Weekend recap

Saturday
The first annual (I hope) Canaan Worship Ministry Workshop seemed to go fairly smoothly. There are some very talented musicians at Canaan - it's nice as the organizer to have the freedom to just give a small set of guidelines to the workshop leaders and have them run with it from there. I taught the intermediate guitar workshop and attended the vocals workshop, taught by Debbie. Learned some good new exercises for expanding vocal range, then she had us each sing a phrase solo and acapella to the class. While it was kinda intimidating at first, I think we had more fun with it after we relaxed some. She pointed out to me that I have a tendency to short-breath my phrases, so I've noticed that the last few days while singing along to CDs in the car (we all do it, right?) that I've been consciously practicing my breathing.

Cal 34, USC 31. 'Nuff said. Go Bears! Maybe the Niners need to hire Tedford. Er... I didn't just say that... Tedford should stay and build Cal into a perennial powerhouse. Yeah, that's it.

The Switchfoot concert exceeded my expectations. Went with about 15 people to The Pound SF and waited in line at about 6:45 pm. It's a relatively small room with a small bar right off one of the piers, that usually caters to smaller independent bands. Amusingly, this evening the bar wouldn't be getting much business - from our observation, probably at least 75% of the patronage was under 21, marked by prominent "MINOR" stamps placed on the back of their hands at the door. Overall, it was quite hot, with no AC available, and people packed into every available inch. There was a group of rather rude folks who pushed their way to the front by leaning on the people in front of them, then when people shied away from the body contact, steadily moved forward. Guess there are always a few...

Opening band #1 was doing its second show ever, and the lead singer/songwriter/guitarist was noticeably nervous. Very little crowd interaction aside from announcing the name of the next song, and a quick "Thankyousomuch" after finishing each one. The sound mix was pretty bad, we couldn't make out the lyrics, and the drummer was rather unsubtle, banging on cymbals almost constantly. Still, there was some promise there... maybe after some seasoning and a better sound tech, they'll have the chance to make more of an impact.

Opening band #2 (named "Blue" I believe) came on next, and in my opinion was more entertaining. Their frontman was a dead ringer for a taller, skinnier Wolverine (Hugh Jackman from X-Men), and apparently they had one song on the Spiderman soundtrack. They clearly had some more experience in the live setting, not taking themselves too seriously on stage, and having fun interacting with the crowd. Unfortunately, they informed us that the lead singer had laryngitis, and while that afforded them an amusing opportunity to bring up a roadie to help sing a song with the band, they exited the stage after only 4 decent songs. I wouldn't mind seeing them live at some point in the future when they're at 100 percent.

Finally, at 10:15 pm (after 3.5 hrs of standing), the San Diego quartet took the stage and brought the house down. The show was plain fun - you could clearly see that even at a relatively young age, they were already seasoned and talented pros. The addition of Jerome Fontamillas (keyboardist/guitarist/programming) to the original trio of Jon Foreman (lead vocals, lead guitar, songwriting), Tim Foreman (bass, backup vocals), and Chad Butler (drums) added a lot of variety to their live show. There were plenty of fun sound effects and piano fills punctuating the tasty guitar licks and challenging, thoughtful lyrics about the meaning and purpose that the band is known for. They brought on an additional guitarist to help free up Jon to occasionally put down the guitar and climb into the crowd, with plenty of singalongs, shoutbacks, handwaving, clapping, etc. They performed almost all of the songs off their recent critically-acclaimed CD, The Beautiful Letdown, with a few select songs from previous albums. I enjoyed Jon's introductions to songs as well, as he kept them relatively short, but came straight to the point about his worldview that we were meant for more than simply settling for the promises of this world, and we should continue to seek. "The Loser" and "Gone" were fun, "Ammunition", "Meant to Live", and "You Already Take Me There" rocked, and they closed on an almost worshipful note with their anthems "The Beautiful Letdown" and "I Dare You To Move". All in all, a great time. I'll definitely be going to see them again the next time they're in town.

Setlist (as best as I remember it): The Beautiful Letdown (intro), This Is Your Life, Ammunition, Loser, Learning to Breathe, Only Hope, 24, On Fire, You Already Take Me There, New Way To Be Human, Adding to the Noise, Gone, Meant To Live, (encore) The Beautiful Letdown, Dare You To Move

Sunday
After church and consistory meeting, dropped by Andrew N's surprise bday dinner and then headed to the Chius' for the eagerly-anticipated Alias season premiere. Sometimes, it was more amusing observing the TV watchers than the show itself. In the show itself... well, let's just say that they're a long way away from the original premise of the show. We'll just have to see where exactly the writers are going since it's rather odd right now. Oh, it was also hilarious to hear the vitriol being aimed Vaughn's way. Poor Vaughn.

Random

- Since we shipped last week, this week all of us at the company have the option of going home at a normal hour! I'm stoked. I'll be able to make men's group for the first time since May, and will take every opportunity to have dinner with the family this week. Kinda funny what you learn to appreciate after just a few months of committing such a large portion of your life to one area. More reflections later.

- I'm even more excited about the Jars/Caedmon's concert in November now that I've found that Steven Delopoulos (mentioned in this space a few weeks ago) will be opening for them. Nov. 8 can't get here soon enough.

Will try to do some more writing this week. Go Giants!

Peak #1

We've released! Protego Networks' MARS Security Appliance Version 1.1 is now available for business. Quick description: Currently, there aren't any convenient ways for IT workers to monitor the security threats to their networks, as the flood of information coming in through multiple intrusion-detection systems, firewalls, routers, etc. is too overwhelming to monitor. Our appliance will help consolidate this information into a graphical real-time picture of network health, including highlighting trouble points (like network hosts that may be infected with a virus, attacks coming in over a particular network, etc.), and offering options to mitigate that attack.

On to 1.2!

Yesterday we had a company outing to Roaring Camp Railroad in the Santa Cruz Mtns. Was a relaxing day... went for a train ride to hang out in the redwoods, had a bbq (chicken and ribs... mmm) lunch, then played volleyball/frisbee/frisbee golf in the afternoon. Apparently this is a place that lot of people have been to before, as everyone I've mentioned it to seems to have been there.

Got to go to youth group for the first time in months last night. Was very cool to see how members of the youth are beginning to step up and take roles of greater responsibility in leadership, and I think the journals they each have to take notes on Fridays is a great idea.

Woke up this morning at 10 am. I don't have to go to the office today! Gotta prepare a handout for a guitar workshop, and get psyched up for the Switchfoot concert tonight. I'll find some more time to write reflections on the last few months, as well as a few other topics I've been pondering.

The Eleventh Hour ain't passing by so quickly

This last lap has been dragging out for a while. But now it looks like we have a better-than-even shot at releasing this afternoon. Then, tomorrow we take the day off and go to the Roaring Camp Railroad for train/bbq/hiking/volleyball.

Quick last weekend recap...

- Saturday: worship practice, work in the afternoon, met up with Andy/Eric/Jimmy for accountability, went to Borders and found out that the Alias season 1 DVD is 60 dollars. I'll try to find it for cheaper. Had dinner at Fresh Choice and then watched "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" at JT's place. I seriously see those amusing cultural clashes/exchanges every day at the office. For example...

"Nigga? Nigga?" - Indian coworkers trying to mimic the Mandarin for "that one" (neh guh)

On another note, I've watched "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" on consecutive Saturdays. Two chick flicks in a row. Maybe that's why I couldn't flip away from "Lethal Weapon 2" last night on TNT. Had to get my fill of gunplay and car chases. Haha.

And related to that, check out the excellent "Are you a metrosexual?" quiz at the 5824 blog. It's hilarious. I haven't taken it yet but I'll post my score when I do.

- Sunday played ball after church, then met up with Richard and finished up Celebration of Discipline. Have a good year at Davis, Rich... and remember to invite yourself over to Alice and Tomio's for dinner ;).

The Eleventh Hour

Let the eleventh hour quickly pass me by - "The Eleventh Hour", Jars of Clay

We're in the last lap here at the office. Aim is to ship this afternoon. Peak #1 is in sight.

Will write more later.

Glimpse of the future

I just had this conversation on IM:

little_cousin (4:32:39 PM): the dodger game was good
little_cousin (4:32:42 PM): WE went
Bob (4:32:55 PM): you won too
little_cousin (4:32:58 PM): I no
little_cousin (4:33:04 PM): :-)
little_cousin (4:33:24 PM): they had some good plays
little_cousin (4:33:58 PM): and Gagne was a hit, he had 2 strikeouts and everyone was cheering for him, especiailly melody
little_cousin (4:34:16 PM): (She a huge Dave Roberts FAn, too) She loves his speed
little_cousin (4:35:11 PM): stealing basess, he was a reiel last night and came in the 8th and stole second and then scored off Ceasar's single and THe Shea hillenbrand error
little_cousin (4:35:22 PM): then Caesar stole a base...
little_cousin (4:35:54 PM): but then shwan green grounded out (0-4) and La Dica flew out and Robin Venture striked out
little_cousin (4:36:11 PM): And the only homerun was by venture
little_cousin (4:37:04 PM): and then their was that great throw by aShawn green adn then a perfect throw form Alex Cora to get that guy out at hojme plate
little_cousin (4:37:07 PM): :-D
Bob (4:37:16 PM): very cool
little_cousin (4:37:20 PM): i loved it
little_cousin (4:37:26 PM): and I love all sprts.
little_cousin (4:38:06 PM): Yesturday me and my 5th grade classmae got into a fight, over football. HE said that the 49er's sucked and that the bucs ruled

Who is this? This is my cousin Melissa, who I mentioned in this post about a year ago. She turns 12 today. Happy birthday cuz!

I think she knows more about baseball than I do right now. Someday (in the distant future) she'll make some sports-loving guy very happy. Haha.

If I ever have a daughter (and knowing God's sense of humor... it'll probably happen), I'll probably raise her this way, substituting the Giants in for the Dodgers, of course.

little_cousin (4:37:26 PM): and I love all sprts.

Amen!

Ramblings

And now for another glimpse into the life of this exercise-deprived, tired-of-restaurant-food-for-dinner, sporting-an-unhealthy-monitor-tan, God-fearing Giants fan...

- Last night I left the office at 9:45 pm. This was the first time in perhaps 2 weeks where I left before 10 pm, excluding Saturdays.

- Honey mustard is awesome. It makes every sandwich taste better... unless the sandwich has guacamole in it, in which case it just makes a horrid squishy mess. Props to Quizno's for providing complimentary honey mustard with their sandwiches.

- The buzz is building. Cal P, standup comic, is seeing his career take off before our very internet eyes. See Cal's, Danny's, Karen's, and 5824's blogs for recounts of the debut of this up-and-coming funnyman. Video will be up on the web at some point, but otherwise you'll just have to visit club 5824 to view the live account. Oh, check the 5824 blog for accounts of his work around the house as well. Humor and handiness. Ladies, he's available... as far as I know.

- Yesterday at lunchtime, my coworkers and I were discussing feats of video game superiority from our pasts. Sometimes you just hit the zone - enemies are being mowed down, opponents knocked under your feet, teammates soaring to heights they've never soared to before. My proudest video gaming moment was playing the original 8-bit Nintendo game Contra and getting from the first level to the last level on one life. I'm so proud of it, I italicized the accomplishment. The key is to get the rapid-fire and spreader weapon powerups on the first level, and be very careful not to pick up any other weapons as the all-powerful spreader would then get replaced. Up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-B-A forever.

- Other "zone" moments from my lifetime off the top of my head:
1) In a 5-on-5 game to 12 at the RSF my senior year at Cal, I think I blocked somewhere between 8 and 10 shots. That was fun.
2) I have yet to be beaten at air hockey. Not to say I've played much, but I think I'm sitting on something like a 15-0 lifetime record. To hold onto this part of my ego, I'll just say I've retired from air hockey and am not taking any more challengers. Heheh.

- Last weekend, I played Counterstrike for the first time. Thanks to Joseph H, who paid for 6 computers for 2 hours at the Castro St. Tapioca Express. I wasn't originally planning to play, but got roped in when another player stepped down in the middle because of dizziness. Was mostly cannon fodder for the majority of the game, but towards the end we played the "free-for-all" weapons level and I managed to have a decent showing, primarily using the machine gun.

- Movies. Saw Breakfast at Tiffany's and About Schmidt this past weekend. See Andrew's blog for an amusing summary of the first experience. My first Hepburn movie... I'm still not quite sure what the overall appeal of the movie was.

About Schmidt felt long, but was a good film. It chronicles the journey of self-discovery a retiring 66-year old Nebraskan man goes on when he realizes that he's not satisfied with the life he's lived. I'll admit, it was somewhat disconcerting to see Jack Nicholson playing such an ordinary person, and playing it well. I kept expecting him to go crazy.

- Recently purchased the Experiencing God workbook by Blackaby. I typically don't like workbooks, but I've heard good things about this one. My times in the Word have been a bit aimless recently, since I finished the Bible again, so hopefully this'll give me some direction.

- Borrowed Fallen by Evanescence this week from Andrew N. While it sorta bugs me that the guitarist appears to re-use the same chord sequences and riffs/fills in multiple songs, it's a pretty solid CD overall. I particularly like "My Immortal", as Amy Lee's vocals sound almost like they're coming from a Broadway musical.

- Going to see Switchfoot in concert next Saturday (9/27) in SF with a buncha folks. I'm already looking forward to it.

- Two of my top three favorite bands, Jars of Clay and Caedmon's Call (Switchfoot is the other), will be showing up at Castro Valley in November. I am so there.

- Things are still quite busy at work, as we're pushing to our release. Check out this link to see what's up.

- Go Giants!

- Only a month and a half till the NBA is back!

A Tribute

The last time that I can remember shedding tears was a little under 2 years ago - September 12, 2001. It was in the aftermath of the NYC/Washington tragedies, and the entire nation was still reeling in shock. Things would never be the same again for the average American - things like "terror alerts" would become part of our daily news reading, the presence of armed guards at large bridges would loom over every crossing, and those working in high-rises would flinch when they heard the sound of a low-flying airplane.

In fall 2001, viewing images live from New York City showing burned bodies jumping out of high-story windows, the cloud of soot that enveloped blocks, piles of rubble, emergency workers digging frantically for survivors... it was surreal for me because in summer 2000, I had spent 2 months in New York City with Campus Crusade for Christ. We were partnering with various churches and inner-city ministries, working with the poor in food kitchens, rehab clinics, and vacation Bible schools. Despite having lived in California for two-thirds of my life, I felt something of a connection to the city where God had so radically changed my perceptions of the poor, the value of human life, and the enormous cultural diversity there is out there... so seeing a part of it in ruins and thousands of people in shock was a pretty trying time for me. While there, I don't believe I visited the World Trade Center, but certainly spent time in that area of Manhattan. Watching TV, I could almost imagine that some of the faces on the screen were people that I had seen during my summer.

I don't know why tragedies happen, or why so many people had to lose their lives and so many more would be profoundly scarred physically and mentally for the rest of theirs. I don't know what kind of evil could possess men to inflict this level of harm. What I do know is that on 9/12/2001, in the aftermath, I witnessed one of the most moving and beautiful scenes of my short lifetime.

Like many other people, I was watching CNN at home. The network had moved on from showing Ground Zero exclusively, and was now roving around the streets of New York as people milled about. One camera happened upon a street corner in what appeared to be either Brooklyn or Queens, where a crowd had congregated seeking mutual support. New York City is perhaps the most racially and culturally diverse metropolis in the world, and this was exemplified by the crowd that was gathering - blacks, whites, Asians, Latinos, Jews, they were all there. A group of African-American women from the local church stood up on a table and began leading everyone in a few patriotic songs - God Bless America, The Star-Spangled Banner, etc. I found myself singing along with the crowd, with a huge sense of respect growing for their resilience and spirit.

They then began singing "Amazing Grace", and that was when I began to lose it. Everyone knew the words to the first verse, and everyone sang along. It was an amazing picture of unity, love, and courage. One elderly white woman began to break down, and was immediately supported by the crowd of people surrounding her, caring for her. As the first verse wound down, someone requested to sing it again, and so they just sang it over and over again - people of all backgrounds, united by a common tragedy. I distinctly remember wiping the tears off my face, trying to maintain some pretense of fake masculinity, then just abandoned it. I was moved beyond words.

Why was I so touched? I believe it was because I saw, on that TV, a beautiful example of hope.

Hope that there was some sanity left in an insane world.

Hope that even in a city commonly associated with cold materialism, people will still lay everything else down to help their fellow man in his time of need.

Hope in the belief that you can still find beauty amidst the darkest times and the darkest situations.

There is always hope.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. - Hebrews 6:19
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. - Hebrews 10:23
Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies. - The Shawshank Redemption

Quick update

Got in yesterday at 9:45 am and left at 11 pm. 2nd longest day so far. Towards the end of the day (around 10 pm), I was finally able to put my finger on why the sensation felt so familiar. I was essentially reliving the college days of being in the Soda Hall computer lab the day before a final project was due. Walking down the aisles, I could see many bleary-eyed engineers still pecking away keyboards, teams of people looking at problems and growing increasingly short-tempered, caffeine abounding everywhere, an unhealthy "monitor tan" showing up on everyone's face... ah, the memories.

On the bright side, at the end of the day yesterday, I only had a mild dull ache in my left forearm rather than the more noticeable soreness from previous weeks. I notice that I can't help but feel more acutely a sense of humility with regards to workplace health, and overall health in general, due to this aspect of my life from the past 3 months. I must also be wary of falling back into bad habits. If you don't want this to happen to you, email me and I can give you some tips.

Because of time I haven't been able to post anything interesting or quasi-profound lately, which is why I presume I'm dropping on the BCS. Let's see how far I continue to drop.

I'm just gonna jot down my weekend recaps so I don't ge tthem pushed out of my memory with stuff like updating test plans, filing and verifying bugs, automation, and a bunch of other stuff occupying my time.

Labor Day Weekend - wow, that seems like a long time ago
Roland and Judy's wedding. Memorable moment: Roland saying, "Judy's family is something of a brain trust. Her sister went to MIT and Yale, her brother went to MIT, and she went to Princeton and Stanford. Of course, none of them measure up to Berkeley."

Mandarin outreach. Helped play backup to the Mandarin worship team. During the outreach itself, I found that if I applied my limited Mandarin skills and concentration to the speakers, I could understand perhaps 60% of the gist of what was going on. But if my concentration wandered for even a second, I'd be left behind and it'd take a few minutes to re-synch myself.

Janet and John's engagement party. I'm hypothesizing that this was where I caught my minor cold. Good food and fun, however. Memorable/amusing conversation: the seeming destiny of 2-year olds (3-year olds?) Christian Chen and Faith Hsieh to hook up somewhere down the line. They're the current leaders of the "cute toddler" brigade that's been invading Canaan recently.

The Two Towers. Pulled a page out of the college playbook and spontaneously headed over to Walter's place Sunday night at 10 pm to watch this newly-released DVD. That made for 2 viewings in a week for me.

Labor Day. Met up with Richard for discipleship (only two chapters in Celebration of Discipline to go!), hung out w/ Byron, Karen, and Eva (the latter before she headed back to Baltimore) in the afternoon, shot around with and caught up with Dave C in the evening.

Past weekend
Spent Saturday from 10 am to 5:30 pm at the office, fighting off annoyed thoughts of missing a camping trip and the flea market, as well as fighting off a cold.

Sunday, after church, watched the Niners wallop the Bears, had youth counselors meeting, and then Luwen and James' birthday shindig. Had fun watching their ~6 month old son, Lucas, entertain himself by trying to grab things just beyond his reach, since he hasn't yet learned how to crawl forwards. Memorable quotes/conversations: "Knees aren't supposed to bend that way." "If you tilt your arms down, blood goes into your veins and makes them bulge out." "I just banged my hand against the bottom of the table and pop! the cyst was gone."

It's remarkably freeing to confess weakness.

Buried under piles of work

Gah. I now have two weekends to recap here (well, one long one and one short one), as well as miscellaneous other stuff, but I won't have the chance to for a while. I'll try to find time to write, but thus far it doesn't look super promising.

If you're curious as to why all of us here at the company are so busy this week, read this article. It'll give you an idea of what we do, and why our world got flipped upside down last week when the schedule accelerated from 2 months to 2 weeks. For those of you not in the tech industry, to give you an idea of how we feel right now, it's like having 50% of a paper or computer project completed and on schedule to finish in 2 weeks, then going to class and finding out that it was now due in 2 days.

Cube greeting

It's a gorgeous, 70-degree early September Saturday morning in California. The sun is out and the smell of football is in the air.

And I'm in my cube at work.

But that's okay, because I got a better night's sleep last night than in most of the previous week, had a great noodle soup breakfast this morning, and have my newly-arrived Switchfoot and Delopoulos CDs to keep me company. It's the weekend, I'll shelve the classical music for one day at the office.

Above all, my God is faithful. God, help me to be faithful today.

I want more than just okay, more than just okay / I'm not givin' up, givin' up now / I'm not givin' up, not backing down / More than fine, more than just bent on getting by / More than fine, more than just okay - Switchfoot, "More Than Fine"

Current mood: foul

Fighting off the beginning stages of a cold, didn't set aside enough time this morning to spend with God, and not looking forward to the prospect of working most of the day tomorrow. I'll post about my Labor Day weekend later.

I've noticed that before these past few months, a part of my self-image was that I considered myself a relatively non-emotional person, not easily affected by good or bad circumstances. I think that's changed somewhat. The question now is, how do I respond? Can I discipline my mind and heart so that my response to these emotions can be God-honoring? Can I surrender the areas in my life that I hate, so that I can be changed?

Plodding onward...

A Riddle

Q: When is the work week following a Monday holiday not considered a short week?
A: When you have to work that weekend.

Yes, due to some (in my mind, questionable) decisions, all of us here at the company will be under quite the grind for the next week and a half and will be here this weekend, and quite possibly the next.

I had a longer post here explaining my situation and recapping my Labor Day weekend, but I forgot to do my customary copy-and-paste before posting and lost it. Now I'm in a bad mood and it's time to go home.

Good for a chuckle...

"If you have no talent, and you never give up, there's no end to the things you can't do!"

- motivational message parody my coworker heard