Memories of "Turkey Bowl 2002":

- seeing almost all the youth group and former youth group guys come out
- wearing cleats for the first time. They really do help
- My team: Mike C (QB), William, Dave C, Ted, Karen
- Our record: 2-0-1
- Karen ran over Jeff (after a logged protest, I will also mention that Jeff had a sweet length-of-the-field pass to Sam deep for a touchdown in the game we played against their team)
- Eric got sacked by Jen
- Jen made something like 8 open-field diving tackles (flag football, so diving snatches)
- Wesley got "stiff-armed" by Tim(?) - Wesley was the defender, but when they hit, his flags came off instead of Tim's
- Andrea caught everything and killed us
- David had 2 interceptions and a couple of long touchdowns
- my stat line: 2 sacks, 2 TDs... mostly short crossing routes and one TD on a jump ball a la Moss. Oh yes, after I hurt myself (see below) I had one catch and then a sidearm lateral to a cutting teammate that was very Sabonis-esque

Other random things
- I strained the outside tendon of my right knee several weeks ago playing basketball, and it's been giving me a lot of pain/stiffness/soreness any time I exercise for longer than an hour. The entire afternoon I've been limping around and gingerly bending my knee. It's very annoying. I know I'm supposed to rest up and let it heal, but it's almost like I can't say no to a good competition... heheh... for the last football game today I basically didn't move but just stuck my arms up. Ah well...

- hung out with Jonathan Sun last night. We get together every couple of months to catch up... it sounds like he's grown a lot since the last time we met, talking about the lessons he'd been learning through various struggles over the course of the year, and how that's drawn him closer to God. I love hearing people's testimonies and seeing lives and perspectives change. Jonathan, I know you read this, so I look forward to hearing where God leads you next, and know that I'll be praying for ya.

- doesn't it seem like Thanksgiving is the one holiday of the year that hasn't been ruined by commercialization? Instead of the emphasis being placed on gifts, or cards, or whatever, at Thanksgiving there's almost always a spirit of celebration and enjoyment of family and close friends, and of reflection upon what you have. I'd love to see this kind of spirit spill over into other holidays of the year.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

If you watched Monday Night Football this past week (where the Niners got [sigh] spanked by the Eagles), you might have seen John Madden describing and then tearing into a "turducken".

The name is an amalgamation of "turkey-duck-chicken." In other words, it's an oven-roasted mutant - a chicken stuffed inside a duck stuffed inside a turkey, all of them deboned, with both a sausage stuffing and a cornbread dressing.

Here's a link to how you make one:

http://ismybrain.com/~jsalmon/turducken.html

Can you imagine what it would be like to cut a slice and taste turkey, cornbread, duck, cornbread, chicken, and sausage all in one forkful?

Oooohhh....

So, this past Sunday, I was elected as one of the deacons at my church.

From 1 Timothy 3:8-13
Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons. In the same way, their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything. A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well. Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.

That's a lot to strive for. The challenges God has for me keep piling on. Just as I was starting to get a handle on my new responsibilities at work, now there's more to occupy my thoughts. If I continue the surfing analogy from last week, I think I've only begun to stand up on the board... but now I'm seeing some big waves in front of me. The question is how to get to the crest... I get the feeling that I'm just going to need to put my head down and dive in.

From another song that just came to mind:

DIVE
Rom. 11:33-36; Eph. 3:16-19

CHORUS:
I'm diving in
I'm going deep
In over my head I want to be
Caught in the rush
Lost in the flow
In over my head I want to go
The river’s deep
The river’s wide
The river’s water is alive
So sink or swim I'm diving in

Words and music by Steven Curtis Chapman, ©1999 Sparrow Song/Peach Hill Songs

Sink or swim, this is gonna be fun...

This probably isn't real. But it might be...

CHICAGO (AP) -- Chicago Bears football practice was delayed nearly two hours today after a player reported finding an unknown white powdery substance on the practice field. Head coach Dick Jauron immediately suspended practice while police and federal investigators were called to investigate. After a complete analysis, FBI forensic experts determined that the white substance unknown to players was the goal line. Practice was resumed after special agents decided the team was unlikely to encounter the substance again.

Another one:

-- From Michael Irvin of Fox Sports Net's "Best Damn Sports Show Period": "Jimmy Johnson used to tell us, 'Listen, you came to the University of Miami to play football. If you wanted an education, you should have gone to Harvard. ' "

Last night as I was trying to fall asleep, I got the mental image of being out on the ocean, on a surfboard. The waves are high and choppy, the wind is fierce, and since I don't know how to surf, I anticipate wiping out quite a few times. But I'm hoping beyond hope that eventually I'll be able to catch a wave in just the right way and ride it through to the end.

I suppose that's kind of how I feel right now. I don't really know what I'm doing, and I'll wipe out probably more than my fair share, but I hope that if and when I do get the hang of things, it'll be thrilling. It's just toughest right now.

This song came to mind. I believe it's written from the perspective of Peter and the other disciples who were on the fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee that night when they saw Jesus walking to them on the water. I think it sums up a lot of things for me.

CALMER OF THE STORM
Psalm 107:28-30, Mark 4:37-40

VERSE 1:
When everything is wrong
The day has passed and nothing's done
And the whole world seems against me
When I'm rolling in my bed, there's a storm in my head
I'm afraid of sinking in despair.

CHORUS:
Teach me, Lord to have faith
In what you're bringing me will
Change my life and bring you glory

There on the storm I am learning to let go
Of the will that I so long to control
There may I be in your arms eternally
I thank you, Lord, you are the calmer of the storm.

VERSE 2:
You rebuke the wind and the waves
Once again I find I'm amazed at the power of your will
Cuz I'm a child of little faith
I feel the wind and forget your grace
And you say, "Peace, be still."

Chorus

BRIDGE:
There on the storm I am learning to let go
The white wave's high, it's crashing o'er the deck
And I don't know where I go
Where are you Lord? Is my ship going down?
The mast is gone so throw the anchor
Should I jump and try to swim to land?

VERSE 3:
There on the storm, teach me God to understand
Of the Will that I just cannot control
There may I see all your love protecting me
I thank you Lord, you are the calmer of the storm.

Words and music by downhere, ©2001 Word Music, Inc.

Ever get the sense that an upcoming period in your life will be significant in some way? Decisions to be made, work to be done, sleep to be lost, memories to be created?

I'm beginning to get that sense with the rest of this year.

Maybe nothing so grandiose as achieving a life goal or setting a completely different career course, but the way God's worked things out in my life coming up over the next month and a half, it's beginning to look as though I'll have some opportunities to be challenged, stretched, grown.

I alluded to my work situation in my last blog. Right now, things are a bit uncertain with regards to the redistribution of responsibilities moving forward - particularly with a fairly large task of releasing a product - and I'm the point man for my department. I feel both challenged and intimidated by this - challenged because I'll have the opportunity to learn new skills and interact with more and different people than I'm used to; intimidated because I feel woefully inexperienced and inadequate.

Ministry-wise, in a week or two the congregation at my church will be voting on new deacons for the upcoming year. I've been nominated as part of that potential pool. While it's exciting to consider the possibilities of being part of the deacon team and being able to serve more people and on a larger scale, it's also somewhat sobering to realize that if I'm to be effective in the areas of ministry I participate in, I need to focus on a few - and that would mean moving away from some of the parts of my life right now.

In men's group lately we've been studying Hebrews 11, the "Faith Hall of Fame", which makes reference to well-known men and women from the Old Testament Scriptures, and how they exhibited faith in God based in their knowledge and trust in God's unassailable and perfect character. I can only hope to grow in faith throughout the next two months as I see what lies ahead.

On a completely random note... for those of you in South Bay, have any of you noticed a cop car on the freeways and streets that's a Chevy Camaro sports car? I've seen it several times now, I don't know if there's more than one in the local police department. I wonder what it takes to get a coolio sports car as your cop car instead of one of the big, nondistinctive cruisers? Maybe we have a Magnum PI solving crimes here in South Bay.

Hi all.

As a disclaimer and a prayer request... I'm a bit fried at the moment (after just Monday morning!). We had layoffs last Friday, one of those was my boss. So right now I'm temporarily in charge of QA (my department). It's rather overwhelming, so please pray for me, and please forgive me if I'm not as forthcoming as usual on IM or in email, or if I don't seem as "together" as usual.

Informal poll to the few readers of this blog... do you tend to prefer shorter-but-more-frequent blog updates with stuff like what I've been up to, random observations, and such? Or do you prefer the lengthier-but-less-frequent pontifications I am sometimes wont to write? Let me know via the little-used guestbook/message board linked at the right, or find me on IM.

Side note... thanks to Reni for becoming the first person to post a message in my guestbook/message board!

Bunch of stuff to talk about...

Giants lose the World Series

In my last blog of half a month ago, the Giants had just won the League Championship Series putting them into the World Series for the first time since the Bay Bridge Series. I wrote this:

“In the grand scheme of things... sports doesn't mean a whole heckuva lot. But perhaps the greatest benefit of sports is that it fosters community… Following sports gives you the chance to learn and critique the game, but more importantly, gives you the chance to enjoy the highs and be disappointed in the lows of your team, along with all the other team's followers.

Tonight was definitely a high.”

Even after following the Giants for 14 years, sticking by them in down years and agonizing in the years where they just weren’t quite good enough, this postseason was both a real treat and a real emotional roller coaster ride. Because the Giants are an old team without a lot of young talent, this was probably their last real good chance at taking it all – playing a beatable team, and everyone was hot at the same time. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. While I missed the clinching Game 7 because of a prior commitment to be at a friend’s surprise birthday dinner (Joy, you know you’re loved when a bunch of Giants fans give up Game 7 for your birthday!), the real low of the series was in Game 6. Despite a 5-0 lead and some of baseball’s top relievers on hand to finish off the game and the championship, the Angels just made a miraculous comeback, and I have to tip my cap to them. That didn’t lessen the continually rising frustration I felt while I watched everything unfold.

Even though the short-term future of the Giants is unsettled, with Dusty Baker being let go and all the players getting another year older, I have to appreciate the scrappy bunch of overachievers that showed up in the playoffs and almost brought it all the way home. I appreciate the fact that I got the chance to enjoy the team with my boss and other friends. I’ll have memories of the baseballs that Barry Bonds absolutely crushes. And I’ll still be there next year, supporting the team. Hummm Baby!

NBA season starts

I didn’t have a whole lot of time to wallow in the end of the Giants season because the NBA has begun. I won’t go into a whole lot of detail, as any of you who is reading this should know how much I enjoy basketball and the NBA, but suffice to say that I love this time of year.

I’m in two fantasy hoops leagues this year. One’s with old Cal buddies. One’s with old Canaan folks. Let’s get it on!

On a disturbing note, I read a news snippet out of New Orleans before their season opener against Utah. Before the game, the announcer asked the crowd and teams to bow for a short moment of prayer (not prohibited by the NBA). What did he pray for? Safety for the players? Nope, he said: "Heavenly Father, we ask that you help the New Orleans Hornets to win tonight's game, and go on to win the championship!" And the crowd goes wild!

Does this sicken anyone else?

Hanging out with the Married Folks

This past Sunday and Monday, I got the chance to spend time with two couples of friends from college that are now married. Kinda trippy, but really neat, for somewhat different reasons…

On Sunday after church I went up to Danville to visit Pam and Andy’s place, and watch the 49ers-Raiders game with a bunch of old Cal buddies. First off… people drive really fast on 680. I mean, I was going around 80 mph and people were still passing me on both sides. Yeesh…

Pam and Andy live in a sweet house in a nice suburban neighborhood in Danville. I think that was the first thing that sort of threw me for a loop – of my other friends from college who are now married, most are still living in apartments. So, when I walked into this spic-and-span 4-bedroom house with white carpet, artwork on the walls, and slippers at the doorway for guests… I half expected to see a few kids running around. It felt so… grown-up…

The afternoon was fun… got to catch up some with Pam and Andy and some of the other guys who were there, watch the 49ers barely eke out a win against the Raiders in Oakland (see Danny’s blog at http://www.geocities.com/messydanny for an account of how I almost jinxed the Niners), and of course, consume lots of meat (and… ahem… salad, for me). I guess it’s not so weird that my friends are married now, because for the majority of time that I’ve known them, they’ve been inseparable, so it’s not a huge mental leap to see them as married… but it did take a bit of reorientation to remember that they don’t have kids yet and aren’t planning to for a few years. It certainly looks like a nice place to raise a family.

On Monday after playing hoops at National (and having one of the worst all-around basketball-playing days in recent memory), I had dinner at Vicky and Drew’s place in Mountain View. After they got married, I house-sat for them for one night amidst a bunch of unopened wedding gifts, so I had been in the apartment before, but I hadn’t had the chance to see what they’d done with it. The place is set up nicely, very homey… and I was quite amused at the “restricted parking” road sign perched above the commode… heh…

Vicky’s a good cook, and I had the privilege of sampling her catfish, snap peas with chicken, and bbq pork noodles. Good stuff. To top it off, they introduced me to a Chinese dessert which seemed to be sesame seed paste wrapped in sticky rice and then boiled to make a sweet soup type thing. I don’t eat a whole lot of Chinese sweets, but this was pretty good. We then looked through some of their wedding pics, and played MarioKart and Perfect Dark on their sweet Dell projector – it’s cool to play multi-player and have your portion of the projection be as big as a typical big-screen TV.

The thing that was kinda trippy about hanging out with Vicky and Drew was that I knew both of them as friends, but not so much as a couple. However, since I knew each of them on an individual basis before, I had some preconceived notions of how they’d mesh, and it was pretty cool to see some of that in the way they talked to each other, prayed together, and even romped through room after room in Perfect Dark gunning down bad guy after bad guy together. A very pleasant evening.

Aside: Last night as I was writing some of this post, my parents were in the dining room listening to music from musicals and singing along to them together. Kinda cute… even if my dad’s kinda off :-). Maybe that’s where I get my vocal pipes from…

I’ll do my best to update more often.