.  I asked him if he's heard of Job (I was reading that earlier today).  He said yes.  I told him to tell me the story of Job.  He thought for a moment and then said...."that's where God told him to kill his own son?"  I chuckled a bit and said I think you have the wrong guy, that's Abraham.  I told him he should read his Bible more often!  He then said something about how the Old Testament was filled with a lot of negativity and didn't think it applied anymore.

We had differing views.  Roy believed in a God... or rather... a god.  I don't think it was the same God that I believe in, but he believed that there was a supreme being, a creator, a father.  It seemed that he was jaded in the sense that he's seen what happens when people go to church.  He was saying that people go to church, read the Bible, and then come out of it still calling people names, still cutting people off when they drive, still do all these bad things.  I told him I agreed and that I thought that was unfortunate [Christians do get looked at as hypocrites a lot... that is pretty sad], but it's not the going to church and the Bible reading that did those things.  It's the sinful nature within us.  I asked him if he thought people were good or bad and he said good.  We disagreed again and I told him I think we're all sinful, way back to the actions of Adam and Eve.  He told me that God is love and that love is God.  I agreed with him.  He said that if God is love, then he'd only want the best for us and for us to be happy.  I told him that God does want the best for us, but it isn't about our happiness, it's about God getting glory.  Roy didn't believe that God could do things that wouldn't make us happy (example: putting Abraham through the thought of killing Issac).  

It seemed that Roy believed that God is out there just to make us happy.  We're to lead fulfilling lives and have money and success and be happy.  I think he's mistaken and he's not seeing the bigger picture.  We're here to bring God glory, and that's all there is to it.  He seemed a very... new age-y, very spirit-y mentality.  He told me that he believed people should meditate instead of reading the Bible.  I told him I didn't think so.

At the end I asked if I could pray for him.  He said, "you or me?" I told him that I would pray for him and he agreed to listen.  I prayed that God would reveal himself to Roy and that God would remind us (both him and me both) of his love for us and in turn that we would learn to love him more and more.  We said Amen and he parted back to his store.

God's divine intervention?  As I left from that prayer back to vacuuming my car, (well, starting to vacuum my car) I realized that earlier in the day I had put my camera inside.  I took out my camera with a smile and took this following picture.

Had I not come back later in the day and just went to the car wash earlier in the day, I would've not met Roy.  Had I taken out my camera to go to the beach, I probably would not have put it back in.  Then I wouldn't have been able to take the above picture and I wouldn't have been able to blog about it.  Thank you God for the small reminders that you will work greatly in our lives.  I pray that you would draw Roy closer to you.  Roy seemed like he was a very happy man, but I pray that his happiness would be found only in you.

marco... POLO

I saw an ad on t.v. the other day that mentioned Old Navy was having a "one day wonder" sale or something along those lines.  They were having a sale on Saturday (today) for $5 polos.  Now this intrigued me.  For one, I have been slowly switching over to polos for work, instead of nicer dressier shirts.  The polos tend to be slightly more comfortable, and I can wear a track jacket over them, which is what I normally do.  And secondly, the mere fact that they were $5 each instead of the typical $15 was definitely an indication that I should go and check it out.


I came back with 6 new shirts!  My closet is full of "nicer clothes" that are work appropriate and I think this is a small sign that I am growing up.  No longer are my clothes just free t-shirts that I get during Welcome Week or Festifall at Michigan, but they actually have collars on them.  This is pretty exciting.  But the unfortunate news is that I don't have as much orange clothing as I used to have.  However, I did get one orange polo today.  The majority of my clothes now are solid bland colors and no logos. [opposite of free t-shirts as those were always way brightly colored and laced with sponsors on the back.]  I guess I'm just a plain type of guy.


Welcome to the working world, Jon.

Absent Minded

I have a pretty good memory.  It's proved to be helpful throughout the years, both in academics and just... well life in general.  I wouldn't necessarily say I have a photographic memory, but I do a fairly decent job remembering things that happen both directly to me and around me.  However, with this said, I seem to also do a very good job at losing stuff.  I'll remember later how I lost it, but by then it'll be too late.  Or sometimes I won't even remember how I lost it, I'll just know that it went away.


Since Tuesday, I have not been able to find my watch.  I've been going to work without one and that just feels odd to me.  Ever since I can remember, I've always had a watch and whenever people ask me the time, I always glance down at it and provide a prompt answer.  Last night someone asked what time it was.  I looked down only to see my bare wrist.  :(.  Boo.  I wanted to find my watch!  I searched everywhere I could for it, thinking that it was in my pant, jackets, car, car... and car.  [my car is a mess, so I had to look here multiple times.]  I couldn't find it and I was upset because this would've been the second watch I've lost.  I am quite proficient at losing things.  And if it's the first time I lose something, I don't feel as bad. [I somehow justify it in my mind that it's ok...]  But second time, well that's just unacceptable.  


//begin sidenote of things I can remember losing
1) Watch - snowboard trip, I claim that it fell off my hand... over my gloves... and lost somewhere in the snow.  I don't really know what happened
2) Camera charger - same snowboard trip.  Left in the room.  Remembered on the way back home
3) Prescription sunglasses - when I was younger and lived in Pittsburgh.  Left them sitting somewhere in Chinese school
4) Neoprene ankle wrap - wore to weekend retreat because I had just sprained ankle a few weeks ago playing basketball.  I left it on the cabin bed :(
5) Neoprene ankle wrap - DANG IT.  SECOND ONE.  Lost this one somehow after a flag football game.  Now I only have one.
6) Snowboard goggles - Left these somewhere around the car when coming back from day at snowboarding.
7) Camera - left in rental car on recruitment trip to LA.  Tried to contact the car rental company immediately after, but they said they had already given out car. Lame.
8) Football play holder for wrist - somehow lost this after a flag football game.  Now I need to get another one and remake all my plays!
//end sidenote


So given my relatively extensive history with losing things, imagine my dismay to find out that I have lost my second watch.  I guess watches aren't too expensive, but it was more so the principle of losing things and being completely absent minded that bothered me.  


Friday morning, I check my backpack and find my watch sitting peacefully down at the bottom.  w00t. Mission accomplished.  I won't need to get a new watch.  Hopefully I will be better about losing stuff in the future and keeping track of things that I own.

Good Weekend

Last weekend was an adventure. A fun adventure.


Friday:
It started off with Alfred and I leaving work and heading out to Rowland Heights (Taiwan/Korea) to meet up with Sky for dinner. [Sky was visiting from NY, she normally doesn't live out here].  We were stuck in traffic and traffic is lame.  But we actually made fairly decent time and got there at a reasonable hour.  Dinner that night was Taiwanese food.  I haven't had Taiwanese food in the longest time and I told myself I was going to eat a lot.


We ended up going to a place called Class 302.  Some type of classroom setting atmosphere and chalkboards and wooden tables resembling desks in class.  Check it.

We looked at the menu and I saw that it had Beef Noodle Soup.  Done.  I was planning on getting that.

After I finished, I was still hungry / just wanted to eat more, so I ordered one more bowl of noodle soup.  This time it was Pig's Feet Noodle Soup.  Ok ok, I know that sound gross, but trust me, it's delicious.

I finished both of the noodle soups and I was completely full and felt like a glutton.  Such a pig. [ha..ha..the irony of feeling like a pig after eating pig's feet].  Anyways, I don't think I had food that good in such a long time.  I'm so glad I like Taiwanese food. :)


To top it all off, we got this fancy dessert thing called shaved snow.  It isn't like the typical shaved ice, but it was a lot fluffier and it was incredible.  Mmm... delicious.  


Afterwards... I felt disgusting.  We decided the best thing to do was to talk around for a bit to help digest the food.  We walked around the plaza and then into the next adjacent plaza.  And there it was.  A sign for foot massages. "Foot massage for 15 dollars." I had never seen anything so cheap before and we inquired as to how long it was.  It was for an hour.  Sky called up her relatives and indicated that we might be out a little longer (due to getting the massages) and they gave her the ok so in we we went.  I had heard before in the news that there were a lot of sketchy massage places in these parts of town.  I prayed that it wouldn't be one of these.  Thankfully it wasn't.


All 3 of us sat down on these enormous chairs ready for our foot massages when one of the ladies convinced us that the 30 minute foot / 30 minute body was a much better deal because a full hour of feet might be somewhat boring.  We went with her recommendation.  Soon I found myself face down on my HUGE stomach filled with my HUGE dinner inside while this crazy Chinese lady was literally standing on my back and walking around.  The massage was wonderful.  My stomach, not so much.  But overall, the massage was an interesting experience.  It was pretty decent.  Very random because we weren't planning on getting one, but sometimes spontaneous events can be fun :)  The night was a success.


Saturday:
I woke up early in the morning to head over to Jack's because we were going snowboarding.  We arrived close to 6:00 am and were on our way!  There were 4 of us guys all together and we met 2 more friends at the McDonald's right outside of the exit to Mt. High.  

It was a fun day.  We hit the slopes pretty hard and were able to get a lot of good runs in.  We even attempted to go on larger jumps!  (Still not able to get as much air as we probably would've liked, but fun nonetheless).  I lost my goggles though :(. On our way back, we stopped by the Rowland Heights area for dinner.  It felt totally like deja-vu because I had just been there the previous night.  We were literally driving on the same streets as we had just one day ago.  We got some more delicious food and then made our way back to the South Bay, where we attempted to watch Hurt Locker but that plan failed because we couldn't find it anywhere.


Sunday:
Church for a good portion of the day filled with 2 sermons that were very encouraging to hear.  Hurt Locker eventually happened that night.  No Skype meeting happened on Sunday because I was on spring break!  w00t.  


Good weekend.  Now this week of spring break is over, and it's time to get back into the grind of school!  Only 1.5 months left until freedom.  Can't wait.

I Don't Want To Miss A Thing

Tonight I was driving back home from a basketball game and I decide to tune in to 103.5 Love Songs on the KOST.  I think a girl named Lauren dedicated a song to...someone.  Maybe Steve?  I forget.  Anyways, the song that was played was Aerosmith - I Don't Want to Miss a Thing.


The song reminded me of the movie Armageddon, which then reminded me of back when I was in junior high.  I was in Pittsburgh at this time.  We went on some type of winter retreat through AWANA to some .... giant cabin of some sort.  I don't exactly remember where it was or what we really did there, but I do remember watching Armageddon for the first time.  I think I remember really wanting to see it, but never got around to seeing it, so it was fairly convenient that we watched it during our retreat.  I think I also remember having some type of snowball fight during our time at the giant cabin.  The guys stayed downstairs in bunks and the girls stayed way upstairs on the second floor or something.  We probably talked about which girls we liked, if any, before we went to sleep.


I can't believe it's been.... almost 10 years since that time.  A lot of happened since then.  I moved away shortly after that retreat to Michigan.  I started and finished high school.  I started and finish college.  I moved to California and I'm almost done with graduate school.


Sometimes I wonder how life would be different had I stayed in a certain place longer, or had I not moved, or had I gone somewhere else for college, or had I chosen another job.  It's kind of weird to think about.  I wonder if I'm becoming less extroverted.  I enjoy driving by myself in silence and just walking around outside sometimes at night.

I hope my good memory sticks with me as my life continues to unfold, because I really don't want to miss a thing.


***EDIT***
Right after the song ended, I was at the intersection of Aviation and PCH waiting at the traffic light.  I looked next to me and saw a guy sitting his car doing the most obscure thing ever.  He was brushing his teeth.  I wondered... how is he going to do this?  He has to rinse his mouth of all the toothpaste.  How was he going to do this?  He thought of this.  He had 1 bottle to spit in and 1 bottle of water that he used to rinse.  Genius.  He probably had done this before.  My assumption: He was on his way to a date.

Your Mom Goes To College

I feel like I'm in college again...


This is the third time I've been to USC in the past week (1 presentation and 2 tests) and I find myself currently sitting in a library looking outside the window preparing for my last midterm ever (God willing).  This campus is quite different from the Ann Arbor campus that I've been used to for all of my undergraduate career.  Everyone here is either on a beach cruiser bike or on a skateboard.  Or so it seems.  The fountains are gleefully spraying water into the air without a care in the world.  And well, the weather... yeah, we won't need to get into that.  I think this is the busiest I've seen campus in my 4 semesters that I've "been" at USC. (note the been is in quotes because I don't really come here... just for exams).  I should have brought my skateboard so I can join all the cool kids skating from class to class.  Maybe next time.


This feels weird.  Undergrad seems so far away.  Guess this is part of growing up :)


p.s.  Is it wrong of me to state that the sorority girls still look the same? Black sweatpants with letters of house on thigh, giant bag, sunglasses, and Uggs? 

Princes and Frogs

My iPod was on shuffle the other day at work and I heard a song that I've never heard before.  I knew the artist, but the song was new to me.  Artist - Superchick.  Song - Princes and Frogs.


Here are some of the lyrics:

All princes start as frogs

All gentlemen as dogs

Just wait till it's plan to see

What we're growing up to be

Cause some frogs will still be frogs

Some dogs will still be dogs

But some boys can become men

Just don't kiss us till then

Aren't those lyrics so true?

//begin sidenote:

 I think I have pretty weird and random taste in music.  I think when I find an artist that I like (whether it's the actual kind of music or the lyrics that they sing, I listen to them constantly for a decent amount of time and then I'll move onto something else.  Recently... I've gone through several phases.  I don't exactly remember the order that these go in, but here's a list of the artists that come immediately to mind.
Owl City
Taylor Swift
Casting Crowns
Boys Like Girls
Train
Five for Fighting
Tenth Avenue North
//end sidenote


Anyways, I heard the Superchick song and I think I totally agree with what was said.  Guys start off pretty much as dogs.  A while back a movie was released into theaters starring Katherine Heigl and Gerald Butler.  The movie was called "The Ugly Truth."  The movie depicted how guys tend to only have one things on their mind and that they'll do just about anything to sleep with a girl.  I thought the movie was very sad, but very true.


I think society has pounded in the message that guys need to go around and sleep with as many women as possible because that's what gives us "worth."  After all, sex is fun, right?  Well... yes and no.  I think in the right context, sex can be amazing.  This context is marriage.  Outside of a marriage, sex is messy and can lead to lots of problems.


Back to the truth about the song.  I think as sinful beings, guys tend to think about sleeping with girls far more than they will probably admit (or maybe some willingly admit it).  So for those guys that say that they don't think about it, they are probably lying.  And here's where God comes in.  I believe that only through God's grace and mercy are guys allowed to take all of their messed up thoughts and turn from them.  God promises us so much more than just temporary pleasure and worldly satisfaction.  Thus, I strongly believe that the only way for guys to turn from dogs and frogs to princes and gentlemen is through the power of Christ.  And it's not an easy process, but it's through a refining process that takes work and effort.


So what does a gentleman look like?  I've been reading some articles that do a fairly decent job of defining it.
-The guy needs to be a believer
-The guy must be able and willing to provide for his family
-The guy must love sacrificially
-The guy must be honest, have a good reputation and strive for the qualities of a spiritual leader
For a more detailed look, click here (yeah yeah, I know the articles are about preparing for marriage... deal with it :))


So girls, make sure you confirm that the guy you are with is a gentleman before you kiss him :).

Costly Mistake...

Last Thursday or Friday... my TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) thing went off indicating that my tire pressure was low.  I ignored it because the last few times I've been to the mountains for snowboarding, the TPMS also went off.  I guess something about the cold or snow getting to the sensors triggers it and my car beeps at me.  I figured it was a similar situation this time, so I ignored.  It was raining a little bit so maybe the rain got to it?


This was not the case.  I drove on Friday and drove again on Saturday.  I spent most of the day in the library on Saturday and when I left, I noticed that my tire was a little flat (rear left).  I didn't really do much about it and filled it up later that evening, hoping it would be fine the next morning.  I drove to church on Sunday and didn't think much of it.  After church, I looked at the tire and it was completely flat and I was not a happy camper.  Kenny suggested that I put the spare on instead of driving on the flat tire.  I obliged.  I drove down to America's Tires on the spare only to find out that it was closed on Sunday's.  Boo.  It was too late at this point to go to Firestone so I ran some errands and went home.  I figured I'd come back to America's Tires on Monday.


I went into work for a little on Monday and then made my way to America's Tires.  Long story short, I should not have driven on the flat tire because that totally killed it.  Had I checked the tire when the TPMS light went on, I could've had America's Tires patch up the nail for free and everything would have been good.  But... because I waited a few days AND drove on the flat tire, the sidewalls of the tire were chewed through and completely demolished.  Thank God the rims weren't damaged.  These tires have only seen 11,000 miles and now I needed to replace two of them.  Yes, two of them.  They recommend that you replace right and left tire for even wear.  


300 + dollars later I have two new tires for my car.  Expensive lesson.  But lesson learned.


Spiritual lesson: When there is any sign of anything going wrong in your life (sins, temptations, etc), bring it up with God immediately. If you wait and wait and wait thinking that it will be ok to take care of later, you may be in for a surprise and find out that by waiting, you just made things worse.

Mixed Veggies!

Today I was eating lunch in the cafeteria. I got the quarter chicken with 2 sides. This was nothing new. I've purchased this before. My two sides are usually the same as well. Stuffing and mixed vegetables. But today turned out to be slightly different. I finished the chicken and finished the stuffing. I was happily munching on my mixed vegetables when I bit into what I thought might've been asparagus. I guess I could've went and asked the cafeteria people if this was really asparagus, but I figured it probably wasn't and that maybe I tricked myself or something. So I continued to finish the mixed vegetables.


//begin sidenote.


I've been eating a TON of frozen mixed vegetables lately.  I went out on a limb maybe half a year ago and purchased a bag of frozen green beans from Von's. I always enjoyed fresh green beans, but being the fairly lazy person that I am, I did not want to go through the hassle of washing, then cutting, then cooking the green beans. So frozen it was. I have not been eating bags of both frozen green beans AND frozen sugar snap peas. The Von's kind are much better than the Albertson's kind. I want to try other frozen vegetables to see if they are also good. Perhaps broccoli. Although broccoli doesn't sound like it would be that good frozen. I don't know why. Instead of cooking them on a stove like any normal human being, I "pseudo-steam" in the microwave. Put some vegetables in a bowl, add some garlic/salt/pepper, cover with another plate, and nuke it for like 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Out comes deliciousness. Or...close to deliciousness. Any recommendations on frozen vegetables?


//end sidenote.


I wonder if they sell the same type of mixed vegetables in the frozen aisle. Broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, zucchini, and maybe asparagus? Anyways, I was still curious about whether or not they put in asparagus. From what I remember, asparagus isn't that cheap so I wondered why it would be in there.  I finished my lunch and didn't think more of it.


<<<<< fast forward 30 minutes later <<<<<


It was asparagus. How did I know? I went to the bathroom because I needed to pee. It smelled like asparagus. I'm glad no one was in the bathroom with me because I was definitely chuckling to myself. I left the bathroom with a smile on my face. Oh the simple pleasures of life.


Moral of the story: If you ever wonder if what you are eating is asparagus but feel like it's weird to ask, just have patience. You will know soon enough.

Flag Football: Dumb Play By Me

Flag football season started again last night!  w00t w00t.


We came away with a win so that was pretty sweet.


The score was 28-26 and we were up.  We had the ball with about 1 minute left and all we needed to do was get a first down. Then we could run out the clock and we'd win.  The opposing team had 2 timeouts and was trying to stop us from getting the first down.  We ran a few plays and it became 3rd and short and then we ran a play that got us to 4th and inches.  However, there was some pushing on our line during that play so the opposing team had a decision to make.  Accept penalty (3rd and longer) or decline penalty (4th and inches).  They decided to decline the penalty and so it was 4th and inches.  We call a play, line up, and execute...fairly decently.  We get the first down.


Now there are maybe 15 seconds on the clock and we had a 1st down.  We didn't need to do anything and we could've just won.  Just like that.  I could've just kept the ball and run around, I could've handed the ball off, I could've done just about anything.  But I didn't.  Brain fart happened and I decide to launch the ball straight up into the air... not really directed at anyone.  I immediately regretted the decision.  The play resulted in a turnover because they intercepted it.  The entire team looked at me and started yelling. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!? YOU SHOULD'VE JUST KEPT IT." I laughed and shook my head saying, "whoops..."  So now there were 7 second left on the clock and if the other team scored, they would win.  They still had the entire field to go so I thought it was nearly impossible.  But nevertheless my team wasn't the happiest with me.  I guess I didn't make such a smart decision. I came off the field because I don't play defense and the last play of the game happens.  I guess I built up this story a lot, but long story short, we still ended up winning.  They tried a deep throw but we were able to knock it down.


After that play I said to my team, "I just wanted to get your hearts beating some, make you worry for a little!"


I don't think they enjoyed it.  Dumb play by me.  Oh well :)

Hmm... Interesting Dream

Yesterday I had a weird dream...


I woke up at 6:55 AM when my alarm went off.  I made the mistake of falling back asleep for the next 40 minutes and then ended up even more tired.  However, during this time, I had a very weird dream.


//begin dream
Alfred and I had just finished eating at Sushi Teriyaki on 5th and PCH.  We had crossed the street (PCH) and then I go, "crap, I forgot my wallet back at the restaurant." So I have to go back and get it.  I decide to wait for no cars and then I bolt across the street.  As soon as I get across the street, I hear sirens.  Lame.  Cops pull up to me and get me for jaywalking.  The cops ask me for my license and I tell them I don't have it because I left it in the restaurant.  So they tell me that we can go in and they ask me if I know that so and so teacher (forget name) lives there.  I tell them that I don't know who that teacher is and we proceed to go inside the restaurant.


Once we get in the restaurant, I go to the line and ask them if they have seen my wallet.  They say no and proceed to talk to the cops.  Apparently the cops come here a lot and are good friends. Weird.  The cops order some food and I'm still trying to talk to the cashier lady to see if she's found my wallet.  She is busy and occupied. There are now a group of what appear to be 4 high school girls in line.  The girls have a ton of these coupons and the cashier lady says that she can't accept them.  The girls don't have enough money to pay for their meal so they bust out their report cards and ask the cashier lady if they can get a discount due to good grades.  The cashier lady says no.  She goes on to mention that maybe they could ask the teacher that lives upstairs to come down and help them out because the teacher gets a group discount.  The high school girls ask each other if they have the teacher's number.  The girl who seemed like she was the head of the group checked her phone and said yes she does.  So they proceed to call him up.


Meanwhile, I am still standing there in line (mind you, the front of the line) waiting to see if I can find my wallet.  I look over at the cops.  They are eating and enjoying themselves.  I need my wallet.  I ask cashier lady and she point me to a stack of receipts and credit cards.  For some reason there are just receipts and credit cards in a pile.  I don't know why.  I sift through that pile and of course, my wallet is right in the middle of it.  I give the cashier lady a weird look, grabbed my wallet, and went to sit with the police officers.


I get to the table where the cops are sitting and they ask me for my license and I hand it to them.  They look at it and then ask me if I knew what I was doing earlier [jaywalking].  I say yes and I apologize and tell them that I was just in a rush to get my wallet back.  They tell me that I'll have to check in with them now.  I ask them what they mean.  They say "if you get into any sort of mix-ups, you will have to call us and let us know." I ask them to explain.  The cops say "if you find yourself with llamas or elephants, you will need to call us." I was confused.  I say to them "so if I were to drive down to San Diego and go to the Wild Animal Park and see llamas or elephants, I'd have to call you guys?"  The cops look at me with this kind of pissed off look and say "No.  If you get into trouble with the police, you will have to let us know."  I say "oh... I understand." (but not really understanding because I didn't see the point of the llamas and elephants.


//end dream


I then woke up and had to go to work.


So the dream had 2 elements that I thought may have been relevant to real life.  1) rushing in life and 2) police officers.  The first one is because I have a busy week.  Monday night = flag football night. Tuesday night = basketball night.  Wednesday night = work with team to get presentations/homework done. Thursday night = present the team projects on campus. Thursday night + Friday morning = work to get homework done for Friday afternoon.  Friday night = relax.  So maybe all of the things that were going on in my head caused the weird dream of mine?  The second is police officers.  On my way snowboarding on Saturday, I drove through the intersection when it was completely green.  It was one of those intersections that has cameras and will snap a picture of you if you run the red light.  I think the camera took a picture of me :(.  I don't really know why though because it was completely green.  It wasn't even yellow yet.  So maybe I'm paranoid.  Anyways, random dream and I don't even know why I just spent so much time writing about it.  Oh well.


I have very vivid dreams.  They are pretty cool.

It's Not About Me...

There's kind of a weird joy when you realize that the lives here on this earth aren't really our lives.  I mean sure, they seem like they are... we choose where we drive to in the morning, we decide where we're going to eat.  I mean, we even have the choice to stay up all night and be completely tired at work tomorrow.  But at the end of the day and at the end of our lives, all these choices that we make seem so meaningless, they all seem...."so what?"


There has been a lot going on in my life in the past few weeks and I'm now totally convinced that my life is not really mine, but it belongs to God.  All the thoughts that I have, all the words that I say, and all the actions that I do... should be for the Maker of the universe, the Creator of the heavens and the earth.  And so I ask the fundamental question of why? Why should our lives be for someone other than ourselves?  We work hard throughout school to move onto the next grade, get into a decent college only to study more, to hopefully get that decent job where we can work and have "the good life."  Society tells us that we should be who we want to be.  We should do what we want to do and make our lives what we want to make of it.  Is this how it was intended?  I don't think so...


I've realized that everything about me (the way I look, my weird humor, odd personality, etc) all have come from my Creator.  Before I was born, God knitted me in my mother's womb (Psalm 139) and He had a plan laid out for me.  And in His infinite wisdom He created me for one sole purpose.  And that's to glorify Him in all I do.  Now often times I worry about that plan and I try to take things into my own hands.  I want my own life to go a certain way because it's comfortable to be in control.  Uncertainty is what we dislike. It makes us sick to our stomachs.  So we put on our own crowns and we play king because it makes us feel powerful.  Or... at least for the time being.  But I take a step back and I think to myself, "Really?  I'm going to put on my pseudo-crown and pretend to be king of my own life when I know that God not only created me, but also the entire universe?"  I'm so small... I'm so insignificant... yet the Maker of the heavens and the earth loves me as if I were His own child.  Now that is powerful.  Now that is worthy to be praised.  And who am I to do anything against what God wants me to do.


So God, I give You the crown.  You deserve it. Take control of my life and lead me where You want me to go. I trust Your path is much better than mine.


p.s. Today is Valentine's Day.  Thank You God for loving us first so that we know how to love others.  Thank You for Your ultimate demonstration of love in sending Your Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins so that we may have a relationship with You.


:)

Snowboard Repair: Forever Marked

Last week I wrote this huge sidenote post about how sweet it was to have my new snowboard. [This was the 155 cm Neversummer].  I was able to go again this past weekend to another local mountain.  This place was known to be a little....rockier.  You will soon see why

Stupid rocks.  Now I have a giant gash on the back of my snowboard and as you can tell from the bottom picture, it brings a frown to my face. :(

Spiritual Lesson:

Consider the snowboard mankind.  Consider the giant gash on the back of it our sinful nature in life.  The more scratched up the back of the board gets, the poorer the performance of the board.  The smooth ride that was once enjoyed before is likely to be rough and choppy now.  Also, if the gashes get deep enough, it can begin to affect the core of the board, thus causing damage much deeper than just at the surface.  Likewise, the more sin that we have in our life, the less capability we have to perform in our lives [up to God's standards].  Sin smothers us and makes it hard for us to enjoy life to the fullest.  God never designed for our boards to be ridden with these flaws in them, yet we bring these gashes in on our own (me running over the dumb rock).  Our lives begin to suffer due to our sinful nature and the deeper we get into sin, the more likely we are to never recover...

How do we fix this?

There are a lot of ways to potentially fill the gash in the snowboard.  Maybe I could just coat the base of the snowboard in wax to fill in the gaps.  Maybe I could use some type of glue or an epoxy type substance.  Maybe I could put stickers over it to make it less noticeable (yeah right, I'd need like 1000 stickers :( ).  All of these are valid methods, but none of them will make the board like new again.  Well, except for one thing.  P-tex. (google p-tex and you will see what it does).  This p-tex candle will fill in the gaps in the base of the snowboard and will make it as if the gash was never there to begin with.  However, it's not too easy of a process.  Before the p-tex is applied, the base needs to be sanded so all the rough edges are taken out. After this, the p-tex can then be used.  P-tex comes as a candle and it needs to be heated up before it is applied.  Once the candle is heated up, small melted p-tex droplets will drip from the candle onto the board, filling the gaps.  This needs to be done over all the areas that are scratched up.  Once the gaps are filled, there needs to be a scraping phase. (There will be leftover p-tex that overflows the gaps that need to be scraped off.)  Once the scraping off is complete, a fine sanding needs to happen.  This will ensure that the bottom of the board is smooth just as it was before the scratches and gashes.  The board can now be re-waxed.  Now the board rides like new again!  However, the cosmetic marks that were left behind from the scratches will always be there.  Those the p-tex won't be able to hide.

In our own personal lives, it is fairly common to try and fix our own problems.  We seek worldly means to make us happy (money, success, relationships, etc).  But just like the snowboard, there is really only one way to fix the issue of our sin.  This is through Jesus Christ.  He is the one way that will cleanse us of our sin and restore us back to the way we were intended to be, allowing us to ride nice and smooth.  However, much like the p-tex process, it is fairly intensive.  When God cleanses us, it's never an easy process.  Sometimes it's tough, sometimes it's hard, and often times it hurts.  Nevertheless, God uses it for His glory.  He doesn't promise that it'll be simple, but He does tell us that He'll never leave our side.  And similarly, our lives should be marked forever due to the grace and mercy that God has shown us.  The love that God displayed to us should be displayed to others as well.  That we should not hide.


Check it.  As it turns out, the fix was more than just a p-tex repair.  It also required base weld.  w00t.

Let It Snow...

This past weekend I was able to go snowboarding in probably the best conditions that I have ever gone snowboarding.  It rained for a week straight here in L.A. and all the local mountains were pummeled with snow. Before I went snowboarding, I wanted to get a few things arranged...


//begin side story

Last year I purchased a Ride snowboard on craigslist, complete with boots and bindings, for $150.  If you know  a few things about snowboarding and how expensive it can be, you would agree with me that for $150, the deal I got was pretty sweet.  However, there was one slight problem. The board was a little too long for me.  The boots fit fine, the bindings were in good shape, but the board was slightly longer than I had hoped for.  The board measured 162 cm.  I learned on a 155 cm, so these extra 7 cm (yes, I know, only 2.7559 inches) messed up everything.  Nevertheless, the package was a good deal, so I kept it.


I used the Ride board for a year and decided that I wanted to shift back to a shorter board, where I might feel more comfortable. I looked on craigslist again but couldn't really find anything that would fit me. (See, I want a sweet design on the board too because, let's be honest, snowboarding is at least 90% looks).  On my way back from work last week, I stopped by a local snowboard shop to talk to them about rentals.  Some friends were going to join me at the mountain and needed to rent and I wanted to see how much they cost.  The conversation at the shop turned into talking about the Ride board and how I wanted to get a shorter board because I would feel more comfortable on it.  The owner of the shop agreed to take a look at my board and upon doing so, offered a Nitro 156 cm board that I could try out.  He said that he'd hold onto my board and if I liked the Nitro board, I could keep it.  If I wasn't the biggest fan, he'd swap my bindings back on for me and give me back the Ride board (for the simple price of a 12-pack of New Castle).  


So I came back on Friday to pick up my "new" Nitro board and to get rentals for my friends.  My bindings were on the Nitro board but before I took it back with me, I found out from another employee that the Nitro board was in fact a girl's board!  It didn't look like a girl's board, but now I'm all thinking "Man, I'm going to be the laughingstock of the entire snowboarding community."  Lucky for me, this other employee told me that a Neversummer 155 cm board had just been brought in and that it would probably suit me perfectly.  I asked him if I could take that one for a test run and he said sure thing.  So he swapped off the bindings from the Nitro (girl's) board and put it on the Neversummer (manly) board, sharped the edges, and waxed the bottom.  Now I was in business.  


I rode the board and it was a lot smoother than my previous Ride board.  I felt like I had much more control on this board than I did the Ride board.  I wanted to keep it.  But I didn't know how much extra the shop would charge me.  I told myself I was willing to spend up to $50 because I knew that it was a better board than the Ride I had.  I brought back and talked with the guys at the shop and they said that I could keep the Neversummer board for $40.  I was pleased.  Now I have a new board! Yay!
//end side story


...so after getting a few things arranged, off I went to the mountain.  We departed home around 5 in the morning and didn't make it up the lift until slightly close to 10:30.  Traffic like crazy.  Anyways, that's not what this post is really about. (not that I know what this post is really about anyways...)  As I mentioned earlier, it had been raining in these parts for the entire week.  I looked at the weather forecast and Saturday was supposed to be the day that it stopped (and this is why we chose to come snowboarding on Saturday).


The rain stopped.  The clouds moved away.  The sun shone brightly.  It was an absolutely beautiful day.


I will need to steal pictures from the only guy on the trip who brought a camera.  But even after I get those pictures, I don't think a picture could capture what the view was like from up on top of the mountain.  We could see out for what seemed to be hundreds of miles.  The sky was a rich deep blue color and the weather was much warmer than I had initially thought it would be.  The trees were each covered in a fresh layer of snow from the previous night and everything looked so entirely majestic and serene.  I rode up the lift a few times just by myself (no friends :( ) and each time I did, I closed my eyes for a moment thanking God for such a wonderful creation and then opened them to see all that was around me.  I was at peace.  It felt like all the temporary troubles that I've gone through recently and all the negative things in my life just melted away [perhaps this is worthy of another post, maybe].  God was truly in control and seeing all the beauty around me made me believe that even more.  I don't know why, but there's something about sweet-action landscape views that make me weak in the knees.  I think maybe it's because there are certain things in life that you imagine, but you never have the chance to see.  We've all seen postcards with cool views or pictures from other people's trips, but there's something different about seeing it firsthand.  I've heard that a picture is worth a thousand words.  If that's the case, I don't even know how many words are in seeing it with you own two eyes.  At least two thousand!  Or...a billion thousand!  And when you see it, you just look... and look... and look.  So when I was on top of the mountain riding up by myself, that's what I did.  I looked.  And it's crazy because at that moment I told myself, "Only my God, the creator of the universe, could design something so spectacular, yet so simple."  After all, it was some mountain ranges with a few clouds, some trees, some snow, etc.  But the way it all came together, it was glorious.  It reminded me that if God can design something so intricate as the earth and have it so beautiful, then surely He must be able to handle all the problems and burdens in my tiny life.  I just need to be able to lift them up to Him and trust that He truly is sovereign.


So thanks God, for allowing me to see all that You wanted me to see.  Thanks for the wonderful earth that you have created and the marvelous sights you have designed.  And thanks most of all, for loving me more than I will ever understand.